no The Ohio Naturalist. [Vol. VII, No. 5, 



cup, it having been contaminated by sewage, or the bacteria 

 might have come from the mouth of some person using the cup. 

 In all probabiltiy the bacteria came from sewage contamination 

 of some kind. It is interesting to note, however, that Bacillus 

 coli has been shown repeatedly to be present in the mouth of 

 normal as well as diseased individuals. ,(*^) The presence of 

 other pathogenic bacteria, viz.: Sarcina tetragena and Bacillus 

 sporogenes, should be noted. (7) The presence of certain water 

 and air bacteria in nearly every case (sarcina, etc.) is undoubt- 

 edlv explained by their wide distribution. The lack of the 

 Saccharamyces groups (yeasts), with one exception, should be 

 noted. These groups are almost always present in the mouth. 



From these few examinations it is evident that the public 

 drinking cup mav serve as a carrier of infection, particularly 

 p3'Ogenic infections. There is no reason why other infections 

 mav not be carried in the same way. Cases have been reported 

 where the Bacterium tuberculosis has been found in commtmion 

 cups and cases are also on record where syphilis has been trans- 

 mitted by contact with drinking cups. The general public is 

 beginning to recognize the importance of the hygienic drinking 

 fountains and fountains without cups from which the water flows 

 in a slow stream which can easily be taken into the mouth 

 without contamination, are beginning to be installed. In 

 certain localities individual cups and paper drinking cups which 

 can be used but once are quite popular. The sooner we recog- 

 nize the importance of all these details in hygiene the sooner will 

 we be able to control and prevent infectious diseases among us. 



FOSSIL LAND AND FRESH-WATER MOLLUSCA COLLECTED 

 IN DEFIANCE COUNTY, OHIO. 



V. Sterki. 



Four miles east of Defiance, Ohio, at the state dam, forming 

 the north bank of the Maumee River, I found a deposit with 

 fossil land and fresh-water mollusca. The material is fine sand, 

 somewhat clayey, of light color, without any stones except in 

 the top laver of about one foot, which is of different material, 

 with broken stones (limestone), etc. Large trees are standing on 

 it. So far as accessible, the bed is about eight to ten feet deep, 

 and very rich in mollusca. What it is geologically, I do not 

 know, but supposed it to be loess. In an hour and a half, I col- 

 lected specimens of twenty-seven species, the large majority of 

 them "land mollusca" and there is no doubt that many more 

 will be found, and probably remains of other animals also. 



