Rensselaer Gazette, Volume 3, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 November 1859 — Examining Bottoms of Wells. [ARTICLE]

Examining Bottoms of Wells.

It is not generally known, we think, how easy a matter it is to examine the bottom of a well, cistern, or pond by the use of a common mirror. The Now Hampshire Journal of Agriculture says: “When the sun is shining brightly, hold a mirror so that the reflected rays of light will fall into the water. A bright spot will be seen at the bottom, so light as to show the smallest object very plainly. By tin’s mean* we have examined bottoms of wells fifty feet deep, when half full of water. The smallest straw or other small object can be perfectly seen from the surface. In the same way one can examine the bottom of ponds and rivers, if the water be somewhat clear, and not agitated by wind or rapid motion. If a well or cistern be under cover or shaded by buildings, so that the sunlight will not fall near the opening, it is only necessary to employ two mirrors, using one to reflect the light to the opening, and another to send it d >wn perpendicularly into the water. Light may be thrown fifty or a hundred yards to the precise spot desired, and then reflected downward. We have used the mirrors with success to reflect the light around a field to a shaded spot, and also to carry it from a south window through two rooms, and then into a cistern tinder the north side of the house. Haifa dozen reflections of the light may be made, though each mirror diminishes the brilliancy of the light. Let anyone not familiar with this method try it, and lie will find it not only'useful, but a pleasant experiment. It will perhaps reveal a m iss of sediment at the bottom of a well which has been little thought of, but which may have been a fruigbtl.l source of disease by its decay in the water.”