The artificial product has two merits which are not always possessed by the natural water. In the first place, when properly made artificial waters are entirely free of any kind of germ infection. They are clean, sterile, and protected completely from external pollution. They also have a uniform constitution, being made after an exact formula which is not varied. When charged with pure, carefully washed carbon dioxid, they represent, from a sanitary point of view, an excellent product. On the other hand, the natural water is not controlled as to its source, nor as to the character of the soil through which it filters, and hence may at times be contaminated by surface waters or otherwise carry germs of infection which are objectionable. In drinking a natural water the consumer does not, as a rule, have access to so constant a product as when he drinks an artificial water correctly made. On the other hand, the consumer who drinks an artificial water is entirely at the mercy of the compounder. If the manufacturer is ethical and his factory is in a perfectly sanitary condition, the consumer always gets a sound product. If, on the other hand, carelessness is exercised in manufacture, if the premises are not sanitary or the chemical control complete, the consumer may get an article of almost any description.