Bacteria, whether significant of disease or decline of health, are found more or less numerous in everything we eat and drink. The germs or spores of many kinds, known as termo, lineola, tenue, spirillum, vibriones, etc, exist in almost infinite numbers; some of the smallest are too small to be seen by the highest powers, which, being lodged in all vegetable and animal substances, spring into life and develop very rapidly under favorable circumstances. They develop most rapidly when decomposition commences, and seem to indicate the degree or activity of that decomposition, also hastening the same. They are found most numerous in the feces, and usually fully developed in the fresh evacuations of persons of all ages. They may be seen plainly under a thin glass with high powers with strong or clear light, when the material is much diluted with water. These bacteria appear almost as numerously, yet more slowly, in urine, either upon exposure to air or when freshly evacuated, when the general health of the individual is declining, or any tendency to decomposition.

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