THEIR NAT JRE & ORIGIN, 
 
 AND 
 
 How TO PROTECT OUR DWELLINGS. 
 
 BY 
 
 ADOLFO DE VARONA, A.M., M,D. 
 
 Not until the properties of air and water and food art 
 taught in schools in preference to the abstract rui^ of 
 grammar, and the distorted Jtycts of history, will wen 
 come to understand the magnitude of the crime that is 
 committed by those who poison the air of their cities, the 
 water of their rivers, the supplies of their market places. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. REVISED AND ENLARGED. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 D. VAN NOSTRAND, PUBLISHER, 
 23 MURRAY AND 2T WARREN STREET. 
 
 1882. 
 
TI 
 
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THEIR NATURE & ORIGIN, 
 
 AND 
 
 How TO PROTECT OUR DWELLINGS. 
 
 BT 
 
 ADOLFO DE VARONA, A.M., MJD. 
 
 Not until the properties of air and water and food are 
 taught in schools in preference to the abstract [rules of 
 grammar, and the distorted facts of history, will men 
 come to understand the magnitude of [the] crime that is 
 committed by those who poison the air of their cities,. the 
 water of their rivers, the supplies of their market places. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. REVISED AND ENLARGED. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 D. VAN NOSTRAND, PUBLISHER 
 23 MURRAY AND 27 WARREN STREET. 
 
 1882. 
 
CTERAL 
 
 COPYBIGHT D. VAN NOSTBAND 1882. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THIS little volume is an unpretentious 
 effort to present, in the briefest possible 
 manner, the gleanings of several years' 
 careful study of the Sewer Gas question. 
 It has been condensed from the lectures 
 on Sanitary Science delivered by the 
 author before various Medical Societies 
 and Colleges. While extended considera- 
 tion has been given to those matters 
 that specially call for it, brevity has been 
 aimed at, that whatever other faults may 
 be found with the discourse, no one shall 
 deny it the rare merit of being short. 
 
 A. VAEONA. 
 Brooklyn, 1879. 
 
 705 
 
PART I. 
 
 CONTENTS OF PART I. 
 
 NECESSITY OF SANITARY MEASURES.? 
 
 COMPOSITION OF SEWAGE] 
 
 SEWER GASES. 
 
 RELATION OF SEWER GASES TO DISEASE' 
 
 SEWERS. 
 
 SIZE OF SEWERS. 
 
 INCLINATION OF SEWERS. 
 
 SHAPE OF SEWERS. 
 
 MATERIAL OF SEWERS. 
 
 CONSTRUCTION OF SEWERS 
 
 VENTILATION OF SEWERS. 
 
 HOUSE DRAINS. 
 
SEWER GASES 
 
 AND 
 
 How TO PROTECT OUR DWELLINGS. 
 
 I. 
 
 NECESSITY OF SANITARY MEASURES. 
 
 MAN, considered individually, differs 
 widely from man viewed as one of the 
 aggregates that form the complex social 
 organism. 
 
 Individually, his wants are few, his 
 relations to his surroundings simple. 
 Aggregately, his wants are multiplied by 
 the wants of those around him. His re- 
 lations increase in complexity as the or- 
 ganization of which he is a member 
 increases in numbers. 
 
 Leading an individual existence, re- 
 moved from the habitations of other 
 men, he readily finds the three things 
 
8 
 
 essential to his maintenance pure air, 
 pure water, unadulterated food. He 
 scatters the waste products of his in- 
 trinsic and extrinsic economy upon the 
 soil around him, where vegetation at 
 once preys upon them, nourishes itself 
 with them, elaborates them, returns 
 them to him reconverted into pure air, 
 pure water, and wholesome food. Thus 
 the chain of life goes on in uninterrupted 
 cycles. It is the law. 
 
 But as men congregate, vegetation is 
 banished from their immediate surround- 
 ings, the simple commerce between 
 animal and vegetable life is impeded, the 
 return to the earth of what belongs to 
 the earth is retarded, the cycle is inter- 
 rupted. As no law of nature can be 
 broken with impunity, this interruption 
 is fatal to the transgressors. The pres- 
 ence of the waste products of the animal 
 economy is fatal to animal life. Their 
 prompt removal from human contact be- 
 comes, therefore, a question of vital im- 
 portance. 
 
 In a congregation of men, be it a set- 
 
9 
 
 tlement, market-place, army encampment, 
 village or town, it is not enough that the 
 individual should dispose of his own re- 
 fuse in a manner not offensive to him- 
 self, but also in such a way as not to in- 
 jure his neighbor. 
 
 This duty being reciprocal, it is obvious 
 that all the members of a community 
 are equally interested in its compliance 
 the neglect of one may bring suffering 
 to all. 
 
 As there are always in large assem- 
 blies some who, from various motives, 
 fail to comply with their duties, the rest 
 are compelled to protect themselves 
 against this indifference, and sanitary laws 
 and measures spring into existence. 
 
 Of these, some of the most important 
 are the introduction of an abundant 
 supply of water into the dwellings, the 
 construction of channels for the removal 
 of the same after it has been used, with- 
 out which the free enjoyment of water 
 would be impossible, and the utilization 
 of this abundant discharge of soiled water 
 to carry away the waste products of the 
 population. 
 
10 
 
 To this mixture of water and refuse 
 the term " sewage " is applied, and the 
 conduits that carry it off are called 
 " sewers.'' 
 
 COMPOSITION OF SEWAGE. 
 
 Sewage consists, in addition to human 
 excreta, both solid and liquid, of the 
 water from kitchens, containing veget- 
 able, animal and other refuse, the water 
 from wash tubs, containing soap, and 
 the animal matter from soiled linen, 
 the drainage from stables, cow-houses, 
 pig - sty s, and slaughter-houses, contain- 
 ing animal and vegetable offal, the water 
 from factories, the trades and the streets 
 containing animal and mineral matter and 
 refuse of all sorts. 
 
 The chemical composition of sewage 
 in towns using the modern closet is on 
 an average to 
 
 1 gallon of water. 
 
 20 grains of organic matter. 
 
 6 grains of nitrogen. 
 
 1J grains of phosphoric acid. 
 
 2 grains of potash. 
 
11 
 
 In [towns where closets are not used 
 the difference in organic matter is not as 
 great as might at first be supposed, being 
 only from one to ten parts less in one 
 hundred thousand. There is also a dif- 
 ference in the composition of sewage at 
 different hours, day sewage containing 
 twice as much organic matter as night 
 sewage. 2 
 
 Under the microscope, sewage is found 
 to contain a quantity of dead and decay- 
 ing animal matter, and, in addition, mul- 
 titudes of living bacteria, amoebiform 
 bodies, ciliated infusoria, fungi, a few 
 diatomes, and occasionally rotifers and 
 other higher organisms. 
 
 SEWAGE GASES. 
 
 The tendency of such a complex liquid 
 as sewage is naturally to undergo >de- 
 composition, and, if the conditions are 
 favorable, to resolve itself into its 
 simplest elements. 
 
 If we bear in mind that of the four 
 chief elements which in various combina- 
 tions make up organic matter, three are 
 gases that is, substances of great molec. 
 
12 
 
 ular activity ; that these, in combina- 
 tion with carbon, are held in solution or 
 suspension by water, the molecular 
 mobility of which is such that its fluid 
 and solid masses are constantly passing 
 into the form of vapor, it is not to be 
 wondered at that, before these substances 
 reach their ultimate elementary condi- 
 tion, they should pass through interme- 
 diate rearrangement of molecules, and 
 different gases should be evolved. 
 
 These gases are well known ; they 
 have been isolated ; we are familiar with 
 their properties, such are 
 
 Nitrogen. N. 
 
 Carburated hydrogen, or coal gas, 
 C 4 H 3 H. 
 
 Light carburated hydrogen, or 
 marsh gas, C H 2 . 
 
 Sulphurated hydrogen, S H 2 . 
 
 Ammonia, N H 3 . 
 
 Sulphide of ammonium, S H 4 N. 
 
 Carbonic acid, C O 2 . 
 
 Carbonic oxide, C O. 
 
 Carbo ammonaical vapors. 
 It must not be supposed, however, 
 
13 
 
 that decomposing sewage constantly 
 emits any one of these gasses in an iso- 
 lated state, nor all of them in combina- 
 tion at any one time. The emanations 
 assume sometimes one form, and some- 
 times another, according to the organic 
 and mineral substances in the sewage, its 
 velocity, temperature, amount of possible 
 oxidation, degree of sunlight, and other 
 conditions. 
 
 As for the composition of any definite 
 sewer gas, the only available analysis is 
 that made by the Sewer Department of 
 Paris of the gas which bubbles up to the 
 surface from the sewer beds at the bottom 
 of the river Seine, and which is probably 
 not unlike what we would find at the 
 foot of some of our piers, in the vicinity 
 of sewer outlets. 
 
 The above mentioned analysis gave as 
 a result : 
 
 Carburated hydrogen 72.88 
 
 Sulphurated hydrogen 6.70 
 
 Carbonic acid 12 .30 
 
 Carbonic oxide 2.54 
 
 Other substances 5.68 
 
 In parts 100.00 
 
14 
 
 Gases are liberated in stagnant sew- 
 age at the rate of one and a-half cubic 
 inches per gallon per hour, the quantity 
 being susceptible of great increase by 
 high temperature, and decrease by veloc- 
 ity and dilution. 
 
 RELATION OF SEWER GASES TO DISEASE. 
 
 It is no longer a matter of doubt that 
 the emanations from sewage either 
 develop or favor the development of 
 many forms of disease. Proofs incon- 
 trovertible of this fact may be adduced 
 from the lowered rates of mortality in 
 towns, as soon as means are provided 
 for the prompt removal of sewage ; and 
 not only is it noticed that their sanitary 
 works have the effect of staying the 
 ravages of disease, but also that in many 
 places they have had that of prolonging 
 the average duration of life. 3 
 
 In twelve English cities selected from 
 the records collected by the medical 
 officers of the Privy Council of Great 
 Britain, the decrease in mortality follow- 
 
15 
 
 ing the construction of sanitary works 
 was as follows : 
 
 In Banbury, mortality decreased 12J per 100. 
 
 "Cardiff, " " 32 
 
 " CroydoD, " " 22 
 
 " Dover, " " 7 " 
 
 " Ely, " " 14 
 
 " Leicester, " " 4% " 
 
 " Macclesfield, " " 20 
 
 "Merthyr, " " 18 
 
 '"Newport, " 32 
 
 "Rugby, " (i 2% " 
 
 " Warwick, " " 7% " 
 
 In twenty -five cities and towns, with 
 an aggregate population of 593,736, the 
 removal of ground water and sewage 
 had the effect of decreasing the death- 
 rate per ten thousand, in the following 
 manner : 
 
 From all causes ......... from 247.65 to 2119.87 
 
 " Typhoid fever, " 13.34" 7.80 
 
 " Diarrhoea, " 8.45 " 7.66 
 
 " Pulmon. consump., " 33.44" 27.30 
 
 Among infants under one 
 year, all causes, " 55.65" 50,00 
 
 The average number of years for 
 which the death-rates were calculated 
 
16 
 were before improvements, 7 ; after 
 
 In some of these towns the professional 
 opinion given at the time was, " that 
 improper construction or ventilation of 
 the sewers had been the probable cause 
 of increasing the death rate, by exposing 
 people to the direct effects of deleterious 
 gases." 
 
 To these, which may be called nega- 
 tive proofs, iunumerable positive ones 
 may be added. 
 
 Of course in endeavoring to analyze 
 the death statistics of sewage-polluted 
 communities, we soon find that with re- 
 gard to many of the separate cases in 
 the miscellaneous mortality, we cannot 
 argue in exact scientific terms, partly 
 because very large quantities are regis- 
 tered under names which have no defi- 
 nite nosological meaning, and partly be- 
 cause some kinds, which we can identify 
 by name, are such as we do not etiologi- 
 cally understand ; so that, in the majority 
 of cases, all we may be able to establish 
 is the broad fact, that within an area of 
 
17 
 
 sewer gas contamination, the deaths in 
 total amount are greatly more numerous 
 than they ought to be, that of children, 
 especially, being twice, three times, and 
 even four times their fair rate of morta- 
 lity, and that the excess, or at least a cer- 
 tain share of the excess, can only be 
 accounted for as the effect of sewer gas 
 poisoning. 
 
 Though when that broad conclusion is 
 reached, more detailed conclusions may 
 at first sight scarcely seena needed for 
 practical purposes, yet there is advant- 
 age in establishing the details of each 
 case as exactly as the circumstances will 
 allow, not only because it concerns the 
 problem of preventive medicine, which 
 we are discussing, that all our attribu- 
 tions of cause and effect should be in 
 the spirit of exact science, but also be- 
 cause arguments from general death 
 rates may fail to carry conviction. I 
 therefore proceed to speak with some 
 detail of individual diseases, which can 
 be traced to direct sewage emanations. 
 
 The town of Croydon, already men- 
 
18 
 
 tioned, has become famous for its con- 
 tributions to the literature of this ques- 
 tion. In the year 1873 twelve hundred 
 cases of typhoid fever occurred, one 
 hundred and four of which proved fatal. 
 On examination, it was ascertained that 
 in a very considerable majority of the 
 families visited by the fever, drain air, 
 charged with infection from the common 
 sewers of the town, had the opportunity 
 of entering the houses. Habitations free 
 from this nuisance were not visited by 
 the fever. 
 
 At Fort Cumberland, near the entrance 
 of Portsmouth, and close to flats bare at 
 low tide, a large number of troops were 
 stationed. The sewage of the town had 
 usually been discharged at ebb tide, but 
 having recently been pumped into the 
 harbor at the flood, a large amount was 
 deposited on the mud banks near the 
 fort. This caused a severe epidemic of 
 enteric fever among the troops. The 
 sick men were at once removed, the 
 sewage dredged off, and the epidemic at 
 once ceased. 
 
19 
 
 In the city of Buenos Ayres, during the 
 cholera epidemic of 1867, five per cent, of 
 the entire population died. In the yellow 
 fever epidemic of 1871 more than 10 per 
 cent, perished. There was a careful in- 
 vestigation of the causes of this fearful 
 mortality, and sewage emanations were 
 shown to be so far responsible for it that 
 a distinguished English engineer was at 
 once engaged to carry out a complete 
 system of sewerage and water supply. 
 In the language of the report upon the 
 subject by Dr. Eawson, delegate to the 
 International Medical Congress at Phila- 
 delphia, 1876, "the works of drainage 
 and sewerage, so actively prosecuted at 
 the present time, are destined to radi- 
 cally remove this infection." 
 
 During 1875 Savannah had a very 
 Similar experience, largely from similar 
 causes ; and an epidemic of scarlatina 
 in Baltimore was traced by Dr. Morris to 
 the effluvia of drains impregnated with 
 the refuse of slaughter-houses. 
 
 New York has had several epidemics 
 traceable to defective sewerage, no- 
 
20 
 
 ticeably one of cerebro spinal menin- 
 gitis. 
 
 An investigation into the causes and 
 conditions of yellow fever in the United 
 States, with the help of the library of the 
 Surgeon-General at Washington, and a 
 personal experience of over two thousand 
 cases, concludes "that nothing is so im- 
 portant in the prevention of yellow fever 
 as proper water supply and sewerage." 
 The writer further says that the disease 
 cannot be taken in a pure air from per- 
 sons, clothing, trunks, or black vomit ; 
 but in an impure air, other things being 
 suitable, it can be taken from either. 4 
 
 In the investigation into the causes of 
 diphtheria, in Lynn, Mass., among many 
 interesting cases the following occurs : 
 " Case of family No. 44 The house was 
 well ordered, and the first impression 
 was that everything was as it should be. 
 But a careful search showed an over- 
 flowing cesspool under a bedroom win- 
 dow. Three persons of the five consti- 
 tuting the family had diphtheria in *a 
 severe form. Two of these slept in the 
 
21 
 
 bedroom above mentioned, and the other 
 in one adjoining." 
 
 From the same report we gather that, 
 in the wards where the largest number 
 of cases occurred, " only a small portion 
 of the territory is drained." 
 
 From a report of a similar investiga- 
 tion in Brooklyn, we quote the follow- 
 ing: 
 
 " Among the many cases investigated 
 wherein diphtheria was clearly traceable 
 to defective house drainage, the follow- 
 ing notable one may be mentioned : In 
 February of this year (1877), a number 
 of cases of diphtheria were reported from 
 No. 354 Smith street. In one week five 
 of these proved fatal. The house was 
 one of a row of five four story tenements, 
 accommodating about five families each. 
 It was occupied as follows : First floor, 
 on which was store, and the kitchen in the 
 cellar, by a woman and one child ; the 
 second floor by three adults and two 
 children ; the third floor by two adults and 
 five children, and the fourth floor by two 
 families, consisting of three adults and two 
 
22 
 
 children a total of eighteen inmates in 
 all. Of this number, seven, all children, 
 had been sick with diphtheria, and five 
 from the family living on the third floor 
 had died." 
 
 The health officer, who made a de- 
 tailed examination of the premises, traces 
 the origin of this disease directly to the 
 imperfect sewerage, which in his report 
 he describes. 
 
 Add to this that it is no uncommon 
 experience to have in localities infected 
 by sewage emanations, persons with 
 accidental wounds, or the wounds of sur- 
 gical operations, affected with erysi- 
 pelas, pyaemia and septicaemia, while par- 
 turient females are not unfrequently at- 
 tacked with puerperal fever. 
 
 It is not my aim to attempt to give 
 any exact statement of the total influence 
 which sewer emanations exert upon 
 health, for as a general thing it is only 
 as far as diseases kill that their effect can 
 be represented in numbers. Of the in- 
 calculable amount of physical suffering, 
 the disablement which they occasion, the 
 
23 
 
 sorrows, the anxieties, the darkening of 
 life, the strained means of subsistence, 
 the destitution or pauperism which often 
 attend or follow such suffering, death 
 statistics and health board reports, to 
 which alone I can refer, testify only by 
 suggestion. However, what we have 
 said is sufficient to show that of the death 
 rates which we register each year, fully 
 one-half are of the zymotic order, and of 
 these the great majority are due to the 
 effects of bad drainage. 
 
