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In the Proceedings of the Royal Society, No. 245, 1886, Dr. Percy Frankland records some series of very interesting experiments on this subject, and shows that the pecularities of multiplication of micro-organisms have an intimate connection with the dissemination of infectious diseases. His experiments show that at the ordinary temperature of the air the micro-organisms show a decided tendency to become fewer after some time of storing; but the number of colonies is very greatly increased by exposure to an incubating temperature. In filtered river water the micro-organisms become multiplied at 20° C. with much greater rapidity than those in unfiltered water; and the organisms in deep well-water manifest but little tendency to multiply in the cold, but at 20° C. their multiplication is in excess of anything observed with river waters.
With regard to these results Dr. Frankland says: "These tables show the enormous capacity for multiplication which is