490 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



w 



WATER POLLUTION BY A SAWMILL, DELAWARE RIVER 

 Photograph by W. F. Patterson. 



ANGLING AND WATER POLLUTION. 



THE Report of the New York Zoological So- 

 ciety for 1907 contained an article on The 

 Pollution of Streams, in which mention was 

 made of the widespread practice of polluting 

 waters with the refuse of sawmills. Two of the 

 pictures in this number of the Bulletin show 

 how sawdust is thrown into the Delaware River. 

 One of the mills is situated at Rock Eddy, on the 

 East Branch of the river above Pepacton, New 

 York. The other is also on the East Branch, 

 above the mouth of the Beaverkill. Year after 

 year these, and other mills like them, throw 

 tons of their waste into one of the finest black 

 bass and canoeing streams in New York. 



It is an amazing fact that 

 there are over six hundred 

 concerns of this sort in the 

 State. Sawdust blackens the 

 water and settles into the 

 gravel beds, making them 

 unsafe for fish eggs and fry. 

 Government experiments 

 have shown that sawdust in 

 the water promotes the 

 growth of fungus on fish 

 eggs and kills both eggs and 

 young fishes. 



There can be no more in- 

 excusable practice than that 

 of disposing of sawdust by 



throwing it into a stream. 

 There are always places on 

 land where it can be depos- 

 ited without its becoming a 

 nuisance, and it can always 

 be burned. The numerous 

 angling associations of the 

 United States can render a 

 most important service to 

 the country by forming 

 leagues for the enforcement 

 of existing laws against the 

 pollution of waters by saw- 

 dust and other wastes in- 

 jurious to fish life. At pres- 

 ent it is almost impossible 

 to prosecute offenders owing 

 to the existence of local 

 sentiment in favor of the industries which of- 

 fend. Very little can be expected from local 

 juries. The fight against the pollution of 

 angling waters must be made by powerful State 

 organizations, who can keep up the struggle 

 from a broad point of view, until the justice of 

 their side results in success. 



A PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDY OF THE 

 GHOST CRAB. 



HILE spending some days along the ex- 

 tensive sea beaches near Cape Hatteras, 

 I was entertained early and late by the 

 lively behavior of the Sand or Ghost Crabs, 



WATER POLLUTION BY A SAWMILL, DELAWARE RIVER. 

 Photograph by W. F. Patterson. 



