and, it is possible, may be a source of annoyance at some points, even at the present time; however, the process of oxidation will very soon destroy all that may now be objectionable, and the original purity of the water and cleanliness of the banks and overflowed lands will, so far as the tanneries are concerned, be restored.

THE CONTAMINATED ICE.

That last winter's product of ice from this river between Littleton and the Connecticut river (twenty miles) is wholly unfit for use, does not admit of a doubt. Even ice taken by parties at Woodsville from the Connecticut river, near the mouth of the Ammonoosuc, contained hair in quite visible quantities. Under no circumstances should the ice mentioned be used for drinking purposes, even though to the eye it presents the appearance of absolute purity. It is a popular fallacy that ice purifies itself; that water in freezing eliminates all organic impurities: such is not true; water that is contaminated produces ice of the same character. There are many instances on record in which impure ice has produced serious and alarming sickness. It is not necessary that such ice should be contaminated to that extent that it may be seen with the naked eye, to render it unfit for use. Water may be badly polluted by foreign matters in solution, and the ice produced therefrom be equally dangerous to health. So, then, the present stock of ice from this river should be regarded with great suspicion, however fine its appearance.

DISPOSAL OF THE WASTE PRODUCTS OF THE TANNERIES.

It has been often said that the American people know nothing of economy. If this statement is more applicable to one class than another, it must have reference to the farming interests of New Hampshire, not in the manner of actually dealing in dollars and cents, but in methods and principles that regulate and govern the law of production. Nature offers no chromos, holds out no prizes, advertises no rewards, and lavishes no gifts, without a compensating equivalent based upon immutable laws. To take from the soil its annual production without restoring the properties which such harvest draws upon, leads to eventual barrenness, and if the restoration costs as much as the production is worth,

the result is a serious loss to the laborer, the community, and the

state.

The farming interests of the state can only be brought to a higher standard by the strictest economy in fertilization, and to this end should be considered the means of utilizing all waste products, from whatever source, that will enhance the producing qualities of the soil. The two hundred tons of valuable material for the soil, which the Littleton tanneries discharged into the river, represents only a small proportion of similar products that are annually lost in the state. The value of such waste has already been demonstrated by some of the Littleton farmers. Generously applied to the soil, in some of their first experiments, it resulted somewhat disastrously to the crops; but for the following four or five years it secured a very large yield of hay, demonstrating the important fact that its fertilizing qualities continued for several years before showing any indication of exhaustion. The adverse result of the first year's application was from its strength, which is readily obviated by making a compost-heap with dry muck or loam, or using in smaller quantities. The statement was made, from an apparently reliable source, that land upon which this waste had been used five years ago was now as productive as ordinarily results from an annual supply of dressing from the stables. If this is a fact, then the value of the former is five times that of the latter as a fertilizer, aside from the question of labor involved, and the more important considerationoriginal cost.

The production in a single town of such quantities of valuable material for the soil is a question which should meet the careful consideration of those interested in agriculture. Without doubt, by properly working with dry muck, and preparing this matter in the most suitable form for the purposes required, an aggregate of five hundred tons of valuable fertilizing material might be annually produced, which could be cheaply supplied to the farmers, and also yield a handsome profit to any company that would undertake the work of preparing the same. At the present time this waste is disposed of, in part, by the farmers drawing it away, and by the companies carting it upon land which they have secured for that purpose; but, instead of its being a source of expense to get rid of it, it might, if rightly managed, be a large

source of profit to parties who would work it, and to the agricultural interests of the state. These same suggestions have equal force in other localities, where such or similar material is allowed to run to waste; and these remarks are made, not for the elucidation of any particular theory, but simply to call attention to a subject which, from the necessity of things, will sooner or later be a problem of considerable magnitude.

SICKNESS IN A HERD OF CATTLE.

Mention has been made of the sudden fatality among some cattle at Lisbon. The subject was investigated to a limited extent by the Secretary, for the reason that the owner of the cattle, and some others, suspected the cause to be poisoning by matters washed upon the land along the river, from which hay was obtained, and fed to the herd mentioned. Out of a herd of forty or more, five healthy yearlings died in a few days' time. An analysis of the stomach of one of the creatures was made at this office, with an entirely negative result, excepting marked evidence of inflammatory action. In reading up the subject, and also in detailing the symptoms and results of examination to the Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture, it was ascertained that similar fatalities had many times occurred in this state. An autopsy would, undoubtedly, have revealed evidence of meningeal inflammation as the immediate cause of death. It is probable that the polluted condition of the river was no factor in the cases.

TYPHOID FEVER.

The existence of typhoid fever in our state is an annual one. At the proper season it occurs in different, and sometimes in many, localities. From the lack of accurate registration it is impossible to state the number of deaths that result each year in New Hampshire from this dreaded disease, but the number would be quite surprising to those who have given the subject little or no thought. It is a sad commentary upon the progression of the nineteenth century that the mortality from preventable diseases should still be maintained at such high rates, and it would seem to be evidence that the public regard of human life has been less than that of business or political interests.

To state that typhoid fever is one of the most perfect types of filth disease, and that it is a preventable disease, is only to assert that which has been proven beyond question; still, the fact should be kept before the people, with its voluminous and convincing evidence, till every community and every citizen shall be made to realize that bad sanitary conditions are the perfumed cards of invitation to disease and death. The most common source of infection by the disease under consideration is through contaminated drinking water, though there is strong evidence to show that it may be communicated by various other means. That this fever is produced by a specific poison is undoubtedly a fact, though the same has not yet been discovered, neither has its process of development been demonstrated. If the poison of the fever can be produced de novo, which is a question of doubt, it must require a specific process to produce the same; hence it would follow that not every form of decomposition would elaborate such a process. Cities and towns, or isolated homes, that are almost flooded with an indescribable profusion and variety of filth, are not always visited with typhoid; obversely, the cleanest and apparently best hygienically located or constructed towns are

visited with the disease following the existence of a single case in the vicinity, or some contiguous locality. In such instances the carrier of the germ* of the disease has many times been conclusively traced. If the disease originates through the processes of decomposition or putrefaction, the laws that govern its selection of locality are even more subtle and uncertain than the most far-fetched theories. We are then forced to strongly entertain the idea that something more than external conditions is requisite for its development; that into the fitly prepared soil for so loathsome a harvest must be planted the seed. In other words, that in the unsanitary conditions, of a great variety, the specific poison of the disease is extensively multiplied and propagated, and preserved for an indefinite period in a state ready to develop the disease.

Whichever theory may be the correct one, it matters not, so far as the question of sanitation is concerned. It is evident, in either case, that filth in some form is essential to its existence.

The variety of conditions under which it may appear are numerous, and some of them quite remarkable. When it is conveyed in contaminated water it may be carried to great distances, relatively, and from sources unexpected and unknown; hence, in this way, the disease sometimes appears in localities to which little or no exception can be taken to occular sanitary surroundings.

The following is such a forcible and remarkable illustration of the fact, followed by convincing proof, that the propriety of its insertion will not be questioned.

It is commonly supposed that impure water, which has been filtered through a considerable quantity of clean soil, again becomes pure. This, no doubt, does often take place where the impurities are mechanical and held in suspension, but of matters in solution this is not always true.

A most remarkable illustration of the two points I have mentioned, the course of underground currents, and the distance water may be carried through the soil in an impure state,-occurred a few years ago in Switzerland, where the poison of typhoid fever was carried by water through nearly a mile of porous soil,

*This word is used in a broad sense, and not as a generic term.