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cooking, why should the epicure object to the non-epicure enjoying it ?” T h e writer notes the greatly diniinished demand for the ‘ I rank ether-composed fruit-flavors,” which he cites as bearing out his statement that laws are not needed to regulate the standard of flavors ; that taste is self-regulative. The only standard that can be lawfully applied is that of wholesomeness. W. H. BLOME.
SANITARY CHEMISTRY. Report on Sewage Disposal. J. A. AMYOT.Proz,inn’al Board of HeaCfh of Ontario, 21, 34-82.-This paper gives a most excellent account of the methods at present in use for the treatment of sewage. Discharge into water-courses, sand irrigation, intermitteut sand filtration, chemical treatment, septic tank process, and contact beds. The reactions given for the hydrolysis of fats, sugars, and albuminoid substances through the action of anaerobic bacteria, and the oxidation of these substances through the agency of aerobic bacteria are instructive and interesting. The paper also gives an account of a series of experiments made at Berlin, Ontario, with septic tanks, contact beds and the Stoddard filter. Among the interesting results obtained in the experiments with septic tanks was the showing that the effluent from gas works had no appreciably detrimental effect on septic action, and that with Berlin sewage, which is a strong sewage ( 2 parts albuminoid ammonia per IOO,OOO parts) containing tannery waste, brewery waste, wool-washings, and gas works refuse, when the time of passage of the sewage through the tank was twenty-four hours, 53 per cent. of the organic matter, measured by albuminoid ammonia, and 5 1 per cent. measrired by oxygen consumed, was removed, while when the time of passage was fourteen hours, the amount of organic matter removed measured by albuminoid ammonia, was only 41.5 per cent., and by oxygen consumed, 40 per cent. I n the experiments with contact beds, four were used ; three, each of an area of one two-hundredth of an acre, and a little over three feet deep, were filled to the height of three feet with gravel, and covered with three inches of coarse, sharp sand. T h e gravel in each of the beds was of different size, with the idea of seeing what difference the size of material would have on the treatment. T h e beds were started July 8th, and the experiment continued until September 4th. T h e beds were filled three times during the first half of the period, twice during the second half with the septic tank effluent. T h e bed filled with one-eighth inch gravel gave the best results, then the bed filled with one.iourth inch gravel, while the bed filled with one-half inch gravel gave the poorest results, and did not remove the tannin-coloring material from the liquid. The percentage reduction in each bed over the septic tank effluent was :
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Bed No. I . . Bed No. 2.. Bed Yo. 3 . .
.......... 42.3 .......... 34.4 .......... z 7 . S
Oxygen consumed.
51.7 51.0
44.5
T h e best bed gave an average effluent containing i n IOO,OOOparts, 0.592 part albuminoid ammonia, and 16.43parts oxygen consumed. Of the total purification of the sewage by the septic tank and the best contact bed, the septic tank did more than two-thirds of the work. T h e fourth contact bed, size oue eight-hundredth of an acre, filled with coke in pieces of one inch in size, run from August 4th to September 8th, gave a very unsatisfactory effluent containing 0.936 part albuiiiinoid ammonia atid 29.23 parts oxygen consumed in IOO,OOO parts. The Stoddard continuous filter, 2 square yards area, 4 feet deep, filled with three-inch hard clinker, was ruu at the rate of five million gallons per day. The results were unsatisfactory. The odor from the filter was offensive; the effluent contained a flocculent precipitate, and was often putrescible. I t had, however, lost its tannin color, and after settling, gave a pretty clear supernatant fluid. LEONARD P. KINNICUTT.
Changes in the Slow Sand Filter at Lawrence, Massachusetts. Eng. Record, 48, 365-366.-The slow sand filter at Lawrence, built in 1893, was planned with the idea of applying the water intermittently, as is done in sewage treatment, and the filter area consisted of one bed of about 2 % acres area. Practically the water was never really applied intermittently, and having only one filter bed of so large dimensions has added materially to the cost of maintenaiice. No part of the bed could be scraped without a complete cessation of filtering, the city being supplied meanwhile from the reserve in the reservoir, and when scraping became necessary in winter, the whole filter was exposed to freezing. These circumstances tended to diminish the total yield of the filter, and with the increase of population, some remedy was necessary. TWO plans were proposed, one by hlr. Collins, which was the construction of two division walls, separating the filter into three sections a t a cost of about $ j , O O O , the other by the State Board of Health, which was to cover the present filter-bed at R cost of $47.000, and the immediate construction of two additional beds, each of one acre area. T h e city decided on the first and least expensive plan. T h e new arrangement allows two-thirds of the area of the filter to be used at all times, any one section being cleaned and refilled without disturbing the others. LEONARD P. KINNICUTT. The Latest Report on Additional Water for New York City. Eng. Record, 48,. 3jg.-Thk report, which might be called a preliminary report, is made by Messrs. Burr, Hering, and Freeman, and recommends a gravity supply from the sparsely inhabited
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uplands in the Catskills, immediately north of the Croton watershed. According to the report, the works should be planned for an ultimate capacity of 500 million gallons daily, delivered under a head of about 300 feet at the northern limit of the city, and the aqueduct should be built of that capacity throughout most of its length. With this exception however, the first instalment of the new works is to be built for a capacity of 2 0 0 million gallons, a t a cost of about $50,000,000. I t is a rather interesting fact that, although both M r . Hering and Mr. Freeman have previously made reports on the same subject, they now unite with Mr. Burr in the above plan Mr. Freeman’s earlier plan was to utilize waters of the upper Housatonic and Ten Mile Rivers. This plan was ohjected to on account of probable litigation as utilizing streanis flowing into a neighboring state. Mr. Hering, as one of the leading members of the Merchants’ Association, approved of the plan of obtaining a filtered supply from the Hudson River, near Poughkeepsie, or from the North Hudson, near Hadley. T h e present commission, although stating that the Hudson River water can be made pure and palatable by filtration, and should be regarded as a reserve for the more remote future, unanimously recommends the gravity supply from the Catskills. LEONARD P. KINNICUTT.
