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were most abundant, the water had no bad taste or odor, and 

 when the waters were most strongly flavored, the cydopeans 

 were very rarely found, they not being then in season. 



By direct experiment, I could not produce the peculiar smell 

 and taste of the Cochituate water when I mingled a large num- 

 ber of cydopeans in pure, distilled water ; nor could others, 

 whom I requested to taste of it, discover any such taste, as it has 

 been alleged they would give to distilled water. 



It is true, that when a very large mass of the living crustaceans 

 is put into a very small quantity of water, and is allowed to 

 become putrid, they give the odor of putridity to the water; 

 but this is not a fair crucial experiment, and the experiment 

 fails to produce results identical with the well-known cucumber 

 taste. 



The minute quantity of oil which these crustaceans contain, 

 and which, I doubt not, they generally contain, is not a sufficient 

 cause for the flavoring of the great quantity of water contained 

 in Cochituate Lake. There has no proof yet been presented, 

 that this oil is fish oil, or any animal oil, but its chemical proper- 

 ties will ally it more closely with the oils known to exist with the 

 wax of green foliage. 



There cannot be a doubt of the fact, that, from some cause, 

 there has been a larger portion of recent vegetable matter intro- 

 duced into the waters of Cochituate Lake, for the presence of 

 chlorophyl has not been before noticed in the water. 



Dr. Hayes admits the presence of "a neutral body which re- 

 sembles mucilage from gum,''^ and of " a gelatinous mass " suffi- 

 cient to close the meshes of cotton cloth. This I believe to be 

 mucilaginous and albuminous matters in a state of decay or 

 change, the change ultimately resulting in the formation of 

 crenic acid. 



It is well known, that water into which a bouquet of flowers has 

 been placed, for even a few minutes, becomes charged with 

 mucilaginous and albuminous matters, so that it becomes putrid, 

 and has a bad odor and taste. We know, also, that a similar bad 

 taste and odor is communicated to water that stands for some 

 time in a new wooden pump, or in casks, and that this flavor and 

 odor disappear by spontaneous changes, and confervas appear in 



