336 Annual Report of the Consulting Chemist for 1884. 
not be distinctly called injurious to health, are very far removed 
from being waters which it would be advisable to use for 
drinking purposes. In the majority of cases effective filtration 
would render the waters fit for use. Supply through a Water 
Company supposed to possess efficient filtering-beds is not in 
all cases a guarantee of this being done, as the following 
analyses of a water from North Wales shows : — 
Grains per Gallon. 
Total solid constituents, dried at 130° C 10-08 
Consisting chiefly of salts of lime, and including — 
Osidisable organic matter , '92 
Chloride of sodium 1-38 
Nitric acid as nitrates none 
Actual (saline) ammonia "007 
Organic (albuminoid) ammonia .. "017 
The water was turbid, and contained suspended organic 
matter, and also living and moving organisms, and was quite 
unfit for drinking purposes. 
Several cases have also occurred of cattle supposed to have 
died from drinking bad and stagnant water, the examination 
of the water leaving little doubt as to its being the cause of 
death. 
Among the examinations for poisoning, four cases of lead 
poisoning have been sent ; also one of a young horse killed 
through plucking the branches of yew-trees in a plantation. 
The investigations I have made on the subjects of creosote 
for hop-poles, wood-fences, &c., and of ensilage, together with 
numerous analyses connected with the latter, form the matter of 
two special papers contributed by me to the ' Journal ' of the 
Society. 
The 'Journal' for 1884 contains the following papers by 
myself : — , 
1. Annual Report for 1883. 
2. Quarterly Reports to the Chemical Committee. 
3. Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments conducted 
at Woburn during the year 1883. 
4. On the Quality of Creosote suitable for protecting Hop- 
poles, Wood-fences, &c., against Decay. 
5. On the Chemistry of Ensilage. 
I have from time to time visited the Experimental Fields at 
Crawley Mill Farm, Woburn, and have directed the experiments 
carried on there. In addition to those undertaken before, a set 
of experiments on Ensilage has been added to the number, and 
is now in progress. 
For Augustus Voelcker, 
John Augustus Voelcker. 
