186 Transactions.— Miscellaneous. 
After the disastrous floods of 1846 and 1856 these basins were taken as 
models for numerous projects, one of which was the establishment of eighty- 
eight storage lakes of a similar kind on the Loire and its affluents, proposed . 
by Mons. Comoy. One of these basins was commenced in 1861 on the 
river Furens, an affluent of the Loire near St. Etienne, but before the 
completion of the work its destiny was altered, and the water, which was 
retained by a masonry dam 170 feet high, was applied as a motive force. 
The greater number of Italian engineers are not favourable to the plan 
of storage basins. Signor Lombardini, the famous hydraulic engineer, 
remarks, with reference to the case of the Loire, that the basins proposed in 
the valleys of that river would have cost £2,600,000 to store a mass of 
water, the withdrawal of which from the supply would result in the lowering 
at the point of juncture of the two streams, of the Allier by 2°3 feet, and of 
the Loire by 3°3 feet, which is an insignificant result when compared with 
the expenditure required to effect it. 
I have quoted these particulars regarding what has been done in the 
matter of late years in Italy and the South of France, in order to show the 
importance with which the subject is regarded where the rivers bear very 2 
much the same character that they do in New Zealand. 
Before undertaking works of this nature here, we should as far as - 
possible reap the benefit of the extensive experience gained in the older: 
countries. Volumes could be filled with examples of the works that have 
been undertaken with a view of regulating and controlling the floods in 
rivers, and recording the results; a thorough study of the whole subject is, 
however, the only manner in which to understand the measures employed, 
including if possible a personal examination of the works themselves. 
It may be said that though these European rivers bear somewhat 
similar features to those in New Zealand, they differ sufficiently to require 
a distinct mode of treatment. This is true of all rivers to a great extent, 
as the slightest variation in the slope of their beds, the different nature of 
the country through which they flow, the geological features of the mountains 
in which they rise, and many other circumstances, render it necessary that 
each should be considered separately and treated differently. 
As previously mentioned, one method generally proposed for the 
protection of river banks is by planting them, which in very many cases 
means re-planting them, as most rivers have been more or less wooded 
ally. This method has been practised on some of the Alpine 
tributaries of the Italian rivers, but I am not aware of the results. It 
would be a most difficult plan to carry out successfully, and would 
necessitate the purchase or reserving of the land for a considerable width 
on both banks, and that it should be fenced in to protect the young trees 
