2 T. P. ANDERSON STUART. 



output of forty-one million gallons per diem, or eight hundred 

 and twenty million gallons daily. Taking the figures of Mr. 

 McKinney as a basis, this quantity of water would irrigate 

 two and a quarter million acres with average circumstances and 

 high class management. This is ir 9 -th of the whole area of the 

 Colony, and about twice as much as is under cultivation now. It 

 thus appears, that though it has its limits, yet irrigation by artesian 

 water may play a great part in the development of the Colony, and 

 the magnificent specimens of many vegetables and plants submitted 

 to the Society amply proved what can be done by these waters. 



Happily a suggestion that these waters might be found to be 

 medicinally valuable has not been sustained. It would appear 

 that in the neighbourhood of some of the bores the people esteem 

 the waters highlyfor the treatment of various diseases — perhaps the 

 mere copious use of the water in these water-scarce regions may 

 be the real beneficial agent — at all events analyses which I had 

 made do not disclose saline contents in such quantities as to make 

 them on that account medicinally valuable. And very fortunate 

 it is too, for a water useful as medicine is scarcely likely to be 

 good as the daily supply of man or beast or vegetable. 



One of the most urgent and most important questions in this 

 connection is that of the origin of this water, for if we knew this 

 we might then ascertain the intake and therefore estimate the 

 output. It must be gratifying to you to learn, that the appeal 

 which I made to the Under Secretary for Mines and Agriculture, 

 to have proper gauges attached to all bores systematically, has 

 borne fruit, for Mr. Wood is now having the gauges fixed and the 

 flow measured and recorded systematically. Doubtless we shall 

 soon have most valuable data, throwing a flood of light on the 

 origin of artesian water, not in New South Wales only but in 

 Australia generally. 



EXPEDITION TO BORE AN ATOLL IN ORDER TO DETERMINE THE 

 FORMATION OF CORAL. 



As most of you are aware, one of the greatest works of the 

 illustrious Darwin was his book on corals and their formation. 



