472 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Dr. Sergeant himself came to the conclusion that he 

 found it difficult to express an opinion as to whether the 

 County Council would be justified in asking the Local 

 Government Board to hold an enquiry (with the object 

 of considering whether the Rivers Pollution Prevention 

 Act should be applied to the case of the Lune). He fully 

 believed, however, that the present system of introducing 

 large volumes of sewage into the river was objectionable 

 and avoidable, and he thought this practice likely to 

 render harmful the shell-fish caught in the estuarine 

 waters. Professor Delepine found clear evidence of the 

 pollution,- by faecal matters, of the estuarine water and 

 river banks, and he suggested that these shell-fish might 

 at times become dangerous to health. Mr. Scott and I 

 found distinct naked eye evidence of faecal pollution of 

 the banks of the Estuary in the neighbourhood of Crook 

 Skear; and I found that the mussels from both Crook 

 Skear and Bazil Point Training Wall were polluted, 

 though I then thought that the degree of pollution was 

 not excessive. Ultimately the question of the pollution 

 of the river was submitted to the Local Government 

 Board, but the latter body concluded that there was not 

 enough evidence to justify them in proceeding further 

 with the proposal to declare the tidal waters of the Lune 

 a " stream " within the meaning of the Rivers Pollution 

 Prevention Act of 1876. The whole question then 

 remained in abeyance until early in 1911, when 

 Dr. Bulstrode's report was published. It then became 

 advisable to re-examine the locality and this Dr. Jenkins 

 and I did last July. Finally, the action of the Blackburn 

 Local Health Authority, in excluding Lune mussels from 

 sale within the borough, has brought the condition of the 

 Lune prominently before the notice of the Fisheries 

 Committee. 



