FLASHLIGHT PHOTOGRAPH OF ONE OF SEVERAL VARIETIES OF OPOSSUMS ENCOUNTERED 



IN THE CANAL ZONE 



The particular opossum shown is the commonest species, and by reason of its abundance 

 and its omnivorous appetite it proved a serious obstacle to flashlight photography. Probably 

 75 per cent of the flashes fired were sprung by opossums, who found and fired* the camera 

 shortly after dusk, before better game was moving. 



were carefully screened and inspected 

 and the employees supplied gratuitously 

 with quinine. By isolating, in conven- 

 iently located hospitals, all suspected or 

 infected cases there was no possible 

 chance for an epidemic to get a foothold. 



LOSING SANITARY CONTROL 



Now that most of the government 

 towns about the lake have been disman- 

 tled or occupied only by a few perma- 

 nent employees, it should be easier to in- 

 sure proper health conditions along the 

 canal route were it not for several 

 changes which if ignored may cause a 

 reversion to the old conditions or worse. 



The change that has taken place since 

 the lake filled up the lower Chagres Val- 

 ley and extended far inland, flooding 

 temporarily, and at places permanently, 

 lowlands far beyond the zone, has already 

 been mentioned. Taking the lake as a 



whole, and after the stagnation caused 

 by decaying vegetation has ceased, it 

 ought to be sufficiently pure for many do- 

 mestic uses. Probably 90 per cent of the 

 supply is the quickly delivered torrential 

 rains, and the remainder, mostly during 

 the dry season, is the contribution of 

 small streams fed by the stored waters of 

 the limestone formations ; so its purity 

 nearly equals that of distilled water. 



With a depth in the main part surpass- 

 ing that of Lake Erie, the surface rough- 

 ened and aerated by daily winds and the 

 rotting vegetation replaced by aquatic 

 growths favorable to purification, there 

 is no apparent reason why such water 

 should not be piped, as now contemplated, 

 to the cities of Panama and Colon or the 

 neighboring towns, as well as becoming 

 an important source of supply for the 

 numerous ships en route between distant 

 ports. 



:S7 



