8o6 The Transit of Venus in 1874. [December 
free escape during the time the drilling was continued to 
2000 feet. 
When the well was abandoned, from failure to find oil, 
and the casing drawn, the fresh water flowed into the well, 
and the conflict between the water and gas commenced, 
rendering the well an objeCt of great interest. The water 
flows into the well on top of the gas, until the pressure of 
the confined gas becomes greater than the weight of the 
superincumbent water, when an explosion takes place, and 
a column of water and gas is thrown to a great height. 
This occurs at present at regular intervals of thirteen 
minutes, and the spouting continues for a minute and a half. 
On July 31st, 1879, Mr. Sheafer (aid, McKean County) 
measured two columns, which went to heights respectively 
of 120 and 128 feet. On the evening of August 2nd Mr. 
Ashburton measured four columns in succession, and the 
water was thrown to the following heights : — 108, 132, 120, 
and 138 feet. 
VIII. THE TRANSIT OF VENUS IN 1874.* 
t HE following is a complete transcript of Mr. Hennes- 
sey’s observatory notes : — “ This record was obtained 
by means of the following agency. My friend, Mr. 
W. H. Cole, M.A., audibly counted seconds, and named the 
minutes as completed, from a large chronometer, before 
which he was comfortably seated, say 6 feet from the equa- 
toreal. Baboo Cally Mohun Ghose, with paper and pencil, 
took up a position by my side ; he mentally followed Mr. 
Cole’s counting, and noted down the instant I made a re- 
mark, together with the words I uttered. In the absence of 
remarks, the Baboo noted the number of each complete 
minute as it was declared, a reckoning which was checked 
by inspection of the chronometer and otherwise from time to 
time, so as to render the adoption of a wrong minute practi- 
cally impossible. Thus all that remained for me to do was 
to look intently through the telescope of the equatoreal and 
declare exactly what I beheld. We three individuals were 
* “ Further Particulars of the Transit of Venus across the Sun, December 
9, 1874 ; observed on the Himalaya Mountains, Mussoorie, at Mary-Villa 
Station, Lat. 30° 28' N., Long. 78° 3' E. ; height above sea 6765 feet, with the 
Royal Society’s 5-inch Equatoreal.” By J. B. N. Hennessey, F.R.S. Ab- 
stract of Paper read before the Royal Society, November 20, 1879. 
