In selecting water as a beverage the location of the spring or well is important. The purest waters are those which, other things being equal, are least exposed to the contamination incident to human life. The spring which bursts from the mountain side far from any human habitation is as a rule less likely to be infected with sewage or excreta than if it is found in thickly populated districts. Wells existing in the open country where there is only one farm house very near their location afford a better supply of water than wells existing in the city. Although cities at the present time are usually supplied with perfect systems of sewage, which would seem to prevent any contamination, yet the water from such wells is looked upon by the highest medical authorities with a certain degree of suspicion. To such an extent is this suspicion carried that during the year 1907 all the wells in the City of Washington were ordered closed by the Health Officer. This was done in spite of the protests of thousands of inhabitants who were using these wells and who preferred the water thereof to the City supply derived from the Potomac. The Health Officer, however, felt justified in closing these wells on general principles and also by reason of the examination thereof which disclosed a degree of purity far less than that which should be demanded from waters from these sources. In the establishment of a country home where the natural supply of water is to be depended upon special care should be exercised in so locating the house, the barns, the stables and the out buildings as to render it practically impossible to contaminate the water supply of the family thereby. The same precautions should also be observed in the digging of a well. It should be so situated as not to be subject to contamination from the sources indicated.