58 THE SALMON FISHERIES. 
CHAPTER V1, 
Pollutions— Extent of Salmon Rivers destroyed by them — 
Different Sources of Pollution—Means of remedying the Evil— 
Serious effects of Pollution on Health and Trade—The Sewage 
Question and the Thames—The Abolition of Pollutions—Suggested 
Scheme, 
No abatement of weirs, however—no ladders, however 
expensive or effective—will avail much where serious pollu- 
tions exist. The injury inflicted by pollutions is enormous. 
Out of the 40,000 square miles of country in England and 
Wales, watered by rivers naturally suited for salmon, no 
less than 6000 square miles are destroyed ,by pollutions 
alone ; 10,000 square miles more are destroyed by pollutions 
and weirs combined (and, even if the weirs were abated, 
the pollutions alone would still be enough to ruin the 
rivers) ; while nearly all the other rivers are more or less 
injured by the one or the other. The condition, there- 
fore, of the salmon may be likened to that of the horses. 
in the Grand National Steeplechase, if, besides having to 
jump a high hurdle every few yards, the animals had 
to breathe an atmosphere charged with carbonic acid gas. 
Until within the last few years no legislative action 
has been taken to remedy the evil of pollutions, and the 
existing law on the subject is almost inoperative. It is 
fairly capable of dealing with new sources of pollution from 
factories and town sewers, but it does nothing to remedy 
existing impurities, and it does not touch the deadly 
“hush ” from mines, whether new or old. 
