294 



Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis. 



hygienic conditions of cities and towns. There are numerous 

 instances of typhoid and cholera epidemics in which these 

 diseases were traced to the drinking-water. In Hamburg, 

 1892, there were 16,957 cases and 8,606 deaths from cholera. 

 Of the chief typhoid fever epidemics as embodied in a report 

 of the epidemic of Butler, Pa., may be mentioned the 



following : — 



Location. 



Date. 



Population, 



Cases. 



Deaths. 



Lausanne, Switzerland 

 Caterhani, England. . . . 



Plymouth, Pa 



Ithica, N. Y 



Butler, Pa. . 



1872 

 1879 

 1885 

 1903 

 1903-1904 



780 



5,800 



8,000 



13,000 



18,000 



144 



352 

 1,104 

 1,300 

 1,348 



21 

 114 



78 

 111 



In our own city, St. Louis, 1892, there was an epidemic of 

 typhoid fever which was traced directly to the water supply, 

 the latter having become contaminated with sewage which 

 entered the intake. 



It is important, therefore, that a community see to it that 

 its water supply be kept pure and wholesome. Experience 

 and statistics have shown that wherever the water supply of a 

 community has been purified, by filtration or otherwise, there 

 has been a decrease in the mortality rate. Moreover, the 

 time will come, as the population of the country grows, when 

 cities will purify not only their water supply, but that they 

 will also be compelled to pay attention to the purification of 

 sewage, so that the towns which are situated lower down 

 along the stream may be assured of a water the quality of 

 which is reasonably pure. 



A bacteriological examination of a river is not complete 

 without an intelligent interpretation of the results. A river 

 must be considered as a complex system or body, in which 

 various biological and chemical changes are constantly taking 

 place. All the facts and data that have been collected must 

 be carefully weighed, and their relationship carefully studied. 

 It is of importance that all the tests for comparison should 

 have been made under uniform methods and that the data 

 for comparison should be abundant, for it happens too often 



