The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-10-08
A SCIENTIFIC QUESTION.
DOES 4 BODY or RUNNING WATER
PURIFY ITSELF.
Results Of Recent Experiments and
views of Prominent Experts.

views OF prominent bNpcrtS'
From the ST. Louis Globc-Dcmocrat.
III. ,,,,,.ti1,, ,,.,o,te, ,tt,,rir.- water NIL
,...--.
Iit,9 Hssi HaS assume" ''t"' i''''s'
10 ST. Ions and Chicago since the iatter
leesau the construction of its big drainage
Ant ana ,.,,,,,. t,,,t t,ero Is g.. good rros-
p'ei ii'ai lHs "' VIII "7 '''
court and also into Congress, this Dropo-
sit.on iD natural science anon which the
whole fi~ht turns will undoubtedly receive
a vast deal of consideration.
I'm Tho national laboratories at Wash
ip-top are a great many scientists whose
business IL is ia know about inst such
matters as this. There are practical men
pud theorists cxD,rts In chemistry and
biology. and sanitary experts. members of
the marine bospit8i service. who combine
the theoretical win tb. experience Of ma
tionaI ol,araD,tne work
A canvass among these authorities re-
VeaIs tbe fact That there is 4 difference of
oDinion AS 10 the decentralization Of water.
with tho. latter and more cornplete iuVes-
tieations supporting the negative Of the
proDosition. To he more accurate. the au-
thortieS arc quite unanimous in admitting
that the water docs purify itself: but IL
IS stoutIv commended and there is q vast
amount of data backing up the contention,
that The moro dangerous baciH found in
>, wage. namely. Inc colon bacillus of ty-
phoid and others which produce intestinal
diseases. are hardly enough 20 survive
long journeys in rapidly flowing waters.
and that the only way to avoid them is
TO avoid the water or to filter it.
The theory that running water puridos
itself was first promulgated by a German,
DIR. Max PetteulSofer in the Bciagc EUR
Allgemeinen Zetung in 1890 He conduct
Cd experiments on the Nicer and the lsar
l. q
was cured by sedimentauon, that is, the
settling Of heavy substances to the bottom;
by aeration, or the oXidizing of organic
matter by the air which became dissolved
in the water; also by the consumption of
harmless bacteria Of organic matter which
supplied them with food, and finally by the
death of the micro organisms, which were
unable to find in the diluted and rapidly
moving water sufficient organic matter
upon which to subs.st.
Subsequent Investigators have substan-
TALLY confirmed the contentious Of DR.. Pet
tenkofer, ana will admit that running wa
ter gets rid OF vast amount of unhealthy
compounds in the manner above stated AT
the same time, as the result of practical
experiments in this country and Europe,
IT has been found unadvisable to drink the
water which has once been contaminated
with sewage until ii has been boiled or III
tered
Following Pettenkofer came Frankland
and Frank The former experimental on
the Thames and the IRE, and the result Of
his work was the conclusion that there
was no apparent diminution of the number
of organisms as the river flowed along.
Elaborate tests were made by Frank on
the River Spree. at Berlin ana with differ
ent results. Specimens were taken at M
teen different stations, above below and in
the city, and We're subjected TO examina-
ton. Ii was shown that although hun
dreds Of thousands of bacteria were added
10 each centimeter of water flowing
through the city, the number i'm a few
miles was reduced TO something like 1900
In the Isar ii was found that i'm flowing
about five miles the bacteria were reduced
in number from about 1900 to the square
OF Munich, to about 2010.
Observing these phenomena, the German
scientists jumped 20 the conclusion that,
if permitted TO flow far enough. river wa
ter would purify itself. Perhaps the real
dispute is over the distance TO be traVe ell.
on this point no scientist pretends TO lay
down any rule. much depending ON the
rate of flow. the amount of dilution and
the temperature of the water DR.. Charles
Providence, r. l., published an article in
Science. in 1891, in which he says: From
theoretical and experimental considerations
and still more from experiences above re
lated, we must believe tlrat a river once
infected with disease producing bacteria I'M
dergoes only moderate degree of self-pu-
rifcation. What there is is because the
bacteria either settle to the bottom OF die.
Complete subsistence probably cannot take
place in a flowing river, and as from one
10 two weeks are required to destroy the
vitality of certain kinds OF pathogenic Or
ganisms, il can be only very rarely that
necessary for entire publication
are found"
The doctor says that typhoid fever has
for years been exceedingly prevalent in
the towns along the Merrimac river, and
when town at the head of the river has
an epidemic, the figures show that the
epidemic is certain to be repeated in the
town further down stream. He cites the
cities of Concord, Lowell, Nashua and
Lawrence as instances of this. Philadelphia
and Providence, he says. are noted for
their high typhoid death rates
The most positive testimony on the sub
ject comes from the scientific corps of the
United States marine hospital service
On July Z, 1897, it was determined 10 make
an Investigation of the waters of the Po-
tomac. river, from which Washington