E. DossowN.—State of Applied Science in Canterbury. 143 
pose of drainage, water supply, or other engineering works, in which the 
rate of fall is an important element. 
Heaurn or Towns.—From the drainage of the country we pass, by a 
natural transition, to that of the towns, and to those questions which may 
be classed under the general head of sanitary engineering. And here it 
must be confessed with regret that, beyond the abolition of the cesspool 
nuisance, there is no progress whatever to record. 
Although numerous schemes of drainage have been proposed for the two 
principal towns, viz., Lyttelton and Christchurch, nothing has yet been done 
towards their realization. This is the more to be regretted, as the Municipal 
Councils of both towns having approved of the system of removing the solid 
sewage, at short intervals, by scavengers, the question is narrowed to that of 
the disposal of the house slops, the outfalls for which would be the sea in 
the one case, and the Rivers Avon and Heathcote in the other. 
Practically, therefore, the only question to decide is, whether they shall be 
carried down the streets in the open side channels, or in underground pipes. 
Now, it is worth while to glance for a moment at the physical confor- 
mation of the two towns, as they may be considered extreme types of exactly 
opposite cases. 
Lyttelton is built in the crater of an extinct volcano, on a series of spurs 
and gullies, the streets stretching up the steep hill-side to the height of 200 
feet above the sea, to which there is ample fall from every part of the town. 
But Lyttelton, unfortunately, has no water supply beyond what is derived 
from a few deep wells near the beach, which are exhausted in the summer 
months, making it necessary, at times, to bring water in coasting vessels for 
the use of the town. In this case, the work to be done is to provide and 
raise an ample supply of water to the upper part of the town, and to flush 
the gutters from the street mains, the fall in the gutters being so great that 
they can be effectually cleansed by this means. The water might be taken 
from the artesian springs in the tunnel, or from the Heathcote River ; in the 
latter case being brought from the plains, through the tunnel, in pipes. 
Christchurch on the other hand, is an example of a totally different 
combination of circumstances. _The town may be said, in general terms, to 
lie on a plain, sloping gently to the eastward ; the western side of the town 
being about 23 feet, and the eastern side about 9 feet, above high watermark. 
But although the fall of the ground to the eastward is ample for under- 
ground drainage, which can be brought to a regular gradient, the irregularities 
of the surface are so great, that the fall of the street gutters isin many places 
barely sufficient to allow the water to run, much less to allow them to act 
as channels for offensive matters. 
Here, then, the proper course is to lay underground pipes to carry off 
