Dr. Folsom, in the report of the Massachusetts State Board of Health, states that “excessive dilution simply diminishes the chances of danger from any particular tumblerful.” To show how disease may be transmitted in dilute sewage and that disease germs are not exterminated by diffusion through a large body of running water, Dr. E. D. Mapother, of Dublin, reports forty cases of typhoid fever occurring in a hospital which received its supply from a river. The cause was traced to some barracks twenty-five miles higher up, from which typhoidal dejections had been emptied through drains into the river.
The following classification of drinkable waters which was made by the English commissioners, should be received by us as entirely trustworthy.
Wholesome—Spring water, deep well water, and upland surface water.
Suspicious—Stored rain water, and surface water from cultivated land.
Dangerous—River water to which sewage gets access, and shallow well water.
The fact that foul water will breed disease, should no longer be ignored. The citizens of Indianapolis have been drinking water from the city water works not above suspicion, and it is about time that the pollution of the water by filth should excite public attention.
Below I give analyses of samples of water drawn at different times and places from the faucets of the city water works.
The following report is from Prof. Thos. C. Van Nuys, of the State University.
Bloomington, Ind., May 10, 1880.
The water you sent on Thursday was received on Friday evening. The following is the report of my chemical and microscopic examinations: