Dangers in Snow Water.  — snow water, pure and fresh as it seems may be very dangerous to health and consequence of organic impurities contained in it.

Fever Germs in Ice.  — in Connecticut, the Board of Health informs us that, in several instances, attention has been drawn to sewage contaminated ponds with ice houses upon their borders, and that several isolated cases of typhoid fever, and one death, from the free use of the ice blue by sewage, have been recorded in that state.  The curious natural experiment of the United States steamship limit, elsewhere detailed, shows conclusively that fever germs are not infallibly destroyed by a freezing, probably not by a zero temperature, and contributes its share of proof that impure eyes, especially when gathered from ponds polluted by sewage, they constitute a prolific cause of disease.

The Contaminated Ice Pond.  — both the house in which the ice was stored in the water from the melted ice gave off a decidedly disagreeable or even offensive odor.  Finally, a visited upon from which the ice and then gathered disclose the fact that much of the water and it was dark colored, file and highly contaminated with filthy marsh mud and decomposing sawdust.  Chemical analysis showed that both it and the suspected eyes contain a large excess of organic and volatile impurities, including four one hundredths of a grain per gallon of albuminoid ammonia.

A Case of Impure Ice Poison.  — such was notably the case in an epidemic of intestinal disorder which occurred at the watering place of Rye Beach N. H.  from the account of Dr. Nichols, who attended most of the patients, it seems that, early in the season, a mild form of disturbance of the stomach and bowels made its appearance among the guests of a particular hotel at his favorite summer resort.  The symptoms were in general penis, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea and severe abdominal pain, accompanied by fever, loss of appetite and mental depression.  The well and drainage system of the establishment, which had recently been put in complete water, was found almost faultless, and the milk supply of unquestionable purity; but on the attention of the physician being directed to the stock of ice provided for the guests, conclusive proof of its dangers quality was promptly obtained.

Impure Ice As a Cause of Diarrhea.  — the fact that ice is now used by almost all classes to an extent which entitles it to rank rather as a necessity than, as formally, as a luxury of life, renders it important that its purity should be is jealously guarded as the water supply.  It is popularly believed that water freeze itself from dangerous organic matter, as it does to a great degree from certain saline contaminations during the process of freezing, and also that the vegetable or animal germs of typhoid and other fevers are killed, or at least rendered sterile, by congelation of the water in which they exist.  Both these ideas are, however, unquestionably running us, as has been repeatedly proved by the various experiments which ignorant hotel keepers try without the least intending it, upon their guests, on a scale which would have the oldest vivisector stand aghast before the suffering inflicted, even if it were only upon the brutes which form the subjects of his researches.

Sewer Gas Poison.  — it had obviously absorbed sewer gas, which it ascended through the overflow pipe, and that this had been the real cause of the disease was indicated by the fact that the diarrhea disappeared almost as rapidly as it had broken out, when the cistern was emptied and the pipe efficiently trapped.

Diarrhea in Country Districts.  — Dr. Wilson declares that, according to his experience, much of the diarrhea which prevails in country districts during the summer and autumn amongst children is due to polluted water, drunk either as it is drawn from the well or when mixed with milk, fraudulently or by accident.

I combined these two sections as they are both relatively short and again lend to my hypothesis that the author was paid for not only word count, but important (and unnecessary ) ‘important’ section count.  Now , that said, I find this interesting also from the perspective that I myself in doing home improvement projects from installing PVC pipe, toilets and bathroom faucets and systems, I  have worked through problems and with plumbing systems that benefited from this knowledge.  Although when I was taught how to install pipes and instructed in things about sewer gases and vents I was led to believe that these things were done primarily to help with the pressure and dynamics of making things flush and the possibility of what the gas might do in and of itself didn’t really come up, and was treated almost like something that was obvious.

