Sewage-polluted oysters as a cause of typhoid and other gastro-intestinal disturbances : a study of an epidemic and of certain individual cases / by George W. Stiles, Jr.

  • Stiles, George Whitfield, 1877-1970
Date:
1912
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Sewage-polluted oysters as a cause of typhoid and other gastro-intestinal disturbances : a study of an epidemic and of certain individual cases / by George W. Stiles, Jr. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    FLOATING OYSTERS. So along the south side of Jamaica Bay which empty their contents into these waters. Aside from these sewers, hundreds of private cottages, hotels, and summer resorts discharge their sewage directly into the waters, in some instances almost immediately over the oyster beds, or near where clams are dug on the flats. Considered as a whole, Jamaica Bay may be considered as one great basin into which many millions of gallons of human sewage are con- stantly flowing, and doubtless myriads of typhoid organisms from this sewage find their way over a portion of the shellfish grounds through the medium of polluted water. The bacteriological examina- In the foreground note the top of the reinforced flume, 26 feet wide, through which more than 18,000,000 gallons of sewage, practically raw, enters Jamaica Bay daily. tion of all of the water and oyster samples taken from Jamaica Bay has shown marked evidence of pollution, as set forth in the accom- panying tables. FLOATING OYSTERS. Plates III and IV represent views of the oyster houses occupied by dealer A and others. The oysters are brought by boat from the grounds and unloaded through “‘trapdoors”’ at the sides of the build- ings, as shown in the illustration, or, in some cases, the boats may enter the cellars during high tide and there be unloaded. During low tide this creek is nearly dry, and it is said that fresh-water springs are located under the houses. By closing the flood gates during ebb tide, the water under the houses is kept almost free from salt, and the oysters ‘‘drink”’ under these conditions. The water under the houses
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