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The Aqueducts were under the care and direction, first of the censors and oediles, and afterwards, of particular magistrates called "Curatores Aquarum," instituted by Agrippa, to whom the Aqueducts of Rome were objects of particular attention. Messala was one of these curatores in the reign of Augustus, and Frontinus held the same office in that of Nerva. Augustus caused all of them to be repaired.

Procopius reckons only fourteen Aqueducts in ancient Rome; but Victor has enlarged the number to twenty.

Frontinus, a man of consular dignity, and who had the direction of the Aqueducts under the Emperor Nerva, mentions nine. From other accounts we are informed that nine great Aqueducts existed at Rome at the commencement of the reign of Nerva. Five others were constructed by that Emperor, under the superintendence of Julius Frontinus; and it appears that at a later period the number amounted to twenty.

Frontinus, who had the superintendence of the Roman Aqueducts under the Emperor Nerva, died A. D. 101. He gave an account of the Aqueducts, which has since been translated into French by Rondolet. The following table is made up of data from that work.

Analysis of the Croton and Schuylkill waters, by J. C. Booth, Professor of Chemistry to the Franklin Institute of Pennsylvania, and H. M. Boye, of Philadelphia.

The organic matter contained in river water consists chiefly of the exuviae of animal and vegetable substances, but another class of impurities consists of living beings, The aquatic animals, which have, from time to time, been exhibited in this city by means of the solar microscope, are collected in stagnant pools, and are not found in river or well water. The quantity of organic matter contained in the Croton must be extremely small, as this, together with the silex, iron, and magnesia, amount to only 4/10ths of one grain to the gallon.

The water procured from wells in the city of New-York, has gradually been growing more and more impure, as the city has increased in size, until a very large proportion of it, is entirely unfit for culinary and dietetic purposes. That in the lower part of the city, has always been, more or less, brackish, owing to the percolation of the salt water from the north and east rivers through the loose sandy soil, thus giving them a distinct saline impregnation. The amount of impurities contained in these waters, varies, therefore, in different parts of the city, according to its elevation, and the denseness of the population. A gallon of water from the well belonging to the Manhattan Company in Reade-street, yielded 125 grains of solid matter; while the same quantity of water, from their well in Bleecker-street, yielded 20 grains, and in 13th street, 14 grains. A gallon of water taken from four of the city wells in the densely populated parts of the city yielded on an average, 58 grains each of solid matter.

The supply also of well water has been gradually diminishing in this city for the last several years. For example, at the Chemical Works on the North River, at 33d street, and at an extensive distillery on the East River, some distance above the Alms House, water cannot be procured in sufficient quantities on their premises, where, but a few years past, it was obtained in great abundance. At the Gas Works on the Collect grounds, where they have a well 20 feet in depth, by 18 feet in diameter, which, until 1834, furnished water freely, enabling the engine to raise 20,000 gallons in ten hours, in 1835 it required 14 to 16 hours to raise the same quantity, and in order to continue the supply, it was found necessary to return the water to the well, after using it for condensing the gas. The Corporation well, also, in 13th street, furnished, for several years, about 120,000 gallons of water daily, but in 1835, this quantity was reduced down to from five to ten thousand. In order to remedy this evil, a well was sunk at Jefferson Market, which in a short time deprived most of the wells in that vicinity, of water; thus drying up one source of supply, in order to increase that of another. There is, therefore, every probability that had not water been introduced into the city of New-York from abroad, the supply from the wells would, in a few years, have been insufficient for the economical, domestic and manufacturing purposes of the inhabitants. It is fearful to contemplate the amount of decomposing organic matter contained in the wells in the vicinity of Trinity, St. Paul's, and St. John's burying grounds, which for more than a century furnished the only water used by those residing in their neighborhood. No one can doubt that the use of such water, as well as that from the wells on the Collect, and over the greater portion of the city below Canal-street, must have proved extremely detrimental to the health of the citizens, and especially to children, and infants. We believe, therefore that the introduction of the Croton water, will increase the average duration of human life in the city of New-York, from 8 to 12 per cent. From 1815 to 1836, it ranged from 30.08 to 22.05, , but the mean duration of life for the last 20 years is about 25 years; and the ratio of mortality, according to population, about as 1 to 35. From the manner, however, in which the inspector's reports have been made, from the imperfection of the law, no great confidence can be placed in the returns,--those carried out of the city for burial, not having been included.

