The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-10-21
FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH.
USE PURE SOFT WATER AND LIVE
TO BE A HUNDRED.


TO BE A HUNDRED.
Will Become brittle, Your Hail
Will Fall Out and You VIII Di,
Young.
BY DR.. J. Morrow. of the Medical Division
OF the Pension Bureau.
IlCopyrighted, 1894, by S. S. Mcclure
Limited.1
Water forms one of the most important
constituents of the globe. AS a liquid
ranging between the temperatures of 81
degrees and 212 degrees it covers more
than three-fourths of the earths surface
1t is universally diffused as an invisible
vapor through the atmosphere from which
it is precipitated as snow, hail or rain.
1t is absolutely essential to the consti-
tuition of both animal and vegetable or
ganisms. For instance, it constitutes
about 20 per cent of animal tissues. Gun
deed, it is to its presence that the physi-
cal properties of the skin, muscles and
e et tissues are mainly due Muscular
hbre itself contains about CT per cent. OF
water: Of the fluids of the body, blood
! contains 76, milk Sc and bile 80 per cent
of water Many of the lower forms of
organized bodies contain even larger
percentage, thus the oyster, which many
suppose to be very nutritious, contains 81
per cent, and cucumbers about IS per
cent. 1t is indispensable to the chemical
our bodies and to the healthy perform
ance of the. functions of the various or
| gans and tissues 1t is therefore of the
utmost Importance that the water used
for drinking and domestic purposes should
be free from all dileterious substances.
NATURAL WATER NEARLY ALWAYS
CONTAMINATED.
The water supplied by many of our cit
les and towns as well as that used from
springs and wells in many rural districts,
be clear, cold and sparkling and pleasant
to the taste, and yet be charged with the
most supple poisons. Impure water is I'M
ldoubtedly more prolific source of dis
ease than bad food, since the latter can
be more readily detected by the taste and
smell, but not so always with the former.
AS found IN nature, water is almost al
ways more or less contaminated with for
eign substances which render it unfit for
chemical but not always for domestic pur-
poses. Rain water. or that distilled in
In its passage through the air it absorbs
or dissolves any ammonia gas that may
be present, and it always contains carbon
dioxide gas, oxygen and nitrogen, while
that collected in cities and towns fire.
quently contains small quantities of nitric
and sulphuric acid, as well as traces OF
organic matter both of animal and veg
etable origin: it's Impurities vary much
with the locality When filtered and COOL
| ed to a temperature of about 45 degrees
F. in a Spanish water. cooler or by plac-
| is by far the most palatable and the most
healthful variety of water for drinking.
Lake water, especially that found in
slaty and gravitic districts. is generally
MIR nj n f
ural water The waters of the great
lakes on our northern boundary are toll
erably pure: their. chief impurity. being
carbonate of lime held in solution by the
carbonic acid which they contain.
| River water, or that usually supplied to
cities and towns. is subject to great vari-
ter holding in solution substances derived
from the atmosphere and soil through
which it has percolated or flowed. Such
water is generally alkaline from the pres
river water should be neutral that is,
neither acid nor alkaline, colorless, taste
less and completely free from odor-prop-
iSIMPLE TEST OF THE PURITY OF
WATER.
| The tests of the ordinary impurities of
| river alter are simple and easily. applied
| A few simple tubes, or, in their absence, a
few wine glasses and the following re-
agents which could be procured at any
drug store, are all that are required, viz:
a solution of nitrate of silver; an alcohol
lie solution of logwood; a solution of oxa-
ilate of ammonia; and "a dilute solution of
lpermaganate of potaSSa.
If on the addition of the. nitrate of sill
yer solution we get sa white cloudiness
of common salt, of which river water. al
most always contains trace. A light
yellow color is produced by the addition
of the arsenio-nitrate of silver, If carbon
ate of lime is present. This salt-one of
the most injurious of all the impurities,
as we shall presently show-can also be
of logwood, which strikes a violent color.
A white cloudiness or precipitate in the
addition of a solution of nitrate of bori-
UNI indicates the presence of sulphur.
gives a white prefipifste, if lime be pres
lent. The carbonate of lime may also be
lprecipitated by boiling. When a dilute
added to a few ounces of water and the
pink color remains unchanged, it indi-
Gates the absence Of organic matter. If.
however the color is destroyed rapidly at
la temperature not exceeding $50 degrees
F., foul eff1uvia in some form or 9TH
er are present, and the greater the. guam
ltity of perplanganate solution decolorized
before the water permanently retains a
lpink color the more organic matter 1t
contains.
These are the principal chemical reac-
us@a1 Vf sHpped to Cities and towns They
lshow the presence of chlorine, sulphur,
lime and organic matter, and can be ca
lsily applied by anyone. =
| Iron is another impurity found in
river water, but more frequently in the
water of springs and wells. If present
in moderate quantity, it can readily be
also by a solution of tannin or fannie
acid which strikes black discoloratlon.
Such water is unfit for making tea, the
| tannin of, the tea combining with the
L IL, trIy Not
containing carbonate or sulphate of lime,
| carbonate of magnesia or iron, is called
hard, and will not dissolve soap. On
| this property is founded the process OF
| determining the hardness or the softness
of water by means of the soap test.
| Spring and well water differ only from
river water by their containing more
solid mater, generally carbonate OF lime.
The water of most wells. and especially
those near dwellings and in towns and
cities, contains a considerable amount OF
organic matter derived from the. surface
soil Immediately surrounding the well,
and in many cases is utterly unfit for
domestic use, being often loaded with
germs capable of producing typhoid fever
and other zymotic diseases.
Distilled water is that which has been
freed from all impurities by distillation,
that is, by evaporating ordinary water
and collecting and condensing the steam,
being careful however, to reject the first
and last steam that passes off, as this
would be liable to carry over any gaseous
or other impurities which it might con-
tain.
HARD WATER THE CAUSE OF MANY
BAD DISEASES.
The presence of very minute portion
of chloride of sodium common salD and
carbonate of lime Chalk, limestone), in
potable water, is not always injurious to
health, but the constant use of water
highly charged with the latter salt, is
decidedly so. 1t has generally been sup
posed that if lime We're not freely taken
into our system daily by the use of cal
careous water, our bones would not re-
ceive the proper amount of mineral mat
ter for their normal development. This
is to some extent true, but the carbonate