326 SEWAGE AND ITS PURIFICATION 



associated with the collection and consumption of shellfish by 

 excursionists, but there was little evidence throwing suspicion 

 on the market supply. Dr. Chalmers finds that the information 

 is not at present sufficient to define the distance from outfalls 

 that would render shellfish safe to gather : it would be much 

 influenced by tides and currents! 



But there are large cities, such as London and Manchester, 

 whose sewage is of such im.mense volume that the cost of 

 sterilization may be beyond present possibility. It seems that 

 the difficulty must here be solved as a financial question, 

 namely (in the words of Rudolph Hering, speaking of similar 

 cases in America, notably New York and Baltimore), '* whether 

 the city is to purify its sewage, or whether the oysters that 

 may be polluted by the same will have to be grown elsewhere,"^ 

 like other cultivation industries that have to be moved in the 

 extension of cities. Dr. Buchanan has shown^ that shellfish 

 collected one or two miles from a sewer outfall were free from 

 contamination. But the Royal Commission had before them 

 evidence that many established beds could not be moved 

 without great loss, nor suitable sites found elsewhere. 



The Duty of the Vendor. — The decision in a High Court of 

 Justice appeal, Frost v. Aylesbury Dairy Co., Feb. 24, 1905 

 (the case I have alluded to above), laid it down as common law 

 that on the sale of an article for a specific purpose (in this case 

 for consumption as an article of food), there was a warranty 

 implied by the vendor that it was reasonably fit for the purpose, 

 and there was no exception as to latent undiscoverable defects. 



It is only very recently that the communication of disease 

 has been considered as a ground for recovering damages. Even 

 if the giving of a warranty be avoided by putting up a notice, 

 liability for negligence or want of care will still remain. It 

 seems, therefore, that an action for damages could be laid by 

 the customer against the vendor, and that the latter could 

 recover from the polluters of his beds ; but this is an expensive 

 and dilatory process. One of the safeguards for vendors is the 

 inspection of supplies. In London the power exists, through 

 the Fishmongers' Company, of prohibiting the im.portation of 

 polluted fish to the metropolitan markets. I may notice, in 

 passing, that sprats, whitebait, and smelts, as they are eaten 

 uncleaned, and the cooking is often not sufficient to ensure 



^ Trans. Amer. Soc. C.E., vol. liv., part e, 1905. 



^ Journ. R. San. Inst., vol. xxv., part iii., 1904, p. 466. 



