425 
 W25 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 ANNEX 
 
ALBERT R. MAJNN 
 LIBRARY 
 
 4 It JL 
 
 CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
Cornell University Library 
 TD 425.W25 
 
 Stream po 
 
 lution in New York state.A pre 
 
 3 1924 003 631 995 
 
STREAM POLLU 
 
 VM T\ 
 
 NEW YORK STATE 
 
 HENRY 
 
 f Zoology Id 
 
 fVARD. Ph*I 
 
 &J1L®, 
 
 \LBASST 
 
STREAM POLLlfllON IN 
 
 XTT? W7 VAD TZ" CHT A HPT? 
 
 A Preliminary Investigation of the Problem 
 from the Standpoint of the Biologist 
 
 Made |n July and August, 1918 
 
 By HENRY B. WARD, Ph. D. 
 
 Professor of Zoology in the University 
 
 of Illinois 
 
STATE OF NEW YORK 
 
 CONSERVATION COMMISSION 
 
 GEORGE D. PRATT Commissioner 
 
 ALEXANDER MACDONALD - Deputy Commissioner 
 
 WARWICK S. CARPENTER Secretary 
 
 MARSHALL McLEAN Counse 
 
 ALBANY 
 
 J. B. LYON COMPANY* PRINTERS 
 
 1919 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Foreword 5 
 
 Importance of the Problem "7 
 
 Multiplicity and Significance of Aquatic Organisms 9 
 
 Natural and Unnatural Conditions of Aquatic Existence. 11 
 
 General Losses by Stream Pollution 18 
 
 Effects of Domestic Sewage 24 
 
 Effects of Industrial Wastes 25 
 
 Return to Natural Conditions 35 
 
 Biological Examination of Water Bodies , 37 
 
 Preliminary Survey of Stream Conditions 53 
 
 "Recommendations 72 
 
am 
 
 • <83&. ^~'l 
 
 *# 
 
 *fe 
 
 
 4 ••# 
 
 ■*».<»* 
 
 £ :: ** 
 
 ■>& 
 
 ! m 
 
 
 % 
 
 % *. 
 
 
 Map of Stream Pollutions in New York State 
 
 On this map, industrial establishments that are potential polluters of 
 streams are indicated by pins of different colors, each class of industry 
 being assigned a distinctive color. The heavy irregular lines indicate the 
 boundaries of river systems. The map is thus a visual representation of 
 conditions upon every watershed, and of the extent of pollution over the 
 entire state. 
 
STREAM POLLUTION IN NEW YORK 
 
 SIT ATP 
 
 FOREWORD 
 
 In June, 191 8, I was honored by an invitation from the Conseiva- 
 tion Commission to spend the summer in studying the problem of 
 stream pollution in New York state. In the original letter Commis- 
 sioner George D. Pratt w^ote, " The state laws prohibit the discharge 
 of factory waste, chemicals, etc., in quantities sufficient to kill fish. 
 The law has been inadequate for the reason that it is difficult to 
 prove that the discharge is the cause of the mortality." In replying 
 I called attention to the fact that the question has various aspects, 
 the legal, the chemical, and the biological and indicated my own 
 lack of fitness to consider the problem from either the first or the 
 second viewpoint ; but indicated that if the question was felt to call 
 for biological investigation, I was both ready and interested to take 
 it up. I felt it necessary to emphasize that fact at the outset because 
 I was conscious that as a rule the biological side of the problem had 
 been greatly neglected if not entirely overlooked. Personally, 
 I was inclined to feel that this aspect was important and offered 
 little appreciated opportunities for aiding in the solution of the 
 questions involved ; yet I knew there were those who did not regard 
 it as sufficiently significant to demand consideration early in any 
 such investigation. I found that the Conservation Commission was 
 already far advanced in the study of other phases of the problem 
 of stream pollution and welcomed an examination and development 
 of this phase which had not heretofore received special attention 
 at their hands. 
 
 This statement must be made at the outset in order to show clearly 
 from what point of view the subject is attacked in the discussion 
 that follows. I do not fail to appreciate the importance and even 
 the essential character of other considerations even though they 
 are not discussed in subsequent pages of this report. 
 
 The time devoted to the investigation was only about two months 
 and this is evidently inadequate even for a reconnoissance in a field 
 
6 New York State 
 
 so large and on a problem so involved. Whatever success may have 
 been attained in securing an outline of the situation and formulating 
 the plan submitted herewith is due in first instance to the cordial 
 cooperation extended by the staff of the Commission. Everyone 
 with whom I came in contact manifested a personal interest in the 
 work and devoted time and energy enthusiastically to assisting in 
 every possible way. 
 
IMPORTANCE OF THE PROBLEM OF STREAM 
 
 POLLUTION 
 
 The problem of stream pollution is undoubtedly one of the most 
 important at present before the country. A prominent member of 
 the United States Food Administration who was concerned with 
 the question of fish foods and particularly the means for increas- 
 ing the amount and facilitating the distribution thereof, in order to 
 add to the general food supply of the country during the war, has 
 stated that more than 60 per cent of the suggestions sent in for his 
 assistance from all the parts of the country urged on his attention 
 some aspect of the question of stream pollution and its correction 
 because in the solution of this problem lay everywhere the greatest 
 possibilities for the improvement of fisheries and the increase in 
 fish food. 
 
 Evidently the question presents itself in its most serious aspects 
 in the oldest parts of the country and in those regions which 
 possess the largest population and the greatest manufacturing 
 interests. As might be expected, New York state, by virtue of 
 all of these features, is one in which stream pollution has become 
 marked and has exercised a powerful and unfortunate influence on 
 the streams and their fisheries. Of course even within the limits 
 of the Empire State, however, conditions vary quite as widely 
 as they do between the most extreme parts of the country. In 
 the heart of the Adirondack Mountains and amid the protected 
 surroundings of the Forest Preserve stream pollution is so little 
 significant that a game protector in such a place could report in 
 perfectly good faith, " I never heard of any instance in my terri- 
 tory." But along the valleys manufacturing interests have been 
 concentrated until the accumulated wastes of city and factory make 
 of the splendid rivers of the state sources of danger rather than of 
 pleasure and profit. For years our greatest city has been justly 
 protesting against the polluted condition of the magnificent river 
 that has been in the past a source of pride not only to that city but 
 to the state and the nation. And it is not merely a question of senti- 
 ment, for those who have studied the problems of the fisheries and 
 have seen something of the present condition of the Hudson river 
 will not hesitate to maintain that the commercial value of the stream 
 has been very greatly reduced by the conditions that exist in it at 
 the present time. 
 
 It is wise to note here the situation in other countries, lest some 
 
8 Xew York: State 
 
 one should be tempted to suggest that these conditions are the 
 unavoidable results of increase in population and in manufacturing, 
 that the old time natural conditions could only be maintained when 
 men were scattered and manufacturing activities simple in character 
 and limited in extent, and hence that they have disappeared for- 
 ever — a loss which one should regret, yet must acknowledge to 
 be inseparably connected with the development of a more effective 
 social organization. In Europe the population is generally much 
 denser than here, and there are many regions where manufacturing 
 has been carried on far longer and more intensively than here. 
 Those countries have had to meet the same problems in the disposal 
 of wastes which confront us here, and often in more acute form. 
 The careless, unsanitary centuries of the past had left an accumu- 
 lated burden of wastes in city and town and along river and lake 
 that made the solution of the question more difficult by far than it 
 is here. Prejudice and conservatism have been obstacles there of 
 real moment, and yet in numbers of such places the situation has 
 been well handled. One should not claim that all problems have 
 been solved or all waters restored to proper condition, but fishing is 
 better in streams of the Old World than in similar regions in New 
 York state, and the rivers of Europe are less polluted than corre- 
 sponding streams here. This is the result of active public interest 
 and definite work on the problem. The work which has been clone 
 there has demonstrated that satisfactory results can be achieved 
 and in many cases has furnished the specific methods for handling 
 our own problems. If our indifference and inattention can be trans- 
 formed into active concern, then even greater results can be attained 
 here. 
 
MULTIPLICITY AND SIGNIFICANCE OF AQUATIC 
 
 ORGANISMS 
 
 Number and Variety 
 
 The life of our waters is both varied and abundant. It differs 
 from the life of the land chiefly in that the most conspicuous and 
 largest types of both animals and plants are lacking, but the number 
 and variety of the smaller forms and of the microscopic species is 
 abundant beyond all ordinary conception. One has only to glance 
 over the pages of such a work as The Life of Inland Waters by 
 Professor James G. Needham of Cornell and his colleague, Mr. J. T. 
 Lloyd, to find a wealth of information and abundant illustrations 
 of this life. In it one may become familiar with the various types 
 of aquatic environment, the various aquatic organisms, both plant 
 and animal forms, and with their adjustment to conditions of aquatic 
 life. One finds that they are organized into definite aquatic 
 societies which depend upon different conditions for their existence, 
 and accordingly occur in different places. More intensive treatment 
 of some of the same factors is found in the appropriate chapters of 
 a book by Professor V. E. Shelford entitled Animal Communities 
 in Temperate America; and, finally, if there is need to emphasize 
 the abundance and variety of such organisms, evidence will be 
 obtained from a recent work entitled Fresh-Water Biology which 
 I have published with the cooperation of a series of specialists on 
 various groups. It may indicate the wealth of the forms found in 
 North American fresh water to say that over noo pages are re- 
 quired to present a summary of the topic and the 1547 illustrations 
 used do not show even all the important genera as only a few forms 
 are figured under fishes, insects and plants. Under natural con- 
 ditions, the aquatic species are varied and beautiful in form and 
 extraordinarily abundant in numbers. 
 
 Relation to Purity of Water 
 
 Observation of any individual water body with reference to the 
 character of the organisms in it and the abundance of these smaller 
 types of life yields readily incontrovertible evidence with reference 
 to the purity of its water. For the most part these minute organisms 
 are confined to a limited area or, if distributed more widely, are 
 
10 New Yoek State 
 
 dependent upon the action of the current for transport. Further- 
 more, while the naturalist may at times collect a few specimens for 
 study, the abundance of the forms is, generally speaking, so great 
 that the effect of such collecting cannot be detected immediately 
 after it has been done, and in most cases the only way in which this 
 fauna and flora can be eliminated is through the influence of unfavor- 
 able conditions in the environment. If some chance fisherman has 
 hunted certain kinds of insect larvae for bait, such as dobson and 
 helgramites, there are still to be found normally scores and hundreds 
 of other sorts, and their absence is clear evidence of some general 
 influence of an unfavorable character. Furthermore, the argument 
 does not rest upon any particular species or even upon any single 
 group and takes into account both animals and plants, the kinds 
 that grow fast to the stones on the bottom, those that frequent 
 shallows, or occur only in the deeper places, the varieties that float 
 in the water as well as those that burrow in the bed of the stream. 
 Finally, we know in considerable measure the relation of individual 
 organisms to water conditions. We recognize that certain species 
 are rare and others abundant, that a given form occurs only in pure 
 waters and other types are seen only in polluted streams. We 
 recognize also types that are intermediate and so by the gradual 
 appearance and disappearance of series of organisms we can trace 
 directly the transition from an area of pure water with its character- 
 istic organisms to a polluted region with entirely different types of 
 life, or in the extreme instance, without any living organisms what- 
 ever 
 
 The estimate which one places on biological conditions of the 
 land surface in any given region is based, not upon a single item but 
 upon the general appearance of the area, and takes into account all 
 of the features. We have come in daily contact with these so long 
 that we take in complex factors at a glance and pass judgment 
 almost instantaneously with regard to the condition of the lawn, or 
 field, or garden tract. Now, the same test may be applied without 
 difficulty to water bodies, though it is, for reasons already mentioned, 
 not quite so easy to see the condition as in the case of a land area. 
 We observe the sum total of appearances along the shore, in shallow 
 waters, on bars in the stream, over the bed of the river or lake, 
 and even in the open water itself. To be sure one is dealing here 
 with factors which are not familiar to the ordinary individual, but 
 they are well known to the students of such areas and data are easily 
 accessible to the individual who desires to inform himself with re- 
 gard to the situation. 
 
NATURAL AND UNNATURAL CONDITIONS OF 
 
 AQUATIC EXISTENCE 
 
 Essential Conditions 
 
 It is somewhat difficult for the mind to get a clear picture of 
 conditions existing below the surface of the water. This is doubtless 
 due to the fact that the light is largely reflected from that surface 
 and does not display to us clearly the objects that lie beneath. The 
 eye takes in at most limited areas, rather than the long stretches of 
 bottom territory. It finds them very differently constituted from 
 the surface of the dry land. We are inclined to consider the situation 
 more complex and difficult to understand than it really is. In truth, 
 the essentials of existence are the same in the water as on the land. 
 
 Each organism demands for its existence a certain food supply 
 and it must have also a supply of oxygen available for respiration. 
 A shortage of oxygen in the water has precisely the same effect 
 upon fish that an insufficient supply of oxygen in the atmosphere 
 has upon air breathing animals. All degrees of oxygen deficiencies 
 may be observed in the water, as they are on the land in the atmos- 
 phere, and among the organisms of the water all grades of effect 
 produced may be observed that are familiar to us among air breath- 
 ing animals under similar atmospheric conditions. A shortage of 
 oxygen either kills or stupefies the fish, or, it may be, drives them 
 away from the abnormal environment to seek better conditions 
 elsewhere. 
 
 Movements of Fish 
 
 A shortage of food is promptly met by the migration of fish from 
 the region. Like other animals, they are quick to react toward an 
 approaching shortage of food, and having considerable activity may 
 desert a region entirely and move to some distant point without 
 attracting the attention even of those who are watching the stream 
 day by day. Fish also carry out natural movements of their own 
 in response to the reproductive instinct and to modifications in the 
 temperature of the water and to the amount of silt which it carries, 
 or, in other words, to the variation of the stream with the changing 
 seasons and periods of drought and rainfall. It is not easy to dis- 
 tinguish these migrations from those which are due to food shortage. 
 
12 New Yokk State 
 
 Furthermore, it is very evident that the absence of fish at a given 
 point need not necessarily be explained by their movements at all 
 The readiest way to account for the situation is to furnish the ever- 
 ready excuse that the stream has been over-fished. Knowing- the 
 situation superficially, the public is ready to accept this explanation, 
 and there is no doubt that .t applies with full force to certain locali- 
 ties and to many kinds of fish. There are, however, some elements 
 in the situation which are not always considered. 
 
 Effects of Catching Fish 
 
 In the first place, over-catching may reduce the supply of game 
 and food fish, but it hardly has any such distinct effect upon the 
 numerous other kinds, especially the intermediate and smaller 
 species that are naturally abundant in most waters. Accordingly, 
 if the reduction in the fish population were due to over-catching, 
 one would expect to note the absence of those species which have 
 been followed up by anglers and commercial fishermen, and at the 
 same time to record the presence of the other sorts. In fact, our 
 game and food fishes are almost exclusively large forms that spend 
 their energies preying upon the smaller species, so that if the food 
 fishes were eliminated, the smaller forms would meet with less 
 competition and would become more abundant, and more conspic- 
 uous, also, for they would not be driven to sheltered places of 
 concealment, but would have opportunities to range freely through 
 the water, as they could not if the large types were preying upon 
 them. Accordingly, the absence of the smaller types of fish is 
 clearly indicative of the fact that in some respects at least the con- 
 ditions of the environment are not satisfactory. It may be that the 
 food supply is lacking, or that the chemical environment is preju- 
 dicial to health and normal existence, or finally that some factor 
 has interfered with the carrying out of the reproductive functions. 
 
 Effects of Changed Environment 
 
 Every one of these conditions certainly obtains in individual cases. 
 The reproductive period is perhaps the most vulnerable point in the 
 life history of the fish and the one at which unfavorable conditions 
 affect its numbers most rapidly and seriously. The erection of dams 
 not provided with fishways interposes barriers beyond which the 
 fish cannot go in its effort to reach head waters and small tributaries 
 where many species spawn. These dams also establish a constant 
 level for the stretch of the stream above the barrier. In this way 
 
Stream Pollution 13 
 
 the shallows are eliminated and the beds of gravel may be covered 
 too deeply for their utilization as spawning grounds by many fish. 
 In case the dams are located close together, so that the water from 
 one backs up close to the foot of the next above, this difficulty 
 becomes very real. The construction of works for current regula- 
 tion, such as lateral dikes, shutting off the shallow shore areas, 
 also modifies the general character of the stream so radically as 
 to put serious obstacles in the way of the spawning and development 
 of many kinds of fish. Conditions of this sort may be seen between 
 Albany and Troy and at other points along the Hudson. The 
 elimination of shallow areas near the banks affects aquatic life more 
 than might appear at first thought. These are the places where 
 aquatic plants grow abundantly and where small aquatic animals 
 are bred in multitudes. They afford spawning ground for certain 
 of the fishes and furnish hiding places to the young fish of all sorts 
 and to the smaller species. Finally they are the regions which hold 
 out longest against the pollution of the water and in which suitable 
 conditions of existence are found longer than in the open stream. 
 
 A little reflection will show clearly the extent to which natural 
 conditions have been modified within recent years. The increase in 
 population in New York state within fifty years is the first element 
 in the change, but the influence of this is much less conspicuous 
 than that of other factors. During the same period the character 
 of the state has changed somewhat rapidly. The cities have grown 
 greater ; general farming is relatively a less conspicuous occupation 
 of the citizens of the state. On the other hand the amount of manu- 
 facturing has increased enormously. 
 
 Increase of Chemical Wastes 
 
 Even this, however, does not bring out the most conspicuous 
 element in the situation. The manufacturing of the present day is 
 characterized in a conspicuous way by the chemical processes 
 involved. These lead to the production of quantities of peculiar 
 waste materials, and while the industrial wastes of the past were 
 small in amount, relatively simple and stable in composition, those 
 of the present are conspicuous for their volume and for the variety 
 and changeful character of the materials produced. Where formerly 
 the addition of such wastes resulted at most in the destruction of 
 life in a small stream and in poisoning or polluting a relatively 
 limited area surrounding the outlet, at the present time the frequent 
 addition of new and powerful poisons in large quantities has 
 
14 New York State 
 
 extended the areas in which life has been destroyed or highly modi- 
 fied until they extend for miles along the stream and involve entire 
 rivers. In fact, in the most densely populated portions of the state 
 and on the greater river systems, one source of pollution overlaps 
 the one next lower down on the watershed to such an extent that 
 the entire stream is seriously affected. 
 
