498 
REMARKS  ON  CUPREOUS  SODA  WATER. 
In  our  opinion  mineral  water  should  only  be  sold  by  persons 
who  know  how  to  test  it  and  have  the  means  at  their  disposal  ; 
hence  apothecaries  are,  as  a  general  rule,  better  qualified  than 
confectioners,  grocers  and  others ;  yet  so  extremely  careless  are 
some  apothecaries  of  their  apparatus,  that  often,  without  being 
aware  of  it,  they  vend  cupreous  mineral  water  and  occasion  in- 
convenience to  their  customers.  The  simple  test  above  given 
should  be  known  and  regularly  applied  by  all  who  sell  this  bever- 
age; and  as  the  apparatus  used  at  most  of  the  small  dealers  is 
owned  by  the  manufacturers,  and  hired  to  the  dealers,  the  latter 
should  protect  their  reputations  by  insisting  on  having  the  water 
capable  of  standing  the  test  above  noticed  after  two  days  in  use. 
We  believe  the  source  of  the  dissolved  copper  is  more  frequently 
in  the  cooler  and  stopcocks  than  in  the  fountains,  and  where  these 
belong  to  the  vendor  of  the  water  the  remedy  of  course  rests  with 
himself. 
As  regards  the  use  of  tinned  copper  fountains  there  is  no  real  ob- 
jection, provided  they  are  kept  properly  tinned.  It  would  be  a  great 
improvement,  if,  as  suggested  by  Dr.  Doremus,  these  vessels  were 
made  in  two  sections  or  hemispheres,  with  flanges  securely  bolted 
together  with  gutta  percha  or  gum-elastic  packing  between,  so  that 
the  druggist  himself  could  inspect  their  interior  when  desirable. 
The  chief  cause  of  the  use  of  imperfectly  tinned  fountains  is  the 
expensiveness  of  re-tinning  them,  and  the  difficulty  of  inspecting 
their  interior,  owing  to  the  solder  joint.  For  the  reason  of  its 
tenacity,  durability  and  lightness,  copper  is  greatly  preferable  to 
the  other  metals  for  this  kind  of  apparatus  where  it  has  to  be 
transported  from  the  manufacturer  to  the  retailer,  and  it  is  worthy 
the  attention  of  our  druggists  and  coppersmiths  whether  fountains 
cannot  be  eligibly  constructed  so  as  to  be  taken  apart  at  will,  and 
rejoined  by  bolts  ?  We  will  suggest,  as  an  improvement,  that  the 
lower  section  of  the  fountain  be  a  cylindrical  vessel  strength- 
ened by  iron  bands,  with  a  hemispherical  bottom,  and  furnished 
with  a  horizontal  flange  above.  The  upper  portion  to  be  a  sim- 
ple hemisphere  of  dimensions  similar  to  the  other,  with  a  flange  to 
fit  that  of  the  other  portion,  and  the  two  brought  together  on  a 
ring  of  gum  elastic  packing  cloth,  by  means  of  a  pair  of  ring 
clamps,  with  screw  bolts,  at  intervals  of  three  or  four  inches 
around  their  circumference.    The  stopcock  should  of  course  sur- 
