On the Native Method of raising Water by Baling. 105 
From this statement it will appear, that the water can neither be palata- 
tie nor salutary. It contains of common salt nearly three times as much as the 
draw well at Upsal, which Bergmann says is seldom used unless for some mean pur- 
pose. A person who should drink two quarts of it daily would swallow 34 grains ol 
common salt, 4 grains of muriate of magnesia, (which is said to be greatly superior 
in purgative power to Epsom salt *,) and 5J grains of clay. All this can hardly fail 
to affect the bowels, but I cannot pretend to say in what degree, nor how long, m 
case of necessity, such water might be used with safety. .... , 
I regret that the above account is so imperfect, but should you find it in any de- 
gree useful, it will be a satisfaction to. 
My dear Sir, &c. &c. 
Calcutta, l (Signed) Wm. Hunter. 
18 thAug. 1806 . J 
M.—On the Native Method of raising Water by Baling. 
To the Editor of Gleanings in Science. 
There is a method of raising water in India by haling which, where the quantity 
is limited and no repetition of the operation likely to occur, is perhaps the best we 
can resort to, I mean on account of the simplicity and low cost of the apparatus. 
Many people imagine it to be more than tbis, and think that it is not only the sim- 
plest but the most effectual method of employing human labour ; and of this opinion 
was a friend with whom, a few mornings ago, 1 went to examine the new canal that 
is now in progress, and in which the method in question was in operation for drain- 
ing the small tanks that happen to lie in the line of the canal. A few simp e 
measurements and calculations soon convinced him of his error ; and as the result 
was unexpected in that instance, it may be so in others. I therefore send l you 
for publication, in case you think it likely to throw any light on the subjec . 
The method in question is, that of tossing the water by means of basket ladles or 
scoops held by ropes, from one level to another. If the difference ot level be at a I 
considerable, there must be a number of them, as the rise due to each scoop can 
seldom with advantage he extended much beyond the height of the men working it. 
The arrangement is doubtless familiar to most people in India, as it is frequen y 
employed in irrigation in different parts of the country, and X shall therefore spare 
myself and your readers any further description of it. <■ c,.. 
Six men weVe employed at the one in question, two at the lower step of three feet, 
and four at the higher one of seven feet, the total height raised being ten “ : , 
scoops held in both cases as near as could be estimated about 3 of a cubic too of 
water each, (the people themselves said 10 to 12 seers.) The lower scoop musthaye 
kept the upper one in full supply though only worked by two men, for it was found, 
that onlv 19 strokes of the latter were made in the same tune, as 2a strokes of the 
former ;'add to which that, owing to the height of the upper step (seven feet) > 
water was spilled in throwing it up. We see then, that small as is the quantity of 
water which these scoops contained, they- could not be increased in size vv 1 ~ 
tage ; for the same sized scoop required four men to work it to a little more man 
double the height, and vet the delivery was not equal to that ot the lmyer step. 
We may from the preceding data easily calculate the quan ity o ’ . ' » 
and as great exactness is not required, we may assume that 4- _ tJ+aa . . was 
the number of strokes made in a minute by six men, each stroke dehvenqg, of a 
cubic foot, 10 feet high. This is equal to 7J c. ft (__ 22 X i) laised 10 feet 
high, by the labour of six men, or to 73.3 c. ft. raised one foot mg >■ ■ 
Now, in one of the preceding Numbers of the Gleanings, it is stated, (p.56,) in the 
account of the pump described by Professor Robison, that a “feeble Oldman working 
eight to ten hours a day” did with that pump raise / c. ft. of water, 11| feet high 
per minute. This is equivalent to 80* c. ft. raised one loot. Whereas by the scoop 
arrangement, it appears that six average Bengalees could only raise /o.3 c. ft. The 
difference here is enormous, and, if real, is certainly worth pointing out. An arrange- 
meat that will not permit six average natives to do the work of one feeble old man, 
* Ginelin, App. Med. P. II. vol. i. p. 108. 
