PURE DRINKING WATER. Contamination of drinking water by pathogenic microorganisms is an established fact. Cholera and typhoid fever are principally if not entirely disseminated in this manner, and probably scarlet fever and diphtheria are also largely contracted by drinking contaminated water. How far the tuberculosis bacilli, which now cause the death of over 150,000 people annually in the United States, are propagated by the same means, has not been determined. Certain it is that pure drinking water has become a subject of paramount importance. In this connection, filtration as a means of purifying water has received considerable attention by sanitarians all over the world. As a rule the water filters on the market are worse than useless, indeed, many of them are absolutely dangerous. Filters must be porous to permit the water to be filtered. The filtering material, unless changed daily, rapidly becomes foul from decaying of the organic matter the water contains, and ptomaines develop which contaminate the filtered water, thereby rendering it dangerous to life. We have seen such cases in our own practice. The most perfect filter with which we are acquainted has recently been invented and patented by Dr. C. F. Buckley, of San Francisco. The principles involved, though not new, herein for the first time receive practical application. The idea is to disinfect the water by first disinfecting the air. It is a well known principle of natural philosophy that water absorbs the qualities of its surrounding atmosphere and in this simple contrivance the atmosphere being thoroughly disinfected in turn disinfects the water. When the question of spontaneous generation was hotly contested by scientists some twenty-five years ago, the late Professor Tyndall demonstrated that the generation of animal and vegetable life in water was clearly due to atmospheric conditions. He arranged a series of tubes filled with distilled water, exposing some to ordinary atmospheric air—and covering others with layers of cotton wool of different degrees of thickness. It was demonstrated beyond a question that the tubes openly exposed to the atmosphere teemed with living organisms in a space of twelve hours, and that similar organisms developed in the protected tubes in the inverse ratio to their protection. All recent experiments corroborate these statements and go to show that diseases are largely obtained through the atmosphere poisoning our drinking water. D B m C Referring to the accompanying drawing, which is a vertical section of the apparatus, it will be seen that A is a closed tank or reservoir of suitable construction and capacity. It is provided with the inlet pipe B, from the water main, and with the cock controlled outlet pipe C, for service. Its top is provided with the air exhaust passage a having at its outer end a check valve a'. If filtered water is to be used, there is fitted in inlet pipe B a filter D of any suitable construction and containing any desired filtering media, charcoal plates for instance. A cock b is placed in pipe B, in advance of the filter, and another b' behind it, thereby the passage of water may be controlled, and the contents of the reservoir are confined for the purpose of cleansing or replacing the filtering material. E is a closed air-disinfecting case or bottle. It has an air inlet pipe or funnel e, and an air outlet pipe e', the latter communicating with the top of the reservoir A, or as here shown with the air exhaust passage a. This air disinfector may be of any suitable construction or arrangement, and its contents may be of any proper character. It is proposed to use in it a solution of chloride of iron or sulphuric acid, the level of which will be maintained, m-m, above the lower end of inlet funnel e and below the lower end of outlet pipe e'. Within reservoir A is a valve for automatically closing the top of the reservoir to prevent the overflow of water therefrom. In the present case this valve is shown as a float ball F, which will rise with the water and will seat itself in the inner end of exhaust passage a, thereby preventing the outflow of water through said passage, and also preventing it from overflowing through pipe e' into the air disinfector case or bottle E. The operation of the apparatus is as follows: Water, from the main, passing through pipe B, enters the reservoir A as filtered water. As it fills the reservoir, the air is expelled through the passage a and check valve a', and when the reservoir is full the float valve F confines the water. Now, when the water is drawn upon by the opening of service pipe C, the check valve a' will close and cut off all direct communication with the outer air, but air will pass down funnel e, through the disinfecting medium in bottle or case E, and thence as disinfected air will pass through pipe e', into the reservoir A, to occupy the space left vacant by the lowering water therein. Thus, only disinfected air will be admitted and come in contact with the contents of the reservoir which will serve not only to avoid contamination but also to aerate the water and to permit its ready outflow for use. The device has one more most important advantage, viz: its cheapness of application to all ordinary water tanks. We heartily recommend it to general use. DR. O. V. THAYER, of San Francisco, has removed to San Diego. THE Medical Society of the State of Colorado has offered a prize of $100 for the best essay on the diagnosing of tuberculosis by examination of the blood. The prize