 The question now arises. Does sewage 
 gas really produce these diseases, or does 
 it only establish a condition that favors 
 their development ? In other words, Is 
 sewage gas the infectious element, or is 
 it sewage gas plus something else? 
 
 We have seen the list of gases genera- 
 ted in the ordinary process of sewage de- 
 composition; let us subject them to a 
 species of mental proving. Nitrogen is 
 inert and harmless to the human sys- 
 tem. 
 
 Carburated hydrogen or coal gas has 
 an ethereal, disagreeable smell, but it 
 
can be breathed in great quantities with 
 impunity. 
 
 Light carburated hydrogen or marsh 
 gas is odorless ; it explodes if a flame is 
 applied to it as it is liberated into atmos- 
 pheric air ; but it is also harmless as ob- 
 tained in the laboratory, though it is 
 accused, with what foundation no one 
 knows, of producing malaria when gene- 
 rated in marshes. 
 
 Sulphurated hydrogen has a bad odor, 
 produces vertigo and vomiting, but is 
 otherwise harmless. 
 
 Ammonia has a pungent odor; in a 
 concentrated form it may burn exposed 
 surfaces, such as the conjunctiva, the 
 larynx, but it is also harmless. 
 
 Sulphide of ammonium has a bad smell, 
 may produce immediate asphyxia if in- 
 haled in large volume, but, unless it kill, 
 it produces nothing but nausea and 
 headache. 
 
 Carbonic acid has a pungent, musty 
 odor, it kills if breathed in sufficient 
 quantity for a sufficient length of time, 
 but, like sulphide of ammonium, unless 
 
25 
 
 it kill, leaves no other after effect than 
 vertigo and slight debility. Such is the 
 experience of a thousand would-be 
 suicides. 
 
 Carbonic oxide is odorless, and still 
 more poisonous, but precisely in the 
 same manner as the acid it either kills 
 or does no harm. 
 
 No typhoid, dysentery, diphtheria, 
 scarlatina, erysipelas, or anything similar 
 to these conditions has ever been pro- 
 duced by the inhalation of these gases 
 when generated in the laboratory, in the 
 
 process of the arts, in mining operations, 
 etc. s 
 
 What, then, are the causes of so many 
 diseases from the same gases, when 
 generated in the sewers ? They seldom 
 or never enter our houses in sufficiei*t 
 quantity to materially diminish the re- 
 lative amount of atmospheric oxygen, or 
 to poison with carbonic acid or sulphide 
 of ammonium, yet their results are posi- 
 tive. They act as infections, and their 
 physiological effects are unlike those 
 which follow the breathing of any known 
 gases. 
 
1.6 
 
 What is the natural deduction ? If the 
 physiological effects which follow the 
 breathing of sewage gases are actually 
 produced by what then enters the organ- 
 ism, it must be something besides oxygen, 
 hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon and sulphur, 
 in their various combinations. 
 
 If we note the manner in which sewage 
 emanations act upon the system we will 
 find it bears no analogy with the action 
 of any chemically -known substance, 
 gaseous or otherwise. 
 
 The effects of any chemically-known 
 poison are always the same, producing 
 the same disturbances, the same symp- 
 toms, the same organic lesions, the same 
 mode of death. The results are always 
 proportionate to the amount of poison 
 taken, and these effects cease with the 
 victim. 
 
 Sewage emanations act in a very differ- 
 ent manner. They produce diseases of a 
 very different physiological and ana- 
 tomical value. Very small amounts may 
 develop fatal ailments, on the one hand, 
 and on the other, large amounts may 
 
27 
 
 produce but slight derangements. And, 
 above all, the poison once implanted in 
 a human being is capable of reproducing 
 itself ad infinitum. 
 
 It is also a noteworthy fact that the 
 virulence of sewage poisoning does not 
 depend as much upon any known condi- 
 tion of the gas as upon the personal con- 
 dition of the victim, such as age, habits, 
 state of health, etc. Many facts prove 
 that a contaminated atmosphere may be 
 breathed with impunity in hours of 
 activity, which would produce serious 
 ailments if breathed when the system is 
 in the non-resistant condition of sleep, or 
 even a posture of rest. 
 
 Carpenter relates that a large number 
 of children in one of the English work- 
 houses were twice attacked with severe > 
 diarrhoea from exposure to emanations 
 from a manure factory, while the work- 
 men all enjoyed good health. 
 
 Murchison states that in a school 
 at Clapham, twenty out of twenty-two 
 boys were seized with violent vomiting, 
 purging, prostration and fever, within 
 
28 
 
 three hours after exposure to foul emana- 
 tions rising from a sewer which they had 
 been watching the workmen clear. None 
 of the workmen became ill. 
 
 In the epidemic of typhoid fever at 
 Croydon, already cited, the report says ; 
 " We found female servants chiefly at- 
 tacked, and their children; the fathers 
 were seldom sick at all." 
 
 It is a well-known fact in malarial dis- 
 tricts that the inhabitants do not hesi- 
 tate to walk or ride, especially after eat- 
 ing, through regions where they could 
 not sleep or even drive with impunity ; 
 and the fact that the six hundred work- 
 men in the thoroughly ventilated sewers 
 of Paris are generally exempt from 
 zymotic diseases, as has been shown by 
 severe epidemics in the city at various 
 times, though cited by some in support 
 of the theory that sewage emanations 
 produce no diseases at all, is only an 
 evidence of the resisting power given to 
 the organism by active exercise. 
 
 Let us now return to the fact that in 
 sewage, besides its chemical constituents, 
 
.29 
 
30 
 
 EXPLANATION OF PLATE I. 
 FIG. 1. Sediment of sewage . 
 
 1. Fungi. 
 22. Vorticelae. 
 
 3. Probably epitheleum. 
 44. Diatomes. 
 555. Confervae. 
 
 6. Mycelial filaments. 
 
 7. Sporules. 
 
 8. Cellular organism, apparently in process of seg- 
 
 mentation. 
 
 9. Amoebiform body. 
 
 10. Kerona. 
 
 11. Vegetable matter in process of "decay. 
 
 12. (?). 
 
 13. Actinophrys. 
 
 14. Rotifer. 
 
 15. Large fungus, apparently in process of growth. 
 
 16. Bacteria. 
 
 FIG. 2. Fungi taken from the intestines of a rabbit. 
 
 Upper half of slide, Fungi as they were found in the 
 intestine of the animal. 
 
 Lower half. The same after being planted on a slice 
 of apple. 
 
31 
 
 the microscope reveals the presence of 
 living bacteria, amoebae, infusoria, fungi, 
 etc. [Plate I., Fig. 1.] 
 
 I do not intend to say, ex cathedra, it 
 is the bacteria that produces the diseases : 
 I only ask to be followed patiently 
 through a series of statements, all based 
 upon facts. 
 
 In the first place we have the unim- 
 peachable fact that there exist in sewage 
 multitudes of living germs. 
 
 These germs are analogous to others 
 which experiments have shown to be 
 capable of nourishment, growth and self- 
 multiplication ; they are infinitely small, 
 light, capable of being lifted by the 
 slightest current of air, in f act t}ieir habi- 
 tat is watery vapor. In pure, dry air 
 they immediately perish. In pure air 
 charged with moisture they live for g, 
 length of time, yet undetermined. In 
 humid air charged with putrefied animal 
 matter they live, nourish themselves, and 
 acquire the full vigor of their nature. If 
 now they are deposited in a proper nidus 
 (a slice of apple is one frequently experi- 
 
32 
 
 mented with), they reproduce themselves 
 by myriads. [Plate I., Fig. 2.] 
 
 We noted that sewage, in addition to 
 its organic matter and its living things, 
 is largely composed of water ; that water 
 is constantly passing into the state of 
 vapor. We have, therefore, that as it 
 liberates its one and a half cubic inches of 
 putrid gases per gallon per hour, it gives 
 to the air around it its living germs, the 
 humidity they need to live in, and the food 
 they need to thrive upon. All they now 
 want is the nidus to hatch and multiply. 
 
 Note now the diseases produ ced by the 
 so-called sewer gases. They are always 
 of the infectious kind one case may be 
 the parent of a thousand. The first victim 
 has taken the disease from the sewage 
 vapor, through the mouth, nose or eyes, or 
 the blood-vessels may absorb it from the 
 surface of any open wound or ulcer ; but 
 the second victim need have nothing to 
 do with the sewage vapor ; he may never 
 have been near it ; he may take it directly 
 from the first victim, from his breath or 
 his secretions. 
 
33 
 
 \ 
 
 Does it not seem as though something' 
 had passed with the sewage vapor into 
 the first victim, which had there multi- 
 plied and propagated its kind, and that its 
 offspring had passed from the first victim 
 to the second, where the same phenomena 
 had been developed, and the same capa- 
 bility of reproduction. 
 
 I neither mean to commit myself here 
 to the germ theory of disease, however 
 much it may surpass in degree of reason- 
 ableness any other theory that has been 
 propounded ; nor do I intend to discuss 
 the nature of contagion, nor the origin of 
 these seemingly disease-producing living 
 organisms, nor whether it is Virchow's 
 theory of spontaneous evolution of disease 
 germs in putrefying animal matter, or 
 Pettenkofer's view of a specific germ for 
 each disease, or Burden Sanderson's putre- 
 factive ferment theory, or Liebermeister's; 
 or Beale's that deserves most credit ; nor 
 shall we take sides with either of the two 
 current views of typhoid fever, the one 
 holding that one case must be the direct 
 offspring of a preceding one ; the other, 
 
34 
 
 that the germ originates de novo in putre- 
 fying animal matter. 6 
 
 I take the bacteria as they are found, 
 come whence they may, and give the facts 
 concerning them, and their probable rela- 
 tion to the diseases caused by the so- 
 called sewage gas, such as they are. 
 
 SEWERS. 
 
 Our next duty is to consider under 
 what conditions sewer gases are generated. 
 We have said that the prompt revoval of 
 animal refuse from human contact was a 
 matter of absolute necessity, and that 
 sewers were constructed for that purpose. 
 This is no new idea, for it seems that 
 many of the nations of antiquity were as 
 well informed upon the subject of their 
 construction as we are. The ancient 
 cities of Alexandria, Carthage, Hercula- 
 neum, Ninevah, Jerusalem, Home, and 
 many others of historic fame possessed 
 systems of sewerage and water supply, 
 the completeness of which far exceeded 
 the most elaborate structures of modern 
 times. Their aqueducts still bear witness 
 
35 
 
 to their engineering skill, and the vast and 
 gloomy Cloaca, constructed twenty-five 
 centuries ago, still performs for the 
 capital of United Italy the same service 
 that it rendered to ancient Rome. 7 
 
 Following that period of scientific cul- 
 ture came the long, dark interval of 
 centuries, when the nations seemed to 
 have lapsed into ignorance of, or rather 
 indifference to, the requirements of sani- 
 tary laws, and the cities of Western 
 Europe paid no heed to precautionary 
 measures for the preservation of the 
 public health, until the "black death" 
 and the " plague " gave them fearful warn- 
 ing of the consequences of neglect. 
 
 Within the present century renewed 
 attention has been bestowed upon this 
 vital question, and during the last twenty- 
 five years it has made great progress,, 
 though no unanimity of opinion has as 
 yet been arrived at. 
 
 A perfect system of sewers is one which 
 shall carry the refuse water, without in- 
 terruption from the w^ash basin to the 
 river, to the pumping station, to the ini- 
 
36 
 
 gation field, or to whatever terminus the 
 system may have, at the rate of from 150 
 to 270 feet per minute. Whatever system 
 fails to do this ceases to be a sewer, and 
 converts itself into more or less of a re- 
 ceptacle of decomposition and foul gases. 
 That sewers may fulfill their end. their 
 size must be proportionate to the area 
 they have to serve, their inclination and 
 shape that best suited to favor the re- 
 quired velocity. The material of which 
 they are constructed must be hard, that 
 they may have the required resistance ; 
 impervious, that there may^be no soakage ; 
 smooth, on their internal surface, that 
 there may be the least friction. They 
 must be constructed in straight lines, 
 with water-tight joints, gentle curves 
 when necessary, on immovable founda- 
 tions, at sufficient depth from the surface 
 to insure proper connections with the 
 house drains, and at a convenient level at 
 the outlet. They must be provided with 
 means of inspection, they must be well 
 ventilated, they must be kept clean and 
 in good repair. 
 
37 
 
 SIZE OF SEWEKS. 
 
 It has been amply demonstrated from 
 the results gained by experience in the 
 management and workings of sewers, that 
 by so proportioning the size, form and in- 
 clination of a sewer to the volume of 
 sewage it has to convey, it may be made 
 self-cleansing. This has done away with 
 the necessity of making them large enough 
 for a man to pass through them, and the 
 conditions which govern their size at any 
 one point are simply the amount of sew- 
 age proper passing at that point, and the 
 amount of probable rain governing that 
 locality. 
 
 When the sewers in our principal 
 cities were planned and commenced, the 
 appointed engineers had to depend en- 
 tirely upon foreign experiments and 
 foreign experience (mainly English) $or 
 any data in regard to the amount of sew- 
 age per dwelling-house, or per city acre, 
 to be provided for, as weU as for the 
 amount of rain-water reaching a sewer 
 within a given time ; and it is not to be 
 wondered at that the application of these 
 
38 
 
 data, though successful in the main, have 
 shown themselves to be defective in cer- 
 tain particulars, which will be mentioned. 8 
 
 Experiments made in London shows the 
 sewage proper there to be about five cubic 
 feet per head per diem in the poorer 
 districts, and eight cubic feet per head per 
 diem in the wealthy ones ; and that is the 
 basis upon which most of our sewers are 
 constructed, regardless of the fact that 
 in the large American cities the amount of 
 water consumed per capita is double that 
 consumed in London. 
 
 In Mr. Fanning's " Treatise on Water 
 Supply Engineering," he gives the average 
 daily supply to London as twenty-nine 
 gallons per capita, and to New York, 
 Brooklyn, and other American cities as 
 over fifty-eight gallons per capita for 1874. 
 It is a notorious fact that the demand with 
 us increases from day to day, having now 
 reached from sixty to eighty gallons per 
 head daily, and I should not be surprised 
 if we eventually reached the figures of the 
 ancient cities, which provided for 300 gal- 
 lons per head per diem. 
 
39 
 
 It follows that, if the sewage of a city 
 is regulated by its water supply, as it un- 
 doubtedly is, the latter being four-fifths 
 of the former, the sewers in our cities 
 should provide for sixteen cubic feet per 
 capita per diem, independent of rain- 
 water. 
 
 As far as the latter is concerned, a rain- 
 storm of one inch in an hour has been 
 taken as the maximum to be provided for, 
 on the score that this occurs very rarely, 
 that no more than from one to two-thirds 
 of the rain falling during a heavy storm 
 finds its way into the sewers within the 
 hour, and that it would be more expensive 
 to construct a system of works for the 
 city, calculated to carry off a greater 
 amount than one inch, than to incur the 
 damages resulting from the heavier 
 storms, which would only occur at long 
 intervals. 
 
 INCLINATION OF SEWERS. 
 
 The object to be accomplished by a 
 given inclination is to secure the degree 
 of velocity in the current that will insure 
 
40 
 
 against the deposit of the solid elements 
 of sewage. This is a problem of difficult 
 solution, if we consider the want of uni- 
 formity in the quantity of sewage, which 
 varies with the habits of the population 
 in different districts, with the hour of the 
 day (one-half being discharged during 
 six hours, and the other half during 
 eighteen), and, above all, with the drought 
 or rain-fall of the moment. 
 
 The inclination usually adopted being- 
 intended to insure a velocity of two and 
 half feet per second is 
 
 For 12-inch pipe a grade of 1 in 200. 
 " 15 " " 1 " 250. 
 
 " 18 " ' 1 " 300. 
 
 SHAPES OF SEWERS. 
 
 One of the most noticeable defects in 
 the American system of sewers is the 
 variety of shapes adopted. We have 
 sewers with nearly flat inverts, like the 
 old Roman sewers; we have them elliptical, 
 circular, and oval. It may be urged that, 
 as the object to be fulfilled varies under 
 different circumstances, it may become 
 
41 
 
 necessary to adopt more than one sec- 
 tional form of sewers, but I fear in our 
 case the substitution of one for the other 
 has not always? been based upon a scien- 
 tific consideration of the object in view. 
 
 There is no doubt that for sewers having 
 an intermittent flow and all our sewers 
 come under this head the egg-shaped 
 sewer is found to be the best. The reason 
 is obvious ; such sectional form, insuring 
 the greatest concentration of the minimum 
 flow, gives the greatest possible velocity 
 when the smallest volume is running ' 
 through them. At the same time it offers 
 the least possible amount of friction area 
 or wetted perimeter to the maximum 
 flow. 
 
 MATEKIAL OF SEWERS. 
 
 The materials used in the construction 
 of sewers at different times and in dif- 
 ferent countries are bricks of all kinds, 
 tiles, stone, stoneware, artificial stone, 
 earthenware, asphalt, cement, concrete, 
 iron and timber. Experience has 
 demonstrated that, in order to secure 
 
42 
 
 the permanency and durability of sewer 
 work, great care is required in the selec- 
 tion of a proper material, and that the 
 best is the cheapest in the end. Of the 
 above, bricks laid in cement, or hydraulic 
 lime mortar, stoneware pipes and concrete 
 used separately or in conjunction with 
 bricks and pipes, and iron when the sewer 
 has to be taken through unsound ground 
 or under rivers, are the only ones now in 
 use. 
 
 With us, bricks are used in all sizes 
 above eighteen inches : below this size, 
 a few miles of Grankirk (Scotch) pipes 
 have been laid, but by far the great ma- 
 jority are of the Rosendale cement, and it 
 seems to give general satisfaction. 
 
 These pipes are very extensively manu- 
 factured in this country. They are made 
 from hydraulic cement and sharp sand or 
 gravel, thoroughly mixed and moulded 
 under pressure. It is held by the manu- 
 facturers that this ware does not mate- 
 rially deteriorate with age. 
 
 The inverts of sewers are particularly 
 liable to wear from the erosion of the 
 
43 
 
 water and from the grinding action of the 
 sand and solid matter transported over 
 them. Yet, according to the last reports, 
 "there is no sign of disintegration or 
 wearing away of these pipes." 
 
