[HARRISON A vanderleck] ANALYSES OF OTTAWA RIVER WATER 19 



A glance at the above table shows that infection with B. coli was 

 greatest in September, followed by November, August and October, and 

 it is significant that this period of higli colon content exactly corresponds 

 with the seasonal incidence of typhoid fever, a disease which is very 

 prevalent in the villages on the banks of the Ottawa river. 



It is unfortunate that we were unable to procure proper samples 

 from various points between Ottawa and Ste. Anne's, and hence no 

 direct comparison can be made between our results and those given by 

 Jordan 3 for the Desplaines and Illinois rivers. It seems, however, 

 from our results that considerable numbers of B. coli are carried down 

 the river. The distance between Ottawa and Ste. Anne's is nearly 100 

 miles. A few miles below Ottawa the river bed contains very large 

 amounts of sawdust, the accamulation of many years, as the large 

 lumber mills at Ottawa used to dump all their refuse into the stream, 

 a practice which has lately been prohibited. This material contains 

 much organic matter, and undergoes slow decomposition. Large amounts 

 of gas are frequently seen bubbling to the surface at Eocklaud. Un- 

 doubtedly some more solid parts of the sewage settle at this point. 

 Owing to the rapids which commence at Grenville and e(mtinue twelve 

 miles to Greece Point, the river flows very fast, but on entering the Lake 

 of the Two Mountains, the water flows slowly, and this lake must, to a 

 certain extent act as a settling basin. Mr. C. W. Coutlée, Assistant 

 Engineer of the Georgian Bay Ship Canal Commission, estimates the 

 flow of the river at two miles per hour during the spring months and 

 half this rate during the rest of the year. Tlii? ;i'ate is somewhat faster 

 than that of the Desplaines and Illinois rivers, and the amount of 

 sedimentation is therefore probably less. During the winter of 1908-9 

 a number of tests were made from samples of tlie river water taken 

 from different points above the village of Ste Anne's. The ice on the 

 river was about eighteen inches thick, and holes were cut through the 

 iee and the samples taken at various depths by means of Esmarch's^ 

 apparatus. The water was flowing beneath the ice as the collecting 

 bottle was quickly carried down stream. Other samples were collected 

 in the same manner at various distances from the shore below the villao"e. 

 All samples contained B. coli in amounts of less than 1 c.c. of river 

 water. "We regarded this infection as coming from Ottawa sewage. 



The Water Supply of Montreal. 



A word might be said about the probability of infection of the water 

 used by Montreal. Dr. Euttan, Professor of Chemistry, Faculty of 

 Medicine, McGill University, finds that the alkalinity of the waters of 



