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synthetic from the natural product. T h e process of manufacture is not given but it is stated to be based upon Wilhelm Traube's research, published in the Bel. d. chenz. Ges., 33, 3053. T h e synthesis is accomplished in about twelve reactions, and upon such a scale and price as to render its introductioii into medicine feasible. The properties of theocine are described as follows : Beautiful colorless needles having a melting-point of 268' C. ; di5cultly soluble in cold water and alcohol, more readily in warm water ; insoluble in ether. I t is more soluble in cold water than theobromine, dissolving i n tlie proportion of 1-1 79 parts as conipared with I-IGOO. Theocitie forins salts, of which the ammonium and potassiuni salts dissolve readily. Theocine has 1)een found to be the most powerful diuretic of this class of vegetable alkaloids. Synthetic theobromine will also shortly be introduced into medicine. J . 0.~ C I i I . O T T E K B E C K .
The Color-Compound of Stylophorum Diphyllum and Chelidonium ilajus. BY J. 0. SCHLOTTERBECG. .-!TIL. J . P h T i l i . , 74, 584.--After removing tlie white alkaloids froni tlie root of Stylophorum, the drug was percolated ivith hot water which dissolved out a crystalline, yellon- coloring-matter. This coloringmatter was found to be identical with the yellow coloring-matter of Chelidonium, named chelidoxanthin. Furthermore, i t was found that this yellow compound is the alkaloid berheriiie. T h e name chelidoxauthin should be dropped. J . 0 . SCHLOTTEKBECK. SANITARY C HE l lISTRY. Typhoid Fever and Drinking Water. BY A. SEIBERT.Nca1 York Medical J o u m a l , 76, 932-93s (, Igoz).-Charts are given showing that during the past teii years the deaths froni typhoid fever in New York City, and in the Prussian Army reached the maximum in September, and consequently the maximum infection period is during the hot summer months. This result cannot be due to direct action, but to indirect action of heat, first on the human systeni in the increase of thirst, causing a greater consumption of water, second in causiiig an increase of the number of typhoid bacilli in water. T h e relationship between the use of impure water and typhoid fever is shown by a number of diagrams where the typhoid mortality of each year from 1891 to 1901, is figured out on the scale of I to I ,000 inhabitants. I n Boston, Xew York and Brooklyn, using unfiltered water taken from thinly populated water-sheds, the death-rate is I in 8,000. In Philadelphia and Baltimore, using unfiltered water taken from streams into which sewage is emptied, the death-rate is I in 5,000. In Chicago in 1891, using water of the lake taken comparatively near outfall sewers, I in 4jo ; since, using water taken froiii a point much
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further out in the lake, I in about 7,500. In Berlin, 1843-1852, using unfiltered water, I in goo. 1883-1892,using in part filtered water, I in 9,000. Since 1893, using entirely filtered water, I in jo,ooo. Similar results are shown for Hamburg, Magdeburg and Breslau. T h e results of the investigation are summed up as follows : ‘All rivers, brooks and lakes located in populated districtsof the United States and Germany have long since become permanently infected by the typhoid bacillus. T h e chief carrier of typhoid germs into the human system is the drinking water to cities and towns. All cities and towns which are compelled of take their drinking water from lakes, rivers or brooks are in duty bound to clean the same by sand filtration at the water works.” LEONARD P. KINWTCUTT.
Pollution and Self-Purification of the River Severn at Shrewsbury, England. BY GEORGE C. WHIPPLE. Eng. Record, 46, 511-j12 (1902).-This is a review of Prof. Boyce, and Drs. MacConkey, Grunbaum and Hill’s paper which was published in the second report of the Royal Commission on Sewage Disposal. Shrewsbury is a town of about 29,000 inhabitants located a t a point on the Severn River where the minimum flow is about 85,000,000 gallons per day, and the maximum flow something above I ,ooo,ooo,ooo gallons. T h e sewage of Shrewsbury, 884,000 gallons per day, is discharged untreated into the river. T h e only important source of pollution of the river above Shrewsbury, is from the County Asylum, and in the investigation regarding self purification, examinations of the water a t various points on the river, and of the stream deposits were made, more prominence being given t o bacteriological than chemical data. T h e general result of the analyses of the water show that the character of the water generally improves until at Cressage, I S miles below Shrewsbury, the total number of bacteria is lower than at the County Asylum, though the number of B . coli is somewhat greater, which, however, may be due to small feeders of the stream which are not entirely free from B. coli. T h e amounts of free and albuminoid ammonia are also still a little larger than a t the asylum. T h e authors attribute the improvement in the quality of the water below the town, to dilution, sedimentation, the straining action of aquatic plants, and the influence of some of the lower forms of microscopic life. I n order to determine at what points in the stream the more solid portions of the polluting substances tend to settle, a large number of colored corks were placed in the stream. After fifteen hours the positions of the corks were noted, and it was found that for the most part they had lodged over heavy deposits of mud, and that this mud was blacker and more offensive than elsewhere in the stream. Analyses of the mud bacteriologically showed that it was seriously contaminated as far as Ironbridge, 2 2 miles from
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Shrewsbury and also indicated how a t times of flood these deposits may become secondary sources of pollution. LEONARD P. KINNICCTT.
