HOW WELLS ARE POLLUTED. 



79 



specially the vegetation upon it, will absorb and destroy the 

 filth element. In such a case, the water will be pure, and 

 safe to be used by men and animals. But in other condi- 

 tions, — such as where wells are shallow, and dug in a clayey 

 or impervious soil ; where near to or at the bottom of the well 

 is a stratum of hard-pan, clay, or other impervious strata, — 

 the well is often only a receptacle for much of the drainage 

 of both house and barn, and that for many square rods of 

 superficial area. And, if we are rightly informed, the soak- 

 age of sink-drains, privies, and barnyards, of a majority of 

 our New-England farms, is cared for in no other way, save to 

 allow it to get into the soil the best way it can, without aid- 

 ing it to escape, or be utilized by any methods of drainage. 



HOW WELLS AKE POLLUTED. 



I quote the following passage as bearing directly on this 

 point : — 



" It is impossible to say that a well is safe, at any ordinary distance 

 from a source of constant pollution of the neighboring soil, like a privy, 

 cesspool, barnyard, &c. Often the filth goes a long distance, sometimes 

 nOt very far. There is always a risk; and even if well-marked sickness 

 does not occur, as narrated above, more obscure affections are not uncom- 

 mon. . . . The ordinary privy should be abolished. It corrupts the air, 

 the soil, and, consequently, too often the wells." — Circular of Dr. Folsom. 



Now, it is possible that some people will say this state of 

 things has continued for the past half-century on many New- 

 England farms ; that the drainage has soaked into the wells ; 

 and that perhaps the well is in the barnyard, for convenience 



