76 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. LVI, No. 1438 



it must be in view of the scattered nature of 

 the references to water falls in the literature, 

 and in view of our still imperfect knowledge 

 of the mountainous portions of several con- 

 tinents — nevertheless I venture to offer here a 

 few facts and figures that may be of interest 

 in this connection. If more accurate data are 

 available, it is hoped that this note will be 

 instrumental in inducing others to bring them 

 forth. 



The Kaieteur Falls, which are reported to 

 be 804 feet high, are probably the highest of 

 their particular class — the class of broad, 

 voluminous cataracts to which the Niagara 

 Falls, the Victoria Falls and several others 

 belong. The Wooloomumbi, on a branch of 

 Macleay River, Australia, is about 9'00 feet 

 high, but its volume is so much smaller that it 

 scarcely belongs in this class. 



The highest water falls in the world ai-e of 

 the slender "bridal veil" type. Among them 

 the Yosemite Falls appear to stand foremost. 

 The entire chain of falls and cascades which 

 the waters of Yosemite Creek make in their 

 descent from the upland to the floor of the 

 Yosemite Valley is 2,565 feet high. The indi- 

 vidual measurements are : upper fall, 1,430 

 feet; intermediate cascade, 815 feet; lower fall, 

 320 feet. 



However, it may be questioned whether it is 

 fair, in making comparisons with other water 

 falls, to consider the two Yosemite Falls and 

 their connecting cascades as forming together 

 a single unit. Those who would champion the 

 claim to first place of some other noble water 

 fall — and there is no little pride, national, 

 state and local, involved in this matter — might 

 perhaps properly object to such procedure. 

 For the cascades between the upper and lower 

 Yosemite Falls, however beautiful they may be, 

 consist only of small drops, chutes and rapids, 

 and their descent of 815 feet is distributed 

 over a horizontal distance of about 2,000 feet. 

 There are elsewhere many other cascades of a 

 similar kind that are not generally considered 

 worthy of being classed as water falls. 



It is to be noted, however, that, even if the 

 point be conceded and the cascades be ruled 

 out, the upper Yosemite Fall, taken by itself, 

 still remains far in the lead as the highest 

 single, unbroken leap of water in the world. 



This leap measures 1,360 feet in height. 



There is, so far as I can ascertain, only one 

 water fall that exceeds the upper Yosemite in 

 height — the Sutherland Fall, in New Zealand. 

 It measures 1,904 feet in height but it is broken 

 about midway by projecting ledges and makes 

 no clear leap of more than 900 feet. The falls 

 of Gavarnie, in the Pyrenees, are, according to 

 some authorities, 1,385 feet high, but they con- 

 sist of braided streamlets that slide down the 

 seams of an irregularly sculptured cliff and do 

 not fall clear through any notable height. 



It seems to me that it would be a matter of 

 no little satisfaction to American geographers 

 — and, indeed, to all American citizens who 

 take pride in the great natural features of their 

 country — if the question of the highest water 

 fall could be definitely settled, and I, therefore, 

 wish to express the hope that others who may 

 have reliable data on this subject will consent 

 to make them known. Personally, I should feel 

 greatly indebted for any information they may 

 be willing to supply. 



F. E. Matthes 



U. S. Geological Survey, 

 Washington, D. C. 



A CABINET FOR COLORED PAPERS 



Facilities for storing the stock of large 

 sheets of colored papers in the psychological 

 laboratory usually fall considerably short of 

 the technical requirements. This is true of all 

 papers that have been surfaced on one side for 

 use in chromatic or achromatic comparisons and 

 more specifically for working out color equa- 

 tions. Such papers should be readily accessi- 

 ble for selection, should therefore be arranged 

 in relatively short series, and should be prop- 

 erly classified and indexed. To these ends it is 

 customary to store the papers in a vertical 

 cabinet built up of some two dozen shallow 

 di'awers of suitable dimensions. 



On account of the unequal treatment of the 

 two sui-faces these papers have a tendency to 

 curl upward. In almost any arrangement of 

 drawers this will lead to tearing, rolling up and 

 final destruction of some of the material in 

 the cabinet. It is a particularly common occur- 

 rence in cabinets built to accommodate papers 

 with the short side toward the front and con- 

 structed without partitions between the draw- 