 A new danger confronts us in considering modifications that have 
 come over even the small village communities and towns in their 
 relation to this problem. The sewage which they formerly turned 
 out into a convenient stream was composed almost exclusively 
 of organic wastes. It was subject to rapid transformation under 
 natural conditions, and the stream flowing, as such streams do in 
 most cases in this state, over a broken, stony or rocky bed, tended 
 to accumulate oxygen and thereby to assist in the rapidity of the 
 changes which led to the ultimate transformation of the domestic 
 sewage into materials that could be utilized by living organisms. 
 
 Modification of Domestic Wastes 
 
 At the present time even in small villages it is not possible to 
 find domestic sewage of an unmodified type. What is designated 
 under that name is really a mixture containing often much trade 
 waste. The existence of small factories, or at least machine shops 
 with oil and gasoline waste that is turned into the sewer system, 
 has transformed the original easily handled sewage material into 
 that which resists the ordinary methods of self purification in flow- 
 ing waters, and constitutes a lasting menace to the life that normally 
 would be found in the streams. 
 
 It is an unfortunate fact that whatever may be the average yearly 
 run off there has been in connection with these changes a distinct 
 and considerable reduction at certain seasons in the volume of 
 stream flow, so that even if sewage conditions had not been changed 
 the amount of dilution would be much less at the present time than 
 it was formerly. Thus the process has been unfavorably modified at 
 both ends and at present the situation is changing conspicuously for 
 the worse, so that it is necessary to look for some means of improv- 
 ing matters before the point is reached where all the life of our 
 streams will have been destroyed. 
 
 Canalization Lessens Purification 
 
 In some regions another factor has been annmportant element in 
 increasing the difficulties of the situation, and that is the modifica- 
 tion of the stream itself through canalization. Water flowing over 
 
Stkeam Pollution 15 
 
 a stony or rocky bottom with falls or rapids from point to point to 
 mix it with the air will take on oxygen very rapidly. Once, 
 however, let the current be stopped and the water accumulated in 
 deep, slow flowing masses, the process of purification is almost 
 entirely inhibited so that it proceeds very slowly indeed. This is 
 exactly the condition which has arisen as the streams have been more 
 and more perfectly utilized for water power. The erection of a dam 
 below a series of rapids or ripples, impounding the water to a con- 
 siderable depth and backing it up to a point which in the ultimate 
 development of the stream will represent approximately the base 
 of the dam next higher up, makes of a natural water course with its 
 rapidly flowing current only a series of ponds in which the movemen: 
 Is almost imperceptible. Wastes delivered into the stream when 
 the latter has reached this condition of stability will be precipitated 
 to form a layer on the bottom, the thickness of which is regulated 
 by the amount, and the change in which is reduced nearly to zero. 
 Where in the original condition the stream might have endured the 
 contamination and have been able to effect self purification within 
 a reasonable distance, the new conditions are entirely unfavorable 
 for changes and under them the stream is transformed into what, in 
 these conditions, is simply a series of septic tanks. In these, the life 
 characteristic of pure waters is entirely eliminated and the only 
 organisms which can survive are those of putrefaction. 
 
 Canalization is a necessary feature of our modern industrial 
 development, but pollution, the evil effects of which are seriously 
 augumented by canalization, has no such argument in its favor. 
 Canalization thus provides a new reason for the elimination of 
 stream contamination. 
 
 Influence of Pollution on Aquatic Life 
 
 Let us consider more carefully the effect of stream pollution upon 
 fish life. At another place in the discussion I have taken up the 
 question as to whether the absence of fish from streams is due to 
 pollution or to other causes. In those instances in which pollution 
 is both recognized and admitted, there certainly must have been 
 considerable influence exerted upon the availability of those waters 
 as areas for the existence and propagation of fish. 
 
 If the substances which are discharged into the water are directly 
 poisonous to fish and are poured out in such quantities that even the 
 volume of the stream does not dilute them beyond the point at which 
 the poison is fatal, the entire fish population will be killed or driven 
 
16 New York State 
 
 away and the area coming under the influence of this waste become 
 thereby barren of fish life. Plenty of evidence can be given to 
 prove that this occurs frequently, on streams of moderate or small 
 size. While such areas are to be found, the absence of fish life is in 
 fact not the most serious characteristic. In the adult condition the 
 fish are relatively large and as little susceptible to the effects of 
 pollution as any organisms which inhabit the water. Even though 
 they may be lacking from a given area, it \s often the case that they 
 have been driven away by adverse conditions, as well as directly 
 destroyed through poisonous substances. The net result of driving 
 fish out of water that might be made productive is quite as bad as 
 killing them in it. 
 
 Chemical substances which are of such a character as to destroy 
 the life of the small organisms will eliminate from the territory 
 those things on which directly or indirectly the fish feeds, and with 
 the disappearance of its food the fish are forced to migrate or to 
 starve. They are quick to respond to such influence, as i& well 
 known to fishermen, for by thoroughly baiting a given area with 
 food, fish may be readily attracted into it and are, of course, also 
 sought in those places that are the best feeding grounds. Con- 
 versely, an area barren of life is not a satisfactory place io go fish- 
 ing. The absence of other forms of life is good evidence that the 
 fish will not, in general, be found there. Evidently, then, agencies 
 that tend to reduce a water area to a barren condition will be 
 promptly instrumental in driving away the fish that naturally con- 
 gregate in that territory. 
 
 Pollution and Fish Propagation 
 
 There is another way in which pollution of water very directly 
 and seriously affects its fish population, and that is in the influence 
 upon the propagation of the species. Fish deposit their eggs 
 variously, but, in general, at selected points in the stream bottom, 
 some species choosing one kind of environment and others selecting 
 another. Fish seek for this purpose a clean area of bottom, or 
 prepare it in definite fashion by brushing away the dirt from a 
 limited space which serves as a nest. If the waters are highly 
 polluted, the sediment which covers the bottom befouls the area 
 and reduces the free oxygen to low terms. As a result, a satisfac- 
 tory nest cannot be cleaned out, or, if it is, the adjacent decaying 
 materials still affect the water so unfavorably that the eggs cannot 
 live and the reproductive activities of the fish are seriously interfered 
 
Stream Pollution 17 
 
 with. Migrating fish, like shad or salmon, that seek definite parts of 
 the stream system for spawning, are compelled, in the absence of 
 satisfactory locations, to spawn on polluted areas, and the eggs have 
 little chance to develop properly. As the organism is exceedingly 
 susceptible in this stage of its existence, conditions which could be 
 endured by the adult fish will often prove fatal to the eggs. These 
 conditions prevent the species from holding its own in the face of the 
 demands upon the supply that are made by the fishermen. 
 
 Still another feature demands consideration in this connection. 
 The state is breeding annually large quantities of young fish at 
 considerable expense. It takes at the appropriate season the eggs of 
 a given species, places them in a hatchery under proper conditions 
 of development, and, after having protected them through the period 
 of growth within the egg and perhaps, also, after having protected 
 and fed them through the earlier stages of existence, it has a mass 
 of fry or fingerlings to plant out for the rehabilitation of the stream. 
 These stages are not so sensitive as the tgg stage, for the fish with 
 every period of time that elapses from the start of its development 
 becomes more and more immune to the dangers of existence; yet 
 even in these free-swimming young stages, the fry and fingerlings 
 are much more delicate than the adult fish and will succumb to 
 conditions that would merely drive away the adult rather than 
 destroy them. It is hardly a profitable business for the state to raise 
 at such a considerable expense quantities of young fish in order to 
 plant them out in waters in which the chances of existence are 
 unfavorable. 
 
 To summarize this phase of our study: 
 
 The pollution of the water, especially by industrial wastes, results 
 first, in the geath of the adults ; or second, in driving them away 
 from polluted ?ireas. It makes the territory unfit for natural repro- 
 duction and destroys the eggs of the fish, thus interfering with the 
 means" for the preservation of the species. Finally, it brings to 
 naught the efforts of the state for rehabilitating the supply of fish, 
 since the young fish which are planted maintain a limited and 
 precarious existence in polluted areas, if indeed they are not de- 
 stroyed by the unfavorable environment. 
 
 2 
 
GENERAL LOSSES BY STREAM POLLUTION 
 
 The value of the individual water body is not always apparent and 
 the significance of the destruction wrought by eliminating the life 
 from it frequently appears only after a careful analysis of the situa- 
 tion. It is not possible within the limits of this report to do more 
 than indicate some phases of the argument on this question, but they 
 will serve to suggest other particulars and to demonstrate clearly 
 the need of careful study that the public may not suffer unrecognized 
 losses of a serious character which it may be difficult to make good. 
 In any case, it is expensive in time and money to restore a stream 
 to its original condition. Individual examples of particular factors 
 in the problem may be cited here. 
 
 Value of Small Streams 
 
 The small streams which empty into lakes or constitute the side 
 branches of larger river systems are in a sense insignificant. Their 
 area is trivial, the amount of water they carry is not large, and, from 
 any standpoint, one might think the destruction of living conditions 
 within them to be of little moment for the general welfare. But 
 such places are, in the first instance, breeding grounds for the larger 
 fish. At some period of the year, and often at several such for 
 different species, fish migrate into the smaller and shallower waters, 
 deposit their eggs and return to the larger environment. Unless one 
 has studied the streams carefully, he may be entirely unacquainted 
 with the fact of this relation, for while all know the movements of 
 the larger fish, which, like shad or salmon, migrate in enormous 
 schools to their spawning grounds, yet men do not recognize, gener- 
 ally, the movements of other species which go more irregularly or 
 in smaller groups, and traverse shorter distances* Now, whatever 
 renders the stream barren and incapable of supporting life eliminates 
 it from functioning as a spawning ground, and it requires little 
 reflection to see that the destruction of spawning areas limits or 
 ultimately terminates the reproductive activities of the species and 
 will be followed by the extermination of the fish. Indeed, there is 
 no doubt that the marked reduction in the numbers of adult fish in 
 many regions is directly traceable to the destruction of spawning 
 grounds, or to the presence of conditions which if not fatal are very 
 unfavorable to the young in the egg or fry stage when they are so 
 susceptible to injurious influences. 
 
Stbeam Pollution 19 
 
 Pollution in Small Streams 
 
 The effects of pollution in such a small stream are not, however, 
 summed up completely by any means in the previous paragraph. 
 The same contamination which renders the area unfit for reproduc- 
 tive purposes destroys the smaller organisms of the water. The 
 insect larvae are killed, and the smaller crustaceans and the micro- 
 scopic animals and plants suffer a similar fate. Now, these organ- 
 isms multiply most rapidly in the shallower areas. They are pro- 
 duced constantly in enormous numbers in such places, and are 
 carried on in part directly and in part through the medium of 
 smaller fish to replenish the food supply of the other parts of the 
 river system, and thus to furnish substances ultimately for the adult 
 fish which immediately interest man. The effect of contaminating 
 the smaller stream is seen in a diminution of the general food supply 
 in the water system of which it is a part. 
 
 Effects on Larger Streams < 
 
 These influences, however, are not confined to the smaller streams 
 with which the discussion started. They affect equally the rivers 
 and lakes with which these smaller streams connect. So long as the 
 amount of pollution is small, the larger stream does not show the 
 effect so quickly. It may be, indeed, that for a long time the amount 
 of pollution affects the large stream merely within a limited area or 
 only so much that the life in it does not find the opportunity for 
 vigorous development, and the investigator examining the water has 
 to record that various elements of the fauna and flora are scanty, 
 that aquatic life is poorly developed or absent from some regions 
 and confined to the more productive areas, or to portions in which 
 the contribution from uncontaminated water in certain tributaries 
 makes an area more favorable for the development of life. But, as 
 the subsidiary streams become more and more affected, the main 
 stream assumes an increasingly unfavorable condition, until the 
 organisms of pure water are gradually but more or less completely 
 replaced by those that characterize polluted waters. This replace- 
 ment occurs first at the points of greatest pollution, such as near the 
 discharge of an industrial waste or the inflow of a highly polluted 
 side-stream. It extends down stream and over the general area of 
 the larger water body, gradually eliminating all of the characteristics 
 of the original river and substituting those of the open sewer. 
 
 Influence of Seasonal Changes 
 
 These conditions evidently vary with the seasons. When the 
 natural flow in the stream is lowest, and the dilution of the water 
 
20 New Yoek State 
 
 less, then the greatest effect is noted, and a season of extremely low- 
 water is accompanied by a spread of the polluted area that often is 
 conspicuous enough to attract the attention of the ordinary observer 
 as well as of the trained naturalist. Instances illustrating all of 
 these cases are on record in the office of the Conservation Commis- 
 sion, and are familiar to the public generally in statements concern- 
 ing the conditions of streams at individual points as recorded by 
 residents or inspectors of various kinds. 
 
 It is fortunate that ordinarily the water is highest at that time 
 when one finds the largest migration of fish for spawning purposes, 
 that is, in the months of spring and early summer; for high water 
 results, first, in the maximum dilution of the wastes so that they do 
 the least possible damage, and, in the second place, in washing out 
 the accumulated material so that the bottom is relieved in part, at 
 least, of the accumulated wastes that have been deposited through 
 low water periods, and of the products of decay that have come from 
 the destruction of life by the action of the wastes during the pre- 
 ceding seasons. 
 
 Shad in the Hudson 
 
 If it were not for this seasonal dilution, I imagine that the Hud- 
 son river would have suffered even more seriously than it has in the 
 diminution of the shad run, for the number of shad that return 
 annually to the stream to propagate themselves is directly related to 
 the number of young fish that have been hatched in the river pre- 
 viously and have gone out to the ocean to feed and to grow to 
 maturity. It is perfectly clear that the number of young shad migrat- 
 ing into ocean waters depends upon the success of the reproductive 
 season in which they were hatched. It is only very imperfectly cor- 
 related with the number of eggs deposited, since the character of 
 the bottom and of the water itself will determine pretty largely what 
 per cent of the eggs hatch out successfully and what number of 
 young shad-fry find food and other conditions favorable for exist- 
 ence so that they can complete their development and carry out 
 successfully their movement into the ocean. The shad catch is a 
 matter of large importance to the state and to the nation, and it 
 clearly depends directly upon the condition of the stream. One may 
 maintain confidently that its diminution in recent years is directly 
 connected with the growing pollution of the river, although it would 
 be impossible to say exactly to what degree it is affected thereby. 
 Furthermore, one may prophesy with assurance that if pollution 
 
Stbeam Pollution 21 
 
 increases as rapidly in the future as it has in the immediate past, 
 the time is close at hand when the shad will be as great a rarity in 
 the Hudson as the salmon is today in the Connecticut. 
 
 Salmon in Atlantic Rivers 
 
 It is worth while to recount briefly the history of the salmon in 
 New England rivers as illustrated well by the record of the Con- 
 necticut river, from which, even though the cause is not the same, 
 is indicated clearly what will happen to the shad of the Hudson if 
 attention is not directed to the problem promptly and energetically 
 enough to control the unfavorable conditions that are growing 
 up and have gone so far at the present moment that the end of the 
 story is in sight. In his discussion of the Atlantic salmon, David 
 Starr Jordan writes as follows : 
 
 " The salmon was at one time very abundant in the Connecticut, 
 and it probably occurred in the Housatonic and Hudson. * * * 
 Many Connecticut people remember hearing their grandfathers say 
 that when they went to the river to buy shad the fishermen used to 
 stipulate that they should buy a specified number of salmon, also. 
 But at the beginning of this century they began rapidly to diminish. 
 Mitchill stated, in 1814, thkt in former days the supply to the New 
 York market usually came from the Connecticut, but of late years 
 from the Kennebec, covered with ice. Reverend David Dudley Field, 
 writing in 181 9, states that salmon had scarcely been seen in the 
 Connecticut for 15 or 20 years. The circumstances of their extermi- 
 nation in the Connecticut are well known, and the same story, with 
 names and dates changed, serves equally well for other rivers. 
 
 In 1798 a corporation, known as the 'Upper Locks and Canal 
 Company ' built a dam 16 feet high at Millers River, 100 miles from 
 the mouth of the Connecticut. For 2 or 3 years fish were seen in 
 great abundance , below the dam, and for perhaps 10 years they 
 continued to appear, vainly striving to reach their spawning grounds ; 
 but soon the work of extermination was complete. When, in 1872, 
 a solitary salmon made its appearance, the Saybrook fisherman did 
 not know what it was." 
 
 This instance of the disappearance of a species from the aquatic 
 fauna is definitely traceable to interference with the reproductive 
 function. It concerns a form that had great economic value. Other 
 cases can be cited that are equally clear and that bear directly upon 
 the topic of this report. I shall use only one and it is almost as 
 striking though the form concerned has only moderate economic 
 worth. 
 
22 New York State 
 
 Example of Illinois River 
 
 The effects of stream pollution on the aquatic fauna are well 
 illustrated by the record of Forbes and Richardson (1913) of work 
 done on the Illinois river. A simple group such as the mollusks, or 
 particularly the river mussels, which have a restricted range of 
 movement, furnishes the following characteristic data taken from 
 the extended records of the river study. At Morris, 9 miles below 
 the junction of the uncontaminatecl Kankakee and the Des Plaines, 
 heavily polluted by the waters of the drainage canal which enter 
 this stream 20 miles above the junction, the record states, " The 
 search for mollusks yielded seven species of mussels, all the speci- 
 mens dead, however, except for one collection made in Mazon 
 slough." At the Marseilles dam, 17 miles below Morris " no living 
 Unios were secured either above or below the dam, although the 
 mussel-bar was diligently used in both places/' At Ottawa " diligent 
 use of the crowfoot dredge in various situations brought to light no 
 living mussels except a bar in Fox river water just outside the 
 mouth of that stream. Here two species were obtained alive, and 
 dead shells of eight other species, * * * indicative of an environ- 
 ment still difficult for mollusks." At La Salle " thirty-six specimens, 
 representing ten species (of mussels) included twelve living speci- 
 mens of S species only. * * * The large proportion of dead 
 specimens, as compared with ratios obtained farther down the stream, 
 indicate unfavorable conditions for mussels." At Spring Valley 
 " shells of s species of mussels were dredged from the bottom — all 
 dead, however, except one specimen." At Hennepin "seventeen 
 species of mussels were collected alive and five others were repre- 
 sented only by dead shells. * * * The number of living shells as 
 compared with dead ones is in marked contrast to the conditions 
 found above." " This was the first station at which the life of the 
 river may be said to have found virtually normal conditions " in 191 2. 
 
 As the last point is more than 60 miles from the first record given, 
 one can see how slowly the stream assumes normal conditions in the 
 face of the addition of such a mass of sewage as is introduced by 
 the Chicago drainage canal. If the data for more active species had 
 been used, they would have shown that such forms are lacking, 
 having been driven away by the adverse conditions, or having suc- 
 cumbed to them. In most such cases, since the animals have not 
 hard shells like those of the mussels to leave behind as silent 
 witnesses of the unsuccessful struggle against an unfavorable 
 environment, their absence would be the only evidence obtained by 
 field observations of the unfitness of the region for life of that sort. 
 
