Although the fastidious may revolt from the use of water thus sweetened to our palate, it is perhaps fortunate that this mixture is daily taking place, for otherwise the water of this city would become, in a much shorter space of time than it actually does, utterly unfit for domestic purposes. We cannot take leave of this part of the subject without adverting to the various and contradictory opinions which have been expressed on the purity of our waters. We must impute to long use and the influence of habit, the opinion that our water is sufficiently pure for domestic purposes. We have known our citizens, upon going into the country, express a marked disrelish for " This water is like pure spring water. The popular expression on such occasions is, wind there is nothing substantial in it nothing to bite upon." This powerful influ- ;

ence of habit is exemplified even among animals. At one of our watering places, (Saratoga,) cattle have been observed to prefer the strongest mineral water known, to that derived from a pure source. The coldness of our pump waters is another cause which conceals their impurities when swallowed. This may be tested by allowing it to stand until it has acquired the ordinary summer temperature its various ingredients become ;

then manifest, palpable. These impurities are not caused by the additional heat they ;

exist at all times in the water ; their presence is only disguised for the moment by its coldness, and its injurious properties are in no wise diminished. Your inquiry as to the effects of impure water upon the human system, falls more properly within the province of the medical philosopher than the naturalist we do not, ;