SEWAGE CONTAMINATION OF OYSTER BEDS. 209 
Results:—The bacteriological examination of any large body of water 
resolves itself into an analysis of series of samples taken from various 
sections of the stream. So in this survey of the Providence River col- 
lections were made first at the head of the river, then, proceeding 
downstream, at intervals of varying distance until the polluted area 
was passed. For the sake of brevity, the localities at which collections 
were made will be spoken of hereafter as ‘‘stations,” and they have 
been indicated on the map by large dots. When possible, they were 
chosen near some prominent landmark, so that they might be more 
easily found a second time, since in many instances several trips were 
made in order to observe the effect of varying conditions of tide and 
weather. 
The evidences of sewage pollution of both the water and shore in 
the neighborhood of Fields Point were very obvious. Below the point 
the west bank of the river falls abruptly away from the eastern shore, 
taking a westerly direction for nearly half a mile, when it again 
resumes its general southerly course. The deep water of the river 
follows closely the eastern shore, so that a large area of shoal water is 
formed south of Fields Point, extending out beyond Starve Goat 
Island. This section of the river is therefore out of the direct tide 
current, which naturally follows the channel along the east shore, and 
the water is consequently rather sluggish. It is a dirty gray color, 
which is due to the large amounts of sediment in suspension. Also 
the beaches within a quarter of a mile of the sewer outfall are usually 
covered with foul-smelling slime and collections of sewage refuse, left 
there by the receding tide water. Before the Fields Point sewage 
station was put into operation this shoal was a famous natural oyster 
bed, but it has been abandoned for a number of years. At the pres- 
ent time quantities of seed oysters are taken from this locality in the 
spring of the year and planted on beds farther down the river. The 
beaches in this neighborhood also produced an abundance of clams. 
In the section of the river above described the first series of water 
samples was collected at 11 stations situated in an area at no point 
more than half a mile distant from the outlet of the main sewer. 
Commencing on the northern shore of Fields Point, these stations 
were located as follows: Station 1, halfway between the ship channel 
and the northern shore of the point, directly off the outfall of the 
*‘storm” sewer; station 2, off the end of the steamboat landing; 
station 3, directly over the outlet of the main sewer; stations 4 and 5, 
in deep water on opposite sides of the channel, a short distance below 
the point; stations 6, 7, and 8, in the shallow water on the flats run- 
ning out from the southern shore of the point; stations 9 and 10, in 
about 10 feet of water near Starve Goat Island, and station 11, in the 
ship channel just off buoy No. 11. Perhaps the exact situations can 
F. C. 1904—14 
