248 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION A. 



In South Australia, thanks to the late Sir George Kingston, 

 father of the present Premier, we have a continuous record of the 

 rainfall in Adelaide from 1839, which that gentleman maintained 

 until 1878. 



Meteorological observations, more or less complete, were made 

 at the Survey Office for a number of years, or until I took up the 

 work in November, 1856, when the observatory records commenced 

 under my direction as Government Astronomer. 



Since May, 1860, all the observations have tjeen made at the 

 West-terrace observatory. For several years I had no assistant, 

 and having a growing Telegraph Department to look after and 

 control, the area of my work was necessarily restricted, and I 

 labored under many disadvantages ; but I early established meteoro- 

 logical stations at Clare, Kapunda, Strathalbyn, Goolwa, Robe, and 

 Mount Gambler, and placed rain gauges at the different telegraph 

 offices. I also introduced the system of publishing daily reports 

 of the w^eather and rainfall from all stations at the head telegraph 

 office in Adelaide.. 



We have now meteorological stations, having standard or Board 

 of Trade barometers, dry and wet bulb thermometers, maximum 

 and minimum thermometers, and rain gauges, at Port Darwin, Daly 

 Waters, Alice Springs, Charlotte Waters, Strangways Springs, 

 Farina, Port Augusta, Yongala, Clare, Kapunda, the Agricultural 

 College at Roseworthy, Mount Barker, Strathalbyn, Eucla, Fowler's 

 Bay, Streaky Bay, Port Lincoln, Cape Borda, Robe, Mount 

 Gambler, and Cape Northumberland, and 370 rain gauges ; at the 

 lighthouses at Cape Borda and Cape Northumberland, and at the 

 telegraph offices at Port Darwin and Alice Springs, the observa- 

 tions are taken every three hours, night and day; at other stations 

 at 9h. a.m., 3h., p.m., 9h. p.m. ; whilst at Alice Springs there is a 

 large evaporation tank similar to the one at the observatory, which 

 it may be convenient here to describe. 



It consists, first, of a brick tank, lined with cement ; internal 

 measurement, 4ft. 6in. square and 3ft. 2in. deep. Inside this tank 

 is another, made of slate, 3ft. square and 3ft. deep, leaving an 

 intervening space between it and ihe larger tank of 7in. Both 

 tanks are filled to the same level, or to within 3m. or 4in. of the 

 top, fresh water being added as required. The evaporation is 

 measured by a graduated vertical rod, which is carried by a float 

 placed in a vertical cylinder of copper 4in. in diameter (perforated 

 at tlie bottom) standing in the inner tank. The rod is graduated 

 to iV of an inch, and is read off by means of a fixed vernier to 

 1^77 of an inch. A rain gauge is placed by the side of the tank, 

 and both the evaporation and the rainfall are read at 9 am. and 

 9 f..m. 



As the question of evaporation is an important one in connection 

 with water conservation, I give below the mean evaporation at 

 Adelaide, deduced from twenty-three years' observations, and at 



