catalogue of the library is being prepared. Part I., embracing railroads
and the transactions of scientific societies, has been printed and
furnished to members.


WATER POWER.

Water power in many of the States is abundant and contributes largely to
their prosperity. Its proper development calls for the services of the
civil engineer, and as it is the branch of the profession with which I
am most familiar, I propose to offer a few remarks on the subject.

The earliest applications were to grist and saw mills; carding and
fulling mills soon followed; these were essential to the comfort of the
early settlers who relied on home industries for shelter, food, and
clothing, but with the progress of the country came other requirements.

The earliest application of water power to general manufacturing
purposes appears to have been at Paterson, New Jersey, where "The
Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures" was formed in the year
1791. The Passaic River at this point furnishes, when at a minimum,
about eleven hundred horse power continuously night and day.

The water power at Lowell, Massachusetts, was begun to be improved for
general manufacturing purposes in 1822. The Merrimack River at this
point has a fall of thirty-five feet, and furnishes, at a minimum, about
ten thousand horse power during the usual working hours.

At Cohoes, in the State of New York, the Mohawk River has a fall
of about one hundred and five feet, which was brought into use