 CONSTRUCTION OF SEWERS. 
 
 As sewers must always be constructed 
 at a certain definite level in order to effect 
 their object, it becomes necessary to make 
 provision for securing a proper founda- 
 tion ; for whatever may be the unstability 
 of the subsoil, it is not available to exca- 
 vate at greater depth to find a more stable 
 foundation. For the above purpose, one 
 of the best plans is to dig the sewer 
 trench to an additional depth, and fill up 
 to the level of the sewer with concrete or 
 other suitable material. 
 
 By constructing a system of sewers in 
 straight lines, with manholes and lamp- 
 holes -at suitable intervals, the whole sys- 
 tem is brought under perfect control, and 
 can be examined at any time without hav- 
 ing recourse to breaking the ground, and 
 any ordinary stoppage can be remedied 
 
44 
 
 with the aid of special tools applicable for 
 the purpose. The corner basins for re- 
 ceiving the storm water are of less capac- 
 ity with us than is usual in other coun- 
 tries, and require examination and empty- 
 ing at shorter intervals. 9 They are trap- 
 ped, and have cesspits to retain the detri- 
 tus from the streets, which must be lifted 
 out by hand. (Plate II., Figs. 1 and 2.) 
 All bends and changes of direction in the 
 line of mains have a radius of at least 
 twenty feet. It is to be regretted, how- 
 ever, that the majority of the curves in 
 our systems of sewers have been made by 
 cutting and adjusting sections of straight 
 pipe, and not by properly manufactured 
 curved sections, thus making the bends a 
 succession of straight lines at obtuse an- 
 gles, rather than a gentle and uniform 
 curve. 
 
 VENTILATION. 
 
 The only means of ventilating our 
 sewers is obtained by the perforations in 
 the gratings covering the manholes, and 
 by untrapped connections with the rain 
 
45 
 
 water pipes or leaders from the roofs of 
 houses. The latter contrivance may do 
 more harm than good, as they cannot act 
 as ventilators when ventilation is most 
 needed, that is, under heavy storms, for 
 they are then full of water, and the possi- 
 ble evils in this case are obvious ; but the 
 perforated manhole covers offer a very 
 effective means of ventilation, provided 
 perforated manhole covers be placed 
 throughout the system, at distances suffi- 
 ciently near to insure their object. This 
 subject, however, will receive further con- 
 sideration in another part of this work. 
 (Plate III., Fig. 2.) 
 
 That, all things considered, our sewers 
 have been in the majority of cases well 
 planned, and well constructed, there can be 
 no doubt ; yet that they fail in several im- 
 portant particulars, and that in some in- 
 stances they act as generators of the very 
 nuisance they are intended to remove, is un- 
 fortunately but too true. It is but just to 
 remark, however, that this fault is due not 
 so much to defective construction as it is to 
 neglect in their maintenance ; but when we 
 
46 
 
 consider that in the majority of American 
 cities it is the duty of one department of 
 the city government to construct the sew- 
 ers, of another department to repair and 
 clean them, and of still another de- 
 partment to keep the streets free 
 from refuse; that unless these three 
 separate departments operate with per- 
 fect unity, the object they are intended 
 to fulfill cannot be accomplished; that 
 given the constitution of our political 
 machinery, it is not likely that this har- 
 mony should exist; that whenever heads 
 of different departments meet to labor in 
 the same field, punctiliousness and petty 
 jealousies bring about differences that 
 often result in wdllful neglect of duty, is 
 it to be wondered that this part of city 
 service is so imperfectly attended to? 
 
 All sewers, from the very nature of their 
 elements, are defective. All materials are 
 more or less pervious; the best cements 
 are chemically acted upon by sewage, the 
 best joints have rough exposed surfaces, 
 upon which a certain amount of accumu- 
 lation will take place, which, if not re- 
 
47 
 
 PLATE II. 
 
 FIG. 1. 
 
 FIG. 2. 
 
 EXPLANATION OF PLATE IT. 
 
 FIG. 1. Corner basin. 
 
 FIG. 2. Section of corner basin. 
 
 FIG. 3. Pattern of an English trap which has been 
 
 reproduced and patented in this country. It is a 
 
 good trap. 
 
EXPLANATION OF PLATE III. 
 
 FIG. 1. Section of manhole, showing a tray placed 
 under the perforated grating to catch the street 
 dust, etc. 
 
 FIG. 2. Perforated manhole cover. 
 
49 
 
 moved, forms the foundation for a gradual 
 increase that will eventually obstruct the 
 whole sewer. Add to all this the conse- 
 quences of neglect ; that streets are not 
 properly cleaned, that surface sweepings 
 are washed by rain storms into the street 
 basins, and thence, not being removed in 
 time, find their way to the sewers ; and 
 we have, that these accumulations, which 
 are left to putrefy and decay, the overflow 
 which we have pointed out saturating the 
 soil with the contents of the sewers ; and 
 the settlement caused by the back-action 
 of the tides at the outlets, are conditions 
 under which sewer gases are inevitably 
 generated. 
 
 HOUSE DKALNS. 
 
 House drains are a small system of 
 sewers within the dwellings, for the pur- 
 pose of conveying to the street sewers all 
 liquid refuse, waste water and excreta. 
 
 Why these should be called drains, 
 while the conduits that perform the same 
 service for the city are called sewers, I 
 know not. The inconsistencv of the 
 
50 
 
 term, however, is obvious, for in strictly 
 technical terms drains are the channels 
 that remove surface and subsoil water 
 only. 
 
 In common parlance, however, the pipe 
 that collects the refuse water from a house 
 and empties it into the street sewer is 
 called a "drain-pipe," that which dis- 
 charges the excreta from the closet into 
 the drain-pipe is called the "soil-pipe," 
 and the smaller tubes that carry the waste 
 water from w^ash basins, tubs, etc., are 
 called "waste-pipes." 
 
 The indifference with which house- 
 owners and the public at large look upon 
 this question of house drainage is such, 
 that it would be no exaggeration to 
 say, that 96 per cent, of house dwellers 
 have never given a thought to the manner 
 in which their w r aste waters are disposed 
 of. Marble-top washstands, silver-plated 
 fittings, decorated china basins, planished 
 copper bath-tubs, set in cabinet work of 
 hard wood, stationary trays in the laun- 
 dry, and the brightest and handsomest 
 workmanship wherever the plumbing is 
 
51 
 
 visible, are all the most fastidious seem to 
 demand. The invisible portions, are as 
 much out of mind as they are out of sight 
 in the so-called modern improvements. 
 
 The general arrangement is the follow- 
 ing: A six-inch drain-pipe with an inclina- 
 tion of about 1 in 100, runs from the 
 yard through the cellar and under the 
 sidewalks into the sewer. A four-inch soil- 
 pipe leads from the highest closet to the 
 drain-pipe, and into these two all the waste 
 pipes empty ; the only consideration guid- 
 ing the selection being that of the amount 
 of pipe to be laid. If the heel of the 
 closet trap is the nearer, the waste emp- 
 ties there ; if not, it is taken to the drain. 
 
 Immediately below each closet, basin, 
 tub, sink, etc., a contrivance called a trap 
 is placed, which, keeping full of water, is 
 supposed to prevent the gases from tfhe 
 sewer from entering the house. (Plates 
 IV. and V.) In a few instances some means 
 of ventilation is provided, either by con- 
 necting the drain with the leader from the 
 roof or continuing the soil-pipe to the 
 open air above the roof. 
 
52 
 
 Whatever differances there may be in the 
 name, it is perfectly clear that these house 
 drains are nothing more than small pri- 
 vate sewers, lacking in their construction 
 the engineering skill that is generally 
 used in the public ones, and abounding 
 therefore in the conditions that generate 
 poisonous gases. If they are made of 
 porous material, of unglazed pipe, of 
 metals rough in their interior, if they are 
 badly jointed, if they are unevenly laid so 
 as to have bends and hollows, if they 
 have sharp curves, or run in horizontal 
 lines, if they have falls at right angles, 
 deposits take place, which decompose and 
 act precisely in the same manner as stag- 
 nant sewage. 
 
 HOW GASES ENTER THE DWELLING. 
 
 We have seen that the obstacles op- 
 posed to the passage of gases are first, 
 the solid material of which the pipe is 
 made; second, the w^ater seal of the trap. 
 
 Pipes are of different materials. The 
 soil and drain-pipes are generally of iron, 
 while the waste-pipes are of lead. These 
 
54 
 
 EXPLANATION OF PLATE IV. 
 
 1. Common S trap, so called on account of its shape ; 
 
 it is absolutely useless as a trap, being easily 
 siphoned from the slightest cause. 
 
 2. S trap with opening at the top ; also objectionable, 
 
 though better than the preceding one, being easy 
 of access. 
 
 3. Ordinary P trap. Much used in closets, for which it 
 
 is well adapted. 
 
 4. Flat siphon trap or running trap, so called because 
 
 it can be made by bending any pipe, as it runs 
 horizontally, into the required shape. It is very 
 objectionable, having generally but little seal. 
 
 5. The same, opened at the top. In this shape it is 
 
 much better than the preceding one. The open- 
 ing may be used for inspection, ventilation, etc. 
 
 6. Bell trap, so called because it consists of a bell- 
 
 shaped diaphragm attached to the grating, dipping 
 into the chamber of the trap and covering the dis- 
 charge pipe. Objectionable, because the seal is 
 small and because the bell is easily removed by 
 lifting the grating, a thing often done by servants, 
 and which places the house in direct commuica- 
 tion with the sewer. 
 
 7. English sink trap. Its only advantage is a greater 
 
 depth of seal water. 
 
 ?. Surrey siphon trap ; open to the same objections of 
 the S trap, of which it is a modification. 
 
 9. Self-acting valve trap. It consists of a chamber 
 with grating at the top. The chamber holds about 
 half an inch of seal water into which the outer 
 edge of a hollow-turned copper ball dips, when its 
 bottom rests on the top of the outlet pipe, and 
 forms a valve. When water enters through the 
 grating the ball floats and the water escapes; 
 when the flow subsides the ball resumes its posi- 
 tion. It is liable to the same objection as the bell 
 trap. 
 
56 
 
 EXPLANATION OF PLATE V. 
 
 1. Antill's sink trap. The advantage of this trap is 
 
 that the grating may be removed without unseal- 
 ing the trap. 
 
 2. Horizontal trap. The same in principle as the pre- 
 
 ceding one. 
 
 3. Ordinary D trap, with ventilating pipe. This trap 
 
 is much used, though possessing no advantages. 
 
 4. Low's trap. It is on the principle of this trap that 
 
 corner basins are built. 
 
 5. Combined trap and gully ; good'for stables and the 
 
 like. 
 
 All traps, no matter what their design may be, are 
 but modifications of the above. 
 
57 
 
 two metals have unequal rates of contrac- 
 tion and expansion under the same degree 
 of temperature, and, however well they 
 may be joined at first, they will ultimately 
 rend at the seams. Add to this that lead 
 pipes are acted upon by sewage and sew- 
 age gases, especially under the presence 
 of lime, which under unknown but fre- 
 quent circumstances perforates them. The 
 experiments of Dr. Fergus, of Glasgow, 
 have demonstrated this clearly. He cites 
 a great number of instances in which even 
 after only a few months' use the action of 
 these gases upon the material of the soil- 
 pipe has perforated it through and 
 through, and in some cases completely 
 honey-combed a considerable area of its 
 wall. This effect is produced by the 
 gases, and not by the foul water, as is 
 proven by the fact that the perforations 
 are always at the upper side of the pipe, 
 and never on its lower side where the 
 water flows. This is why they cause no 
 leakage, and may exist for years without 
 being detected. 
 
 The next means of ingress is through 
 
58 
 
 the traps themselves. Firstly, because 
 many traps are so constructed that a rush 
 of water passing them will syphon them 
 and leave them empty; especially when, 
 as is often the case, their caliber has be- 
 come much reduced by deposits. Second- 
 ly, because in cases where the trap is not 
 frequently used, the vaporization of the 
 sealing water leaves it open for the pass- 
 age of gases. Thirdly, because sewer 
 gases saturate water very readily arid pass 
 through it with the greatest ease, it tak- 
 ing only fifteen minutes for ammoniacal 
 gas to react upon lithmus paper through 
 a trap sealed by a column of water two 
 inches in depth. (See explanation of 
 Plates IV. and V.) 
 
 Under these circumstances, the forces 
 that determine the passage of gases into the 
 apartments are the following. The lesser 
 specific gravity of sewer gases (carbonic 
 . acid excepted) as compared to atmos- 
 pheric air, which causes the former to dis- 
 place the latter, ascend in the pipes and 
 pass through the openings. The excess 
 of pressure in the sewer arising from the 
 
59 
 
 backing up of water in the outlets, the 
 impact of winds and the sudden filling of 
 the pipes with rain water. The direction 
 of the descending column of water estab- 
 lishing a current of air in an inverse di- 
 rection. The draughts generated in houses 
 by chimneys, closets, dumb-waiters, and 
 elevators, which establish a demand for 
 air from every possible source. The 
 higher temperature of the house air as 
 compared with that of the dram and 
 sewer, causing the latter to rush in 
 through the smallest crevices. 
 
 HOW TO PROTECT OUR DWELLINGS. 
 
 From the above it may be inferred that 
 protective measures, as far as the indivi- 
 dual householder is concerned, are of two 
 kinds : Firstly, those which refer to pre- ' 
 venting the generation of gases within the 
 house-drains. Secondly, those which de- 
 bar the entrance into the house-drains of 
 the emanations from the sewers. To 
 attain the first end, perfectly smooth bore 
 iron soil-pipes for the closet, with such a 
 flushing apparatus as to insure perfect 
 
60 
 
 scouring, should be used. The waste- 
 pipe should be of lead, laid in perfectly 
 straight lines, with easy curves, where 
 curves are unavoidable, Tiaving the proper 
 inclination. They should not, save under 
 special circumstances, connect with the 
 soil-pipe; and where the plan we shall 
 recommend hereafter is not adopted they 
 should connect with the drain-pipe, the 
 connection being curved in the direction 
 of the current in the drain. 
 
 The drain-pipe should be a six-inch iron 
 pipe, with joints caulked with lead, placed 
 above (never beneath) the cellar floor, with 
 a continuation of glazed earthenware pipe 
 from the point it emerges from the house ; 
 and pass underground on a proper foun- 
 dation to the sewer. The inclination 
 being that which will secure a velocity of 
 from three to ten feet per second. These 
 conditions and means of ventilation pro- 
 vided by carrying every soil-pipe up to the 
 top of the house will preclude the possi- 
 bility of gases generating in the drains, 
 which should nevertheless be of easy 
 access throughout. As for the second, 
 
PLATE VI. 
 
 Fio. 1. 
 
 . 
 
 3 
 
 rn EARTH 
 
 - n .' /,, '/' 'A ' ." ".'. 
 
 FIG. 2. 
 
62 
 
 EXPLANATION OF PLATE VI. 
 Fia. 1. Air chamber for disconnecting house drains 
 
 from sewers, in temperate climates. 
 A. Air chamber. 
 B. Soil pipe. 
 
 CCCL Course of waste waters. 
 D. Trap. 
 EE. Open double grating. On the lower grating 
 
 charcoal may be placed. 
 F. Pipe reaching to the roof. 
 HH. Joint for pipe F. 
 G. Diaphragm dividing the air chamber into two 
 
 parts. 
 L. Waste pipe or water leader. 
 
 FIG. 2. Chamber for disconnecting drains from 
 
 sewers, for colder climates. 
 A. Communication with house drains. 
 B. Communication with the external air, by means of 
 
 a pipe carried to the roof of house. 
 C. Communication with street sewer. 
 D.E. Covered apertures for inspecting and cleaning. 
 F. First diaphragm, which may be forced by air 
 
 from the sewer, which will then escape through 
 
 pipe attached to B. 
 O. Second diaphragm, which cannot be forced by 
 
 air from sewer. 
 
63 
 
 given the existence of foul gases in the 
 street sewers, nothing short of an absolute 
 disconnection from them may be con- 
 sidered safe. Even then we are not sure 
 that the leakage into the subsoil of imper- 
 fe3tly constructed and badly maintained 
 sewers will not be the means of facilitat- 
 ing the percolation of gases through our 
 house foundations into our cellars, and 
 thence by the natural upward current, into 
 our rooms. The proposed disconnection 
 may be effected in one of the folio wing- 
 manners : 
 
 In France, England, and other coun- 
 tries enjoying milder climate than ours, 
 it is usual to disconnect the house- 
 drains from the street sewers by discharg- 
 ing the contents of the former, just out- 
 side the house-walls, into a tank or cham- 
 ber open at the top into which the water 
 leaders are also turned. [Plate VI., Fig. 1.] 
 
 Could we adopt the same plan we would 
 need look for no further method of dis- 
 connection, as none can be more complete 
 or effective . But the severity of our winters 
 renders this plan inexpedient, at least if 
 
64 
 
 followed in all its details. All out-of-door 
 drains with us must be placed deep under 
 ground to insure against freezing. The 
 chamber, therefore, if adopted, would have 
 to be placed at a depth of at least six feet, 
 its walls built up to the surface, and an 
 extra grating placed a few inches above 
 the level of the water current to hold 
 straw or other packing in cold weather. 
 Even with these precautions I am not 
 sure but that freezing might ensue during 
 severe thermal depression. Under these 
 peculiarly aggravating circumstances we 
 beg leave to suggest a plan of connection, 
 or rather disconnection, which performs 
 the triple office of thoroughly ventilating 
 the house-drains, abundantly ventilating 
 the street sewers and effectively breaking 
 the connection between the one and the 
 other. 
 
 The proposed plan, fully illustrated in 
 Plate VII., is as follows : Let the drain-pipe 
 start from the top of the house down 
 the kitchen chimney to the cellar, thence 
 to the outside of the house, where it shall 
 discharge into a receptacle shaped after 
 
65 
 
 the manner of Plate X., Fig. 2. Let the 
 soil-pipe also start from the roof of the 
 house, take in all waste-pipes on its way 
 down, and discharge with a gentle curve 
 into the drain-pipe. Let there be a pipe 
 carried from the upper part of the recep- 
 tacle above the outer wall of the house to 
 the roof. Let the receptacle be connected 
 with the street sewer by a drain-pipe of the 
 same dimension as the house drain-pipe ; 
 and, on a line with the curbstone let a 
 vertical ventilating shaft be connected with 
 this drain, rising three feet above the 
 ground level, capped with a perforated 
 top, to which a ring may be added to 
 make it serve as horse-post as well. 
 
