303 
The Chairman. — In calling upon Sir Joseph Fayrer to make any com- 
ments upon what has been said, I would remark that the climatic condi- 
tions of life in India are interesting as affording us some means of judging 
what the condition of man might have been in past times in our own 
island. We may also learn therefrom facts which will enable us to draw 
valuable conclusions upon some geological questions. I will now call upon 
Sir Joseph Fayrer. 
Sir Joseph Fayrer. — The first thing I have to say is that I thank those 
who have been good enough to speak so kindly of my paper. They have not 
raised any controversial question, so that really there is not much to reply 
to, and I need only refer to one or two observations that have been made. 
You, sir, have invited me to make some comments on what has been said, 
and first of all I would remind the meeting that this paper is essentially 
one on the rainfall of India. I included something about the climate, as it 
was necessary to do so : indeed I could hardly have avoided it in dealing with 
such a subject ; but I did not include the whole scope of the science of 
meteorology. If I had attempted that — -though the subject is one that is far 
beyond my powers— I should have occupied your attention, not for an hour 
only, but for many hours and many days. This will explain why I did not 
speak of the melting of the snows filling the rivers, and so on ; and also why 
I did not go into such questions— about which I know very little — as the 
meteorology of Central Africa, though I should have liked to have heard 
more upon that subject from Colonel Grant. I will, however, notice one or 
two points that have been mentioned. Mr. Bateman spoke about the necessity 
for an equal distribution of water, and pointed out that heavy falls of rain 
take place in certain seasons and in certain localities, whilst it is dry in 
others. This, however, is not the case to such an extent in our own country 
as it is in India ; and I endeavoured in my paper to point out the great 
efforts that have been made, not only in the present day, but in past times, 
by those who preceded us in India, who were as much alive as ourselves to 
the necessity of supplying the wants of the country by irrigation, by digging 
wells, and by constructing reservoirs and canals. Of course there were great 
difficulties even then. In a country like the Deccan, or Southern India, 
which is a high tableland, sloping gently to the east, with the rivers 
running from west to east across the continent, there is plenty of water, 
but it is not available because the rivers cut such deep channels that 
they are beyond reach. Consequently, it is necessary to make great 
reservoirs by damming the water, and to cut the communicating canals 
for its distribution, of which I have spoken. This is a subject, the 
engineering aspect of which I know little ; it is one on which General 
Maclagan could thoroughly enlighten you. Dr. Chevers gave you an 
amusing statement of my early initiation into meteorology. I may say 
that I might well have my attention attracted to the subject, considering 
that I spent my first year in a station where 600 inches of rain fell in six 
months, sometimes 30 or 40 inches in a day, filling the rain gauge so fast 
