/ 
‘‘inch” of Colorado, as defined by Section 3472, General Stat¬ 
utes, and which was defined in 1868, is as follows: 
“ Water sold by the inch by any individual or corporation shall be measured as 
follows, to-wit: Every inch shall be considered equal to an inch square orifice under 
a 5-inch pressure, and a 5-inch pressure shall be from the top of the orifice of the box 
put into the banks of the ditch to the surface of the water; said boxes or any slot or 
aperture through which such water shall be measured, shall in all cases be six 
inches perpendicular, inside measurement, except boxes delivering less than twelve 
inches, which may be square, with or without slides ; all slides for the same shall 
move horizontally, and not otherwise; and said box put into the banks of the ditch 
shall have a descending grade from the water in ditch of not less than one-eighth 
of an inch to the foot.” 
But in addition to the variation in use, there is another 
fundamental error in the method which long ago being recog¬ 
nized by the users in Italy caused them to prohibit the use of 
openings of more than a certain number of oncia. According 
to this system an opening 6x16, for example, would give 96 
“inches;” one 6x8 would give 48. One should discharge twice 
as much water as the other. As a matter of fact the one dis¬ 
charges considerably more than twice the other. This is true, 
even if the conditions of the head are the same. It was noticed 
bytheusersof Italy,so that long ago the number of inches which 
could be drawn through one opening was limited. If one ob¬ 
serves the discharges from an opening under good conditions 
the reason will be seen. As the water passes out, there is a 
narrowing up of the stream on top and bottom and sides. As 
ordinarily placed, those on the sides are the most noticeable. 
Now the total amount of this narrowing is approximately the 
same whether the opening is long or short, provided the head 
is the same. Hence the amount is decreased nearly the same 
in both cases. But relatively, the loss from the smaller one is 
greater than from the large one,and the consequence is that the 
large one discharges more than twice as much as the smaller 
one. The place where the velocity is the same, with the 
same head, is not at the opening itself, but where the cross- 
section of the issuing stream is the smallest. To illustrate 
further: Suppose that with the statute inch the contraction 
at each side is one inch; then with the opening six inches 
high, each area loses 12 inches, reducing the effective area of 
the one from 48 to 36 square inches and of the other from q6 
to 84 square inches, and, leaving other considerations out of 
account, then the ratio between the two is more nearly that 
between 84 and 36, or 2.3, than between 96 and 48. In this 
particular case the larger user receives 2.3 as much as the 
smaller one, though it is considered as only twice as much. 
This cause is sufficient to make the “ inch ” differ by more than 
50 per cent. With the indefiniteness of the term as used, it is 
difficult to determine a clear idea of the quantity involved. 
