WAA C5l2r I88T ,-« REPORT OF COMMITTEE Method of Stating Water-Analyses. A. C. PEALE, M. D. 1 WM. H. SEAMAN, M. D. }- Committee. C. H. WHITE, M. D. [From Bulletin No. 2, Chemical Society of Washington.] WASHINGTON: JAN., 1887. nt WAA C512r 1887 63120840R NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE sT\ i S^Ss l N/^ i r v !W JO AlVaai! IVNOIIVN INI}I03W JO UYIII1 IVNOIIVN 3NIDIQ3W 10 iHYiail IVNOIIVN > SW JO UVIIM IVNOIIVN 3NIDI03W JO 1I«I1I1 IVNOIIVN 1NOI01W JO Uf 1111 IVNOIIVN 1NI3 0 ^-i&J %$Tj :> vj AL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NAT aw jo xavaaii ivnoiivn jnoicmw jo Aavaan ivnoiivn jnoiqjw jo Aavaan ivnoiivn AL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE N, Al LIBRARY OF MEDICINE N A T I O N A I I I B R A R Y O F M E D I C I N E N A T I O N A I L I B R A R Y O F M E D I C I N E NATII w jo Aavaan ivnoiivn inisiojw jo Aavaan ivno REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON METHOD OF STATING WATER-ANALYSES. Appointed November 12th, 1885. To the President and ^Members of the Chemical Society of Washington : Gentlemen : Chemists are called upon to make analyses of natural waters, mainly from three points of view, in order to answer one of three questions, viz : 1st. Does the water contain any substances that render it use- ful for medicinal purposes? id. Does the water contain anything injurious to health ? $d. Is the water suitable for certain manufacturing purposes or technical uses? The first question is asked of mineral waters, the second of po- table or drinking waters, and the third of those utilized for economic purposes in the industrial arts. The universal use of water for drinking would naturally, in the earlier stages of society, lead men to distinguish waters simply as potable or non-potable; but very soon mineral waters would be separated from the others and divided into classes, according to their predominant characters, or to those qualities appealing most strongly to the senses of taste and smell. Thus, even in the time of Aristotle, mineral waters were classi- fied according to the vapors they contained ; and Pliny, in the first century, divides them into acidulous, sulphurous, saline, nitrous, aluminous, and bituminous, very much the same as we do to-day. Medicinal, or mineral waters, having thus been differentiated long before the dawn of chemical science, it is not surprising to find that the earliest water-analyses are of mineral waters, while potable waters were neglected until the increasing density of popu- lation and the necessity of hygienic precaution compelled attention StdS 36 Kl'LLETIN OF THK to their chemical characters, and, still later, the growth of indus- trial arts made the chemical examination of certain waters neces- sary to the successful prosecution of many manufactures. Although a comparatively large number of works on mineral springs were published during the fifteenth and sixteenth centu- ries, none contain any account of accurate chemical examination of the waters. About the latter part of the seventeenth century hosts of authors all over Europe are found writing enthusiastically of the mineral waters of their respective countries, and some of them detail the early experiments with regard to their analyses. These attempts were, of course, extremely crude, and were lim- ited mainly to their identification, as either acid or alkaline, and to the determination of such solid substances as iron, sulphur, and common salt. The principal re-agents in use during the early part of the eighteenth century, as stated by Bergmann. were "' infusion or powder of gall," ''the juice of the flowers of leffer — iris," •' syrup of violets," " martial vitriol," w' lemon juice," " sal ammoniac," the '" volatile hepar sulphur," and "' vitriolic acid." To trace the progressive advances in water-analyses would be to follow the steps in the growth of chemical analyses in general. A few general remarks in the lines of investigation already indicated will suffice here. The first treatise relating to the use and quality of water that we find printed in America is one with the following title : The Curiosities of Commo>i Water, or the Advantages thereof in Curing Cholera, Intemperatice, and other JMaladies. by John Smith, C. M." was reprinted at Boston, Massachusetts, from the London edition of 1712, for Joseph Edwards, at the corner shop on the north side of Town House, in 1725. This book calls es- pecial attention to the excellency of water as a drink, and enumer- ates as well its therapeutical attributes. It cures gout and hypo- chondriac melancholy ; it benefits gravel and stone in the bladder ; it makes the child grow strong in the womb, and increases the mother's milk ; it stays hunger ; '• for there was a certain crack- brained man who, at Leyden, where Dr. Car resided in that Uni- versity, pretended he could fast as long as Christ did ; and it was found that he held out the time of forty days without eating any food, only he drank water and smoked tobacco." CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 37 Water is also of great use to strengthen weak children ; it pre- vents swelling