African Ariesthn the oases of Sahara, in Africa, there are evidences of the former existence of many artesian wells, some of which, recently opened, have a depth of 36o to .1.8o feet. Since 1858, French en gineers have been suceessfully engaged in the beneficent work of sinking numerous artesian wells in the sandy plains of the Great Desert. Sup plies of water are found in abundance at comparatively small depths, and in the brief period which has elapsed since these wells were bored the changes they have wrought have been most surprising, the fertilizing streams having converted into fruitful tracts many stretches of desert plains.
American Aricsian the United States there are some note worthy artesian wells. In St. Louis the authorities have carried a boring at the county buildings to the depth of 3235 feet without obtaining water. In one of the sugar-refineries in the same city is a well 2197 feet in depth, delivering a body of salty water to the height of 75 feet above the surface.
In Chicago are two wells, respectively 7oo and woo feet deep, yielding -nearly one million gallons of pure cold water (57° F.) daily, with a head of 125 feet above the lake-level. At Louisville, Kentucky, is a very pro ductive well which is carried to a depth of over zoo° feet. A well at Charleston, South Carolina, is 125o feet deep, and delivers twelve hundred gallons an hour to the height of io feet above the surface. In Philadel phia there are several artesian wells, of which one in the Continental Hotel, with a. diameter of 8 inches and a depth of zoo feet, yields fifty thousand gallons per day.
It may be noticed, in conclusion, that for obtaining water-supplies for irrigation and other purposes in the arid region of the \Vestern United States it has been proposed to adopt a plan similar to that practised so suceessfully in the Desert of Sahara. Thus far, it has been tried only in isolated cases, and the results obtained have attracted no special attention.