Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/428

Rh 402 charter from Henry III. in 1232. Richard II. landed at Waterford in October 1394 and again in 1399. In 1447 it was granted by Henry VI. to John Talbot, earl of Shrewsbury, who was created earl of Waterford. In 1497 it successfully resisted an attempt of Perkin Warbeck to capture it, in recognition of which it received various privileges from Henry VII., who gave it the title of urbs intacta. In 1603, after the accession of James I. to the English crown, the city, along with Cork, took a prominent part in opposition to the Government and to the Protestant religion, but on the approach of Mountjoy it formally submitted. Prom this time, however, the magistrates whom it elected refused to take the oath of supremacy, and, as by its charter it possessed. the right to refuse admission to the king s judges, and therefore to dispense with the right of holding assizes, a rule was obtained in the Irish chancery for the seizure of its charter, which was carried into effect in 1618. In 1619 an attempt was made to induce Bristol merchants to settle in the city and undertake its government, but no one would respond to the invitation, and in 1626 the charter was restored. The city was unsuccessfully attacked by Cromwell in 1649, but surrendered to Ireton 10th August 1650. After the battle of the Boyne James II. embarked at it for France (July 1690). Shortly afterwards it surrendered to William, who sailed from it to England. It sent two members to parliament from 1374 to 1885, when the number was reduced to one. WATER-GLASS. See SILICA, vol. xxii. pp. 53. 54. WATER-HEN&quot;. See MOOR-HEN. WATER-LILY, a somewhat vague terra, given to almost any floating plant with conspicuous flowers, but applying more especially to the species of Nympli&a and Nupliar. These are aquatic plants with their thick fleshy rootstocks or tubers embedded in the mud, and throwing up to the surface circular shield-like leaves, and leafless flower-stalks, each terminated by a single flower, often of great beauty, and consisting of four or five sepals, and numerous petals gradually passing into the very numerous hypogynous or perigynous stamens without any definite line of demarcation between them. The ovary consists of numerous carpels united together and free, or more or less embedded in the top of the flower-stalk. The ovary has many cavities with a large number of ovules attached to its walls, and is surmounted by a flat stigma of many radiating rows as in a poppy. The fruit is baccate, and the seeds are remarkable for having their embryo surrounded by an endosperm as well as by a perisperm. The ana tomical construction of these plants presents many pecu liarities which have given rise to discussion as to the allocation of the order among the dicotyledons or among the monocotyledons, the general balance of opinion being in favour of the former view. The leaf -stalks and flower-stalks are traversed by longitudinal air-passages, whose disposition varies in different species. The species of Nymplisea are found in every quarter of the globe. Their flowers range from white to rose-coloured, yellow, and blue. Some expand in the evening only, others close soon after noon. Nympli&a alba is common in some parts of Britain, as is also the yellow Nupliar hiteum. The seeds and the rhizomes contain an abundance of starch, which renders them serviceable in some places for food. Under the general head of water-lily are included the lotus of Egypt, Nympli&a Lotus, and the sacred lotus of India and China, Nelunibium speciosum, formerly a native of the Nile, as shown by Egyptian sculptures and other evidence, but no longer found in that river. The gigantic Victoria regia, a native of tropical South America, also belongs to this group. WATERLOO, a village of Belgium, in the province of Brabant, 9J miles to the south-south-east of Brussels, was the headquarters of the duke of Wellington from 17th to 19th June 1815, and has given its name throughout the English-speaking world to the famous battle fought in its neighbourhood on June 18, 1815. See NAPOLEON, vol. xvii. pp. 224-25. WATERLOO, a city and the county seat of Black Hawk county, Iowa, United States, is situated in a rich farming and stock-raising country, on both sides of the Cedar river, which here furnishes a valuable water power. The population in 1885 was 6479, of whom 1048 were foreign-born. WATERLOO-WITH-SEAFORTH, a watering-place of Lancashire, England, on the Irish Sea, at the mouth of the Mersey, nearly opposite New Brighton in Cheshire, and on the Liverpool, Crosby, and Southport Railway, 4 miles north by west of Liverpool. On account of its facilities for bathing, firm sands, pleasant scenery, and nearness to Liverpool, of which indeed it may now be considered a suburb, it is much frequented during the summer months. It is well and regularly built, and possesses the usual characteristics of a rising watering-place. The population of the urban sanitary district (area 740 acres) was 9118 in 1881. WATERPROOF. See INDIA-RUBBER, vol. xii. p. 842. WATERSPOUT. See METEOROLOGY, vol. xvi. p. 130. WATER-SUPPLY. An ample supply of pure water is of the utmost importance for the healthiness of towns. When, the population of a district is scattered it is possible to supply individual wants by means of streams, springs, or shallow wells ; but when a number of people are con gregated within the limited area of a town the natural supply of water in this area is liable to be insufficient, and is also in danger of being contaminated by sewage and house refuse. Accordingly, works for the collection, storage, purification, and distribution of water are indis pensable necessities in towns, for the preservation of health and the promotion of cleanliness. The remains of aqueducts near Rome and at other places (see AQUEDUCT) show that important works for providing water were undertaken many centuries ago ; and water for irrigation and other purposes has for ages been stored, in the rainy season, in tanks by the natives of India. Artificial pro visions for the supply of water were, however, entirely neglected in Europe during the Middle Ages, and the colossal works of earlier times were allowed to fall into decay; and most of the present systems of water-supply are of comparatively modern date. ORIGIN OP SUPPLY. Rainfall. All supplies of fresh water come primarily from the clouds, though portions may eventually be drawn from the bowels of the earth. Water when distilled is obtained in its purest form ; and the heat of the sun is continually drawing up large quantities of moisture from sea and land, forming clouds which return it as rain to the earth. Some of the rain is quickly evaporated from the surface of the earth, and returned to the clouds ; some sinks into the ground to feed springs and underground stores of water ; and some passes into streams and rivers, whence it flows into the sea, from which the greater portion of the rain is derived. The available water-supply of any district, accordingly, principally depends on the rainfall of the locality and the extent of the gathering ground. The rainfall varies greatly in different places, and at different periods of the year (see METEOROLOGY); and, in England alone, the average annual rainfall at the Stye, the wettest part of the lake district in Cumberland, is about eight times the rainfall at Hunstanton, the driest locality in Norfolk. The rainfall, moreover, varies from year to year; and the driest years must be taken into con sideration in estimating the available water-supply. Evaporation. The proportion of the rainfall which is actually serviceable for water-supply depends greatly upon the season of the year in which the rain falls ; for evaporation is very active in the hot season, whereas in the cold season its influence is slight. Accordingly, for hydrological purposes, the year may be divided into two seasons in the latitudes of the British Isles, the warm season, extending from the beginning of May to the