 The working of this system is so obvious, 
 we would consider it a loss of time to give 
 any more detailed explanation, for it is 
 plain that a constant circuit of air must be 
 established down the soil-pipe and up the 
 drain-pipe, that no sewer-gas can reach 
 the trapped receptacle, but must escape 
 through the ventilating horse-post; and 
 that if any should find its way to the re- 
 ceptacle and force the first diaphragm, it 
 
66 
 
 would escape through the pipe at the top 
 and never reach the house-drain. We, 
 therefore, venture to assert that any house 
 drained in this manner is as safe from the 
 entrance of sewer gases through its drain- 
 pipe, and as free from the possibility of 
 the generation of gases within its drain, 
 soil, and waste-pipes as it is within the 
 power of man to make it ; and further- 
 more, that if every house were drained in 
 this manner and all sewers were ventilated 
 by each house-drain in this way, sewer 
 gases, in connection with drains, would be 
 an unheard-of thing. 
 
 It might be thoughtlessly argued 
 against this plan, that while it effectively 
 excludes gases from our dwellings, it dis- 
 charges them in the public thoroughfares, 
 polluting the air of the city. 
 
 To which I would reply in the first 
 place, that one of the greatest safeguards 
 against sewer gas contamination, is its 
 dilution with atmospheric air; that the 
 diffusibility of these gases is so great, 
 that they would soon be thoroughly 
 mixed with the large body of air into 
 
67 
 
 PLATE VII. 
 
68 
 
 EXPLANATION OF PLATE VII. 
 Author's system of disconnection of house drains 
 
 from street sewers, and ventilation of both. 
 A. Soil pipe op A at the top. 
 B. Drain pipe open at the top. 
 C. Closets. 
 B. Disconnecting chamber. A pipe which should 
 
 lead from the center of this chamber to the roof 
 
 of house is not shown in this drawing. Vide B., 
 
 PI. X., Fig. 2 
 
 E. Horse-post ventilator. 
 F. Street sewer. 
 
69 
 
 which they would be discharged, and that 
 their affinity for oxygen is so powerful 
 that it would take them but a few seconds 
 to be thoroughly oxidized and rendered 
 harmless. 
 
 In the second place, that if every house 
 drain on its way to the street sewer were 
 provided with the " horse-post ventilator," 
 the sewers would be so abundantly sup- 
 plied with air, through them, and the per- 
 forated manhole covers, there would be 
 no gases of a harmful nature in them. 1 
 In the third place, that given the exist- 
 ence of badly maintained and poorly ven- 
 tilated sewers, the house that shall adopt 
 this plan shall still be protected against 
 contamination through its drains ; and, 
 that it protects our dwelling is all we 
 claim for this system. The protection of 
 the city at large is the duty of the city 
 government, not of the individual house- 
 holder. Let each one do his duty toward 
 his own household first, and the demands 
 upon the authorities to perform theirs 
 will soon follow ; though we fear that not 
 until the properties of air and water and 
 food are taught in primary schools in 
 
70 
 
 preference to the abstract rules of gram- 
 mar, and the distorted facts of history, 
 will men come to understand the magni- 
 tude of the crime that is committed by 
 those who poison the air of their cities, 
 the water of their rivers, the supplies of 
 their market places. 
 
NOTES TO PART I. 
 
 NOTE 1. 
 
 There are several methods of removing the wastes 
 of a city besides the water-carriage system. Some 
 advocate the plan of burning all the refuse of the 
 population. Others hold that air is the best agent 
 for the removal of sewage and urge the adoption of a 
 pneumatic system ingenious in its construction, but 
 by far too intricate for practical use. Others recom- 
 mend earth as the best means of deodorizing and 
 facilitating the removal of human excreta ; but save 
 in small communities, such as barracks, hospitals, 
 prisons and the like, it is impracticable on account of 
 the quantity of earth needed for the purpose ten 
 pounds per capita, daily. ^ 
 
 The real objections to the water-carriage system as 
 practiced with us, is that the sewage is not utilized, 
 and that our streams are polluted thereby. The 
 Annual Report of the Board of Health of Massachu- 
 setts, for 1873, contains a report from Prof. William 
 R. Nichols and Dr. George Derby, in which they 
 conclude, from numerous analyses of the sewage of 
 Boston, that its average value is about one cent per 
 ton ; and from numerous analyses of the sewage of 
 Worcester, they conclude the average value of the 
 dry-weather sewage to be about seven-eighths of a 
 cent per ton. 
 
This whole subject has received, and is now receiv- 
 ing, the earnest and careful attention of many very 
 able minds; and expensive experiments are being 
 carried on upon a large scale in many places. In 
 fact, "nearly the whole civilized world is not only 
 interested in this problem, but directly or indirectly 
 engaged in seeking its solution." The results, how- 
 ever, are not yet sufficiently denned to warrant any 
 decided conclusions ; and while the sanitary engineer 
 will feel bound to recommend that sewerage works 
 be so constructed, where practicable, that they may 
 eventually form part of a plan for the utilization of 
 the waste products, or avoiding contamination, 
 without great expense in changes, he is hardly war- 
 ranted in actually executing work, at present, to do 
 more than fulfill the first requirement of a system for 
 the removal of refuse ; which is, to get rid of the sew- 
 age quickly, in an unobjectionable manner. 
 
 This can be most effectually and safely done by the 
 water-carriage system, which provides for the removal 
 of the greater portion of all refuse, and is capable of 
 being combined in one system with the conveyance of 
 storm waters. 
 
 NOTE 2. 
 
 COMPOSITION OF SEWAGE. Average of 54 specimens 
 from 18 cities where closets are used : 
 
 Total solid matters in solution 72.200 
 
 Organic carbon 4.696 
 
 Organic nitrogen 2.205 
 
 Ammonia 6.703 
 
 Nitrates and nitrites 0.003 
 
 Total combined nitrogen 7.728 
 
 Chlorine 10.660 
 
 Suspended mineral matter -.24.180 
 
 Suspended organic matter 20.510 
 
 Average of 37 specimens from 15 cities and towns 
 where the modern closet is not used : 
 
73 
 
 Total solid matters in solution 82.400 
 
 Organic carbon 4.181 
 
 Organic nitrogen 1.975 
 
 Ammonia 5.435 
 
 Nitrates and nitrites 0.000 
 
 Total combined nitrogen 6.451 
 
 Chlorine 11.540 
 
 Suspended mineral matter 17.810 
 
 Suspended organic matter 21.300 
 
 NOTE 3. 
 
 The diseases that have directly or indirectly been 
 attributed to the effects of sewer gases in one form 
 or another are : Abscesses -Adenitis, or inflammation 
 of the lymphathic glands Ague, or intermittent fever 
 Aphthae, or thrush Boils Carbuncle Cellulitis, or 
 diffused inflammation of the areolar tissue Cephalal- 
 gia, or headache Cerebro-spinal-meningitis, or spot- 
 ted fever Chicken Pox Cholera (Asiatic), Cholera- 
 infantum Conjunctivitis, or inflammation of the 
 mucous membrane of the eye Convulsions Croup- 
 Diarrhoea Diphtheria-Dysentery Eczema Enteritis, 
 or inflammation of small intestines Equinia, or gland- 
 ers Erysipelas Feverishness Fever, remittent, 
 intermittent, and others -General Debility Hemi- 
 cranea, or neuralgia of one side of forehead Hooping 
 Cough Mammary abscess, or abscess of breast- 
 Measles Miliaria, or rash Myalgia, or pain in the 
 muscles -Neuralgia Ophthalmia, or inflammation' of 
 the eye Phthisis, or plumonary consumption 
 Plague, or pestilential fever Puerperal Fever, or 
 childbed fever Rheumatism Rubeola Scarlet 
 Fever Septicaemia Small Pox Styes Tonsillitis, or 
 quinsy Typhoid Fever Typhus Fever Vertigo- 
 Yellow Fever. 
 
 NOTE 4. 
 
 Although the result of the careful investigations 
 
74 
 
 carried on at the present moment as to the causes of 
 the late epidemic of yellow fever in the Southern 
 States has not yet been made public, we venture to 
 predict that its dependence on the opportunities 
 afforded for filth contamination through bad drain- 
 age, bad sewerage and improper removal of surface 
 filth, will be. thoroughly established. 
 
 Since the publication of our First Edition, the above 
 prophecy has been verified in every particular. 
 
 NOTE 5. 
 
 Let it be understood that the assurance given here 
 that nitrogen and other gases are harmless, does not 
 iniply that they are respirable or capable of sustain- 
 ing life. No gas, or combination of gases, save 
 atmospheric air (oxygen 21, and nitrogen 79), is 
 capable of sustaining life ; and any one attempting to 
 substitute any other gas, or mixture of gases, for at- 
 mospheric air, would soon perish. We simply mean 
 that the gases spoken of as harmless do not produce 
 any injury to the system if breathed in combination 
 with atmospheric air for a reasonable length of time. 
 
 NOTE 6. 
 
 Dr. Folsom, of the Massachusetts Board of Health, 
 expresses himself in these terms : 
 
 " Whatever theory of bacteria and ' germs ' proves 
 true, the evidence accumulates each year to show 
 1st. That under certain conditions, human excremen- 
 titious matter in certain diseases is almost certain 
 poison, producing the parent disease in a great 
 number of cases of those exposed to it. 2d. That we 
 must either acknowledge that these diseases, especi- 
 ally cholera and typhoid fever, may arise de novo 
 under certain conditions of filth not yet wholly 
 known, or else that the contagious matter is of extra- 
 ordinary vitality, and capable of being conveyed in 
 manners and to distances not now usually suspected. 
 
75 
 
 "If the fact be true, that such diseases arise with 
 out the specific poison from a previous case, many 
 epidemics may be explained which are otherwise 
 entire mysteries ; but it would be difficult to account 
 for the dozen of cases to which many a farmer can 
 point, where a family have for years used the water 
 from a well close to an accumulation of filth, without 
 apparent harm, except on the theory that the filth 
 was not sufficiently concentrated, or that a healthy 
 person living under generally healthful conditions is 
 usually able to resist such deleterious influences until 
 his system is, for some cause or other, below par." 
 
 Virchow thinks that ordinary putrefaction may, 
 under certain circumstances, produce dysentery, ty- 
 phoid fever, and other zymotic diseases. 
 
 Pettenkofer holds that each of these diseases has 
 its own specific poison, which alone can reproduce its 
 kind. 
 
 Liebermiester thinks that filth, gaseous or other- 
 wise, furnishes a favorable nidus for diseases to 
 thrive, 
 
 NOTE 7. 
 
 The Cloaca Maxima was originally built as a surface 
 and subsoil drain. It was intended merely to drain 
 off the water about the Forum. Later, it was used as 
 a sewer as well, and to this day it performs both 
 offices. It is undoubtedly from this old pattern that* 
 the modern system of "drain sewers" has been 
 derived. 
 
 NOTB 8. 
 
 The report of the Brooklyn Board of Health for 
 1875 and 1876 contains a valuable paper on the Sewers 
 of Brooklyn, by Col. J. W. Adams, which should be 
 carefully studied by all those interested in the sub- 
 ject. 
 
76 
 
 NOTE 9. 
 
 The stagnant waters of corner basins should be re- 
 moved at least once in six days. To leave them a 
 longer time is to create an intolerable nuisance. 
 
 NOTE 10. 
 
 Several suggestions have been made, from time to 
 time, in reference to the use of the lamp posts in the 
 streets as ventilators for the sewers. We would con- 
 sider it a good plan but for the fact that lamp posts 
 are too far apart, and are therefore insufficient for 
 the purpose. In combination with the author's 
 horse-post ventilator, they would be very valuable 
 adjuvants. 
 
PART II. 
 
 CONTENTS OF PART II. 
 
 IMPORTANCE OF SUBSOIL DRAINAGE. 
 RELATIONS BETWEEN GROUND WATER AND 
 
 DISEASE. 
 
 THE ISOLATION OF BUILDINGS. 
 OTHER PROTECTIVE MEASURES. 
 VENTILATION OF DWELLINGS. 
 DISINFECTANTS. 
 PRACTICAL DISINFECTION. 
 GARBAGE GASES. 
 DISPOSAL OF GARBAGE. 
 
SEWER GASES 
 
 AND 
 
 How TO PROTECT OUR DWELLINGS. 
 
 u. 
 
 IMPORTANCE OF SUBSOIL DRAINAGE. 
 
 I have endeavored iii the first part of 
 this work to discuss the nature and ori- 
 gin of sewer gases, their modes of ad- 
 mission into our dwellings through the 
 house drains, and the best methods of 
 barring their entrance through those 
 channels. It remains for us to consider 
 whether there be not other avenues open 
 to these foul vapors ; if so, what may be 
 done to prevent their ingress ; and lastly, 
 to state which are the most efficacious 
 means of destroying them, or counteract- 
 ing their pernicious effects when we are 
 not iii a position to make at oiice the 
 
80 
 
 changes in the appointments of the 
 house that are destined to banish them 
 entirely. 
 
 It was admitted in the foregoing pages 
 that the best constructed sewers and 
 those best maintained, will allow of a cer- 
 tain amount of percolation into the sub- 
 soil; this amount, however small, must 
 of necessity increase as the system grows 
 and multiplies ; and it must follow that 
 the subsoil of all large cities, under ordi- 
 nary circumstances, must be sewage pol- 
 luted and contaminated. 
 
 For this and many other reasons it 
 seems desirable that every effort should 
 be made, and no expense spared, in order 
 to secure perfect drying and aerating of 
 the subsoil of urban districts- It is a 
 well ascertained fact, that while the dry- 
 ing and consequent admission of air into 
 a soil enables it to exert that chemical in- 
 fluence necessary to neutralize all organic 
 compounds and purify the foulest sewage, 
 the stagnation of both air and water in 
 the soil establish the conditions most 
 favorable to putrefaction and decay. 
 
81 
 
 Where the sites of cities are properly 
 drained, that is, provided with channels 
 for the removal of subsoil water, the 
 earth acquires the requisite degree of 
 dryness to insure purification of leakage 
 from sewers and other impurities, but 
 where as in most cases these works of 
 ground drainage are neglected, 1 the soil 
 must naturally be teeming with putrefy- 
 ing matter and saturated with foul gases. 
 
 That these gases circulate under ground, 
 both in their free state and in solution, 
 especially where a paved surface prevents 
 their escape upwards, is an obvious fact. 
 That they penetrate foundation walls with 
 the greatest ease, may be seen by the fol- 
 lowing table, which indicates the quantity 
 of air passing through a square yard of 
 wall of ordinary thickness and of different 
 materials in one hour: 
 
 PENETRATING POWER OF GASES. 
 
 Through Sandstone wall 4.70 cub. ft. 
 
 ' ' Quarried limestone walls . 6 . 50 * * 
 
 " Brick walls 7.90 " 
 
 " Tufaceous limestone walls, 10.10 " 
 
 This table only allows for a difference 
 
82 
 
 in temperature of 9 degrees. The pene- 
 trating power would be much increased 
 by greater thermal difference and by the 
 impact of wind and rain storms. Every 
 sub-cellar, therefore, in a city not provided 
 with works of subsoil drainage, is virtual- 
 ly an intercepting tank built expressly for 
 the reception of the surrounding pestilen- 
 tial moistures and gases. 
 
 These gases are precisely of the same 
 nature as those found in sewers and 
 house-drains, and once admitted into the 
 lower part of a building, find their way 
 up to the higher floors, and infest every 
 nook and comer of the dwelling through 
 heating flues, dumb-waiters, closets ; and, 
 in fact, through the very plastering and 
 planking of ceilings and floorings. 
 
 The effects of ground moisture not 
 having been considered in the first part 
 of this work, deserves to be noticed at 
 some length here, more especially as 
 such moisture always holds in solution 
 some of the gases which we are dis- 
 cussing. 
 
83 
 
 RELATIONS BETWEEN GROUND WATER 
 AND DISEASE. 
 
 The class of diseases most frequently 
 noted in connection with ground water, as 
 revealed by damp cellars, are Phthisis Pul- 
 monalis, inflammatory diseases of the res- 
 piratory organs, especially Bronchitis and 
 Pneumonia, Eheumatism, more particular- 
 ly of the chronic order, chronic perver- 
 sions of digestion ; also, a lessened power 
 of resistance to all diseases when con- 
 tracted. 
 
 In order to ascertain the influence of 
 dampness upon health as indicated by the 
 rate of mortality, we should examine the 
 effect of a wet atmosphere, and compare 
 it with that of a dry one. The number of 
 deaths from consumption in towns which 
 are naturally dry is* so much smaller than 
 in towns situated on a water-logged soil, 
 that many authorities hold the ground 
 water alone responsible for the production 
 of the disease. 
 
 Mr. Simon and Dr. Buchanan jointly 
 report to the Privy Council of Great 
 Britain that "investigations confirm beyond 
 
84 
 
 all posibility of question that dampness 
 of soil is an important cause of phthisis." 
 
 Dr. Bowditch, in a report addressed 
 to the Medical Society of Massachusetts, 
 says : " Medical opinion, as deduced from 
 the written statements of resident physi- 
 cians in 183 towns, tends strongly to 
 prove the existence of a law on the de- 
 velopment of consumption (in Massachus- 
 etts), which law has for its central 'idea 
 that dampness of the soil is intimately 
 connected with the prevalence of con- 
 sumption." 
 
 In conclusion, to show the deleterious 
 effect of ground water, nothing can be 
 more pertinent than to cite the case of 
 fifteen English towns where the drainage 
 (not sewerage) of the soil had the effect 
 of reducing the mortality from phthisis as 
 follows : 
 
 Salisbury 49 perct. 
 
