NOTES ON THE BACTERIOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF WATER FROM THE SYDNEY SUPPLY. No. I. By Oscar Katz, Ph.D., M.A. (Plates X. and XL) (Introductory.) When, some time ago, through the generous and ever-ready assistance of the Hon. William Macleay, who not only defrayed the cost of the necessary working-apparatus, but also encouraged me in my pursuits in every possible way, and to whom I take this opportunity of tendering my best thanks, I was fortunate enough to commence to do some bacteriological work in the laboratory at the Linnean Hall, Sydney, I fancied that, among other interesting subjects, the Sydney water, as used for drinking and other purposes, might be worth a biological or more especially a bacteriological examination. It is well-known that bacteria or Schizomycetes (fission-or cleft-fungi) occur in most natural waters, and also, that these very micro-organisms are possessed of very marked physiological pro-perties, which manifest themselves in different ways, as processes of oxidation and hydratation, of fermentation and putrefaction, according to the chemical changes which they bring about in various substances. Last but not least, a pretty fair number of bacteria claim a more than usual interest, inasmuch as they are indubitably proved to be intimately connected with the production of certain, so-called infectious diseases in man, animals, and, to some extent in the vegetable world, while in other such diseases the existence of the real contagium in the form of a micro-organism, has not yet been clearly demonstrated, but can only be inferred.
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