Note 377 — Chapter IV · (continued 2)

The fact, that the mixing of salt and fresh water in coast marshes and lagoons is deleterious to the sanitary condition of the vicinity, seems almost universally admitted, though the precise reason why a mixture of both should be more injurious than either alone, is not altogether clear. It has been suggested that the admission of salt water to the lagoons and rivers kills many fresh water plants and animals, while the fresh water is equally fatal to many marine organisms, and that the decomposition of the remains originates poisonous miasmata. Other theories however have been proposed. The whole subject is fully and ably discussed by Dr. Salvagnoli Marchetti in the appendix to his valuable Rapporto sul Bonificamento delle Maremme Toscane. See also the Memorie Economico-Statistiche sulle Maremme Toscane, of the same author.