 Ely 47 
 
 Cheltenham . 26 per ct. 
 Bristol.. ..22 " 
 
 Rugby 43 | Dover 20 
 
 Banbury 41 ' 
 
 Worthing,. .36 
 
 Leicester 32 
 
 Macclesfield..31 
 Newport 32 
 
 Warwick ... 19 
 
 Croydon 17 
 
 Cardiff .17 
 
 Merthyr 11 
 
85 
 
 Those who would know the true effect 
 of ground water upon human dwellings 
 should read the reports of the Metro- 
 politan (New York) Board of Health, 
 those of Drs. Duncan, Aldis, Buchanan, 
 Thorne, and Kadcliff, addressed to the 
 Medical Officer of the Local Government 
 Bureau, Great Britain, and those of the 
 Massachusetts Board of Health. , 
 
 Statistics all over the world show that 
 disease claims as many victims from damp 
 and sewage-reeking floors and walls as 
 from any other cause affecting the sanitary 
 condition of towns. The importance, 
 therefore, of the drainage of the sites of 
 all dwelligns will be admitted. 
 
 Another important factor in the matter 
 under consideration is capillary attraction. 
 All soils are more or less subject to it/ 
 In the chalk formation, water will -rise 
 from the level of complete saturation to 
 a very considerable height above it 
 while a bed of sand w r ill be completely dry 
 only two or three feet above the water, 
 standing in it. It may be taken as a rule 
 that wherever ground is water-logged 
 
86 
 
 owing to the want of an outlet or the ob- 
 struction of its water-courses, whether the 
 soil be a dense clay or an open gravel, it 
 is unfit for the site of human habitations 
 until the subsoil water is lowered, by 
 drainage, to such a depth as to insure 
 against the rising of moisture by capillary 
 attraction up to the cellar floors and the 
 foundation walls of houses. 
 
 Nevertheless, if we examine closely into 
 the condition of inhabited places, we find 
 considerable areas of made, water-logged 
 land on the banks of rivers, covered with 
 dwellings, regardless of the height of the 
 subsoil water beneath. If further we 
 examine into the rate of mortality from 
 lung diseases, we see that they are in- 
 creased exactly in proportion as wetness 
 prevails. 
 
 In view of these facts, it is to be regret- 
 ted that in many cases those charged with 
 the planning and building of city works 
 should consider it sufficient to sewer the 
 city and trust simply to the effect of the 
 sewer-trench for the removal of subsoil 
 water. 2 In all cases and in all soils. 110 
 
87 
 
 matter how porous, drains placed in con- 
 junction with, though separated from the 
 sewers, would greatly contribute to the 
 salubriousness of a city. 
 
 THE ISOLATION OF BUILDINGS. 
 
 That no house built upon polluted soil 
 can be inhabitable, unless completely iso- 
 lated from such soil, is sufficiently clear ; 
 and that all urban districts, even if they 
 be sewered and drained (though in the 
 last event much less so), must fall under 
 the denomination of polluted soil, is also 
 obvious. It is important, therefore, that 
 every dwelhng should be isolated from the 
 soil around it. 
 
 To accomplish this, a bed of some im- 
 pervious material 3 should be laid under the 
 cellar floor and along the whole base of 
 the dwelling from outside wall to outside 
 wall dipping in under the foundations. 
 Or the foundation walls may be built on a 
 base of concrete, and a course or layer of 
 impervious material (cement and slate or 
 asphalt are much used) placed between the 
 courses of bricks, or layers of stone on a 
 
88 
 
 level with a layer of the same material, 
 which should be placed under the cellar 
 floor. [Plate VIII.] 
 
 It would be well if all dwellings could 
 have areas between the surrounding 
 ground and their cellar walls. Where this 
 is impracticable, the layer of isolating 
 material should be carried up the outside 
 of the walls to the ground level. 
 
 Cellars should be ventilated, and under 
 no circumstance should they be construct- 
 ed below tide-level or in clay soils. Dwel- 
 lings in such localities should be raised 
 above the ground, with free ventilation 
 under them. 
 
 OTHER PROTECTIVE MEASURES. 
 
 As it is not always feasible to alter the 
 construction of house drains or to make 
 cellars impervious as soon as it is dis- 
 covered that noxious gases are present 
 in. our apartments ; as there are many who 
 will not, though they can, make these 
 alterations ; others who cannot, though 
 they would ; and not a few who still pooh- 
 pooh the whole subject, I will advert to 
 
89 
 
90 
 
 the means by which every individual may 
 protect at least his sleeping-room, and if 
 not attain absolute immunity, reduce 
 the chances of infection to the minimum. 
 
 Before retiring for the night, the bed- 
 chamber should be thoroughly ventilated, 
 and if there be reasons to suspect the 
 presence of sewer gases in the atmosphere 
 of the room, 4 this should be disinfected, 
 after which, if there be a stationary basin 
 in or near the room, its waste pipe should 
 be disconnected from the room by a tem- 
 porary trap formed in the following man- 
 ner : 
 
 Place the stopper in position at the bot- 
 tom of the basin, and to prevent its being 
 displaced by a sudden gush of gas (a thing 
 that often happens), put a weight upon it. 
 Stop each one of the holes of the overflow 
 at the top of the basin with a well-fitting 
 cork. Then fill the basin with water to 
 half an inch above the overflow. 
 
 Examine the waste pipe under the basin 
 and see that the mouth of the overflow fits 
 well over the spout of the basin and is 
 well joined to it ; if there be a crevice, a 
 
91 
 
 thing that may, and very often does, exist 
 for years without occasioning a leak, fill it 
 in (temporarily) with a putty made of 
 pulverized charcoal and tallow, or with a 
 putty made of one part carbolic acid and 
 f out- parts linseed oil mixed with sufficient 
 whiting to the desired consistency. 
 
 With these precautions, it is safe to in- 
 fer that no gases will find their way 
 through the waste-pipes into the room. 
 
 In connection with this last subject we 
 have mentioned ventilation and disinfec- 
 tion, and we would consider our discussion 
 of the protection of the dwelling incom- 
 plete did we fail to devote a few lines to 
 these important means of contributing 
 towards the same. 
 
 VENTILATON OF DWELLINGS. 
 
 To lift a window sash and throw open 
 a door is, in the average mind, the estab- 
 lished limit of all idea of ventilation. 
 
 How much air enters a room through 
 its openings, or how much should enter, 
 or why any does enter at all ; nor whether 
 doors and windows really ventilate, in the 
 
92 
 
 technical sense of the word, or are simply 
 means of just preventing air starvation 
 and no more ; these are questions which, 
 I fear, but few know or care to know any- 
 thing about. 
 
 Fortunately nature takes better care of 
 us than we take care of ourselves. There 
 are certain physical laws by which in- 
 jurious atmospheric agents are destroyed 
 or overcome, did these not exist, the 
 whole human race would eventually suc- 
 cumb to their deleterious influence. 
 
 These laws are of two kinds. 
 
 First, the production of atmospheric 
 currents, or winds, by the influence of 
 which the impure air is replaced by that 
 which is pure, carrying away the agents of 
 mischief, or diluting them to such a de- 
 gree that they are rendered innocuous. 
 These may be called the mechanical agents 
 of purification, but they have also a chem- 
 ical aspect, for whilst oxygen, as already 
 mentioned, is an essential constituent of 
 the atmosphere, it is at the same time the 
 great purifier. Through its agency all 
 occasional ingredients of the air, noxious 
 
93 
 
 or otherwise, can, by a process called 
 oxidation, be reduced to simpler and 
 simpler forms, until, eventually, they are 
 rendered inert. The atmosphere is, then, 
 not only a grand receptacle, but also the 
 laboratory for the decomposition of sub- 
 stances finding their way into it, converting 
 noxious into harmless compounds, which 
 are not useless, but, being washed down 
 by the rain, supply a fertilizing fluid to 
 the roots of vegetables, minister to their 
 growth, and finally furnish, through the 
 medium of the plant, wholesome food to 
 man, as we said in the beginning. 
 
 The second law to which allusion has 
 been made is that which is called Diffu- 
 sion, meaning a property which gases and 
 vapors have of spreading or diffusing 
 themselves tlirough each other. By vir- 
 tue of this force even the heaviest gases 
 rise in the air, and the most dense and 
 the most rare gradually mix with each 
 other, the effect being the dispersion of 
 vaporous matter and the dilution of the 
 injurious air by that which is pure and 
 respirable. 
 
94 
 
 Such are the self-acting modes of purifi- 
 cation with which nature has furnished 
 the atmosphere. But in houses the same 
 purifying conditions do not exist, and the 
 confined space renders contamination and 
 its bad effects more probable. If, then, 
 free circulation in the open air removes 
 impurities, and is otherwise conducive to 
 health, it is called for more imperatively 
 in our dwellings, and, in consequence, we 
 imitate these natural agencies by ventila- 
 tion. 
 
 Fully to appreciate the importance of 
 ventilation, it is necessary to consider in 
 detail a few of the sources of contamina- 
 tion to which our habitations are sub- 
 jected, independent of sewer gases. On 
 an average, a man breathes 28,800 cubic 
 inches, or 16.66 cubic feet of air per hour, 
 and produces in twenty-four hours 12 to 
 16 cubic feet of carbonic acid gas. To 
 dilute this quantity to a safe limit, so that 
 the carbonic acid does not exceed 0.4 per 
 thousand of air, there should be supplied 
 at least 100 times the volume of the air 
 expired, or more than 1,666 cubic feet of 
 
95 
 
 air per hour; but as other sources of 
 vitiation are present, such as artificial 
 combustion, exhalation of the skin, etc., 
 the amount should really be 2,802 cubic 
 feet per hour. In sickness, the causes of 
 vitiation being more abundant, a larger 
 supply is needed. 5 Under such circum- 
 stances, not less than 4,500 cubic feet 
 should be furnished in the same time, and 
 during epidemics at least 6,000 cubic feet. 
 Closely allied to contamination of air by 
 respiration is that produced by combus- 
 tion, the burning of one candle being 
 equal in its vitiating effect to the breath- 
 ing of one person. A cubic foot of coal 
 gas will, on an average, give, when burnt, 
 2 cubic feet of carbonic acid with about 
 -J grain of sulphurous acid, and this will 
 require at the least 1,800 cubic feet of air 
 to dilute it to a healthy standard. An-' 
 ordinary sitting-room burner consumes 3 
 cubic feet of gas per hour, and produces 
 6 cubic feet of carbonic acid; each gas 
 burner, when lighted, is therefore equiva- 
 lent to the presence of twelve persons in 
 the room. 
 
96 
 
 That there should be no means provided 
 for the escape of the products of lighted 
 gas burners in our dwellings, is one of 
 the most astounding incongruities of 
 modern architecture. 
 
 The amount of air furnished to each 
 person in a given apartment is found by 
 multiplying the dimensions of length, 
 breadth, and height, and dividing the 
 product by the number of persons. The 
 Poor Law Board of Great Britain allows 
 300 cubic feet for every healthy person in 
 dormitories, and 500 cubic feet for every 
 sick person ; whilst in permanent bar- 
 racks, each man is allowed 600 cubic feet. 
 But the quantity alone is not all im- 
 portant ; the renewal of the air is quite as 
 essential, for the purpose of removing or 
 diluting to the degree already stated the 
 products of respiration and combustion. 
 
 This renewal of air is effected in one of 
 two ways : 
 
 Natural ventilation, effected by windows, 
 doors, and crevices, as inlets; and chim- 
 neys and fireplaces as outlets. 
 
 Artificial ventilation, which is usuallv 
 
97 
 
 effected by the action of valves and fans ; 
 or by stoves, or other artificial heat, in- 
 cluding gas, whereby air is either drawn 
 into, or forced out of an apartment. The 
 fundamental principles of ventilation may 
 be stated in a few words, and should never 
 be forgotten. Whenever air is heated, it 
 expands, and, becoming lighter, ascends, 
 leaving a space more or less empty. To 
 supply the deficiency thus caused, the 
 surrounding cold air rushes in. This 
 process, going on in the atmosphere 
 around us, constitutes a wind or current 
 of air. This natural law is imitated in 
 our dwellings, for the purpose of renew- 
 ing the air which we have contaminated ; 
 thus, when a fire is lighted in a grate, the 
 air in the chimney becomes heated and 
 ascends, its place being supplied by the .- 
 external air rushing in through the crev- 
 ices of the windows and doors, and flow- 
 ing up the chimney. The process contin- 
 ues as long as the fire is burning in the 
 grate, and as long as the foul air drawn 
 into the chimney is heated and expanded 
 on its arrival there. The desired exchange 
 
98 
 
 is now produced, and will continue, pro- 
 vided the conditions on which it depends 
 a supply of colder air meets with no 
 interference. But it will not go on when 
 the air to be changed is equal in tempera- 
 ture to, or colder than the external air; 
 therefore, the change is most active in 
 winter, when rooms are artificially 
 warmed; and least so in hot weather, 
 when the external and internal tempera- 
 tures approximate each other, or are simi- 
 lar. It is probable that, in dwelling 
 rooms, provided with larg*e open fire- 
 places, and with windows and doors 
 which are frequently opened, the ventila- 
 tion is, under ordinary circumstances, 
 tolerably good. It is in rooms otherwise 
 appointed that assistance is more especi- 
 ally demanded. 
 
 In considering the subject in detail, the 
 first point is the introduction of the air. 
 When it enters at the windows and doors 
 in the manner previously mentioned, and 
 when no other arrangement exists, 
 draughts are certain to be established, 
 more or less, according to the size of the 
 
99 
 
 apertures. It may seem singular that a 
 room insufficiently supplied with air may 
 be draughty, but, nevertheless, it is a 
 fact. If, when a fire is burning in a 
 room, as much air cannot enter as passes 
 away by the chimney, the pressure of air 
 within is diminished, and the outer air 
 then rushes in with violence through 
 every available crevice or aperture, and 
 draughts shoot in every direction. 
 
 The question how and where to intro- 
 duce the cold air, required for ventilation 
 and combustion, in an imperceptible man- 
 ner, is difficult to solve, and is not settled 
 in a satisfactory manner. The main 
 points demanding attention are the equal 
 distribution of the current, by causing 
 the air to pass through a large number of 
 apertures, such as wire gauze, perforated 
 zinc, and the like, and the employment of 
 adequate means to bring it to a suitable 
 temperature, by being made to circulate 
 through boxes heated by steam pipes, or 
 through chambers behind or around 
 stoves or grates. If the ah- is properly 
 heated it should enter the room near the 
 
100 
 
 floor-; if not, it should be brought into the 
 room 9 or 10 inches from the floor, a direc- 
 tion towards the ceiling being given to it, 
 so that it may pass upwards, then fall, and 
 gradually mix with the air of the room. 
 Windows properly constructed, made to 
 open above and below, and suitably 
 placed, afford ready, though not always 
 sufficient, means for the natural ventila- 
 tion of dwellings. The air is better di- 
 rected and distributed by making the top 
 sash of the window open slopingly by a 
 lever and pivot, the pivot being placed, 
 not in the center, but at the bottom of 
 the sash, by which the down draught is 
 avoided; or a board may be placed 
 obliquely from the top sash of the win- 
 dow, when it is open in the usual manner. 
 By either of these contiivances the in- 
 coming current is directed to the ceiling, 
 is divided, and has its velocity checked. 
 Lockhead's ventilator, and its many modi- 
 fications, fulfill the same object. [Plate X., 
 
 rig. i.] 
 
 Rooms in which a fire is burning should 
 be furnished with a supply of outside air, 
 
101 
 
 PLATE IX. 
 
 EXPLANATION OF PLATE IX. 
 
 FIG. 1. Grate with valves aa to supply air from an 
 external source ; b, channel below the floor com- 
 municating with external air. 
 
 FIG. 2. Horizontal section across the upper part of a 
 grate to admit air through* open spandrels aa, the 
 air passing into the back of the grate and becom- 
 ing there heated before entering the room. 
 
102 
 
 by conveying it through a pipe, or cham- 
 ber, formed under the floor, or in the 
 wall, leading to the fireplace, in order that 
 it may be warmed before circulating in 
 the room (Plate IX.), and, by a little con- 
 trivance, warm air may be made to feed 
 the fire. An independent supply of this 
 kind is calculated to prevent the chimney 
 from smoking, and to secure economy of 
 fuel, as well as freedom from cold draughts, 
 passing from windows, doors and crevices 
 to the fire. 
 
 Where it is feasible it would be well to 
 sink the j tubes that supply air to apart 
 ments about ten feet underground. By 
 this means the air would be 15 Fahr. 
 warmer than the outside air in winter, 
 and in summer 20 cooler. 
 
 Numerous inventions have been pat- 
 ented for the introduction of air into 
 apartments without draughts. A very 
 simple one is to introduce perforated 
 bricks into the wall immediately below 
 the ceiling; the area of aperture being 
 usually one square inch to every 60 cubic 
 feet of the capacity of the room. To 
 
fit- 
 
104 
 
 EXPLANATION OF PLATE X. 
 FIG. 1. Lockhead's ventilator. 
 
 FIGS. 2 and 3. Perforated zinc ventilator, adapted to a 
 cornice ; a perforated bricks in external wall ; 
 b under part of cornice facing the room ; e portion 
 of cornice over the aperture by which air is ad- 
 mitted from without; d cord to regulate the 
 admission of air through ; e door or valve ; /per- 
 forated zinc. 
 
105 
 
 prevent the down draught, a cornice is 
 arranged to cover the openings, having its 
 upper side made of perforated zinc. 
 [Plate X., Figs. 2 and 3.] 
 
 A simple plan, which works well in 
 schools, is as follows : A perforated zinc 
 tube, opened to the external air, passes 
 round the cornice of three sides of the 
 room ; on the fourth side, another perfor- 
 ated tube is connected with the chimney. 
 
 Other simple contrivances are shown in 
 Plate XI., Figs. 1 and 2. 
 
 The examples which have been given 
 suffice to illustrate the principles of the 
 plans to be adopted for the ingress of the 
 ail* required for ventilation, which may be 
 summed up as follows : The incoming air 
 should be pure, and, if possible, warmed ; 
 if not warmed, the external openings 
 should be provided with means of closing 
 them in very cold weather. The supply 
 should be well distributed by having* 
 numerous small inlets rather than few 
 large ones. Draughts should be avoided 
 by directing the current upwards. And, 
 above all, the supply should be in suff:- 
 
106 
 
 cient quantity to drive out and replace 
 the vitiated air, otherwise the latter will 
 collect at the top of the room, and event- 
 ually be diffused through its entire space. 
 Neglect of this consideration is one of the 
 Teasons why ventilation is inefficiently car- 
 lied out in practice. To accomplish its 
 purpose, the inlet should be at least one 
 square inch for every 60 cubic feet 
 capacity. 
 
