Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

2IOCAMPING AND WOODCRAFTsurrounding drainage. If the well is near a stableor outhouse, or if dishwater is thrown near it, letit alone. A well in sandy soil is more or less filteredby nature, but rocky or clayey earth may conductdisease germs a considerable distance underground.Never drink from the well of an abandonedfarm: there is no telling what may havefallen into it.A spring issuing from the living rock is worthyof confidence. Even if it be but a trickle you canscoop out a basin to receive it that soon will clearitself.Sometimes a subaqueous spring may be found nearthe margin of a lake or river by paddling close inshoreand trailing your hand in the water. Whena cold spot is noted, go ashore and dig a few feetback from the water's edge. I have found suchspring exits in the Mississippi some distance fromthe bank, and, by weighting a canteen, vying a stringto it and another to the stopper, have brought upcool water from the river bed.Disease germs are of animal, not vegetable, origin.Still waters are not necessarily unwholesome, eventhough there be rotting vegetation in them: thewater of cedar and cypress swamps is good to drink,'.vherever there is a deep pool of it, unless pollutedfrom some outside source. Lake water is safe if nosettlements are on its border; but even so large abody as Lake Champlain has been condemned bystate boards of health because of the sewage thatruns into it.When a stream is in flood it is likely to be contaminatedby decayed animal matter.Alkaline Water.— When traveling in an alkali:ountry,carry some vinegar or limes or lemons, or(better) a glass-stoppered bottle of hydrochloricicid. One teaspoonful of hydrochloric (muriatic)neutralizes about a gallon of water, and if thereshould be a little excess it will do no harm, butrather assist digestion. In default of acid, you may