The body being composed of solids and fluids, there must be maintained
a certain relative proportion of these, to constitute that state of
system called health. In a full grown adult, the solid matter of the
body, by which we mean all that substantial part of the frame which
is not in constant motion in the vessels, amounts to only about one
fifth of the weight of the body--Chaussier says, one ninth of the total
weight, the difference, perhaps, being owing to the fact that there is
a quantity of fluid combined with the solids in so intimate a manner,
as almost to constitute a part of their substance. The diminution
of the fluid part of the body, is the cause of an uneasy sensation,
indicating the necessity of repairing the waste of fluids, which we
familiarly call _thirst_. This is a sensation connected with some
natural state of the corporeal functions, and altogether independent of
the occasional excitement of foreign bodies, although it may be induced
by these. There is a demand for a certain supply of liquid which is
the result of repletion of the stomach, and the cause of our drinking
at our ordinary meals, but this is different from true or spontaneous
thirst. True thirst occurs, when we have been some time without taking
drink, (unless the food has consisted mainly of fruits and other
succulent vegetables; under which circumstances, a person may go for
months without any desire for drink); when the system has been greatly
excited, whether by corporeal or mental causes; when acid substances,
particularly saline bodies, have been taken into the stomach; and, in
short, in every condition of the system, which favors the inordinate
excretion of fluids. The immediate cause of thirst appears to be a dry
state of the mouth and fauces; owing to the mucus which covers these
parts becoming thick and viscid, though physiologists are not agreed
on this point. This may arise from the absorption of the fluid parts
of the saliva; for it appears to be necessary for the due performance
of the functions of the palate and the tongue, that the mucus should
possess a certain degree of liquidity. The sensation of thirst is
generally indicative of the necessity of a supply of fluid to the
system generally; for although thirst may be momentarily assuaged by
wetting the mouth, or holding a thin fluid in it--yet it can only be
effectually relieved by conveying into the stomach a quantity of fluid
sufficient to supply the deficiency. This supply is termed _dilution_,
from the fact that the fluid is absorbed and carried into the blood,
which it renders thin, and the fluids themselves are called _diluents_.
Thirst, however, does not always indicate a deficiency of fluids in the
circulating mass, and the tongue and fauces are occasionally dry and
harsh whilst the sensation of thirst is absent. Some individuals never
experience the sensation of thirst. Mr. Alcott, who lives entirely
on succulent vegetables, states that he has drunk no fluids for more
than a year past, and that he never experiences the sensation of
thirst--a similar case is mentioned by Sauvages, of an individual who
never thirsted, and passed whole months of the hottest weather without
drinking. It is well known that many warm-blooded animals such as mice,
quails, parrots, rabbits, &c., drink but very little; which is supposed
to be owing to the circumstance that they have very large salivary
glands, and a larger pancreas in proportion to the size of their
bodies. In general, as we have already remarked, thirst is indicative
of diminished fluidity of the blood and when it is not assuaged by
taking liquids into the stomach, or by moistening the mouth with them,
or by applying them to the surface, the torment which it induces
amounts occasionally almost to phrenzy, and is borne with less patience
and greater difficulty than hunger; sometimes inflammation of the mouth
and throat and intense fever supervene. Various circumstances connected
with the ordinary condition of the body influence the sensation of
thirst. Thus it is greater in infancy and childhood than in adult age,
and less in old age; it is greater in women than in men; it is varied
by constitution and temperament; by climate; season; the nature of
the diet; exercise; passions of mind, and even by imagination. As an
_aliment_, water is of prime necessity to all organized beings. As a
solvent, it reduces to a fluid mass all the principles necessary for
the growth of animal and vegetable bodies; which must be in a fluid
form, before they can be taken up by the fine lacteal and other
absorbent vessels, and thus carried to every part of the living tissue.
How important then, that this universal solvent should be pure,--that
it should be free from those foreign ingredients, whether of animal,
vegetable or mineral origin, which, if introduced into the system, tend
to disturb the functions of the various organs, and often to occasion
serious derangement and disease. But besides its important office as
a _menstruum_, water is perhaps the most important _nutrient_, of
all those which sustain the existence of organized bodies. A great
proportion of that which is drunk, is speedily absorbed by the veins,
and carried into the circulation, some time before the product of the
digested food is introduced by the way of the laeteals. There are
numerous cases on record, where persons have lived, for a considerable
length of time, on water alone. In the “Transactions of the Albany
Institute,” for 1830, Dr. M’Naughten relates the case of a man who was
sustained on water alone, for 53 days. “For the first six weeks he
walked out every day, and sometimes spent a great part of the day in
the woods. His walk was steady and firm, and his friends even remarked
that his step had an unusual elasticity; he shaved himself until about
a week before his death, and was able to sit up in bed till the last
day.”
To the evils which result from the use of impure water, we have
already alluded, although it would require far more space than has
been assigned to us in this Appendix, to do them adequate justice.