The Practical Operation of Sewage Purification Plants. By W. ALVORD. Eng. Record, 46, 53j-j40 (1902).-The paper first discusses the cause of failure of inany n7ell-designed sewage plants, then the action of septic tanks and contact beds, and the necessity of their being carefully operated, the use of automatic devices in applying septic tank effluent to intermittent sand filtration beds, and concludes with a brief description of plants used for the bacterial purification of sewage a t Wauwatosa, Wis., Holland, Mich., Glen View, Ill., Princeton, Ill., Highland P a r k , Ill., Danville, Ky. T h e chief cause of failure of well-designed plants is the idea very often held, that a plant when once put in operation needs no particular supervision, while just the opposite is true, and to obtain good results a purification plant based on biological processes must be under the charge of a inan who knows the kind, quantity, and conditions of the sewage to be treated, and understands how the plant should be run to meet these varying conditions. T h e chief action of the septic tank is to break down the suspended matter so that it call be more easily handled on contact or intermittent filtration beds, and this can be achieved only by properly designed tanks, carefully operated. T h e idea that the time allowed for septic action should be the same for various kinds of sewage is incorrect and the time of flow through a septic tank must be regulated for varying conditions, a loiig period for strong sewage, a shorter period for weaker sewage. This control can be accomplished by the use of the Alvord tank, a tank divided into lateral compartments of varying size, opening into each other. Though much is k11own about the action of contact beds, much still remains that might properly be investigated, and the idea that statldard lengths of time, as for instance, four hours, should be the time for all sewage to remain in contact with the filling material, is not in accordance \+ith what we k n o n ~of the fluctuations in the character of the sewage. I n the coiistructioii of contact beds, great care should be taken as regards leakage. A slight leakage anywhere, in the contact bed, is often sufficient to defeat the operation of the bed. T h e idea that automatic devices require no attention is false. No plant, however autoniatic it may be, can be left without supervision. LEONARD P. KISNICUTT.
JOHN
The Stability of Effluents of Sewage Filters of Coarse Materials. BY H . 1%’.C L A R K . T h i r h - t h i ~ dA ~ 1 1 2 4 f f LKejoYt, I Mass. StatsBoard of Health, pp. 373-393 ; Eng. Record, 46, pp. 61 1-612. -The effluent from filters of coarse materials run at high rates
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often contains a comparatively large amount of suspended organic matter, rendering the effluent very turbid and most unattractive in appearance. T h e series of experiments which are described in this paper confirm the results obtained in England and, as the author states, show that this suspended matter is different in character from that contained in crude sewage, is not a t all easily acted upon by bacteria, is very much more stable, and under ordinary conditions will not take up free oxygen from the effluent or undergo subsequent putrefaction. T h e amount of organic matter determined as albuminoid ammonia and oxygen cousumed in effluents from filters of coarse material is not a true index of the degree of purification of such an effluent, if we mean by purification, an effluent which will not putrefy when having free access to air. T h e Incubation Test, with the determination only of oxygen consumed is also not a sure guide, and a surer test by which to determine the liability of effluents to undergo secondary decomposition is the determination of the amount of dissolved oxygen present a t the beginning and at the end of the period of incubation. LEONARD P. KINNICUTT.
The Vitality of Sewage Bacteria in Soil and the Antagonism of Soil Bacteria to the Typhoid Bacillus. BY G. C. WHIPPLE. E72g. Record, 46, 440, rgoa.-This paper is a review of Dr. Martin’s paper on the “ Nature of the Antagonism of the Soil to the Typhoid Bacillus,” and of Dr. Houston’s paper, “Inoculation of the Soil with Sewage.’’ T h e general conclusion reached by Dr. Martin from his field and laboratory experiments was, that the typhoid bacillus was destroyed in unsterilized cultivated soil in less than twelve days. Dr. Houston concludes from the results of his investigations that “there is no indication that the addition of sewage to a soil leads to a marked or indeed to other than a temporary increase of the sewage microbes in general at the expense of the soil bacteria. On the contrary, the more hardy soil bacteria seemed to oust the more delicate sewage microbes in the LEONARD P. KINNICUTT. struggle for existence. ’ ’
Air and I t s Properties as Relative to Health. BY A. N. BELL, Sanitarian, No. 398, pp. 1-15 (~gog).-The author gives in de-. tail the composition of air as breathed and of respired air ; states the various effects produced by the breathing of impure air, and gives the various opinions that are held as to the cause of these effects. T h e presence of the ammonia in the air, the author considers as the strongest indication of the presence of decomposable organic matter, and thinks that the condition known as closeness ” in a room may be caused by the decomposition of organic matter which is on the walls, furniture and hangings. Analyses are given at the conclusion of the paper showing the amount of carbon dioxide which is found in the air, if on the platforms, and in the air inside the cars running through the London tubes, as