Report of Disinfection Tests with Solidified Formaldehyde in the Leininger Generator. Okio Sanifayy Bulletin, 8. 138-149. -This is the report of disinfection tests made with the Leininger generator, using the solidified formaldehyde prepared by the George Leininger Chemical Company, of Chicago. T h e test organisms employed were pure cultures of Staphylococcus jyogenes auyeus, Ban’lZus dz$hthenae, and Ban’llus @phi abdominalis, and in some of the series, Bacilhs anfhracis was substituted for B a d Zus d+htheriae. T h e results showed that disinfection was not obtained by the use of one ounce of solidified formaldehyde to 1,000 cubic feet, with an exposure of five hours under conditions more favorable for disinfection than will ordinarily be met with in practice : but if the relative humidity of the air be raised to 7 0 per cent., disinfection by this process may occur with the less resistant organisms, but with some organisms disinfection will not occur even then. Experiments were also made with the Mulford regenerator, using formalin. T h e results showed that using ten ounces of formalin to 1,000cubic feet, disinfection was not produced when the relative humidity was 57 per cent., but did occur when the relative humidity was 7 0 to 81 per cent. T h e report coiicludes by quoting a statement of Mr. M .J. Rosenau, from Disinfection and Disinfectants,” 1902 : A certain amount of moisture is therefore essential to obtain successful gaseous disinfection. T h e exact amount of moisture necessary has not yet been accurately determined, but it is probable that the full disin‘I
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fecting power of formaldehyde gas is only obtained if the atmosphere contains 7 5 per cent. of moisture, and that only when the atmosphere is saturated with moisture is the maximum effect obtained. I t is therefore advisable, in dry weather, to place a basin of boiling water in the room just before evolving the gas.” LEONARD P. KISNICUTT.
The Significance of Bacteriological Rethods in Sanitary Water Analysis. BY C. E. A. WISSLOWASD C.P.NIRECKER. Techiiology Qziavtev(y, 16, 227-238.--The writers believe that the chemical examination is inainly useful in throwing light upon one poitit-the aniount of decomposing organic matter in the wateralthough additional inforination as to the past history of the water is obtained from the determination of chlorine and nitrogen as nitrates, and that the real application of clieniistry to water analysis begins where bacteriology ends. In cases where the pollution is so great that the decomposition of the organic matter causes a nuisance, it must be tested by chemical metiiods, as biological tests will not serve on account of their delicacy. In cases where the danger from pollution is of infection, bacteriological methods furnish the best index of pollution. T h e bacteriological examination consists in the quantitative examination to determine the number of bacteria, and the qualitative test to detect the presence or absence of intestinal bacteria, and the identification of the colon bacillus and streptococci. T h e quantitative examination, like the chemical examination, indicates the presence or absence of organic matter ; if the bacteria are few, the water may be considered harmless ; if the gelatine count is high, the water contains organic matter which may or may not 1)e of sewage origin. The qualitative examination shows whether or not the pollution is due to sewage. Colon bacilli are not found in good waters, or are so rare as not to be foiind in a majority of I cc. samples, but they are found in the ~iinjorityof I cc. samples of water so polluted by sewage as to be dangerous for drinking. T h e writers, after stating that for a thorough test the attempt should be made to isolate the colon bacilli and streptococci and to work then] out in detail, then discuss the two methods which can be used as presumptive tests for intestinal bacteria, i. e . , the fermentation test in dextrose broth, and the acid test with litmuslactose-agar plates. They approve of both of these tests, on the latter of which they have themselves done a large amount of research work, and believe that if in the fermentation test a quantity of gas, made up of about two parts of hydrogen and one part of carbon dioxide, is not produced, or if in the litmus-lactose-agar method, red-colored colonies are not obtained, intestinal bacteria are not present in the amount of sample taken. The authors believe that the bacteriological examination of the future will consist of three parts-the gelatine-plate count as an estimate of the
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amount of organic decomposition in progress, the total count and the count of red colonies on litmus-lactose-agar as a measure of the organisms that thrive at the body temperature] and a study of a series of dextrose-broth tubes for the isolation of colon bacilli and streptococci, while the simple examination of a dextrose-broth tube and the count on litmus-lactose-agar plates will serve for presumptive tests. LEONARD P. KINNICUTT.
