120 A. KIXG — THE ADVANTAGES 



It may have been observed that I have not yet touched upon the 

 medical aspects of the question. In this case, as in some others, 

 I may say that "doctors diifer." I have no doubt in my own 

 mind that in some cases hard water produces indigestion, con- 

 stipation, and other troubles resulting from these conditions, and 

 I am inclined to think that possibly the continual drinking of even 

 small quantities of lime-salts may promote calcareous degeneration 

 of the arteries and valves of the heart. With regard to the skin 

 there can be no two opinions that softened water is better than hard, 

 and I believe that Dr. Adams Clarke has found at the Leavesden 

 School a great improvement in the condition of the children's skins 

 since the introduction of softened water there. One point I cannot 

 help touching on, and that is the question of rickets ; I have heard 

 it stated that hard water is a beneficial thing in the prevention of 

 this disease. I wish rickets were only a question of chalk, as it 

 might easily be dealt with then. Eickets, however, is a disease 

 of improper feeding and bad hygienic surroundings. It is not 

 water containing chalk that the children want, but good food 

 containing phosphate of lime. If children had good pure air, 

 plenty of light, and genuine new milk instead of so much of those 

 starchy foods, they would not suffer from rickets. In this con- 

 nection I may quote the evidence of the Right Hon. Lyon Playfair 

 (now Lord Playfair) before the Royal Commission of 1869 : — 



{Questioned hy Mr. Prestwich) : "Do not some medical men 

 consider that the presence of carbonate of lime in drinking-water 

 is rather desirable than otherwise for health ? — I have seen evidence 

 given in cases of water-supply, not only that it was desirable for 

 health, but that it was absolutely necessary for the formation of the 

 bones. But that showed a lamentable want of chemical knowledge, 

 because the lime required in food does not come from the water, 

 but from the solid articles of food taken, and I do not think that 

 the lime taken in water has any influence on the processes of 

 bodily nutrition." 



With regard to the other advantages of softened water I may 

 quote the evidence of the same witness : — 



{Questioned by the Duke of Richmond): "I gather from your 

 statement that the mass of the population would be likely to be 

 more cleanly, and therefore more healthy, if the water were soft, 

 and less soap were used, than if the water were hard, causing a 

 great difficulty in producing lather ? — Yes, it is a curious thing 

 that one never washes one's hands in a basin with hard water ; 

 where the water is hard you take a small quantity of it in the 

 hand itself, and rub the soap until it forms a lather in the small 

 quantity of water that is in the hand, and you merely use the 

 water in the basin to rinse off that which you have employed in 

 cleaning the hands; but with soft water you use the whole mass 

 of water for detergcnce, and therefore it is more effective. 



"And it is therefore more conducive to health? — Yes, a more 

 thorougli cleansing takes place. 



" So that if it were a question of obtaining cither hard or soft 



