THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
August 1.] 
milkiness more white in proportion to the greater I 
degree of its hardness. All spring and river water will 
shew some milldness when thus tested, hut by com¬ 
paring together three or four the eye soon learns to 
detect immediately the soapy solution is added, whether 
the water tested is unusually hard. The milldness is 
caused by the alkali of the soap quitting its oily or fatty 
matter, and combining with the acid of the earthy or 
metallic salts in the water, and constituting its hardness; 
whilst the earthy or metallic bases of those salts unite 
with the oily or fatty matter of the soap, and their being 
insoluble gives the milky appearance. 
In connection with the subject of impure water, we 
may notice that leaden pipes and pumps are always to 
be avoided for the supply of water, and the rather be¬ 
cause the more pure the water the more readily does it 
dissolve the lead. Where such metallic apparatus is 
employed the water previously to use should always be 
filtered through sand, for this has the providential 
power of separating from it the leaden contamination. 
Some year or two since the royal stag-hounds were 
supposed to be affected with a particular foot-lameness 
or paralysis from drinking water conveyed to them 
from Bagshot, through leaden pipes; and Professor 
Clark, commenting upon this, says :— 
“ Some of the Bagshot water alluded to had poisoned 
some of the Queen’s hounds, and brought on colica pictonum 
I in one of the huntsmen. Through the kindness of Sir James 
i Clark, I obtained a specimen of this water, and in a few days 
I came to the unexpected result, that filtration would separate 
the lead. Thus a very simple practical means for separating 
j lead, wherever it contaminates water, was discovered. At a 
marine villa of Lord Aberdeen’s some of the servants suffered 
in health from lead in water derived from pipes. Sand filters 
were put up under my direction at this villa, and subsequently 
at Haddo House. On making inquiry, recently, of his lord- 
ship’s agent, in Aberdeen, I learn that the filters have been in 
use ever since, and that the waters have been tested from time 
to time, without any lead having been discovered in them. 
I have been told, indeed, that so satisfied has Lord Aberdeen 
been with the result, that on hearing of the Count de 
Neuilly’s family at Claremont being troubled with lead in the 
water, he wrote, recommending the same process being tried 
there; and, from general rumour, I had previously heard 
that the process had been adopted there. 
“ I hold it in all cases to be dangerous to allow water to 
pass through any considerable length of lead pipes, or to 
allow water to remain for a long time even in short pipes. 
In the case of the marine villa before alluded to, the water 
came a considerable distance through lead pipes; I suppose 
above a quarter of a mile. The water in Aberdeen is brought 
from the iron mains in the streets, into the houses, by 
means of lead pipes; and in general without any disadvan¬ 
tage, because the supply from the pipes is constant, and the 
use of the stop-cock very frequent in a family ; but in my 
class-rooms and laboratory I find that whenever a pipe has 
been out of use for a few days, the water taken from it affords 
a trace of lead, which disappears when the water has been 
allowed to run briskly from the stop-cock for a few minutes.” 
We now come to a consideration of the consequences 
of using hard water for cooking, washing, and other 
household purposes, and we will in the present instance 
confine ourselves to tea-making. Upon this we have the 
following evidence of M. Soyer, late cook of the Reform 
Club, and of Mr. Philip Holland, the practical chemist. 
M. Soyer, examined— 
“Have you made the examination as to the comparative 
effect of waters of different qualities in the preparation of tea ? 
271 
Yes, I have. In making the experiments, as time is of im¬ 
portance for the effect as well as for economy, I thought it 
proper to take an account of it. For culinary purposes I am 
confident that that water which boils the quickest is the best; 
and I conceived that this might be ascertained in respect to 
tea. I took samples of the common tea in use by the popu¬ 
lation, green tea, and tea of a third class, and prepared them 
with equal quantities of water: I took, as the standard of 
soft water, distilled water, which I obtained from Apo¬ 
thecaries’ Hall. The whole results were more striking than 
I had previously anticipated. The softest or distilled water 
had an extraordinary power in obtaining a quick extract; 
the result showed perhaps too high a power, for it draws out 
the woody flavour. Next to it was the Artesian well water, 
which is one-third less hard than the Thames water. I 
should indeed prefer that water to any other tried in these 
experiments: although the distilled water draws out the 
aromatic property of the tea more than the Reform Club 
water, it does not I think produce so good an extract. Each 
water gave its own shade, and had its own distinct extract. 
Finding the results so extraordinary, I solicited the assist¬ 
ance of two friends, Messrs. Hooper, the most eminent tea- 
tasters in London: the results were the same, and the 
following table gives the conclusions I came to :— 
Kinds of Water. 
Time 
taken 
to 
boil. 
Their 
rank 
n ma- 
king 
of Tea. 
KEMAEKS. 
Distilled water from 
Apothecaries’ Hall 
Min. 
2 
Covent-garden, an 
* Impure as if it contained iron. 
Artesian well* 
8i 
5 
Reform Club, 360 ft. 
deep,f and Trafal¬ 
gar-square .. 
64 
f This well has been sunk ten 
years ; the pipes are the same as at 
first laid down, but they are all 
blistered. This makes tea one- 
third more than any other water. 
Camden Town, sunk 
200 feet in the 
chalk.}. 
8 
X This is the well sunk by the 
New River, from a 
cistern in Billiter- 
street, City .. 
8 
3 
North-Western Railway Company 
for the supply of their locomotives. 
I moved the machinery for manu¬ 
facturing the nectar into Whittle- 
bury-street, close to Euston-square 
Wellclose-squarc, a 
spring. 
10 
Station, in order to receive the ad¬ 
vantages of this water, and paid a 
large sum per annum to the Com¬ 
pany to obtain it; but I find, that 
the water in passing through the 
iron pipes from Camden Town to 
the station becomes so impregnated 
with iron as to cause it to be con- 
siderably altered in its nature. This 
fact may be seen by the deposit of 
iron it leaves at the urinals in the 
station: it likewise makes deep 
grooves in the pipes, as if planed 
out with a machine. 
Camberwell, a sunk 
well 60 feet deep§ 
Thames, from Hun- 
gerford, 2 hours 
after high water .. 
10 
9i 
4 
§ Camberwell is considered the 
hardest water in the vicinity of 
London. 
Standard solutions of 
II Of the three, No. 2 is by far the 
lime-water, reck¬ 
oned according to 
Clark’s scale ol 
hardness:— 
best. 
2° || . 
7 
6 
% Very impure, and boils with a 
scum upon it. 
8° . 
74 
7 
I6°1f. 
84 
8 
“ Are you confident as to the difference in the time of 
boiling between hard and soft water ?—My experiment was 
with pints of water, in the same size stewpan, with a gas 
lamp, so that the heat was manageable, and the same in 
both cases; and there was certainly a difference of full two 
minutes in favour of the boiling of the soft water; and the 
same result was given in several experiments. 
“ From these experiments, and yom' extensive knowledge, 
will you state the general results as to the relative power of 
