MEANS OF PREPARING WHOLESOME DRINKS. 271 



CHAPTER XVII. 



ON THE MEANS OF PREPARING WHOLESOME DRINKS FOR 

 THE USE OF COUNTRY PEOPLE. 



A GREAT portion of the inhabitants of the country have 

 no other drink than the water furnished by wells, cisterns, 

 and pools. 



The water of wells varies much in quality, according to 

 the nature of the soil through which it filtrates : if that be 

 granitic, or formed by layers of primitive calcareous earth, 

 the water is excellent ; when it passes through beds of chalk 

 or gypsum, it is bad : in the first case, the rain-water pre- 

 serves all its purity ; in the second, it dissolves, or carries 

 with it, in a state of extreme division, a portion either of the 

 sulphate or the sub-carbonate of lime. Water of this 

 kind is heavy, very ill adapted to the cooking of leguminous 

 vegetables, or to being used in washing, as it decomposes 

 soap, instead of dissolving it. 



The best well-water is liable to be rendered impure by the 

 filtrations of the juices from the dung and fi:om the various 

 substances which are decaying upon the surface of the soil 

 in the vicinity : this evil is often found to exist in the coun- 

 try, where wells and dung heaps are not unfrequently to be 

 seen in the same enclosure, and within a short distance from 

 each other. 



I once knew the wells of a whole village to be rendered 

 unwholesome by the rotting of hemp in the ditch which sep- 

 arated the dwellings from the public walk. As the state of 

 the wells was attributed to some want of care, I was request- 

 ed, by public authority, to ascertain the true cause of it, and 

 found it to be occasioned by the filtration of the water of the 

 ditch into the wells. I caused the ditch and the wells to be 

 thoroughly drained three times, and the water was thus re- 

 stored to purity. 



I have often observed that the use of wells was necessari- 

 ly discontinued on account of the proximity of a sheep-fold, 

 a stable, or a ditch for manure ; the filtrations from them 

 and from the substances decomposing in their neighbourhood 

 rendering the water totally unfit for use. To preserve the 

 water of wells pure, it is therefore necessary, that no animal 

 or vegetable substance which can be decomposed, be depos- 

 ited near them. 



