The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-13 00:00:00

STATE OF THE SERPENTINE.

There was yesterday laid on the table of the
House of Commons a copy of the report of Mr.
Hawksley, the civil engineer, in reference to the
cleansing of the lake or long pond called the " Ser-
pentine." Mr. Hawksley's plan, as adopted by Mr.
Fitzroy, M.P., is already known to the public, both
from the discussions in Parliament and recent lead-
ing articles in 'I he Sun. His report, however
(dated the 15th of July) expatiates at some length
on the subject of the water of the Serpentine it elf:
Mr. Hawksley has made several inspections of this
peculiar liquid, and has had both it and the mud of
the lake carefully analysed by Mr. T. Spencer, an
able chemist and microscopist. He found (July the
15th) that the water was unusually clear, quite
"exempt" from smell, and except from its high
temperature (80 deg. of Fahrenheit) not disagree-
able to the taste. It was nearly free from the
vegetation usually abundant in stagnant pools
during the summer months, but had " a perceptible
greenish tint," derived from the presence of consi-
derable, but not unusual, quantities of fragments of
minute vegetable organisms, typified under the
name of conferva and diatomacece. There were
also a few common animalcules. On the whole,
Mr. Hawksley thought the condition of the lake
" tolerably good, although susceptible of improve-
ment," and certainly by no means likely to deterio-
rate the health or destroy the comfort of passers-by.
The water, such as it is, reposes on a bed of black,
but mostly decomposed mud, " the result of 200
years of undisturbed deposits." This antique slime
contains but little organised matter; and, owing to
its " carbonaceous" condition, does not, and will
not, give off foul gases so long as it is permitted to
remain unexposed to direct atmospheric influences.
No effluvia indicative of phosphorus or sulphur (in
an absolutely active state) can be perceived in re
cently raised mud. The mud is chiefly of vegetable
origin, but contains a little animal matter, the re-
sult of deposits from the occasionally overflowing
waters of the Ranelagh sewer. This matter, how
ever, has since assumed an inorganic character,
and is now innocuous. The green tint already
referred to is due to the stagnant state of
the water, which has no flow into it ex-
cept a small and occasional supply from
the pipes of the Chelsea Water Company, and no
efflux from it in the long intervals between violent
or continuos rains. The recent dressings of quick-
lime have done good (according to the report) in
destroying all the conferuce adhering to the stones
on the margins, and in occasioning the precipita-
tion of those floating organisms which must other-
wise have contaminated the lake. The lime also
gets gradually washed down to the surface of the
mud, and is very useful there also. Mr. Hawksley
objects to empty the lake of 60,000,000 gallons of
water, not easily replaced, except at a great ex-
pense and by a tedious pumping process. Still less
advisable is it (he thinks) to dig out and remove
the " harmless deposited matter" which:covers the
bottom of the basin to a thickness, in some places,
of no less than eight or 10 feet. 150,000 yards of
mud must be removed at a minimum cost of £25,000,
while the adjustment and lining of the new bottom
would cost £40,000 or £50,000 in addition. Besides
these objections, Mr. Hawksley has no faith what-
ever in the attainment of any " appreciable sani-
tary benefits" by the suggested cleansing process.
Mr. Hawksley, moreover, assuming that a large
supply of water would be negessary to create a sen-
sible stream, or to repress vegetation, asserts that
to obtain such supply is all but impossible.
saystlatsth e w
aboveaters the levelurface ofof
h
the Serpentine
Thames
(40
acres) is-i 0 feet e;
tdhraatwnaliln
into ohtheacscoewsesirbs,le upland
boooine tainwtaetdewrsithhasse'ewbaegeen,
or been diverted by canal companies, and that wells
sunk to the tertiary sands or the chalk could not be
relied on. Mr. T. Spencer, the chemical analyst,
found, on carefully evaporating a given quantity of
st
oh
lei
dwnia tactrt
r oft o
t ht
he le
ga ka el
1, tnht , at it held
including
1 grains of
291
grains
s o f
perfectly harmless character."
L a e
matters held in suspension.
This organicin e
ln matterdes
all °
The mud is found to be very different from the
Thames slime, the offensiveness of which is owing
to a black substance composed of sulphur, carbon,
and iron, and not improved by periodic exposure at
the ebb of the tide. Nothing of this kind is discover-
able in the water of the Serpentine, according to Mr.
Spencer, and " nothing need be apprehended from
it," even under a continuous temperature of 80 deg.
The water itself was free from taste or smell.
and the
d samethetimegreen
Mr. Spencer
ti ng e disappearedwishes
thatfiltration.
thea
At
thee
could be made gradually to change its
as to lose its stagnant character, and
crease arising from evaporation were more amplyp. He
and' constantly made uis bold, however to
declare that no danger to the public health is (or
was) to be apprehended (15th July) from the state
water
by the Serpentine. The monthly supply of
ea
bY the Chels Company was 6,800 tons in June,
3,820 in May, none in April, 19,488 in March,
e
5,052 in February, and none in January. In 1858
that contents,
th
de-
crease soee
r.
it was much larger ; the maximum monthly supply
was 30,500 tons, in _July ; and the minimum
450, in April. The supply from July to October

(both inclusive) varied from 30,500 to 26,806 tons;
and in November (a remarkably dry month last
year) it was as much as 14,258 tons. In December
the quantity was reduced to 8,979, and in January,
1859, to nil. January and February were the only
two nil months of 1858. In 1857 there were .six nil
months—viz., January, February, March, April,
November, and December.