Water and water-supplies : and unfermented beverages / by John Attfield.

  • John Attfield
Date:
1884
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Water and water-supplies : and unfermented beverages / by John Attfield. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    Steam is an invisible gas ; at the ordinary temperature of our atmosphere it simply is not a permanent gas. Water in the course of precipitation from the air may fall as snow or hail, but strictly speaking the air only contains gaseous or vaporous or mist-like water. The occurrence of water in plants and animals has already been alluded to. The exact cause of the ascent of water, commonly called sap in plants, has not yet satisfac- torily been made out. On the surface of the earth water occurs both in the solid and the liquid conditions. In the solid form as ice and snow it is more or less familiar to us during our winters. On the snow slopes and glaciers of the Swiss Alps, and on any heights of eight or ten thousand feet above sea level, ice may be studied in summer as well as winter in all its interest and beauty. Water is permanently solid in the polar regions ; on the plains and at the sea- level as well as on the hills. The liquid water on and in our earth may, for purposes of description, be thus classified ;—i. Rain Water, includ- ing Dew. 2. Water as it occurs disseminated through the soil or slowly trickling to the roots of plants or to rivers, wells, and the great underground stores in the gravel, sand, chalk, etc. 3. Pond or Marsh Water. 4. Lake Water. 5. River Water. 6. Sea Water. 7. Spring Water. 8 Well Water. 9. Mineral Waters ; warm, cold, and aerated. These will be treated with appropriate detail hereafter. In respect of the quality of natural waters as used in households the Rivers Pollution Commissioners in the sixth report (1868) adopt the following classification : Wholesome 2! Deep-well Water f Very palatable. ^ . . sX StorTd\'L'n''watef^lM°'l^^^tely palatable. buspicious j ^_ Surface Water from cultivated lands j 16. River Water to which sewage gains access! , ,, 7. Shallow-well Water [to which sewage gains|P access] J Finally, water in the earth occurs as an integral consti-
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