The Iola register., 1883-06-22
Water.

water forms three-fOufthS OF tne sur
face of the earth, and even larger
proportion of our own bodies. Hence
it is hardly possible to exaggerate the
importance of having an ample supply
of this element in its purity. The
purest water in the world is said to be
that of the River Loke, in Sweden,
which contains only One-twentieth of a
grain of impurities in a gallon. 1t
flows over a bed of hornblende rock,
which is only slightly, if at all. dis
solved by it. The rain which falls near
the end of long storm is generally
quite pure; the atmosphere has been
cleared from dust and vapors by the
first falling rain and that which comes
last has nothing to absorb. Water
which is collected from roofs in the city
is never pure, being contaminated by
various gases, sulphur compounds and
other deleterious substances. 1t should
never be drunk unless first carefully
filtered.
The character of spring water de-
pends entirely on the character of the
soil through which it has passed before
it issues as a spring. In localities
where the primary rocks abound, the
spring water is nearly pure; in lime
stone countries it is impregnated with
carbonate of lime or magnesia. This,
when present in large quantity, causes
dyspepsia, goitre and cretinism, affect
ing not only human beings but do.
mestic animals. Five or six grains of
lime or magnesia in gallon render
water unfit for cooking leguminOus
vegetables; hence the use of soda to
soften it. But the same quantity OF
these mineral substances makes the
best water for tea and coffee, as the
five or six grains of carbonate of lime
prevent the water from dissOlving the
astringent matter contained in the tea,
yet permit the extraction of all the
desirable properties it holds.
Organic matter of vegetable origin is
not especially dangerous, but that OF
animal origin, even in very minute
quantities, is highly dangerous. 1t
may communicate no unpleasant smell
or taste to the water, but on the con-
trary may give it an unusually fine
flavor, thus betraying its victims 'by
kiss" The first symptoms of poison
from the use of such water are slight
nausea and mild diarrhea; afterward
typhoid fever sets in, and the struggle
for life grows intense. 1t is estimated
that water may contain one grain to the
gallon of organic animal matter with
out being fatally poisonous; even thirty
five grains of mineral and organic vege-
table matter in gallon will not always
render it unfit to drink. The Croton
water in New York City contains 81
grains of impurities to the gallon, the
Genesee River water supplied to the
City of Rochester contains 49,, the
Hudson River water in the City of Al
bany contains o.. The water of the
Mississippi contains forty grains of mud
per gallon, and is certainly wholesome
water to drink. Peaty matters held in
solution by water in ponds and swamps
are harmless, even though they may
color the water, but the clearest and
most sparkling water from wells in the
vicinity of cess-pools or graveyards is
to be regarded with the utmost suspi-
cion.
Oxygen is the great purifier. The
world is purified every day by fire, for
the union of oxygen with any substance
is combustion. As the rain falls through
the air it dissolves the oxygen, nitrogen,
carbOnic acid and ammonia of the at
mosphere, but more oxygen than nitro
gen, so that the air dissolved in water
is much richer in oxygen than ordinary
atmospheric air. This excess of oxygen
Ell bn fol IL
and also furnishes material for the COM
bustion of impurities in the water, liter
ally burning them up. Sewage which
would poison an ordinary well becomes
harmless in the running stream, and
while the well is always open to suspi-
cion, the river, though it drains popu-
lous districts, will nevertheless supply
wholesome water" The conditions of
this publication are that the sewage
must be mixed with twenty times its
volume of running water and flow ten
Or twelve miles, at which distance from
the source of impurity it becomes
burned clean of all injurious matter.
The water of running brooks that have
received sewage is to be avoided unless
the volume of water is large enough to
permit complete combustion of all Or
ganic matters contained in it. The
water of ponds, lakes and rivers is
generally purer than spring or well
water, because they receive their sup
plies from 0rer the soil rather than
through it.
The simplest method of purifying
water is by filtration. Charcoal
will remove organic matter from
water by absorption. Water casks
charred on the inside to depth of an
eighth of an inch are sometimes used.
A bushel or two of fresh charcoal tied
in a bag and thrown into foul well or
cistern will cleanse its contents. Per-
of pOtassa is very effective in
destroying organic matter in water. A
small particle Of the crystallized salt
added to glass of water will supply
oxygen enough to burn up its impiri-
ties and render it innOcuous. Travellers
in malarious countries are careful to
drink only water that has been boiled,
and those who find in moving from
place to place that the water disagrees
with them, will be spared much suffer
ing if they will drink it hot instead Of
cold. One soon becomes accustomed
to the taste of hot water without any
admixture of anything else, and ae-
Iuires fondness for it.
Little fishes when Just Matched from
the egg and placed under the lens of a !
seem perfectly transparent.
ALI their tissues are revealed to the eye,
he contractions of the heart may be |
seen and the movement of the corpus
,les in the arteries flowing to and from |
he heart. These look as drops of water |
moving along the surface of water. |
DouhtleSs tn eyes of a different oroani,