July 24, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



105 



of soil. Thus two adjoining basins, receiv- 

 ing the same amount of rain, but differing, 

 in slope or in the nature of their soils, or 

 both, will also differ more or less in their 

 run-off. An examination of the Georgia 

 streams has shown that highly deceptive 

 results would be had if for two neighbor- 

 ing basins a certain percentage of rain were 

 taken as giving the run- off. 



A limiting factor in the location of gaug- 

 ing stations is the cost and accessibility of 

 such stations. Nearly all of the United 

 States Geological Survey gauging stations in 

 the eastern United States are at railroad or 

 highway bridges. Much of the field work 

 of 1895 has consisted in inspections of such 

 crossings. Where a suitable locality filling 

 the engineering requirements was found, 

 measurments of the discharge were made 

 a,nd there was established a gauge rod 

 on which the height of the river could be 

 read daily by a man employed for the 

 purpose and who usually resided near the 

 bridge. 



To obtain the best results the river at a 

 measuring station should have a regular 

 and smooth bottom, the water should have 

 a velocity that can be measured by current 

 meters and the channel should be straight 

 for some distance above and below. 



It seems as though bridges had been 

 erected at points in order that gaugings 

 could not be made from them. Either the 

 bridge extended diagonally across the river 

 or it was over a pool of water with little 

 current, as in the case of the ponding of a 

 river by a dam, or the section of the river 

 under the bridge was rocky and filled with 

 obstructions. 



A general reconnoissance was made in 

 July, 1895, through Virginia and West 

 Virginia, for the purpose of inspecting the 

 head waters of the Shenandoah, James and 

 New rivers. As a result two stations were 

 ■established at Port Republic, Virginia, one 

 on the South Branch and the other on the 



North Branch of the South Fork of the 

 Shenandoah. These stations in connection 

 with the one at Millville, Virginia, furnish 

 data for the satisfactory study of this 

 stream. On the James River stations were 

 established on the North Fork near its 

 mouth and on the main river at Buchanan, 

 twenty miles above the mouth of this fork. 

 The sum of the discharges at these two 

 points will give the discharge of the James 

 at Balcony Falls, the point where it breaks 

 through the Blue Ridge and where there is 

 a fine undeveloped water-power privilege. 

 Passing over the divide to the head waters 

 of the New, a tributary of the Ohio River, 

 a station was established at Alderson, West 

 Virginia, on the picturesque Greenbrier 

 River, and one on the New at Fayette, West 

 Virginia. This latter river is a torrential 

 stream, in places widening to 2,000 feet, as 

 at Hinton, but lower down on its course, as 

 the surrounding mountains close in, con- 

 tracting to 200 or 300 feet in width. In 

 such places the river even in low water 

 tumbles and foams over its rocky bot- 

 tom. 



By the examination of a contour map of 

 the Appalachian region, it will be seen that 

 the rivers draining the Appalachian valley 

 in the northern portion, as the Susque- 

 hanna, Potomac, James and Roanoke, have 

 a general eastward course, the divide be- 

 tween the Atlantic coast streams and the 

 tributaries of the Mississippi being along 

 the Allegheny front. Passing into North 

 Carolina, the divide bends southeastward 

 to the summits of the Blue Ridge. Here 

 the Appalachian valley drainage is to the 

 westward. After a thorough inspection of 

 the French Broad a station was established 

 at Asheville, North Carolina. This river is 

 not a typical mountain stream, the valley 

 above Asheville is comparatively broad and 

 has little fall. The rivers to the south, as 

 the Tuckaseegee and Little Tennessee, are 

 more nearly typical mountain torrents, 



