There is a group of beneficial soil microbes, which are undesirable in water. These are the iron bacteria, which tend to become so numerous that they are called water-pest bacteria. Iron bacteria are a natural part of the environment. These microorganisms, when examined under a compound microscope, mix dissolved iron or manganese with oxygen and […]

Franklin P. Adams, of Conning Tower fame, has two active indignations. If he is violent in the matter of numbering houses invisibly, he is still more so in the matter of dry sweeping. And those who follow his column closely may have noticed that his antipathy to the broom has increased markedly since the birth […]

AIR
In the light of present knowledge, we may be tempted to laugh at the old beliefs concerning the dangers lurking in air. Hippocrates tells us that the Athenians, believing that the plague derived from impure air, fought it by lighting huge bonfires. And Defoe, in his Journal of the Plague Year, tells us that the […]