Stream Pollution 23 
 
 The destruction of the river mujsels happens to be of direct 
 economic significance since their shells form the basis of the 
 important pearl button industry in the middle west. Even had the 
 pollution of these waters not been sufficient to kill the adult mussels, 
 yet these forms would have been wiped out by the destruction of 
 the young fish to which the young mussels are attached during 
 early stages of growth ; and on which they depend also for their dis- 
 tribution in the stream. Moreover the condition of the mussels is 
 a fair index of that of other organisms in the water. 
 
 To the two examples given any number of others could be added 
 as desired; interference with natural conditions results in the 
 destruction of aquatic organisms of all types and the most serious 
 influence in this destruction is stream pollution. The losses are 
 indirect as well as direct, but all contribute to reduce and ultimately 
 to destroy the value of the stream to the state, that is to the people 
 in general. 
 
EFFECTS OF DOMESTIC SEWAGE 
 
 Self -Purification of Streams 
 
 It will aid in our understanding of the general problem if brief 
 consideration is given to the effect of domestic sewage, and particu- 
 larly to the purification of streams polluted with it. One sees the 
 process carried out so commonly and often so rapidly and so well 
 that one does not stop to wonder what becomes of all the sewage 
 which day and night is being discharged into our streams from the 
 rapidly increasing city population of this country. The time was 
 for more than a century that Troy poured its sewage into the 
 Hudson river while Albany only six miles away drew from the 
 stream its drinking water, and indeed found it bright and clear and 
 unobjectionable. To consider it merely a matter of dilution is to 
 overlook the real condition. The material had been actually changed 
 and not merely diluted, so there was no sewage in the river when the 
 water reached Albany. But little by little the zone of pollution 
 extended down stream until sight and smell no less than scientific 
 study warned against the practice. The circumstances have repeated 
 themselves a score of times or more in the course of this same 
 stream, until now the noble river, that once ran unsullied from the 
 mountains to the sea, shows little of its former purity and has lost 
 much of its value to the state, if, indeed, it is not in some ways an 
 actual menace to the welfare of the region adjacent to it. 
 
 The two questions suggested for our consideration are equally 
 interesting and important. First, how does the river get rid of the 
 human wastes turned into its waters and become again pure and 
 healthful; and, secondly, why does the process fail later, or what 
 causes the loss of the power of self purification manifested at an 
 earlier date? Pollution and purification are evidently antagonistic 
 processes; under circumstances either may become master of the 
 situation, and it behooves man to know what factors control the 
 results, that he may aid the one process or restrain the other. The 
 application of this knowledge to the Hudson in earlier times would 
 evidently have retained this stream in its original purity and wealth 
 of aquatic life, while adequate, intelligent treatment of the situation 
 may even now restore the stream to its pristine condition. C E. 
 Turner has recently made an intensive study for two years of the 
 
Stream Pollution 25 
 
 purification of a small sewage polluted stream in Massachusetts. 
 Of one article (Turner, 1918) discussing the results of this work, a 
 brief outline may be given to indicate the character of the changes. 
 
 As the effluent from sand filter beds reaches the stream, a little 
 creek of pure water and very moderate flow, the acquatic life is 
 promptly changed. A gelatinous growth of Crenothrix, the iron 
 bacterium, covers the entire bottom of the stream, which a little 
 further down is black with a " pollution carpet " or " false bottom/' 
 as he terms it. In this material bacteria abound and on it one finds 
 gray woolly masses of Carchesium, while burrowing in it are seen 
 colonies of red worms (Tublfex tubifex), a typical pollution species, 
 and Midge larvae (Chironomus decorus), the so called "blood 
 worm/* which is a most important factor in the removal of organic 
 materials. At the place where the effluent enters, higher plants are 
 lacking, but only three-quarters of a mile below they grow rankly, 
 choking the stream and affording food and shelter to a multitude of 
 smaller organisms, snails, isopods, daphnids, etc. 
 
 Chemical changes in the stream are rapid in this short distance, 
 the total organic nitrogen is greatly reduced, and the dissolved 
 oxygen, which was richly present in the clear stream and nearly 
 absent from the polluted water at the start, has been increased 
 despite the rapid processes of oxidation which have gone on during 
 the interval. At three-quarters of a mile from the original pollu- 
 tion the false bottom no longer persists and the stream is nearly 
 normal, though even one or two miles further down stream chemical 
 tests demonstrate the existence of pollution. Turner summarizes 
 this work thus (p. 45) : 
 
 Importance of Biologic Factors 
 
 " It is obvious that the biological factors of stream purification 
 are much more important than the strictly chemical and physical 
 factors * * * Certain organisms are characteristic of an unpol- 
 luted stream. Others are characteristic of pollut on and by their 
 presence and numbers indicate the intensity of biological activity. 
 Some forms like rotifers and certain green algae may be present in 
 either polluted or unpolluted water, and their correlation with each 
 other and various plants and animals must be understood to appre- 
 ciate their significance." 
 
 The changes by which animal and plant wastes are transformed 
 and utilized are universal in nature and are applied most profitably 
 in agriculture generally. The concentrated wastes in domestic sew- 
 
26 jNTew York State 
 
 age are similarly transformed under favorable conditions in a 
 stream and have been used in sewage forms for the enrichment of 
 the soil with entire success from the biological standpoint, although 
 Jhe financial returns have not been satisfactory. The rapidity with 
 which these wastes in a stream are made into serviceable form for 
 the support of life has suggested their utilization in fish culture. 
 M. C. Marsh, formerly with the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries, has 
 described (1916) a plan in successful operation at Strassburg for 
 sewage disposal by fish culture. The sewage properly handled is 
 made over rapidly into food for plants and small animals, which in 
 turn serve as sustenance for small fish of various types. According 
 to Marsh, the series of ponds and the dispoal plant present a sightly 
 appearance, do not involve a nuisance and resemble any well-con- 
 ducted fish culture station. As the process is delicately balanced, 
 its successful and continuous operation depends on foresight and 
 constant expert care. It clearly illustrates the process of nature in 
 converting organic wastes into food materials and their appropria- 
 tion by new living organisms. 
 
 This process, even to the item of its relation to fish culture, is 
 being carried on wherever domestic sewage is emptied into a stream. 
 In reporting biological investigation on the Illinois river, with 
 especial reference to " the enormous outpouring of Chicago sewage 
 into the upper Illinois " by the drainage canal, Forbes (1910) sums 
 up one aspect of the work in this statement : " The organic wastes 
 thus emptied into the stream are laid hold of by bacteria and proto- 
 zoa and passed up by successive steps to form the flesh and bone of 
 fishes, and thus finally those of men. The same may be said of the 
 organic wastes of the towns along the banks of the stream." 
 
 As the quantity of waste materials added becomes larger, the 
 point is reached when it exceeds the amount that can be handled 
 promptly by the stream. This amount depends on several factors, 
 viz., the volume of the stream, the rate of flow, and the character of 
 shore ^nd bottom. These are features which determine the quantity 
 of dissolved oxygen in the water and its replenishment when 
 exhausted. They determine also the amount and development of 
 the " pollution carpet," as it is called above, and the other organisms 
 concerned in the process. When the stream is deep and flows 
 slowly between steep banks there is little opportunity to take up 
 oxygen and the processes of change proceed very slowly ; the con- 
 taminated area spreads down stream, and gradually transforms the 
 stream into a sewage d'tch or septic tank. This extension of the 
 
Stream Pollution 27 
 
 pollution area has been measured in the Illinois River and reaches 
 seven miles or more annually. Such a figure indicates only the 
 significant and serious character of the change, since its precise 
 value depends on factors so numerous and variable that the record 
 obtained in one place cannot be used to measure the change in 
 another. 
 
 The discussion just closed has shown that waters polluted by 
 domestic sewage purify themselves naturally and that under favor- 
 able conditions the process is carried out with remarkable rapidity, 
 but that when the amount of sewage added becomes very large in 
 proportion to the flow of the stream, the changes are greatly delayed 
 so that the pollution persists a long distance. It indicates that, with 
 increase in the volume of domestic wastes, a condition will be 
 reached where it is no longer possible to discharge the material 
 untreated and at the same time to maintain an aquatic environment 
 suitable for fish life and the propagation thereof. 
 
EFFECTS OF INDUSTRIAL WASTES 
 
 The next question which demands consideration is the problem 
 of industrial wastes. 
 
 Character of Trade Wastes 
 
 Industrial wastes are the by-products of manufacturing processes 
 and are as varied in character as the industries themselves. They 
 are relatively speaking a new factor in the relations between man 
 and the natural environment. Starting not so very far back in 
 history, they have risen in most recent years with startling rapidity 
 to volumes that are proportionately large in comparison with the 
 flow of the streams into which they are discharged. Because of 
 their varied character, nearly every one of these industrial wastes 
 offers a special individual problem, making it difficult to speak of 
 them in general terms and ultimately demanding each its appropriate 
 treatment for the correction of the evil. Furthermore, because of 
 their very newness, their composition is unknown, as well as their 
 action on living organisms. Nevertheless there are certain features 
 which have been observed so often that they can be discussed as 
 general characteristics of this type of materials. 
 
 Effects of Mixing Trade and Domestic Wastes 
 
 Serious difficulties have been introduced into the problem of 
 stream pollution by the mixing of trade wastes with domestic 
 sewage. It was never calculated that any system of city sewers 
 should collect and discharge such wastes. Estimates of the character 
 and significance of city sewage discharges are regularly based on 
 the assumption that they contain the human and animal discharges 
 produced in a community of the specified size, and the system 
 provided for is based on these calculations. It needs only very 
 meager and superficial observations to determine that in fact the 
 sewage flow receives constant and not inconsiderable increments in 
 the form of trade wastes. Small manufacturing plants, machine 
 shops, laundries, garages and all sorts of other establishments 
 creating oil, gasoline, alkaline, and chemical wastes have established 
 direct connections with the sewers and pour into them without 
 modifications all materials they desire to be rid of. As the city 
 
Stream Pollution 29 
 
 grows the practice increases, and probably also more rapidly than 
 the growth of the city would indicate. The reality and the serious- 
 ness of this practice has been recognized frankly, for instance by 
 the three sanitary experts in their report to the Chicago Real Estate 
 Board,* who say (p. 210) "A large part of the difficulty met in 
 disposing of Chicago's sewage has been caused by trade wastes 
 which have too freely been admitted to the sewers and open water- 
 ways. It is not reasonable that excessive burdens of cost and incon- 
 venience should be placed upon the public by manufacturing estab- 
 lishments in this manner." 
 
 Furthermore one cannot doubt that the difficulty is increasing as 
 manufacturing plants become more numerous and trade wastes more 
 varied and abundant. In the course of the brief examination I 
 made in certain regions of New York State during the sum- 
 mer of 1918, positive evidence was obtained that domestic 
 sewage systems were carrying into public waterways recognizable 
 trade wastes of various character and very considerable amount. 
 It is important to emphasize this feature because it constitutes an 
 indirect though very real contribution to the pollution of the streams, 
 which may easily escape observation when the volume of these trade 
 wastes at any point is combined with a larger volume of domestic 
 sewage. As indicated in the comment of the Board of Sanitary 
 Experts at Chicago, quoted above, this material interferes, and 
 often seriously, with the process of self -purification which the 
 stream has to undergo. From the biological view point its effects 
 are apparent and even at times striking in the changes wrought in 
 the aquatic fauna and flora. Aquatic life is wiped out and appar- 
 ently does not reestablish itself readily, as It does when an excessive 
 volume of domestic sewage is reduced. Deposits of a resistant 
 character are laid down on the bed of the stream and deep-seated 
 changes seem to have been brought about that make the region 
 unsuitable for normal organisms and that endure unmodified by 
 natural influences. Unless the unwarranted mixing of industrial 
 and domestic wastes is checked, I am convinced that far-reaching 
 and serious modifications will be produced in our water courses, 
 which can be readjusted only with difficulty and after a long period 
 of time. 
 
 * A report to the Chicago Real Estate Board on the Disposal of the Sew- 
 age and Protection of the Water Supply of Chicago, Illinois, by Messrs. 
 George A. Soper, John D. Watson and Arthur J. Martin. 1915. 
 
30 New York State 
 
 Influence of Trade Wastes 
 
 First of all, reference may be made to the reports of State Game 
 Protectors, which are discussed further along in this report. 
 In a questionnaire submitted to them, one inquiry was as 
 follows: In your experience do wastes from industrial plants 
 affect the stream more adversely than the wastes in city sewage? 
 Nearly one-half (49%) of the protectors who replied stated 
 positivel) that they did, another ten per cent thought they did 
 and only five per cent said they did not. About one-third (35#) 
 had no data on which to base an opinion. That such replies were 
 not mere guesses or simple prejudice, but were founded on evidence, 
 is shown by the answers to subsequent queries regarding the par- 
 ticular wastes which in the opinion of the person reporting were 
 most injurious to aquatic life, the places and times in which such 
 damage had been observed, the manner in which the waste in 
 question affected fish life, and the instances in which the treatment 
 of wastes or their removal from the stream had proved beneficial to 
 the fish therein. The answers contained such an amount of definite 
 detail drawn from specific instances that no one could doubt the 
 care with which such cases had been studied, the extended periods 
 of time over which observations had been made, or the effort exerted 
 to eliminate error, snap judgment, and unfair conclusions. Even 
 though one granted that mistakes had been made, yet after all, the 
 evidence was conclusive that such wastes exercised a powerful and 
 baneful influence on the life of the streams. 
 
 In the second place, the industrial wastes very often, if not 
 always, produce such changes in the aspect of the water body that 
 even the casual observer recognizes almost at once the extreme 
 modification of natural conditions and the conspicuous destruction 
 of things which he had been accustomed to see in such places. The 
 change is so radical as to suggest an entirely new condition of 
 affairs, and is as striking as the scar on the landscape produced 
 by a fire in a forested region or by a landslide upon a mountain side. 
 In some cases the bed of the stream appears to be cleaned out, and 
 in others completely covered by a film of waste or by a layer of 
 decaying material or even of some chemical products precipitated 
 from the waste. Even though the observer is not sufficiently 
 informed to determine the precise character of the substances that 
 are spread over the territory, his examination of the water forces 
 him to the conclusion that natural conditions have been eliminated 
 and unnatural ones have taken their place. And he is right in 
 
Stueam Pollution- 31 
 
 believing that such changes interfere with the natural existence and 
 proper reproduction of aquatic life. 
 
 In the third place, many of the substances discharged in indus- 
 trial wastes are known to be powerful poisons, so that one is forced 
 to say in advance that their action on living organisms will be dis- 
 tinctly unfavorable. In a given case it may be that the degree of 
 dilution is so great that larger and more resistant species of plants 
 and animals are not killed outright. Yet even in these instances the 
 effects of such chemicals are injurious and the vitality of the 
 organisms is lowered, the reproduction of the species is interfered 
 with, or the sensitive stages of early life destroyed. Thus in one 
 way or another the life of the stream is stunted and slowly elimi- 
 nated until, if the process is unchecked, the stream becomes a desert. 
 These conclusions do not rest purely on inference or even on 
 imperfect field studies, but are supported and justified by experi- 
 mental work in scientific laboratories, and some of the evidence 
 secux-ed in this way will be given in a later section of this report. 
 
 Industrial wastes constitute a large and increasing element in 
 the pollution of our streams. They form a menace to the aquatic 
 life that is most serious. There is no natural series of changes 
 which render them inert or transform them in a short time into 
 materials useful in the economy of nature. Each one offers in itself 
 a problem as to, first, its exact effect on aquatic organisms, and, 
 second, the treatment demanded to eliminate the evils it has caused. 
 
 It should be noted as an exception to the general statements mada 
 above that industrial wastes sometimes exert a mere mechanical 
 influence on the conditions of the water-body into which they are 
 discharged. Prejudice has long existed, undoubtedly with good 
 reason, against the general habit of sawmills in earlier years when 
 they were accustomed to turn loose the waste sawdust and trust to 
 the current of a stream to dispose of it. While recent experiments 
 have shown that the particles of sawdust floating in the water are 
 not, as was formerly supposed, directly detrimental to fish, and do 
 not interfere in the least with their respiratory processes, yet there 
 remains little doubt that in other fashion the sawdust ^vaste is of 
 ominous significance for them and the other life of the stream. The 
 sawdust soon becomes water-logged and settles in thick masses as a 
 loose cover on the bed of the stream. Great areas are covered over 
 by it, all sorts of attached organisms are smothered, and the smaller 
 animals are destroyed for lack of food and shelter v Soon the mass 
 itself begins to decay, exhausting the oxygen from the water and 
 
32 New Yokk State 
 
 releasing poisonous products. The stream, originally characterized 
 by an abundance of clear, pure-water animals, is so modified that it 
 can afford existence only to those which live in a polluted environ- 
 ment. Furthermore, the possibility of fish reproduction is very 
 definitely interfered with, for the eggs that are deposited sink into 
 the sawdust or are covered by it with the shifting of the bottom by 
 the current. Those fish eggs which are abandoned and must depend 
 upon chance for their development are unfortunately suffocated. 
 Even those eggs which are watched by the adult fish, so that the 
 nests are kept from being covered by the floating sawdust, find 
 the water unfavorable for development and die off in large numbers. 
 Finally the fry, if any hatch, seek in vain for food and shelter. 
 Valuable fishing in both lakes and streams has been totally destroyed 
 in this way* 
 
 From the tanneries are discharged large amounts of carbonate 
 of lime, which settles over the bottom in the form of a white film 
 that is inimical to the smaller organisms of the water and apparently 
 to the fish also. The wastes of steel mills are similarly deposited 
 in characteristic form on the stones and gravel of the bottom. While 
 here the character of the fluid wastes themselves is promptly destruc- 
 tive to aquatic life, because o ftheir acid character, so that the 
 deposit itself is of lesser significance, nevertheless it plays some 
 part and is of especial sigificance in retarding the recovery of the 
 stream. 
 
 Wastes which are discharged from oil refineries are particularly 
 inimical to aquatic life. They frequently form a firm adhesive 
 film, covering the stones, bottom, and all other objects in the water. 
 This covering seems to be a thin layer of tar, and is very resistant, 
 so that even after the cause of the pollution has been removed, 
 there remain visible signs of the pollution for a long time. These 
 wastes are so resistant that it is difficult to find any way to purify 
 them and no type of industrial waste is more serious to aquatic 
 life. Such wastes come from gas plants as well as from oil refin- 
 eries, and are unfortunately widely disseminated. The serious char- 
 acter of their influence is vividly shown by field studies in a region 
 where they are discharged into a stream. Many observers have seen 
 a beautiful little brook rich in fish and other aquatic life trans- 
 formed into a barren, unsightly, stinking stream, merely by the addi- 
 tion of wastes from a small town gas plant. The experimental data 
 confirm these observations fully and should be cited here in part 
 that the matter may be clearly comprehended. 
 
