New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-04-22
TYPHOID CONTAMINATION
bordeaux Nurture Not a CurG-AH-
ONLY ETperts Should Use 1t.
rFRox THE TRIBUNE BUREAU

W washington, April Zi.-NO person VIII De AT
all warranted in attempting to purify the
sources of drinking water. according TO
the officials of the Department of Agriculture.
by the use of Bordeaux mixture or other prep
aration of copper in the absence of explicit In
structions from the department and of the
supervision of competent authorities
The premature publication of the presumptve
discovery Of a method of eradicating typhoid
contamination has resulted in numerous in
quiries addressed to the Bureau Of Plant In
dustry, none Of which can be answered in adj
vance of the completion of a statement which
is to be used in the form of a bulletin within
the next two months, but. for fear that mex
perienced persons may be led to undertake
Ieriments which likely to result disastrous
~, Albert +. Woods, chief pathOogist and
Psychologist Of the department, has made
comprehensive statement for The Tribune which
follows:
With regard 20 the work that this Office is
doing IN its laboratory of plant physiology on
the subject of alg@ and bacterial cOntamna-
lioh OF water nothing more can ne stated uilIiI
the bulletin presenting the experiments I'm de-
tail is issued, which viii probably be within the
next fifty sixty days.
An article which appeared in the public press
On the subject was based upon statement
which I made to the Agricultural Committee,
and which printed by the committee in
its regular report. The statement was not sufi-
GENTLY complete TO warrant the publication Of
a newspaper article.
The simple facts in the case. as has already
been stated. are that the department has been
working for some time upon a process of de-
stroy1ng the communicating organisms above
mentioned, and we believe that have
cured results that will be useful In the hands
OF properly qualified persons The materials
that we use preparations OF copper There
Is absolutely disagreement between DIT.
Moore and myself in regard to the nature OF
these preparations The fact is that we use
different preparations for different cases. Every
reservoir, pond, lake, or whatever the supply
ko 14rr ,erf-
ana tle proper treatment cannot be determined
except by such study. The effect of the treat
lnent on the typhoid organism was matter en-
ureIy secondary TO the main purpose OF our IN
vestigation. We believe we have discovered
some important facts relating to the effect OF
the copper preparations upon typhoid and re-
lated bacteria. and the results will be placed in
the hands If authorities competent to judge OF
their usefulness al the proper time.
Another erroneous impression that seems to
be widely spread is that we have process that
is calculated to take ;he place OF the present
'tse, ana we have not made any statements
which could be properly thus interpreted. The
Importance Of sand filtration in getting rid OF
typhoid organisms In water supply is so well
established as to be beyond question 1t Is q
system that should be adopted by every mu-
nicipaity, large and small in public water sup
plies. The value Of our process is more In the
nature of supplemental methods Of cleaning out
and disinfecting with materials which do not
have the poisonous property to human life OF
ordinary disinfectants.
1 cannot be too emphatic in the statement
that any method Of publication must be con-
troiled absolutely by fully qualified experts. and
no attempt should be made by any person not
so qualified to NEEDLE in these matters.
The facts are. moreover. that temperature.
chemical constituents of the water TO be treated
and various other conditions not only modify.
but completely alter the methods Of treatment
necessary for the eradication Of Injurious bac-
terra The chemical constituents Of the water
Itself necessarily produce a greater or less eff
Att
and the preparation indicated by the conditions
in one reservoir would thus be Intellectual in an
other or IN running water. The same comment
applies to temperamentaI conditions, which are
capable Of rendering worse than useless the
methods which would prove successful under
different conditions
Experimentation. therefore, without all the
carefully prepared data at the command Of the
Bureau or Plant Industry would Inevitably re- .
suit in disCrediting the scientific facts developed
by the series Of experiments conducted by Mr.. :
Woods and DR. Moore, and il is for that reason
that they are unwilling to make public in an I'M
otcial and unauthentic form the results of their
investi cations.
From what has been said II is obvious that ex-
periments based on partial data by inexperienced
persons or those without scientific knowledge
would Inevitably prove worse than useless.
They would be dangerous 20 every one in the
vicinity where such work was undertaken and
are most heartily deprecated by those officials OF
the department who are competent to speak
It Will be seen from Mr.. WOodss statement
that the claims put forth for DIR. Moore's disCov-
cry nave been somewhat exaggerated. and that,
even when the anticipated bulletin is published.
there Will follow disappointment among those
who expect popular cure all for typhoid con-
tamination. But The conservative manner with
which the officials OF the department them
selves describe their discovery and their reluc-
tance to claim more than they have actually dis
covered will compel the respect OF the scientific
world, by which the official announcement Will
doubtless be received with the respect 1t de-
serves. The bulletin will not be published for
popular distribution, but Will he free to scien-
lists. health officers and scientific bodies who
are in a position to further the work Of the
Bureau of Plant Industry by carrying on further
experimentation under proper supervision.