I IO 
The Ohio Naturalist. 
[Vol. VII, No. 5, 
cup, it having been contaminated by sewage, or the bacteria 
might have come from the mouth of some person using the’cup. 
In all probabiltiy the bacteria came from sewage contamination 
of some kind. It is interesting to note, however, that Bacillus 
coli has been shown repeatedly to be present in the mouth of 
normal as well as diseased individuals. (G) The presence of 
other pathogenic bacteria, viz.: Sarcina tetragena and Bacillus 
sporogenes, should be noted. (7) The presence of certain water 
and air bacteria in nearly every case (sarcina, etc.) is undoubt¬ 
edly explained by their wide distribution. The lack of the 
Saecharamyces groups (yeasts), with one exception, should be 
noted. These groups are almost always present in the mouth. 
From these few examinations it is evident that the public 
drinking cup mav serve as a carrier of infection, particularly 
pyogenic infections. There is no reason why other infections 
may not be carried in the same way. Cases have been reported 
where the Bacterium tuberculosis has been found in communion 
cups and cases are also on record where syphilis has been trans¬ 
mitted by contact with drinking cups. The general public is 
beginning to recognize the importance of the hygienic drinking 
fountains and fountains without cups from which the water flows 
in a slow stream which can easily be taken into the mouth 
without contamination, are beginning to be installed. In 
certain localities individual cups and paper drinking cups which 
can be used but once are quite popular. The sooner we recog¬ 
nize the importance of all these details in hygiene the sooner will 
we be able to control and prevent infectious diseases among us. 
FOSSIL L4ND AND FRESH-WATER MOLLUSCA COLLECTED 
IN DEFIANCE COUNTY, OHIO. 
V. Sterki. 
Four miles east of Defiance, Ohio, at the state dam, forming 
the north bank of the Maumee River, I found a deposit with 
fossil land and fresh-water mollusca. The material is fine sand, 
somewhat clayey, of light color, without any stones except in 
the top layer of about one foot, which is of different material, 
with broken stones (limestone), etc. Large trees are standing on 
it. So far as accessible, the bed is about eight to ten feet deep, 
and very rich in mollusca. What it is geologically, I do not 
know, but supposed it to be loess. In an hour and a half, I col¬ 
lected specimens of twenty-seven species, the large majority of 
them “land mollusca" and there is no doubt that many more 
will be found, and probably remains of other animals also. 
