THE STORY OF THE BACTERIA. 12$ 



has been subjected, either naturally or artifi- 

 cially, have actually been efficacious in remov- 

 ing the living germs. 



It is thus evident that upon the intelligence, 

 knowledge, and fidelity, of the authorities 

 largely rests the responsibility of pure water 

 supplies for cities and towns, and the house- 

 holder is to a large degree at the mercy of 

 these officials, so far as his protection against 

 the acquirement of bacterial disease, especially 

 typhoid fever, is concerned. For it has been 

 shown over and over again, by the most care- 

 ful and elaborate experiments and examina- 

 tions, that the small so-called faucet filters, and 

 pretty much all the reservoir domestic filters, 

 do not separate the bacteria from contami- 

 nated water in a reliable way. The water is 

 often strained by them and so freed from its 

 coarser floating particles, and then may appear 

 quite clear and limpid, and some of the bac- 

 teria may be at first removed ; but after a 

 little while not only do these small filters let 

 the invisible bacteria through their pores in 

 large numbers, but they may actually afford 

 breeding- and lurking-places for the living 