There can be no doubt, that the chief cause of the excess of mortality
in cities, over that of the country, is to be found in the impure
water, with which the former are so generally supplied, and we may
confidently predict, that in consequence mainly of the introduction
of the Croton River into the City of New-York, no city in the world
of equal size, will surpass it in salubrity. To the operation of
the same cause, we may doubtless look with confidence for a decided
improvement in personal comeliness and beauty. “It is evident,” says
Dr Jackson, “that the health of a whole community may be so affected
by impurities in water drank by them, as to give a peculiar morbid
expression to their countenances which causes the observant eye of a
traveller to remark it, while he in vain endeavours to account for the
phenomenon. Who has not remarked the expression common in some of our
cities, as in New-York and Boston, which is called a “care worn and
anxious expression.” This expression I will venture to assert, is not
so much the result of “too much care,” as it is of abdominal disease,
produced by the habitual and continued use of impure and unwholesome
water, which has fixed upon us this morbid stamp. I do not know that
the people of the cities in question, are subject to more care than
those in other districts, but I do know that they use every day, in
many forms, a variety of noxous ingredients, which they pump up from
their wells, dissolved in the water, and which enters into every
form of food and drink they use in their houses.” Mrs. Hale, also,
in her excellent Manual “The Good Housekeeper,” remarks, that “hard
water always leaves a mineral matter on the skin, when we use it in
washing, which renders the hands and face rough and liable to chap.
Does not this water, if we drink it, likewise corrode and injure the
fine membranes of the stomach? The Boston people, who constantly use
hard water for all purposes of cookery and drink, certainly have bad
complexions, sallow, dry, and _hard_ looking; and complaints of the
stomach or dyspepsia are very common among them.[16] A Salem gentleman
declared, that when his daughters, who frequently visited at Boston,
passed two or three weeks at a time there, he could see a very material
change in their complexions. At Salem there is plenty of soft water,
and the ladies of that ancient town are famed for their beauty, which
is chiefly owing (its superiority I mean) to a peculiarly fair,
delicate tincture of skin contrasted with the half petrified appearance
of those who are obliged to drink _hard water_ always, and often to
wash in it.” Such authority on this point we presume will not be
disputed.
Health, however, is no less promoted by the internal, than by the
external use of water; and it is to be hoped, that but a short period
will elapse, before free baths will be provided at the public expense,
for the use of the poor, as well as the public generally. Daily
ablution should be regarded as necessary as daily food or sleep.
The advantages which soft water possesses over hard, in the thousand
economical purposes of life, are too obvious to need particular
remark. The lime contained in well water, renders it inapplicable
to the purposes of brewing, tanning, washing, bleaching, and many
other processes in the arts and domestic economy; and we believe the
calculation would not be found extravagant, if we should say that by
the use of the Croton water 100,000 dollars annually will be saved to
the inhabitants of New-York, in the articles of soap and soda alone.
When to this, we add the increased comfort and health of the citizens,
from its free external and internal use,--the superior cleanliness
of the streets, by the washing away of all stagnant matters in the
sinks and gutters, and the consequent purity of the atmosphere,--the
diminution of danger from fires, and the consequent reduction of rates
of insurance, with other important advantages too numerous to detail,
we shall not consider its introduction purchased at too dear a rate,
even were the expenses attending it increased to double the actual
amount.
We need not attempt to specify in detail the benefits which are likely
to accrue to the city of New-York from the introduction of an abundance
of pure water. Its value is not to be estimated by dollars and
cents; though it might easily be shown, that it already saves to the
citizens a sum far exceeding the annual interest on its cost. We have
already referred to its superiority as a solvent of vegetable matter,
over the hard well water, formerly used. Since then, we have made a
calculation, by which we are satisfied that in the single items of tea
and coffee, it will save to the inhabitants of this city annually,
not far from 90,000 dollars. To this may be added the improvement
of the public health, and the consequent saving in medicine, and
physicians’ fees, a sum probably exceeding that above specified; the
increase of the working days, and the extension of the average period
of working ability among the laboring classes; and lastly, the moral
and intellectual advancement of the entire population, attendant upon
the improvement of their physical condition; each of which is not an
unimportant item in the aggregate of public prosperity and happiness.
Such are some of the facts connected with this important fluid--water.
So common and abundant is it in nature, that we are apt to overlook its
value; but we need only be deprived of it for a season, when we shall
set a due estimate upon its importance. Pure and sparkling to the eye,
bland and refreshing to the taste, whether it bubbles up from mother
earth, gurgles in rills, flows along in streams and rivers, or spreads
out in lakes and oceans, it every where proves a blessing,--and ought
to be universally regarded as one of the most inestimable gifts of
Providence to man. As it is the only fluid capable of quenching thirst,
so it is the only one compatible with the prolonged duration of animal
life--we need not add, that as ALCOHOL, under all its combinations,
fermented and distilled, is a deadly poison, fatal to organized beings,
whether they belong to the vegetable or animal kingdom, WATER can in
no case be improved by combining it with this deleterious fluid. It
was formerly common in this city, and still is so in many places where
the well-water is brackish, to modify its taste by the addition of a
quantity of brandy, or some other form of ardent spirit, with a view,
not only of rendering it more agreeable to the palate, but also of
correcting the deleterious properties, occasioned by the salts held by
it in solution. But in all such instances, the spirit which is added
proves far more injurious than the small quantity of vegetable and
mineral matters which it is designed to correct. To the latter, the
system becomes in a manner habituated, so that even when pure soft
water can be had, the former is often preferred, as is now the case
with many individuals, who prefer our brackish well water to that of
the Croton. But where ardent spirit is added, an artificial appetite
for stimulants is soon created,--there is a constantly increasing
demand for a repetition as well as increase of the dose, derangement of
the digestive organs succeeds, and in a large majority of instances,
the health is irremediably impaired. But fortunately, no arguments are
needed in this place to convince the citizens of New-York that pure
Croton water needs no corrective,--and that it is the sworn enemy of
_fire_, whether in the shape of alcoholic poison, or that of the more
simple element--
“Αριστον μεν υδωρ”--PINDAR.
