Discussion on Sanitation. 49 



regards albuminoid ammonia, which it contained at the rate of 

 •15 per million. So that, as far as Wanklyn's test went, the 

 town water should be condemned. I do not mean, however, to 

 say that Wanklyn's system is absolutely reliable as a test of 

 purity. The Cromac water is exactly the same as the town 

 water, only it has filtered through the soil for 100 feet or so, 

 and been very much purified thereby. The water used by most 

 of the mineral water manufacturers is extraordinarily pure, 

 especially that from Messrs. Corry & Co.'s well. The Cromac 

 water sold by the carts, however, is far less good, probably on 

 account of the well being contaminated by surface drainage. 

 (Professor Letts here exhibited in decanters specimens of the 

 ordinary water supplied by the town, the same when filtered and 

 when distilled, and also Cromac water from Messrs. Corry's 

 well.) Supposing the germ theory of disease to be perfectly 

 accurate, as represented, then, if one person living in the upland 

 districts from which the town supply comes had typhoid fever, 

 he might be the means of infecting the whole town. Typhoid, 

 as we know, has been rather rife in Belfast, and I have some- 

 times wondered whether it has any connection with this state 

 of things. The only way in which the authorities can do 

 anything to remedy what appears a very dangerous system, is 

 by filtering the water through sand. That undoubtedly ought 

 to be done. Mr. Hoskyns, a chemist, has told me he had found 

 considerable quantities of phosphate in the town supply, which 

 possibly had been dissolved from the manures used for fertilising 

 the upland farms. It would be satisfactory to the public if 

 periodical analyses of the water were obtained by the Water 

 Board and published by them. 



The next part of the subject upon which I will touch in 

 passing is ventilation. The air of Belfast, I believe, is on the 

 whole better than in most manufacturing districts. I have no 

 data to corroborate that statement ; it is simply my belief. At 

 the same time, there are two sources of very bad air in the 

 vicinity of the town. One is the Lagan and the other the 

 Holywood foreshore. The latter is the most abominable stream 



