1890-91.] LAKE CURRENTS. 155 



thrown into the lake as far as seven miles east of the intake pipe would, 

 under the influence of strong east winds, reach the pipe in three hours. 

 If this statement could be proved it would settle the matter in short 

 order. It led me to follow up the question a little further and I 

 reasoned thus ; if the winds drove the water along at the rate of 2^ 

 miles per hour it would reach Hamilton in about i6 hours. It is quite 

 evident that the surface of the water is more influenced by the wind 

 than at greater depths. We will suppose that lo feet of the surface is so 

 influenced, and that a storm lasts, as most easterly storms do, from two 

 to three days ; then consider that the cross section of the lake is some- 

 where about 40 miles broad, and that 10 feet of the surface is focussed 

 on Hamilton for three days ; the unhappy fate of that city may easily 

 be predicted. She would no longer offer a butt for the stale jokes of 

 Toronto wits, but we should speak of her in all sisterly tenderness as the 

 " dear departed." The mountain would no doubt come in handy to the 

 natives of the Ambitious City. 



But, in all seriousness, it must be conceded that the influence of the 

 winds and waves has a tendenc}' to move the surface more or less in 

 their own direction, and that during a strong easterly gale a few feet of 

 the surface of the water is driven in a corresponding direction ; and this 

 is verified by the fact that under such conditions we find the level of the 

 lake raised a (qw feet along the Hamilton beach. But though the storm 

 may continue for days with unabated force it does not rise any higher ; 

 so what is the only conclusion we can arrive at? Only this, that the 

 head so raised forces a portion of the water back as an undertow, and 

 forms a current in the opposite direction. Thus it is evident that were 

 a sewage outlet located well to the east of the intake of water, say in the 

 neighborhood of Scarborough Heights, very little danger, if any, need be 

 anticipated ; for when an easterly storm arises it will give rise to an 

 undercurrent in an opposite direction, which will first flow past the 

 intake of water, thence on to the sewage outlet and so on to the east. 

 So that any charge of water contamination from such a cause is as 

 baseless as the wolf's indictment of the lamb for disturbing the water he 

 was drinking. The answer which the lamb made will suffice for us, 

 " Pray how can that be since the water flows from you to me." If this 

 theory be true it will seriously militate against a westerly discharge of 

 sewage as advocated by some local sanitarians, or against the two or 

 three minor outlets to the west as recommended in the latest report on 

 the subject. It stands to reason that it is unwise to have outlets both to 

 the east and west of the intake of water, for whatever the conditions or 

 nature of the currents that will render the one secure will cause the 

 other to be a certain danger. 



