shall this year concentrate the report of the Secretary upon methods of inspection, and so furnish a guide to Health Inspectors.

WATER-SUPPLIES AND SEWERS.

The attention of various localities in this State has, during the past year, been directed to the provision of means for securing a pure water-supply, and to methods for the disposal of sewage as never before. There has come to be with a large number of our citizens a settled conviction that no effort must be spared to secure these conditions of health. Even where there is some apathy upon the part of the general public, there is a valuable constituency that will not remain in or remove to towns where there is inadequate provision in these regards. Hence, not only are our large cities perfecting methods, but such towns as Plainfield, Freehold, Hopewell, Summit and Keyport are busy with these problems. The movement for supplying Newark with pure water is one of far-reaching importance. Details as to it will be furnished hereafter.

This Board, in common with the Geological Board and the Water Commissioners, has always been urgent that the State should manage and control its own water-supplies, and has advised against giving over the control of local water-supplies to companies instead of securing it to the cities themselves. But companies have profited by delays or by the greater ease of forming companies than of convincing cities of their true policy. So, in accepting what has thus been made inevitable, it behooves cities to be very watchful as to the kind of supply, and that by all proper protection of water-sheds, water-ways, reservoirs and pipes, it is kept at a proper standard.

Experience has taught us that it is not always safe to leave it to the companies themselves, even though prominent citizens are doing well with the stock. Boards of Health should know, by proper inspection, the quality and quantity of the water.

In many large cities there is examination of the potable water weekly. Where water is being impounded by dams thrown across valleys, there should be careful study of its effect upon surrounding drainage, lest the people in the vicinity are thus provided with a water-soaked soil, and so with those diseases which dampness and forced vegetable decay engender. We would still urge upon the State the importance of preserving control over its own unappropriated

water-supplies in such wise that they shall not be appropriated to the exclusion of regions or of cities to which they ought to be available.

There is also need of State care in preserving the purity of waters. Such States as Massachusetts and Connecticut have made large appropriations for these purposes and given large powers of examination and condemnation to their respective Boards of Health. Similar oversight might be exercised in this State with advantage.

SEWERS.

Where public water-supplies are introduced, it is inevitable that early attention must be given to providing sewers for the removal of soiled liquids. Fortunately, these can be constructed at much less cost than formerly, and the modes for safe disposal of sewage are better understood. But here, too, there is need of the best engineering skill, both in plan and plant, in oversight of construction and in proper administrative care after construction. Sewers may, by neglect, after a time become elongated cesspools, and by deposit and putrescent filth injure the public health.

It is only by systematic oversight that such results can be avoided. A public water-supply and a general system of sewerage are of great advantage to our cities, both as to convenience and health. Only it must be recognized that they require the best directing and overseeing skill, and that Boards of Health, as independent bodies, must give them proper oversight.

STORAGE OF WATER IN RESERVOIRS, WELLS AND CISTERNS.

It is often the case that when a proper source of water-supply has been chosen, afterward proper care is not taken to prevent contamination, or that the stand-pipes, reservoirs or service-pipes are not kept in proper condition. When any stream or driven well is the source, there should be a thorough spring and fall examination to find whether any sources of contamination have arisen since the choice of the source. It not unfrequently happens that new buildings, secret sewer or cesspool-pipes, cattle-yards, or addition of decayed or decaying animal or vegetable matter change the character of a supply for a time or permanently. Stand-pipes and reservoirs also need exami

nation, as well as pipes and house connections. Water, when pure at its source, is sometimes found impure at point of delivery.

It is now generally believed that reservoirs should be protected from the rays of the sun. There have been some recent devices for the cleansing and scraping of the inside of delivery-pipes. In the twelfth report we called attention to changes in the taste of water, caused by plant-growth. On the same important subject we call attention to a paper and discussion thereupon, to be found in the Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Volume 21, December, 1889. The paper is by George W. Rafter, C.E., on The Fresh-Water Algae and their Relations to the Purity of Public Water-Supplies. Also to a brief paper by the same writer in this report, as also to one by Engineer Brush, of Hoboken.

These throw much light on questions that frequently present them-selves as to the unpleasant taste and smell which sometimes occur in water from sources regarded as pure. Wells need occasional cleansing, and constant guarding against contaminations from the surface or such as may reach them from surrounding buildings or cesspools. through the underground. The same is true as to cisterns. We have recently had, from intelligent sources, inquiry as to (a) the changes which water undergoes in casks, as at sea; (b) the change in the color of rain-water in cisterns, and (c) as to the propriety of allowing snow-water to go into cisterns. Prof. C. F. Brackett, President of this Board, has kindly furnished the following brief notes:

"(a) There is not the least reason to suppose that if 'pure' water were put in the butts which go to sea, that there would be any change whatever in it; but, as a matter of fact, the water put on shipboard is rarely even approximately pure. It is not unfrequently taken on board from rivers and creeks, the water of which is alleged to be 'fresh,' and that single alleged quality is enough for the sailor. Such water will go through a peculiar process called 'fermentation,” but which really consists in the oxidation of the matters in suspension and in solution. The results of the oxidation are found in the form of a sort of mud on the bottom of the cask.

