be employed in the aqueduct, and such other matters incident to the supply of the city with pure and wholesome water from that or any other source, as he may think proper, and that he be requested to report his opinion to the corporation, with the requisite plans and estimates, as soon as may be practicable. Your Committee farther Report, That they have considered the several matters which have been suggested for the execution, either by individuals, or by the Corpora- tion, of the plan that may be finally adopted. They are sensible that each of these me- thods is attended with difficulties, but considering the immense importance of the sub- ject to the comfort and health of their fellow citizens, that it will not be undertaken by a Company unless upon the prospect of considerable gain, and that such gain must be acquired at the expense of the city, your Committee have at length agreed, that the undertaking ought to be pursued by, and under the control of, the Corporation, as the im- mediate representatives of the citizens in general. Under this impression, and to avoid any further delays which may arise, unless measures are taken to prevent pecuniary embarrassments, and other difficulties in the course of the business, your Committee would recommend, That, an act be prepared and presented to the Legislature, investing the Corporation with the powers necessary to effect the great end they have in view, and granting them the moneys arising from the tax upon the sales at auction, in said city, with such further aid as the Legislature may think proper, to enable them by the reception thereof, or by loans founded thereon, to defray the expenses incident to the undertaking. JNO. B. COLES, New-York, December 17, 1798. GABRIEL FURMAN, JNO. BOGART, JACOB DE LA MONTAGNIE. This Report was accepted, and the Mayor was directed to write to Mr. Weston. A law, such as contemplated by the Report, was prepared by the Recorder, Richard Harri- C ROT ON AdUEDUCT. 91 son Esq., approved by the Board, and confided to the members of the Legislature from the city ; and 500 copies of the proceedings of the Board, and of Dr. Brown's project for supplying the city with water were ordered to be printed in pamphlets. This looked like earnest; and as Mr. Weston accepted the appointment, and in March, 1799, made a favorable report on the practicability and sufficiency of the supply from the Bronx river, as recommended by Dr. Brown, the way seemed clear for at once undertaking the work. The memorial of Dr. Brown, argued the question on the score of health, safety, and comfort. The yellow fever had made great ravages in the city, and Dr. Brown, who believed in the domestic origin of the disease, demonstrated that its virulence was much aggravated by the insufficiency of the supply of water, and its impure quality. He declares emphatically, " I do not presume to say that the introduction of a large quantity of water into the city, would alone prevent the rise and spreading of putrid diseases, but I am well warranted in saying that, under Providence, it would, more than all other things, contribute to this most desirable end." He also dwells upon the comparative immunity from fire, which such a supply would afford. The preference of the great mass of the inhabitants at that time, as appears both by Dr. Brown's memorial, and Mr. Weston's report, was for the waters of the Collect, owing, mainly, to their superior coolness. This preference both these gentlemen earnestly resist. Dr. Brown thus discourses concerning it : " The large stagnating, filthy pond, commonly called the Collect, which now is, or soon will be, the centre of the city, has been looked to by some people, as a fund from whence an adequate supply might be obtained, by means of a steam engine, for all the purposes already spoken of. I cannot undertake to say, that this source would at present be incompetent to all the preceding purposes, for which a supply of water is wanted ; but if the quantity naturally discharged from this pond, be the whole that is furnished by its springs, then I might say with propriety, it is infinitely too small for those uses. But ad- mitting, that at present it might be competent, the time will come, and that very shortly, from the growth of the city, when this source will most certainly be very inadequate to the demand. And again, supposing the pond to contain and furnish enough, it is a con- sideration well deserving attention, whether a pond, into which the filth from many of the streets must, without very great expense and care, be constantly discharged, and to which the contents of vaults, &c.,