Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1875-04-10

VITAL srArIsrI ~
I"r me week ending April 5, 1875. was sub-
eoiored. The principal caur * were coosmmn
tion. wbooping cough. 1T e0,nCifis measles
COZ. Nulslons. congestion o. brain. and bron-
SiribS 90 a. nn,n o,d marriages II, and
less than last week. or at the rate of So. y per
I.eo per annum. Rae of mortality OF the
annnm Wbiie tse Sss Sis Per r., 1000 per
period. Rate OF kscrease of the white popu-
=. t,l oS Heau ever births, 3-7s per 1000;
Lt,c une utc' ASe of the cOlOred population
by deaths Owe .e.rths was PHO per coo per
annum- - ' f
CoNnF kNATrONs OF NuIsANCEs
VI M.Ie hl"ue rs fOllOws:-Brick house at the
,,.l, -, 10 New Jersey avenue and ith
IT,, an an" Between N and U streets north
Secl so OF fE houses Nos p, "a. 2iO and PIP
, Sun alley; frame house No. 1854 OH
49, rrThwest house on It'll street road
l'or In Boundary street, where the business
o ~ f' flsig and sailing green hides is carricI
III, Hd two houses on Grant avenue be-
w 8, 18th and sth streets. A complaint was
~ sved from gentleman about the con-
~ ~ <sor for sweeping the streets depoSiting
ocTSent: referred. DIR. Cox, To whom was r.
erred the matter OF
me Impure Condition. OF the Acme.
duct Water.
read paper upon that subject.
He preisced his report with regrets that. in
the course OF debate, any reflection sho1id
nave teen cast upon a DISTINGUISHED pItlic
official. WHO commands universal respect.
He alluded tn the discussion in reglrt To
General BabcOck's letter. written in reply to
one of inquiry by the board. IL is rarely that
objection exists tn reports OF their proceed
ings intended for the press. marked a. t1ey
ordinarily are, by unusual accuracy and fair
ness. but he felt reluctantly compelled to
notice a statement of views ascribed TO him
self. uninten tionally, by one OF the reporters
In that discussion he repealed the idea of any
expression diSeoverable in the letter of Con
eTal BabcOck either offensive To the board or
Indicative of a want of interest in its inves-
legations. and stated distinctly that the COM
municatiOn had been promptly and fully
answered by the General and that although
his reply contained forms of expression not
exactly To his (the speakers) taste, yet he
saw EOthiDg in them in the least degree Of
fensive or objectionable. Moreover, that he
did not believe that officer capable of inten-
tional diScourtesy either in his personal or
Official relations.
The quality and supply OF drinking water
the report says, are unqueStiOnably of pri-
mary sanitary Importance. Rain tier is
the source of all fresh water, supplying i'm
It's descent river. stream, spring and surface
wafer. Well wafer is open at all times tn
suspicion. and however clear, sparkling, aud
palatable, il may, and often does, contain
The germs of disease and death. 1t is always
IN cities and large towns, Liable to contami-
nation from the leakage Of cesspOOIs, privy
vaults, the filtering of sewage, dead animal
matter, and other causes of impurity. River
water is less objectionable. but not in all
cases to be relied upon, as shown i'm the MIS-
tory of the Thames, in England. IL contains
III greater or less amount mineral salts in So
lUtIOn, and. what is more TO be dreaded. pu-
crescent matter, either vegetable or animal.
a. NJ usually brings with ii the surface drain
age from cultivated farms and large tracts
abourdins in organic remains. These inn
puTltieS consist of the various species of ami
malcular life, a. well as insects and fish, and
tie albumen. mUcuS, and gelatine these give
out IN the water, to which may be added the
gases which these animals in their perpetual
changes no 10
the laws Of chemical affinity, are constantly
generating and evolving. such as ammonia
cal YapGrs; eyanogen; nitric acid. sulphur
eted and phosphOreted hydrogen; and other
deleteriOuS and attenuajed results. The
lively animals brought here in a small vial
OF our precious fOsOmac wafer by the treas
urer OF the board, which indicates after its
proiracted Imprisonment of weeks no dimi-
mutton of vitality or energetic mobility, is
pronounced, upon good chronological
authority, the 'I.arva OF the Dragon Flyp
Still another handsome stranger, de serving
honorable mention, has appeared in our
pitchers and coolers, distinguished by the
which, although not deficient in activity or
lOcomotion, is fortunately ranked among the,
least injurious OF the water tenantry.
