KiNAHAN — On the Clearing of Peaty Waters. 459 



In frosty weather the case is similar; the surface of the bogs is 

 frozen, preventing the percolation of waters, and the water supply is 

 often derived from melting snows ; in one case it was observed that 

 though a quantity of peaty water had collected behind a snowdrift, yet 

 the water flowing from the other side of the drift was quite colourless. 



In wet weather the principal supply of water is derived from the 

 surface and superficial accumulations ; that which flows from bogs and 

 peaty ground is more or less tinted, as rain falling on these lands dis- 

 places the water contained in the reservoirs of the bogs, i.e. the pores 

 of the peat and the surface holes such as "bog-holes," " turf -holes," 

 and mountain loughs : as these waters contain a large amount of dis- 

 solved peaty matter, they flow into the streams deeply tinted. 



At the commencement of dry weather the reservoirs in connexion 

 with the rivers, such as lakes and pools, contain peaty waters, and it 

 is not until these have been altogether displaced by clear water from 

 springs, &c., that the streams flowing therefrom run colourless. The 

 larger, therefore, a river and its reservoirs are, the longer it takes to 

 become perfectly colourless. 



Of the Shannon above Limerick, after the late long continued 

 drought (March and April, 1881), there having been very little rain, 

 and no floods for weeks. Captain King writes — "we have had no floods 

 for a long time, and the river is in its purest state, even its usual 

 boggy appearance has taken flight." 



