NOTES ON THE WATER SUPPLY OF EDENSIDE. 
By J. G. GOODCHILD, H.M. Grou. Survey, F.G.S. 
(Read at the Penrith Annual Meeting.) 
In the neighbourhood of Penrith the annual rainfall, taking one 
year with another, may be said to average about thirty inches, 
which is another way of stating that, if all the rain that falls in a 
year near Penrith could be kept exactly where it reaches the earth, 
there would be a sufficient quantity to cover all the ground to a 
depth of rather less than a yard. As the rain-water does not 
accumulate in this way, but, on the contrary, the ground is left 
practically dry, it is clear that the water must have gone off in 
some other way. Where part of it goes is not difficult to find out; 
we have only to notice the effect of a copious watering upon 
flower-gardens, or upon roads in dry weather, to find out that the 
soaking extends to but a small distance from the surface—usually 
not more than three or four inches down—and that it has to be 
frequently repeated, if we desire to keep the surface in question in 
a moist condition. In both cases, it is clear that the water has 
been dried up, or, in other words, has gone back into the air. 
The quantity got rid of by evaporation in this way is dependent 
upon very complex conditions, which need not be discussed here. 
For the present purpose it may suffice to state that, in a general 
way, at least one-third of the quantity of rain precipitated dries 
up again sooner or later, and so finds its way back again into 
the air. 
What becomes of the remaining two-thirds is not difficult to 
