Comparison of the average Results obtained in the Analysis of 1856 with those of the Analysis made in 1851.

This table shows that the hardness of the waters in 1856, was, with one exception, somewhat less than in 1851; the diminution, however, with one or two exceptions, is only trifling. The total amount of solid matter in the two years likewise exhibits but unimportant fluctuations.

A very considerable diminution, however, is observed in the amount of organic matter.

In fact, in 1856, the waters supplied to the metropolis contained not more than one-half of the organic matter which was present in the year 1851.

ENGINEERING.

The Superintending Inspectors of the Board, Messrs. Henry Austin, Chief, and William Ranger and Alfred L. Dickens, Superintending Inspectors, reported as follows:

Of the ten metropolitan water companies five take their supplies from the River Thames, namely:-The Chelsea Company, the Grand Junction Company, the Southwark and Vauxhall Company, the Lambeth Company, the West Middlesex Company.

The other five companies have the following sources of supply:

The New River Company's sources remain unaltered. The supply is obtained partly from certain wells and springs in various places, but chiefly from the river Lea, near Hertford.

The East London Company derive their water wholly from the river

Lea, but it is now taken from a point considerably higher up the river than formerly.

The Kent Company have for their source the river Ravensbourne, the point from which the supply is drawn being unaltered.

The Hampstead Company, from the first, obtained their small supply from certain ponds and wells, but have more recently been assisted by supplies from the New River and the West Middlesex Companies.

The Plumstead, Woolwich, and Charlton Consumers' Pure Water Company derive their supply from a well and boring sunk into the chalk, above the town of Woolwich.

The Lambeth Company, in deference to the great complaints which were made of the foul state of the water supplied by them, anticipated the general act of 1852, and obtained powers in 1847 for the alteration of the source of their supply.

The Chelsea Company were allowed by the Act of 1852 a longer period of time than the other companies, namely, until the 31st August 1856, for the completion of the arrangements necessary for obtaining their supply from above the tidal influence; but such rapid progress has been made with the works as to allow of the supply being furnished from the new source before the expiration of the time allowed by the act. The Company have selected a site for their works, called "Seething Wells," adjoining the works of the Lambeth Company at Thames Ditton.

The Grand Junction, the Southwark and Vauxhall, and the West Middlesex Companies, have established their new works on three contiguous plots of land, on the banks of the river Thames, at Hampton, and have erected buildings of similar design, which combine to produce an important effect. The mains of these three companies from Hampton to their several establishments in London run in parallel direction, as shown on the plan, as far as Twickenham, and at the point of divergence from each other, means of communication between the three have been formed for mutual aid in case of accident or repair.

RESERVOIRS.

The total capacity of the reservoirs and filter beds, five in number, of the works of the Grand Junction Water Company, in 1850, was 17,900,000 gallons; that of the Southwark and Vauxhall Company, 43,000,000 gallons; that of the Lambeth waterworks, 15,900,000 gallons; that of the West Middlesex comprised an area of about 16 acres; the Chelsea, of 3 acres; the New River Company, of 18 acres 2 roods; the London Water Company, 35,000,000 gallons; the Kent Water Company, 8,710,754 gallons; the Hampstead, 35 acres; the Plumstead, Woolwich, and Charlton Consumers' Pure Water Company, 8,549 superficial feet.

The following is a concise view of the main features of the entire works of the metropolis water supply:

