THE USES OF WATER.
Adaptation of Water to Human Needs. Few people who enjoy the benefits of water think what a wonderful and unanswerable argument is afforded by them in favor of the goodness of an all-wise Creator to his creature, man. Of all the fluids with which we are acquainted water is by far the best adapted to the almost infinite variety of human wants, and it is the one of all others most abundant in nature, constituting as it does about three-fifths of the surface of our globe, and nearly seven-tenths of the bodies of man and of most animals. If the common fluid upon which we had to depend were quicksilver, or oil, its boiling-point would be so high that articles of food which we attempted to cook in it would be seriously injured in the effort to prepare them by its aid; and, on the other hand, nearly all the advantages of ice would fail us, in consequence of the exceedingly low temperature at which these substances remain fluid.

This is the beginning of a new section book 3 and in this book they extensively cover the uses of water.  Its a resource that we often take for granted but its not as unimportant as say a tv stand or even a second pair of shoes.  Understanding how to protect and keep this resource safe was extremely important for every day life.

Additional Articles from the Book of Medicine:

• Arsenic in Water
  
  

  Arsenic in Water. — arsenic, copper and mercury are rarely found in drinking water is in America, except in streams flowing near chemical works, or unless they are introduced designedly with some murderous intention. These metals may, therefore, be practically ignored in the consideration of water from a hygienic point of view.

  Last night, I was watching a rerun of Sweeney Todd, starring Johnny Depp. I mention it only because of the reference to Arsenic, which I believe was the poison that Todd’s wife (in the movie) took to kill herself while Todd was in Prison. The movie was set right around the time this book was written, and I suspect that a spouse going to prison back then for a ‘white collar’ crime was much more serious than today, when you could probably expect a wife to spend 2-4 years travelling around on Mediterranean cruises rather than taking arsenic to be done with the world.

• Cholera Infection
  
  

  Cholera Infection. — a few days after their return the same terrible disease rapidly attack other members of the household, so that, within a fortnight, and that one little circle, 11 person’s had been seized with cholera, including a mother, father, grandmother, two daughters, sons, doctor, serving lad, serving maid, labor and countrywoman, and of these 11 only three survived, namely, the Sun, a daughter and a serving lad. Later, in the countrywoman’s family, there was another fatal case. It cannot well be doubted, concluded Mr. Simon, but that the exciting cause of the succession of events was in some way or other the return of the parents from Weymouth-of the father with the remains of choleraic diarrhea upon him, of the mother with apparently the beginnings of the same complaint. But this is only part of the case, and the remainder teaches a most impressive lesson. All the drinking water used in the house came from a well beneath the floor of the scullery, and into that well there was habitual  soakage from the water closet.

  Now for some people reviewing 100 year old accounts of cholera epidemics might be about as exciting as reviewing marketing budgets and covering line items for promotional pens to insure that enough red pens versus blue pens have been ordered. That said this actually has some very interesting historical references in the next few sections so don’t miss them.

• Sea-Water
  
  

  Sea-Water.-Sea-water varies considerably in composition, being, of course, more concentrated, as a rule, in the tropical regions, where evaporation is most active, such, for example, as in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean near the equator. According to analysis, the water in the English Channel contains in 1000 parts‑

  Chloride of Sodium 28.05

  Chloride of Magnesium…………………….. 3.66

  Sulphate of Magnesia 2.29

  Sulphate of Lime ……………………………. 1.40

  Other Saline Materials ……………………….. .76

  Total Solid Matter…………………….. 36. 16

  Besides these, and perhaps contributing largely to the healthful qualities of sea-water, there exist in the ocean small quantities of iodine and bromide, and extremely minute amounts of some of the common metals. It has been found that, by dissolving a little common salt and carbonate of soda, lime and magnesia in distilled sea-water, its taste is rendered much more agreeable; and this plan, it is said, is adopted in the Russian navy.

  – - –

  As in the last section where they talk about distilling sea water for drinking on ships, this talks about some of the other materials that can be extracted during the distillation process.  With the exception of salt extraction some of these other materials don’t seem terribly practical.  Times do change however, and if water is extracted every bit of material that comes with it has to go somewhere whether it can be sold in bulk for mass production of vitamins or horse supplements or what ever.