4 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



W. K. Burton, Resident Engineer to the London Sanitary Pro- 

 tective Association, writing for " The Sanitary Record " for March 15, 

 1882, when speaking of the iron drain-pipes of London houses, says : 

 " Either practically every house in London should have its drain un- 

 reservedly condemned, or a certain small amount of leakage must he 

 allowed to pass. I do not propose to enter into the question as to 

 what extent an inspector is justified in passing slight defects ; hut 

 would point out that such faults as are small in extent, are almost uni- 

 versal, and are generally passed by inspectors, do not come strictly 

 under the head of sins of the plumber." 



These statements, made by acknowledged experts, render unneces- 

 sary any further evidence in support of the belief that we are at 

 present, and have been for a long time, wholly unprotected against 

 sewer-gas. They confirm an almost universal public sentiment also. 

 Whatever may be the explanation, whether this defective condition 

 of our plumbing is due to the ignorance or wickedness of plumbers, 

 architects, or sanitary engineers, or to other causes, the fact is undoubt- 

 edly as has been stated, and this is sufficient for our present purpose. 



What has been the effect of its admission into our dwelling-houses 

 upon human life and health f 



Formerly, medical men and hygienists seemed never to entertain 

 a doubt upon this question. Not until very recently has it been inti- 

 mated, from any source, that sewers were not, from their very nature 

 and contents, vast reservoirs of noxious gases and vapors. Receiving, 

 as they do in this city, and in many other large cities, the excreta, and 

 more, or less of the offal, animal and vegetable, of almost the entire 

 population, and these masses of filth being often detained in these 

 receptacles to undergo putrefaction in a warm and humid atmosjmere, 

 it would seem impossible that their exhalations should not be danger- 

 ous to life. 



Dr. Fordyce Barker, President of the New York Academy of 

 Medicine, in announcing the pending discussion on the subject of 

 sewer-gas and plumbing, spoke as follows : 



One of the avowed objects of this Academy, as expressed in its constitution, 

 is the promotion of the public health. Strictly speaking, all of our scientific 

 work is in this direction, but this meeting is, in a larger sense, devoted specifi- 

 cally to this object. There is not a physician in this city, engaged in active 

 practice, who is not frequently called upon to see disease of various degrees of 

 severity, often resulting in death, which has been caused by a poison. If we can 

 see our patients early enough, we can successfully meet such poisons as arsenic, 

 as corrosive sublimate, as aconite, and all of this class, because we have anti- 

 dotes which will prevent their effect. But where the poison is introduced into 

 the system so insidiously that the subject is unconscious of its absorption until 

 its effects are produced, then it is not a question of antidotes, but the problem 

 is, How shall we counteract its consequences, and how shall we keep our 

 patients alive until the life-destroying agents have ceased to put in jeopardy the 

 vital powers? 



