BURNING SPRINGS.                147
The former are situated in a ravine on the west
side of Bristol Hollow, about half a mile from the
North Presbyterian Meeting House. The ravine is
formed in clay slate, and a small brook runs through
it. The gas rises through fissures of the slate, from
both the margin and the bed of the brook. Where
it rises through the water, it is formed into bubbles,
and flashes only when the flame is applied ; but
where it rises directly from the rock, it burns with a
steady and beautiful flame, which continues until
extinguished by storms, or by design.
The springs in Middlesex are situated from one to
two miles south-westerly from the village of Rush-
ville, along a tract nearly a mile in length, partly at
the bottom of the valley called Federal Hollow, and
partly at an elevation of 40 or 50 feet on the south
side of it.
The latter have been discovered within a few
years, in a field wliich had been long cleared, and
are very numerous. Their places are known by lit-
tle hillocks of a few feet in diameter, and a few inch-
es high, formed of a dark bituminous mould, which
seems principally to have been deposited by the gas,
and through which it finds its way to the surface, in
one or more currents. These currents of gas may
be set on fire, and will burn with a steady flame. In
winter they form openings through the snow, and
being set on fire, exhibit the novel and interesting
phenomenon of a steady and lively flame in contact
with nothing but snow. In very cold weather, it is
said, tubes of ice are formed round these currents of
gas, (probably from the freezing of the water con-
tained in it,) which sometimes rise to the height of
two or three feet, the gas issuing from their tops ;
the whole when lighted in a still evening, present-
ing an appearance even more beautiful than the for-
mer.
Experiments made with the gas seem to prove,
that it consists principally of a mixture of the
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