324 



F. Guthrie^ LL.B. — Sea Level in South [Feb. 27, 



Subjoined is a short Table of Places where Observations have been 

 made for not more than four years. 



Station. 



No. 



of 



years. 



. Average 

 Reading. 



Calculated 

 Height. 



Height 

 otherwise 

 obtained. 



DifEer. 





Sea Point 



1 



30-063 



16 



15 



+ 1 



* 



Port Nolloth... 



2 



30-026 



51 



40 



+ 11 



* 



S. A. College 



4 



29-976 



97 



115 



- 18 



* 



Stellenbosch ... 



3 



29741 



318 



400 



- 82 





Bishop's Court 



1 



29-856 



210 



250 



- 40 





Storm Eiver .. 



2 



29-322 



714 



... 



• • • 





Worcester 



2 



29-251 



792 



780 



+ 12 



* 



Umtata 



3 



27-709 



2294 



2400 



-106 





Beaufort West 



2 



27-175 



2837 



2850 



- 13 



* 



Kokstad 



2 



25-169 



4979 



4284 



+ 695 





Again it must be remembered that it is only in the case of those 

 lines to which asterisks are subjoined that we have any approach to 

 exact exterior measurement. 



The only unsatisfactory line in this table is that which relates to 

 Stellenbosch. An average barometric pressure for the three years 

 1889, 1890 and 1891, which were in no respect exceptional in their 

 character, ought to have given a fairly close approximation to the 

 true average, and a consequent fairly close estimate of the sea level. 

 .;\n error of over 80 feet is inexplicable, and quite contrary to the 

 experience derived from the rest of the table. It is true that the 

 otherwise determined sea level of 400 feet is probably an approxima- 

 tion by estimate only, but since the raihvay level is known wathin a 

 mile or so of the village, it is difficult to believe that any such serious 

 error as 80 feet can have been made. There is, however, obviously 

 an error somewhere. The index error of — -012, which seems to have 

 been applied in part only, will not account for this. 



In the case of Kokstad there is obviously some flagrant error some- 

 where. How such a detailed estimate as 4,284 has been arrived at, it 

 is difficult to say. In the years 1886 and 1887, observations were taken 

 at Kokstad, giving an average pressure of 25-712, and a consequent 

 sea level of 4,383 feet, differing by only 99 feet from the estimate 

 4,284. Our Kokstad observations are obviously at present unavailable 

 until the source of this gross discrepancy can be ascertained. 