Stream Pollution" 33 
 
 Toxicity of Gas House Wastes 
 
 Marsh (1907) showed that tar is extremely poisonous to perch 
 and bass. Illuminating gas is also very toxic. How small the amount 
 actually is has been determined experimentally by Shelford (1917: 
 391) who states that " it may safely be said that ten to twenty parts 
 per million of this waste [from a city gas plant] killed a 4-5 gram 
 Lepomis humilis [the small sunfish] in an hour." Wells (1918, 
 p. 568) , in summarizing his experiments on the two gases, says that 
 both CO and C0 2 are poisonous to fishes, though the former is very 
 much more deadly. So far as C0 2 is concerned, fishes are verv 
 sensitive to small changes in the amount of it in the water and seek 
 to avoid harmful concentrations by turning away from them. Fishes 
 do not, however, appear to detect CO in the water and enter con- 
 centrations of it that kill them in a few minutes. These concentra- 
 tions are such as would follow the introduction of gas house wastes 
 into water bodies. At the close of an extended series of experi- 
 ments in the reactions of fishes to wastes, Shelford (1917:392) 
 writes that " much of the danger to fishes from pollution of streams, 
 especially when the pollution is local, is determined by the reactions 
 of the fishes to the polluting substances. Fishes turn away from 
 dangerous substances which are normally found in -their usual 
 environment, but with strange or unusual substances, such as are 
 thrown into streams by gas-works and other industrial plants, they 
 frequently enter and follow up to points where the concentrations 
 are fatal, or fail to recognize the dangerous substance at all and 
 often stay in it until they are intoxicated and finally die there." 
 In support of this conclusion he shows the results of experiments 
 in a series of charts and graphs. Fishes are positive* in their 
 reaction to gashouse wastes in all concentrations which Shelford 
 used in his experiments. The complexity of the quest" ons involved 
 is also shown by the statements of Wells, who determined that fishes 
 vary much in power of resistance to different substances with the 
 season. From the middle of June to the end of July resistance is 
 least, and such fishes as the cyprinids die almost as soon as they are 
 taken from the water. The resistance rises slowly from this time 
 to September and then more rapidly until at the maximum in March 
 and April all fish are very resistant. As the breeding season comes 
 
 *An animal is said io react positively to a stimulus when it moves towards 
 the source of the stimulus and negatively when it moves away from the 
 source. The positive stimulus attracts the animal whereas the negative 
 stimulus repels it 
 3 
 
34 Nvav Yokk Stvtk 
 
 the resistance falls. It was not possible to determine the effect of 
 this factor on the breeding of the fish; but this is evidently a subject 
 of very great importance. 
 
 It would be possible to bring together data concerning the effect 
 of other kinds of waste on aquatic life, but this would prolong the 
 present discussion too greatly and the instances already elaborated 
 are adequate to show the general questions involved. 1 think they 
 are also sufficient to demonstrate the value of biological tests in 
 securing a proper estimate of the effects of stream pollution, and the 
 ways in which biological studies may be utilized in the solution 
 of the problem. 
 
THE RETURN TO NATURAL CONDITIONS 
 
 Slowness of Return to Normal Conditions 
 
 Before passing to consider another topic, I should like to call 
 attention specifically to the fact that a stream area from which 
 natural life has been eliminated by pollution is extremely slow in 
 recovery. In the questionnaire which was sent the game protectors, 
 discussed elsewhere in this paper, they were asked, among other 
 things, how long it took an area that had been adversely 
 affected by pollution to become restored to normal conditions, 
 and a number of them said in response to this question that the 
 stream was never restored. This is the careful judgment of 
 men trained to outdoor life and accustomed to observe stream 
 conditions and to follow changes in them from year to year. 
 Perhaps it would be wrong to accept this statement in an absolute 
 and mathematical sense, but we shall not go far astray in taking it 
 to be generally true. Once the life of a stream has been wiped out, 
 the process of recovery demands a very long period of time, if, 
 indeed, the stream is ever restored. Of course, no start can be made 
 until the causes for the destruction of the aquatic life have been 
 removed, and thereafter the restoration of normal conditions depends 
 upon a series of factors that it is not difficult to outline in general, but 
 impracticable to calculate in definite fashion. It is evident, without 
 further argument, that the longer the pollution has been going on, 
 the farther it has extended, the greater the area of the water in- 
 volved, and the larger the amount of deleterious substances that have 
 accumulated, the longer it will take for those changes to be carried 
 out that will eliminate the poisonous substances and restore the 
 bottom and the water to a condition in which life is possible again. 
 Repopulation of the area will naturally be brought about by the 
 migration of animals of various sorts from contiguous territory 
 into the restored region, and, of course, also, by the planting of such 
 organisms as may be introduced designedly in an effort to replenish 
 the life of the water. Ordinarily, men have not attempted to do 
 more than to plant fish, and usually have introduced them in young 
 stages. It is, of course, worse than useless to do this until the food 
 supply has been provided in one way or another, and any failure 
 to consider this aspect of the question merely means that the fish 
 which were introduced would starve to death and the experiment 
 
36 New Yoek State 
 
 be brought to an unfavorable end. Fortunateh one of the prominent 
 elements of the water fauna replenishes it belt very rapidly. I refer 
 to the insect larvae that in multitude-* inhabit different sorts of 
 environment in our water bodies. First nv.d last they far exceed 
 in variety any other group of animals found in the water. For 
 the most part the adults live in the air, and are possessed of means 
 of flight sufficient to distribute them over considerable areas. As 
 soon as a bit of water becomes tenantable, there will be deposited 
 in it by the flying adults the eggs which will yield in the appropriate 
 time a supply of aquatic larvae. It is true, also, that the eggs 
 of some insects will be deposited in the water even though it is not 
 in condition to furnish them with a proper environment for develop- 
 ment; this is an effort, as it were, to utilize all possibilities of exist- 
 ence and to repopulate the given area before it has actually reached 
 the condition in which existence is possible. 
 
BIOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF WATER BODIES 
 
 Weed of Considering Entire Picture 
 
 It seems worth while to review the general method of collecting 
 data on stream conditions that should be pursued in actual field 
 work. One cannot emphasize too strongly that a fair judgment 
 concerning conditions can be obtained only by taking into considera- 
 tion the entire picture which presents itself to the observer. Single 
 elements of the aquatic situation may be modified by one circum- 
 stance or another, and the student who relies upon any individual 
 factor to determine the value and character of the water area will 
 be frequently led astray. If one starts with the point at which the 
 stream of waste empties into the natural water channel and follows 
 down stream he will observe that, especially if the effluent is colored, 
 it is easy to trace the gradual mixture of the waste with the stream 
 water as it spreads itself towards the opposite bank as well as down 
 stream. The bottom is often colored and the waste furnishes float- 
 ing particles which, in addition to the color tone already mentioned, 
 aid the observer in tracing the spread of its influence over the water 
 body. These general appearances are readily followed at ordinary 
 stages of water. They become very conspicuous during low water 
 conditions, and are more or less concealed in times of high water 
 or when the stream is turbid with the surface run off that is carried 
 in after storms, One can follow out in the way just indicated the 
 area brought under the influence of the effluent, and to determine 
 the biological effect one turns next to the study of the living organ- 
 isms within the area involved. It has been customary in the past to 
 base conclusions upon observation of the fish themselves, but one 
 should not and cannot place dependence upon this or any other 
 single test object. As a means for determining the suitability of 
 the water body for the existence of fish life and its favorableness 
 for the multiplication of fish species, it is better to study the small 
 organisms rather than the fish themselves. The fish are evidently 
 less subject than are the smaller organisms to the control of the 
 immediate environment and better able to change continuously 
 
38 New Yobk Stvtb 
 
 their position, as well as to undergo for a limited period unfavor- 
 able conditions without really adapting themselves to the situation. 
 For other reasons, also, study of the fish in the stream 
 alone gives unreliable results. In response to the complaint 
 that the pollution of streams has affected the abundance of 
 fish life, it has often been urged that the real reason for 
 the scarcity of the fish fauna is to be found in the multitude of 
 fishermen and the methods that they follow, rather than in the 
 unfavorable conditions of the aquatic environment. One hears 
 strong arguments advanced in the effort to establish that contention, 
 and it may well be true. In many regions the number of fishermen 
 has increased beyond the possibility by natural methods of repro- 
 duction to supply the draft upon the waters. Men have also caught 
 more fish than was reasonable or legal, and have used nets, traps, 
 dynamite and other means of obtaining fish to such an extent that 
 the fish supply in certain waters has been reduced pretty nearly to 
 zero. There are other factors also which tend to reduce at a given 
 time the number of fish in a certain stream or pond. One may refer, 
 first, to the migrations that fish carry out for reproductive purposes 
 or in response to seasonal changes of water temperature and depth, 
 as well as those which result from mechanical disturbances and 
 from the addition of chemicals and wastes of various kinds. 
 
 Hence to base any conclusion upon the number of fish which 
 happen to be present in the particular region at a given point of time 
 is evidently to run the risk of serious error. A stream may be well 
 adapted to support fish life, and adequately supplied with the con- 
 ditions necessary for the existence of the fish, even though it be 
 entirely without, or nearly entirely without, a fish fauna. It is how- 
 ever, not difficult to distinguish between those places in which the 
 absence of fish may be due to the pollution of the stream and those 
 other points at which the lack of a fish population is to be explained 
 on some other basis. 
 
 Natural Aquatic Life 
 
 The method for distinguishing between such cases in general will 
 be readily understood when one considers the general biological 
 condition of the water. Each water body contains, under natural con- 
 ditions, a varied assortment of living organisms, provided it furnishes 
 the possibility of existence for the fish themselves. These other 
 
Streoe Poilction 39 
 
 organisms constitute the primary or secondary sources of food 
 supply for the fish. Together they make up the biological complex 
 of the water. Just as one would not expect to find large land animals 
 in any region which was devoid of vegetation and smaller living 
 organisms, and which presented to the eye nothing but an extended 
 area of bare soil, so underneath the surface of the water one need 
 not expect to find conditions light for fish existence if there are no 
 other organisms present and no varied associations of living things, 
 both plants and animals, to provide the food supply of the larger 
 forms. And just as one can distinguish on the land between desert 
 conditions which are primary and natural on the one hand, or secon- 
 dary and created by untoward conditions on the other hand, so one 
 may differentiate equally between the aquatic desert which is natural 
 and represents a region unfitted for fish existence on one hand, and 
 those conditions which are acquired and due to interference with 
 natural conditions on the other hand. If the fish have all been 
 caught off or driven away, then one would still find the smaller 
 animals and plants, provided conditions of existence still remain 
 favorable. But if the character of the water and the bottom have 
 been so modified by the introduction of foreign materials that they 
 no longer afford opportunity for the development of these smaller 
 organisms, then by the absence of such forms of life one would 
 demonstrate clearly and positively the fact that water has been 
 rendered unfit for fish existence. 
 
 Devastation on Land and in "Water 
 
 One can furnish a ready example from the surface of the land 
 to illustrate the point in mind. In the midst of wooded hills a forest 
 fire has swept over a given area and reduced the land to bare soil, 
 with perhaps fragments of half burned wood and ashes which soon 
 disappear with the storms. The region stands out in sharp contrast 
 with surrounding areas where the growth of plants and the presence 
 of animals of various types indicate favorable conditions for exist- 
 ence and the ability of the territory to support a varied population 
 of living things. Under the surface of the water the same thing has 
 taken place at certain points. The inflow of chemical wastes has 
 driven away the fish, has eliminated oxygen from the water, has 
 destroyed the smaller organisms, both the plant and animal, and has 
 left either a waste or a highly specialized and peculiar chemical 
 
40 Nkw Yotjk Rtvte 
 
 environment in which onh certain strange types of living things 
 can exist, namely those which have the power to perpetuate their 
 existence tinder the unusual chemical conditions present. 
 
 If we attempt to picture to ourselves similar conditions on the 
 surface of the land, we see how imperfect would be conclusions 
 formed in the same way that those regarding pollution are sometimes 
 based upon observations concerning the occasional presence or the 
 absence of fish. Jn an area devastated by forest fires one might 
 frequently see wild* animals of \arious sorts on the land surface or 
 flying in the air above it. Such movements might be in certain 
 regions very common if the area involved was not large, and even 
 where it was extensive the occurrence would be by no means 
 peculiar. But it does not suggest to our minds that the territory 
 itself is suited for the existence of these animals. In fact our eyes 
 take in at once the general conditions. We note the soil stripped of 
 vegetation, the evidences of the fire in ashes and charred fragments 
 of wood, and despite the presence of occasional individuals of the 
 higher types of animals, we never question the fact that the area has 
 been devastated and its life wiped out. 
 
 The situation may be duplicated very closely in the water. 
 The fish are the largest, most powerful, and most active of 
 all water living organisms. The larger game fish with which 
 we are most familiar are the most active of all in their 
 movements in search of food. Consequently, it cannot be too 
 strongly contended that the presence or absence of these forms does 
 not yield positive and adequate evidence with regard to the pollution 
 of the stream or the general condition of the aquatic environment. 
 Yet concerning streams that are under examination with reference 
 to the quality of the waters, one frequently sees a statement to the 
 effect that fish were seen at a given point or were swimming through 
 a certain supposably polluted section. It is claimed, consequently, 
 that though the appearance of the stream had been changed, the 
 waste was not serious because fish were found in it and around it. 
 
 Susceptibility of Fish 
 
 In this connection it may be appropriate to call attention to the 
 difference in susceptibility between different species of fish. While 
 we are not in position to make an absolute statement on this point, it 
 appears from recent published experiments by Wells and Shelforc? 
 
Stbeam Pollution 41 
 
 that fish vary widely in their resistance to pollution and in their 
 indifference to the presence of waste materials in the water. Most 
 of all, our valuable food fish are exceedingly sensitive, but some 
 other fish continue to live, if not to thrive, under conditions in which 
 certain sorts of pollution are very conspicuous. I include here a 
 table taken from Wells (1918) which gives knowledge on this point. 
 
42 
 
 New Yokk Stvpk 
 
 TABLE OF RESISTANCE (After Wells) 
 
 Indicating the relative resistance of the more common species of fishes to 
 be taken in the waters of Northern Illinois, together with data as to the best 
 type of ecological environment for each species. In column 2 the resistance 
 of the least resistant species is arbitrarily taken to be unity. 
 
 Species of Fish 
 
 Labidesthes siceulus 
 (Brooksilverside) ... . 
 
 Etheostoma coeruleum 
 (Rainbow darter) 
 
 Moxostoma aureolum 
 (Redhorse) 
 
 Catostomus commersonii 
 (Common sucker) .... 
 
 Notropis atherinoides 
 (Shiner) 
 
 Semotilus atromaculatus 
 (Horned dace) ....... 
 
 Chrosomus erythrogaster 
 (Red-bellied dace) 
 
 Micropterus dolomieu 
 (Small-mouthed black bass). 
 
 Micropterus salmoides 
 
 (Large-mouthed black bass). 
 
 Pimephales notatus 
 
 (Blunt-nosed minnow) 
 
 Hybopsis kentuckiensis 
 (River chub) 
 
 Notropis cornutus 
 
 (Common shiner) 
 
 Pomoxis annularis 
 
 (White crappie) 
 
 Pomoxis sparoides 
 
 (Black crappie, Calico bass) . . 
 
 live re- 
 sistance 
 
 2.3 
 
 i<u it ZL 
 
 3.0 
 
 T" * 
 5.0 
 
 5-0 
 
 6,0 
 6.0 
 7.0 
 7.0 
 8.0 
 
 8.0 
 
 Best place to collect 
 
 Small rivers and clear shallow lakes. 
 Prefers sandy bottom. 
 
 Among the stones in the ripples of 
 creeks and small rivers, 
 
 Sandy-bottomed pools in creeks and 
 small rivers, 
 
 Pools in creeks and small rivers. Pre- 
 fers bottoms containing some sand. 
 
 Common in lakes and rivers. 
 
 The headwaters of small creeks. In 
 vegetation along bank. 
 
 Small clear creeks. Along with 
 horned dace but does not go up 
 stream as far. Often in vegetation 
 along bank. 
 
 Swift streams; clean bottom, 
 deep lakes; cold water. 
 
 Small 
 
 Sluggish rivers and small, shallow 
 lakes with mud bottom. 
 
 Pools, mud bottom, in creeks and 
 small rivers. 
 
 Creeks and small rivers. Swifter 
 parts of pools. 
 
 Creeks and small rivers. Swifter 
 parts of pools. 
 
 Wide distribution. Abundant in 
 ponds, lagoons, and all sluggish 
 water. 
 
 Practically same location as for white 
 crappie. 
 
Stream Pollution 
 
 43 
 
 Species of Fish 
 
 Ambloplites rupestris 
 (Rock bass) 
 
 Perca flavescens 
 
 (Yellow or American perch) 
 
 Lepomis cyanellus 
 
 (Blue-spotted sunfish) .... 
 
 Ameitirus melas 
 (Black bull-head) . . 
 
 Rela- 
 tive re- 
 sistance 
 
 Best place to collect 
 
 Clean-bottomed pools with rocks. 
 Creeks and small rivers. 
 
 Abundant in some lakes. Also in 
 larger rivers but not in creeks. 
 
 Pools in creeks. Often with mud 
 bottom. 
 
 Ponds; pools in small creeks. Mud 
 bottom among vegetation. 
 
 " While in the table only eighteen species of fishes are listed, the comparative 
 resistance of other species may be estimated by comparing their i esistance with 
 that of some one of the listed species. By placing a species of unknown resistance 
 in an experiment with one of the species given in the table one may obtain 
 results that will make it possible for him to compare the resistance of the un- 
 known species with that of any of the species listed. It should be pointed out 
 also, that fishes of the same large taxonomic group have in general a similar 
 power of resisting detrimental factors. Thus, the darters are a group possessing 
 for the most part a low ability to resist untoward conditions. The minnows 
 (Cyprinidae) are fairly resistant as a group; the sunfishes are more resistant 
 than the minnows; and the catfishes are notably our most resistant group of 
 fresh-water fishes. The place of an untried species in the resistance table can 
 be reckoned more or less accurately by placing it with the listed representatives 
 of the taxonomic group to which it belongs. 
 
