106 Fortieth Annual Meeting 



and breweries, logging, smelting and mining, and by 

 factories of all sorts. To this catalogue might be added 

 the item of dead animals, which in the aggregate is an 

 important one. 



There is also the depositing in the waters of cinders, 

 garbage, and trash by the vast fleet of fresh-water 

 steamers everywhere on our lakes. In addition to these 

 sources of polkition there is practically all the city and 

 town sewage of the country. With such facts confront- 

 ing us there is no need of inquiring why we do not get 

 better results from our admirable national and state 

 fish-cultural work. 



The well-known conditions of pollution extending 

 throughout the Hudson River and its tributaries may be 

 found in all rivers of the country where the population 

 is great and the manufacturing industries well developed. 



Our whole national system of disposing of wastes is 

 an immoral one ; the town and mill can be kept clean, 

 but the condition of the stream itself has been utterly 

 disregarded. It is not only possible to keep wastes out 

 of the water, but it is possible to turn them into profit 

 through valuable by-products. In many parts of Europe 

 sewage is not only kept out of the waters but valued as 

 fertilizer. 



The struggle for the preservation of some of the inland 

 lakes of New York against pollution has been carried on 

 for some time and good results have been secured in 

 several instances. The Merchants' Association of New 

 York City has made a good beginning in its work for 

 the preservation of the Hudson, and it is unlikely that 

 any additional sewage systems will be permitted to 

 pollute the river. 



The effects of the pollution of the harbor of New York 

 are liable to become very serious, as the amount of sew- 

 age is increasing. There arc bottom deposits of sewage 

 in many parts of the harbor that are several feet in thick- 

 ness. Many forms of marine life which assist in the dis- 

 posal of organic matter in the harbor must decrease in 



