HERTFORD SHIRE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
li 
Mr. Boyd, of Ware, said that the water had been gradually 
getting lower, and was very much lower this year than usual. 
Mr. A. Baker asked if the spring, St. Ain’s well, was as great 
as it used to he. 
Dr. Turner said that it was sometimes dry. 
Dr. Shelly said he should like to add his opinion to that of the 
Chairman, as to the effect of the increased drainage and high 
farming. The water was thus carried off more quickly. The 
same might he said in regard to rivers, which had been deepened, 
and the scour made very much greater than it was some years ago. 
Mr. Hopkinson said that the rate of depression in the Colne 
valley was almost the same as at Ware, about a foot per annum, 
and the question was, what would probably be the result of these 
continued abstractions with a long series of dry years ? The effect 
would be very much more serious than it was at present, because 
agriculture, as well as other industries, would be affected. They 
all knew what a great waste there was in manuring on the Chalk. 
The lower the depression in the water-level—the lower the water 
was from the surface—and the more rapidly would the manure put 
on the land sink through. That was a very serious question. He 
had heard that at several places, where mills used to be worked by 
water, engines were now being laid down because the water was 
insufficient, and that had been more marked since the East London 
Water Company and the Hew Biver Company had begun to take 
more water from the district. The reduction in the water-level 
had been going on for a number of years, and even if the pumping 
were stopped, it would be a great number of years before the level 
could be brought up again. As to the waste of water, he said that 
with a constant supply and first-class fittings there would be less 
waste than with an intermittent supply. 
Maps, diagrams, and tables were exhibited in illustration of the 
paper. 
Anniversary Meeting, 1 6th Eebruary, 1891. 
(At Watford.) 
The Bight Honourable the Earl of Clarendon, President, in 
the Chair. 
The Beport of the Council for 1890, and the Treasurer’s Account 
of Income and Expenditure, were read and adopted. 
The President delivered an Address on “ The Horse.” (Trans¬ 
actions, Yol. YI, p. 103.) 
The following gentlemen were duly elected as the Officers and 
Council for the ensuing year:— 
President.— John Hopkinson, E.L.S., E.G.S., E.B.Met.Soc, 
Vice-Presidents .—Alfred T. Brett, M.D.; E. M. Campbell, E.L.S., 
E.Z.S., E.B.M.S., E.E.S.; the Bight Honourable the Earl of 
Clarendon; Bichard B. Croft, B.H., F.L S., E.B.M.S.; William 
Bansom, E.S.A., E.L.S.; George Booper, E.Z.S. 