Outbreak at Salford Jail.  — In the Salford, England, jail there was a sudden outbreak of diarrhea of a choleric type, which affected more than half of the prisoners; while of the officers and their families, who were distributed throughout the building, not one was attacked.  The food of the convicts was examined and found to be good; it was evident, also, that the air to not contain the cause of the disease, as both classes above mentioned were under the same conditions in that respect.  Suspicion was therefore directed to the drinking water.  It was then discovered that, though the water supply in all parts of the prison was derived from the same source, there was one sister for the use of the officers, and another’s covered cistern for furnishing to the prisoners their allowance, and that the un-trapped overflow pipe of the latter communicated with an open sewer.  On the day of the outbreak of diarrhea in the jail, the water from the cistern was observed to be colored and to taste unpleasantly.

This is definitely an interesting historical footnote, even though it would appear that this case was likely at least 20-50 years old when the author covered it 100 years from the publication of this internet article.  Never the less, it is interesting to learn again how this case was tracked and gain some additional historical perspective.  It helps us to understand the actual situations that led to policy and change and codes in plumbing and more over the years and helps make the current code less distant as if its there for the simple practice of bureaucracy as if we were reading actuarial tables about term life insurance and not a medical guide that might have saved some people’s lives as they put this into practice.

Diarrhea and Dysentery from Impure Water.  — the instances of outbreaks of these two diseases from contaminated water supply are very numerous, and probably most persons can recall examples of this kind.  The impurities which produce diarrhea and dysentery are suspended earthy matters, such as are found in most river waters after a rain; suspended animal and vegetable material; salty thing chlorides of Lyme and Magnesia, and nitrate of ammonia and of lime.  Besides the numerous outbreaks traceable to direct sewage contamination, there are several instances recorded of indirect poisoning the water supply from this source, as in the following curious case.

Just as a note about the style of writing or documentation, this paragraph seems to be unnecessary as a stand alone topic.  Instead it is basically a transition paragraph, yet the author chooses to use it as a stand alone sub topic instead of just using it to work his way from one topic to a very slight tangent in the next topic.  This would again seem to reflect the author’s possible motivation for not only being paid by the word but also with a stipend for important bolded topics.  This surely does not seem to be practical like following a guide on replacing coilovers in a car or fixing a plumbing problem, and it must have driven some readers nuts as they used this book in semi-emergencies looking for the answer to serious problems only to be distracted by useless sections like this.

Danger in Farmhouses from Polluted Water.  — Of course, the same conclusion holds good for country farmhouses or dwellings when, from motives of convenience, although there is space enough and to spare, but a short distance is interposed between the sides of the hole which is called the well, and which furnishes the drinking water, and the other hole nearby which is called the cesspit, and used as a receptacle for filthy, often poisonous, excrement.  Moreover, there are no doubt many instances where, owing to the inclination of beds of sand or gravel, strata of rock and so forth, impurities of these and other dangerous varieties may be carried, by underground currents, much further than the distances which have been mentioned as measured upon the surface of the earth area in other words, a cesspool on a hillside, 500 feet or more away from a well, may infect the water of the latter, if underground currents favor such contamination.

We have previously talked about the potential for typhoid and other contagions that can be carried by livestock and transmitted to humans.  Shielding the water supply both of people from animals and animals from people was known 100 years ago, but not always well documented unlike the dangers of mesothelioma or many other deadly situations that people could create themselves.

Proximity of Privy and Well.  — unless privy and well be located at considerable distance from each other, and further unless the nature of the ground be such that the flow from the privy will be away from the sources of the well, there is always great danger of the pollution of the well water with germs from the privy.  This also applies to nearby stable yards.  There are many authenticated cases of typhoid which have been directly traced to the proximity of wells to privies and stables, and the dangers should not be underestimated.

Today, we often consider the injury that we sustain at the hands of others, but consider that 100 years ago, just living, building or improving your home could potentially create unintended results that could significantly impact your health.  Searching for a Seattle injury lawyer in a case where you have essentially poisoned yourself due to the poor design or layout of your water supply and privy or septic system would not do you much good.