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Show WATER REDUCES BACTERIA COUNT Investigators Show How the Moisture in Paris Subway Sub-way Cut Down Germs. MOISTURE decreases the number num-ber of bacteria in the air enormously. French scientists scien-tists counting microbes i- the air before be-fore and after a rainstorm in Paris have found wide variations in the totals. 4 ' In a cubic meter of air gathered up near the Place Clichy Messrs. A. Sar-tory Sar-tory and Marc Langlais found 3.S00 germs on a wet day at 5 p. m. and 16,000 at the same time on a dry day. Similarly In the Paris subway after the tracks had been sprinkled thoroughly thor-oughly only 410 bacteria were found to the cubic meter while two hours later, when the tracks were dry, the investigators discovered 68,000. Taking advantage of such findings, officials of many communities are advocating ad-vocating more generous sprinkling and in many instances have applied calcium chloride to road surfaces to lay the dust. That chemical, which in itself has high germicidal value, absorbs moisture as well as killing germs. |