The _index mechanism_ makes allowance for the fact that the bevel-wheel on the pinion shaft has its direction reversed at the beginning of every stroke of the piston. This bevel engages with two others mounted loosely on the little shaft, on which is turned a screw thread to revolve the index counter wheels. Each of these latter bevels actuates the shaft through a ratchet; but while one turns the shaft when rotating in a clockwise direction only, the other engages it when making an anti-clockwise revolution. The result is that the shaft is always turned in the same direction. WATER-SUPPLY SYSTEMS. The water for a town or a district supply is got either from wells or from a river. In the former case it may be assumed to be free from impurities. In the latter, there is need for removing all the objectionable and dangerous matter which river water always contains in a greater or less degree. This purification is accomplished by first leading the water into large _settling tanks_, where the suspended matter sinks to the bottom. The water is then drawn off into _filtration beds_, made in the following manner. The bottom is covered with a thick layer of concrete. On this are laid parallel rows of bricks, the rows a small distance apart. Then come a layer of bricks or tiles placed close together; a layer of coarse gravel; a layer of finer gravel; and a thick layer of sand at the top. The sand arrests any solid matter in the water as it percolates to the gravel and drains below. Even the microbes,[36] of microscopic size, are arrested as soon as the film of mud has formed on the top of the sand. Until this film is formed the filter is not in its most efficient condition. Every now and then the bed is drained, the surface mud and sand carefully drained off, and fresh sand put in their place. A good filter bed should not pass more than from two to three gallons per hour for every square foot of surface, and it must therefore have a large area. It is sometimes necessary to send the water through a succession of beds, arranged in terraces, before it is sufficiently pure for drinking purposes. THE HOUSEHOLD FILTER. When there is any doubt as to the wholesomeness of the water supply, a small filter is often used. The microbe-stopper is usually either charcoal, sand, asbestos, or baked clay of some kind. In Fig. 185 we give a section of a Maignen filter. R is the reservoir for the filtered water; A the filter case proper; D a conical perforated frame; B a jacket of asbestos cloth secured top and bottom by asbestos cords to D; C powdered carbon, between which and the asbestos is a layer of special chemical filtering medium. A perforated cap, E, covers in the carbon and prevents it being disturbed when water is poured in. The carbon arrests the coarser forms of matter; the asbestos the finer. The asbestos jacket is easily removed and cleansed by heating over a fire. [Illustration: FIG. 185.]