Report on the Bacteriology of Water. 



177 



Part I 



" Experiments on the Vitality and Virulence of Sporiferons 

 Anthrax in Potable Waters." By Professor Percy Frank- 

 land, Ph.D.-, F.R.S., assisted by J. R. Appleyard, F.C.S. 



The first -water selected for experiment was that of the River 

 Thames, which may he taken as a t} r pe of a calcareous surface water 

 draining from cultivated land, hut receiving" only such a moderate 

 proportion of organic impurity as to leave it in a condition that, 

 judged by the ordinary standards of taste, smell, and appearance to 

 the eye, it is suitable for drinking purposes. This is in fact the 

 water which has for years been supplied to the larger part of the 

 metropolis, and is, therefore, in some respects the most interesting 

 water, from a hygienic point of view, in the United Kingdom. 



The second water experimented with is that of Loch Katrine as 

 supplied to Glasgow, which again is typical of those upland surface 

 waters, collected from almost entirely uninhabited areas, which have 

 been so largely utilised during the past 30 years for the supply of 

 the great manufacturing districts of the north. These waters, and 

 notably that of Loch Katrine, are characterised by their great soft- 

 ness and almost entire freedom from mineral matters, whilst the 

 organic constituents are almost wholly of vegetable origin, and thus 

 differ more qualitatively than quantitatively from those present in 

 waters such as that of the Thames. 



Experiments with Thames Water. 



In order to render the experiments as comparable as possible they 

 have all been made on one and the same sample of Thames water, 

 which was collected personally by my colleague, Professor Marshall 



