1884.] CIVILIZATION AND ITS WASTES. 277 



been no way devised of treating refuse matter better than 

 that, and the nearest approach to it seems to me to be the 

 earth-closet system, which has its draw-backs and its disad- 

 vantages. But, as Prof. Brewer has said, this is the great 

 and trying question of our times, and it is something that has 

 got to be settled before long, or it will settle us. 



Question. I would like to ask Dr. Jenkins one question : 

 Can a typhoid germ be detected by analysis in water ? 



Dr. Jenkins. Not by analysis at all. It is possible that 

 water which by chemical analysis would be regarded as abso- 

 lutely pure and harmless, may contain the most virulent and 

 poisonous germs. 



Prof. Brewer. I wish to say, in that same connection, that 

 there is no case on record of typhoid fever being spread by 

 earth-closets. Inquiries have been juade in the sanitary 

 journals, and they have not brought to light a single case of 

 typhoid fever being spread in that way. 



Dr. Jenkins. I know a family of four persons in the city 

 of New Haven, who, during one winter, used an earth-closet 

 and found it worked with entire success. They used the dry 

 ashes that were taken from the stove in the room. 



Mr. Wetherell. I would like to inquire if the dilution 

 of sewage matter by the large quantity of water which falls 

 in showers, and the large quantity which is used for domestic 

 purposes does not make it quite worthless as manure ? 



Dr. Jenkins. That is the great trouble in handling city sew- 

 age for agricultural uses. It has been so diluted with enor 

 mous quantities of water that it cannot be profitably handled 

 on the land. In Berlin, acres of land have been converted 

 into a marsh by the deposit of this sewage upon it. Nothing 

 can be done with it, on account of this enormous quantity of 

 water with which the sewage is diluted. Not long ago I had 

 occasion to examine the sewage from the outlets of a number 

 of our New Haven sewers, and I examined also the amount 

 of solid matter in our drinking water in New Haven. I took 

 what is called a tolerably pure article of drinking water. It 



