TRANSACTtOKS 0^ SfeCtlON G. 871 



each IS very marked when that interval is less than fiye seconds ; htlt the Relative 

 dimensions of the funnel and the orifice are so chosen that sufficient interval for 

 the formation of the drop is allowed even with very heavy rainfalls. 



The funnel is so arranged as to discharge into a tube containing the drop 

 former. From the orifice of the drop former each drop falls and impinges on a 

 pan carried at one end of a counter-balanced lever. The momentum of the drop 

 striking the pan causes that end of the lever to be depressed, so that a small 

 pointer rigidly attached to the lever dips into a cup of mercury, closing the 

 electric circuit to the receiver. The counter-balance then brings the lever back 

 to its original position in which the circuit is broken. 



The rain, alter falling from the pan, passes into a collecting vessel by means 

 of which the readings can be checked, and which would also obviate the loss of a 

 record in case of anything going wrong with the instrument. 



In this way each drop as it falls sends a current through to the receiver, which 

 may be placed anywhere. 



The receiver consists of a drum driven by clockwork, to which ia attached a 

 diagram in the usual manner. This diagram is divided vertically into time 

 intervals, and horizontally so as to read in inches of ' rainfall,' the scale being 

 dependent on the relative dimensions of the collecting funnel and drop former. 

 Each current transmitted to the receiver works an electro-magnetic escapement 

 in such a manner as to move a pen on the diagram through a certain space 

 vertically. 



By this means the total rainfall and the variations of rate of rainfall are 

 registered on the drum. 



4. The Coal Fields and Iron Ore Deposits of the Provinces of Shansi and 

 Honan and Fropos^'^ Raihvay Construction in China. By J. G. H. 

 Glass, CJ.E. 



The general object of this paper was to furnish information respecting the 

 Opening up by British capital ot the two large provinces of Shansi and Honan, 

 and developing the vast and practically unparalleled mineral wealth they contain, 

 by the construction of a system of railways, starting from the coal-fields of Shansi 

 and connecting with the Yangtzi River opposite Nanking on the south-east and 

 the Wei River on the east, at a place called Taokou. At the proposed terminus 

 opposite Nanking, the Yangtzi River is open to sea-going vessels, and at Taokou, 

 the other terminus, the Wei River is now navigable for barges having a capacity of 

 from twenty-five to thirty tons as a maximum, and by the expenditure of a 

 moderate sum in deepening and widening certain parts, navigation would be 

 greatly improved. The large and commercial town of Tientsin is reached from 

 Taokou by means of the Wei River and the Grand Canal, on both of which there 

 is free navigation throughout the year, excepting for a short period in the winter 

 of varying duration, when it is closed by ice. The coal-fields will thus be brought 

 into communication with the seaboard at Nanking in the south and Tientsin in 

 the north. The railways will besides connect with numerous waterways inter- 

 secting the country traversed, most of which are navigable, afibrding a cheap and 

 convenient means of conveying coal, &c., to the dense population inhabiting the 

 Great Plain of China. 



The paper gave a description of the bituminous and anthracite coal-fields of 

 Shansi and Honan, visited either by the author or by members of his expedition 

 last year, and the approximate area of the coal-measures and contents available. 

 Analjses of specimens of the coal, brought to England for that purpose, were 

 furnished, and information given on the methods of mining adopted by the 

 Chinese, the output at the mines visited, and the cost at pit-head. Photographs 

 of a typical coal-mine, showing the workmen, coal-stacks, and the vehicles used 

 for transporting the coal, were shown to illustrate the paper, and maps of the 

 country, showing the proposed railway routes. The paper described the great 

 deposits of iron ores associated with the coal-fields of Shansi, and the'i general 



