SESSION 1894-95. li 



'Sir. Hill said that lie had now resided in his house nearly 

 1 0-} years, and he had the same hoiler and the same pipes which 

 had been put in at first by 'My. Ayres. He thought the Watford 

 "water was most pleasant to diink. Soft water, to his mind, was 

 flat ; there was no life in it. 



Mr. Yekixi, being asked for his opinion as to the cost of softening 

 the water, said that he had read Dr. King's figures in the 

 ' "Watford Observer,' and he thought that they were accurate. 



Dr. King replied, saying that he thought the matter simply 

 resolved itself into pounds, shillings, and pence. If it were cheaper 

 to soften the water, let them do it. Leaving out the medical 

 question, or the question of inconvenience, let them consider the 

 money question, and he believed if they went into the subject 

 thoroughly they would find that it might put a little on the rates, 

 but it would save their pockets in other ways. It would certainly 

 save them a considerable amount in soap, and if they as private 

 individuals did not use so much as washerwomen, he thought they 

 ouglit to consider the washerwomen as well as themselves, and it 

 would be a considerable saving to them. Another point that he 

 mentioned in his paper was very important, and that was that they 

 could not wash clothes clean in hard water. He differed from 

 Mr. Hill as to the taste of the water, preferring soft water. 



Mr. HoPKiNsox also replied. He said that he was not aware 

 that there had been any cases of lead-poisoning where soft water 

 had been substituted for hard water. He had had no experience 

 of the taste of softened water, but he very much preferred such 

 naturally soft water as a mountainoiis district usually yields, to 

 the very hard water supplied to Watford and St. Albans, and he 

 believed that diinking such soft water was very beneficial to 

 health. 



Professor Attfield remarked that the different experiences with 

 regard to pipes, etc., being choked up could be easily explained. It 

 was necessary for water actually to boil before any appreciable 

 amount of carbonate of lime would be deposited as " scale." 

 Doubtless with Mr. Blathwayt the water boiled, and with Mr. 

 Ayres and Mr. Hill it did not. 



!Mr. G. H. Wailes and Mr, Thomas Hope were elected auditors 

 of the accounts for 1894. 



AxxivEESART Meetixg, 26th Febeuaet, 1895. 



(At Watfoed.) 



Sir JoHX EvA>js, K.C.B., D.C.L., LL.D., Sc.D., Treas.E.S., 

 Y.P.S.A., F.L.S., F.G.S., etc., Vice-President, in the Chair. 



The Eeport of the Council for 1894, and the Treasurer's Account 

 of Income and Expenditure, were read and adopted. 



George Massee, F. 11. M.S., 41 Gloucester Iload, Kew, was elected 

 a Corresponding Member of the Society. 



