unwanted growths of aquatic organisms. Just before the publication of 

 Whipple's book in 1899 and in the 28 years between the first and fourth 

 editions of this work, a great deal of effort was devoted to the study of 

 microscopic organisms in water. Outstanding among these studies were: "A 

 Biological Study of Lake St. Clair" in 1893 by J.E. Reighard; an examina- 

 tion of Lake Michigan by Henry B. Ward; and studies of the Crustacea of 

 Lake Mendota in Wisconsin by E.A. Birge. Biological stations were 

 established by a number of midwestern universities on or in the vicinity of 

 the Great Lakes and on the shores of smaller lakes in the Great Lakes 

 region. 



The rheological (stream) studies on the plankton of the Illinois River, 

 begun by Kofoid in 1894 and continued through the early years of the 

 present century as a part of the program of the Illinois Natural History 

 Survey, have been an outstanding source of information on the influence of 

 organic enrichment on plankton populations and the effects of these 

 increased growths on wate^ supplies. The investigations of the U.S. Public 

 Health Service on the Potomac, Ohio, Illinois, Scioto, and upper 

 Mississippi Rivers have also supplied many valuable data on organic enrich- 

 ment, natural purification, and the growth of algae in streams receiving 

 sewage and other organic wastes. 



The detection and elimination of pathogenic organisms are essential for 

 the provision of a safe drinking water supply. In their attempts to 

 accomplish this objective, the early bacteriologists found it very diffi- 

 cult to detect and quantify the pathogenic organisms in water supplies. 

 Because members of the coliform group are constantly present in alimentary 

 discharges, their presence usually indicates fecal pollution and the 

 possible presence of intestinal pathogens. The first test for detecting 

 and enumerating coliforms was developed at the New York State Department of 

 Health Laboratory in 1893 by Theobold Smith. After the further development 

 of culture methods and procedures for enumerating them and measuring the 

 effects of their activity, coliforms became the accepted indicator of fecal 

 pollution. This test became the criterion and standard method for deter- 

 mining the sanitary quality of a water. Workers in state health depart- 

 ments and water pollution laboratories improved on Smith's test and devised 

 better methods for sampling and culturing coliforms and evaluating and 

 reporting results. 



The U.S. Public Health Service also was prominent in these research 

 efforts. After the passage in 1912 of the law authorizing the service to 

 carry out water pollution investigations, a laboratory was established in 

 Cincinnati, Ohio, which was known as the Stream Pollution Investigation 

 Laboratory. In 191b C.T. Butterfield joined the staff of this laboratory 

 as a bacteriologist. He pioneered in the development and use of coliform 

 tests as indicators of the sanitary quality of domestic water supplies. 

 These tests were accepted as the tool to be used for the estimation of 

 pollution and Us natural purification, the evaluation of sewage treatment, 

 and the sanitary quality of drinking water supplies. Butterfield was also 

 actively engaged in the shellfish sanitation program and in the survey of 

 the performance of representative water-treatment plants in 31 cities along 

 the Ohio River and other rivers of the Midwest and the East. He and his 



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