2'72 



wMch would have soon developed cholerc, had not immediate precau- 

 tions been taken. I prohibited the use of the well water, and from that 

 time there were no more cases in the family. On the same street, im- 

 mediately opposite, there were certainly two deaths (and I think three) 

 from cholera, in a house in which well water was used. It was reported 

 that other instances of the same kind occurred on the street, but for this 



I cannot vouch. 



ADRIAN R. TERRY, M. D." 



i 



I have also been informed by Professor Palmer, of Chicago, that this 

 disease has been observed to be most fatal in that city, in those districts 

 where well water was used, although the most high, and apparently the 

 most healthy. The lower districts, containing such quantities of surface 

 water and filth as entirely to preclude the use of well water, were sup- 

 plied with water from the lake by carts, and were comparatively free 

 from this disease. 



Again, the city of Sandusky is situated on a clay soil, underlaid by a 

 limestone, and is supplied with water, mostly from wells dug in this te- 

 nacious clay. The water must not only be highly charged with lime 

 and other earthy salts, but likewise contain large quantities of decaying 

 organic matter derived from surface drainage. I am fully of the opinion 

 that the fearful ravages of cholera in that city may be, in a great meas- 

 ure, attributed to the use of impure water. 



It is a well estabhshed fact, that, in the city of Cincinnati, of all per- 

 sons who used the water of certain springs during the prevalence of 

 the cholera, not one escaped fatal attacks of the disease. 



Other examples might be given, drawn both from this country and 

 Europe, illustrating the effect of water on the spread of epidemics, as a 

 predisposing cause ; but this is not the place for a lengthy discussion of 

 this subject 



The chemical analysis of the river water, leads to the following useful 

 conclusions : 



1st The carbonates are found in rery small quantities. As very little 

 precipitate is formed on boiling, the water cannot be improved as to its 

 "hardness," by the application of heat. 



2nd. The sulphates and phosphates are the most abundant salts held 

 in solution. The presence of the former, for reasons already stated, 

 would forbid the use of wood-conducting logs. That hydro-sulphuric 



