Reports made to the directors of the London (Watford) Spring Water Company on the results of microscopical examinations of the organic matters and solid contents of waters supplied from the Thames and other sources / by Edwin Lankester, M.D., F.R.S. and Peter Redfern, M.D., F.R.C.S.L. : Together with a chemical report on the quality of various specimens of water from Chalk Springs near Watford ; by Thomas Clark, M.D. and John Smith, M.D.

  • Lankester, Edwin, 1814-1874.
Date:
1852
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Reports made to the directors of the London (Watford) Spring Water Company on the results of microscopical examinations of the organic matters and solid contents of waters supplied from the Thames and other sources / by Edwin Lankester, M.D., F.R.S. and Peter Redfern, M.D., F.R.C.S.L. : Together with a chemical report on the quality of various specimens of water from Chalk Springs near Watford ; by Thomas Clark, M.D. and John Smith, M.D. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    waters, and in greatest quantity in the West Middlesex and Thames Ditton waters: earthy and siliceous matters not organic are also found. The names of the living organisms found in half- a-gallon of each of these waters are given in the accompanying Table, where X denotes the presence of the species or substance named. The number of species observed would have been much greater if the specimens submitted to examination had been larger or more numerous. Tor example, the characters of the Thames Ditton water are given in that Table, as they were found in a single fair average specimen of half-a-gallon, which contained 29 different species of living beings; but during the examination of seven specimens taken at different periods, no fewer than G4 distinct species were found. General Bemarhs~]l\^ four waters just named contain a considerable quantity of dead and decaying organic matter in the solid form, easily seen as a deposit with the naked eye, and recognizable as to its nature by the microscope. This organic matter, as it is continually undergoing changes, becomes dissolved in the water in considerable quantity; and were there no other evidence of this, the ex¬ istence of great numbers of living animals and plants in it Avould furnish the most incontrovertible proofs to that effect: indeed, the Fungi, which are never absent from these waters, arc plants that grow naturally on putrifying organic matters. No other conclusion can l)e drawn from these facts,