FOOD 125 



every possible source of contamination, not only from causes which have 

 been referred to, but from the addition of various kinds of offal not merely 

 from healthy animals but from those which have died of anthrax, swine- 

 fever, tubercle, and various other maladies. In addition to these sources of 

 serious pollution there are the products of various kinds of manufactures. 

 In mining districts the streams become contaminated with various 

 poisonous substances; such manufactories as linen and jute works, starch 

 factories, cloth works, tanneries, paper factories, and, in short, all kinds 

 of manufactories which deal with organic substances in any form and 

 discharge their refuse into ditches, or ponds, or rivers, or even on to the 

 surface of the ground, through which they soak, contaminate the water 

 springs at their sources. 



A great deal has been said and written about the infection of ponds, 

 ditches, and even of small pools or puddles, as some of them may be called, 

 with the germs of parasites which are easily swallowed by animals grazing 

 on grounds where such contaminated pools exist. While this fact is fully 

 recognized by stock-owners, it is remarkable that they seem to prefer to 

 trace an outbreak of parasitic disease among their lambs, sheep, and calves 

 to any cause rather than the one which lies before them. From the cir- 

 cumstances of the case it is much easier to point to the sources of contami- 

 nation of water, and to reason from the disastrous results which are 

 occasionally traced to its use, and to those equally disastrous results which 

 are referred to other causes than the right one, than it is to suggest means 

 for rectifying the evil. The difficulties which stand in the way of provid- 

 ing a pure water-supply are in many cases absolutely insurmountable and 

 in all cases extremely difficult. The celebrated engineer, the late Mr. 

 Bailey Denton, spent a considerable portion of his life in trying to force 

 public attention to the importance of water- storage. He constantly pointed 

 out the very liberal quantity which was supplied every year in the form of 

 rain, every inch which fell during a shower representing nearly a hundred 

 tons of water to an acre, the whole of which amount is in the majority of 

 cases allowed to soak into the ground wastefully, at least so far as its 

 dietetic use is concerned. It may contribute to the growth of herbage, but 

 it may, on the other hand, saturate the soil which is already useless on 

 account of its marshy character. With a proper system of storage, such 

 water, which is in excess of the immediate requirements either of the land 

 or the animals upon it, could be preserved for future use; the only reason 

 why it is not so preserved would seem to be the indifference of the authori- 

 ties to the benefits which would be secured by such a course. 



In the neighbourhood of large towns the system of water-storage is 

 usually carried out by the means of reservoirs, but in rural districts the 



