IMPORTANCE OP FEDERAL HYDROGRAPHY. XXIII. 



round, and in most of these countries it is considered to be 

 of such importance as to form a division or branch of some 

 Government Department. In the United States it forms a 

 division of that great work, the United States Geological 

 Survey, the annual report of which runs into many volumes, 

 one volume of 750 pages profusely illustrated being entirely 

 devoted to hydrography. 



The subject is naturally so akin to geology that a com- 

 bined research of both subjects can be carried out more 

 economically than when separately considered, but to be 

 of any value to the State it must be pursued systematically 

 and comprehensively over the whole of the Commonwealth 

 and the results periodically published. It is of very little 

 national value to undertake isolated researches into the 

 hydrology of a river basin here and there, or to record the 

 rainfall without a close study of the rivers and atmospheric 

 effect, or to make any observations at all which are pigeon- 

 holed in some public department and thence forgotten. 



This State is much indebted to Mr. H. 0. Russell, b.a., 

 c.m.g., f.r.a.s., Government Astronomer, for his researches 

 in many branches of hydrological science, and to his efforts 

 in establishing so many rain gauges in different parts of 

 the country and for his very valuable compilation of Rain, 

 River, and Evaporation Observations, but to be of any real 

 value to the engineer the observing stations require to be 

 greatly increased so as to embrace every principal creek 

 and river basin in the State. 



Mr. H. G. McKinney, m. inat. c.e., late Engineer to the 

 Water Conservation Branch of the Public Works Depart- 

 ment, and the officers of that branch have also performed 

 much valuable work in the examination of some of our 

 rivers, but, the results of which are unfortunately, only to 

 a small extent accessible to the general public. As regards 

 our artesian wells the Superintendent of Public Watering 



