No. 530.

From a well near an old tenement house in a thickly built up place. The ground is flat and rather wet, and privies and other sources of pollution are altogether too near. Much sickness has prevailed among the various tenants. The water is unfit to drink and should never be used for that purpose.

Nos. 531 and 532. These analyses were made as an aid in finding a source for a village water supply. No. 531. From springs within 100 feet of a privy and stable. "From a chemical point of view this is a spring water of good quality for drinking purposes, nevertheless, sources of pollution are too near, and the danger of the soakage of polluting matter into the spring is too great to make this an advisable source for a water supply, especially for a public water supply. It is possible that the drainage could be disposed of through a perfectly tight iron drain so as to meet this objection."

No. 532. From a pond. The results given are unfavorable to the water as a source of supply. No public water supply in the State has so large a quantity of the ammonias."

No. 533. From a well twelve feet deep, from 200 to 500 feet from sources of pollution. "It is a hard water, but otherwise chemically, there is nothing against it as a drinking water."

No. 534. From a well fifteen feet deep, dug four or five feet through a rocky loam then sunk the remaining depth by blasting into limestone ledge. Sources of pollution are from 200 to 250 feet away. The water is polluted notwithstanding its considerable distance from sources of pollution. This well is an illustration of the fact that has been frequently observed, that wells dug through a rather thin layer of soil, and then into a ledge, often furnish waters that show evidences of pollution. Compare with Nos 521 and 535. This sample and the two following ones were sent by the Secretary of the local board of health of Islesboro.

No. 535.

From a well ten feet deep, "dug through about a foot of heavy soil, sub-soil gravelly, mud and clay down eight feet, and then into a ledge two feet." Sources of pollution from ninety-five to 200 feet distant.

No. 536. A well fourteen and one-half feet deep, dug "four feet through loose, sandy soil, then rocky, without much clay or pan." The privy, stable and sink drain are from ten to eighteen feet distant, nevertheless, the results obtained are much more favorable than from the two preceding samples. Evidences of a slight pollution are not lacking, however.

The

No. 538. From the public water supply of Hallowell. results are not so favorable as were obtained from the examinations of that supply made in 1888.

No. 541. From a well eleven feet deep dug through "sandy loam two or three feet, then soft rock in layers, and when the depth of eleven feet was reached a stream of cold, clear water poured out of the seam in the rock and gave promise of an abundant yield which has been the case, but the water has had such an odor and taste that it has not been used." There did not appear to be sources of pollution near enough to the well to explain how the pollution occurs, nevertheless, the analysis shows that the water is very impure. The only theory to account for it is that the pollution is brought from a considerable distance through seams in the ledge.

No. 542. From a well distant from the sink drain, forty, from the privy, twenty, and from the stable and barn-yard, fifty or sixty feet. The character of the soil is a gravelly loam with a ledge beneath. There had been two cases of typhoid fever in the house, and there has been much sickness in this house previous to this. The following report was made: "The water of the well from which you sent the sample is badly polluted and must be considered dangerous for drinking purposes, and now, since there are cases of typhoid fever in the house, very dangerous "

No. 543. From a well thirteen feet deep, thirty-five feet from a privy, six feet from the stable and thirty-five feet from the barnyard. "The well is much too near sources of pollution, and the water is badly polluted and not to be recommended for drinking purposes."

No 544. From a well eight feet deep in an open field 300 feet or more from any buildings The applicant says: "The only chance for pollution, is when the field is plowed and manure spread on the ground." Report was made as follows:

"I am glad that I am able to report favorably on this sample of water. It is of excellent quality in every way for drinking purposes and the only possible chance for polluting matter to reach the well, appears to be the one which you mention, and this I should consider very slight indeed if the well is so protected around the surface that the surface drainage cannot run in, and if you are careful not to spread the dressing within a few rods of the well. The constant running of the water from the well to the barn and house will have a tendency to improve, or rather to keep the qual

ity good." A useful lesson may be learned by comparing No. 544 with No. 543. No. 546.

From a spring in a mowing field two hundred and fifty feet from buildings or sources of pollution. "The water is remarkably pure and free from organic matter and a good water for drinking purposes." This examination and No. 544 illustrate the fact that springs and wells in this State, when situated a considerable distance from sources of pollution, may almost always be counted upon to furnish good water for drinking.

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No. 551. From a well thirty feet from the privy and stable and fifty feet from sink drainage. The water is quite badly polluted and is not suitable for drinking. It may safely be used for cooking purposes if it is boiled in the process." A good example of a city well.

