268 Report of the Regents of the University, &c. 
The measuring stick should be a very thin flat piece of wood, 
about half an inch wide, sloped at its lower end toa point. Asa 
substitute for varnish, some coats of thin flour paste may be put on 
the face of the scale, having one well dried before another is put on.* 
Although the direction for the management of this gage is that 
the water in it shall be measured immediately after every fall of 
rain, in order to have the advantage of the large degrees at the 
lower end of the scale, still, in order to guard against any evaporation, 
in consequence of an occasional delay in measuring the water, a small 
addition has been made to the gage, of which a description has al- 
ready been given in this Journal. It is a hol- 
low cone of tin, having (if the base of the gage 
be six inches) a base of four inches, and be- 
ing two and a half inches high, with an appen- 
dage at the apex for a handle. This is put 
down into the gage, with its base downwards, 
and however closely pressed into it, a sufficient 
crevice will be left for the water to pass through 
it to the lower part of the gage. 
In a letter from Mr. De Witt to the Editor, dated August, 1833, 
are the following very just remarks. 
“Tf it is not now clearly discernible what practical use can be de- 
rived from observations by the rain-gage, yet, considering the little 
trouble attending them, and the possible deductions of utility to which 
they may ultimately lead, the keeping of a record of this branch of 
meteorology is entitled to a systematic provision. 
“When it was first observed that sealing wax, amber or glass, on 
being rubbed, would attract light bodies, who could have thought 
that this would lead to the wonderful discoveries since made in elec- 
tricity, to our acquaintance with the nature of lightning, and the 
means of paralyzing its tremendous power? Facts like these should 
teach us that observations on the phenomena of nature, however tri- 
fling they may at present appear, may, if records of them be kept, 
at some future time contribute to improvements in abstract science 
or practical knowledge, such as, if now predicted, would appear in- 
credible, if not impossible.” 
* This has been found not to answer as well as map varnish which has been used 
for the scales. From fifty to sixty have been neatly made of Pia at one dollar, 
for the academies; they are furnished with a scale and measuring sti 