 " From column 3 of the table it will be seen that the resistance of the fishes 
 is rather closely correlated with the type of environment which they inhabit. 
 The more resistant species are found in ponds, shallow, muddy-bottomed lakes, 
 or in the stagnant pools of streams. These are the fishes which one sees in aquaria. 
 They are able to withstand increased temperature and wide fluctuation in the 
 oxygen and carbon-dioxide content of the water, and to some extent are able 
 to live in the presence of the excretory products of their own metabolism. The 
 stream fishes proper can not do this, and therefore die when placed for any length 
 of time in standing water." (After Wells, Bull. 111. State Lab. Nat. Hist., 
 1 1 ;567-568.) 
 
 Bacteriologic Tests 
 
 There is need to test in some accurate way the character of a 
 stream and the methods most generally employed have been bacterio- 
 logical and chemical. Bacteriological methods are developed with 
 reference to determining the character of the stream from the 
 standpoint of public health, which usually is considered to concern 
 only the human species. Consequently, determinations are made of 
 certain definite kinds of bacteria that are inimical to human welfare, 
 and little or no attention is paid to other elements in the situation. 
 It is conservative to say that our knowledge regarding the bacteria 
 is not adequate as yet to determine all of the forms found, or to 
 
44 i\ e\v Yokk State 
 
 estimate their relations to the different kinds of life which are 
 involved in the stream. Furthermore, the processes are time con- 
 suming and expensive so that their general application to water 
 bodies is attended with evident difficulty. 
 
 Chemical Tests 
 
 Chemical tests determine for us more or less readily and rapidly 
 the constituents of a given water mass. This again is somewhat 
 tedious and expensive. Furthermore, we do not by any means 
 always know the effect upon living organisms of a given chemical 
 substance, and, as has been found by experimental procedure, the 
 effects of various substances differ according to the concentration 
 present, and also, in relation to the other chemicals which may be 
 associated with this original substance. Consequently, the situation 
 is exceedingly involved and much more study will be necessary before 
 it is profitable to use such tests widely and generally in the testing 
 of water bodies. 
 
 Those who desire to find a more rapid means of testing 
 approximately what the character of a given aquatic environ- 
 ment may be, naturally seek some sort of superficial and readily 
 determined feature as an ear-mark, and have found this in the 
 relation of the environment to fish life. This is a rough and ready 
 method of determination and not without its merits, though there 
 are distinct limitations to its employment. If one follows along the 
 bank of a stream or lake, or traverses its surface in a boat, and finds 
 large fish and schools of smaller ones, he inclines to infer from the 
 number and distribution of these animals the condition of the water. 
 However, the habit of relying on a single criterion in judging such a 
 complex situation as a natural environment is dangerous. Perhaps 
 there is no other way to explain an abundance of fish life than the 
 satisfactory condition of the water for fish existence, though it is 
 easily possible that, unless the observation is repeated at different 
 times, the condition may be the result of accident rather than a 
 general characteristic of the situation. 
 
 Effect on Fish of Changed Conditions 
 
 On the other hand, the total absence or extreme rarity of fish life 
 in any body of water would be good evidence that the aquatic 
 environment was unsatisfactory for them, for it has already been 
 explained that over-catching will account for a reduction in the 
 supply of food and game fish, but if it affects at all other types, 
 would rather tend to multiply than to reduce their numbers. How- 
 
Stream Pollution 45 
 
 ever, when one has to contend with an intermediate situation there 
 is the greatest difficulty in deciding from the evidence obtained from 
 observations on fish alone what is the cause of the condition. Fish 
 are sufficiently active animals that they move into unoccupied terri- 
 tory and move out from it under varying circumstances and with 
 considerable promptitude. How they conduct themselves in refer- 
 ence to highly polluted streams is well shown by observations which 
 may be cited here. For the clearer comprehension of this instance, 
 let us recall that the city of Chicago discharges its wastes into a 
 huge drainage canal which at Lockport empties into the Des Plaines 
 and this latter stream in turn joins the Kankakee a few miles below 
 to form the Illinois river. These streams, and particularly the last 
 mentioned, has been under biological observation by the Illinois 
 State Natural History Survey under the direction of Professor S. A. 
 Forbes for some thirty years, so that records were made of its 
 character long before the construction of the drainage canal and the 
 addition to its waters of the highly polluted Chicago sewage. The 
 Illinois river has always been an important source of fish for anglers 
 and commercial fishermen. More recent records demonstrate how 
 the fish conduct themselves towards the radically changed con- 
 ditions and the observations are so pertinent to this inquiry that I 
 propose to discuss here their finding for comparison with records 
 made by various New York state officials at different places in this 
 
 Fish Shun Pollution 
 
 The definiteness with which fish avoid polluted waters and the 
 effects of such waters on them can be well shown by some citations 
 from observations on the Illinois river (Forbes and Richardson, 
 19T3). In the sanitary canal at Lockport they record (Sept. 1911) 
 " a few small shiners (Notropis atherinoides) one to two inches 
 long were alive in the water though in a dying state ; but all the 
 larger minnows of this species, * * * were stranded dead 
 along the shore. In the cooler weather of November, 191 1, 
 a larger proportion of the shiners were alive." In the Des 
 Plaines at Lockport " no fish were seen here in September, the water 
 being much too foul for even the most indifferent species." In 
 November they found " many shiners, nearly all alive but mostly 
 in a dying state, as if they had been carried down by the current 
 from above and overpowered by the toxic contents of the stream." 
 In August and September, 191 2, one could see " a marked contrast 
 between the two sides of the river, due to the fact that the water of 
 
40 jXkw York Stvtk 
 
 the east side was badly contaminated by a waste ditch flow from the 
 sanitary canal ; * * * in the Cladophora of the west side were 
 many live minnows, sunfish, etc." It is worthy of note that I found 
 conditions in the upper Hudson at some places identical with this 
 in that near the discharge from a large mill aquatic life was entirely 
 lacking while on the other bank, where the water was as yet un- 
 mixed with the wastes, one could find both plant and animal 
 organisms of various types. 
 
 To return to the record of fish in the Des Plaines river, just 
 before it joins the Kankakee to form the Illnoi.s "no fishes were 
 found either dead or alive " in summer or in fall collecting. At 
 Morris 9 miles below, "no fishes were seen or heard of in the 
 Illinois during July, although they were abundant in Mazon creek 
 and in the slough at its mouth which opens into the Illinois at 
 Morris. Carp were noticeably numerous in this slough and could 
 be seen any sunny morning lined up along the edge of the river 
 current, occasionally venturing into it a short distance, but quickly 
 returning. * * * By October fishes had begun to appear to some 
 extent in the river even along the northern or contaminated side, 
 where a few r young perch, shiners, straw colored minnows, and a 
 single top minnow were taken in places protected from the strong 
 current. * * * An examination of the stomach of these speci- 
 mens showed that none of them had recently taken food/' ** Feb- 
 ruary 28, a neighboring farmer found a 15 pound carp on the ice 
 near the north shore. The fish was probably sick or suffocated and 
 trying to get air." In 1912, " seven fish were taken at this point in 
 all — five of them black bullheads, * * * The river here was in 
 fact practically destitute of fishes and the few taken were in close 
 proximity to the Mazon slough. Moreover, some of the bullheads 
 were " fungused " or in otherwise unwholesome condition." 
 
 " The yield of our fishing operations was somewhat more varied 
 at Marseilles than at Morris but only in the immediate neighborhood 
 of small creeks and springs where the water was locally or tempo- 
 rarily more tolerable than in the main stream. No trace of fishes 
 was found above the Marseilles dam during July or August, 191 1. 
 * * * In November and December many young perch, shiners, 
 a black bullhead and a young carp were captured. * * * In 
 August and September, 191 2, conditions were similar. * * * 
 Fishes were caught [only] within or near the mouth of a small creek 
 on the northern side. * * * On the night of August 19, a heavy 
 rain, which flooded the small creeks, washed fishes out into the river 
 
Htkeym Pol^utiojst 4:7 
 
 where they became sick from sewage and could be picked up easily 
 with a dip net. The following morning a 3 pound carp, 2 hooked 
 dace {Semotilus atromaculatus) , and an orange spotted sunfish 
 were obtained in this way. " In August 1912, * * * below the 
 dam * * * we got a greater variety of species in shallow water 
 along shore near the mouths of small tributaries. * * * A com- 
 parison * * * makes it probable that most of the specimens 
 taken from the river here were immigrants from the creeks." 
 
 At Ottawa in August fish were much more abundant. " From a 
 comparison * * * it is plain that Fox river water was greatly 
 preferred by fishes at this place and it seems likely indeed that most 
 of the specimens taken at this point had come into the [Illinois] 
 river from the Fox." At Starved Rock as a result of extensive 
 collecting " it seems that the fishes taken here represented the nor- 
 mal river stock at this place with practically no immediate admixture 
 from small tributary streams." " At Hennepin we found commer- 
 cial fishing in progress in both the river and the adjacent lakes. 
 This was the first station at which the life of the river may be said 
 to have found virtually normal conditions." 
 
 While Forbes and Richardson found as shown above that the 
 large majority of fishes were driven away by pollution, or if carried 
 in by chance were unable to sustain themselves in the polluted 
 sections of the Illinois river, there was at least one exception to 
 the rule; indeed, so far as their experience went, only a single 
 species of fish was an exception to it. The common shiner (Notropis 
 atherinoides) was often collected in numbers when no other fishes 
 were found; as a result of their experience, these authors say that 
 this abundant lake and river minnow is " unusually tolerant of 
 polluted waters." 
 
 Minnow Test 
 
 Chemical and bacteriological methods have rarely been employed 
 in stream examination by men associated with work on fish prob- 
 lems. They have, however, used fishes as an index of stream con- 
 ditions, and have commonly employed the so-called minnow tests as 
 a basis for deciding whether, for instance, the pollution in a given 
 stream reaches the extent specified in the Conservation Law and 
 consequently whether the discharge of the wastes should be pro- 
 hibited. The test probably owes its popularity to the ease with which 
 it may be applied and, when the conditions of its use are safe- 
 guarded, one must recognize that it is a reasonably satisfactory 
 
48 New Yoiik Stvtk 
 
 test, even though it be rough in itself and though its use be dis- 
 tinctly favorable to the cause of the manufacturer rather than to 
 the protection of the fish. 
 
 In order that the test may be properly applied, it is necessary 
 to take a group of minnows and divide them into two parts, placing 
 one in a cage or float that is anchored in the stream above the point 
 of contamination and another in a similar cage or float that is 
 placed in the stream enough below the point of entrance of the waste 
 material that one can see it is reasonably mingled with the waters of 
 the stream proper. If after a short period the minnows in the lower 
 cage are dead, the upper cage is then examined and, if the fish 
 are living, it is transferred to the position of the down stream cage. 
 The death of this second lot of fish will then establish very positively 
 the fact that the wastes are injurious to the fish life in the waters. 
 
 Serious Conditions Proved by Test 
 
 Some attention must be paid to the variability of this test and its 
 relative value in determining the injurious character of trade wastes. 
 The minnow is a small fish and generally is of a type fairly 
 sensitive to water pollution. It does not represent the varieties that 
 are most sensitive, like the trout, and on the other hand it is far 
 more susceptible than such fish as the carp and bull-head, which are 
 known to be relatively indifferent to pollution. One should not 
 forget that Forbes found the common shiner was " unusually 
 tolerant of polluted w r aters, ,} and this species if collected by any 
 persons and used for the test would vitiate the results. It is 
 recognized, furthermore, that the most sensitive stages in the history 
 of any fish are those of its youth, the fingerling and fry stages 
 being far more susceptible to injurious influences than the half- 
 grown or full-grown fish. Accordingly, if the effect of the wastes 
 on minnows or young fish collected as such is clearly injurious, 
 then one can confidently affirm that no stronger argument is needed 
 to establish the serious contamination of the stream, in that any 
 effect produced in the short time that has usually been utilized for 
 these experiments is in itself conclusive beyond possible criticism. 
 It will readily be recognized in a moment's consideration that, un- 
 doubtedly, many contaminations are injurious to fish in the long run 
 and yet these influences would not display themselves in any 
 measurable fashion within the brief period of such a test. 
 
 Shelford maintains that to make safety tests reliable in character, 
 fish should be able to live at least one month in water under standard 
 
Stream Pollution 49 
 
 conditions, and these will include, of course, the regulation of the 
 volume of flow, the degree of pollution of the waste, the temperature 
 of the water, the abundance of oxygen, carbon dioxide, etc. It is a 
 well established fact that the temperature of the water affects the 
 sensitiveness of fish and conditions which may be injurious at one 
 time are not serious in their effects at another. Furthermore, Wells 
 has shown most distinctly that an abundance of oxygen tends to 
 reduce the toxicity of various other substances in solution, especially 
 of carbon dioxide. 
 
 Effects of Prolonged Influence 
 
 In order to reach a more accurate measure of the injurious 
 character of polluted waters, one would have to take into account 
 the effects of the prolonged influences of a waste on the fish. We 
 recognize generally from our study of the human race that dele- 
 terious influences are frequently cumulative in effect and that even 
 small quantities of poisonous materials, acting upon the organism 
 over a long period of time, will produce serious and even fatal 
 results. In a similar way extremely diluted chemical substances, 
 which might seem in an experiment of brief duration to have no 
 effect whatever on fish living in them, will, undoubtedly, in given 
 cases be found to affect adversely the condition of fish subject to 
 their influences continuously for a longer period of time. This 
 question is one on which little or no experimentation has been made. 
 We are forced to speak of the conditions in terms of analogy, basing 
 our conclusions upon the results that are well known in the records 
 of human disease and have been confirmed in individual cases 
 among other animals. The kinds of materials which exercise such 
 deleterious influences, the amounts adequate to produce the results 
 feared, and the other conditions under which they must work are, 
 however, not fully known. 
 
 Limiting Factors 
 
 A considerable number of other factors should also be taken into 
 account in connection with the minnow test. Unless care be ex- 
 ercised in determining the time and other conditions under which 
 the test is made, one may very easily get a set of conditions that is 
 calculated to prevent rather than to demonstrate the actual effect 
 of the pollution. The influence of a waste discharged into a stream 
 must be measured by its effect under most unfavorable conditions, 
 for those are the times in which the fish life will be injured or 
 
50 New York State 
 
 destroyed most easily and most completely, and consequently the 
 times at which the character of the stream life is determined. The 
 lower the flow of the stream, the greater the probable effect of the 
 pollution upon fish. With varying conditions in the effluent, such 
 as alkalinity at one period and acidity at another, that time should 
 be selected for the experiment which gives conditions least favorable 
 for fish life. Similarly, the period of the minimum percentage of 
 oxygen in the water indicates the moment of lowest resistance on 
 the part of the fish, while other elements, such as the shortage of 
 food, which tend to reduce the vitality of the fish, are also import- 
 ant factors in determining the effect of wastes on fish life. It will 
 be noted that a number of these conditions are probably accentuated 
 at times when the water is covered by a coating of ice and conse- 
 quently the most serious effects of stream pollution will probably be 
 found when in the winter season the diminished stream flow and 
 the ice cover tend to emphasize the injurious character of wastes 
 discharged into the stream. 
 
 The foregoing discussion is sufficient to indicate the extreme 
 limits of usefulness of the minnow tests. Much more accurate ex- 
 periments have been made on the susceptibility of fishes to various 
 specific influences and it has been possible to determine thereby 
 some important questions concerning their individual responses to 
 particular chemical substances. These experiments have been 
 carried out in the laboratory. They require complicated apparatus 
 and students have been misled in applying them because of the 
 unsuspected introduction into the natural situation of other factors 
 than those on which the experiment was based. It is evident that 
 lowered vitality due to confinement may easily be confused with 
 lowered vitality due to the influence of the chemical used in the 
 experiment. Furthermore, in order to cover the wide range of 
 substances which may enter into consideration in connection with 
 industrial wastes, the amount of time involved in experimentation 
 is extreme and the expense not an inconsiderable factor, so that the 
 method can hardly find universal application. Yet one must empha- 
 size the fact that these experiments are important and in the hands 
 of Shelford and his students have yielded very valuable results for 
 the general orientation of the worker in dealing with the problem. 
 Indeed, one may say they are indispensable and should be generally 
 employed wherever it is proposed to test a new problem or to 
 determine whether a proposed modification of some industrial waste 
 will render it innocuous to aquatic life. 
 
Stream Pollution 51 
 
 Results of Experiments in Polluted Streams 
 
 On the other hand, it must be pointed out that experiments have 
 already been carried out on a grand scale in connection with wastes, 
 from many industries, and an examination of the territory subject 
 to the influence of the wastes discharged will yield better evidence 
 than any such laboratory experiment, for in such a place one can 
 see not merely the results of brief exposure to the influence of a 
 waste product, but rather the cumulative effects of long continued 
 stimulation by these substances under the varying influence of winter 
 and summer, low water and freshet, open water, ice-blanket, and all 
 other conditions that obtain in the given region. A study of the tern 
 tory will show what has been the result of the experiment and the 
 records of the manufacturing plant will probably always furnish 
 evidence at least as to the length of time that the waters have been 
 subject to this influence. In most cases it will also be possible to 
 determine in rough fashion from the manufacturer's data what 
 fluctuations in the composition of the wastes have occurred within 
 that period. The unfortunate total destruction of the organisms 
 characteristic of pure waters and their replacement by species which 
 are equally characteristic of polluted streams, as observed in various 
 places, is incontrovertible evidence of the effect on aquatic life of 
 this particular waste. While in the case of a request for a permit to 
 discharge new industrial wastes into a stream the method of labora- 
 tory experimentation should always be utilized to determine the 
 probable result of the practice, yet in the instances where the experi- 
 ment has already been tried the results displayed in the stream are 
 important enough to demand careful examination and detailed 
 record in order that the evidence may be available for use in dealing 
 with this and similar plants in future. 
 
 Our general knowledge of animal life would lead us clearly to the 
 conclusion that certain stimuli which do not appear to have an 
 immediate serious effect upon animal life may clearly be harmful 
 if their influence is exerted, upon the same organisms continuously 
 over a long period of time. Bad air and bad water undoubtedly 
 influence in a similar way the organisms that are confined to the one 
 or the other environment. It is impossible to doubt that dilute 
 poisons in the water exert precisely the same sort of an influence on 
 the fish and on the other organisms contained in it. It would be 
 impossible to give here a complete summary of all the observations 
 and experiments that are on record with reference to the influence 
 of pollution on aquatic organisms or even on the fishes alone. I shall, 
 
52 New York State 
 
 however, cite later a few prominent records with reference to the 
 reaction of fishes to various sorts of polluted waters. In general it 
 may be said that, like other animals, fishes sometimes manifest no 
 response whatever to an abnormal and unwholesome environment. 
 In the majority of instances, however, they indicate the influence by 
 moving away from the source of the pollution or refusing to enter 
 upon polluted waters that lie directly in their natural path of move- 
 ment. In some cases, however, they manifest a desire to enter the 
 polluted waters and move towards the source of the pollution, 
 remaining in the danger zone until they are overcome by the effects 
 of the pollution. I have already called attention to observations of 
 Forbes and Richardson on the Illinois river. 
 