From a "Report on the subject of introducing pure and wholesome water into the city of Boston, by L. Baldwin, Esq., Civil Engineer," it appears that the whole number of wells in that city in 1835, was 2,767. The water from 2,085 of these wells was drinkable, though brackish and hard, and 682 of them were bad and unfit for use. There were only seven of the city wells which yielded soft water occasionally and for washing, and from 33 of them the water was obtained by deep boring. "Within a few years," says the Report, "it has become common in Boston, and the vicinity, to bore for water, and to make what are called Artesian wells. But no certain or valuable result has grown out of these endeavors. There are 33 bored wells, only two of which are stated as furnishing soft water. The same remarks will apply to the public wells of this city, the most of which produce nothing but hard and brackish water, and none of which is sufficiently soft to authorize its use in washing clothes," &c.

The following are the tests by which the presence of the ordinary constituents or impurities of common waters may be ascertained.

SEA-WATER includes the waters of the ocean and of those lakes, called island seas, which possess a similar composition. The Dead Sea, however, varies so much from ordinary sea-water, as to rank amongst mineral waters.

The quantity of solid matter varies considerably in the waters of different seas, as the following statement proves--

The average quantity of saline matter in sea-water is 3 1/2 per cent., and its specific gravity about 1.0274. The composition of sea-water differs also in different localities. Iodine has been found in the Mediterranean sea.

Of acetate of soda a 100th part of the water is a preservative. Of arseniate of soda 12,000th ,, ,, ,, Of phosphate of soda 30,000th ,, ,, ,, Of hydriodate of potash 30,000th ,, ,, ,, Of muriate of soda 2,000th ,, ,, ,, Of sulphate of lime 4,000th ,, ,, ,, Of nitrate of potash 100th ,, ,, ,,

The sulphates of soda, magnesia, lime, and the triple sulphate of alumina and potash, possess about the same preservative power; which appears to depend on the acid, not on the base of the salt. The general results of Dr. Christison's investigations, appear to be, that neutral salts in various, and for the most part minute, proportions, retard or prevent the corrosive action of water on lead--allowing the carbonate to deposit itself slowly, and to adhere with such firmness to the lead as not to be afterwards removed by moderate agitation,--adding subsequently to this crust other insoluble salts of lead, the acids of which are derived from the neutral salts in solution,--and thus at length forming a permanent and impermeable screen in the form of a film over its surface, through which the action of the water cannot any longer be carried on. These films are composed of the carbonate of lead, with a little of the muriate, sulphate, arseniate, or phosphate of lead, according to the nature of the acid in the alkaline salt, which is dissolved in the water. The following general conclusions may therefore be considered as sufficiently established.

Now, to apply these results to the water of the Croton; as this holds in solution only about one 18,000th part of salts, it must, according to Christison, exert a corroding influence on the lead-pipes. Dr. Dana, of Lowell, has lately investigated this subject and detected lead in the water which had passed through the leaden-pipes for the distribution of water in the city of Lowell. The first examination was made from a sample of water taken from the source or spring-head before it had entered the leaden pipes, when the specific gravity was found to be 1,000,18. The pint, on evaporation to dryness, yielded 2.37 grains of solid matter. The solid contents of an imperial pint were found to be,

The second examination was made of water taken from the leaden pipes when the specific gravity was found to be 1.000.42. Upon a pint of this water being evaporated to dryness it yielded two grains of solid matter,

It therefore has been calculated that every gallon of the water used after passing through the leaden pipes, contains 1.312 grains of the carbonate of lead. Such water, although it would not speedily destroy life, would undoubtedly be attended with injurious consequences, should its use be habitually continued.

