CHAPTER II 



BACTERIAL POISONS 



Impure Water In all ages great stress has been laid upon the value of 



the Source a pure water supply. In ancient times, wherever there were 



of Disease. great centers of population, a large amount of labor as well 



as of money was employed to furnish water. Of this the 



Claudian aqueduct, built in Rome in the year SO A. D., is an illustration. Prof. 



W. P. Mason says: "Not only was a generous daily per capita allowance 



sought for, but we note in the centuries gone by unmistakable evidences of a 



keen appreciation of the dangers lurking in a polluted supply; and upon this 



point many of the ignorant consumers of our day and generation would be 



benefited did they consult the wisdom of the past." 



Of the value placed by the ancients upon the quality of water, Prof. Mason 

 also says : "In ancient times, the valleys of the Euphrates and Tigris, now 

 almost a desert, were densely populated. Four thousand years ago the rulers 

 of Assyria had converted those sterile plains and valleys into gardens of ex- 

 treme productiveness by the construction of immense artificial lakes for the 

 conservation of the flood-waters of the rivers, and as great distributing canals 

 for irrigation. One of these canals, supplied by the Tigris, was over 400 miles 

 long and from 200-400 feet broad, with sufficient depth for the navigation of 

 the vessels of that time." "In India, tanks, reservoirs, and irrigating canals 

 were constructed many centuries before the Christian era, and a great part of 

 that country was kept in the highest state of cultivation. Some of the tanks 

 or artificial lakes covered many square miles, and were often fifty feet in 

 depth. 



A great deal of interest has been manifested recently in all parts of the 

 United States concerning water supplies. This has not been confined to the cities 

 but the interest is manifested in the villages and rural districts as well. We 

 are now demanding more than ever before, not only that a good wholesome 

 supply of water be provided to the citizens of a city or village, but also that 

 as good a supply be furnished the farmer. That such diseases as typhoid and 

 cholera are water borne can not be doubted. Many others, as anthrax, hog 

 cholera, and tuberculosis may also be conveyed by water. Animal parasites 

 are also water borne. In addition to these, there are some poorly defined in- 

 testinal disorders that are caused by poor water. 



That typhoid fever is quite as prevalent in the country as in the city admits 

 no denial. A record of the cases of typhoid occurring during the fall and 

 winter in any of our rural communities shows that the disease is as widely 

 spread in the country as in the city. 



A certain class of animal diseases is produced not by the invasion of micro- 

 organisms, but is caused by the water supply being contaminated by the 

 decomposing products of animals. The water may, for example, be highly 

 •charged with colon bacilli or other bacteria that produce poisonous products. 