is open to any essay in English, condensed so as to be read in thirty minutes. Preference is to be given to the detection of the pre-tubercular stage. THE mortality in San Francisco for the month of August, 1894, from all causes, was 527. Of these diphtheria caused the death of 6, typhoid fever 13, tuberculosis 80, and cholera infantum 12, making a total in one month from preventable diseases of 111. Cancer caused 20 deaths, apoplexy 19, bronchitis 20, enteritis 23, heart disease 34, cirrhosis of liver 8, nephritis 8, peritonitis 3, pneumonia 22, puerperal fever 2, casualties 21, suicides 9, homicides 2. There were 24 still-births reported during the month, and 37 deaths of infants under one year of age from inanition and marasmus. Proceedings of Societies. The San Francisco County Medical Society. The regular monthly meeting of the San Francisco County Medical Society was held August 14th, 1894. In the absence of the President Dr. W. W. Kerr and all the Vice-Presidents, Dr. Charles Chismore was elected to preside. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved. Dr. Henry Gibbons, Jr., Chairman of the Committee on Finance of the American Medical Association, reported a balance of $675.15 remaining out of the $1,500.00 appropriated. On motion the report was accepted. Dr. S. S. Herrick then read his paper on "The Plague 400 Years Ago and Now." [This able and interesting paper appears in full in this issue of the JOURNAL.-ED.] In the discussion which followed Dr. D. W. Montgomery stated that he had obtained a bubo of a patient in Hong Kong (through the kindness of Dr. Geo. Tait) but owing to its decomposition he had not been able to stain the cells. The plague in China, he said, affected most virulently the inguinal glands. In many places in Hong Kong to which the soldiers were sent to disinfect the houses they found as much as three feet of dirt on the floors which must have accumulated for years. Dr. Kuhlman remarked that it was supposed the lepers which are now scattered over the globe are offsprings of the plague epidemics which invaded Europe from Asia in the times of the crusades. This he claimed could not be supported by scientific investigation. Dr. Herrick in closing said that the plague is often known as "pestilential fever." It is not similar to nor associated with cholera. Dr. Sherman, Chairman of the Committee on Finance, to whom bills on the entertainment of the A. M. A. were referred, reported vouchers and bills correct. The report was accepted. The resignations of Dr. S. F. Long and Dr. Marion Thrasher were read and accepted. The Society adjourned to Sept. 11, 1894. A. P. WOODWARD, M. D., Rec. Sec'y. Licentiates of the California State Board of Examiners. At a meeting of the Board of Examiners of the Medical Society of the State of California held Sept. 5th, 1894, the following were granted certifi cates to practice in this State: ARMSTRONG, WILLIAM P., San Diego; Med. Dept. Univ. Louisville, Ky., Feb. 27, 1857. CAMPBELL, ROBERT A., Los Angeles; Coll. Med. Univ. Sou. Cal., June 1, 1894. EATON, GEORGE LEE, Oakland; Vanderbilt Univ., Tenn., March 26, 1894. MCKENZIE, M. K., Kern; Detroit Med. Coll., Mich., March 10, 1881. MOORE, THOMAS B., Los Angeles; Univ. Edinburgh, Scot. (M. B. and C. M.) PAUL, JUDSON WALDO, Santa Clara; Bellevue Hosp. Med. Coll., N. Y., March 30, 1891. ROSENBERGER, JOHN A., Fowler; Jefferson Med. Coll., Pa., May 9, 1894. SCHILLER, FREDERIC, Los Angeles; Laval Univ., Quebec, Canada, Sept. 20, 1893. SMITH, WILLIAM H., Los Angeles: Omaha Med. Coll., Neb., March 25, 1886. Refused-Mme. Juilly, Los Angeles. CHAS. C. WADSWORTH, M. D., Secretary. REPORT OF DEATHS FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST. By J. R. LAINE, M, D., Secretary State Board of Health. Reports from seventy-five cities, towns, villages and sanitary districts, aggregating a population of seven hundred and seventy seven thousand and fifty-three, show a mortality of nine hundred and ninety-two, a death-rate of 1.27 per thousand for August, or 15.24 per thousand per annum. There were one hundred and sixty-three deaths from consumption, fortyone from pneumonia, twenty-six from bronchitis, five from congestion of the lungs, sixteen from diarrhoea and dysentery, twenty-three from cholera infantum, ninety-four from other diseases of the stomach and bowels, nine from diphtheria, seven from croup, one from scarlatina, six from whooping-cough, thirty-three from typhoid fever, five from malarial fevers, seven from cerebro. spinal fever, thirty-five from cancer, four from erysipelas, seventy-six from diseases of the heart, six from alcoholism, and four hundred and thirty-five from other causes, one of which was from la grippe, one from sunstroke and one from heat exhaustion. PREVAILING DISEASES.-Reports from forty-six localities, outside of the larger cities and towns, give eight cases of pneumonia, forty-four of bronchitis, twenty of pleurisy, nine of congestion of the lungs, two hundred and twelve of diarrhoea, forty-four of dysentery, forty-eight of cholera morbus, fifty-one of cholera infantum, four of diphtheria, six of croup, three of scarlatina, twenty-two of measles, one hundred and one of whooping-cough, thirtysix of la grippe, sixty-two of typhoid fever, four hundred and thirty-three of malarial fevers, eleven of cerebro spinal fever, eleven of erysipelas, sixty-five of rheumatism, fifty-eight of neuralgia, fifty-eight of tonsilitis, and thirtyeight of pharyngitis. Whooping-cough is epidemic at Napa and Etna Mills. |