Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 15, No. 87, March, 1875Various
History
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 15, No. 87, March, 1875
Various
Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Science -- Periodicals
still their morbid craving for the odors of decay. During the height
of the cholera epidemic of the winter of 1873-74 an article appeared
in one of the newspapers, written by a citizen who signed himself "A
Constant Visitor of the Dead-houses;" and the article was answered by
an opponent who signed himself "Another Constant Visitor of the
Dead-houses;" as though no more worthy occupation could be imagined
than this of prowling like ghouls among the victims of the pestilence!
It is now time to speak of another principal cause of the
unhealthiness of Munich, perhaps the most important one of all--the
water. As before stated, Munich is situated on what was formerly the
bed of a lake: the ground, therefore, is full of springs, and from
these the water-supply of the inhabitants has always been obtained.
There is a well in the court of almost every house, in close proximity
to the vault, the refuse-pit and the drain, and well impregnated also,
doubtless, with that bugbear of Munich hygienists, "the
ground-water." The most ignorant citizen knows that the well-water is
not fit to drink, and avoids it as a beverage; still, its use
necessarily enters largely into all domestic arrangements. Children
are frequently thirsty, and cannot be kept from the pumps and
fountains; the poor are not able to afford a constant supply of beer
(and, for that matter, the beer itself is made with the same
material); it is used in cooking and for washing and bathing; and
though its impurities are lessened through boiling, it is so corrupt
that nothing short of complete distillation could make it wholesome
for either outward or inward application. Strangers are warned against
drinking it, and in numerous instances among the citizens bowel
complaints and typhus have been traced directly to its poison. It is
true that a small portion of the inhabitants are more favored in
respect to their water-supply. Within a few years the water of two
springs rising a little way out of the city, at Brunnthal and
Thalkirchen, has been introduced into a few streets and houses, and,
though by no means pure, it is vastly better than that of the wells.
But the whole yield from these sources is not sufficient for more than
a third of the inhabitants; and the Thalkirchner water has recently
been corrupted by the breaking in of the Isar, in consequence of an
attempt to enlarge the spring.
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