_The Villoresi Canal._—The water for this canal is derived from the Ticino, at a place called “Rapida del Pamperduto,” by means of a weir thrown across the river. This weir is 290 metres (951·2 feet) long, and 24 metres (78·72 feet) broad, and of sufficient height to raise the water in the Ticino 3·75 metres (12·30 feet) above the ordinary low-water level. Below the right abutment the river-bank is protected by a wall for a distance of 50 metres (164 feet), whilst up stream, on the same side, an embankment, partly in masonry and partly in earthwork faced with stone pitching, has been constructed for a distance of 600 metres (1968 feet), in order to confine the river to its present bed. At right angles to the weir is a lock, with a drop of 6 metres (19·68 feet), the largest in Italy, which serves for the passage of boats from a channel below, 10 metres (32·8 feet) wide, and about one kilometre (0·62 mile) long, from the canal to the Ticino. The channel is supplied with water from the basin below the measuring weir by means of four sluices 0·80 metre by 1·20 metre (2·62 feet by 3·93 feet) placed in the wall which separates the basin from the canal. On the side of the basin, opposite the weir, are two buildings, the first containing the sluices, which admit 8 cubic metres (282·52 cubic feet) per second of water into a canal belonging to the Visconti family; and the second, which forms the entrance to the Villoresi Canal, serves to regulate and maintain the level of the water in the basin constantly at 0·90 metre (2·95 feet) above the crest of the weir. It consists of a three-storied building, in the lower part of which are six sluices, 2·30 metres (7·45 feet) wide, and 3 metres (9·84 feet) deep, with iron gates, worked by suitable mechanism from the floor above. The headworks, which are on the left bank, consist of a building 67 metres (219·76 feet) long, 6 metres (19·68 feet) wide, and 12·80 metres high, provided with thirty sluices, each of 1·50 metre (4·92 feet) clear width, and 3·25 metres (10·66 feet) high, the cills of which are placed at 2·75 metres (9·02 feet) below the level of the crest of the weir. These sluices are capable of admitting 190 cubic metres (6710·13 cubic feet) per second into the canal from the river, of which 70 cubic metres (2472·15 cubic feet) per second is the amount granted by the concession to the Villoresi Canal. The remaining 120 cubic metres (4237·98 cubic feet) per second have to be returned to the Ticino by a specially constructed measuring weir established at 600 metres below the headworks, in order to respect the existing rights of others further down the stream. The passage of boats from the Ticino to the canal is provided for by means of a channel with a lock 8 metres (26·24 feet) wide.