"(b) Rain-water from the roof, especially if it be caught in cisterns before the roof is thoroughly washed, will carry with it more or less of organic matter, which will, by standing, be oxidized, and thus the water will lose the yellowish look which it is apt to have when the first of the storm-water is caught.

"(c) As respects snow, there is something more to be said. There is good reason to think that the process of crystallizing commences in the upper air on the minute surfaces of the dust particles which are always present there. These are organic in character, for the most part. Hence, we have from melted snow the organic matters which serve as nuclei for the crystals, but in addition we have a considerable amount of condensed gaseous matter. Ammonia, nitric acid, carbonic dioxide and all the products of combustion and putrefaction on the earth's surface are constantly either formed in the air (as in the case of nitric acid by lightning) or poured into it. The low temperature in the regions where crystallization is going on favors the condensation of these gases, and so they are brought down with the snow, and, of course, are found in the water which is formed by its melting."

LEAD-POISONING BY WATER-SUPPLIES.

The ill effects of lead on the human system have been so often seriously shown by the lead-colic of painters, and by the lead dissolved in lead pipes in drinking-water, and in connection with water-supplies, that it is important to be aware of this source of contamination. The great embarrassment is, that a water which at one time seems to have no action on lead, will at another time show its presence. It is variously claimed that this power of dissolving lead is due to the lack of dissolved silica, to the presence of acidity in the water, or to the absence of dissolved carbonic acid. It is recognized that hard waters, especially those containing what is known as "temporary hardness," are very rarely possessed of this lead-dissolving power. All soft waters may possibly show this activity in dissolving lead, but especially those containing vegetable matter, which is generally associated with acidity. When lead is found in solution frequently, lead pipes should not be used. Filters of limestone or chalk, or of sand-flint or charcoal, as a rule, diminish or remove the lead. Where there is a public water-supply, and the evidence of lead is persistent, the addition of carbonate of soda has been found efficacious. Five parts of soda to 100,000 parts of water, by weight, is the rule in extreme cases. The expense is about six cents per 1,000 gallons. The following are the directions given by Prof. Percy F. Frankland, as applicable to families: (a) That no water should be collected for drinking purposes until after the tap

had been allowed to run for such a length of time as will presumably clear the service-pipe, and that the drinking or cooking-water may be collected immediately after a considerable quantity of water has been drawn for other domestic purposes. (b) That the filtration of the water through any form of animal charcoal filter practically guarantees its absolute freedom from lead. (c) That hot water acts more powerfully on lead than cold, and that, therefore, metal tea-pots and other soldered vessels for holding hot water should be avoided as much as possible.

PASSAIC RIVER DRAINAGE.

Geo. W. Howell, C.E., of the Passaic River Drainage Commission, has kindly furnished this brief statement as to the Passaic river drainage :

The work preparatory to the reclaiming of the Passaic meadows is in active operation. It involves the removal of about 10,000 yards of trap-rock from the bed of the river, just below Beattie's dam, at Little Falls, and about the same amount above the dam; also, 30,000 yards of earth and boulders at Two Bridges, and some 40,000 yards of muck and clay at Pine Brook. In addition to this, the Beattie Manufacturing Company has agreed to lower its dam 20 inches for its entire extent, and also to erect gates in the same, which, when open, will carry a volume of water equivalent to a width of 25 feet and a depth of 16 feet.

These gates are to be opened whenever the water begins to rise from freshet, and to remain open until the river has again resumed its normal condition. This, it is firmly believed, will ensure the prevention of all ordinary freshets over the Passaic meadows.

To obtain the most complete results, however, the land-owners themselves must supplement the work done in the river, by excavating lateral ditches to reach the remoter portions of the wet lands.. All work in this direction heretofore has been futile, from the fact that these lateral ditches have had no sufficient outlet.

The Commissioners in charge of this work let the contract, in the summer of 1889, to Alfred B. Nelson, Esq., of New Brunswick, who was engaged on the work for a few months, but who, for good and sufficient reasons, was unable to complete his contract. The Commissioners themselves continued the work for a time, pending negotiations for a new contract.