Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 67.djvu/687

Rh In the Water Supply and Irrigation Papers, No. 102, Mr. M. L. Fuller, of the U. S. Geological Survey, has brought together all sorts of information about the natural and artifical sources of water of Florida, as well as of the whole eastern United States. Mr. Fuller has kindly answered my inquiries about these fresh-water springs in the ocean, stating important facts supplementary to this Water Supply Paper.

The peninsula of Florida is underlaid by Tertiary deposits of all ages, the older portions lying along the central axis, and are flanked upon both sides by the Oligocene; Miocene and Pliocene. Artesian wells are successfully operated upon both the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. The strata dip gently from the central axis towards both shores, and where there is the proper diversity of hard, soft, pervious and impervious strata the water comes to the surface without pumping. A few statements about the better known wells partly derived from original observations and partly taken from Mr. Fuller's report will be pertinent, At Jacksonville the visitors to the subtropical exposition in 1888 saw water flowing in a stream from a well several hundred feet deep, supplying the various needs of the management. Flowing wells have since then been sunk to the depths of 616, 708, 740, 800, 850, 3,000 and 5,000 feet.

At St. Augustine a well 1,500 feet deep furnishes the East Coast Hotel system with plenty of water, including a spacious swimming tank. It has a temperature of 70° F., so that bathing in it is agreeable in the coldest weather.

At Ormond there are numerous wells at comparatively shallow depths, the deepest one reaching 200 feet. At Daytona, close by, there are 400 wells from 100 to 220 feet deep. There are many others at nearly every town along the coast. At Palm Beach, close to the seashore, a well 1,200 feet deep is quite saline.

On the west coast the wells in the more northern section yield water by pumping. In Manatee County and at Fort Myers the fluid discharges in the normal way from depths exceeding 400 feet. One on the premises of T. A. Edison, the distinguished inventor, yields most abundantly from the 350-foot level, and will discharge from the height of twenty feet.

Most of these waters are characterized by the presence of sulphur, besides being warm. Chemical analyses show the presence of the following compounds: calcium sulphate, sodium chloride, sodium carbonate, calcium and magnesium carbonates, and occasionally potassium chloride and sulphate. Commonly these ingredients are so abundant as to make the water disagreeable to the taste, and when used for bathing the tubs are easily soiled, and cleansed with difficulty. When used for the table it is found expedient to allow the water to stand for