WATER. 199 



to an impure and foetid atmosphere, absorbs the 

 noxious gases, and becomes impregnated with 

 poison. 



Again, in hot climates, water becomes tainted 

 and unwholesome, by filtering through a porous 

 soil full of organic impurities, caused by decom- 

 posed animal and vegetable matter; and very often 

 the poisonous ingredients absorbed cannot be de- 

 tected by the senses, as neither the eye nor the 

 palate of a tired and thirsty traveller are likely 

 to discover the dangerous impregnation. 



Water taken from springs and streams is gene- 

 rally better than that of pools, as still water soon 

 becomes putrid, and full of a variety of living 

 animals and vegetables. 



The best means of rendering such kinds of 

 water wholesome, is by boiling and. filtration : the 

 former process destroys the animalculae, and the 

 latter clears it from impurities. 



Were proper precautions taken by Government, 

 cholera, typhus-fever and dysentery, the scourges 

 of camp-life, would be comparatively unknown : 



