98 Transactions of the Royal Society of Victoria. 



stream after leaving the Paper Mills. On reaching the 

 Gardens, at the time we took samples of the water, the 

 proportion went down much more than was anticipated. 

 No doubt considerable variations take place in this respect. 

 Rain and high tides undoubtedly exercise much effect. The 

 bed of the river is, I am informed so formed between these 

 points which I have indicated, as to account to some large 

 extent for this sudden diminution of the saline constitu- 

 ents. 



Sea water is known to be impregnated with magnesium 

 chloride. The water of the ocean and seas '' is subject to 

 some variations, according to the part where it is collected. 

 The waters of the Baltic and Black Seas are less salt than 

 the average." The waters of the Mediterranean in the 

 Levant are more salt than near Gibraltar, the variations 

 ranging from 3 "5 to 4 per cent. A complete analysis of our 

 Australian sea water has not yet been done, but would be 

 both a useful as well as an interesting piece of original 

 work. 



I may add that the removal of the Falls and cutting 

 of the new channel has not been an unmixed evil from a 

 sanitary point of view. The antiseptic power and the 

 precipitating influence of chloride of sodium in the Yarra 

 should have an effect on the contaminations constantly 

 entering it. Some little time ago there was a great outcry 

 about stenches on the Yarra, but those bad smells arose 

 chiefly from the operations carried on for the construc- 

 tion of Princes Bridge. The contractor pumped the water 

 out of the lagoons in the vicinity of the bridge, and this 

 water was highly charged with decayed organic matter. 

 Moreover, the water from the lagoons had filtered into the 

 river, and had left decayed organic matter in the earth 

 through which it passed, and this earth had been disturbed, 

 and smelt very badly. But the public has been under the im- 

 pression that the Yarra itself was in a worse state than it had 

 been in for many years. Since the operations I have referred 

 to have been concluded, one can walk along the banks of 

 the Yarra without having his olfactory nerves offended. The 

 Yarra must naturally be contaminated, but it is no longer 

 a public nuisance. I hope, however, that efforts will 

 be made to keep the Yarra as free as possible from con- 

 tamination, for I do not wish to minimise the dangers 

 arising from the pollution of the stream. 



