An improved process for tapping the brine, which entirely removed the danger attending the operation, was subsequently introduced. This was effected by boring the last part of the main bore-hole through a stuffing-box at the other end--an innovation which prevented brine from escaping during the boring. A drift, with the usual ⅝ in. bore-hole in advance, was driven 61 yds. into the barrier, until the small bore-hole showed that only 10 yds. remained between the face and the brine that was known to be present in the old workings. Into this remaining 10 yds. of barrier a hole 11 in. in diameter was bored until nearly through, and a closely-fitted pipe was inserted into the hole for a distance of 7 ft. The pipe was 10 ft. long, but at 7 ft. from the inner end was a disc 3 ft. in diameter to rest against the face of the drift, leaving the remaining 3 ft. of pipe in the drift. About midway between the disc and the outer end of the pipe, were placed two strong iron uprights, let into a trench cut 1 ft. deep in solid rock-salt in the roof and floor to secure the pipe against the pressure. These two uprights were placed close together at the top and bottom, but in the middle they were curved so as to form a circle for the pipe to pass between them. The face of the drift against which the disc had to rest, having been carefully dressed, and a disc of india-rubber covered with red lead having been placed between the iron disc and the dressed face of rock-salt, the iron disc was secured up tight against the face by means of six set screws. A stop-valve was then fitted to the outer end of the pipe, and to this, for the temporary purpose only of completing the bore-hole, was attached an end piece with a stuffing box and a hole in it large enough for the bore rod to be worked through. The bore rock was then withdrawn and, the valve being closed, the stuffing box and the temporary end piece were removed. A range of pipes was attached to the stop-valve and, in this range, the brine was taken through the old workings and up one of the shafts to the surface. Many geologists have subscribed to the theory that the Cheshire meres were formed by subsidences which occurred in pre-historic times, but the evidence based on the phenomena attending the modern subsidences proves that the latter were the result of artificial and readily-identified causes. Leland, in 1533, reports a sinking near Combermere and the formation of a pit containing salt-water; in 1657 a small sinking occurred at Bickley, near Malpas; and a third took place in 1713 at Weaver Hall, to the south of Winsford. No traces of any of these subsidences now remain, but, from the descriptions handed down to us, these sinkings belonged to the class of funnel-shaped holes and were of limited diameter and no great depth.