78 The Wild-Fowlers 



contents of the ocean, into sparkling pure 

 water; and the same machine, he says, 

 can make any particular sort of water, all 

 the way from common seltzer or vichy to 

 apollinaris. The inventor claims there is 

 at present no absolutely pure water in the 

 world save new rain-water fresh from the 

 clouds and that produced by his appara- 

 tus ; that most of the high-priced bottled 

 waters are more impure than any common 

 city drinking-water; that none of them 

 can stand any length of time without rot- 

 ting, while the new product is as good at 

 the end of twenty years as the day it 's 

 made." 



" What makes it so pure and everlast- 

 ing ?" asked Corbin. 



" Why, as I understand it, the appa- 

 ratus not only absolutely purifies the 

 liquid, but also the air and the vessel 

 used to hold the material. The machine, 

 I am told, will remove the air from im- 

 pure water, cleanse it, and then force it 

 back in the water, which has also been 



