368 



HOME HYGIENE. 



HUNGARY. 



many years before the population is sufficiently 

 dense to render it a source of alarm, except in 

 the smaller streams where the sewage emptied 

 into them is more highly concentrated. In 

 such cases the question of the disposal of sew- 

 age is one of great importance. This discus- 

 sion, however, does not fall within the scope 

 of this paper. 



From what has been said, it will appear 

 that the water-supply derived from large bodies 

 of water is that most wholesome, but as the 

 streams from which it is usually obtained are 

 subject to periodical rise and fall, owing to the 

 rains or drought, and in the former event con- 

 tain a large amount of soil suspended in it, 

 "settling reservoirs" are usually constructed. 

 It is in these reservoirs that certain fresh-water 

 algse or aquatic plants have their origin and 

 growth, and, when abundant, they impart a 

 color to the water. 



The effect upon the human system of vege- 

 table organic matter deserves consideration. 

 Professor Farlow, of Harvard University, in a 

 recent paper on the subject (Massachusetts 

 Board of Health Reports, 1880), states : 



" Considered from a sanitary point of view, 

 we may say that the grass-green algse have no 

 injurious effect upon the water in which they 

 grow. On the contrary, we may regard their 

 presence as an indication of its purity, for they 

 do not grow in impure water. If almost any 

 river or pond water, no matter how clear it ap- 

 pears, is placed in a covered glass jar, in a few 

 days or weeks there will be formed a greenish 

 expansion on the sides and at the bottom, 

 which, on examination, will be found to con- 

 sist principally of the young stages of develop- 

 ment of some of the alga3." 



Professor Farlow, while thus pronouncing in 

 favor of the harmlessness of the grass-green 

 algae, is equally decided in his opinion that 

 the bluish-green algae which sometimes as- 

 sume a purple tinge, at other times dark and 

 almost black, are injurious in their effect upon 

 water. Of this class he has discovered that 

 the Nostoc family "are the cause of certain 

 disagreeable conditions of our drinking-water. 

 So long as they are living, and not excessively 

 abundant, they produce no perceptibly bad ef- 

 fect on the water ; but, when large quantities 

 of them decay, they give rise to the pig-pen 

 odor, as it is called, which has in recent years 

 caused considerable trouble, and still more 

 alarm." 



However interesting in a botanical point of 

 view the study of the fresh-water alga3 may 

 be, information is certainly wanting to show 

 that they exert any deleterious or even mate- 

 rial influence upon the health. It is, however, 

 a matter of prudence that, when the fresh- 

 water algaa are sufficiently numerous in any 

 specimen of water to give off a disagreeable 

 odor, the water should be filtered before drink- 

 ing it, as either vegetable or animal organic 

 matter while in a decomposing state must be 

 more or less injurious to health. 



It may be stated, in conclusion, that when 

 any given specimen of drinking-water is under 

 the ban of suspicion, it should in all cases be 

 submitted to a chemical analysis and micro- 

 scopical examination by the proper health offi- 

 cer of the city or village, and if it be desired 

 in the mean time to continue the use of the 

 water, it should be filtered, and, if necessary, 

 boiled, previous to filtration. The various 

 forms of filters, almost any of which are suit- 

 able for use, will be found at the first-class 

 house-furnishing establishments. 



JOHN B. HAMILTON, 

 Supervising Surgeon-General, 

 U. S. Marine Hospital Service. 



HUNGARY, a kingdom of Europe, and one 

 of the two principal divisions of the Austro- 

 Hungarian Monarchy. (See AUSTRO-HUNGAKY.) 

 The Hungarian Ministry at the close of 1880 

 was composed as follows : President of the 

 Ministry and Minister of the Interior, Kolomon 

 Tisza de Borosjeno ; Minister near the King's 

 Person (ad latus), Baron Bela d'Orczy ; Min- 

 ister of Education and Worship, Augustus de 

 Trefort; Minister for the Defense of the Coun- 

 try, Colonel B. Szende de Keresztes; Minister 

 of Public Works, Paul d'Ordody ; Minister for 

 Croatia and Slavonia, Gabriel Baron de Pro- 

 nay ; Minister of Justice, Dr. Theodor Pauler ; 

 Minister of Finances, Count Szapary ; Minister 

 of Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry, Baron 

 Keme'ny. 



The area and population of the countries of 

 the Hungarian crown are as follows, according 

 to the " Statistiche Handbuch der osterreich.- 

 ungarischen Monarchie " : 



The movement of population was as follows 

 in 1876 and 1877: 



NUMBER OF 



Marriages 



Excess of births ..................... 151,877 108,277 



18?6. 



154,305 



187?. 



178,389 



The budget for the countries belonging to 

 the Hungarian crown for 1880, as voted by the 

 Diet, was as follows (1 florin = 48 cents) : 



RECEIPTS. Florins. 



1. Directtaxes ................................ 83,964,530 



2. Indirect taxes ............................... 90,769,412 



3. Receipts from Government property and state 



institutions .............................. 23,961,080 



4. Extraordinary receipts of the Ministry of Fi- 



nance .................................... 13,200,787 



5 Eeceipts of the other Ministries .............. 21,560.252 



6. Otherreceipts ............................... 3,700,0 



Total ordinary receipts 

 Extraordinary receipts 



237,156,011 

 2,427,146 



Total.. 



