shut off and not permitted to enter the reservoirs for ten days in these ten days, all the ;

water used in the city for fires and culinary purposes and waste (though the jets d'eau were not playing) reduced the quantity of water in the reservoirs only one-tenth. The water held back in the receiving reservoir would, at this rate, have been sufficient to supply the city for 100 days. The capacity, too, of the receiving reservoir was considerably diminished by not excavating to the depth contemplated by the original plans.

The aqueduct had now been several months in operation, through summer heats and winter cold and of course it became a subject of deep interest to ascertain how the work had stood. We copy from the report of Mr. Jervis to the Commissioners on 16th January, this interesting detail on the subject :

No interruption to the supply of water to the city has occurred, since its first introduction. The water continued to flow uninterruptedly through the aqueduct, from the 22d of June, when it was first let in, to the 8th of November, when it was shut off for the purpose of more effectually inspecting its condition, and the effect that had been produced by the action of the water or other cause. Previous to the time of shutting off the water, several examinations, similar to that mentioned in my report of July last, had been made by myself and the resident engineers, Messrs. French & Hastie, by means of a boat floating through the aqueduct, between the Croton Dam and Harlem River. Some unimportant defects were discovered inside the aqueduct, a short time before the water was shut off, and two small leaks ap-