The Filtration Works of the East Jersey Water Company at Little Falls, New Jersey. BY GEORGEW. FULLER. Am. SOC.Civil Eng., 1903, 394-472.-This paper, giving a full and admirable account, with half-tone plates and diagrams, of what can be considered as the most modern plant for the mechanical filtration of water, is of such a nature that a short abstract is impossible, and those interested in the purification of water supplies must be referred to the origiual paper. However, to give an idea of the plant, it may be said that the works have a nominal net capacity of 32,000,000 gallons, and are capable for at least short periods of yielding 42,ooo,ooo gallons daily. T h e coagulating and subsiding basin has a capacity of 1,750,ooo gallons. T h e clear water basin, divided into two compartments] has a capacity of 3,500,ooo gallons. T h e rectangular filter-tanks, 32 in number, are 24 by 15 feet, and 8 feet deep, the total area of filtering surface being 11,520 square feet. T h e effective size of the sand and the uniformity coefficient vary slightly on the different filters, the effective size ranging from 0.38-0.44, and the uniformity coefficient from 1.32-1.50. For washing the sand, compressed air under low pressure is used in place of the old mechanical device with rake arms. T h e coagulant used is aluminum sulphate obtained from the Penn. Salt Manufacturing Co., at a cost of about I cent. a pound. I t contains no free sulphuric acid, practically no sediment, about 17 per cent. of water-soluble aluminum oxide, and traces of iron oxide. T h e average amount used up to February Ist, was 1.3 grains per gallon, or computed from the filtered water, 1.35 grains. T h e range in quantity varied from 0.29-2.17 grains. During high water, the water of the river has so low an alkalinity that a solution of soda-ash has to be added to the water to be filtered ; from December 17-3oth, the amount of soda-ash added averaged 0.49 grain per gallon. T h e normal rate of filtration is 125,000,ooo gallons per acre daily, or about 2 gallons per square foot per minute. A close watch has been kept upon all the principal features of the work, and the report includes numerous tables of analytical results. T h e turbidity of the water has been reduced from about 6 t o I’/~,the color from 40 to about 7, and the bacterial efficiency has averaged 98 per cent. during the ten months from September, 1902, to June, 1903. T h e two months which averaged the largest number of bacteria in the filtered water were September, 1902, rgo per cubic centimeter] and January,
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Review of Amerikan ChenzicaC Research.
1903, I I O per cubic centimeter; in all the other months the number has been below 1 0 0 . T h e number of bacteria in the unfiltered water ranges from 1000 to about 6000 per cubic centimeter.
LEONARD P.
KINNICUTT.
PATENTS. 28, 1903. 726,588. Wm. G. Stephens, Memphis, Tenn. Assignor to Sidney M. Neely and J. Walter May, same place. Alloy. Copper 75, tiu 20, borax and lampblack 2% per cent. each. 7 2 6 , 6 1 4 . Frederick A . Anthony, Hackensack, N. J . Making nitrocellulose. Apparatus for winding a web of fabric spirally upon a drum and coating it a t the same time. 726,623. Wm. M. Blakeman, J r . , New York, N. Y. Pigment. Zinc oxide mixed with zinc hydroxide. 726,727. James M . Brooks, Clifton, Texas. Egg-preserving compound. Lard 60, formaldehyde, petroleum jelly 50, paraffin I O , beeswax 1 2 , and oil of citronella 0 . I part. 726,667. Emile A . Fourneaux, New York, N. Y . Assignor to Herman A. Metz, Brooklyn, N . Y . Blue basic dye. An acid ice-cold solution of a symmetrical dimethyl phenosafranine is treated with one-half niolecule of an alkaline nitrite, and transforming the intermediary product thus obtained by allowing it to stand some time or by boiling it. The dye is readily soluble in water and alcohol, and is a dark purplish powder dissolving in concentrated sulphuric acid yellow-green, turning blue on dilution and on reduction with zinc dust and acetic acid, turning yellow with green fluorescence, but on exposure to the air becoming carmine with yello\v fluorescence, finally assuming a purplish bl ue tint . 726,688. Benno Homolka, Frankfort-on-Main, Germany. Assignor to Farbwerke, vorm. Meister Lucius und Bruning, same place. Indigo mixture. Ortho nitro phenol lactic acid methyl ketone is mixed with salts of betizylated aromatic bases, the product being soluble in water and giving indigo on addition of alkalies. 726,695. Myrtil Kahn, Elberfeld, Germany. Assignor to Farbenfabriken of Elberfeld Co., New York, N. Y. Black azo dye. a-Aminophenol-p-chloro-o-sulphonic acid is combined with I ,5-dihydroxynaphthalene, making a brown-black powder soluble in water, turning blue by soda-lye but violet on adding more caustic soda, dyeing wool from acid bath violet-red to violet and becoming black on chroming. 726,762. Julian H. Rivers, S t . Louis, Mo. Assignor to United States Fiber Stopper Co., same place. A pulp stopper of paper and cellulose. APRIL
