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. 



