We will now consider the first of the food principles - water. Water is one of the necessities of life. A person could live without air but a few minutes, without water but a few days. It constitutes by weight three fifths of the human body, and enters largely into all organic matter. Water is an aid to the performance of many of the functions of the body, holding in solution the various nutritious principles, and also acting as a carrier of waste. It usually contains foreign matter, but the nearer it is to being pure the more valuable it becomes as an agent in the body. Ordinary hydrant, well, or spring water may be made pure by filtering and then sterilizing it.

Exp. Put a little water into a test-tube, and heat it over the flame of an alcohol-lamp. In a short time tiny bubbles will appear on the sides of the glass. These are not steam, as may be proved by testing the temperature of the water; they are bubbles of atmospheric gases which have been condensed in the water from the air; they have been proved to be nitrogen, oxygen, and carbonic acid, but as they do not exist in the water in the same proportions as in the air, they are not called air, but atmospheric gases. Continue the heating, and the bubbles will continue to form. After a while, very large bubbles will appear at the bottom of the tube; they increase rapidly and rise toward the top; some break before reaching it, but as the heat becomes more intense others succeed in getting to the surface, - there they break and disappear. If the water now be tested with a thermometer, it will be found to have reached 212° Fahrenheit or 100° Centigrade, provided the experiment be tried at or near the level of the sea.

Steam. The large bubbles are bubbles of steam, or water expanded by heat until its particles are so far apart that it ceases to be a liquid and becomes a gas. True steam is invisible; the moisture which collects on the sides of the tube and is seen coming out at the mouth is partially condensed steam, or watery vapor. Watch a tea-kettle as it boils on a stove; for the space of an inch or two from the end of the spout there seems to be nothing; that is where the true steam is; beyond that, clouds of what is commonly called steam appear; they are watery vapor formed from the true steam by partial condensation which is produced by its contact with the cool air.1

Boiling-point of Water. Water boils at different temperatures, according to the elevation above the sea-level. In Baltimore it boils practically at 212° Fahr.; at Munich in Germany at 2094°; at the city of Mexico in Mexico at 200°; and in the Himalayas, at an elevation of 18,000 feet above the level of the sea, at 180°. These differences are caused by the varying pressure of the atmosphere at these points. In Baltimore practically the whole weight of the air is to be

1 Mattieu Williams, in "Chemistry of Cookery." overcome. In Mexico, 7000 feet above the sea, there are 7000 feet less of atmosphere to be resisted; consequently, less heat is required, and boiling takes place at a lower temperature. By inclosing a vessel of water in a glass bell, and exhausting the air by means of an air-pump, water may be made to boil at a temperature of 70° Fahr., showing that much of the force (heat) that is consumed in causing water to be converted into steam is required to overcome the pressure of the air. The foregoing illustrates the point that boiling water is not of invariable temperature; consequently, that foods which in some places are cooked in it may in other places be cooked in water that is not boiling, - in other words, that it is not ebullition which produces the change in boiling substances, but heat.

Changes Produced in Water by Boiling. By boiling water for a moderate time the greater part of the atmospheric gases is driven off. The flavor is much changed. We call it " flat"; but by shaking it in a carafe or other vessel so that the air can mingle with it, it will reacquire oxygen, nitrogen, and carbonic acid, and its usual flavor can thus be restored.

Water which flows through soil containing lime is further changed by boiling.

Exp. with. Lime-water. Pour a little lime-water into a test-tube. With, a small glass tube blow into it for a few minutes, when it will become milky; continue the blowing for a few minutes more, when it will lose its cloudy appearance and become clear again. The following explains this: in the first place there was forced into the lime-water, from the lungs, air containing an excess of carbonic acid; this united with the lime in solution in the water and formed carbonate of lime. Carbonate of lime is insoluble in water which contains no carbonic acid, or very little,1 but will dissolve in water which if charged with it, and this is produced by the continued blowing.

1 The carbonic acid breathed in has united with the lime, thus leaving the water without excess of it.

Now if this water be freed of its excess of carbonic acid by boiling, the carbonate of lime will be freed from its soluble state, and will fall as a precipitate and settle on the sides of the vessel. From this we learn that water may be freed from carbonate of lime in solution in it by boiling.

Organic Matter in Water. There is another class of impurities in water of vastly more importance than either the atmospheric gases or lime. These are the organic substances which it always contains, especially that which has flowed over land covered with vegetation, or that which has received the drainage from sewers. The soluble matter found in such water is excellent food for many kinds of micro-organisms which often form, by their multiplication, poisons very destructive to animal life. Or the organisms themselves may be the direct producers of disease, as for instance the typhoid fever bacillus, the bacillus of cholera, and probably others which occur in drinking-water. These organisms are destroyed by heat, so that the most valuable effect produced in water by boiling it is their destruction. Such water is, therefore, a much safer drink to use than that which has not been boiled. Water should always be boiled if there is the slightest suspicion of dangerous impurities in the supply.

Use of Tea and Coffee. This leads us to the thought that the extensive use of tea and coffee in the world may be an instinctive safeguard against these until recently unknown forms of life. The universal use of cooked water in some, form in China is a matter of history. The country is densely populated, the sewage is carried off principally by the rivers, so that the danger of contracting disease through water must be very great, and it is probable that instinct or knowledge has prompted the Chinaman to use but very little water for food except that which has been cooked. Whatever the reason, the custom is a national one. The every-day drink is weak tea made in a large teapot and kept in a wadded basket to retain the heat; the whole family use it. The very poor drink plain hot water or water just tinged with tea.

That tea and coffee furnish us each day with a certain amount of wholesome liquid in which all organic life has been destroyed, remains a fact; they may be, in addition, when properly made and of proper strength, of great value on account of their warmth, good flavor, and invigorating properties. There is no doubt that it is of the greatest importance that tea and coffee be used of proper strength; for if taken too strong, disorders of the system may be produced, necessitating their discontinuance, and thus depriving the individual of a certain amount of warm and wholesome liquid.

To Summarize. The effects produced in water by boiling which have been spoken of are: (1) the expulsion of the atmospheric gases; (2) the precipitation of lime when in solution; and (3) the destruction of micro-organisms. The most important points to remember in connection with water are, that a certain amount each day is an absolute necessity of life, and that unless the supply be above suspicion it should be filtered and then sterilized.

Filtration and Sterilization of Water. Filtration as a general thing is done by public authorities, but sterilization is not, and should be done when necessary by the nurse. For immediate use, simply boiling is said on good authority to be sufficient to destroy all organisms then in the water. Spores of organisms are, however, not killed by boiling, as they are very resistant to heat. Fortunately they are not common. As they do not develop into bacteria for some hours after the water has been boiled, they may be entirely gotten rid of by allowing them to develop and then destroying by a second boiling; but for all practical purposes, and under ordinary circumstances, water is rendered safe for use by boiling it once.1 Should the water be very bad, boil it in a jar plugged with cotton for half an hour three days in succession, keeping it meanwhile in a temperature of 70° or 80° Fahr., so that any spores of organisms which may be in it will have an opportunity to get into such a state of existence that they will be capable of being killed by the next boiling. The third treatment is for the purpose of making sure of any that may have escaped the first and second.