On the other hand, Dr. Hare of Philadelphia, in reply to a letter requesting his opinion as to the action of the Schuylkill water on lead pipes, states that after using the Schuylkill water for 25 years in his laboratory, he has never perceived the slightest indication of the presence of lead; and that if there had been any in the water, the re-agents which he has been accustomed to use must have rendered the impurity evident. If it be true that the Schuylkill water does not act upon the lead pipes, it would follow as a matter of course, if the doctrines above laid down be correct, that the Croton, which contains very nearly the same quantity of saline ingredients, would also exert no influence upon this metal. In cases, however, where injurious consequences have resulted from the agency of lead, the pipes through which the water was conducted, were of considerable length; suppose for example that the pipes are 4000 feet long, and three fourths of an inch in diameter, each portion of water will pass successively over no less than 784 square feet of lead before being discharged; and it would not therefore be at all remarkable, if the water were found contaminated with the lead. In this city, however, the pipes are rarely more than 50 feet in length, generally not more than 25, and therefore cannot exert so deleterious an influence as in those of greater extent. Dr. Chilton, recently inspected the Croton water drawn from the leaden pipes, by which it is introduced into the house of Mr. G. D. Coggeshall. No 421 Pearl-street in this city, and found the water evidently affected by the lead. He has also obtained similar results in several other instances. If the precaution be used, of not employing the water first drawn from the pipes for dietetic and culinary purposes, no injurious consequences would probably attend the use of water conveyed in this metal, but as this is not likely to be attended to generally, it is expedient to employ other measures to guard against its deleterious effects.

For this purpose, various means have been suggested, such as the substitution of block-tin and other metals not acted upon by water; but the most efficient, scientific, and useful, as well as the most economical, of all the plans hitherto proposed, is that introduced by Thomas Ewbank, Esq., of coating the lead-pipes with tin both inside and out. The process, which has been patented, consists simply in drawing an ordinary lead-pipe through a bath of melted tin, coated with a layer of melted rosin, which leaves a continuous deposit, of tin upon both sides of the pipe, of sufficient thickness, to effectually prevent any oxidation of the lead. These pipes have been highly recommended by our first chemists, and other men of science, as furnishing an effectual safeguard against the corroding effects of pure water This highly ingenious process, strengthens the pipe, without diminishing its elasticity, and although some small portions of the lead should escape being coated, yet the proximity of the tin, will, from galvanic action, probably prevent oxidization of the lead. As these pipes are furnished at about eight cents per pound, the usual price of ordinary lead-pipe, there can be no doubt that they will be generally adopted by our citizens,--as they have been, already, by the Corporation, in the conveyance of the Croton water, into the public buildings.

Considered in a dietetical point of view, water serves three important purposes in the animal economy; namely, it repairs the loss of the aqueous part of the blood, caused by the action of the secreting and exhaling organs; secondly, it is a solvent of various alimentary substances, and therefore assists the stomach in the act of digestion, though, if taken in very large quantities, it may have an opposite effect, by diluting the gastric juice; thirdly, it is a nutritive agent, that is, it assists in the formation of the solid parts of the body.

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.

"??????? ??? ????"--PINDAR.

PRINTED BY WILLIAM OSBORN, 88 William-street.

FOOTNOTES

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.

This report was from the pen of Samuel Stevens, Esq.

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.

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.

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.

The Aqueduct is calculated to convey 60,000,000 gallons in twenty-four hours.

This includes, besides the actual cost of constructing the work, the accumulation of interest on loans.

The air in ice and snow water contains 34.8 per cent. of oxygen, while that in rain water contains but 32 per cent.

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.

Analysis, by Dr. J. R. Chilton, of New-York.

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."

Repository of Patent Inventions, for October, 1841.

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.

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.

Containing 4.05 grains of solid matter to the gallon, or about one 18,000 part.

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.

Footnotes, originally at the bottoms of pages, have been renumbered and moved to the end of the text.

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.

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