No. 552. From a well on level ground twenty-five feet deep, twenty feet from privy, four from stable, ten from pig-pen, etc "The evidences of pollution are very distinct and the water should not be used as a drinking supply. The sources of pollution are altogether too near to permit any sensible person for a moment to think of using the water." Sample sent by the Health Officer of the local board.

No. 553. Sample from a cistern; distance from the privy twelve feet and from the sink drain and cess pool ten or twelve feet. The cistern is sunk in the ground and so situated that surface water might run into it. The following report was made:

"The evidences of pollution in this sample are quite positive. The organic matter as indicated by the free and organic ammonia is not in excess of what is very often found in cistern waters, but the large quantity of chlorine and of nitrites and of nitrates are very unusual indeed in a cistern water, as is also the large total solids. As being of interest in this connection I would say that the nine cistern waters, the analyses of which are tabulated in the third, fourth and fifth annual reports, give an average total solids of 6.0, and of 26 as the average chlorine." No. 554. From a well thirty feet deep through gravel underlaid with clay. The sources of pollution enumerated are the privy and stable, each 100 feet away, and the possible in-flow of surface water. Cases of typhoid fever have occurred among the users of the water. "From a chemical point of view this water is not objectionable as a drinking water, though there is a slight excess of free and organic

ammonia over what we find in the very best of well and spring waters."

VITAL STATISTICS.

An official registration of births, marriages and deaths in such a form as to make it furnish facts available and valuable for various purposes is considered so important a work that most civilized states and nations have not omitted to provide for it. Every other New England state has a record of vital statistics, and the purpose of the present report is to consider what use is made of such statistics, and why Maine needs such a system.

1. It would in many cases be of great service to our courts of justice. Before them the questions of heritage, and the legitimacy or illegitimacy of children are often coming. One of our State senators, at that time chairman of the Committee on Legal Affairs, stated that it once cost him fifty dollars to get the date of a birth. In Massachusetts a visit to the state capitol, or a letter sent there, suffices to obtain the date of any birth, and the parentage, within the period covered by the records,-almost fifty years now.

2. In the settling of pension claims, a similar use of vital statistics is made in those states where such records have been carried on long enough. The Hon. Henry B. Peirce, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, told the writer a few years ago that almost daily, pension claimants and their agents made use of the records under his care.

3. In the determination of the questions of citizenship and the legal rights of suffrage, an examination of the vital statistics record would determine when and where the would-be voter was born, if the event occurred within the state.

4. Vital statistics, when properly collected and recorded tell us, not only the number of deaths which occur in the state, the county, and the town, but also show us how many have died of consumption, how many from diphtheria, how many from cancer, how many from accidents, and so on through the list of the causes of death. They therefore furnish us with the means of comparing state with state, county with county, town with town, year with year, generation with generation. Trustworthy knowledge derived in this way is of the greatest help to the public health officer in determining the points in the state where redoubled sanitary effort needs to be made. Records of this kind for the sanitarian have well been compared to

the compass for the mariner. To other persons in making various kinds of investigations, a system of vital statistics is invaluable. Frequent enquiries come to the office of the State Board of Health of Maine, from persons in our own State or from without, for information on points which only a record of births, marriages and deaths could give.

5. The records of deaths and their causes are needed by the actuary, and in the interests of persons who wish to protect their dependencies or their business through life insurance. A while ago application was made to the Secretary of the State Board of Health by one of the leading insurance companies for information relative to the prevalence of pulmonary diseases in our State. It appears that the belief is widely extended, and it was so expressed in the letter, that lung diseases are especially prevalent "down east." We have no statistics with which to show whether this is an error or not. In the summer thousands of visitors attest to the healthfulness of the Maine climate. In winter the fact that the temperature is lower than in some other places is no sufficient basis for the opinion that the winter climate is insalubrious. Norway, in spite of its extending across the Arctic circle, has a lower deathrate than any other European country. As regards consumption, the most to be dreaded of all lung diseases, our neighboring state, New Hampshire, is able to show by its vital statistics that its deathrate from that disease is very low and hardly to be equaled in any other state, and a trustworthy record would probably show that the same is true of Maine.

6. In the study of political economy, vital statistics are of great worth, and to the legislator it is hardly conceivable that the records of the movements and principle events in the lives of the human population are of inferior value.

7. The provisions of modern laws for the collection of vital statistics are not without value for the prevention and detection of crime. Save in those few cases in which a coroner's inquest is deemed necessary, the law in our State interposes no official question nor restraint between the death of a citizen and his burial. In this direction we lack those wise statutory provisions which our neighboring states have. In Massachusetts such a trial as that of the Barron case. with its intricacies and dearth of scientific data as to the cause of death, could hardly occur.