194 The Story of the Bacteria 



Every person who goes or sends his family 

 into the country in the summer, should per- 

 sonally inspect the drinking-water supply and 

 assure himself that it is good. This is actu- 

 ally of far greater importance than the size 

 of the rooms, the price of board, or the di- 

 versity of amusements, or any other of the 

 score of things about which one so scrupu- 

 lously inquires before laying out the sum- 

 mer campaign. 



Wells ought to be cemented water-tight for 

 from eight to twelve feet below the surface. 

 They should rise several inches above the 

 level of the ground, which should be cemented 

 and made to slope away in all directions 

 from the opening, so that drippings and sur- 

 face water may be carried off to a distance of 

 several feet before they soak into the ground. 



It should always be borne in mind that the 

 water of ordinary wells is simply surface 

 water, which has filtered down through the 

 soil, and collected in the reservoir which the 

 well excavation makes, and that in closely 

 populated regions the soil, which originally 

 may have been efficient as a filter, may finally 



