THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY 
DECEMBER,  1904. 
A  NEW  METHOD  FOR  THE  PURIFICATION  OF  WATER 
SUPPLIES.1 
By  Dr.  George  T.  Moore. 
At  the  time  I  accepted  the  invitation  to  speak  before  the  Ameri- 
can Philosophical  Society,  the  method  devised  in  the  Laboratory 
of  Plant  Physiology  for  the  purification  of  water,  the  work  upon 
which  has  been  so  ably  supported  and  advocated  by  Drs.  Galloway 
and  Woods,  of  the  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  had  not  received  the 
notice  in  the  public  press  which  has  since  been  given  it,  and  I  fear 
that  many  of  you  will  be  disappointed  if  you  have  come  this  even- 
ing with  the  idea  of  hearing  anything  spectacular  or  startling  con- 
cerning the  subject.  It  will  be  difficult  for  me  to  say  anything  par- 
ticularly new  after  the  very  thorough  discussion  which  has  been 
carried  on  by  the  newspapers  in  your  city  and  elsewhere,  and 
whereas  I  once  might  have  hoped  to  interest  you  by  the  novelty  of 
the  method  and  its  results,  about  all  I  can  now  expect  to  accom- 
plish is  to  give  you  a  statement  of  the  facts  as  they  have  developed. 
Perhaps  the  best  way  to  bring  the  subject  before  you  is  to  outline 
briefly  the  history  of  the  work  as  it  has  been  carried  on  during  the 
last  four  or  five  years. 
While  teaching  in  New  England,  I  frequently  had  called 
to  my  attention  cases  of  water  reservoirs  which,  because  of  the 
profuse  growth  of  certain  plants,  had  been  rendered  unfit  for 
use.  Those  of  you  who  have  had  any  experience  with  water  of 
this  kind  know  how  disagreeable  it  can  become,  and  until  recently 
1An  address  given  before  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  Friday  even- 
ing, October  21,  1904. 
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