438 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



years since the late Mr. R. A. Dawson and Professor 

 Herdman appeared before the Royal Commission on 

 Sewage Disposal, and gave evidence with regard to local 

 conditions and the need for legislation. During these 

 ten years this question has continually been before the 

 attention of the Committee, and the responsibilities of the 

 latter have been fully realised. I find, however, from a 

 study of the literature, that these ten years have been 

 almost fruitless of result as regards the activity of the 

 public health authorities of this country. Nothing that 

 matters in the least has been accomplished. Even with 

 regard to the scientific questions involved — questions 

 that really belong to public health science, and not to 

 that of the sea-fisheries — we are now in the same position 

 as we were ten years ago. With the exception of a few 

 brilliant researches carried out by private investigators,* 

 nothing has been done, and almost every question raised 

 in 1903 before the Royal Commission on Sewage Disposal 

 still presses for settlement. 



I discuss, first of all, certain of these general 

 questions relative to the contamination of shell-fish, and 

 the methods of investigation employed, and then proceed 

 to the consideration of the various shell-fish beds 

 examined during the last two years. 



Bacillus Coli and its Significance. 



Why is sewage-contaminated sea or estuarine 

 water to be suspected? Not because the sewage is in 

 itself dangerous to the public health, but the sewage- 

 contaminated water contains " coli-like " microbes, which 

 again are only to be suspected because among them may 

 be the true Bacillus coli communis. This organism is 



* I refer to the papers by MacConkey and Clemensha. 