 Powers of Resistance in Fishes 
 
 The general features which enter into the case are summarized 
 by Wells (1918) thus: 
 
 " The resistance of fishes to hurtful conditions varies with the 
 species, with age (or size and weight), with the individual (that is 
 with physiological state), and with the season. Practically all of 
 the fishes worked with are least resistant just after the breeding 
 season, or in the months of June, July and August (see Wells, 
 1916). In September the curve of resistance begins to run up, and 
 it continues to rise throughout the winter months, reaching its 
 maximum in March, April and May — that is, at the beginning of 
 the breeding season or just before. The relat ve resistance of 
 species does not seem to vary greatly with the season. Just how 
 much species vary in their relative resistance to different harmful 
 factors is a matter for further investigation. The work so far, 
 however, indicates that if species 1 is more resistant than species 2 
 to factor a, it is fairly safe to conclude that it will show a greater 
 resistance to factor b also." 
 
PRELIMINARY SURVEY OF STREAM CONDITIONS 
 
 IN NEW YORK STATE 
 
 It is important to outline briefly the work that was done td 
 to the pollution of its streams. An examination of the files in the 
 office of the Conservation Commission brought to light numerous 
 reports made from time to time by various officials and employees 
 of the Commission with reference to the pollution of streams at 
 individual points. It revealed also a record of prosecutions carried 
 on against violators of the law. The evidence thus adduced served 
 to demonstrate the amount and character of the pollution found and 
 the judgment of the courts with reference to the relation of the 
 cases to the law as it stands. 
 General Knowledge 
 
 The condition of the larger streams in the state has been widely 
 and frankly recognized. Indeed the language used with reference 
 to the conditions that prevail in the Mohawk and Hudson is so 
 emphatic as to leave no doubt concerning public opinion on the 
 conditions in those streams. Various surveys have been made and 
 official reports printed which demonstrate the situation equally and 
 in greater detail. Industrial wastes have been discharged in suffi- 
 cient quantities to wipe out entirely the life in several streams in 
 such immediate and conspicuous fashion that citizens reported 
 the finding of dead fish in large numbers along its banks. In other 
 places the accounts demonstrate the presence during considerable 
 time periods of chemicals and of products of decay so offensive 
 as to have attracted general comment and protest. These reports 
 ascertain the facts of the situation in New York state with reference 
 on file and records in print are not by any means confined to one 
 locality or to a single type of industry. They concern the eastern, 
 the central, the western, the northern, and the southern sections 
 of New York state and come from practically every drainage basin. 
 It must also be said that in some cases such conditions originate in 
 neighboring states and are brought into this state with natural 
 stream flow while in other cases New York state is responsible for 
 the pollution of streams that pass beyond its borders and affect 
 adversely neighboring commonwealths. 
 
 Reports of Game Protectors 
 
 With a view to securing more complete information on conditions 
 as they stood at the time, a questionnaire was sent to each of the 
 
54 New York St vte 
 
 game protectors accompanied by a request that the blank should be 
 filled out and returned to the office of the Conservation Commission. 
 From these questionnaires which were submitted without comment 
 on the purpose and indeed without the knowledge of the person 
 replying that any study of the subject was in prospect, we could 
 gather a mass of definite facts both interesting and significant. 
 New York has in the state game protectors a valuable permanent 
 force of men devoting their time to a study of natural conditions. 
 While not technically trained in science, they are accustomed to use 
 their eyes and heads in the observation and interpretation of 
 natural phenomena. They are not likely to be misled by appearances, 
 and they know both how pure streams look and what living things 
 should be found in them. Great weight should be laid on their find- 
 ings as to the condition of streams in the localities with which they 
 
 From the even hundred replies received to the questionnaire, 
 valuable information was obtained as to the amount and distribution 
 of stream pollution in the state, and as to seasonal and other varia- 
 tions that it undergoes. Evidence was also furnished on the damage 
 done to riparian owners as well as to the aquatic life. These replies 
 have been analyzed and are on file so that they can be still further 
 utilized in the work of the Conservation Commission. Consequently 
 it is probably not necessary to discuss them further at this point. 
 Containing as they do specific reports concerning every part of the 
 state and every variety of industrial waste, with numerous definite 
 suggestions in regard to methods of improving conditions, they are 
 in my opinion an invaluable aid to the further study of stream 
 pollution in New York state and to its elimination. 
 
 Personal Observations 
 
 In order to be clear that the observations were reported with 
 reasonable accuracy and that the situation had not been misin- 
 terpreted through possible lack of a proper basis for analyzing the 
 situation, 1 made a personal reconnoissance of several rivers where 
 the concentration of industries or particular kinds of manufacturing 
 had contributed large quantities of waste to the streams on which 
 the establishments were located. In this way I saw the effect pro- 
 duced upon stream waters by wastes from steel plants, from tan- 
 neries in different places, from glue plants, from various sorts of 
 paper mills, including those which use the sulphite pulp process, 
 and others, I had opportunity to note the effects of such trade 
 
Stream Pollution 55 
 
 wastes upon streams of relatively insignificant volume /and upon 
 those which rank as the largest in the state. 
 
 It does not seem to me to be important that I should report here 
 the details of such examinations. There is little likelihood that the 
 situation at points which were most carefully examined differs in 
 any radical way from that in other places which were not visited. 
 Moreover, no effort was made at any point to study the situation 
 intensively so that one could speak with exactitude regarding the 
 amount or precise character of the pollution. I endeavored to get 
 a broad and yet clear conception of the general situation from the 
 point of view of the biologist. I hope to make clear in later para- 
 graphs the general appearance presented and the inferences which 
 may reasonably be drawn even from what might seem like a super- 
 ficial examination of the situation. 
 
 Only a small number of streams was exam'ned, with a view to 
 determining the general conditions existing in them at the particular 
 time ; certain preliminary statements with reference to the method 
 followed should be made before an account is given of the results of 
 the examinations. 
 
 In the first place, while no attempt was made to determine the 
 detailed conditions at the time of the survey, yet the waters were 
 examined carefully up and down stream from the point where the 
 wastes were discharged, and the general character of the shore and 
 bottom and of the open water was determined in so far as it could 
 be by mere examination. Wherever plant growtji was seen or any 
 sort of animal life was noticed careful attention was paid to the 
 amount and character of the same, the extent of its distribution and 
 the vigor of its growth. The natural aspect of situations of the type 
 under examination was constantly kept in mind and was compared 
 with the situation actually existing in order »to determine the par- 
 ticulars in which there was an agreement and those in which the 
 present conditions differed from what might have been expected. 
 
 It will thus be seen that the examination was general and con- 
 ducted from the biological standpoint. No effort whatever was 
 made to determine more precisely the conditions of existence by 
 chemical examination of the water or of the wastes, by any meas- 
 urement in the flow of the stream or of the amount of wastes dis- 
 charged, or by the study of the materials deposited on the bottom 
 or of those observed floating in the water. Such studies would be 
 of great value and should be a part of any extended and continuous 
 survey of conditions in the state. At the same time it was possible 
 
56 New York State 
 
 to determine the general aspect of the stream, and to decide whether 
 conditions were favorable for the existence of aquatic organisms, 
 or if not, in a rough way to what extent they were unfavorable. 
 It is of course easy in the extreme case to recognize such condi- 
 tions as destroy all organisms except those that live in polluted 
 waters. Thus, while the survey was confessedly superficial, it 
 was sufficiently accurate to determine the general situation and for 
 the purposes of this investigation such a determination was adequate. 
 In the next place, attention should be called to the fact that at 
 the time when these examinations were made, conditions were not 
 far from the average. Frequently one finds during the summer 
 months, when alone I was at work on this problem, such a reduc- 
 tion in the amount of water flowing in the streams that the effects 
 of materials discharged into it are relatively very much greater 
 than usual. The strikingly bad situation in the streams of New 
 York state during periods of summer drought have been com- 
 mented upon so widely and recorded by so many kinds of observers 
 that in their general features they are probably familiar to all. 
 At the time, however, when I was on these streams, the water 
 supply was larger than usual in the summer and consequently the 
 statement of results must be looked upon as portraying not extreme 
 conditions but those which are at least as good as would be found 
 on the average. 
 
 Again it should be noted in connection with these examinations 
 that no effort was made to determine the presence of fish, either 
 adult or young. Whenever it happened that fish were observed, 
 a record of the fact was made, but proper catching apparatus 
 would certainly have demonstrated the presence of fish in a good 
 many places where they were not seen. In fact, the waters 
 generally examined were those near shore where the depth was 
 insignificant and where one could take in with the eye the general 
 appearance both of the bottom and of the water above it and 
 could see the plants and small organisms in their relative 
 abundance and general relations. Examinations were made 
 of the deeper water also, but these again were confined to 
 such data as could be determined by the eye. No apparatus was 
 used to determine the character of the bottom, in so far as it was 
 invisible to the eye, and no appliances for the collecting of the 
 minute microscopic fauna present in all such waters but giving 
 no evidence of its existence to the unaided eye of the observer. By 
 £ more thorough examination numerous additional facts could 
 
Stream Pollution 57 
 
 have been secured, but it may confidently be asserted that they 
 would not have modified the general picture. They would doubt- 
 less have added to the strength of the evidence presented, but on 
 the other hand, no considerable area could have been covered with 
 the time and assistance available. 
 
 At the eastern end of Lake Erie a number of short streams with 
 relatively little flow run from a height of land westward or slightly 
 north of west into the lake. They are for the state in general 
 exceedingly important, since in the spring the lake fish resort to 
 them for spawning purposes and upon them depends to some extent 
 at least the supply of the lake fish. I was able to pay a visit to two of 
 these. On one of them, a very small stream known as Rush creek, 
 is located a steel plant. Above the plant the stream is apparently 
 in good condition and favorable for the development of aquatic 
 life. Other conditions were observed some distance below and 
 relatively close to the lake. Here the waters, at the time of the 
 visit, were entirely barren of the ordinary life of such streams, so 
 far as the eye could determine. A deposit and growth on the 
 bottom gave the entire bed of the creek a rusty aspect. Some 
 organisms were present in considerable amounts, but they were 
 those characteristic of waters affording an unnatural chemical 
 environment, and conditions clearly indicated that normal fresh 
 water life had been wiped out. No information was sought or 
 obtained as to the amount or character of wastes introduced or 
 other facts concerned therewith. 
 
 Cattaraugus creek is a considerably larger stream having several 
 branches and draining a large area along the southern section of 
 the Erie-Niagara watershed. It was examined at Gowanda, where 
 are located a large tannery and a glue plant. The amount of 
 waste produced is apparently rather large with reference to the flow 
 of the stream and heretofore it seems to have been discharged 
 without any treatment into the waters of the creek. At the time 
 of the visit one could see considerable areas of the bottom of the 
 stream covered with waste material in which lime and organic 
 substances were prominent. The conditions near the plants were 
 extremely unfavorable for the development of the general types of 
 fresh water organisms. In various places were seen patches of those 
 organisms which inhabit highly polluted waters and these condi- 
 tions extended for some distance down stream. Works for the 
 treatment of the wastes discharged from each of these factories 
 are in process of construction and there is reason to believe that 
 
58 New York State 
 
 the character of the discharge will be so modified as to eliminate 
 the undesirable conditions. Pending the completion of these 
 installations no final judgment should be pa.ssed on the situation, 
 
 A trip was made to Gloversville to examine the results of dis- 
 charging into the stream there the wastes of a highly concentrated 
 industry. The results of this examination were made the subject 
 of special oral and written reports. Here only general conditions 
 need be stated. The amount of industrial wastes is large and is 
 discharged directly into the city sewage system. An extensive 
 treating plant has been installed to handle the city sewage and 
 should do so well, but becomes clogged because settling tanks at 
 the individual factories are not kept in operation, As a result 
 excessive amounts of solids matted with hair hold up the 
 functioning of the sedimentation tanks at that city plant and a 
 by-pass is opened at intervals to relieve the situation. This trans- 
 mits untreated materials to the stream, and the situation is further 
 aggravated by the wastes discharged into the creek directly from 
 a few plants not connected to the city system. At the time of the 
 visit the condition of the creek was very bad, as nothing but 
 pollution organisms could live in it anywhere. 
 
 On the Susquehanna river which has long been famous for its 
 fishing, is located in New York state only one large city, namely, 
 Binghamton. A short distance down stream are located several 
 large manufacturing interests which have turned their wastes into 
 the river. The conditions below this point have been recognized 
 to be verv undesirable and some discussion has arisen as to whether 
 the cause should be attributed to the city sewage discharged into 
 the stream or to the wastes from the industrial plants mentioned. 
 The character of the stream is excellent to enable it to purify itself 
 in the minimum time and with maximum success. It is broad 
 and relatively shallow, thus exposing considerable surface to the 
 air. The flow is rapid and broken by stones and shallow bars over 
 which the water ripples. Multitudes of small currents thoroughly 
 mix the water in different parts of the stream and turn it back 
 and forth from one shore to the other. At the various points 
 where the large sewers of the city empty into the stream the 
 polluting effects are very noticeable and the mixture of sewage 
 and river water can be followed by the eye for some distance. 
 Where this is no longer possible by observation from the shore, 
 because of the changes in the color of the water, it is still easy to 
 determine from a boat that the water carries an abundance of fine 
 
Stream Pollution 59 
 
 materials characteristic of city sewage, and the bottom deposit 
 shows these to some extent at least in many places. Yet even here 
 one finds considerable amounts of plant and animal life and the 
 situation is much improved before the industrial wastes are added 
 below the city. 
 
 These wastes enter in considerable volume at various points and 
 exercise an influence on the stream which is very marked even on 
 casual observation from the bank. The color of the water is 
 modified considerably and deposits on the bottom extend over large 
 areas within which they have a thickness so considerable as to 
 render them conspicuous even from a distance. When one examines 
 the stream from the height of the bridge crossing the river at 
 Endicott, one gets a good general idea of i\e conditions that 
 prevail. The water has an opaque milky appearance, the bed of 
 the stream is distinctly tinged with deposits, and the patches of 
 green plants are localized, limited in area and not vigorous in 
 growth. Areas are also visible which ajre over-'grown by the 
 organisms that inhabit polluted waters. Even here, however, the 
 wastes are not thoroughly mixed with the stream, and there are 
 regions in which the water is fairly clear and its life, while not 
 abundant, still of the types that belong to unpolluted streams. On 
 studying the water some distance further down stream, a distinct 
 change was apparent. The water was crossed and recrossed in a 
 small boat, thus giving a good opportunity to examine both shores, 
 the small shallow areas and islands in the stream and the general 
 character of the open water and bottom. This study was made 
 on the same day that the stream was examined in similar fashion 
 above Endicott, so that the volume was not modified by weather 
 conditions nor were other factors present to render the comparison 
 inyalid or even open to question. The contrast of conditions in the 
 two locations was very great. 
 
 Above Endicott one could distinctly see some of the fine floating 
 material that indicated the sewage contamination of the city of 
 Binghamton, but the water was fairly clear and one could see the 
 bottom almost all the way across. There were present plant life 
 and animal organisms of the fresh water types; some small fish 
 and one or two large ones were also observed. The stream was 
 by no means in perfect condition and yet it was not seriously ill. 
 Below Endicott the contrast was marked. The shores were covered 
 with a slimy deposit consisting of decaying organic material and 
 containing organisms characteristic of such an environment, The 
 
60 New York State 
 
 bottom was visible only a short distance away from the bank 
 because of the cloudiness of the water, but wherever seen or 
 tested even roughly with a stick it showed the same deposit in 
 considerable thickness. The absence of green plants was extremely 
 noticeable and careful study of several different places did not 
 bring to light any of the pure water organisms, either plant or 
 animal. Large areas were over-grown with bacteria and fungi 
 and little masses of such material rose to the surface and floated 
 away in the current. Where by the force of the stream the 
 bottom had been scoured clear, as on some exposed shallows and 
 projecting portions of the bank, only barren areas could be 
 observed and even there the stones were slimy to the touch from 
 the film of wastes deposited on them. Some fish were seen, but 
 they were all dead and decaying on the bank or stranded in the 
 shallows. While only relatively few such specimens were seen, 
 they had evidently all been killed recently and had not undergone 
 much change since they floated ashore. If, as was maintained by 
 residents, such dead fish are thrown up constantly, then the toll 
 on the fish population of the stream must be pretty large. One 
 could hardly doubt that there had been introduced into the stream 
 in this region a very considerable amount of solid materials as well 
 as more fluid industrial wastes. The effect on the stream had been 
 bad and seems likely to grow worse unless the situation is modified. 
 
 It was not possible to study the stream intensively in order to 
 determine how far down these conditions extend or how rapidly, 
 if at all, the water purifies itself and the conditions are ameliorated* 
 
 The upper Hudson was made the object of more careful study 
 than was devoted to any other streams or region. Numerous 
 short trips were made along the bank and in small boats from 
 Troy northward. Two more extended surveys were carried out. 
 In the first of these the party proceeded bv automobile from 
 Albany to Palmer Falls and examined both the general condition 
 of the stream and the special conditions that existed at those points 
 where the introduction of industrial wastes is most extensive and 
 most marked. As the road runs parallel and close to the river 
 it was generally possible to get a complete picture of the conditions 
 and to note changes in appearance as well as to stop readily for an 
 intimate examination wherever a change was evident or was 
 suspected. 
 
 With the stretch from Troy to the site of the present Waterford 
 dam, I was very familiar as a boy some thirty to forty years ago 
 
Stream Poulutiok 61 
 
 and while I realize the danger in attempting to comment on such 
 conditions from memory when the interval of time is so large and 
 the opportunities for influencing one's recollection of conditions 
 are so numerous, yet I am confident that after all allowance has 
 been made it is possible and just to say that the situation has been 
 very greatly modified and that such a modification represents a 
 distinct deterioration of the stream. 
 
 A careful study of the upper Hudson and its tributaries was 
 made for the state of New York some years ago with special refer- 
 ence to the question of pollution.* Records are given in it of the 
 turbidity of the water and other characteristic features in its 
 appearance. What was said concerning the river at that date is 
 even more strikingly true at the present time. To these observa- 
 tions may be added some comments on the biological situation. In 
 the stretch from the state dam at Troy to the Waterford dam the 
 water is very dark in color and does not carry in any conspicuous 
 fashion floating masses of scum or material released from the 
 bottom. However, there is scanty evidence of plant growth or 
 of the organisms that ordinarily inhabit such waters and that 
 previously could be collected in great abundance more especially 
 at the so-called riffs where the water was somewhat broken in its 
 rapid progress over rocky or stony bottoms. 
 
