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turbidity of the water supplied by the Lambeth and
the Southwark and Vauxhall Companies, and as to
the presence of living organisms, but he attaches so
little importance to the fact, that he says, "it is to be
regretted that such terms as 'living organisms' and
'moving organisms' have been used so frequently
and so indefinitelyfor not only do they exist in
all water, but "it is impossible altogether to get rid
of the simplest forms of vegetable and animal life,
which should be understood by such terms, even by
the most perfect filtration;" and in proof of the
wholesomeness of Thames water, when properly
filtered, he quotes from the Report of the Royal
Commission on the quality of the water from the
Thames Basin, to the effect that ''in the present
state of chemical science, analysis fails to discover
in properly filtered Thames water anything positively
deleterious to health. Whatever may be the difference
of opinion with respect to the time required for
removal of all the objectionable organic matter, all
chemists agree that in Thames water taken from the
present source, and properly filtered, all such matter
has disappeared, and that the resulting compounds,
such as nitrates, &c., remaining therein, are innocuous
and harmless." Dr. Frankland, however,
who is not a medical man, is not altogether of this
opinion, for he thinks that water once charged with
organic impurities is for ever after dangerous, and