NOTE UPON THE 
TWO SPECIES OF 'FUNGUS' COMMONLY FOUND 
IN SEWAGE CONTAMINATED WATER 
By RUBERT BOYCE 
The ' Sewage Fungus ' is a gelatinous, cotton wool-like and wavy, white or 
reddish growth, which is found in shallow running water, covering stones, lining drain 
pipes, or attached to water plants and debris. Its presence indicates sewage 
contamination, and it is therefore usually to be found in the drains and streams of 
sewage farms and sewage works, and in the sewage contaminated brooks of villages. 
The appearance of the fungus is characteristic, and it cannot be readily mistaken for 
other growths, such as those produced by Streptothrix and Beggiatoa. It may occur in 
enormous quantities and produce blocking of drain pipes and small streams ; or, as it 
becomes readily detached, accumulations sometimes occur, which are prone to undergo 
decomposition and give rise to black putrescent masses. 
Great interest attaches to the fungus because it indicates sewage pollution. 
The growth, however, is not found in crude sewage ; it is found in the effluents of 
sewage farms, resulting from the filtration of the crude sewage through the earth, and 
in brooks which receive small house drains. It indicates, therefore, a certain degree 
of pollution. In Germany, owing chiefly to the researches of Mez and Schorler, 
attention has been drawn to the significance of the 'fungus.' It became apparent that 
at least two distinct growths were included in the term 'sewage fungus,' one Leptomitus 
lacteus, the other Sph<erotllus natans, the former present in very slightly contaminated 
water, the latter in highly polluted water. 
Leptomitus lacteus (Agardh)* 
This fungus belongs to the family of the Saprolegniacea?. It forms long 
wavy tufts, springing from the sides of drains or attached to stones. It is very 
soft, almost gelatinous, and may form white, rusty, or black masses. The white 
appearance is the natural colour of the growing filaments, but very soon this colour is 
replaced by a deposit on the hyphce of oxide of iron. The rusty colour of the fungus 
is very characteristic, and is an indication that the stream in which it is found is well 
oxygenated. If the oxygen is absorbed, as in the interior of masses of the growth, or 
* Hildebrand, Jahrb. fur •wissensc/i. Bot, Bel. vi ; Pringsheim, Jahrb. fur ivissensch. Bot. Bd. ii ; Cohn, Jahresber, d. Schles, 
Geselhch.fu, Vaterland, Cultur, 1852. 