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showing what may be the condition of the air in the subways now being built in New Uork. T h e highest amount of carbon dioxide in the air on the platforms and in the air inside the cars occurs during the late afternoon hours, when it amounts to I I parts and 20.46 parts, respectively, per IOO,OOO parts. L E O X A IP. ~ I KINXICUTT. ~
The Ilaignen Filters for the Preparation of Water for Sand Filtration. Condensed report of RVDOLPH HEKING ASD GEORGE W. FULLER. E?zg. Recoipd, 46, pp. 484-485 (1902).-The Maignen system consists in using a device known as a scrubber, instead of a settling basin, for reinoving the finely divided suspended matter from a water, before applying the water to the surface of a sand filter. T h e scrubber is a filter containing a t the bottom coarse grained material, such as broken stone, coke or slag, and at the top a layer of elastic material” such as sporige or peaty fiber. T h e scrubbing consists of passing the water upwards through the filter at a very rapid rate, eqnal to 60,000,000 gallons per acre daily. T h e scrubbers are cleaned ti? occasionally reversing the flow of water throug-li them arid less frequently by removing the materials, cleaning and replacing them. ‘ The available evidence indicates that the average removal of turpidity from the local river waters by settiing basins (twenty-four hours capacity), and scrubbers would approximate about j o and 65 per cent. respectively, and of bacteria, 40 and 80 per cent. respectively. As to the residual turbidity of the treated water, during all ordinary conditions in the river, it is estimated that it i\-ould be about 20 arid I O parts respectively. T h e probabilities are that a scrubber effluent is niuch more likely to average less than I O parts than is a settling basin less than 20 parts. During muddy water the scrubber effluent would be about one-half as turbid as a settling basin effluent, should both be operated on a strictly physical basis. Should both receive special preparatory treatment, the results mould be kept approximately within the general averages ab0.i.e stated.” . . . * ’ The filial conclusions are that where settling reservoirs already exist, scrubber> will reduce the cost of operating the final filters, sufficiently to ,save their on711 total cost, in addition to the saving effected by the smaller area of the filters; and where settling reservoirs, are riot yet built, scrubbers will effect a saving in addition to the saving effected by T,EONAKD P.KINSICCTT. the smaller area of the filters.” ‘ I
The Sea Ilills Sewage Disposal Works Near Bristol, England. Eng. Record, 46, p. 495 (1902) .-Designed to acconimodate a population of 10,000. I t consists of a revolving screen, two grit chambers, three covered tanks, each I I j x I 2 feet, a i d a covered storage tank capable of holdiiig 600,ooo imperial gallons. The discharge from this tank is into the tidal portion of the river h v o n , and is regulated by a hydraulic penstock 36 inches in
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diameter, worked automatically by a tidal clock, designed upon the alarm principle and so arranged that it actuates the penstock both for opening and closing, twice a day ; the hydraulic accumulator containing sufficient water for four actions of the penstock. T h e plant is designed so that the treatment can be either chemical or bacterial. I n the first case, the chemicals are added before the sewage enters the grit chambers and the three covered tanks act as settling basins; if the treatment is bacterial the covered tanks are used as septic tanks. LEONARD P. KINNICUTT.
Sewage Disposal at Shelby, Ohio. BY BENJAMIN H. FLYNN. Eng. News, 48, pp. 434-435 ( ~ g o z ) . - T h e plant consists of two sludge pits, each I O x 24 x 6 feet deep ; capacity 8,000 gallons, a settling basin nearly half an acre in area, dug in clay, the bottom and sides unprotected, and two intermittent filtration beds, with areas of 12,500 and 10,500 square feet respectively. These filters are underdrained every 30 feet with 6 inch drains ; over these underdrains the filter beds are 2 feet deep, sloping to 18 inches midway between the drains. T h e main filling material is bituminous coal cinder. T h e volume of sewage treated is from 200,000 to 300,000 gallons a day, and is a weak domestic sewage. T h e sludge pits act as septic tanks, though not designed for that purpose, and remove about 50 per cent. of the organic matter, without producing much sludge, having been cleaned out but once in a year. T h e peculiar feature of the plant is the large settling basin into which the effluent from the sludge pits runs, before it is carried onto the intermittent filtration beds. No odor is given off from this basin. T h e analyses given are curious, in apparently showing that nitrates are formed by septic action, also in showing that the amount of purification calculated from oxygen consumed, is very different from the amount when calculated from the albuminoid ammonia. LEONARDP. KINNICUTT. I N DUSTR I A L C H EI71STRY. Burning Coal Dust without Smoke. Iron Age, November 6, 1go2.-Describes the Bartlett and Snow Co’s. device for crushing and burning the dust. T h e coal is thoroughly dried before using, and these three paramount rules are given as the necessaries for complete combustion : ( I ) T h e coal must be of uniform size. (2) T h e coals used in t h e furnace must be of equal mixture, to admit of uniform combustion, and it is best that it be thoroughly dry. T h e plan of wetting coal before use, or putting a steam jet under a boiler fire, is a fallacy. ( 3 ) T h e dust must be burned in suspension, to get perfect combustion. To fulfil these objects, they crush the coal to uniform size, dry it down t o 2 per cent. of moisture, pulverize to 80 mesh, and feed by a warm or spiral conveyor
