A BIOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE WATER SUPPLY OF THE 



PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, WITH A DESCRIPTION OF 



A NEW PATHOGENIC ORGANISM. 1 



By Ralph T. Edwards. 

 (From the Biological Laboratory, Bureau of Science, Manila, P. I. 



Manila at present is preparing to obtain an ample supply of drinking 

 water and at the same time the city is very eommendably applying itself 

 to the task of making that supply safe. What will eventually be accom- 

 plished in this undertaking can be understood best by a study of the waters 

 of the Islands, and therefore the statistics found in the official reports of 

 water examinations made by the Bureau of Science up to January 1, 

 1908, are of great importance. These reports include waters from various 

 places in the Islands and from divers sources in and about Manila; they 

 include some 700 examinations made by Doctors Wherry, Woolley, 

 Herzog, Bowman and Edwards, and by Messrs. Clegg and Willyoung. 



This paper concerns itself first with the examination of waters from 

 the esteros 2 because of the fact that while these are probably never drunk 

 by the people here, laundry work is done on the estero banks and it is 

 probable that dishes and cooking utensils are occasionally washed in those 

 estuaries the odor of which is not too offensive. Examinations- of 

 flavoring extracts, soda water and bottled lemonade are also included for 

 obvious reasons. 



I have also taken up the subject of river water because our present 

 sivpply for the city of Manila is derived from the Mariquina River, which 

 flows into the Pasig some 6 miles above the mouth of the latter, and 

 various other sources for drinking water are also included because of the 

 reputation for purity which they enjoy in various places other than this 

 city. 



1 Read at the Fifth Annual Meeting of the Philippine Islands Medical Associa- 

 tion, February 29, 1908. 



2 Esteros are arms of the deltas of the Philippine rivers which are subject to 

 tidal fluctuations and which are filled with salt water at high tide and are 

 brackish at ebb tide. A number of these estuaries ramify through the city 

 of Manila, the houses of the people are close to the banks and traffic crosses 

 them by bridges. They are used by lighters, boats and other small craft. The 

 current is sluggish. 



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