 I have now to direct attention to the 
 egress of the contaminated air. The size 
 of the apertures will have to depend upon 
 the temperature and height of the column. 
 If the height of a heated column be 15 
 feet, and a difference exists of 10 degrees 
 between external and internal tempera- 
 ture, and if the discharge per man be 
 2.000 cubic feet per hour, the outlet space 
 per man must be 24 square inches, nearly 
 equivalent to an opening 5 inches square. 
 There must be, of course, an equal 
 amount of inlet, so that the inlet and out- 
 let together would be 48 square inches per 
 head. This, therefore, would be the total 
 < r>en area necessary for each person, in- 
 
107 
 
 dependency of all openings by windows 
 and doors. To calculate the total size of 
 the openings for any room destined for 
 healthy persons, multiply 48 by the num- 
 ber of persons, and the result will be the 
 total section area to be provided in square 
 inches. For hospitals, multiply 72 by the 
 number of persons. The outlet is more 
 certain and constant in its action, if the 
 air be warmed a fact exemplified in the 
 chimney and open fire, which carries on 
 the removal most efficiently. Illuminating 
 gas for this purpose admits of extensive 
 application. A good and simple arrange- 
 ment is to place over the gas jet a pipe, 
 to carry off the products of combustion, 
 and to case this pipe in a tube opening on 
 the ceiling. Two outlet currents are thus 
 established, one over the gas, and one 
 through the outer tube. Bickett's ven- 
 tilating globe light (in reality the inven- 
 tion of Faraday) is on this principle, its 
 only objection being its expense. A some- 
 what similar contrivance, " the sunlight " 
 method of illumination, is one of the best 
 modes of ventilation. It consists in burn- 
 
108 
 
 ing the gas under an opening in the 
 ceiling, the opening being furnished with 
 a pipe for removing the products of com- 
 bustion, &c. In all these, and like ar- 
 rangements, care should be taken that the 
 channel for the escape of air from the room 
 be of sufficient size, and that it inclines at 
 an angle towards the chimney, otherwise 
 the water of combustion, condensing 
 within it, might form an obstruction. 
 
 Numerous ventilating valves, or com- 
 binations of tubes of various kinds, have 
 been proposed to aid the removal of 
 tainted air. The one best known, and, at 
 the same time, simple and inexpensive, 
 is that suggested by Dr. Arnott. It con- 
 sists in making an opening into the chim- 
 ney, near the ceiling, and fixing a balanc- 
 ing valve in it in such a manner that 
 the valve plate is opened by outward 
 draughts, but closed by those from within. 
 For the same purpose, the plan is modified 
 by the use of perforated zinc as a ven- 
 tilator, and the action of Arnott's valve is 
 imitated by a valve of oiled silk, or valves 
 of mica. For the proper working of these 
 
10;) 
 
 ventilators, the throat of the chimney, 
 just over the fire, should be contracted, and 
 then a low arch should be fixed, as a sort of 
 blower, over the top bar of the grate, to 
 quicken and steady the draught. It is 
 worse than useless to put one into a chim- 
 ney where the fireplace is large and open. 
 As long as a body of air, filling the whole 
 chimney, passes freely through it from the 
 fitoplace, none will pass through the ven- 
 ti later, and smoke may find its way 
 through the latter into the room ; but if 
 the fireplace is contracted, part of the air 
 will go over the fire, and part will flow 
 steadily through the valve. 
 
 When the external air is warm and free 
 from motion, it becomes more difficult to 
 to secure the free ventilation of rooms. 
 Under these circumstances, as in summer, 
 the only natural mode of ventilation is 
 through open windows, and there can be 
 no better method, unless this is sup- 
 plemented by some artificial contriv- 
 ance. 
 
 Unnecessary fear prevails generally in 
 relation to open windows ; of the two, it 
 
110 
 
 is certainly better to breathe air moistened 
 with night-dew than air laden with p oi- 
 sonous vapors. 
 
 The chimney is supposed to produce a 
 current outwards, but it is often the re- 
 verse. A draught as often comes into as 
 passes out of the room through this aper- 
 ture, a defect admitting of remedy by 
 keeping a small gas or other lamp burn- 
 ing in the grate ; an out-draught is thus 
 established without increasing the tem- 
 perature of the room. A contrivance of 
 the Marquis de Chabannes is very useful. 
 About the height of the mantelpiece, an 
 opening is made into the chimney. At 
 the mouth of it is placed a lamp, partly 
 enclosed in a case of metal, and so ar- 
 ranged that whilst it lights the apartment' 
 it at the same time effects ventilation, by 
 setting up a current of heated air, which 
 passes into the chimney. This mode of 
 ventilation in bed-rooms and in the sick 
 room is excellent. [Plate XL, Fig. 3.] 
 
 We see, therefore, that in-doors as out- 
 of-doors, the purifying agencies of nature 
 are diffusion, dilution, oxidation ; and 
 
112 
 
 EXPLANATION OF PLATE XI. 
 
 FIG. 1. Vertical section of a contrivance for supplying 
 air at the top of a window independently of the 
 sash ; a perforated external side ; b gauze facing 
 the room ; c plate to regulate admission of air ; 
 d window sash slightly lowered ; e cord to move c. 
 
 FIG. 2. Ventilator fixed to a window sash. It is a 
 narrow box, having a perforated face of brass and 
 a similar back of zinc. By means of a cord and 
 pulley a plate is made to move over the perforated 
 parts and regulate the admission of air. 
 
 FIG. 3. Section of the chimney and lamp of the 
 Marquis de Chambaunes. 
 
113 
 
 those who wish, as far as possible, to 
 breathe untainted air, should introduce 
 into their dwellings as liberal a supply of 
 fresh ah* as can be endured without dis- 
 comfort. 
 
 DISINFECTANTS. 
 
 In addition to and in conjunction with 
 atmospheric air, there are a certain class 
 of agents which are capable of destroying 
 infectious matter when brought in actual 
 contact with it. They are called disinfect 
 ants. 
 
 In the broadest sense, a disinfectant is 
 anything which counteracts infectious, con- 
 tagious or effete matters. They may be 
 said to act on infectious matter in one of 
 two ways : either by a process of oxida- 
 tion, which effects the decay or decompo> 
 sition of organic matter, resolving it into, 
 harmless products. These are disinfect- 
 ants proper ; or by preventing putrefac- 
 tion and fermentation, or any change from 
 taking place in the original composition 
 of the organic matter. These are anti- 
 septics or colytics. To these divisions 
 
114 
 
 another may practically be added, to 
 which the term fixative has been applied ; 
 one or more of the constituents of these 
 agents combines with the offensive vola- 
 tile products, fixes them, and prevents the 
 pollution of the air by their escape. 
 
 We will consider the subject briefly, 
 with respect to the use of ordinary dis- 
 nfectants, and the circumstances under 
 which their employment is specially in- 
 dicated. 
 
 Chlorine is an energetic destroyer of all 
 organic substances prone to decay, and 
 acts on sewer gases and the gases of putre- 
 faction. It is one of the most valuable 
 atmospheric disinfectants and deodorizers, 
 but demands, at least in its pure state, to 
 be used cautiously, on account of the 
 unpleasant effects produced by it on the 
 organs of respiration. For use it may be 
 thus prepared : Place equal parts of com- 
 mon salt and black oxide of manganese 
 in a basin, pour in some water, and then 
 add an equal quantity, or less, of oil of 
 vitriol, and the gas is given off. The ra- 
 pidity of the evolution of gas may be 
 
115 
 
 diminished by the addition of water. 
 There are many cases in which the so- 
 called chloride of lime may, with advan- 
 tage, be substituted, especially when a 
 solution is required, in the proportion of 
 one pound to a gallon of water. Its un- 
 pleasant, sickly odor can be overcome by 
 the addition of a small quantity of nitro- 
 benzole. For general purposes, if there 
 be sufficient chlorine to give an odor of 
 the gas, it is in sufficient quantity to dis- 
 infect. Chlorine, though not pure, may 
 be evolved by the addition of an acid to 
 chloride of lime. Mr. Cond}^ has sug- 
 gested an easy means of chlorodizing. 
 Into a cup, placed on a plate, a wine- 
 glass-full of Condy's fluid is poured ; on 
 the gradual addition of a small portion of 
 muriatic acid, the gas is given off until t^e 
 ingredients are exhausted. 
 
 On account of the irrespirable nature of 
 chlorine, a good substitute for it is found 
 in iodine. If some of this substance be 
 placed in saucers in different parts of the 
 room, it evaporates spontaneously, and 
 the characteristic odor is soon percept- 
 
116 
 
 ible. The diffusion may be accelerated 
 by the application of slight heat. 
 
 Alkaline manganates and permanganates 
 have been introduced by Mr. Condy, under 
 the title of " Condy 's Fluid," red and 
 green. As disinfectants they are invalua- 
 ble, admitting of a wide range of applica- 
 tion. It is needless here to describe either 
 their uses or mode of application, as full 
 directions are given with the preparations, 
 which are essential to every household. 
 
 The antiseptics, or colytics, are a class 
 which have the power of preventing or- 
 ganic substances from undergoing change. 
 Disinfectants proper exercise their influ- 
 ence upon substances or products, which 
 are the results of changes already effected ; 
 whilst antiseptics prevent these results, 
 by arresting decay and decomposition. 
 So that while an antiseptic preserves 
 from putrefaction, it does not of necessity 
 remove the odor of that matter which has 
 previously undergone change. 
 
 Heat and cold are natural antiseptics. 
 Extreme cold prevents animal poisons 
 from being diffused and oxidized, and 
 
117 
 
 therefore restrains putrefaction. The 
 greater number of animal substances may 
 be indefinitely preserved at or below the 
 freezing point ; but with an elevation of 
 temperature, the liabilty to undergo 
 change or decomposition returns. Ex- 
 treme heat destroys the structure of 
 poisons, and may, in a general manner, 
 operate beneficially by producing expan- 
 sion, and consequent dilution, of the 
 noxious material. Yacciiie virus is de- 
 prived of the power of reproduction by 
 exposure to a temperature of 140 for 
 three hours. This and similar facts has 
 led some English practitioners to suggest 
 the adoption of a method for the disinfec- 
 tion of clothing and the like, which con- 
 sists in exposing them to a temperature of 
 212 to 214 in a chamber built of brick, 
 the floor of which is composed of perfo- 
 rated iron plate, with a coil of iron, pipe 
 . below, which acts as a part of a furnace 
 flue, radiating heat into the compartment. 
 Experience has fully established the suc- 
 cess of this plan, when carried out with 
 proper care, and for a sufficiently long 
 
118 
 
 time. In the absence of a chamber, an 
 oven, cautiously heated, may be employed, 
 the articles being kept in the heated air 
 for at least two hours. 
 
 The fumes of burning sulphur (sul- 
 phurous acid) have Very powerful anti- 
 septic properties ; they are effectual, 
 economical, of considerable permanence, 
 and can be readily applied. The same 
 may be said of nitrous fumes. The chief 
 objections are the poisonous and irrespir- 
 able properties of the gases, which render 
 their employment impracticable, except in 
 uninhabited places. 
 
 Carbolic acid, even when highly diluted, 
 is most destructive to all the lower forms 
 of animal and vegetable life, and arrests 
 and prevents all kinds of putrefactive 
 changes ; its vapor has the same action, 
 and it is in every respect a true antiseptic. 
 The Disinfectant Powders of Caivert and 
 McDougall (the former being more effica- 
 cious, with a less unpleasant odor) are 
 compounds of the sulphites and carbolic 
 acid, and act most advantageously when a 
 powder is demanded for the disinfection 
 
119 
 
 of sewage, masses of putresceut matter, 
 stables, or excreta. They influence also 
 the surrounding atmosphere, and have 
 still further the valuable property of 
 absorbing moisture, thus removing a con- 
 dition most favorable for putrefactive 
 changes. 
 
 The use of fixatives, such as the sul- 
 phate of iron, sulphate of zinc, chloride 
 of iron, chloride of zinc (a solution of 
 which goes by the name of Burnett's 
 fluid), copperas, etc., is indicated when 
 large masses of putrefying matter have to 
 be disinfected for a time, and at a small 
 cost. The chloride of aluminum, or 
 chloraluni, is one of this class lately 
 introduced. It possesses 'several advant- 
 ages ; it is not poisonous like the chloride 
 of zinc, it is inodorous, and is very cheap.* 
 It is much used for the prevention of 
 decomposition, and to remove the foetor 
 of animal discharges, either natural or the 
 products of disease. It readily deodor- 
 izes sewage, and may be used for the dis- 
 infection of rooms, mixed with water, as a 
 cleansing material. Not being volatile, it 
 
120 
 
 is probably inferior to some other agents 
 as an aerial disinfectant. 
 
 PKACTICAL DISINFECTION. 
 
 In practically carrying out disinfection, 
 it is to be remembered that the process is 
 not a simple one, but depends upon vary- 
 ing and complex chemical and physiolog- 
 ical actions, and that different products 
 and different circumstances have to * be 
 dealt with. The attempt, therefore, to 
 obtain a disinfectant of universal applica- 
 tion, and capable of fulfilling every indica- 
 tion, must be attended with disappoint- 
 ment. The relative power of the substances 
 which have been mentioned, in preventing 
 putrefaction, may be taken as a test of 
 their, action on the genus of infection. Dr. 
 Grace Calvert has published experiments, 
 in which meat was suspended over the var- 
 ious substances, with the following results : 
 
 Antiseptic Became Became 
 
 used. tainted. putrid. 
 
 Condy's Fluid 2 days. ... 4 days 
 
 Chloralum 2 " 10 " 
 
 McDougall's Powder. 12 " 19 " 
 
 Chloride of Lime. ... 14 " 21 " 
 
 Burnett's Fluid 19 " 
 
 Carbolic Acid not tainted, dried up. 
 
121 
 
 In dealing with sewer gas and its allies, 
 the atmosphere of the room has specially 
 to be dealt with, and hence a diffusible 
 disinfectant, such as chlorine, iodine, or 
 the vapor of carbolic acid, should be 
 selected. Assuming that the spread of 
 infectious diseases depends upon the con- 
 tact of disease producing particles, and 
 that the air is at least one means of their 
 transmission, it must be remembered that 
 whilst chlorine and iodine destroy the 
 products, they do not destroy the pro- 
 ducer, and that carbolic acid performs the 
 latter, but not the former, having, there- 
 fore, little power as a deodorizer, but 
 operating on the essential cause. The 
 air may be carbolized by suspending in 
 the room clothes dipped in a solution of 
 one part of the acid to eighty parts of 
 water, sprinkling the floor with it, or by 
 a spray instrument. [Plate XII., Fig. 1.] 
 
 The vaporizer is an excellent method of 
 carbolic acid diffusion. This instrument 
 consists essentially of a metallic plate, 
 heated by a spirit lamp, or other means, 
 over which is suspended a glass vessel 
 
containing liquid carbolic acid, which falls 
 regularly through a dropping tube on the 
 heated plate, drop by drop, and is dissi- 
 pated in vapor. 6 Lee's lamp is also 
 an excellent fumigator. Plate XII., Fig. 2. 
 
 The method of using chlorine and iodine 
 has been described. 
 
 If recourse is had to the fixative disin- 
 fectants, Burnett's Fluid. &c., a consider- 
 able surface of the liquid should be expos- 
 ed, and this is best effected by keeping sus- 
 pended clothes continually wetted with 
 the liquid. To fulfill the same object, 
 Girondin's Fluid (solution of sulph. of 
 zinc, acetate of copper and baryta) may 
 be atomized by means of the ^pray. A 
 plan suggested by Mr. Condy is to add a 
 wineglass-full of his red fluid to a quart 
 of water, mix thoroughly with a teaspoon- 
 ful of oil of vitriol, and then drive air 
 through the mixture with a pair of bel- 
 lows or other special contrivance. 
 
 Empty rooms, uninhabited places, or 
 rooms where there has been an infectious 
 disease, may. be most efficiently disin- 
 fected in the following manner : Denude 
 
123 
 
 FIG. 2. 
 
124 
 
 EXPLANATION OF PLATE XII. 
 Fig. 1. Richardson's spray producer. 
 
 Fig. 2. Lee's lamp, slightly modified. It consists of a 
 stand for a metallic saucer around which is a place 
 for water, and underneath a lamp. On the saucer 
 the fumigating substance is placed ; the heat of 
 the lamp produces the desired fumes and vapor of 
 water to temper the same if required. 
 
125 
 
 the room of all its furniture, which should 
 be washed with strong chloralum solution 
 (2J ozs. to a gallon of water). Wash the 
 floor and woodwork with soap and diluted 
 carbolic acid (1 part Calvert's No. 5 to 
 60 of water), or with carbolic soap. Re- 
 move the paper, after having treated it in 
 a similar manner with either of the 
 liquids, for the protection of the work- 
 men. Close up all openings, and having 
 generated sulphur, or nitrous fumes, leave 
 the room, and shut the door. Keep the 
 apartment closed for 24 hours ; then open 
 the windows and doors, and in a few days 
 the kalsomining and papering may be 
 commenced. The sulphur fumes may be 
 generated by burning that substance in a 
 pan, containing a few hot coals in the pro- 
 portion of 4 oz. to every 100 cubic feet 
 capacity of the room. 
 
 Bedding, clothing, &c., are best disin- 
 fected by dry heat at or about 220. If 
 this be not practicable, before removal 
 they should be plunged into a disinfecting 
 solution, of no great strength, for fear of 
 bleaching or staining in the case of the 
 
126 
 
 chlorides and Condy's Fluid, and then be 
 subjected to careful washing. Carbolic 
 acid may be used for this purpose, by 
 placing some heated bricks at the bottom 
 of a box, and sprinkling the acid over 
 them ; the materials are then introduced 
 layer by layer, and tlje box firmly closed. 
 
