Mix. This is approximately a five per cent solution, or in the proportion of 1:21. Sulphur Fumigation. To use this effectively three pounds of sulphur should be burned in a room ten feet square. Every opening into the room, flues, doors, windows, cracks and crevices, must be closed, except the door by which the disinfector is to escape. The sulphur is to be burned in an iron kettle or other vessel set in a tub containing a little water to guard against fire. Ignite the sulphur with a few live coals or with a little alcohol or kerosene and a match. Leave the room quickly, for the fumes are highly poisonous when breathed, and close the door tightly. Let the room remain closed twenty-four hours or more. Then air thoroughly for several days. Boiling for at least half an hour is a sure way to destroy infection. Immersion in Solution C, three or four ounces to one gallon of water, or in Solution E, one-half strength, will lessen the danger from infected clothing until it can be boiled. WATER ANALYSIS. During the year 1889, the work in the laboratory of water analysis was directed principally to meeting the demands of the people of the State for advice in regard to existing or proposed water supplies, public and private. The whole number of samples examined was 178, of which 104 were from wells, 41 from springs, 6 from public water supplies, 16 from sources of proposed public water supplies, 2 from cisterns, and 10 from miscellaneous sources. this classification, one of the samples is placed in two classes. In Among the well waters, 30 could be pronounced good, 39 suspicious, and 35 bad. Of the spring waters, 28 were good, 7 suspicious, and 6 bad. It should be borne in mind, however, that the results of the examinations of private sources of water supply, as given in this and preceding reports are not to be taken as representative of the general character of the well and spring water in the State. Most of the samples of water examined in the laboratory are sent because the owners of the wells and springs have already a suspicion that the water is not what it should be, or because typhoid fever or other disease has appeared under circumstances which render it probable that pollution of the water supply exists. It will be noticed, however, that 30 of the samples of well water, or nearly 29 per cent of them are designated as good, and an examination of the descriptions of the location and surroundings of the wells whence these good samples were derived, shows, in the great majority of instances, that the wells are favorably situated, or at least more favorably located than those from which the "bad" and "suspicious" samples came. We believe that some authorities are going much too far in making a sweeping condemnation of all wells as sources of drinking water supply. We, on the other side, as the work of examining samples of well and spring water in this State has gone on, have become more firmly convinced that wells and springs when favorably located, and in the case of wells, when properly constructed, are the very best of sources of water supply; but, at the same time, we are quite willing to concede that the great majority of wells are improperly constructed or badly located, and that therefore the water which they furnish is not of good quality. Almost everywhere in this State, the under-ground water where it issues from the earth in its normal condition, or where it is tapped by means of suitably constructed wells in suitable places, is almost invariably good and pure as a drinking water. The truth of this is shown more clearly by the following inform1tion in regard to the spring waters examined in the laboratory. Of the 41 springs represented, 24 were shown to be favorably located, that is, far enough from houses, barn-yards. privies and the other usual sources of contamination, and of these every one was pronounced good. Among 13 samples from springs unfavorably located, one only supplied water chemically good, while 6 were pronounced suspicious, and 6 bad. Eight of the 13 unfavorably situated springs were in cities, and the other five in villages where they are exposed to drainage. Four springs are excluded from the classification because information is wanting as to their location; 3 of these were judged good and 1 suspicious. The following is the tabulation of the results of the examinations of water made in 1889, analyses No. 292 to No. 469 inclusive. |