 The most conspicuous industries of the upper Hudson are the 
 paper and pulp mills. The character of their wastes is well known 
 and has been the subject of numerous special studies. The most 
 extensive of these was published by the United States Geological 
 Survey in 1909^ At present the situation does not differ greatly 
 from that described previously, although works recently constructed 
 by the state of New York have modified conditions radically in 
 certain respects which are significant in their bearing on the 
 biological aspect of the situation. 
 
 Effects of Canalization 
 
 The region has been transformed by a series of dams into what 
 is substantially a canal. The water backs up from each dam 
 almost to the foot of the one next above it and the intervening 
 area of the stream is a huge basin of quiet water. The general 
 effect of such conditions is discussed from the biological stand- 
 
 * 1908 Report on the pollution of the Upper Hudson by industrial wastes — 
 Annual Rept. State Dept Health, N. Y. 28:407. 
 
 f Phelps, E. B. 1909. The Pollution of Streams by Sulphite Pulp Waste. 
 U. S. Geol. Survey, Water Supply Paper, no. 226; 37 pp, 1 plate. 
 
62 New York State 
 
 point in another section of this report. Conditions on the Hudson 
 were typical in this respect. The recent date at which most of 
 these dams were completed and canal conditions produced is 
 evident as one examines the stream. Just below each dam or 
 about at the point where the river gets a new load of trade wastes 
 discharged into it conditions are very bad. The water is altered 
 in appearance, its turbidity greatly increased, and the bottom cov- 
 ered over with a slimy deposit on which are growing the organisms 
 that characterize highly polluted streams. One can trace step by 
 step the development of these conditions as the waste pours out from 
 the discharge pipe and mixes with the current, spreading gradually 
 more and more widely towards the opposite bank of the stream, 
 producing thus a fan-shaped area within which, as accords naturally 
 with the higher concentration there of the waste materials, the 
 modification of natural stream conditions is most marked. After 
 the discharges have been thoroughly mixed with the waters of 
 the stream, one notes a uniformity in the appearance of bottom and 
 open water for a greater or less distance down stream, depending 
 upon the amount of waste which has entered and the date at 
 which such discharges were first introduced into the river. Thus 
 at the oldest mills the modification was most striking and extended 
 farthest down stream. At the manufacturing plants of more 
 recent construction the extent to which one could trace the modifi- 
 cation down the river was distinctly less, and in some cases only 
 a beg nning had been made of the process of destroying the normal 
 life of the water. 
 
 In most cases normal conditions appeared, although very grad- 
 ually indeed, as one approached the dam next lower down. Condi- 
 tions were best a slight distance above this dam, for the reason 
 that at the dam the mechanical interferences with conditions 
 incident to its construction had been greatest and changes in depth, 
 together with the removal of shore material or the deposit of 
 construction refuse, had made very radical changes in the original 
 condition of the stream. On passing up stream one noted that in 
 many cases just a short distance above the dam, where the condi- 
 tions of the original stream had not been interfered with at all, 
 except by raising the water level, the plant and animal organisms of 
 the water appeared to be fairly characteristic of unpolluted streams 
 and sometimes manifested a completely normal aspect. On the 
 whole, however, it must be said that the number of such organisms 
 was less than normal and the vigor of their growth was impaired, 
 
Stream Pollution* 63 
 
 so that even here it would be necessary to pronounce the stream 
 ailing if not actually sick. As our survey proceeded up stream, 
 conditions grew slowly and very gradually worse until they 
 reached their maximum near the entrance of a new supply of 
 polluted materials, somewhere toward the foot of the dam next 
 above. Where dams were close together, conditions seemed to be 
 bad throughout the entire stretch, but where a long interval inter- 
 vened between two dams, the liver had evidently had time to 
 recover, or the period since the construction of this portion of the 
 canalized stream had not been long enough to allow the wastes to 
 spread far down stream, and a considerable area of reasonably 
 normal water was observed. 
 
 Some of the side streams stood in interesting contrast with the 
 main river. Thus at Schuylerville there was observed a consider- 
 able portion of the stream where conditions looked very much 
 better than those in the region generally. This was just off the 
 mouth of the Batten Kill. On making a study of this stream as 
 far up as the first mill, it appeared that the stream flow was rela- 
 tively large, the pollution at this point not great, and the effects 
 on life in the water evidently slight. Conditions were said to be 
 different further up, but we did not have opportunity to investigate 
 this stream more particularly. 
 
 At Fort Edward, Hudson Falls, and Glens Falls one finds a 
 considerable number of large mills within a relatively short distance. 
 The amount of wastes discharged into the stream was very large 
 and its character evidently exceedingly unfavorable to the exist- 
 ence and development of aquatic life. From the care with which 
 this waste product of one large establishment is conveyed in pipes 
 some distance down stream and turned out onto the rocks below 
 the wheel pits, one might infer that the material discharged was 
 strong enough to have an unfavorable effect even on the machinery. 
 Certainly no one could doubt for a moment that it had been in the 
 highest degree destructive to the organisms that naturally are 
 found in the river water. The wastes discharged into the stream 
 in this region are so extensive in amount and powerful in character 
 that one is not surprised to find the water through this stretch of 
 the river apparently devoid of any life whatever. Below Fort 
 Edward the stream is more highly polluted than at any other point 
 in the area studied, if one may judge from the biological condi- 
 tions. For some distance there is complete absence of normal 
 fresh water organisms and for a long stretch one finds only scanty 
 traces of the pure water fauna and flora. 
 
64: New York Stvte 
 
 Even a superficial examination of conditions showed very clearly 
 that different establishments varied widely in their methods of 
 handling these waste materials. In some ea.ses the\ \\ ere discharged 
 without any treatment whatever, in other cases certain materials 
 were extracted, and in still others more complete treatment was 
 given to remove the waste products. 
 
 I am not able to find that any experimental information is avail- 
 able concerning the effect on aquatic organisms of t»uch partial or 
 complete treatment of these wastes. It is evident that this is a 
 very important problem from the standpoint of the Conservation 
 Commission, One has no right to infer that the removal of certain 
 substances from the industrial wastes will make the residue any 
 more favorable to the preservation of the aquatic life and for the 
 development of aquatic organisms in the stream after the waste 
 has been added to it. Indeed, one may go further and say that 
 even concerning certain processes for the complete treatment of 
 such wastes there is no information as to the effect such treatment 
 has upon the influence the waste exerts upon the living things in 
 the water of the stream. From the standpoint of conservation, it 
 is extremely important to determine precisely how such changes 
 as are now practiced, and those which may be advocated for the 
 future treatment of wastes, will affect the plant and animal 
 organisms in the water. It is evident that the stream may be as 
 seriously damaged by its conversion into a lifeless desert as by 
 adding to it those wastes which make of it a septic tank. In my 
 opinion, this is one of the first problems which the Commission 
 should plan to attack and for its solution it will be necessary to 
 engage the services of a man trained in experimental biology and 
 familiar with chemistry, while of course, he should be primarily 
 a student of the natural history or ecological phase of aquatic 
 biology. 
 
 At Palmer Falls is located the first of the sulphite mills on the 
 upper Hudson. A general examination of the stream above this 
 point shows that it has the aspect of a reasonably pure and natural 
 water course. The river banks below the mill from which there 
 passes into the stream a large amount of sulphite pulp wastes 
 disclose a rich and extensive growth of very flocculent material 
 on the rocks. This covers all available area, extending well above 
 the present water line to high water level or towards that point. 
 The portion of this material on the stones which at the time of the 
 visit were above the water level, had been dried out and appeared 
 
Stream Pollution 65 
 
 like a thin coarse blotting or wrapping paper. It would naturally 
 lead the observer generally to the conclusion that waste paper pulp 
 had been deposited on the stones and after the falling of the water 
 had dried there. Examination of the material in the water showed, 
 however, that it was of a very different character from pulp fibres. 
 The rocks were overgrown with soft gelatinous, branching, fila- 
 mentous masses, rather loose and yet sufficiently firmly attached to 
 the rocks to hold in place even where the current moved strongly. 
 Pieces of this material torn free were constantly floating down 
 stream and accumulated in the eddies lower down or floated on 
 the surface as flocculent masses. Careful inspection of the material 
 in place will convince any one that it is not an actual deposit of 
 fibres, but a growth which has both structure and continuity. 
 Furthermore, it is somewhat filamentous in texture, as may be 
 readily ascertained, and does not partake of the nature of wood 
 fibre. It is a fungoid bacterium and clearly indicates the highly 
 polluted condition of the water which, with its addition of sulphite 
 liquor at this point, gave precisely the environment most suited 
 for the development of this particular class of organisms. 
 
 No better illustration could be given of the fact that the addition 
 of this industrial waste has powerfully modified the normal condi- 
 tions of the stream. This material grows only under these extreme 
 and abnormal conditions of environment and the very existence 
 of those conditions is fatal to the development of the aquatic 
 organisms that frequent pure waters. Such organisms are indeed 
 the best index of polluted areas and until the conditions have been 
 modified so that they cannot exist, it is hopeless to expect that the 
 normal fauna and flora can be restored. The conditions described 
 extend some distance down stream. They were not followed 
 continuously, but on a subsequent trip similar organisms were 
 observed, though less abundant, in the water above the Spier Falls 
 dam, so that one may infer their probable presence throughout the 
 intervening: stretch of the river, especially since in this stretch 
 the water is quiet and has relatively little opportunity to purify 
 itself. 
 
 At a later date the water of the Hudson through much the same 
 region was studied from a boat. The party went up stream on 
 the Conservation Commission boat as far as Fort Edward. The 
 general character of the stream and the special conditions in the 
 channel were observed throughout the entire stretch. From point 
 to point the shores, backwaters, and shallow stretches along the 
 
 5 
 
66 New York State 
 
 banks were studied from a rowboat and wherever it appeared that 
 conditions were modified by the addition of waters from tributaries 
 or of discharges from industrial plants a more special examination 
 was made of the particular region involved. The facts gathered 
 did not differ materially from those observed on the first trip 
 already described. They furnished more abundant evidence, how- 
 ever, of the conditions already noted and strengthened the argument 
 materially. It was possible in the various cases to follow more 
 exactly the transformation from highly polluted water, at the 
 points where the large discharges of industrial wastes into the 
 river made the stream largely if not entirely a polluted water course, 
 lacking the natural aquatic life, to the regions lower down, where 
 that natural life was more or less perfectly restored. Perhaps it 
 would be in more precise accord with the natural conditions to say 
 that at these points further removed from the sources of contamina- 
 tion the original life of the stream had been only slightly mp'iired 
 and that as one moved up stream towards the source of the pollu- 
 tion the life was more and more adversely affected by the condition 
 of the water until it finally disappeared entirely. 
 
 At the points near the mills water conditions were the worst. 
 One found floating great pads of thick scum In which were 
 enclosed numerous gas bubbles, and it was easy to demonstrate 
 that such masses had been torn loose from the bottom by accumu- 
 lated gas and had floated up to the top. All stages were observed 
 in the formation of this thick bottom scum and in the accumulation 
 of the gas that was in it, but these phenomena are well known and 
 have been carefully described in the report on the pollution of 
 the upper Hudson to which reference has already been made. It 
 may not be out of place, however, to emphasize again the fact that 
 wherever this bottom material had accumulated the life character- 
 istic of pure waters was entirely absent, save that once or twice we 
 did observe a solitary fish moving into or across some of these 
 regions. In these places the amount of such material accumulated 
 was moderate and no life whatever was observed In those places 
 where we observed the most extensive accumulations of this 
 deposit. 
 
 Leaving the boat at Fort Edward the party proceeded by trolley 
 and conveyance to Big Bay, which is a familiar fishing ground in 
 a large bend of the river several miles above Glens Falls* From 
 this point up stream to the Spier Falls dam I made a most careful 
 study of the water in a rowboat and on foot along the shore in 
 
Stream Pollution 67 
 
 company with Game Protector Teal. In Big Bay itself the stream 
 is in splendid condition. The profuse growth of aquatic vegetation 
 gives hiding places for the fish, nourishes an abundant population 
 of small aquatic organisms, and affords them every opportunity 
 for reproduction, so that it is natural to find an aquatic fauna varied 
 in character of species and rich in number of individuals. As is 
 well known, this region is one of the very best fishing grounds that 
 the Hudson affords and, as long as natural conditions are preserved 
 and the amount of fishing is not permitted to surpass reasonable 
 limits, may be relied upon to furnish enjoyment for a large number 
 of citizens. 
 
 The shores of Big Bay are clean and the stones entirely free 
 from the slimy deposit which even in some fairly good portions of 
 the river farther down stream can still be detected on careful 
 examination. The plants show that bright, fresh, green color 
 which indicates their perfect condition, and careful search failed 
 to disclose any of the organisms of polluted water. Just above 
 Big Bay are some conspicuous riffs where the stream ripples down 
 over stony and rocky stretches. For several miles up stream areas 
 of still water and of ripples alternate, until one reaches the foot of 
 the Spier Falls dam. Even in the still water stretches the stream is 
 broad and shallow, the water well exposed to the light and air and 
 well mixed by the conflicting currents which are produced by the 
 curves of the stream and the presence in its course of bars, shallow 
 stretches and series of larger stones and boulders. The stream was 
 studied with a boat as long as it was feasible to make progress in 
 that fashion. Thereafter it was examined from the shore and at 
 frequent intervals up to and above the Spier Falls dam. Just at 
 the foot of the last stretch of rapids, before the stream entered a 
 short sweep of still water that opened out into Big Bay, I found 
 the first evidences of pollution in the form of some small pieces 
 of floating scum and scanty growths of the pollution organisms, 
 as well as an insignificant trace of slime on the stones in a few 
 places. Furthermore the plants that were present here showed 
 sometimes a paler coloring and less robust and vigorous growth 
 than those in the Big Bay region. It would be unjustifiable to 
 maintain that these were positive evidences of pollution, and if 
 the facts just mentioned had been the only evidences secured, one 
 would have passed them by with the suggestion that the richness 
 of the aquatic vegetation is subject to fluctuations and that this 
 was merely a less favorable point for the development of such 
 
68 New York State 
 
 forms than one found lower down in the stream. But these 
 conditions formed in fact the last link of a chain that could be 
 traced up stream without a break to the pool at the foot of the 
 Spier Falls dam. The difference from moment to moment as we 
 proceeded along the bank was too small to be measured in territory 
 that was contiguous, but these differences grew by imperceptible 
 gradations until from the conditions just described at the one ex- 
 treme, one reached the other extreme, which was conspicuously 
 noticeable in the water below the dam at Spier Falls. Whereas the 
 evidences of pollution were so extremely scanty as to be almost un- 
 noticeable at the lower end of the territory, they spread over the 
 entire stream at the upper end and were, moreover, conspicuous in 
 some portions of it. In the stretch of the river just below the dam 
 one could find a considerable growth of the organisms that have al- 
 ready been noted as characteristic of waters polluted with sulphite 
 wastes. The entire stream was not affected in this way and one 
 could see areas that were only slightly involved or apparently 
 entirely free from such growth. Along the bank, however, where 
 we could observe most perfectly, it was possible to find these organ- 
 isms at almost every point. There was also a noticeable lack of the 
 normal pure water organisms. One can readily represent to himself 
 the changes which were taking place in the stretch of the river below 
 this, where its waters were exposed to the air and sunlight and 
 undergoing rapid purification. The process was aided by the char- 
 acter of the bottom, which brought about a mixing of surface and 
 deeper waters and of the waters from different parts of the stream. 
 It was, of course, greatly aided by the ripples, in which the water 
 added conspicuously to its oxygen content, and the result was that by 
 the time the stretch had been covered, pretty nearly all of the effects 
 of pollution had disappeared. 
 
 Passing around the dam, I studied the deep water above, in so far 
 as it could be observed from the shore. In color, turbidity, presence 
 of floating flocculent matter, in the growth of pollution organisms 
 in shallow places, and in absence of the organisms which charac- 
 terize pure water it had all the appearances of a stream polluted 
 by sulphite waste liquids, and recalled precisely the conditions which 
 had been observed in the vicinity of Palmer Falls on the previous 
 trip. There certainly were few, if any, pure water organisms liv- 
 ing in it, and we did not see any evidence of fish whatever. From 
 men living and working along the stream I learned that there were 
 no fish above the dam, as, according to the testimony given, they 
 
Stream Pollution" 69 
 
 had all been killed off by the polluted water, and that occasionally- 
 dead fish were washed ashore at various points, which might fairly 
 be taken to indicate the effect of the waters upon such fish as chanced 
 to migrate into them from purer waters above. 
 
 At the time of our visit no water was going over the dam and 
 the stream below was made up exclusively of that which had gone 
 through the gates of the power plant. In making the passage of 
 the wheels the water was so thoroughly churned up that the floating 
 masses were not recognizable below, or at the most were demon- 
 strated only by the presence of fine flocculent matter which could be 
 distinguished in the pools formed after the water emerged from the 
 plant. The condition below the dam was not as bad as that above. 
 The reasons for this, however, were evident in the fact that the 
 stream was shallow, more exposed to air and sunlight, and was 
 flowing more rapidly, as well as being broken in flow by the char- 
 acter of the bottom over which it passed. All these things would 
 tend to restore the water to a natural condition and to favor the 
 introduction of pure water organisms as well as the destruction of 
 the organisms of pollution. 
 
 It appears from reports of the engineers that a new dam is 
 projected which will be located just above the head of Big Bay. The 
 stakes indicating the preliminary survey for this plant were 
 found in our walks along shore and gave a reasonably accurate idea 
 of the location which this dam will have. I should be remiss if I 
 did not point out very distinctly here the probable results of install- 
 ing such a project. The dam as constructed will impound, water 
 that will assume a level near that of the base of the dam at Spier 
 Falls. The stretch of the river between the Spier Falls dam and 
 Big Bay, which is now a shallow region of fairly rapid flow and 
 broken surface, with successive stretches in which the water is 
 thoroughly stirred up and mixed with the air, will be transformed 
 by the building of the dam into a deep, quiet stretch that will 
 approximate very closely the conditions of a canal. This repeats 
 exactly the conditions that obtain above the Spier Falls dam, and 
 the result will be to replace the present stream conditions biologically 
 by those which are found above the dam at Spier Falls. The stream 
 will not pttrify itself to any extent and the polluted areas which 
 have established themselves at the base of the Spier Falls dam will 
 spread slowly down stream until they involve the entire basin. Even 
 before this has taken place, the water which discharges itself from 
 a new dam will be very much like that which is now discharged from 
 
70 New York State 
 
 the Spier Falls plant. This water will pass directly into Big Bay 
 without any opportunity to purify itself. 
 
