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Water-closets less Trouble.

coming out of one of these places, if there was ever any smell in the summer, and he replied that there was sometimes a little, but not half so much as in 'them stinking water-closets in the south camp.' He was not satisfied with this, but went to Halstead, in Essex, a small town where there had been an injunction against turning sewage into the river, and which had adopted the Goux closets. He was informed by the Surveyor that there were 170 at work, and that there were no complaints whatever. Since then he had received a letter from the Medical Officer of Health giving the same testimony, though he said he liked the waterclosets best, because they were less trouble. He was informed that the tubs were lined with a mixture of horse-droppings collected from the streets and sifted ashes, and he found the places where this was prepared smelt much like a stable, but nothing more. He went into about 50 of the closets, some new and some old, and in only one or two instances was there anything like a smell, and that was where the tubs had been allowed to overflow. They were collected about once or twice a week by men in a waggon; no annoyance was caused."

Consideration of Question of Disposal. 137

CHAPTER XIII.

"Now there was beneath the Altar of Solomon's Temple a certain cave, whereby the filth and uncleanness were carried down into the valley of Kedron, and the gardeners paid so much money as would purchase a trespass offering for fertilizing their gardens therewith."Mishna. Jewish Tradition.

Having considered the mode of collection and houseto-house removal of nightsoil, we have now to consider how it is to be disposed of, whether by conversion into poudrette, or some other form of dry manure; by direct application to the soil as a stimulant to cultivation, or simply by burying it, so as to dispose of it with the least trouble and expense.

Years ago attempts were made by a gentleman (Gilbert Hickey, C.E.), since deceased, to utilize nightsoil by converting it into gas for illuminating purposes, the dry residue being a perfectly harmless inodorous poudrette. These experiments were conducted at the Alipore Jail, and, apparently, with great success; but from want of capital or means to push the invention, the experiments never went beyond that stage, and the inventor shortly after died, leaving his experiments incomplete. I need not do more than allude to the elaborate systems in use in Birmingham and other large towns in England, where the filth is converted into valuable manure or into Port

land cement by the aid of extensive and expensive machinery; but I may shortly notice what is known as the Rochdale system, as it has, with certain modifications, been already adopted by the municipal authorities of some Indian towns, notably Poonah, in the Bombay Presidency.

The Rochdale system is thus carried out:-" The ashes collected from the houses are carried out to the manure depôt, and are there screened by machinery. The fine ashes are then spread out in deep layers. and into a series of trenches made in these layers, the contents of the excrement pails are emptied and covered with fine ashes. Sulphuric acid is then added in the proportion of 25lbs to one ton of the excrement to facilitate drying. The proportion of fine ashes to excrement is thirty-five of the former to eighty of the latter." This process, however, is said to have been so expensive that, latterly, the pail contents were merely mixed with the house refuse and ashes, and great difficulty is said to be experienced in getting rid of the mixture, which is pronounced to be most offensive.

The Poonah system is called by the local authority the 'sun-drying process,' and is thus carried out :--“ The street and house refuse collected from the dust-bins of the city are carted out and burnt into ashes. Beds are formed with floor made of murum or other hard substance to receive the nightsoil. nightsoil. The beds are eighteen feet square and one foot deep. A layer of ashes one inch thick is first spread over the floor of the beds, and nightsoil is then poured on about five inches deep, and is covered over with another layer of ashes also one inch thick. It is then allowed to remain for twenty

The Poonah or Sun-drying Process. 139

four hours in the sun, during the fair season, and for three days under sheds, during the rainy season. The nightsoil is, after the lapse of the time mentioned above, stirred and well mixed with the ashes spread above and below it, and a fresh layer of the latter, half an inch thick, put on, when it is allowed to lie for three days. further in the fair season, and eight days during the rains. The mixture is then again stirred, taken out of the beds and spread on dry open ground exposed to the sun, to complete its drying. It is then stored in heaps for sale, and is in dry weather fit for immediate use. In the rainy season the drying has occasionally to be done under cover, and, consequently, the process occupies as many as twelve days, whereas in the cold season it takes six, and in the hot season only four days.

It is said that the manure thus prepared is so much appreciated by cultivators that payment is frequently made four to six months in advance to secure a supply.

The financial result is certainly encouraging, the total cost having been Rs. 18,000, and the receipts Rs. 5,000, per annum. The actual cost of removing the filth from the town, an unavoidable charge it must be borne in mind, was Rs. 14,400. So that the net profit, on the actual expense of manufacture, viz., Rs. 3,600, was Rs. 1,400, or nearly 39 per cent.

Of the various modes of applying the excreta directly to the soil, we may first consider the system which has been adopted by the Calcutta Suburban Municipality, not because it is by any means a complete or thoroughly satisfactory system, but because it fulfils the first great necessity, and overcomes what is always the first great difficulty, in introducing any system of scavenger

ing into an Indian town, whilst it also possesses other undoubted advantages, and is, I may say, the first practical step towards the utilization problem.

The system is the burial of the nightsoil in trenches in garden grounds, as far removed as conveniently may be from human habitations; and the subsequent cultivation of the ground so used. It differs from the Bengal Jail system mainly in the size and depth of the trenches, the municipality being compelled from the difficulty of obtaining suitable lands within a reasonable distance of the town to make the trenches as deep as possible to economize space. That this is a weakness in the system I unhesitatingly admit, but it cannot at present be avoided, and that the evil is not so great as some sanitarians argue, will, I think, be proved by the following result of the operations.

A series of examinations were made by me from time to time to test the deodorizing and decomposing power of the soil, with the following satisfactory results :—

1st.-Ground used for the burial of nightsoil in the month of April, was opened up in the beginning of November following. To a depth of two feet from the surface the soil was ordinary, stiff alluvial earth; the next or nightsoil layer, consisted of a loose rich, black mould, without any offensive smell or any trace of fæcal matter, quite fit for garden purposes. After a few days' exposure to light and air, it was undistinguishable from the surface soil.

2nd.-Trenches used in all May were dug up, the nightsoil layer being a bluish black mould, free from any smell or appearance of fæcal matter.

3rd.—Trenches used in June and July were not sen