STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 331 



tions. It is well known that Marysville and its vicinity enjoy a remarkable 

 immunity from these diseases. When they do occur, the disease invariably 

 appears in a sporadic form, imported by direct communication from some 

 infected region in another part of the State; affecting perhaps several chil- 

 dren in one family, rarely spreading to others even in the same neighborhood, 

 and soon disappearing. This has been, without exception, the history of 

 these diseases in this vicinity; and while occasional cases of scarlet fever 

 and diphtheria have been reported, they have never become epidemic, and 

 it is rare indeed that a death from these causes has been recorded. 



The attendance at our public schools has been uniformly large, and it 

 has never been reduced by any epidemic or contagious disease among the 

 children. These are notable circumstances. For a city of over six thou- 

 sand inhabitants could scarcely hope to escape, even under the most favor- 

 able sanitary conditions, an occasional visitation of an epidemic in some 

 form. 



This unusual freedom from infectious diseases among children — and the 

 adult population as well — is largely attributable, no doubt, to general hy- 

 gienic influences, but mainly to the exceptional properties, wholesomeness, 

 purity, and abundance of our water supply. 



It is impossible to overestimate the sanitary importance of water for the 

 welfare and comfort of the community. " The supply of wholesome water," 

 writes Dr. Parks, the English sanitarian, "insufficient quantity, is a fun- 

 damental sanitary necessity. Without it, injury to health inevitably arises, 

 either simply from deficiency of quantity , or more frequently from the pres- 

 ence of impurities." 



In all sanitary investigations the question of the water supply is one of 

 the first points of inquiry; and of late years quite unexpected evidence 

 has been obtained of the frequency with which diseases are introduced by 

 the agency of water. 



Throughout the counties of Yuba and Sutter, the water used for domes- 

 tic purposes is exceptionally pure and wholesome. The supply is chiefly 

 from wells, bored through impervious strata of stiff clay, serpentine rock, 

 or argillaceous slate, to depths varying from fifteen to forty feet. To guard 

 against the infiltration of surface water and impurities from above, a block 

 tin or galvanized iron pipe is placed from the well-curb at the top, down 

 to the impermeable stratum below, practically giving them the essential 

 character of artesian wells. Thus an abundant supply of water, absolutely 

 free from pollution, is secured in every locality. 



In the investigation of the water supply for cities, the questions to be 

 considered. are: quality, how collected, stored, and distributed; its purity, 

 and the liability of its becoming contaminated, either at its source or at 

 any point of its distribution. 



The system of waterworks in vogue in the city of Marysville cannot, at 

 least from a sanitary standpoint, be excelled. The supply is obtained 

 from two artesian wells, eighty and one hundred and eighty feet deep, re- 

 spectively, from which the water is lifted by steam pumps, having a com- 

 bined capacity of over 70,000 gallons an hour, or 280 gallons of water a 

 day per capita of population. 



The daily quantity per head supplied in most of the large cities of the 

 world is less than one fifth of this amount. The water is conveyed into 

 and stored in a set of iron tanks, properly inclosed and ventilated, and 

 from these tanks distributed through iron pipes to all parts of the city. 

 The great depth of these wells insures freedom from infection from surface 

 water and sewage, both potent factors in the development of zymotic dis- 

 eases and the spread of epidemics. 



