VI.—THE RAINFALL 1N 1896. By F. W. W. Doans, M. Can. 
soc. C. E. City ENGINEER, Halifaa, N.S. 
(Read 10th May, 1897.) 
The systematic and accurate registration of the rainfall is a 
matter of the greatest importance to the Engineer. It is abso- 
lutely necessary in order to enable him to design intelligently 
works for water supply, sewerage, water power, drainage of 
roads, bridges, culverts, &e. 
He requires certain data to enable him to design dams 
spillways, storage reservoirs, sewers, bridges, &., so that every 
possible requirement may be provided for. 
The quantity of rain that falls annually in any one place 
varies greatly from year to year; the extreme being sometimes 
greater than 2 to 1. Asa general rule, more rain falls in warm 
than in cold countries, and more in elevated regions than in low 
ones. Local peculiarities and conditions, however, sometimes 
reverse this, and also cause great difference in the amount in 
places quite near each other. It is sometimes difficult to account 
for these variations. 
The earliest known records of rainfall were made in Paris in 
1668. Sir Christopher Wren designed the first rain gauge in 
1663. This great architect also designed the first recording 
gauge, but it was not constructed until 1670. 
The rainfall records of some portions of the United States 
cover periods extending into the last century. In Canada, the 
average amount of rain falling in Ontario has been taken by 
the officials of the Magnetic Observatory at Toronto for the past 
56 years. The meteorological station at Halifax was established 
in 1869, and observations began at Truro in 1873; a systematic 
registration of rainfall has been made at Yarmouth since 1879, 
and the record at Sydney dates back to 1893. 
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