As general thing the mineral salts are not
In sufficient quantity seriously To affect the
health, but in certain localities where lime
and magnesia abound, are found indigeS lions
of a grave character, and even gOitre and Gre
teniSm. An excess of carbonate and sulpbate
OF lime will affect various organs, giving
rise to numerous disorders, among which
may be mentioned dyspepsia, constipation.
gravel and stOne.
A moderate amount of vegetable mater
in water may also be considered compare
lively inOcuOus. 1t is no longer, however
doubtful that fungi assail living animal Or
ganiSm. The liberated surface of the bowels
in enteric disease has afforded evidence of
their existence and growth; and. iudee l. they
nave been visible in discharges from the
bowels, bladder and vagina.
The formidable danger is re:erablp 10 mi
mute living organisms. diScovcrable b. the
microscope, when magnified. nor of SubIued
muscular activity. These, with numberleSS
Ova. or embryOS of parasitic insects and
worms, are introduced into the body by the
water we drink. often generating disease i'm
properly referred to other causes. Even the
much-dreaded trichina is now known 10 have
It's lOdgnent in the animal products of water
and especially in the Intestinal canal of GER
tain fishes.
Dr. Austin Flint, i'm a recent paper on the
Relations of Water to the Propagation OF
Fever" contends that the .'communicabiIity
Of typhoid fever is rendered vastly probable
tanned in drinking water" The effect of nj
trate of lime and chloride of sodium. in pro-
dCcing diarrhoea and dysentery, is well I'M
deIStOOd. Disorders of the skin and bones
as well as tape worm (t;eniu) and other af-
lectiOns, are more frequently than we sup
TOSe) reterable TO the impurities of drinking
water. Impure water is unquestionably one
of the chief generators of cholera.
Sometimes sudden rise of temperature in
The body OF water contained within an open
reservoir OccasiOned by the action of the
solar rays, especially in summer, will pro-
duce rapid dissolution of animal life, rem
Gering the whole mass putrescent ahd Offen-
sive. Such an event is fresh I'm our own ex-
perience, by which the wafer for the period
of fOrty-eight hours was rendered simply in
tOlerable. Other localities have, from time
10 time, suffered in like manner. In 1886, in
Amsterdam, the drinking water suddenly
became offensive, dangerous, and unfit for
uSe- In Boston. in 1854; at Round I'LL. Ha-
Nerhill, Mass, in lst2; at BidgewOoi reSer-
vOir. Brooklyn. y. Y; i'm Albany in 1863, and
in other cities, the same mischievOus results
have been observed.
Quartermaster General Meigs, a careful
student i'm this field of inquiry, aScribed the
condition of our own water three years ago
10 the decomposition of cOnfervae, masses of
algse, and other water plants. With due
Difference TO such distinguished authority,
am inclined to refer il rather To the abrupt
decay of minute animal organisms. produced
by sudden elevation OF temperature during
the hot season.
Three agencies are said to modify, in a
great degree, the danger from organic matter
i'm the river water. l. The fish consume large
quantities of the organic germs food. ?.
Aquatic plants, while they absorb organic
material into their constitution and tissues,
also purify water by their respiration. Ami
mails, at every act of respiration, throw off
carbon, which plants absorb. Plants under
water give out oxygen, which, by its oxidiz-
ing iS iyp INF nj