Lectures on public health delivered in the lecture-hall of the Royal Dublin Society.

Date:
1874
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Lectures on public health delivered in the lecture-hall of the Royal Dublin Society. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    LECTURE II. ON THE DISCRIMINATION OF GOOD WATER AND WHOLESOME FOOD. By professor REYNOLDS. INTRODUCTION. The impurities often present in water used for drinking purposes, and the numerous adulterations to which articles of food and drink are liable, have frequently formed subjects for able and interesting discourses, in which not only has the nature of each impurity and adulterant been stated but the injury to the public health supposed to result from its ingestion has been placed in a particularly clear light. _ It is not now proposed to prove either that the practice of adulteration exists, since this is now unnecessary; or that impurities in water or in food can be connected with disease, because the general subject has been dwelt upon in the introductory discourse we have listened to with such plea- sure and advantage, and will no doubt be dealt with in greater detail in the succeeding lectures of this course. ^ We now seek only to convey such information as shall facilitate the distinction of pure from impure water, and of safe from unsafe food. For practical purposes it is only necessary for the consumer to be able to say whether or not his water or food supply can be regarded as wholesome. The iden- tification of impurities and adulterants is the work of the chemist and microscopist; but it is often possible by very simple means and without the possession of any special skiU to ascertain whether or not a particular article is fit for use in the animal economy. For this purpose it is often suffi- cient to ascertain whether the substance presents the charac- ters which serve to distinguish it, and these characters can in most cases be easily recognised, though it is seldom possible to name the particular impurity or adulterant