 For the disinfection of drains, sewers, 
 closets, &c., carbolic acid (1 Ib. of Cal- 
 vert's No. 5 to the 10 gallons of water), 
 chloralum, charcoal, &c., are suitable. To 
 remove the odor and danger of alviiie dis- 
 charges, Condy's Fluid (a teaspoonful to 
 a wineglassful of water), sulphate of iron, 
 or sulphate of zinc (1 to 10 water), Cal- 
 vert's or McDougall's Powders, chloralum, 
 Burnett's Fluid, &c., may be used with 
 advantage. 
 
 Heaps of manure, and other filth which it 
 may at the time be impracticable to remove, 
 or earth near dwellings, which, by the soak- 
 ing of sewage or vegetable matter, has 
 become offensive, should be well watered 
 with one of the preceding solutions, or 
 covered with 2 or 3 inches of freshly- 
 burnt vegetable charcoal in powder. 
 
127 
 
 On all occasions, in. the use of disin- 
 fectants, care must be taken that they are 
 not incompatible, so as to neutralize each 
 other. Condy's fluid, carbolic acid, and 
 chlorine have all been used at the same 
 time, and the only result has been the 
 destruction of the influence of each. 
 
 Disinfectants properly and judiciously 
 applied admit of extensive use in prevent- 
 ive medicine ; their advantages, never- 
 theless, are not to be overrated. 
 
 It must be remembered that cleanliness 
 by removal of the cause of infection, ven- 
 tilation, isolation and drainage are the 
 proper means of protecting the dwelling ; 
 and that artificial deodorizers can no more 
 serve in their stead than in regard to in- 
 dividuals, perfumes could serve instead of 
 soap and water. 
 
 As long as carbolic acid and iodine and 
 the other chemicals are applied, as such, 7 
 to definite spaces and definite quantities ; 
 a heap of decomposing organic matter to 
 be neutralized, the contaminated air of a 
 closet or room to be oxodized, they are 
 invaluable adjuvants at our command. 
 
128 
 
 But if they are to be the cause of banish- 
 ment of the natural methods of purifica- 
 tion, if they are to be held as magic means 
 of turning, by a little powdering and 
 sprinkling, infected houses into healthful 
 dwellings, they are ten times worse than 
 useless by leading to a confidence that 
 the experience of their use does not 
 justify, and I would end by noting a 
 special warning against such perversion 
 and abuse. 
 
 GARBAGE GASES. 
 
 There are houses, there are groups of 
 houses, there are considerable sections of 
 towns, there are even entire and not small 
 towns, where general slovenliness in every- 
 thing which relates to the removal of 
 refuse matter is the local habit. Streets 
 and districts where within, or just outside 
 each house, or may be in spaces common 
 to many houses, lies for an indefinite 
 period of time, undergoing fetid decom- 
 position, more or less of the putrefiable 
 refuse which house-life and trade-life pro- 
 duce. K itcheii refuse, garbage of all 
 
129 
 
 PLATE X'll. 
 FIG. 1. 
 
 FIG. 2. 
 
130 
 
 EXPLANATION OF PLATE XIII. 
 
 FIG. 1. Sediment of water from well, corner Nassau 
 and Pearl streets, Brooklyn ; from a slide in pos- 
 session of Dr. H. M. Lewis. Note the low type of 
 organisms denoting the presence of organic mat- 
 ter. 
 
 FIG. 2. Sediment of Ridgewood water ; from slide in 
 possession of Dr. Lewis. Note the high and unin 
 jurious type of organisms. 
 
131 
 
 sorts, and stagnant slop-waters, lying 
 bare on the common surface ; or, perhaps, 
 unintentionally stored out of sight and 
 recollection in nooks and corners and 
 receptacles of all sorts. 
 
 To a lesser degree this deplorable con- 
 dition of things prevails in the cleanest 
 and best regulated houses, sometimes 
 from an improper understanding of the 
 deleterious effects of the accumulation of 
 vegetable and animal table and kitchen 
 refuse, others from criminal neglect on 
 the part of the proper authorities, who ill 
 perform or do not perform at. all the duty 
 of removing garbage from private dwell- 
 ings. 
 
 With this. state of things be it on a large 
 or on a small scale, two chief sorts of danger 
 to our dwellings arise. One, that volatile 
 effluvia, precisely of the same nature as 
 the pestilential gases from sewers, and 
 more deadly than these, because they are 
 more at hand, arise from the swill-pail or 
 garbage heaps, polluting the surrounding 
 air and everything which it contains, not- 
 ably the house provisions, food and 
 
132 
 
 beverages, which are probably stored in 
 the immediate vicinity. 
 
 The other, that the liquid parts of the 
 refuse pass by soakage or leakage into the 
 house floor and the surrounding soil, to 
 mingle there with whatever water the soil 
 yields, and in one case or the other to oc- 
 casion the deadliest pollution of air and 
 of wells and springs. 
 
 Dangers of these two sorts are prevail- 
 ing to a really immense extent throughout 
 the length and breadth of our cities and 
 villages, not only in their slighter degrees, 
 but in degrees which are gross and 
 scandalous. And when, we consider that 
 filth does not only infect where it stands, 
 but can transmit its deadly powers of 
 infection afar and wide by certain appro- 
 priate channels of conveyance that, for 
 instance, houses which have untrapped 
 drainage communication with sewers may 
 receive through such communication the 
 deadly infection from the refuse rotting 
 within their neighbor's, or even a distant 
 house ; it stands to reason that the proper 
 disposal of kitchen and table refuse is as 
 
133 
 
 paramount to the protection of our dwell- 
 ings as the removal of excreta and sew- 
 age. 
 
 DISPOSAL OF GARBAGE. 
 
 The average amount of kitchen and 
 table refuse of the kind usually called 
 swill is about half a pound per capita per 
 diem, or one ton daily for every four 
 thousand inhabitants. 
 
 The desire to utilize this large amount 
 of available food has led to the system of 
 removal, which in the majority of our 
 cities is a gross insult to sanitary 
 civilization. Filth- wreaking wagons laden 
 with dilapidated and uncovered casks, 
 overflowing their nauseous contents, 
 drawn by phthisic horses, attended by 
 men and boys, whose revolting appear-* 
 ance defies description, may be seen at 
 all hours iii the hottest days of summer as 
 in the coldest days of winter, halting at 
 every door, spreading pestilence and 
 scattering filth through the poorest streets 
 as well as through the most fashionable 
 avenues. 
 
134 
 
 In some cities this system of removal 
 is performed under the supervision of the 
 authorities themselves, in others it is let 
 out to contractors. 
 
 The least objectionable of all these plans 
 is the one carried out in the city of 
 Boston, which claims, with no lack of rea- 
 son, to be, at least in this respect, the 
 cleanest city in the Union/ 
 
 The plan of collecting the garbage and 
 sewage of the city is substantially as fol- 
 lows : There are three stations or swill 
 yards, from which the collectors of gar- 
 bage issue forth to their labors daily, 
 Sundays excepted. The south city 
 yard, which is the largest station, col- 
 lects for Boston proper, South Boston, 
 Dorchester, Matapan and Neponset. 
 Every driver is expected to collect a cer- 
 tain quantity of offal daily, and for each 
 load he receives a ticket from the fore- 
 man, which he takes to the office and 
 leaves. It is there entered to his account, 
 and at the end of the week is returned 
 to the Superintendent of Health. If it is 
 found at the end of each day or week that 
 
135 
 
 a driver has not collected the number of 
 loads expected of him and returned the 
 tickets therefor, an inquiry is immediately 
 made as to the reasons, and if it is dis- 
 covered that he and his helpers have been 
 neglecting work a change is effected as 
 soon as possible. Extra men are always 
 kept on hand at the yard for the purpose 
 of filling vacancies which may occur 
 through death, sickness, or discharge. 
 
 Garbage is collected in watertight carts 
 from dwelling houses at least three times 
 a week during the summer and twice a 
 week in the winter, and from markets, 
 hospitals, hotels and restaurants, daily. 
 This is conveyed to the Swill house, where 
 the cart is left on a platform without being 
 unloaded. Here the driver has his load 
 measured and receives a receipt, which is * 
 a small ticket with the quantity of offal 
 delivered printed on it. Each wagon will 
 hold a cord of offal. These checks are 
 delivered by the drivers at the office, and 
 show how much each has clone during the 
 day. The offal remains in the swill yard 
 until sold to farmers, who generally pur- 
 
136 
 
 chase it for pigs and as a fertilizer. They 
 pay for it $3.60 a cord of 128 cubic feet 
 at the South City yard. At the Highland 
 yard they pay $5, and at the Charlestown 
 yard $6 per yard. The farmers' wagons 
 are required to be watertight. Before 
 purchasers can get offal they must go to 
 the office and get an order for the number 
 of feet they wish to buy. The city has 
 only had charge of this department of the 
 city health since 1876. Previous to that 
 date the city let it out by contract to pri- 
 vate individuals, who paid a certain sum 
 for the privilege. These individuals then 
 sold it for whatever price they could 
 obtain. 
 
 It requires but little thought to under- 
 stand that it is absolutely impossible to 
 handle, transport, and dispose of this large 
 amount of putrenable, in many instances 
 already putrefied, material in the loose and 
 irresponsible way in which it is done, 
 without creating the very nuisance which 
 its removal is intended to remedy and 
 avoid. And that even in Boston, where 
 there is a little more system and a great 
 
137 
 
 deal more surveillance exercised, there is 
 abundant ground for desiring the adop- 
 tion of a plan that shall finally dispose of 
 the kitchen and table refuse before it has 
 time to injure the health or offend the 
 senses of smell and sight, even at the 
 sacrifice of the nutriment it may con- 
 tain. 
 
 There is no doubt that proper knowl- 
 edge on the part of individuals of the 
 qualities and properties of foods, a knowl- 
 edge which, in my mind, is of more worth 
 than the knowledge of grammar or history, 
 would diminish to about one -fourth the 
 amount of kitchen and table refuse now 
 wasted, but even then there would always 
 be a certain quantity of putr enable matter 
 to be disposed of, and it is obvious that 
 whatever method accomplishes this in the 
 quickest, cleanest, and least objectionable 
 manner must be the best. 
 
 All this considered, then, the cremation 
 of garbage is the most convenient and 
 least objectionable method for its dis- 
 posal. 
 
 That it is the most convenient is evi- 
 
138 
 
 dent from the fact that it can be accom- 
 plished within the premises at once, 
 without any loss of time, before it can 
 produce the least harm. 
 
 That it is the least objectionable is also 
 apparent. In fact, the only trifling ob- 
 jections are two in number, and can be 
 overcome in a very simple manner. 
 
 One is that certain animal substances 
 emit when burning an unpleasant odor. 
 
 The other, that some vegetable sub- 
 stances do not bum easily, and take a long 
 time to be consumed. 
 
 Tn the first place, we must admit that 
 some of the most palatable and whole- 
 some articles of food emit an unpleasant 
 odor while cooking, yet habit, on the one 
 hand, causes us to overlook the fact, while, 
 on the other hand, we are willing to 
 suffer this slight inconvenience for the 
 sake of their enjoyment. We might do 
 the same with the unpleasant odors of 
 burning garbage, were these odors una- 
 voidable. But they are avoidable, as we 
 will see further on. 
 
 As for the dimcultv encountered in 
 
139 
 
 burning vegetable substances, it is only 
 apparent, a little thought and method soon 
 obviates the difficulty. 
 
 The importance, in a sanitary point of 
 view, of obliterating every vestige of 
 disease-breeding elements is sufficient to 
 demand that as much care and attention 
 should be devoted to the cremation of 
 garbage as is usually bestowed on the 
 preparation of a meaL The best method 
 is the following : 
 
 A tin receptacle of sufficient size with 
 perforated cover should be kept on the 
 back part of the range, where sufficient 
 heat to slowly dry its contents shall reach 
 it Into this receptacle all vegetable re- 
 fuse should be thrown as soon as it is 
 produced, not neglecting the coffee- 
 grounds and tea leaves which will deoj 
 dorize the slight vapor which might in- 
 visibly arise. Thus dried, all vegetables 
 will burn briskly when the time shall 
 come to throw them into the fire. 
 
 The animal refuse must be placed in 
 another receptacle until the burning time 
 arrives, when both should be thoroughly- 
 
140 
 
 mixed and thrown into a blazing fire, 
 after which all outlets should be closed 
 and the drafts opened until the mass is 
 consumed. It will only take a few 
 minutes, and if these directions are fol- 
 lowed there will be no odor, though you 
 burn feathers. The coffee-grounds will 
 completely neutralize any smoke, which 
 might ooze through the joints of the 
 range in case the draft were not powerful 
 enough to carry it up the chimney, while 
 the mixture of dry vegetable and greasy 
 animal substances will catch the blaze and 
 burn almost without residue. 
 
 There are several garbage burners in 
 market, but there is no need of any 
 special apparatus. With what exists in 
 every kitchen, a little method and a con- 
 scientious regard for our own safety and 
 that of our neighbors is all that is neces- 
 sary. 
 
NOTES TO PART II. 
 
 NOTE 1. 
 
 No better proof can be adduced of the condition of 
 the subsoil of large cities however well sewered than 
 the impure nature of the water of the numerous wells 
 in the City of Brooklyn, a specimen of which is shown 
 in Plate XIII, together with a specimen of the sedi- 
 ment of Ridgewood water for comparison. 
 
 NOTE 2. 
 
 In the Report of the Brooklyn Board of Health for 
 1875 and 1876 the following passages by Colonel Adams 
 are worthy of notice as being applicable to all Ameri- 
 can cities similarly located. 
 
 "It will be perceived that the Commissioners 
 charged with the sewering of the city, in view of the 
 paucity of knowledge to be derived from the experi- 
 ence of that day, in extended operations of city 
 sewerage, performed that part of their duty with 
 enlightened judgment. The experience of the twenty 
 years that have since elapsed, points to no improve- 
 ment on this general plan for the sewering of cities 
 situated on tide water. But a grave question has 
 arisen as to how far they understood the importance 
 of draining the city their only provision in this re- 
 spect being for the surface water, without any refer- 
 ence whatever to the subsoil draining." 
 
 And further on in the same report, and by the same 
 authority : 
 
142 
 
 *' In view of what has been stated, no attempt was 
 made by the Commissioners to drain the subsoil of 
 the upland, as a sanitary measure ; yet, in reality, in 
 some districts that were troubled with wet cellars 
 before the construction of the sewers, the result of 
 the sewering has been a visible improvement in 
 respect to underground drainage. This could not 
 have occurred from its having been led through the 
 sewers themselves, for every precaution was taken to 
 render these impermeable; but cutting the trenches 
 in which the sewers were laid has opened some 
 facilities for drawing off the underground water. In 
 the sewer trench on Marcy avenue, the spring water 
 was excessive, requiring steam pumps of large capa- 
 city to keep it down sufficiently to enable the work 
 to progress; but the grillage of timber upon which 
 the sewer (72 inches in diameter) rests was suffi- 
 ciently open to permit the water to take its course 
 to tide. Were there but a single line of sewers, 
 probably but little in this direction would have been 
 effected ; but as each street has furnished some 
 means for the escape of subsoil water through the 
 sewer trench at a depth of 12 feet below the surface, 
 the aggregate of them all, I doubt not, has effected a 
 fair drainage of the subsoil. Whether these small 
 vacuities in the foundations of the sewers will con- 
 tinue their office of land drains permanently, remains 
 to be seen." 
 
 NOTE 3. 
 
 Mr. Tobias New, of New York, has devised a 
 method of isolation, which he has very appropriately 
 named the Sanitary Cellar. The method is described 
 by him in the following words : 
 
 "The Sanitary Cellar is constructed with a water 
 and air-tight lining of alternate layers of felt (satur- 
 ated in bitumen) and asphaltic cement, which is pro- 
 tected by artificial stone and other materials that are 
 
143 
 
 practically indestructible ; they are elastic, and a 
 slight displacement of the foundation will not cause a 
 leak, neither will they rot out like timber or oakum ; 
 the water-tight materials have not a nail or bolt pass- 
 ing through them, and form one complete, impervious 
 lining to the cellar." 
 
 NOTE 4. 
 
 Mr. Condy has suggested an easy method for the 
 detection of an impure condition of the atmosphere, 
 based upon the fact that his red fluid (solution of 
 permanganate of potash) is decolorized by contact 
 with organic matter. "Place," he says, "in a line 
 four or more perfectly clean dishes of white ware. 
 Into each pour an ounce of distilled water. To the 
 first add a drop of Condy's Fluid, diluted previously 
 with two parts of water ; to the second add two 
 drops, and so on according to the number of vessels. 
 Let the dishes so prepared stand for a time in a quiet 
 part of the room. On examining them at the end of 
 the period, the state of the atmosphere can be judged 
 of. If the solution in No. 1 has not entirely lost its 
 pink color, the purity of the air is normal ; should 
 No. 2 be decolorized, the air is loaded with twice the 
 normal amount of impurity, and so the loss of color 
 in the others will demonstrate degrees of impurity 
 verging more or less on to positive pollution. This 
 plan is not admissable for scientific purposes, but 
 sufficiently accurate for ordinary sanitary objects." 
 
 For more accurate means of detecting impurities, in 
 the atmosphere, see works of Dr. Angus Smith and 
 Prof. Pettenkofer. Also Note 8. 
 
 ' NOTE 5. 
 
 The experiments of Lariboisiere prove that to insure 
 the renewal of the air in a sick ward a supply of at 
 least 4,000 cubic feet per head is needed hourly. 
 
144 
 
 NOTE 6. 
 
 Dr. Hoskin describes, in the Boston Medical and 
 Surgical Journal, a simple apparatus for vaporizing. 
 It consists of a bottle, a wick and a bulb of platinum 
 sponge, attached to the free end of the wick. An 
 alcoholic solution of the substance to be vaporized is 
 placed in the bottle, the wick is then lighted, and as 
 soon as the ball of platinum becomes red hot, which 
 occurs in two or three minutes, the flame is extin- 
 guished. The ball continues to be fed by the wick, 
 and remains at a red heat as long as there is fluid to 
 be vaporized in the bottle. 
 
 NOTE 7. 
 
