TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION C. 



745 



would follow from any causA increasijij^ the nmnunt or velocity of t he water, elevation 

 of the land, increa.^od rainfall, Sec, and ''ach rtti-occ. .sion would inercaso the dia- 

 chiiftrinfr power of the river, thus tendinjj to carry olV the Increased water supply. 

 Tlie relation between the increased supply and the dischar^^'ng power thus tends 

 through retrocession to equality and to balance. 



9. All the features of iSiagara being dependent on the force ot ili(\ waters, 

 evorv attempt to diminish this force l)y what is known as the iitilisiit'on of the 

 Falls would change these features, and if the utilisation were carried to the extent 

 sometimes proposed these features woidd be destroyed. Abstract the rin cirn from 

 the water and we have only a mass of inert matter. 



10. It may be questioned whether even the material argument in favour oi 

 utilisation, great as it is, is so conclusively in favour of tlie utiliser as is oftew 

 .supposed. It is admitted that Niagara has ])layed no mean part in the geographical 

 evolution of this part of the continent, and it may be asked does it not now plaj 

 an equally important part in its preservation ? In the Niagara descent is generated 

 the impulse which commands the circulation both of the upper and lower lakes, 

 and hence to some extent the drainage, rainfall, and cultivation of their adjacent 

 ureas of country. The Niagara impulse, some four and a half million horse-power, 

 tends to move the waters down from I']rie and to drive them through Ontario. If 

 this impulse be wholly or even largely withdrawn in the manner proposed, what may 

 he the effect on the circulation of this continental district. If this is not now a. 

 practical question the proposals now in the air may soon make it one. 



i 



I 



