FLOATING OYSTERS. 33 



along the south side of Jamaica Bay which empty their contents into 

 these waters. Aside from these sewers, hundreds of private cottages, 

 hotels, and summer resorts discharge their sewage directly into the 

 waters, in some instances almost immediately over the oyster beds, 

 or near where clams are dug on the flats. 



Considered as a whole, Jamaica Bay maybe considered as one great 

 basin into which many millions of gallons of human sewage are con- 

 stantly flowing, and doubtless myriads of typhoid organisms from 

 this sewage find their way over a portion of the shellfish grounds 

 through the medium of polluted water. The bacteriological examina- 



FIG. 6. Hendrix Street sewage disposal plant, Brooklyn, N. Y. 



In the foreground note the top of the reinforced flume, 26 feet wide, thr6ugh which more than 18,000,000 

 gallons of sewage, practically raw, enters Jamaica Bay daily. 



tion of all of the water and oyster samples taken from Jamaica Bay 

 has shown marked evidence of pollution, as set forth in the accom- 

 panying tables. 



FLOATING OYSTERS. 



Plates III and IV represent views of the oyster houses occupied by 

 dealer A and others'. The oysters are brought by boat from the 

 grounds and unloaded through " trapdoors" at the sides of the build- 

 ings, as shown in the illustration, or, in some cases, the boats may 

 enter the cellars during high tide and there be unloaded. During 

 low tide this creek is nearly dry, and it is said that fresh-water springs 

 are located under the houses. By closing the flood gates during ebb 

 tide, the water under the houses is kept almost free from salt, and the 

 oysters " drink" under these conditions. The water under the houses 



