"foxtail, " a grass which matures in the fall when these ulcers * ] 2. 

 occur. Some are surrounded by giant cells showing that they 

 have been there for some time. 



His public health activities received notice in a letter of 

 July 31, 1906: 



The people in town and in the hotel are scared stiff about the 

 Anaconda water. There has been a small epidemic of summer 

 diarrhoea which I think can be attributed to picnics, green 

 vegetables and spoiled milk. This morning I heard it reported 

 that there were six cases of typhoid in town and one in the 

 hospital, which is all untrue. Also, that hundreds of people 

 went to the "Springs" to get water last Sunday because of it, 

 and that the commission that went last week to inspect the 

 water reservoir found nine dead dogs there. The saloon keepers 

 and soda people are joyful. I have no doubt that they help to 

 spread these reports, for some of their signs vouch for the 

 germicidal properties of COz, etc. I am making some tests for 

 contamination in a small way. We haven't time to go into a 

 careful bacteriological examination. The water always smells 

 badly at this time of the year especially after it has been heated. 

 It does show considerable organic matter and in a drop of 

 sediment I found this P M molds, yeasts, spirogyra, ten or 

 twelve different species of protozoa, rotifers, flagellates, cili- 

 ates, vorticella, some small crustaceans and bacteria — surely 

 enough to account for the indefinable stink when the water 

 is boiled. Of course, all this is simply "food stuff." I am look- 

 ing for B colt. If you could find out in the library what kind 

 of an odor B coli produces, I would be very grateful. Flugge 

 I think would tell. 



On August 6, 1906, he added to this report: 



Some careful tests for coli in our water supply show it pretty 

 badly infected. The source is the Works flume water which 

 they occasionally turn into the city pipes. The reservoir water 

 comes from an uninhabited source, is carefully protected and 

 excellent. I shall report that as long as they use the flume 

 water, the town is threatened with typhoid. That will mean 

 digging another reservoir. But the Company can afford it for 

 they lost a good many workers in the epidemics of years ago. 

 I shall stick to coffee, tea, and aq dist until something is done. 



