12
STERILIZATION OF R I V E K WATER.
other compounds of the aromatic series and intend soon to describe the action of N,O, i n CS, solution upon the aldehydes, acids aiid ;Imido derivatives of t h e same. College of the c‘iiy of Al-eu~S i j r k , t J ( t u u l i ~ J~dy , 1890.
ON THE ALLEGED
smmJizLuio?r’OF I ~ I V E RWATER ET M1X.E W‘ATF,K.
Bl- A. A. 13iw:se.\ras.
--
During an epidemic of tgplioitl f e v e i which cjccnrred i i i the city of Wilkesbarre, Pa., in tlic S u m m e r of lSlS9, questions arose as to the purity of the differciit sources of water supply upon which the city depi:itded, aiid tlie writer was called upon to make a n examination of the waters i n question. T h e water of tlici Susqnehanna Iiiver is one of tliese ;ind is tlie only one concerned in t h e preseni discussion. T h c liistoiy of the opiclemic a n d its causes is n o t a t present t o the purpos’. I t was fonud t h a t tlie river water was preferred by the public a n d by local physicians to water f r o m nd jiuxnt mountain stminis in spite of the fact t h a t it reccives iibiive Wilkesbarre the sewage of nearly 100,000 people in t l i e course of ten niilcs, the city of Scranton, which disc1i:trgw its eewtge inLo t h e S u s q u e l ~ ~ n n a tlirougli :i tributary, the 1,ack;iv;aiiii:i. :tiid of I’ittdtori. which is directly on tlie river, bciiig the principal sources of contamination. This peculiar faith in the purity of a river so open to defilement is traceable i,n part to the general indiEerence to filth t h a t is known t o be largely dilutcd, but inncli more t o the influence of certain articles published in the l o c ~ lpapers with the stamp of official corninendation and the authority of scientitic or ymsi scientific opinion. I t was beliered by the people of Wilkesbarre t h a t t h e river water was peculiarly free from possibility of transmitting infectious diseases because of the considerable quantities of mine water
13
STERILIZATION OF RIVER WATER.
w h i c h i t receives, t h e mine water being supposed to exert a sterilizing effect through its well known constituents, free sulphuric acid a n d sulpliatcs of iron. As it seemed t h a t this belief, which was supposed to rest upon a scientific basis, could best be upset by direct scientific tests, the writer proceeded to make t h e following examin a t’ions : Samples of water were taken, 1. F r o m t h e Susqnelmnna River a t the intake of t h e Wilkacbarre Water Co. 2. From t h e mouth of t h e shn€t of t h e IIollenbach coal mine, t h e drainage from which runs into t h e river above Wilkesbarre. 3. (For comparison only) From Mine No. 3 of A. Pardee & Co. (coal operators a t Hazleton, Pa.), a t a depth of 300 feet frorn t h e surface. T h e above samples were examinrld chemically a n d biologicslly with t h e results given below. CHEMICAL EXANINATION.
__ -
I
QRAIYS P E R U. S. GALLON.
Lime.
1
River _ _ _ _ _1.00 _ _ . .oo 51.16 15.59 Hol. Mine _ _ _ Haz. Mine 127.80 20.85
I. .
1
Magnesia.
Silica.
--- ! .$t
13.28 65.43
~
,.oa
.46t 4.09 4.27
.___
2.50
2.70
14
STERILIL4TION 01: R I V E R W A T E R .
T h e mine waters are quite acid and the quantity of froe acic? irrespective of the ferric sulphate in solution (citlculated from tlie ferric oxide present, although a portion of this had been precipitated when received), wis sufficient to permit of some germicidal effect. As tlie total sulphuric acid in the river water (all of which is combined) is onlyone grain per gallon, it is not possiblc to admit t h a t a n y quimtity of this acid t h a t is relatively importarit m i i~eaehtlie river tlironghout its entire course of more t l i m IL hundred miles above Wilkesbarre, arid as a11 of this :tcicl, which has oncc entered the river, must remain in the w:rter as soluble sulphates the inflow. of the mine water must be qumtitativcly iiisignificant. Rncter iolog ictr I E.ra m Lit n t io i ~ . In view of t h e important part played b j bacteriological evidence in such discussions as this, it seemed well to examine the above waters also for bacteriit, arid as a crucial test, to :ittempt the cultivation of the s y c i f i c bacillus of typhoid fever i i i the water of the river after it had been sterilized I J ~heat. To this end new samples of the waters 1 i ~ n d2 were taken i n sterilized bottles, with the necessary precautions, and submitted t c Dr. IIermnnn Biggs, of lkllcvue College Hospital, a well known s pe c i ii 1i st i 1 I b ac t e r i o 1o gy , f o I’ t h c 11c c e 5: sitr y t a c t e r i ol og i c a1 e 1 2 %mi n ation. ‘l’lie results of I h . Biggs’ examinatioii showed t h a t the sample of river water contained from 400 to 500 germs per c. c. of a t least fourteeu different species, six of these being of species that signify gelatine (putrefactive bacteria). When samples of thie water wits sterilized by discontinuous heating, inoculated with p u r e cultures of typhoid bacillus, allowed to stinid for forty hours and the11 p i i t into an incubator, tlie typhoid bacillus wits found t o be active a t tlie end of forty-eight hours and appttrently to Illire incrtwed in numbers. The sole purpose of this experiment was t o demonstrate, t h a t there is not present in the river wiiter any inorganic substance that can exert a u inhibitive :tction upon t h e life or growth of the typhoid bacillus. Furtlier experiments showed also that t h e mine waters c o i i t ~ i n e d yeast and mould fungi, b u t no bacteria, although bacteria could
ABSTRACTS : GENERAL CHEMISTRY.
15
be developed in both by inoculation with appropriate cultures after sserilization, provided a small quantity of nutritive gelatine were added. As to the typhoid bacillus it was found t h a t its growth (after treatment as in the case of mine water alone) wag possible in No. 2 (Hollenbach mine water) b u t not in No. 3. A5 t h e proportion of free sulphuric acid is very slightly higher in KO.3 than in No. 2, the difference must apparently be ascribed to the much larger proportion of ferric salts in t h e Hazleton mine water. I n conclusion, it is evident t h a t no efrective sterilization of t h e water of any large stream can result from the small and varying contributions made to its volume by mine drainage since surface waters are certain to overpower any specific effect which t h e former might be capable of exerting, a n d the results of the foregoing examination render it unlikely that even mine waters of snch strength as are conimonly niet with could, even undiluted, be of certain effect with germs having the high resisting power t h a t the typhoid bacillus is known to possess. I t is certain, moreover, that a water rich enough in sulphurio acid or iron salts to act as a disinfectant would be entirely unsuited for drinking.
ABSTRACTS.
GENERAL CHEMISTRY. Annlysis of the Seed of’ Ciilycanthns Glaucus. H. M. WILEY.* T h e above plant is a shrub growing in the mountains of t h e Southern States from North Carolina to Georgia. T h e berries, known locally as (‘bubby ” berries, are violently poisonous, and
* See also a paper by L. E. Sterns on the Fruit of the Calycanthus (Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, August, 1888,)and b’y R. G. Eccles, in Western Druggist, Jan;, 1889, p. 16, and in Druggists’ Circular, March 1889, p. 65.
