The morning call., 1894-11-07
DEATH TO BACILLI.
Dangers in Water Can Be
Easily Avoided.
Drs. Buckley, McNutt, Anderson and
Robinson Unite in Bringing 1t
Into Practice.

Dr. L. +. Buckley mas discovered q
method OF destroying bacili ia water, and
the most eminent doctors of San Fran
cisco have extended their congral ulatiOns.
The discovery, they declare. possesses
greater significance for the medical pro-
iession and tie men of science almost
than anything Pasteur has given the
world. 1t has the power t. save untcld
thousands from the insidious organisms so
abundan,ly found in the drinking water.
of cities; and i, is further claimed that DR..
Buckley invention will bring him in to
prominence before scientists at home and
abroad.
To carry the invention into execution
company has been Incorporated by DR..
Buckley. with whom Dr. Luke Robinson,
DR.. w. F. McNutt and DR.. NJ. Herzstein
are associated. Timothy Hopkins of
Menlo Park has taken stock in the cor
poration and has become a director. Will
siam Greer Harrison. who understands the
technical details of organizing. etc. and
attorney F. Alleyne Orr are the other di-
rectors. Articles of incorporation were
filed in this city and at Sacramento. but
they have been kept from PUBLIC notice.
The capital stock is 81, 100000. For the
present S7100 is actually subscribed to the
capital stock, but all the money needed
can be had when the company begins
active work. 1t is proposed to apply the
invention 10 the wafer supply of dwellings
and public buildings. Already the simple
contrivance is in use in two prominent
hotels. In these hotels only SteriliZed
water is used by guests for drinking pur-
poses. AS taken from the faucets aud
subjected to microscopic tests by bacteri-
olOgists the water was found to be abso-
lutely barren of organic life-a ondition
which the ply sicians regard as scientific
triumph.
DR.. Buckley made the discovery while
experimenting with oxygen for the treat
ment of delicate lungs. He desired to per-
feet process whereby oxygen would be
cleansed OF impurities. or be steril Zed on
entering the lungs of patients. and it was
while this plan occupied his mind he be-
thought of sterilizng water by novel
method.
The plan is simplicity itself. It consists
Of a tank so made that only steriliZed air
can have access 10 its contents. The Pa
cific Medical Journal in an article on the
Invention gives the following interesting
bit of history:
'The principle of this tank is develop
ment of experiments made by the late
Professor Tyndal some twenty-five years
ago, when the question Of spontaneous
generation was holly debated by scientists.
Iyndall arranged series of tubes filed
with distilled water exposing some to
ordinary atmospheric air-and covering
others with layers OF cotton wool of differ
ent degrees of thickness. 1t was demon
strated beyond a question that the tubes
openly exposed To the atmosphere teemed
with living organisms in a space of Twelve
hours, and that similar organisms devel
Oped in the protected tubes in The inverse
ratio to their protection. All recent ex-
psrlments cOTrooorlte these state meuts
and go to show that diseases of all kinds
| lave rnlx h oYF a tlrr-x
phere poisoning our drinking water
Hence, the most important. indeed the
vital feature of this tank is first the COM
plete dlsinfeciion of .he air that reaches
the water, second, that disinfected air in
turn dlSinfects the water itself"
Following out this theory DR.. Buckley
has sterillzed the air in the water-tank and
in turn killed all living organisms in the
water. Instead of open tanks the water
cisterns of the future will be hermeticaIlv
sealed. When filed by the present me.
chanical method very little air will remain
inside. as the air space will be limited.
The water Is first passed through cham
Der of charcoal to remove the grosser i'm
purtles. When water is drawn off the
space In the tank thus created is filed with
air that passes through a sterilzng solu-
tlon, much as tobacco smoke passes
through water 10 Turkish pipe before
reaching the smoker.
a small quantity of chloride of iron.
formalIne, or any other sterilizing LIQUID
VIII suffice for tank on a dwelling. and
the liquid will remain good for several
months. BY passing air through anti
septic solutions IL is deprived of the bacilli
which Is known to convey disease 10 manv
thousands In cities. Aud then this air
passing through drinking water effectually
removes the deadly micro bes,
Iee cost OF construction is sad TO be
trlfllng. and doctors say that as soon as
sne Insentlon can be offered for sale it will
De recommended by them as safesuard
against disease.