192 
Distilled  Water. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
April,  1895. 
According  to  the  U.  S.  P.,  "  Water  "  that  will  conform  to  certain 
tests  is  to  be  used  in  preparing  distilled  water.  Persons  in  more 
favorable  positions  than  Cincinnatians  may,  perhaps,  obtain  water  of 
this  condition  of  purity  from  natural  sources.  However,  those  situ- 
ated as  is  the  writer  of  this  paper  cannot  hope  to  attain  this  desid- 
eratum without  previous  manipulation,  as  the  following  statements 
will  show  : 
(1)  Persons  dependent  upon  surface  drainage,  such  as  supplies 
rivers  like  the  Ohio,  realize  that  quantities  of  mud  are  present  in  its 
waters  during  most  of  the  year.  This  mud  is  mostly  clay  and  sand, 
but  associated  therewith  are  to  be  found  considerable  amounts  of 
organic  matters.  Thus  it  is  impractical  to  obtain  the  official  water 
from  the  water  works  of  cities  dependent  upon  such  sources  of  sup- 
ply, as  is  the  city  of  Cincinnati. 
(2)  The  ice  of  the  glacier  period  is  supposed  to  have  scraped  out 
the  valley  of  the  Ohio  about  Cincinnati,  and  also  the  tributaries  such 
as  the  Miami  River  (just  above)  and  Mill  Creek  (just  below)  the  city, 
dumping  into  them  great  beds  of  sand  and  gravel,  often  to  a  depth 
of  several  hundred  feet.  These  are  reservoirs  for  unlimited  amounts 
of  water  (driven  well  water),  but  beneath  the  city  of  Cincinnati  this 
stratum  is  impregnated  with  sewage  to  such  an  extent  as  to  render 
it  impractical  as  a  source  of  "  Water." 
(3)  Then,  beneath  the  gravel  alluded  to,  is  found  the  limestone 
formation  through  which  artesian  wells  are  sunk  until  at  a  depth  of 
about  1,800  feet  from  the  surface,  the  carboniferous  formation  is 
passed  and  saline  water  (artesian  water),  strongly  impregnated  with 
hydrogen  sulphide,  rushes  to  a  height  of  several  feet  above  the  surface 
of  the  ground.  This  water  is  so  strongly  contaminated  with  sulphur 
compounds  as  to  blacken  the  lead  paint  for  a  great  distance  about 
each  well,  and  is  seemingly  out  of  the  question  as  a  source  of  dis- 
tilled water. 
Thus  it  is  that,  notwithstanding  its  impurities,  we  must  naturally 
depend  upon  the  water  of  the  Ohio  River,  which  is  practically  iden- 
tical with  the  water  upon  which  most  of  our  river  towns  depend. 
It  follows  that,  in  order  to  make  distilled  water,  we  must,  to  be 
exact,  purify  the  natural  water  at  our  command  as  a  preliminary 
step,  for  it  does  not  meet  the  U.  S.  P.  requirements  for  water;  but 
I  take  it  that  this  precaution  is  unnecessary  if  the  natural  water, 
regardless  of  impurities,  can  be  employed  to  make  a  product  (dis- 
