MAGAZINE OF SCIENCE AND ART. 
183 
THE ACTION OF SYDNEY WATER 
UPON LEAD. 
There is nothing more foreign to our 
wish, or more repugnant to our taste, than 
to attract public attention to ourselves. 
But having lately suffered from two very 
severe attacks of illness which we can dis¬ 
tinctly trace to drinking Sydney water that 
had been allowed to stand for some days 
in lead pipes, we feel it to he a duty .we 
owe to humanity to throw aside all per¬ 
sonal considerations, that others may he 
warned by the recital of our sufferings. 
Since we discovered the cause of the illness 
to which we have alluded, several other 
similar cases have been brought under our 
notice. We firmly believe that there is 
at all times in Sydney a great amount of 
sickness which may be referred to this 
cause alone, and me would earnestly beg 
the medical profession to direct their at¬ 
tention to the peculiar symptoms presented 
by these attacks. 
The circumstances attending our own 
case are so clear, and may be so instruc¬ 
tive, that we shall detail them as simply 
as possible, lioping that the narrative may 
guide any wlio may be suffering from simi¬ 
lar causes to tbe source of their disease. 
On the first of January, 1858, the writer, 
then in perfect health, entered on the occu¬ 
pation of some newly constructed offices. 
The Sydney water had been laid on to a 
lead cistern by means of a lead pipe. 
From this lead cistern another lead pipe 
terminating in a brass tap, supplied the 
water for the offices. The plumbing work 
had been completed some days, and the 
water bad been standing exposed to the 
sun in the pipes. The writer is a large 
water drinker, and the office keeper w r as 
accustomed to fill a jug from the pipes 
the first, thing in. the morning for daily use. 
The .weather being very hot in the first 
week of the year, tile writer drank freely 
of this water. In one week he v r as con¬ 
scious of an uneasy sensation in the 
stomach, and of unusual depression of 
spirits. In exactly one fortnight he was 
seized with violent bilious vomiting and 
the most severe colic. The^sickness and 
colic continued for thirty-six hours with¬ 
out cessation. The pulse was low and 
oppressed, not forty beats in a minute, and 
the extremities were clay cokl. There was 
also obstinate constipation of the bowels. 
The usual remedies for bilious colic were 
No. 9. Feb. 1858. 
applied, as the cause of the attack was not 
suspected. After three days the urgent 
symptoms were removed, and the writer 
slowly recovering, returned again to the 
office, where he again drank freely of the 
water. Exactly one fortnight - elapsed 
when he was prostrated with another at¬ 
tack, exhibiting precisely similar symp¬ 
toms to the previous one. His medical 
attendant, acknowledged to be one of the 
most skilful, kind, and attentive in the 
city, and to whom the writer feels most 
deeply grateful for the anxious interest he 
took in the case, again treated it as bilious 
colic. The colic and subsequent constipa¬ 
tion was even more severe on this occasion 
than before ; but at length they yielded to 
the means employed. 
While recovering, the idea struck the 
writer that it might be the water which he 
had drunk at the office. He accordingly 
drew off a jug of it, and seut it to a chemist 
to analyse. The application of the very 
first test disclosed mi alarming amount of 
lead in suspension, and there was no longer 
any doubt as to what had caused these 
painful visitations. 
If this had been a solitary case, we 
should not have felt it necessary to disturb 
the confidence of the citizens in the mode 
usually adopted for distributing the water 
supply, but we feel strongly that it is our 
imperative duty, as the conductor of a 
journal devoted to scientific enquiry, to 
raise a warning voice when so many are 
exposed to the insidious attack of disease. 
Our warning would he useless if we 
were not to point out.a remedy, and there¬ 
fore we wish to impress on our readers the 
following hints. First. That the water 
supplied to Sydney, if it pass through 
leaden pipes, ought to be filtered before it 
is drunk. A common sand filter is all 
that is required, as the particles of sand 
seem to arrest the lead by a mechanical 
action. Secondly. That water which has 
been long standing in lead pipes ought not 
to be drunk at all, it becomes highly 
deleterious. Thirdly. Should any of our 
readers meet with a case of disease pre¬ 
senting symptoms similar to those de¬ 
scribed, it would he a charity to the suf¬ 
ferer, and a duty to. humanity, to suggest 
that enquiry be made as to the source of 
his water supply. 
We have now, with great reluctance, 
discharged a public duty. There will pro¬ 
bably be some literary sharpshooters who 
