WATER FLEA 314 WATER LILY on the Velino, and those of the Anio, of Tivoli, are artificial but very beautiful. Among British waterfalls, the falls of the Clyde, three in number, viz., Bonni- ton Linn, 30 feet, Corra Linn, 84 feet, and Stonebyres Linn, 80 feet, are re- markable for their beauty and grandeur. The falls of the Foyers river on the E. side of Loch Ness are also very re- markable. WATER FLEA, a popular name for minute aquatic Crustaceans such as daphnia among Cladocera, cypris among Ostracoda, and cyclops among Copepoda. The common Daphnia pidex, abundant in fresh water, is a good representative. WATERFORD, a city and capital of Waterford co., Ireland; itself a county of a city; on the right bank of the Suir; and connected with its N. suburb of Ferrybank, by a bridge. Of several Catholic places of worship, including a cathedral, the finest is the Dominican Church of St. Savior; and the Protestant Episcopalians have also a cathedral and several churches. Other buildings are the Protestant Episcopal palace, the Catholic College of St. John, St. Dominic's Indus- trial School, convents, a town hall, mar- ket house, etc. Considerable sums have been expended in deepening the chan- nel of the Suir, whose S. bank is fringed for a mile by a spacious quay, while on the Kilkenny side is a shipbuilding yard, with a patent slip, graving bank, and dock. Besides two immense bacon-curing establishments, Waterford has iron foun- dries, flour mills, breweries, etc. A memo- rial of Waterford's foundation by the Danes in the 9th century is "Reginald's Tower" (1003), which has witnessed the city's capture by Strongbow (1170), the repulse of Cromwell and surrender of Ire- ton (1649-16.50), and the embarkation of James II. after the battle of the Boyne (1690). Pop. about 30,000. WATER GAS, gas obtained by the decomposition of water. Water in the form of steam is passed over red-hot coke, resolving it into hydrogen and car- bonic oxide, the oxygen being absorbed. The hydrogen and carbonic oxide are then passed through a retort, in which carbonaceous matter, such as resin, is undergoing decomposition, absorbing therefrom sufficient carbon to render it luminous when burned. WATER GLASS, a substance which, when solid, resembles glass, but is slow- ly soluble in boiling water, though it re- mains unaffected by ordinary atmos- pheric changes. It consists of the solu- ble silicates of potash or soda, or a mix- ture of both. It is prepared either by breaking down and calcining flint nod' ules, the fragments or particles of which are then added to a solution of caustic potash or soda, whereupon the whole is exposed for a time to intense heat, or by fusing the constituents together in a solid state, and afterward reducing them to a viscid condition. Among the pur- poses to which water glass is applied are painting on glass, coating stone, wood, and other materials to render them waterproof, glazing scenery and paintings, fixing wall paintings, etc. WATER HEN, the Gallinula chloropiis, generally distributed throughout the world. Length of male about 13 inches; back, wings, rump, and tail rich dark olive-brown; head, neck, breast, and sides dark slate gray; thighs and flanks streaked with white, belly and vent grajash white; under tail coverts white; beak yellowish, becoming red, as Pen- nant notes, in the breeding season; naked patch on forehead red; red garter above tarsal joint; legs and toes green- ish-yellow, claws dark-brown. The fe- male rather larger and more vividly- colored than the male. They frequent ponds covered with aquatic herbage, overgrown water courses, and the banks of slow rivers, swimming and diving with facility, assisted by an expansion of the membrane along the sides of the toes. WATERHOITSE. ALFRED, an Eng- lish architect; born in Liverpool, Eng- land, July 19, 1830; studied architecture in Manchester, France, and Italy; gained the competition for the Manches- ter Assize Courts, and also designed the Owens College and the town hall in that city. Among his chief works in London are the Natural History Museum at South Kensington, the New University Club, the National Liberal Club, the New St. Paul's Schools, the City and Guilds' institute, and University College Hospital. He also partly reconstructed Balliol College, Oxford, and Caius and Pembroke, Cambridge. He was elected a royal academician in 1885. He died in London, Aug. 22, 1905. WATER LILY (Nymphx), an ex- ogenous aquatic plant of the order Nymphseacese, including eight genera, and all possessing submerged root stocks. They are found in all temperate clim- ates, and attain great size in the tropics. N. alba is the familiar flower of ponds and placid streams throughout Great Britain and North America, its large and chaste flowers claiming precedence for beauty among the indigenous flora. N. lotus has similar flowers, but tinted with pink, and has strongly toothed
