THE RAINFALL IN 1896—DOANE, 285 
this, the bare records would give to a man who might be design- 
ing works at special points, material for digging out for himself 
some approach to a law where now all is guess work, and often 
very bad guess work. 
It is to be regretted that the Meteorological Stations in this 
Province are not supplied with the most modern self-recording 
instruments. With an ordinary rain gauge it is not possible to 
determine the rate per hour of the fall of rain during a storm, 
without noting the time with a watch; and as it is very incon- 
venient, if not impracticable in the majority of cases to do this, 
it is very rarely done, and when it is, an average rate is all that 
is generally ascertained, although it may have been raining faster 
or slower at intervals during the time noted. By the use of a 
reliable self-recording rain gauge the different rates at which 
rain has fallen during a storm can be readily determined. 
