SEWAGE CONTAMINATION OF OYSTER BEDS. 219 
beaches near the Fields Point sewer outlet and later at various other 
localities in the river and bay. In the examination, inoculations were 
made from the liquor contained between the shells, from the contents 
of the intestines, stomach, and rectum, and in some cases from por- 
tions of the visceral mass. In order to obtain samples of the juice from 
an oyster under aseptic conditions, the specimens to be examined were 
scrubbed thoroughly in tap water with a stiff brush, washed off in 
running sterile water, and dried on a sterile towel, after which they 
were opened witha sterile knife. To obtain cultures from the stomach, 
the top of the mantle covering the anterior end of the oyster was slit 
open and the large palps on either side of the mouth pushed aside; 
the mouth region was sterilized by passing a hot scalpel over these 
parts and a portion of the stomach contents was drawn out by means 
of a fine pipette or platinum loop introduced through the mouth open- 
ing. Cultures from the intestines were made in the following manner: 
After opening the shell, the oyster was removed from the shell and 
dried between filter papers. A hot spatula was then passed upon the 
surface of the mollusk directly over that portion of the intestine which 
it was desired to reach, and the tube was then opened with a sterile 
scalpel. Through this opening a portion of the contents was drawn 
out by means of a pipette or platinum loop. Portions of the visceral 
mass were obtained by cutting out cubes of flesh from that portion of 
the body after sterilizing the surface with a hot scalpel. 
The samples thus obtained were subjected to the same tests that 
were used in the water analysis—the dextrose fermentation, litmus 
lactose agar, and carbol broth. In these tests a nutrient gelatin 
medium containing 0.05 per cent carbolic acid was also employed. 
Lesults.—The first specimens examined were oysters from Fields 
Point. They were collected at low tide in about 2 feet of water on 
the long flats that make out from the southern shore of the point. 
Though live material was scarce near shore, large numbers of dead 
shells were everywhere scattered over the flats at a little distance from 
land, and when the oysters obtained from this locality were opened 
they were found to be lean and unhealthy. The bodies were dark brown, 
almost black in color, while the mantle folds were, in 8 of the 10 
examined, a bright green color. 
There are also some clam flats and thatch grass, in which mussels 
were found, on the south shore of the point, within half a mile of the 
sewer outlet. A good set of clams was found in this beach in 1900, 
and at the time these specimens were secured several diggers were 
rapidly filling baskets for the market. These clams were large and fat, 
though the shells were black, and the ‘‘ rims” and *‘ snouts” were dark 
yellow in color. There were, however, large numbers of dead clams 
strewn everywhere over the beach, and a drift of white shells marked 
the high-tide limit. When these clams were dug samples of the sand 