PRINTED BY WILLIAM OSBORN,
88 William-street.
FOOTNOTES
[1] It is proper to remark that, the pier at each extremity, of the
range of arches of eighty feet span, has an extra thickness, making it
a pier of equilibrium; this is also the case with the one in the centre
of that range of arches, so that on each shore and in the centre of the
river this additional security has been given.
[2] This report was from the pen of Samuel Stevens, Esq.
[3] This Act was drawn up by Myndert Van Schaick, Esq., and its
character and suitableness to obviate former difficulties were approved
of by the Common Council, and the situation of Mr. Van Schaick, as
member of the Senate, no doubt promoted its success.
[4] This Act was prepared by Myndert Van Schaick, Esq., from materials
which he had previously collected for the purpose, and it passed into a
Law, and is the one under which, as its main foundation, the work has
been constructed.
[5] For some general remarks on Water, its economical and dietetical
uses, an analysis of the Croton and the comparative purity of that
supplied to different cities, the action of water on lead, &c., see
Appendix, which has been kindly furnished by Charles A. Lee, M. D., of
New-York.
[6] The Aqueduct is calculated to convey 60,000,000 gallons in
twenty-four hours.
[7] This includes, besides the actual cost of constructing the work,
the accumulation of interest on loans.
[8] The air in ice and snow water contains 34.8 per cent. of oxygen,
while that in rain water contains but 32 per cent.
[9] Report from the Select Committee of the House of Lords, appointed
to inquire into the supply of water to the Metropolis, p. 91, 1840.
Analysis by R. Phillips, Esq.
[10] Analysis, by Dr. J. R. Chilton, of New-York.
[11] The bad effects of hard water on the animal system, are likewise
manifested in horses. “Hard water drawn fresh from the well,” says Mr.
Youatt, “will assuredly make the coat of a horse unaccustomed to it
stare, and it will not unfrequently gripe, and otherwise injure him.
Instinct, or experience, has made even the horse himself conscious of
this; for he will never drink hard water, if he has access to soft;
he will leave the most transparent water of the well, for the river,
although the water may be turbid, and even for the muddiest pool. Some
trainers have so much fear of hard or strange water, that they carry
with them to the different courses the water that the animal has been
accustomed to drink and what they know agrees with it.”
[12] Repository of Patent Inventions, for October, 1841.
[13] It is now well ascertained, that carbonate of lime has only a
slight action on soap, and cannot in the proportions in which it exists
in potable waters decompose it, by giving rise to the formation of a
clotty precipitate, as we observe with sulphate and nitrate of lime,
and chloride of calcium--and this is probably owing to the excess of
carbonic acid which prevents the re-action of the calcareous carbonate
on the oleate and stearate of soda of the soap.
[14] Where water contains a large quantity of carbonic acid, there
are some facts which appear to prove, that it may act on lead, to an
injurious extent, though there may be present a large amount of neutral
salts.
[15] Containing 4.05 grains of solid matter to the gallon, or about one
18,000 part.
[16] “It has been computed that the Boston people have drank sufficient
_lime_, were it all collected, to build the Bunker Hill Monument as
high as it was ever designed to be carried.”
Transcriber’s Notes
Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a
predominant preference was found in the original book; otherwise they
were not changed. This includes misspellings of several Roman names,
both proper and common.
Simple typographical errors were corrected; unbalanced quotation
marks were remedied when the change was obvious, and otherwise left
unbalanced.
The appearances and hierarchy of headings in the original book were
inconsistent. Those inconsistencies have been retained here. In
versions of this eBook that support hyperlinks, references in the Table
of Contents link to the corresponding headings.
Illustrations in this eBook have been positioned between paragraphs and
outside quotations. In versions of this eBook that support hyperlinks,
the page references in the List of Plates link to the corresponding
illustrations.
Footnotes, originally at the bottoms of pages, have been renumbered and
moved to the end of the text.
Plate X, page 96: In this eBook, the caption shown for this Plate
includes only the headings in the plaque illustrated in the original
book. The names of individuals listed under those headings are not
included here.
Page 145: The numbers “1,000,18” and “1.000.42” were printed that way.
In the first one, the commas almost certainly should be periods, if the
notation in the second one is what the author intended.