well-tempered, in music: see tuning systems.

well, aperture in the earth's surface through which substances in a natural underground reservoir, such as water, gas, oil, salt, and sulfur, can flow or be pumped to the surface. In the United States, until some years after the Civil War, the majority of wells were "open," i.e., holes dug in the ground and lined, or cased, with brick, stone, or wood. Although they are sometimes dug with picks and shovels, most wells today are made by rotary or percussion drills. An artesian well, the most desirable type of water well, is always drilled because rock layers must be cut through to reach the water. Oil wells are usually drilled using a rotary-drill method, in which a drilling bit set in the bottom of a drilling pipe is rotated by machinery on the ground level. As the cut deepens, more sections of pipe are fastened to the sections already in use. A special mixture called drilling mud is sent down through the pipe to wash away the drillings and also to cool the cutting bit. Some oil wells are drilled by a percussion method known as cable-tool drilling. In this procedure a heavy metal bit attached to a cable is alternately raised and dropped, pulverizing the rock beneath it. Water is pumped into the well and mixed with the rock cuttings, the mixture being bailed out when it becomes thick enough to interfere with the action of the bit. Regardless of the drilling method, well walls are usually cased with iron or steel to prevent cave-ins. Casing is inserted when the desired depth has been reached or, in some instances, as the well is being drilled. Minerals, such as salt and sulfur, can be pumped to the surface through a well if they are first liquefied by some process; for example, salt may be brought up if water is first pumped to the bottom of the well to dissolve the salt.

artesian well, deep drilled well through which water is forced upward under pressure. The water in an artesian well flows from an aquifer, which is a layer of very porous rock or sediment, usually sandstone, capable of holding and transmitting large quantities of water. The geologic conditions necessary for an artesian well are an inclined aquifer sandwiched between impervious rock layers above and below that trap water in it. Water enters the exposed edge of the aquifer at a high elevation and percolates downward through interconnected pore spaces. The water held in these spaces is under pressure because of the weight of water in the portion of the aquifer above it. If a well is drilled from the land surface through the overlying impervious layer into the aquifer, this pressure will cause the water to rise in the well. In areas where the slope of the aquifer is great enough, pressure will drive the water above ground level in a spectacular, permanent fountain. Artesian springs can occur in similar fashion where faults or cracks in the overlying impervious layer allow water to flow upward. Water from an artesian well or spring is usually cold and free of organic contaminants, making it desirable for drinking. In North America, the Dakota sandstone provides aquifers for an artesian system that underlies parts of the Dakotas, Montana, Wyoming, Kansas, Nebraska, and Saskatchewan and supplies great quantities of water to the dry Great Plains region. Many East Coast cities derive their water supplies from aquifers that are exposed along the edge of the Piedmont and dip downward toward the Atlantic coast. The largest artesian system in the world underlies nearly all of E and S Australia. Other important artesian systems serve London, Paris, and E Algeria.

French pièce bien faite

Play constructed according to strict technical principles that produce neatness of plot and theatrical effectiveness. The form was developed circa 1825 by Eugène Scribe and became dominant on 19th-century European and U.S. stages. It called for complex, artificial plotting, a buildup of suspense, a climactic scene in which all problems are resolved, and a happy ending. Scribe's hundreds of successful plays were imitated all over Europe; other practitioners of the form included playwrights Victorien Sardou, Georges Feydeau, and Arthur Wing Pinero, who brought the form to the level of art with The Second Mrs. Tanqueray (1893).

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Communal land organization supposedly in effect early in the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC). It is mentioned in the writings of Mencius, who advocated it. In the well-field system, one unit of land was divided among eight peasant families. A shared field was surrounded by eight fields, each worked by an individual family. The field in the centre was worked jointly by the families for their lord. Later reformers referred to the concept to justify their land-redistribution systems or to criticize government land practices.

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