^u 



NA TURB 



[September 3, 1903 



rUE SAyjTARY EXAMINATION OF WATER 



SUPPLIES. 

 A N extremely valuable and interesting report ' has 

 -^"^ been issued by the sanitary authorities of the 

 City of Chicago on the results of the chemical and 

 bacteriological examinations of the waters between 

 Lake Michigan at Chicago and the Mississippi River 

 at St. Louis for the purpose of determining their con- 

 dition and quality before and after the opening of the 

 Sanitary Canal. For the diversion from Lake 

 Michigan of the sewage of Chicago and its inoffensive 

 disposal towards the Mexican Gulf, a canal was cut 

 to carry the sewage, much diluted with lake water, 

 into the Illinois River, a distance of 29 miles. From 

 this point the Illinois River, after a course of 289 

 miles, discharges into the Mississippi at Grafton, 

 vyhich is about 38 miles above St. Louis. The investi- 

 gations originated from the fact that the State of 

 Missouri and the City of St. Louis had applied for a 

 Federal injunction against the further operation and 

 development of the Sanitary Canal of the Chicago 

 Sanitary District on the ground that the purity of the 

 water supply of St. Louis was endangered thereby. 

 Chicago replied by instituting a commission to examine 

 into the condition of the waters between Chicago and 

 St. Louis, a distance of 356 miles. 



The Chicago Municipal Laboratory (Dr. Gehr- 

 mann), the University of Chicago (Prof. Jordan), and 

 the University of Illinois. (Profs. Palmer and Burrill) 

 collaborated in the work, a common plan of operation 

 was devised, a uniform scheme for the bacteriological 

 and , chemical examinations agreed upon, and forty 

 stations were fixed for taking the samples, of which 

 forty were, collected weekly and delivered to each of 

 the three laboratories. The work extended over a 

 period of about thirteen months, and during that time 

 some 8600 samples were examined. The investi- 

 gations show that considerable self-piirification has 

 taken place before the Sanitary Canal discharges its 

 sewage into the Illinois (29 miles), and that this con- 

 tinues until, before Averyville (159 miles) is reached, 

 all trace of sewage pollution has disappeared from the 

 waters of the Illinois. Since there is still another 188 

 miles to be traversed before anv pollution could reach 

 M. Louis, the possibility of Chicago's sewage en- 

 dangering the purity of St. Louis's water must be 

 dismissed as impossible. In all probability such an 

 exhaustive series of observations over so extended a 

 stretch ^of water for so long a period has never before 

 been attempted, and the results obtained are of con- 

 siderable general interest. A valuable feature of the 

 report is the detailed description of the methods em- 

 ployed for both the chemical and bacteriological por- 

 tions of the examinations. The report illustrates the 

 Sl^f '^.^"1'' ^" ^hich a great question, such as it 

 c-!, i.r'f ' T^'^ ^^ approached and a solution be 

 sought tor, and we commend its perusal to hygienic 

 authorities in this country. R. T. Hewlett. 



NOTES. 



The British Rainfall Organisation, founded in i860 bv 

 the late Mr. G. J. Symons, F.R.S., will henceforth be 

 carried on under the sole charge of Dr. H. R. Mill Mr. 

 Sovverby Wallis having been • compelled bv ill-health to 

 retire after more than thirty years' connection with the 

 association. 



The summer meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute 

 was opened on Tuesday last at Barrow-in-Furness under the 



A ^,"R^P°" °f Streams Examination." Made under the Direction of 

 Arthur R. Reynolds, M.l)., Con.missic ner of Heath, Ciiy of Chicago 

 December, 1902. * 



NO. 176'S. VOL. 68] 



chairmanship of Mr. Andrew Carnegie, the president of the 



institute. 



The whaler Terra Nova, which has been acquired by the 

 Government and fitted out as a relief ship for the Discovery, 

 left Portland on Wednesday of last week for Hobart, 

 Tasmania, where, as has been mentioned in a former issue, 

 she will be joined by the Morning. In order that she may 

 reach her destination as rapidly as possible, she will be 

 towed as far as Aden by one of His Majesty's ships; from 

 Aden she will have to depend on her own resources of steam 

 and sail. It is, however, anticipated that the two ships, 

 the Morning and Terra: Nova, will be able to leave Hobart 

 in order to make their way south through the Antarctic 

 ice in search of the Discovery by December i. 



According to a Reuter telegram from Brest, the steamer 

 Franfais, with the members of the Charcot expedition, 

 which is proceeding towards the South Pole in search of. 

 Dr. Otto Nordenskjold, left that place on Sunday afternoon 

 last. 



The German South Polar Expedition has arrived safely 

 at St. Helena. 



A TELEGRAM from Naples on August 26 through Reuter 's 

 Agency stated that on that day a crater of Vesuvius which 

 had been quiet since 1895 opened, and a great flood of lava 

 poured forth. 



A telegram from Wellington, New Zealand, states that 

 an eruption of the Waimangu geyser took place on Satur- 

 day last, causing the loss of four lives. 



According to a telegram from New York a gold seeker 

 has just arrived at Vancouver after an absence of four 

 years, during which time he has been exploring the 

 Mackenzie River district in the direction of the Arctic circle, 

 and has brought with him what purports to be a piece of 

 silk which formed part of the balloon of the ill-fated Andr^. 



We regret to have to announce the death at Marstrand, 

 Sweden, at the age of sixty years, of Prof. W. H. Corfield, 

 sanitary adviser to H.M. Office of Works, and author of 

 numerous works relating to hygiene. 



A monument to the French chemist Laurent was recently 

 unveiled by the French Minister of Agriculture at Langres 

 (Haute-Marne). 



The British Medical Journal states that Dr. Stiles, who, 

 it is said, has discovered a parasite which he believes to be 

 effective in destroying mosquitoes, is about to put the 

 efficacy of the destroyer to the test at Cape May or some 

 other place in New Jersey where mosquitoes are prevalent. 

 The investigation is undertaken at the request of Prof. 

 Smith, State Entomologist of New Jersey, who has helped 

 Dr. Stiles in his search for a parasite suitable for the 

 purpose. 



A Reuter telegram from Lagos states that the Legislative 

 Council has passed a law making it a penal offence to in- 

 troduce wireless telegraphy into the colony without the 

 sanction of the Governor in Council. 



According to a telegram received through Laffan's 

 Agency, Mr. ,Marconi, on his arrival at New York by the 

 Lucania, stated that the vessel was never out of communica- 

 tion with either Great Britain or America on any day 

 during the voyage. On Tuesday night of last week a 

 mes.'sage was received from Poldhu, when the Lucania was 

 in mid-ocean, giving the result of that day's yacht race. The 

 Nantucket station gave the result of Thursday's race. Mr. 



