294 Annual Report of the Consulting Chemist. 
neglected subject of a wholesome water-supply for man and beasts 
An unprecedentedly large number (78) of samples of water 
were analysed by me in 1875 for members of the Society ; and, 
as in previous years, a considerable proportion of them were 
found totally unfit for drinking purposes. 
Occasionally, in the country, horses and cattle are supplied 
with water which partakes more of the character of liquid manure- 
than that of spring- or wholesome well-water. Thus, quite 
recently, I had sent to me from Lincolnshire a specimen of water, 
which had been taken from a well, and had caused the death of 
two horses, one cow, and three beasts. Passing by the details 
of the analysis, I may observe that the smell of the water was 
extremely disgusting, and it was almost as much coloured as 
liquid manure. I found in it fully as much ammonia as in 
town-sewage, on an average, and a larger proportion of saline 
constituents. In point of fact, this well-water was rather con- 
centrated sewage than water. It is scarcely necessary to say that 
such a filthy liquid unquestionably is unwholesome, and likely 
to produce all kinds of disorders. It is surprising that any person, 
should have given such a liquid to horses or cows, for it was 
not ordinary well-water, but rather concentrated liquid manure, 
which ought to have been kept in the manure-heap, and not have 
been allowed to percolate into a neighbouring well, to the injury 
of the manure, and to the still more serious damage of the stock 
which was supplied with the contents of such a poisoned well. 
In mining districts the water of brooks and streams not unfre- 
quently becomes contaminated with metallic poisons. A case 
of water poisoned by lead was brought under my notice last 
June by a member of the Society residing in the neighbourhood 
of Matlock in Derbyshire, who wrote to me as follows : — 
" I occupy some land through which a brook runs, and intO' 
this brook the refuse of some lead-smelting works is poured. 
The water of the brook is backed up in a kind of reservoir for 
the use of some bleaching-works further down the stream, and, in 
consequence, some of the scum from the lead- works becomes mixed 
with the water. I have lately lost a mare and foal ; and several 
of my cattle have, from some cause or other, gone off very much 
in condition ; and I am desirous of knowing whether the water 
in the brook is injurious and unfit for use." 
The water sent for analysis was taken from the reservoir at 
Lea Bridge. The whole of the bottom of the reservoir, I was 
informed, is covered with a deposit, a sample of which was also- 
sent for examination. 
The analysis of the water showed that it contained soluble 
lead-compounds in appreciable quantities, and was totally unfit 
for drinking purposes ; and much lead was found in the sediment 
at the bottom of the reservoir. 
