A short time since, Dr. C. A. Wood, of Greenville, sent me several specimens of water for examination. The contamination of some of them was of such a character that I asked him for a history of the samples. I will here state that the specimens marked “No. 2” and “No. 3” were both badly polluted, and with different substances, so that, in testing, the chemical reactions were quite different. In his reply to my letter of inquiry he says,— “The water I sent you last week marked No. 2 was dipped directly from the well, as shown in diagram, while the water marked No. 3 was pumped from the pump. The family have been sick more or less ever since they occupied the house. _None of them have been well_, but it is exceedingly difficult to give a name to their complaints, except a general out of fix, with a dull, tired feeling, headaches, sore throats, furred tongues, &c., but no downright sickness so as to prostrate them.” It will be readily seen by the crude diagram that the cess-pool filth which had accumulated around the lead pipe leading to the well, by reason of a breakage in the sink-drain, had corroded the water-pipe till it was full of small holes, which allowed this filth to be drawn in and mixed with the water every time any was drawn from the well. Such a condition is not likely to be of very frequent occurrence, but it demonstrates the fact that the source of water pollution may be sometimes subtle and unexpected. [Illustration: DIAGRAM NO. 3.] In the foregoing paper it has been my aim only to present some points that will lead to a more careful consideration of this all-important subject, rather than to discuss the topic from a purely scientific standpoint. To awaken a deeper interest in the prevention of disease is necessary both in the profession and among the people, and I sincerely hope the medical men of our state will become the instructors and the guardians of the public to the extent that unnecessary sickness may be largely averted, and nature’s gifts received in nature’s purity. End of Project Gutenberg's Water pollution--Wells, by Irving A. Watson