394 TRANS. ST. LOUIS ACAD. SCIENCE. 



which is about the rainfall at St. Louis during the ten years. 



The river discharge at St. Louis was obtained by converting 

 the average gauge readings for each month during the ten years 

 into cubic feet per second, by means of the discharge-curve con- 

 structed by the Missouri River Commij-sion. This is not quite 

 accurate as discharge is not a linear function of gauge reading, 

 so that fluctuations of level during the month are not properly 

 represented. The error, however, will not be more than a few 

 per cent., and will not at all aflect the general conclusions which 

 will be reached. 



The following table gives the river discharge for each month, 

 the unit being 1,000 cubic feet per second. Thus in January, 

 1 878, the average flow of water was at the rate of 108,000 cubic 

 feet per second, etc. 



RIVER DISCHARGE AT ST. LOUIS. 



