246 MICROBES, FERMENTS, AND MOULDS. 
cannot exist without moisture, and they find in such 
water the organic matter which nourishes them. The 
rivers receive them by the sewers which discharge into 
them, the wells by infiltration of the soil, and thus 
in times of epidemic, the microbes of typhoid fever 
and of cholera are always to be found in running or 
stagnant waters, which therefore become the vehicle 
of infectious diseases. 
Well-water, owing to its stagnant nature, and to 
the infiltration to which it is liable from cesspools 
which are often leaky, is more dangerous than 
running water. About two years ago, an epidemic 
of typhoid fever, which occurred in one quarter of 
Angers, was stopped by introducing a supply of water 
from the Loire; up to that time well-water had been 
exclusively in use. 
Well-water in Bread-making—In many places 
well-water is still too often used for making bread 
instead of running water. There are probably many 
reasons for this preference. Bakers, without assigning 
any reason for the fact, assert that well-water causes 
the bread to rise better; and moreover, in towns, such 
as Angers, where there is a water company, river- 
water costs money, while well-water may be had for 
nothing. About 50 per cent. of water is used in 
making bread, which explains the preference shown 
by bakers for well-water, and also the importance 
ascribed by hygienists to the purity of the water 
used in bread-making. 
