502 JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 
hours, and the smallest record for a day is 25 miles—little more than a 
mile per hour. In Sydney during the same period 7050 of wind miles 
were recorded, and it is not uncommon to record in Sydney in three 
days as much wind as was recorded at Bourke in 30 days. Lake George 
is called a fresh-water lake, and some have even gone so far as to propose 
to use it as a reservoir for the supply of towns. When there I ascer- 
tained that no one could use the water on account of its purgative 
properties, one glass full being quite enough to satisfy those who made 
use of it; and it is there said that the water running into the lake from 
the Currawang copper mine had poisoned all the fish. This is not 
literally true, for there are still fish in the lake; but very many were 
killed some years since, presumably by the cause mentioned. I obtained 
some of the water, and am indebted to Mr. Dixon, of the Technical 
College Laboratory, for the following interesting information as to what 
the water contains:—It is quite evident that with 187°5 grains of 
mineral matter per gallon the water cannot be used for domestic 
purposes, and from the fact that this matter is constantly being added 
to, it cannot improve, unless it were possible to withdraw large quan- 
tities of the water, and supply its place with rain water; but during by 
far the greatest number of years during which the lake has been known, 
viz., 64 years, the supply of rain water going into it annually has not 
been equal to the evaporation, and there is no other outlet. After the 
great flood of 1870 the lake, during the last 14 years has gradually 
decreased by nearly a foot per annum, and similar conditions existed 
before; and it is therefore obvious that it would not be possible to wash 
out the salts with rain water and artificial drainage except in wet years 
—perhaps once in 20 years. Extract Mining Department’s report, 
1880 :—‘‘Three samples of water from the Currawang Copper mines 
were sent for analysis, with special reference to their poisonous action 
on the fish in Lake George, and were therefore only examined with 
regard to the metals in solution. The metals were present as sulphates, 
and are stated below:—Water from the creek contains: Sulphate of 
copper, 1°12 grains per gallon ; sulphate of zinc, 16°78 grains per gallon ; 
sulphate of iron, 0:43 grains per gallon. Water from the working shaft: 
Sulphate of copper, 17°67 grains per gallon; sulphate of zinc, 53:54 
grains per gallon; sulphate of iron, 1:42 grains per gallon. Water from 
the old shaft: Sulphate of copper, 6°42 grains per gallon; sulphate of 
zinc, 7:20 grains per gallon; sulphate of iron, 0°98 grains per gallon.” 
This water would necessarily be poisonous to fish, and flowing into a 
lake without outlet, would ultimately render the whole water poisonous. 
“Technical College Laboratory, Sydney, 2nd May, 1885. My dear Mr. 
Russell,—The water from Lake George contains 187°5 grains per gallon 
of solid matter dried at 212° F. The residue has a strongly alkaline 
reaction, effervesces with acid, blackens much on ignition, but does not 
show the presence of nitrates in doing so. The metals present are 
aluminium, calcium, and magnesium; the acids chlorine, carbonic acid, 
sulphuric acid, and phosphoric acid, the last two in small quantity. 
The salts are probably arranged as chloride of sodium, sulphate of 
sodium, phosphate of sodium, carbonate of sodium, and carbonates of 
calcium and magnesium. The purgative properties of the water are 
probably due to the salts as a whole, and especially the carbonate of 
magnesia. It should be borne in mind, however, that waters containing 
much organic matter frequently have a purgative effect.—Signed, W. A. 
