him
to fail. I have sunk six wells, two on a heath farm about 30
feet deep (surrounding wells measuring about 70 feet) in
limestone rock, thus saving a great expense in sinking. I took
him one morning to a farm which was at that time farmed by the
owner, the Right Hon. H. Chaplin, M.P. The well in the yard
(nearly always dry) was about 30 feet deep. In a few minutes,
Mullins, carrying in his hand his twig, found a good spring a
very short distance from the old well. A new well was sunk, and
at 10 feet a splendid supply of water was found. It has never
failed, and has supplied the yards, &c., with water ever since.

"Being in want of water for a large grass field, called 'Catley
Abbey Field,' I went with Mullins, who placed down a peg to
denote a spring. We sunk a well, and bored 70 feet obtaining a
good supply of water. Being struck with a peculiarity in its
taste, it was submitted to Professor Attfield, Ph.D., who
pronounced it to be the only natural seltzer spring in the
kingdom. E. G. ALLEN."[58]

The next case in Professor Barrett's collection, No. 63, forms an
interesting sequel to the above. The following is abridged from a long
report, in the _Lincolnshire Chronicle_ of 8th June 1895, of a visit of
Mr. H.W. Mullins, son of Mr. John Mullins, to Catley Abbey:--

"The object of the Catley Abbey Company in sending for Mr. Mullins was
to secure a well of pure water for bottle-washing. A well on the
adjoining farm of Mr. Allen had run dry, and recently the seltzer water
had been used for the purpose of bottle-washing. Eight years ago, Mr. J.
Mullins, the father of the family, located the spot at Catley, where now
stands the only natural seltzer spring in Britain.... Proceeding to the
site of the dried-up well, Mullins took out a =V=-shaped twig, the forks
of which were each about a foot long, and walked slowly along the ground
a short distance from the well. Suddenly the twig revolved ... and
Mullins confidently asserted that he was standing over a subterranean
watercourse. Proceeding to the other side of the well, he traced, or
professed to trace, the course of the hidden stream, and marked a spot
contiguous to the buildings where he asserted a good spring would be
tapped at a depth of from 120 to 130 feet, and he advised that a well
should be sunk there.

"It was told to Mullins that his father asserted the sel