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matter in the meeting of 31 May 1887. Phis commission consisted 

 of the members Of the section of Geography and Navigation and 

 besides of the members Daubrée, Favé Lalannë, de Jonquières and 

 Boussinesq and the reporter Bouquet du la Grije. 



This l'eport, though short, contains the results of extensive com- 

 putations, which led the commission to the following highly remar- 

 kable and important conclusion. 



"que, dans aucun cas, les courants dus a la dénivellation ne pour- 

 "ront depasser 2h noeud" (±1.29 M. par seconde , "et que cette Vitesse, 

 "qui ne peut être atteinte tons les ans que pendant quelques heures, 

 "ne parait pas de nature a gêner la navigation des bateaux a vapeur 

 "dans le canal que Von creuse actuelleiuent a Panama''. 



This conclusion was accepted by the Academy and the question 

 concerning the possibility of an open Panama-canal without locks 

 was placed in quite another light than that in which it appeared after 

 the congress of 1879. 



Owing to particular circumstances, this conclusion of the French 

 Academy of Sciences has attracted comparatively little attention. 

 For in the same year that this conclusion was reached, the original 

 project of a sea-level canal with Jock had to be given up and to 

 be replaced by a canal with several locks. It was the beginning of 

 the sufferings of the Panama-canal. 



Since then the principal consideration has always been to limit 

 the excavations to the utmost. For this purpose the hilly country 

 required a canal at high level, consequently several locks. 



§ 3. Therefore, if we wish to answer the question whether an 

 open Panama-canal without sluices is possible, we have to inquire 

 in the first place, whether the report of the French Academy of 

 Sciences, of 1887 is based on sound foundations. 



What were these foundations ? 



In accordance with observations at the tide-gauge at Panama the 

 differences between high and low water, in other words, the ampli- 

 tudes of the tides at the mouth of the Panama-canal were adopted 

 to amount to : 



at neap tide, on an average 2.46 M. 



„ spring „ „ „ „ 5.06 M. 



,, ,, ,, maximum in March or Sept. 6.76 M. 



The commission now calculates the velocity of the current for this 

 maximum difference in height of the tides on the Pacific of 6.76 Ml, 



