I doubt that there is any one who will assert that it is delightful to drink an aqueous solution of one’s own grandfather or great-grandmother, yet there are many who do so. The emanations from our ancestors may and do filter through the earth, and get into the water we drink. Think of that! Wells, springs, and rivers are polluted by the infiltration of water highly charged with organic matter. Often such water has been the cause of fatal disease, yet nothing was done to guard against it. [Illustration: THE DORCHESTER-SHIRE CREMATION FURNACE.] Prof. Victor C. Vaughan, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Michigan, in a paper on “Water Supply,” read at a sanitary convention at Ypsilanti, Mich., July 1, 1885, states:— “To show you the stupidity and recklessness of people, even in this enlightened century, which is manifested concerning the contamination of water, I must mention one other case. There is in the county of Kalamazoo, in this state, a nice little village by the name of Richland. It is situated in a most beautiful farming country. The farmers of that region have grown rich on account of the fertility of the soil and other special advantages. A few years ago the village board desired to select a new site for a cemetery, and chose one within the village limits, and within 30 rods of a well owned by an old physician, Dr. Patchin. I always tell names in such cases, because they tell the truth, and any one can investigate them. The old doctor objected to the location of the cemetery so near his house and well, and as the result of his objection there was a lawsuit; and if you will pardon me, I will mention something of the condition of the land and some experiments that were made. There were some 18 inches of rich prairie land, then below this some two or three feet of hard-pan, below this there were 18 or 20 feet of gravel, such as we have all through the southern part of Michigan. In digging the graves the bodies would be put into this gravel. The gravel was so loose and so moist that in digging graves it was necessary to put in boxing to prevent the gravel from pouring in while the grave was being dug. Below the gravel, and about 30 feet below the surface, was an impervious bed of clay, with a slope from the cemetery towards the well. It became a question now as to whether there was a possibility of the contamination of this well from burying bodies in the proposed new cemetery. I was called, and after studying the geological formation, concluded that there was a possibility of such contamination. The well was pumped dry twice a day, and on an average fifteen barrels taken from it each pumping. To show how ridiculous some theories are that have been advanced upon that subject, I will state that I was met in court with this statement: that it would be impossible for any of the water or rain falling upon this cemetery, 30 rods distant, to reach the well, because, as was found in some old book, all the water that goes into a well is