According to the return furnished by the several water companies in 1850, it appeared that 270,581 houses were then supplied with water, the gross daily quantity delivered having been 44,383,332 gallons. It will be observed from the preceding table that the supply of water to the metropolis has now reached the enormous quantity of upwards of 81 million gallons per day, it having been nearly doubled in the short space of six years. It is furnished to 328,561 of the 340,000 houses which now form the aggregate within the Registrar General's district. Thus, the average daily supply of water for all purposes, which in 1850 was 164 gallons per house, is now, in 1856, 246 gallons per house. The total nominal engine power employed and in reserve is equal to 7,324 horses. The mains and branch pipes for bringing the water from the several sources, and distributing it in the districts, exclusive of the private service pipes, form a total length of 2,086 miles. The filter beds cover an area of upwards of 40 acres. Before the passing of the Metropolis Water Act of 1852, considerably more than half the supply was not filtered: subsiding reservoirs were in such case the only means of clearing the water of impurities in suspension; these are now for the most part employed as well as the filter beds, the total area of subsiding reservoirs in use being upwards of 141 acres in extent. The filtered water is stored in fourteen covered reservoirs, comprising an area of nearly 15 acres, and in four uncovered reservoirs, of not quite 3 acres, which are beyond five miles distance from St. Paul's. The cost of the new works executed under the Metropolis Water Act, 1852, and the recent acts of the several companies, has amounted to 2,282,824l., making with the former expenditure, as shown by the returns of 1850, the cost of the entire water works of the metropolis upwards of seven millions sterling. Even this amount, however, will fall short of the total expenditure; for the intermediate outlays between the former returns and the passing of the new acts, and the cost of many works in hand, but not yet complete, are not included in this sum.

The results of the investigations into the present state of the metropolitan water supply are as follows:

1st. That the requirements set forth in the commencement of the Report, comprising the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 14th, and 17th clauses of the Metropolis Water Act, 1852, have, in all essential respects, been fully and satisfactorily complied with by the several companies (the provisions for constant supply not coming into operation until the 1st July, 1857). The new works have not, in fact, been limited to what a bare compliance with those provisions would have fulfilled. Measures have been adopted for the general improvement of the supplies, which evince a proper anxiety on the part of the companies in the discharge of the duties of their position towards the public.

2nd. That having regard to the serious state of contamination to which many of the rivers and streams of the country are being reduced by the drainage operations carried out in the neighbouring towns, and by the

direct discharge of the sewage without any means adopted for the prevention of the pollution of the waters,-a condition which is evidenced to the inhabitants of the metropolis by the suddenly increased pollution of the Thames itself at the points whence their water supply has but recently been drawn, we desire to recommend that early attention be directed to the towns draining into the Thames and its tributaries, and into the Lea and Ravensbourne, above the present sources of supply, so that measures may be adopted with regard to the drainage of those places which will permanently preserve the supply of water to the metropolis in its utmost practicable state of purity.

No. XXXVI.-LOAN FUND BOARD OF IRELAND.

Eighteenth Annual Report of the Commissioners of the Loan Fund Board of Ireland, pursuant to the Act 6 & 7 Vict. c. 91.

[Presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty.] THE number of loan funds in existence in 1855, on Board's register, was 113; compared with the number of 1854, there was a decrease on the past year of two.

The circulation of loan funds throughout the country, connected with the Board in 1855, amounted to 883,3217.; it exceeded that of 1854 by 13,2974, and that of any previous year since 1846. In the continuous steady increase of the circulation of loan funds, since the disastrous period of the famine, there is evidence at once of increased activity in the operations of loan funds and in industrial pursuits generally throughout the country.

The capital of loan funds actually working in 1855 was 213,070. The capital to be accounted for by managers in that year amounted to 217,2721. The working capital of 1855 was less than that of 1854, by the sum of 1,665.; and yet, with the reduction of capital, the operation of loan funds was more active in the past year than in 1854. The working of the system in 1855 was attended with less loss, arising either from failure of societies or frauds committed by clerks, than in any past year since 1845.

The number of loans made in 1855 was 208,655; it fell short of the number made in 1854 by 262; the amount of loans, however, averaged higher in the former year.

The number of notes sold by the Board at 1d. each, in 1855, was 214,400; and exceeded the number sold in 1854 by 2,200. The produce of the sale of notes in 1855 was 893l. 6s. 8d., showing an increase over the same amount in 1854 of 9l. 3s. 4d. The number of debentures sold at 1s. each, in 1855, was 420, the produce of the sale of which was 21. There was a decrease in the number sold in 1855, as compared with 1854, of 249, and in the produce of the sale of 1855 of 12l. 9s.