394 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 19 3 9 



Because of the extent of water-borne diseases caused by the gradual 

 increase in stream poHution and the necessity of utilizing polluted 

 streams as sources of public water supply, it was found necessaiy at 

 an early period in our history to place the responsibility in the State 

 and city boards of health for the inspection and supervision of water- 

 sheds to prevent further pollution of water supplies. 



EARLY HISTORY OF MICROSCOPICAL EXAMINATION OF WATER 



The first written record that called attention to the necessity of 

 water-supply control was an anonymous pamphlet published in Lon- 

 don in 1827 under the title : "The Dolphin ; or Grand Junction Nuis- 

 ance: Proving that Seven Thousand Families in Westminster and 

 its Suburbs are Supplied with Water in a State, Offensive to the 

 Sight, Disgusting to the imagination, and Destructive to Health." 

 A view of the left bank of the Thames River at Chelsea was depicted 

 and in the foreground was a "dolphin," a small wooden Martello- 

 tower-like construction rising from the water a few yards from the 

 shore and marking the site below water of the intake pipe of the 

 Grand Junction Water Co. In the background were shown Chelsea 

 Hospital and the pmnping works of the company, separated by the 

 great Ranelagh sewer, whence a flood of sewage poured into the river 

 abreast of, and within about 3 yards of, the dolphin. The author 

 sent samples of the water, just as it came from the company's pipes 

 into his house cistern, to several eminent doctors. 



One of these doctors replied to the author giving a description of 

 his tap water as follows : "Scarcely a week passes that I am not pre- 

 sented with a leech; a shrimp-like skipping insect nearly an inch in 

 length ; a small red delicate worm, which I believe is lumbricus fluvia- 

 tilis or some other animalcula ; and the water is most opaline, muddy, 

 or otherwise impure." 



In 1829 James Simpson set up the first working sand-filter in 

 London. 



It was not until 1850, however, that the first adequate account of a 

 thorough microscopical examination of any water supply was pub- 

 lished by Dr. Hassall in London. This was followed by MacDonald's 

 work entitled : "Guide to the Examination of Drinking Water." In 

 the meantime various Germans carried on research relating to the 

 biology of water supplies ; especially noteworthy is the contribution by 

 Professor Cohn, of Breslau, under the title : "Microscopical Analysis 

 of Waters," which anticipated later findings on the effect of environ- 

 ment on the character and quantity of organisms in drinking water. 

 This paper w^as followed by others, by Farlow and numerous writers 

 in the United States, on the presence of disagreeable odors and tastes 

 in drinking water. By 1878, 60 cities and towns in the United States 