 We append, for ready reference, a list of the best 
 known disinfectants. 
 
 Solids. Charcoal, animal and vegetable Dried earth 
 Calcium and magnesium carbolates- Quicklime. 
 
 Liquids. Burnett's fluid Condy's fluid Girondin's 
 fluid Labarraque's solution Ledoyen's fluid Vine- 
 gar Terebene. 
 
 Gaseous. Chlorine Iodine Bromine Nitrous, Sul- 
 phurous, Hydrochloric and Acetic acid Ammonia- 
 Tar fumes Tar acids, Carbolic, Cresylic, Creosote. 
 
 NOTE 8. 
 
 At the meeting of the British Medical Association at 
 Cambridge, 1880, Mr. Jabez Hogg, in the section of 
 Public Medicine, exhibited and described a perfectly 
 new and very ingenious instrument for detecting 
 sewer gas. The form of the instrument is that of the 
 aneroid barometer, the rigid brass back being re- 
 moved, and is replaced by a piece of porous tile, of 
 the ordinary Wedgewood biscuit ware. This, together 
 with some changes in the mechanical arrangement of 
 the instrument, appears to be all that is necessary - 
 When a detector, so constructed, is brought into an 
 
145 
 
 atmosphere charged with fire damp, sewer gas, or 
 other kind of gas, the gaseous atoms instantly diffuse 
 into the inner closed-up chamber with much greater 
 rapidity than the atmospheric air passes out. This 
 causes pressure to be made upon a spring in connec. 
 tion with an index hand, when it is seen to^nove over 
 the graduated dial face. In the case of its being 
 brought into an atmosphere charged with a heavier 
 gas than common air, as choke damp, or carbonic acid 
 gas, diffusion causes the vacuum chamber to expand, 
 and then the hand drops or moves in the reverse direc- 
 tion. To restore the equilibrium of the instrument it 
 is necessary to turn a small stop-cock at the side of 
 the instrument, which lets in the atmospheric air, and 
 immediately brings the index hand back to zero. The 
 dial face is graduated to a scale, and correctly marks 
 the non-explosive, the explore, and the very explosive 
 nature of the mixed gases. The nature of the gas 
 escaping from a sewer, or a leakage of gas of any other 
 kind, is as exactly indicated. This gas detector is 
 found equally serviceable for the detection of gaseous 
 exhalations of all kinds, whether they be light or heavy. 
 It will be found as serviceable and useful in mines, 
 and in subterranean works of other kinds. In the 
 sinking of wells, in breweries, in street subways, in 
 holds of ships, where dangerous gas accumulations 
 often take place, in escape of gas in houses, in public 
 buildings, in testing street gas pipes, and in tracing an 
 escape of sewer gas. The instrument is so little likely 
 to be deranged in action, and so simple in its applica- 
 tion, that it may be placed in the hands of those quite 
 unacquainted with the use of a scientific instrument, 
 so that whether it be employed by the officer of health, 
 the sanitary inquirer, or the inspector of nuisances, 
 the result will be equally happy. 
 
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 No. 64. ELECTRO-MAGNETS. By Th. du Moncel. 
 
 Second revised edition. 
 No. 65. POCKET LOGARITHMS TO FOUR PLACES 
 
 OF DECIMALS. 
 No. 66. DYNAMO-ELECTRIC MACHINERY. ByS.P. 
 
 Thompson. With notes by F. L. Pope. Third edition. 
 No. 67. HYDRAULIC TABLES BASED ON " KUT- 
 
 TER'S FORMULA." By P. J. Flynn. 
 No. 68. STEAM-HEATING. By Robert Briggs Third 
 
 edition, revised, with additions by A. R. Wolff. 
 No. 69. CHEMICAL PROBLEMS. By Prof. J. C. Foye. 
 
 Fourth edition, revised and enlarged. 
 
 No. 70 EXPLOSIVE MATERIALS. By M. Bertholet. 
 No. 71. DYNAMIC ELECTRICITY. By John Hopkin- 
 
 son, J. A. Schoolbred, and R. E. Day. > 
 
 1S T 0. 72. TOPOGRAPHICAL SURVEYING. By George 
 
 J. Specht, Prof. A. S. Hardy, John B. McMaster, 
 
 and H. F. Walling. Second edition, revised. 
 No. 73. SYMBOLIC ALGEBRA; OR, THE ALGE- 
 BRA OF ALGEBRAIC NUMBERS. By Prof. 
 W. Cain. 
 
 No. 74. TESTING MACHINES: THEIR HISTORY, 
 CONSTRUCTION, AND USE. By Arthur V. 
 Abbott. 
 
 No. 75. RECENT PROGRESS IN DYNAMO-ELEC- 
 TRIC MACHINES. Being a Supplement to Dy- 
 namo-Electric Machinery. By. Prof. Sylvanus P. 
 Thompson. 
 
6 THE VAN NOSTRAND SCIENCE SERIES. 
 
 No. 76. MODERN REPRODUCTIVE GRAPHIC 
 PROCESSES. By Lieut. James S. Pettit, U.S.A. 
 
 No. 77. STADIA SURVEYING. The Theory of Stadia 
 Measurements. By Arthur Winslow. 
 
 No. 78. THE STEAM-ENGINE INDICATOR, AND 
 ITS USE. ByW. B.LeVan. 
 
 No. 79. THE FIGURE OF THE EARTH. By Frank 
 C. Roberts, C. E. 
 
 No. 80. HEALTHY FOUNDATIONS FOR HOUSES. 
 By Glenn Brown. 
 
 No. 81. WATER METERS : COMPARATIVE TESTS 
 OF ACCURACY, DELIVERY, Etc., Distinc- 
 tive features of the Worthington, Kennedy, Sie- 
 mens, and Hesse meters. By Ross E. Browne. 
 
 No. 82. THE PRESERVATION OF TIMBER BY 
 THE USE OF ANTISEPTICS. By Samuel 
 Bagster Boulton, C. E. 
 
 No. 83.-MECHANICAL INTEGRATORS. By Prof. 
 Henry S. H. Shaw, C. E. 
 
 No. 84. FLOW OF WATER IN OPEN CHANNELS, 
 PIPES, CONDUITS, SEWERS, Etc. With 
 Tables. By P. J. Flynn, C. E. 
 
 No. 85. THE LUMINIFEROUS .ETHER. By Prof, 
 de Volson Wood. 
 
 No. 86. HAND-BOOK OF MINERALOGY; DETER- 
 MINATION AND DESCRIPTION OF MIN- 
 ERALS FOUND IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 By Prof. J. C. Foye, Sixth edition, revised. 
 
 No. 87. TREATISE ON THE THEORY OF THE 
 CONSTRUCTION OF HELICOIDAL OB- 
 LIQUE ARCHES. By John L. Culley, C. E. 
 
 No. 88. BEAMS AND GIRDERS. Practical Formulas 
 for their Resistance. By P. H. Philbrick. 
 
 No. 89. MODERN GUN COTTON : ITS MANUFAC- 
 TURE, PROPERTIES, AND ANALYSIS. By 
 Lieut. John P. Wisser, U.S.A. 
 
 No. 90. ROTARY MOTION AS APPLIED TO THE 
 GYROSCOPE. By Gen. J. G. Barnard. 
 
 No. 91. LEVELING: BAROMETRIC TRIGONO3IE- 
 TRIC, AND SPIRIT. By Prof. I. O. Baker. 
 
 No. 92. PETROLEUM : ITS PRODUCTION AND> 
 USE. By Boverton Redwood, F. I. C., F. C. S. 
 
THE VAN NOSTRAND SCIENCE SERIES. 7 
 
 No. 93. RECENT PRACTICE IN THE SANITARY 
 DRAINAGE OF BUILDINGS. With Memor- 
 anda on the Cost of Plumbing Work. Second edi- 
 tion, revised. By William Paul Gerhard, C. E. 
 
 No. 94. THE TREATMENT OF SEWAGE. By Dr. C. 
 Meymott Tidy. 
 
 No. 95. PLATE GIRDER CONSTRUCTION. By Is- 
 ami Hiroi, C. E. 3d edition, revised and enlarged. 
 
 No. 96. ALTERNATE CURRENT MACHINERY. By 
 Qisbert Kapp, Assoc. M. Inst., C. E. 
 
 No. 97. THE DISPOSAL OF HOUSEHOLD WASTES. 
 By W. Paul Gerhard, Sanitary Engineer. 
 
 No. 98. PRACTICAL DYNAMO BUILDING FOR 
 AMATEURS. HOW TO WIND FOR ANY 
 OUTPUT. By Frederick Walker. Fully illus- 
 trated. 
 
 No. 99. TRIPLE-EXPANSION ENGINES AND EN- 
 GINE TRIALS. By Prof. Osborne Reynolds. 
 Edited with notes, etc., by F. E. Idell, M. E. 
 No. 100. HOW TO BECOME AN ENGINEER, or the 
 Theoretical and Practical Training necessary in 
 fitting for the duties of the Civil Engineer. By 
 Prof. Geo. W. Plympton. 
 
 No. 101. THE SEXTANT, and other Reflecting Mathe- 
 matical Instruments. With Practical Hints for 
 their adjustment and use. By F. R. Brainard, U. 
 S. Navy. 
 
 No. 102. THE GALVANIC CIRCUIT INVESTI- 
 GATED MATHEMATICALLY. By Dr. G. S. 
 Ohm, Berlin, 1827. Translated by William 'Fran- 
 cis. With Preface and Notes by the Editor, 
 Thomas D. Lockwood, M. I. E. E. 
 
 No. 103. THE MICROSCOPICAL EXAMINATION 
 OF POTABLE WATER. With Diagrams. By 
 Geo. W. Rafter. 
 
 No. 104. VAN NOSTRAND'S TABLE BOOK FOR 
 CIVIL AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERS. 
 
 Compiled by Prof. Geo. W. Plympton. 
 
 No. 105. DETERMINANTS. An Introduction to the 
 Study of, with Examples and Applications. By 
 Prof. G. A. Miller. 
 
8 THE VAN NOSTRAND SCIENCE SERIES. 
 
 No. 106. COMPRESSED AIR. Experiments upon the/ 
 Transmission of Power by Compressed Air in 
 Paris. (Popp's System.) By Prof A. B. W. Ken 
 nedy. The Transmission and Distribution of 
 Power from Central Stations by Compressed Air. 
 By Prof. W. C. Unwin. 
 
 No. 107. A GRAPHICAL METHOD FOR SWING 
 BRIDGES. A Rational and Easy Graphical An- 
 alysis of the Stresses in Ordinary Swing Bridges. 
 Witn an Introduction on the General Theory of 
 Graphical Statics. By Benjamin F. La Rue. 4 
 Plates. 
 
 No. 108. SLIDE VALVE DIAGRAMS. A French Method 
 for Constructing Slide Valve Diagrams. By Lloyd 
 Bankson, B. S., Assistant Naval Constructor, U. S. 
 Navy. 8 Folding Plates. 
 
 No. 109. THE MEASUREMENT OF ELECTRIC 
 CURRENTS. Electrical Measuring Instruments. 
 By James Swinburne. Meters for Electrical En- 
 ergy. By C. H. Wordingham. Edited, with Pre- 
 face, by T. Commerford Martin. Folding Plate 
 and numerous illustrations. 
 
 No- 110. TRANSITION CURVES. A Field-Book for 
 Engineers, containing Rules and Tables for Laying 
 out Transition Curves. By Walter G. Fox, C. E. 
 
 No. 111. GAS - LIGHTING AND GAS - FITTING. 
 Specifications and Rules for Gas-Piping. Notes on 
 the advantages of Gas for Cooking and Heating* 
 and Useful Hints to Gas Consumers. Second edi- 
 tion, rewritten and enlarged. By Wm. Paul Ger- 
 hard, C. E. 
 
 No. 112. A PRIMER ON THE CALCULUS. By E. 
 Sherman Gould, M. Am. Soc. C. E. Second edi- 
 tion, revised and enlarged. 
 
 No. 113. PHYSIC AL PROBLEMS and their Solution. 
 By A. Bourgougnon, Formerly Assistant at Belle- 
 vue Hospital. 
 
 No. 114. MANUAL OF THE SLIDE RULE. By F. A. 
 Halsey, of the American Machinist. 
 
 No. 115. TRAVERSE TABLE showing the difference 
 of Latitude and Departure for distances between 
 1 and 100 and for Angles to Quarter Degrees be- 
 tween 1 degree and 90 degrees. (Reprinted from 
 Scribner s Pocket Table Book ) 
 
THE VAN NOSTRAND SCIENCE SERIES. 
 
 No. 60. STRENGTH OF WROUGHT-IRON BRIDGE MEM- 
 BERS. By S. W. Robinson, C.E. 
 
 No. ei. POTABLE WATER AND METHODS OF DETECT- 
 ING IMPURITIES. By M. N. Baker. 
 
 N<X 63. THE THEORY OF THE GAS-ENGINE. By 
 Dougald Clerk. Second edition. With additional 
 matter. Edited by F. E. Idell, M.E. 
 
 No. 63. HOUSE DRAINAGE AND SANITARY PLUMB- 
 ING. By W. P. Gerhard. Sixth edition. Re- 
 vised. 
 
 No. 64. ELECTRO-MAGNETO. By Th. du Moncel. 2d re- 
 vised edition. 
 
 No. 65. POCKET LOGARITHMS TO FOUR PLACES OP 
 DECIMALS. 
 
 No. 66. DYNAMO-ELECTRIC MACHINERY. By S. P. 
 
 Thompson. With notes by F. L. Pope. Third 
 
 edition. 
 No. 6?. HYDRAULIC TABLES BASED ON " KUTTER'S 
 
 FORMULA." By P. J. Flynn. 
 No. 68.-STEAM-HEATING. By Robert Briggs. Third 
 
 edition, revised, with additions by A. R. Wolff. 
 No. 69. CHEMICAL PROBLEMS. By Prof. J. C. Foye. 
 
 Third edition, reviser) and enlarged. 
 \o 70. EXPLOSIVE MATERIALS. By M. Berfcholefc. 
 
 No. 71. DYNAMIC ELECTRICITY. By John Hopkinson, 
 J. A. Schoolbred, and R. E. Day. 
 
 No. 72. TOPOGRAPHICAL SURVEYING. By George J. 
 Specht, Prof. A. S. Hardy, John B. McMaster, and 
 H. F. Walling. 
 
 No. 73. SYMBOLIC ALGEBRA; OR, THE ALGEBRA OF 
 ALGEBRAIC NUMBERS. By Prof. W. Cain. 
 
 No. 74.-TESTING MACHINES : THEIR HISTORY, CON- 
 STRUCT1ON, AND USE. By Arthur V. Abbott. 
 
 No. 75. RECENT PROGRESS IN DYNAMO-ELECTRIC 
 MACHINES. Beins-r a Supplement to Dynamo- 
 Electric Machinery. By Prof. Sylvanus P. 
 Thompson. 
 
 No. 76. MODERN REPRODUCTIVE GRAPHIC PRO- 
 CESSES. By Lieut. James So Pettit, U.S.A. 
 
 No. 77. STADIA SURVEYING. The Theory o f Stadia 
 Measurements. By Arthur Winslow. 
 
 No. 78. THE STEAM-ENGINE INDICATOR, AND ITS 
 
 USE. By W. B. Le Van. 
 No. 79.-THR FIGURE OF THE EARTH. By Frank a 
 
 Roberts, C.E. 
 No. 80.-HEALTH^ FOUNDATIONS FOR HOUSES. By 
 
 Glnn Brown. 
 
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY, 
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 THE VAN NOSTRAND SCIENCE SERIES. 
 
 No. 100. HOW TO BECOME AN ENGINEER, or the Theo- 
 retical and Practical Training necessary in fitting 
 for the duties of the Civil Engineer. By Prof. 
 Geo. W. Plympton. 
 
 No. 101.THE SEXTANT, and other Reflecting Mathemati- 
 cal Instruments. With Practical Hints for their 
 adjustment and use. By F. R. Brainard, U. 8. 
 Navy. 
 
 No. 102. THE GALVANIC CIRCUIT INVESTIGATED 
 MATHEMATICALLY. By Dr. G. S. Ohm, Ber- 
 lin, 1827. Translated by William Francis. With 
 Preface and Notes by the Editor, Thomas D. 
 Lock wood, M.I.E.E. 
 
 No. 103.-THE MICROSCOPICAL EXAMINATION OF 
 POTABLE WATER. Witu Diagrams, By Geo. 
 W. Rafter. 
 
 No. 104. VAN NOSTRAND'S TABLE BOOK FOR CIVIL 
 
 AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERS. Compiled 
 
 by Prof. Geo. W. Plympton, 
 No. 105. DETERMINANTS. An Introduction to the Str 
 
 of, with Examples and Applications. By " 
 
 G. A. Miller. 
 
 No. 106. COMPRESSED AIR. Experiments 
 
 Transmission of Power by Comprp 
 Paris. (Popp's System.) By Pr 
 Kennedy. The Transmission an<' 
 
 Power from Central Stations 
 By Prof. W. C. Unuin. 
 
 No. 107. -A GRAPHICAL METHOD FOR S^ 
 A Rational and Easy Graph) 
 Stresses in Ordinary Swin r 
 Introduction on the Gener' 
 Statics. By Benjamin F 
 
 No. 108. SLIDE VALVE DIAGR 
 
 or Constructing Slid ,f . \j 
 
 ,. 
 
 
 Bankson, B S.. 
 S. Navy. 8 F 
 No. 109. THE MEAP 
 RENTS. 
 James r 
 
 By r \ # 
 
 by \ and 
 
 r \ 
 
 No. 110. ~ s Engin- 
 
 jr Laying 
 
 v __ -r. Fox. C.E. 
 
 No. 111. GAS-LIGHTING AND GAS-FITTING. Specifica- 
 tions and Rules for Gas-Piping. Notes on the 
 advantages of Gas for Cooking and Heating, and 
 Useful Hints to Gas Consumers. Second edition, 
 rewritten and enlarged. By Wm. Paul Gerhard* 
 C.E. 
 
 No. 112. A PRIMER ON THE CALCULUS. By E. Sherman 
 Gould, M. Am. Soc. C. E. 
 
THE UNIVERSITY SERIES. 
 
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