30 HENRY DEANE. 



taining characteristic graptolites) have been collected at The 

 Myall, between Dubbo and Peak Hill, by Mr. F. Dan vers Power, 

 f.g.s. Lower Silurian Rocks had not been recognised in New 

 South Wales prior to 1897, and their occurrence in two localities 

 so remote as those referred to points to the probability of their 

 being found to cover a considerable area of the colony. 



Artesian Bores. — Mr. J. W. Boultbee has furnished me with 

 some most interesting particulars of the work done in this direc- 

 tion, but they are too extensive to include in this address, and I 

 have asked Mr. Boultbee to submit his account to the Society in 

 the usual way at one of the monthly meetings. Mr. Boultbee 

 shows how in America the presence of artesian water has been 

 the cause of the growth of a large population in otherwise dry 

 districts, and predicts a similar result in New South Wales. The 

 work of boring, both public and private, has progressed rapidly, 

 but there is still an enormous proportion of the 60,000 miles of 

 country proved to be water-bearing untouched and unexplored by 

 the drill. The number of Government bores completed to date 

 is sixty-six, the total depth driven 137,589 feet, and the approxi- 

 mate output 30,674,500 gallons daily. 



Water Conservation in New South Wales. — The two events of 

 greatest importance in regard to water conservation during 1897 

 were the commencement of the operation of the Water Rights 

 Act, and the submission of the report of Colonel F. J. Home, r.e., 

 c.s.i. The Water Rights Act defines the rights of the State and 

 of individuals to natural supplies of water and provides a system 

 of licensing dams and other work, if no reasonable objection to 

 their work can be shown. The Act also provides for the con- 

 struction of work for water conservation, irrigation and drainage 

 by the Government in cases where the land holders to be benefited 

 are willing to pay the interest on the outlay and the cost of main- 

 tenance. The Water Rights Act became law on 1st November, 

 1896, and between that date and 1st February, 1897, the number 

 of applications received for licenses was considerably over four 

 hundred. Up to the end of 1897 more than four hundred appli- 



