i 7 8 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



Phelps, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have 

 said : " The wonderful administrative work of the British 

 sanitarians effected the greatest sanitary progress that has ever 

 been known." The name of Sir Edwin Chadwick will ever be 

 associated with the sanitary reforms which were initiated during 

 this period. The midden, pit, pail, and privy system was 

 superseded by water-carriage, which has been gradually ex- 

 tended since, and is now firmly and finally established. " Water- 

 carriage is with us, for better or worse, the only practicable 

 method in a country like this for the removal of filth from the 

 centres of population." 



It is also worth while recalling the fact that about the year 

 1810 the water-closet came into use in this country. It soon 

 grew into great favour, but few, if any, realised the difficulties 

 which would arise from its more general use. At first the 

 contents were discharged into cesspools, then these cesspools 

 had to be provided with overflows. The overflows were made 

 to discharge into street drains, and, as many of these street 

 drains were open along the streets, they were, of course, most 

 unsuitable for such a purpose. Putrefaction took place, and the 

 streets soon became unbearable. In consequence, underground 

 sewers were constructed, and, to save expense, they were con- 

 nected with the nearest watercourse. Up to a certain point 

 the streams and rivers could deal with the filth discharged into 

 them ; but later on, as the quantity increased, the rivers became 

 polluted, and complaints came from all sides of the nuisances 

 arising therefrom. From these few facts one can see how the 

 sewage problem, which originally was confined to individual 

 dwellings, developed into a serious question involving the 

 health of towns and the pollution of rivers. We are still 

 grappling with it to-day. 



In parts of the country with a river running through a 

 narrow but thickly populated valley, the pollution of the river 

 soon became excessive, and the problem of dealing with it still 

 more serious, especially where, as so often happened, the water 

 supply of towns lower down the river was derived therefrom. 

 In addition to sewage, a good deal of trade refuse soon found 

 its way into the river where there were manufacturing towns, 

 and the extraordinary growth of industries in this country 

 during the last fifty years served to complicate this problem 

 still further. Remarkable accounts are given in various reports, 



