3 g 
If the wells are shallow, as I suspec 
they are, and nearly dry, we should pffi' 
hLips ascribe the sickness to the turbo!' 
l ,i e ss and consequent bad quality ot the 
^vater- If the country be much alluvial 
md the wells pass through or into gravel, 
le water must be strongly impregnated 
wVt the must unwholsome kind ot lune- 
(for i have observed that all the 
Vmd of Ohio is formed ot a kind of 
limestone that dissolves very much m 
f „r water which passes through it, espe- 
dally as it is so much more subdivided 
into small fragments than the flat or stra¬ 
ta limestone is, and as the water passes 
throughout amongst it without veins, and 
| the strata limestone too is of a much har- 
Ider texture, hence does not so readily 
I dissolve.) Wells in such gravel are al- 
j ways much more impregnated with lime, 
as well as other mineral qualities, when 
the season is dry than when it is not. 
Water strongly impregnated with some 
sorts of clay, has a bad astringent taste, 
and is probably unwholsome in very dry 
seasons. 
If thp country be not in a considerable ! 
degree alluvial, the evil may be suspect-: 
ed to principally result from the well 
water becoming so shallow and slowly 
supplied as to be sufficiently warm to ad¬ 
mit the production of- animalcule, or j 
small living worms, whose qualities eith-■ 
er irritate the nerves or injure the biliary 
system; or perhaps their spawn breed 
worms or animalcule in the bowels, so as 
to interrupt the proper process of diges¬ 
tion, or either form hard lumps or other¬ 
wise bind the bowels, until putridity and 
consequent lever ensue, attended with 
more or less bilious symptoms. 
, II the cause can be traced to the use 
°f flu’hid water from the wells or tile tor¬ 
i' Ijid streams, it will be advisable to boil 
the water, or get it from the deepest and 
i best wells, and to deepen the wells for 
tne future ; and if the deep well water is 
known to be no better, cisterns should be 
sunk to save rain water, which is not on¬ 
ly the most light and wholesome in all 
countries, but is, by a little custom, quite 
palatable, and may be kept almost as cool 
as well water. 
