168 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [August 27 , 1870. 
“ I, therefore, propose that a portion of the funds 
which I have, no doubt, your generous appeal will cause 
to come forth abundantly should be applied to the pur¬ 
chase of, say, 1000 bottles of this pain-destroying fluid, 
and of fifty inhaling mouthpieces, and that these should 
be forwarded to the hospitals abroad as quickly as they 
can be obtained. The experience should be made on 
this scale to begin with. The discoveries of the gas, of 
its properties, and of its application in surgery, are ex¬ 
clusively English, and the processes for its fluidification, 
or ‘coercion,’ are worthy examples of English mechanics. 
The gift would, therefore, be doubly graceful, as being 
both invaluable and the product of national genius and 
ingenuity, and would be applied with joy by the surgeons 
and received with blessings by the stricken warriors.” 
In reference to the above letter the ‘Lancet’ has the 
following remarks:— 
“ We should be extremely sorry to offer any oppo¬ 
sition to any proposal which presented a hopeful pro¬ 
spect of mitigating the 'pain of the wounded, but we 
think that the generosity of the public should not be 
taxed for visionary and doubtful schemes, such as that pro¬ 
posed by Dr. Thudichum for supplying nitrous oxide gas. 
There are, doubtless, some advantages in using this anaes¬ 
thetic for short operations, such as toothclrawing and 
the making of incisions of a simple character. But there 
is no experience in favour of its use either for dressing 
wounds, or for more important operations; and, from 
the fleeting character of the anaesthesia, there is no hope 
whatever of its being really effective in such cases. 
“We would venture to suggest in preference the for¬ 
mation of a special staff for the purpose of directly re¬ 
lieving pain by the use of the many means which are 
now at our disposal. Eirst and foremost, they would be 
armed with a full supply of chloroform ; secondly, with 
Dr. Richardson’s apparatus for the production of local 
ana3sthesia; and we would, of course, make no objection 
to nitrous oxide having also a place in the armamen¬ 
tarium. Nor should these be all. The subcutaneous in¬ 
jection of sedatives would be of great use, particularly 
in allaying the spasms which so painfully follow frac¬ 
tures and amputations; whilst, in the last place, hydrate 
of chloral would pi’obably be found to relieve insomno¬ 
lence to a very great extent. One or two physicians 
armed with these remedies would not only relieve an 
immense amount of physical and mental suffering, but 
would afford the profession an experience of the very 
highest value.” 
HARD AND SOFT WATER. 
At the recent visit of the town council to the water¬ 
works, Mr. Bateman drew attention to the reports which 
have been industriously circulated of late years to the 
prejudice of soft water, attributing to its use the great 
mortality which unhappily exists in some of the large 
towns and cities in the kingdom. He stated most un¬ 
hesitatingly that there was in truth no foundation for 
such reports; that they were entirely fallacious; and 
that the presumed facts which were relied upon would 
not bear the test of scrutiny. He referred to a table 
appended to the evidence taken before the Committee of 
the House of Commons on the East London Water Bill 
in 1867, when the whole question of the metropolitan 
water supply had been inquired into. This table pur¬ 
ports to give the mortality of various towns and places, 
distinguishing between those supplied with water above 
and below ten degrees of hardness. This division is 
perfectly arbitrary, and it does not correctly represent 
the point of distinction between hard water and soft water. 
The term “hard ” is applied to water which breaks or 
curdles soap,* while the term “soft” is applied to water 
* This effect of hard water is, in fact, a precipitation of 
the fatty acid of the soap consequent on the formation of 
an insoluble compound of the fatty acid with the earthv 
base in the water.— Ed. Ph. J. 
in which soap may he used without its curdling. Each 
degree of hardness represents one grain of carbonate of 
lime, or an equivalent quantity of some other soap- 
destroying ingredient, in each gallon of water. Water 
containing only four grains of lime per gallon, or having 
what is called *4° of hardness, does not break soap ; while 
water having 5° or upwards does. Water of 10°, there¬ 
fore, is hard water, and its evil consequences, as regards 
economy, will be shown by the fact that in Glasgow the 
substitution of Loch Katrine water of 1° of hardness for 
Clyde water, which varied from 7° to 9°, according to 
the season, saved one half of all the soap which had pre¬ 
viously been used. 
The table referred to contains the names of sixteen 
towns or places supplied with water of 10° or upwards, 
and of eleven towns in which the water supply does not 
amount to 10°. Among the latter is Liverpool, where 
the water is stated to be 9-6°. 
The general conclusion is, that in towns with water 
over 10°, the average being 14*9°, the mortality is only 
22*2 per 1000 of the population; while in those having 
water under 10°, the average being 4*9°, the mortality is 
26T. In London, the water being 13° of hardness, the 
mortality per 1000 is 23T. 
From these data it has been inferred that the exces¬ 
sive mortality of towns using soft water is due to the use 
of such water. 
However, to say nothing of the unfairness of compar¬ 
ing such towns as Leamington, Southport, Croydon and 
Cheltenham wdth Liverpool, Sheffield, Glasgow and 
Manchester, the table itself is full of inaccuracies. 
Guildford, the county town of Surrey, is represented to 
contain 29,330 persons and the mortality to be 19"4 
per 1000. Guildford is, in reality, a small town, with 
less than 10,000 inhabitants. It is situated in a remark¬ 
ably healthy position, and a large number of the inha¬ 
bitants which it really does contain reside in what may 
be considered a purely rural district. 
Newcastle and Gateshead are put dowm as containing 
14,646 persons, and the mortality is stated to be 19 per 
1000. The real population of those places at the date 
spoken of was 163,807, and the mortality 27‘37*per 1000. 
It is evident that no dependence can be placed on 
tables so carelessly prepared, and it may be shown in a 
variety of ways that no fair deduction can be drawn 
from them at all. 
The gross population of the sixteen towns or places 
having water of 10° or upwards is, according to the 
table, 1,135,514, and that of the eleven towns with softer 
water 1,532,784. The density of population (which, 
however, is not shown in the table) is, in the former 
group, 10T7 persons to the acre, and in the latter group 
214*74; so that in the towns of higher mortality the 
people are living more than twice as thick upon the 
ground as in those places with which they are compared. 
To most persons this density of population would 
have been supposed to exercise an important bearing on 
the mortality of a district, and to all those who have 
paid any attention to the question it is well known to 
exercise a very important influence, especially on the 
health of infants under five years of age. Infantile 
mortality is always greatest in manufacturing towns, 
and in places of dense population, whatever the charac¬ 
ter of the water which may be supplied. If these deaths 
be deducted, then, the mortality per 1000 of those above 
five years is 13'56 in the towns supplied with water of 
10° or upwards, and 13*47 per 1000 in those having 
softer w r ater, or slightly in favour of the latter, though 
practically the same. 
But the strongest proof that excessive mortality must 
be sought for in other causes than the hard or soft cha¬ 
racter of the water supplied to the inhabitants will be 
seen by an examination of the mortality which obtains 
in different places supplied with the same water. For 
instance, in the table alluded to, the population assigned 
to Birmingham (a town supplied with water of 15-|° of 
