138 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COTTESWOLD CLUB 



has been added the Typhoid bacilh increase in this fluid 

 enormously, whilst ordinary river bacteria are killed or 

 their growth greatly retarded. The Cholera bacillus may 

 be similarly cultivated in a nutrient fluid containing 

 peptone and salt, which is a form of nourishment it 

 particularly aff'ects. 



The majority of bacilli produce spores by which they 

 are reproduced with renewed vitality, and these spores 

 are more difficult of destruction than the bacteria them- 

 selves. The Typhoid bacillus produces no spores, 

 which is an important fact in connection with the life 

 history and destruction of these bacilli. Both the bacilli 

 of Typhoid and Cholera refuse to grow in ordinarily 

 pure river waters containing the common river bacteria, 

 and only upon very rare occasions has either been 

 detected in river water, even in the most polluted places. 



The Royal Commission on Metropolitan 

 Water Supply, 1893 



In September of last year was issued the Report of the 

 Royal Commission appointed to inquire into the Water 

 Supply of the Metropolis, and it is the most important 

 document in connection with the use of river water ever 

 yet printed. In mentioning some towns that were 

 suppHed with drinking water from rivers I made omission 

 of London. Over 5,000,000 of people in greater London 

 are supplied with river water for drinking, and about 

 3,000,000 are supplied from the River Thames, the water 

 being taken from the river very near its entry to the 

 London area in the neighbourhood of Hampton Court. 

 The object of the Inquiry as set out in the preamble of 

 the Report is " to ascertain whether the sources available 

 in the Watersheds of the Rivers Thames and Lea are 

 adequate in quantity and quality for the Water Supply of 

 the Metropolis." All the evidence of any value that was 



