42 KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 
To the rain-water, then, we do not look for a very large part of the nitrogen 
found in our ground water; much of it must come from the oxidation of the or- 
ganic matter. *The effort has been made to fix arbitrarily the maximum amount 
that will be allowed in natural waters before they shall be considered suspicious. 
Some of these attempts may be of interest by way of comparison: 
kin; Gdangeroussif OVEL. «......63 «2:2 -c.0iclelle eee eee eel Pete aoe ae 6.00 
Vienna Commission, dangerous’ if. (overs; - pees een een 1.04 
Hanover Commission, dangerous:if. OVer..c2ar- pee ne oe net eee 2.60 
Brandes Commission, dangerous:if overy..cen0 5. erie eo ao eee 7.00 
Leeds’ average for American rivers is 1.11 to 3.89. 
The Rivers Pollution Commission (English) gives the following average from 
589 unpolluted waters for nitrogen as nitrates and nitrites together: 
LC’ [0 oer MeN ERA Re ee re 0.03 
Winlandisurface,. <a his iochhncet ek fe gake ogee Rhea s 5 Ulereeater en ere en 0.09 
MDGOm WELL... «. ..5.a5 au cinit wou pig a elaelp, cae oe en te, Le ea 4.95 
RUN aoe ace + 2 rng dlw'wiggspdsw wae aod 9 a rok Chater eee 3.83 
Professor Mason also quotes Fongs the Analyst the following, to show the 
varied character of well-waters: Nitrogen aimiseeeees 
200 feet deep, Wambletoniiy sai: 2 oon bie eee 0.43 parts per million. 
900 Southend ace. ab ss 2.0 Deca p  e ae 0.71 # =F 
430 * St aBraintree’) <2 23x uc. ders oe ee 0.28 ee Ee 
305 ** ec *Colehesteri occ... cious acs onic ee 0.00 ee “ 
GUO Mss tom Whitham... oS. Sie os be eee 6.43 aS ce 
490 * £6. Chatham .5 <<.) .csavnies Settle 6.85 3 oe 
400 * oo = INorwichivs: «5.0% facie ata cos See ee eee yen a ley: 5° )- ke 
The above are deep wells which, as a rule, are more liable to contain nitrates 
than shallow wells. There is only one well in this list that contains as much ni- 
trogen as the Marysville water, noticed above, namely, 9.10 parts per million. If 
this water alone contained a large amount of nitrogen as nitrates, we should be 
inclined to look upon it with suspicion, but an examination of the other wells in 
the town, some of which must have been so situated that they could not be pol- 
luted by sewage, leads to the conclusion that the norma/ amount of nitrates in 
the water of this locality is high. This conclusion but emphasizes the statement 
that has often been made by writers on water analysis, that the source of the 
abnormal ammonia, or nitrogen in any form, must be known before we are com- 
petent to decide on the quality of the water. If nitrates are high, we should not 
necessarily conclude that the water is contaminated by sewage, or even that it 
has previously been so contaminated. 
A REPORT ON THE MINERAL SPRINGS AND WELLS OF KANSAS. 
BY E. H. S. BAILEY, LAWRENCE. 
Read before the Academy December 30, 1898. 
The chemistry department at the university is still working on the waters of 
the state, and has some kind of a record in regard to 150 springs and wells in the 
state that are of a so-called mineral character. Of these we have quantitative 
analyses of about seventy-five, and we have quite a number still on hand to ana- 
lyze. Those who have investigated the subject appreciate the difficulty of decid- 
ing as to which waters are really to be called mineral, and which are simply 
ordinary waters. 
* Report, National Board of Health, 1882. 
