48 Mr. Dickinson [Feb. 23, 



England than in Scotland, because in the latter country, lakes, 

 mountains producing rivers with sharp declivities, and tracts of 

 moor land, adapted for gathering grounds, are to be found in the 

 neighbourhood of their principal towns and cities, and the inhabit- 

 ants have availed themselves of these local advantages for obtain- 

 ing the supply needed ; and though, in some instances, they have 

 had to convey water from considerable distances, and to form 

 engineering works of great magnitude for receiving the water, yet 

 they have to boast not only of the amplitude and excellence of their 

 supply, but of its moderate cost. 



Mr. Thom, who gave evidence before the Commission, states, 

 " At Campbeltown, a family of five individuals will be supplied for 

 " about \s. 4d. per annum ; the cost at Ayr, for the same quantity, 

 " is 2*. 2d. ; at Paisley, it is 25. 9c?. ; in Greenock, I think, it is 

 " about 2s. 6d. I allow in this case 5 per cent, on the capital 

 " employed ; the expense for wear and tear, charge for superintend- 

 '^ ence, and the like, being always included in my estimate." He 

 further states, " All those are high -pressure services, and reaching 

 " the tops of houses, have all the advantages of being enabled to 

 " put out fire, and supply the cisterns at the tops of houses." 



Mr. Dickinson remarked, that the supply by gravitation had the 

 advantage of being constant instead of being intermittent ; and at 

 the same time the works connected with it were more simple, and, 

 by reason of saving the expense of steam engines, force-pipes, and 

 coals, far less costly. He then proceeded to explain the mode by 

 which it might be introduced, to a far greater extent than at present, 

 for the supply of London, Westminster, and the western suburbs 

 of the metropolis. The description of this was illustrated by maps, 

 on a large scale, and a model, by means of which, and particularly 

 by the model, the superficies of the country, and its geological 

 features were exemplified, so as to render the description of the 

 plan perfectly comprehensible. He explained that the model 

 exhibited the valley of the river Lea, from whence the New 

 River is derived, and that of the Colne, from which he proposed 

 to derive another New River. He pointed out the uniformity of 

 character of the rivers Lea and Colne ; that each of them was 

 constituted by the confluence of several small perennial streams 

 issuing from the deeper valleys of the chalk, which had their source 

 towards the summit or escarpment of that stratum, and were fed 

 and augmented throughout every yard of their course by springs. 



He explained, that in consequence of the absorbency of the sur- 

 face, a considerable portion of the rainfall gradually descending 

 through the crevices and fissures of the chalk, constitutes by its 

 accumulation in those hills a vast natural reservoir, which, owing to 

 the necessary difficulty of percolation towards the springs, main- 

 tains a constant supply to the rivers throughout the year, though 

 varying exceedingly in quantity according to the amount and period 

 of the rainfall ; the summer rains being proved, according to a 