 One cannot tell how rapidly the changes will take place for they 
 depend upon a large number of factors which cannot be stated in 
 exact terms or estimated from the evidence in hand with any degree 
 of accuracy but it is clear that sooner or later, with a speed which 
 will depend upon these undetermined conditions, but with a 
 certainty which is not open to question, the waters of Big Bay 
 will be contaminated until they no longer afford favorable oppor- 
 tunities for the development of the rich natural flora and fauna that 
 now exists there. As this aquatic life begins to disappear the fish 
 will be subject to two general influences of a very unfavorable char- 
 acter. First, their food supply will be restricted, and with that 
 restriction their own growth and other activities will be reduced. 
 This will show its effect most distinctly on young fish, for not only 
 will they face starvation, but, because of the loss of shelter which 
 the plants now afford them, they will be more subject to capture 
 and destruction. The smaller kinds of fish, upon which the larger 
 depend, will, disappear most quickly, but the effect will be evident 
 soon all along the line. In the second place, the opportunities for 
 reproduction will be interfered with most seriously. A layer of 
 polluted material on the bottom renders conditions unfavorable for 
 the development of the eggs. 
 
 It is probable also that the varieties of small fish which constitute 
 food for the larger fish go above the Big Bay region into the riffs, 
 seeking opportunities to spawn, and with the removal of these 
 areas they will find only imperfect facilities for carrying out the 
 reproductive function. This loss may be inseparably connected with 
 the adequate utilization of the stream for industrial purposes, and 
 if so, must be faced as one of the features in natural conditions 
 that must be sacrified in order to allow the profitable utilization of 
 natural resources by the human race. It thus differs distinctly from 
 other difficulties that have been mentioned, for they are the product 
 not of the change in the stream by the erection of the dam, but rather 
 of the modifications in the stream induced by discharge into it of 
 the waste products from the mills. The manufacturer has neither 
 legal nor moral right to turn these waste products into the streams 
 when they affect adversely the fish life of the waters either in its 
 adult condition or in the discharge of its reproductive function. In 
 any event, if a new engineering project is to be installed, it is, I 
 believe, the duty of the Conservation Commission and of the other 
 
Stream Pollution 71 
 
 legally constituted authorities of the state to consider fully and 
 carefully the consequences of such installation and to guard to the 
 utmost against results which will prejudice the welfare of the 
 people in general or destroy natural conditions that are a source 
 of present advantage to the state. There is no doubt whatever that 
 the erection of a new dam at the point indicated and the canaliza- 
 tion of the stretch from this place to the Spier Falls dam will have 
 a serious and perhaps permanently unfavorable influence on the 
 famous fishing region at Big Bay. 
 
 This pre,,»Lry -»«y »veL „„. y a small par, of .he water 
 systems in New York state, but the territory examined was such 
 as to give a fair idea of general conditions. The regions described 
 are neither those in which stream pollution is most extreme and 
 conspicuous nor those in which the influence of pollution is least 
 marked. Furthermore in those places which are described I have 
 given only a general report of conditions ; more careful study would 
 certainly bring out more vividly the results of pollution on aquatic 
 life. Yet brief and in a sense superficial as the survey was, it 
 brought out clearly the widespread and serious effects already 
 produced by stream pollution. I have tried to show how these 
 influences are growing, how difficult it is to repair damage done, 
 and how real is the menace to regions as yet unaffected. From 
 every point of view the question demands early consideration 
 and above all else prompt action to repa'r the damage and prevent 
 further loss. The public interests should be safeguarded by vigor- 
 ous measures. Otherwise New York state will suffer still greater 
 losses and be compelled to assume larger burdens for the restora- 
 tion of her aquatic resources to a normal level. 
 
RECOMMENDATIONS 
 
 Census of Cases of Pollution 
 
 The examination of the field and the study of the question of 
 pollution, with especial reference to New York State, during the 
 past summer has thrown some light on the proper means for solving 
 the problem of stream pollution and on preliminary work which 
 must be done before the specific methods can be generally applied. 
 Evidence enough has been secured to show the seriousness of stream 
 pollution at the present time within the limits of the state, as well 
 as the rapid increase in the immediate past and the still more serious 
 outlook for the future. It is, however, necessary to confess that no 
 one knows the extent of stream pollution in the state and the char- 
 acter of the different wastes which are coming from the varied 
 manufacturing plants within its limits. Consequently, the first thing 
 that should be done is to organize means for taking a census of 
 individual cases in the state in order to determine the location of 
 these and their relation to the different streams and watersheds, as 
 well as the amount and character of the wastes produced, fluctua- 
 tions of the same with the seasons or other periods of time, and 
 the exact extent to which the life of the water has already suffered 
 by the discharge at individual points. The situation is certainly 
 critical in some places, and even a lenient enforcement of the present 
 laws would eliminate some difficulties, but we are still unfamiliar 
 with the exact extent of the problem. After this census, it will 
 be easier to say how to proceed in the enforcement of the conserva- 
 tion law for the entire commonwealth. 
 
 Weed of Continued Study 
 
 In the next place the character of the wastes produced and their 
 effect upon aquatic life is only partially understood. It was the 
 unanimous opinion of the game-protectors, as expressed in the reply 
 to a specific question on this point, that not anyone of the industrial 
 wastes was in any respect advantageous to the fish life of the stream. 
 On the other hand, it is certainly true that, as indicated above, the 
 different chemicals exert a varying influence on the aquatic fauna 
 and flora. For evident reasons it is important that the precise 
 effect of individual substances should be determined. In some cases 
 it will be possible to secure data on this from the literature on the 
 
Stream Pollution 73 
 
 subject. The records of investigators elsewhere have many of them 
 been published, and in so far are available for the authorities of 
 New York State in their consideration of the question as to viola- 
 tions of the terms of the state conservation law as it now stands. 
 After all these have been determined, however, there will certainly 
 be many points left on which no information of a definite character 
 can be secured. The Conservation Commission should provide for 
 a special investigator who has been trained in aquatic biology and 
 who is also well informed in the chemical field. Such a biologist 
 should devote special attention to the study of the effects produced 
 by different kinds of wastes, that he may advise properly and wisely 
 concerning the steps which should be taken to correct the evils that 
 exist. It is, in my opinion, important that this man should be 
 expertly trained in the study of aquatic life, that he may be of 
 maximum assistance in the work which most urgently demands the 
 attention of. the Conservation Commission in this subject. 
 
 Reclamation of Wastes 
 
 There is another phase of the general problem that will 
 undoubtedly yield profitable results, if thoroughly investigated. 
 This is thfe question of the possible reclamation of wastes now dis- 
 charged from different industrial plants. The ultimate solution of 
 this question demands, to be sure, high technical knowledge in con- 
 nection With each individual industry. It is primarily the work 
 of the special chemist associated with the industrial plant producing 
 the waste, and he should be brought to handle it promptly, as evi- 
 dently only he can handle it most effectively. On the other hand, 
 it is evident that the Conservation Commission may by general 
 investigations add to the knowledge in this field. In so far as the 
 problem concerns individual industries, the Commission may effec- 
 tively serve as a clearing house for the transmission of information 
 gained^ at one point to similar manufacturing plants in other parts 
 of the state. It evidently should keep itself and the manufacturing 
 interests of the state informed with reference to the effects of classes 
 of industrial wastes on aquatic life and the possibility of utilizing 
 certain by-products, the removal of which will so modify the wastes 
 as to make them relatively or entirely innocuous. In the ultimate 
 analysis, of course, the reclamation or utilization of industrial wastes 
 is a problem that belongs to the specific industry, and that cannot 
 be adequately or effectively handled except by chemists and others 
 trained in the specific conditions of that industry. The handling 
 
74 New York State 
 
 of such trade wastes is furthermore an evident responsibility of 
 the business involved. It is not too much to ask that the business 
 should assume this responsibility in the same way that it does other 
 obligations involved in the transaction of its business affairs, even 
 though the assumption makes it liable to expense. The partial 
 reclamation of industrial wastes is often profitable and occasionally 
 highly so. But the partial utilization cannot be looked upon as an 
 advantage to the public until it has been demonstrated that the 
 residue is less poisonous to animal life or in some other way less 
 significant as an element of danger in the water system into which 
 it is discharged than the total industrial waste which it displaces. 
 
 Education of Public Opinion 
 
 In order to secure adequate support for the proper enforcement 
 of any conservation law dealing with stream pollution, it will, in 
 my opinion, be necessary to educate public opinion on the signifi- 
 cance of the present situation. It is not too much to maintain that 
 the average citizen fails to comprehend the value to him and his 
 fellow citizens of the natural waterways. Of course, one would 
 expect that those engaged in manufacturing and personally interested 
 in the problem of disposing of waste matter in the easiest and most 
 inexpensive manner would be likely under any conditions to take 
 advantage of an easy opportunity which presented itself for remov- 
 ing this material from the immediate vicinity of their own activity ; 
 but manufacturing concerns have not really been the leaders in 
 adopting such a method for the disposal of waste. In the average 
 mind a stream is regarded as a convenient and natural means of 
 getting rid of waste matter, whatever its source or character; any- 
 thing thrown into the water is carried away, and the locality is 
 thereby relieved of the burden of accumulating wastes; the objects 
 are removed from sight and smell and the mind easily relieved of any 
 sense of obligation for the materials which have accumulated in the 
 course of various activities. In this way the average citizen began 
 what the manufacturer has continued on a larger scale. 
 
 How deeply fixed in the average mind such a habit is may be 
 illustrated by occurrences which have come under the observation 
 of all and which I have indeed myself witnessed. Wagons loaded 
 with refuse taken from streets and alleys are dumped on low lying 
 lands, where a slight rise in the water level carries them into the 
 stream, or even are thrown from the banks of the stream into the 
 current itself. Now if this is not commonly practised at the present 
 
Stream Pollution 75 
 
 day by municipal authorities, because of the interference from state 
 officials concerned in safeguarding the conditions of the streams, 
 it nevertheless can frequently be witnessed on a small scale in many 
 places, and is a regular habit on the part of citizens whose establish- 
 ments border on water courses, especially where the amount of 
 refuse is small and the practice of throwing it into the stream is 
 not accompanied by such conspicuous evidence of the occurrence 
 that comment and official criticism is provoked. 
 
 This is really a survival of the ancient method of disposing of 
 garbage and waste in cities and towns at large. What was not 
 wanted by the property holder was carelessly pitched over the wall 
 into the public roadway, and while perhaps few men of the present 
 generation can recall accumulations of rubbish in the front streets 
 of American cities, they were frequent in the recent past, and are 
 still to be found at times in the alleys and on the vacant lots of 
 some cities. The practice, so far as it concerns public roadways, 
 has been thoroughly discountenanced, and generally is specifically 
 prohibited by law that is well enforced at the present date; but the 
 waterways, which have inherited the practice, have not yet been 
 adequately protected against this evident violation of general com- 
 munity interests. The reasons are not far to seek. As piles of 
 refuse on the streets are conspicuous and often offensive to the 
 citizens of the immediate locality in which they are produced, the 
 source is readily determined for the most part and the responsibility 
 easily placed. Where waste matter is emptied into the water high 
 way, liquid material is diluted, and larger, mpre solid wastes 
 rapidly broken up, until their character is not readily ascertained; 
 moreover, the source is in many cases so distant that, while it might 
 be determined, the responsibility for the condition is not distinctly 
 placed without much expenditure of time and energy. 
 
 It is time to clear our minds of the conception that a water road- 
 way is an appropriate receptacle for waste material, any more than 
 the streets of our cities. Indeed, it may confidently be said that the 
 habit of using the streams for the reception of waste results in 
 more unsightly conditions than follow the accumulation of ashes 
 and rubbish in piles along the highway, and the ultimate conse- 
 quences of adding wastes to the streams are more serious for human 
 existence than the practice of permitting garbage to decay along 
 the roadside. 
 
 To what an extent advantage has been taken of the general state 
 of public opinion and the laxity of public officials, or the want of 
 
76 New York State 
 
 legal restrictions for proper control of our streams, may be judged 
 by the fact that boats plying upon river and lake waters have been 
 frequently seen to indulge in the practice of throwing over-board 
 sweepings, rubbish, broken packing-cases, garbage, and other waste 
 materials. The practice has become in some rivers so general that 
 one may regularly find upon the bank at certain points broken boxes, 
 spoiled fruit and other remnants from the kitchen department of 
 river boats These things are not only an offense against general 
 decency, but render the river unsightly and constitute a damage to 
 which property owners justly object, and in which their objections 
 should be reasonably supported by the community at large. The 
 damage wrought in this way may on the whole be small, but it is 
 conspicuous and it is also certainly conducive to the formation of 
 a false public sentiment, so that it should be not only discouraged 
 but stringently forbidden. Definite action in such cases, and the 
 discussion of the situation in the public press, will do much to 
 formulate the right public opinion and pave the way for a broader 
 conception of public rights and for the support of public officials in 
 protecting those rights. I would, therefore, recommend that steps 
 be taken to introduce and enforce appropriate legislation. This 
 should make it a misdemeanor: I. for persons, corporations, or 
 municipalities to throw rubbish, animals dead or alive, waste paper, 
 boxes, etc., into any lake or stream ; 2. for any boat to dump garbage, 
 sweepings, waste or rubbish of any sort into a lake or river. 
 
 Necessary to Enlist All Influences 
 
 Finally, it seems to me that the Conservation Commission should 
 organize an educational campaign and acquaint the citizens of the 
 state far and wide with the value of their aquatic resources, the 
 dangers that are faced by virtue of the increasing pollution of 
 streams, and the means that should be taken to eliminate these 
 troubles. It is imperative not only to restore the streams to their 
 primitive condition and to make them again as beautiful and useful 
 as in the past, but, also, to develop the aquatic resources so that 
 they shall be a source of greater pleasure and profit to the individual 
 citizen and to the state. In this educational campaign, every effort 
 should be made to enlist all possible agencies in the work. The 
 regular educational forces of the state should be called upon to 
 contribute their share to the movement. There is now conducted 
 at various times in the educational program of all schools and col- 
 leges considerable work on natural history, on the resources of the 
 state, and on its plants and animals. The attention of teachers 
 should be called to the importance of indicating at the proper points 
 
Stream Pollution 77 
 
 the significance of changes that are taking place; they should be 
 taught to appreciate and in turn to make their scholars understand 
 the difference between those changes which are essential results of 
 increasing population and of subjecting the earth to the profitable 
 uses of mankind and such as are due to the carelessness or greed 
 of individual citizens or limited groups. Especial attention should 
 be paid to the organization of this work in the school system, so 
 that it may be as widely and effectively introduced as possible. The 
 effect of such propaganda cannot be overestimated. After a few 
 years* work the number of persons thus trained to appreciate the 
 significance of our aquatic resources will be great enough to consti- 
 tute an irresistible force in favor of right legislation and of proper 
 enforcement of existing laws. The study of bird life in our schools 
 has done much to protect the birds and influence proper legislation 
 as well as to make men appreciate the value and beauty of these 
 members of our fauna. The same sort of work with aquatic animals 
 will give irresistible support to conservation measures affecting the 
 aquatic organisms. 
 
 State extension work, influences of libraries of all kinds, and all 
 scientific organizations, like the local game protection associations 
 and such general bodies as the Agassiz Association among school 
 children, should be actively enlisted in behalf of this work, which 
 will appeal to them and which will be greatly advantaged by their 
 assistance. Of course, as forestry workers and associations are 
 directly interested in this problem, they should be utilized to spread 
 information of the proper type. The influence of public lectures and 
 moving-pictures should not be forgotten. If the Commission were 
 to prepare and have shown throughout the state, with appropriate 
 comment, a film illustrating the value of our aquatic resources and 
 showing infringement on them at various points, many would be 
 brought to think of the problem and to lend their influence for its 
 proper solution who would not otherwise come in contact with the 
 question at all. 
 
 National Vigor and Food Supply 
 
 I cannot close this report without calling attention again and in 
 emphatic manner to the far-reaching importance of the question of 
 stream pollution. We became aware during war times of the sig- 
 nificance of food and the seriousness of all influences which reduce 
 its quality and quantity, as well as the great importance of measures 
 for increasing the sources of the food supply. It must not be for- 
 gotten that the question is more than a problem of war times. It 
 
78 New Yoek State 
 
 seems likely that food will never again be as cheap in this country 
 as it has been in the past. The American nation has enjoyed i 
 varied food supply obtainable in abundance at reasonably low cost, 
 and there is little doubt that this has contributed to produce the 
 physical vigor and intellectual strength and the independence of 
 action of which we as a nation are proud. If this is in any degree 
 true, it becomes the paramount duty of those responsible for the con- 
 servation and development of national or state resources to exert 
 every possible influence for the protection and increase of the food 
 supply; to resist procedures that threaten any limitation of it, and to 
 improve the conditions that surround its production. Stream pollu- 
 tion threatens the existence of aquatic life. It has already contributed 
 to the reduction in our production of fish food, and if continued will 
 ultimately destroy this great national resource. No one would for 
 a moment think of permitting the destruction of great areas of 
 fertile land. The total area of our water bodies represents a very 
 large fraction of the usable surface of the dry land. The changes 
 which have been going on under the surface of the water have failed 
 to impress us because they have been hidden from view. We have, 
 however, means of testing these changes definitely and of applying 
 means for the correction of the evils. It is incumbent upon us to 
 ascertain the exact facts and to act before our splendid aquatic 
 resources have been entirely destroyed. 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
 
 Forbes, S. A. 1910. The Investigation of a River System in the 
 Interest of its Fisheries. 
 
 Read before the Am. Fish. Soc, New York City, Septem- 
 ber 2&, 1 910. b 
 
 Forbes, S. A., and Richardson, A. M. 1913. Studies on the 
 Biology of the Upper Illinois River. 
 
 Bull. 111. State Lab. of Nat. Hist. 9:481 — 574, 20 plates. 
 
 Marsh, M. C. 1907. The Potomac River Basin. 
 
 Water Supply and Irrigation, Bull. 192. U. S, Geol. Surv. 
 
 Marsh, M. C. 1916. Sewage Disposal by Fish Culture. 
 Trans. Am. Fish. Soc, 45:170-6. June, 1916. 
 
 Shelford, V. E, 1917. An experimental study of the effects of 
 gas waste upon fishes, with especial reference to stream pol- 
 lution. 
 
 Bull. 111. State Lab., 11:381-412. 
 
 Turner, C. E. 1918. Plant and Animal Life in the Purification of 
 a Polluted Stream. 
 
 Sci. Mo., 7«34~45. (July.) 
 
 Wells, M. M. 1918, The Reactions and Resistance of Fishes to 
 Carbon Monoxide and Carbon Dioxide. 
 
 Bull. 111. State Lab. Nat. Hist, 11:557-579.