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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



other part of the Commonwealth as to the 

 disposal of sewage and the protection of 

 the public water-supplies therein. Its re- 

 port is a carefully matured and valuable 

 document, in which the subject is viewed 

 under its various aspects, and results are 

 given that may aid in forming judicious 

 conclusions wherever problems of sewage 

 disposal may present themselves. The bulk 

 of the volume is given to the report of the 

 engineer of the commission, Mr. Clarke, 

 who first defines the problem in its gen- 

 eral and detailed features, gives an ac- 

 count of all the elements that contribute 

 to stream pollution in each town, the man- 

 ner and present expense of dealing with a 

 part or all of the objectionable matters, 

 and refers to what actions have been taken 

 or what opinions have been held by the 

 local authorities on the subject. In a sec- 

 ond part of the report he presents the gen- 

 eral conclusions arrived at, in England and 

 elsewhere, as to the best methods of sew- 

 age disposal under conditions similar to 

 those of Eastern Massachusetts. This part 

 is illustrated with particular accounts of 

 the operation of the methods by filtration, 

 irrigation, precipitation, etc., which are 

 used in various towns in England, and 

 photographic views. In the third part the 

 conclusions with reference to methods are 

 applied to each particular locality in the 

 district whose needs are to be provided for. 

 Among the engineer's conclusions is the 

 hopeful one that manufacturers, as a class, 

 are very intelligent, and there is no limit 

 to the ingenuity they have displayed in 

 devising processes and machinery for ac- 

 complishing desired ends. This ingenuity 

 hitherto has not been directed toward puri- 

 fying their refuse, because such purification 

 has not been considered necessary. The 

 mechanical problems involved are not so 

 difficult but that they probably can be 

 solved, if only intelligent efforts and ex- 

 periments are made in that direction. As 

 an offset to this is the fact, not so encour- 

 aging, that "it is much easier to design a 

 proper system of sewerage than to remedy 

 the defects of one already constructed. In- 

 deed, thoroughly to do the latter is well- 

 nigh impossible. Unfortunately, the sewers 

 in many towns of the State have been built 

 piecemeal and without any system. First, 



a single drain is built, chiefly to remove 

 surplus rain-water. It discharges little or 

 no sewage, and the pollution of the outlet 

 is thought to be unimportant. House-drains 

 are afterward connected with it, so that it 

 assumes the functions of a sewer. Then 

 another branch sewer connecting with it is 

 built, and from time to time more are 

 added. So a network of pipes grows up, 

 without system, and without adaptation of 

 one pipe to the others. The sewers work 

 badlv, and the amount of sewage discharged 

 at the outlet begins to make a nuisance. 

 Then, perhaps, but not before, some expert 

 in sewerage is called into consultation. It 

 is, however, too late the mischief has been 

 done and he rarely can suggest any but 

 palliative measures, unless the town is will- 

 ing to abandon all of the work already 

 done, and begin again de novo. Many nui- 

 sances and much expense would be avoided 

 if it were required in the future that no 

 towns should be allowed to build sewers 

 except such as formed parts of a well-di- 

 gested scheme for the whole town; which 

 scheme provided for the proper disposal of 

 the present and prospective amounts of 

 sewage, and had first been submitted to, 

 and approved by, some experts appointed 

 by the State. The same principle applies 

 to manufactories." 



The Science of Business. By Roderick 

 II. Smith. New York : G. P. Putnam's 

 Sons. Pp. 182. 



The author presents this essay as "a 

 study of the principles controlling the laws 

 of exchange." He believes that the course 

 of business is governed by fixed natural 

 laws, and that those laws correspond, as it 

 were, with the law of motion, which goes 

 aloncr the line of least resistance, and is also 

 subject to the law of rhythm. By the latter 

 law, the ups and downs of business are regu- 

 lar in their recurrence, or periodical. No 

 attempt to account for commercial fluctua- 

 tions can be successful that loses sight of 

 this. We may assign what particular causes 

 may be most apparent for the stimulation 

 of speculative movements or for the preva- 

 lence of failures. They may all have their 

 influence ; but that influence works in with 

 the rhythmic movement, not against it or 

 independently of it. The author calculates 



