85 



the means of international intercourse, and the language of 

 diplomacy. He showed that the French prose hterature took 

 its origin in the account of the conquest of Constantinople by 

 the Latins, by Villehardouin, marshal of the province of Cham- 

 pagne, and in the life of Bt. Louis, by Joinville. The Venetians, 

 who assisted the French in the conquest of Constantinople, were 

 influenced by commercial reasons, and factories were afterwards 

 established at dilfereut points in Greece, namely, in the Ionian 

 Islands and in Pera— a suburb of Constantinople which served 

 all through the middle ages as the channel through Avhich 

 Eastern produce found its way into Em-ope. This commerce 

 with the East was the source of Venetian greatness. The 

 English, from their insular position, took less part than the con- 

 tinental nations in the Crusades. But the discontent of tlie 

 EngUsh people at the taxation imposed upon them by the papal 

 Curia, for the purpose of promoting Crusades, and the aUenation 

 of the revenues of the Enghsh Church, ostensibly for the sanie 

 purpose, led ultimately to anti-papal legislation, which began m 

 the time of Edward the First. 



WATER AND WATER SUPPLY. 



By DR. JOHNSTON. November 15th, 1887. 



Dr. Johnston remarked that the health of the community of 

 our towns was largely dependent upon water supply, and this 

 ought to be plentiful and of good quality ; quantity was even of 

 still greater importance than purity. Eain water, being soft, was 

 admirably adapted for washing purposes. It was also employed 

 in some instances to supply houses. But in this respect great 

 care should be taken to avoid the use of lead in the construction 

 of cisterns in which to keep it. It was also best to have such 

 tanks underground, and the water should, before being used for 

 domestic purposes, pass through coarse river-sand, or, better still, 

 through charcoal. These served to extract impurities caused by 

 dead leaves, etc., getting into the tanks. In the neighbourhood 

 of manufacturing towns, many impurities got into the water, and 

 families would do well to let it be subjected to a good system of 

 filtration before use. The quantity of water necessary for health 

 purposes was about 70 to 80 ounces per day. One-third of this 

 was supplied in articles of diet, and the other two-thirds in 

 liquids. Where water was scarce the amount did not in many 

 instances exceed three gallons per day, but then the inhabitants 

 were anything but cleanly. An authority on the subject had 

 estimated that the consumption per individual each day should 



