130 EEV. J. C. CLrXTEEBTJCK — GEOLOGY AND WATEE SUPPLY 



are several methods by -which attempts have been made to measure 

 the amount of the storage and discharge of the -svater in tlio Chalk. 

 Any mere average of rainfall is no certain guide ; it depends more 

 on the conditions under which the rain falls, than on the amount 

 falling. The heaviest summer rain will scarcely replace that 

 evaporated from the surface, whereas a moderate rainfall in the 

 winter, when the soil is wet, will descend to augment the stock 

 of water in the Chalk. This is clearly shown by the records of a 

 rain gauge bearing the name of the great Dalton, kept for more 

 than a generation by the late Mr. John Dickinson, and now by 

 Mr. John Evans, which registers the rainfall percolating three feet 

 of earth, and thereby indicates the amount which sinks to the level 

 of the subterranean Chalk water. Some have contented them- 

 selves with the measurement of wells, a somewhat troublesome 

 process, but where a conveniently situated line of wells can be 

 found, being well worth the while of those who take an interest 

 in such matters. The wiiter of this paper has always — in these 

 days when the water-supply question increases in interest and 

 importance — protested against abstracting large quantities of water 

 from the Chalk as the great water-bearing stratum, and he ventures 

 to quote what he said in evidence when examined before the Royal 

 Commission, and which was quoted with approval by the Ministers 

 of the Crown in both Houses of Parliament : — " Take the water as 

 it flows above ground, but do not tamper with it below." 



It may be asked what effects will be produced by pumping 

 water at the Colne Valley Water Works. I have heard Mr. 

 Bateman distinctly disclaim any particular knowledge of water 

 supply in the Chalk districts, when examined before the Committee 

 of the House of Lords ; and in a discussion on a paper by the late 

 Mr. F. Braithwaite, on the rise and fall of the Wandle, he said 

 that he was but slightly acquainted with the question of water 

 supply in the Chalk districts. I venture to claim some knowledge 

 on the subject, especially in the immediate vicinity of the spot 

 where the Water Works are placed. I have a record of the rise and 

 fall of the wells near at hand for the years 1841-2, the winter of 

 the former being a very wet season with a rainfall of 12-68 inches 

 in the months of September, October, and November, with a per- 

 colation in Dalton's gauge of 10-86 in those months, therefore 

 specially favourable to observation on the alternations of the Chalk 

 water-level, and the effects of the irruption of water by swallow- 

 holes, and the coincidcnit rise and fall of the river and wells. I 

 am informed that the well is made water-tight to the depth, I 

 think, of 60 feet, with a -view of excluding the water of the 

 river. It will be found that the water in the well rises and falls 

 with the water in the river. Therefore this so-called precaution is 

 quite unnecessary. Tlie well would of course be " steined " till it 

 reached the solid Chalk, but beyond this any money so expended 

 would be simple waste. Proof of tliis may be found in the record 

 of an experiinent made by the Grand JuiU'tion Ciinal Company, 

 when the late Mr. John Diikinson opposed the sinking a well at 

 the head of the Bulborue. 