from bruises, sickness of the stomach, shortness of breath, and vomiting ; it cures fluxes, consumptions, flushes, colic, small-pox, &c, &c. We are instructed in this quaint volume '• How to distinguish water:" "■ The way to do this is by the taste and scent; for if it have no taste nor smell, being purely fresh, not salt, nor sweetish, nor ill-scented, it is good, provided it be pure and clear, of which kind is the common water used in London, when well settled or in fair weather. "As for those who are curious and will be at the charge, they may procure the best water for drink by distillation, either in an alem- bic or in a cold still used in drawing any cold water from herbs ; for no earthy nor metallic substance, nor any kind of salt, will rise in distillation ; so that the water so distilled will be pure and admirable to drink when cold, and will keep as long from stink- ing as any of the cold distilled water in the apothecaries' shops, according to what Dr. Quincy hath affirmed about it in his Dis- pensatory. '" Those who have not the convenience of distillation may boil it a little as they do for tea ; for then, when kept awhile after it is cold, it will become more fine, by suffering any mixture contained in it to settle to the bottom of the vessel wherein it is contained, and that will render it still more pure ; in short, all water that will make good lather with soap is wholesome to drink without boiling, but none else." This book was written 175 years ago, and we still treat water by distillation, by boiling, and by soap. In 1771 Dr. Percival made an analysis of the hard pump-water of Manchester, England. In 1793 and 1794 Dr. Franklin called attention to the necessity of pure water in Philadelphia, because of the ravages of con- tagious diseases, and in his will (dated 1879) he recommends that at the end of 100 years, if not before, they be supplied by water brought in pipes from the WissaJiickon. Dr. Brown, of N. Y., in 1798, reports on the character of the water, and declares it to be the cause of contagious diseases, especially of yellow fever, from which the city had lately suf- fered. Thomas Ewell, M. D., of Virginia, in a series of discourses on 38 BULLETIN OF THE chemistry, calls attention to the necessity of purification of filthy waters, and recommends filtering. In France, in 1808, it was decreed that no one should dig a well within 100 metres of any cemetery. In 1824. Dr. Charles T. Jackson, State assayer of Massachu- setts, speaks of examining a specimen of drinking water that con- tained lead ; and similar reports were made by him in the follow- ing years. The water of Cochituate lake, with view to utilizing it to sup- ply Boston, was examined in 1834, at which time only the total residue left on evaporation was reported. In 1837, and three times in 1845, other examinations, more critical, were made, and the reports were much in the general form now used. Prof. Boye analyzed the water of Schuylkill river in 1842, and Prof. L. C. Phillips in 1870, and the two results were stated in the same terms. In 1S45 a report was made as to the best method of supplying the city of Boston with water, and examinations made by Dr. Jackson and Mr. Hayes stated the results of their analyses in parts per 100,000. This report involved the permanent supply of water to Boston. Yet, in reading over the minutes of the proceedings of the water board, while considering this question, it strikes one that the chemical question was a subordinate one. For instance: "• The foreign matters in this water are in such small proportions as in no way to impair its healthfulness as a drink, nor will they prove injurious in washing clothes." In 1849 analyses of the well waters in Brooklyn, N. Y., were made by Drs. Torrey and Chilton. The analysis of Fresh pond, that now supplies Cambridge, Mass., with water, was first made in 1853, and not again till 1872 ; but between 1872 and 1880 sixty-three complete examina- tions are reported. The Board of Health of Troy, N. Y., in 1856, had the hydrant- water examined by Prof. Wm. Elderhorst, and in 1858 the water of two of the principal wells of that city were also examined. These examinations were conducted with metric weights and measures, but the reports were made in grains per gallon. The results re- ported in these analyses differ but little from those now made except in relation to organic matter. CHEMICAL SOCIETY 39 In this same year a chemical report of the waters supplied to London (Eng.) was made by Prof. A. VV. Hoffman to the Pres- ident of the General Board of Health. In 1859 tne waters of an artesian well at Louisville, Ky., were examined, and the result reported in grains per gallon, with a state- ment in terms of the various salts found. Although the oldest water company of London was founded in the latter part of the sixteenth century, it was not until 1827 that attention was called to the quality of the water supplied from the Thames. In 1828 a commission was appointed to inquire into its condition, and two chemists were employed, viz., Dr. Pearson and Dr. Gardner, who made analyses of the water. Analyses were also made in 1834, an