Biologists and zoologists have the luxury of being readily able to view, touch, measure and observe the life cycles of their organisms of interest without great difficulty. For bacteriologists such tangible examinations are denied. Only recently has it become possible to build up an understanding of the nature of these communities of bacteria.Once water in a well is infected it is important for the environmental engineer to isolate and identify the bacteria present in the water in order to rehabilitate the well. The environmental health professional must also have a basic working knowledge of bacteria and how they react in the environment. This knowledge allows them to recognize the bacteria, evaluate the sickness that the bacteria cause, and in time control the sickness.The Practical Atlas for Bacterial Identification takes a fundamental approach, identifying bacteria by classification, family or genus names. The bacteria are then placed on a graphic which will allow the reader to visualize and therefore understand the complex set of bacterial responses to laboratory identification methods. The book is organized into three parts. The first part is an introduction to some of the techniques which may be applicable to obtain a "pure" culture and then carry out the primary investigative tasks before attempting identification. The second part contains a series of tables which can be used to speciate bacteria from some major bacteria genera. The third and final chapter is an atlas of the diversity and commonality of some characteristics within various groups of bacteria.Features