percolating through the great filter bed of sandstone to the north of the town, and issues in numerous springs far above any source of contamination from the inhabitants in the valley below.

It has been stated (and I think much to the prejudice of Buxton) that the rainfall of the High Peak, and especially of the Buxton district, is generally in excess of that of most of the other parts of Great Britain. Such an assertion is quite incorrect, as may be ascertained by a careful examination of the rainfall of other localities; although, as in all hilly districts, we must, on account of the attraction of the hills, expect a somewhat larger rainfall than on the plains. The annual average fall in the neighbourhood of Buxton amounts to about forty-nine inches, which is much less than that of many localities both in the Northern and Midland Counties. Even when there is an exceptionally heavy fall of rain the porous nature of the subsoil precludes the possibility of an accumulation of surface water to any great extent.

The following table shows the mean temperature

and rainfall for 1890 and 1891, two years in which we have experienced a lower temperature and a greater rainfall than for some years past, which, I believe, has been the experience of most other parts of Britain during the same period:—

MeanTemperature.

Rainfall.

1890.
Deg.

1891.
Deg.

1890.
inch.

1891.
inch.

January

37.6

31.7

6.91

4.58

February

33.1

38.9

.945

.68

March

40.0

36.0

4.995

3.895

April

41.1

38.9

1.635

3.40

May

50.2

45.8

3.21

4.935

June

52.4

53.3

4.685

2.878

July

54.7

56.3

4.78

2.52

August

55.2

55.0

6.05

6.45

September

56.0

54.4

1.405

3.505

October

47.2

46.0

4.20

6.595

November

40.0

38.8

9.455

4.535

December

27.8

37.8

1.3

8.745

Mean temperature for 1890 = 44°.6; mean temperature for 1891 = 44°.4.

Rainfall for 1890 = 49.77in.; rainfall for 1891 = 52.718in.

Buxton being built in a valley inclining to the east, and upon the slopes of the adjoining hills to the south, west, and north, necessitates the convergence of its system of drainage into a

main sewer, which is carried through the heart of the town to its outskirts, where the contents are discharged into tanks, and purified by a chemical process submitted to the town authorities by Dr. Thresh.

The natural incline upon which the town is built greatly facilitated the sewerage arrangements so ably planned and successfully carried out by the late Sir Robert Rawlinson.