216 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERT. 



insure cleanliness, the mortality among the patients occupj'ing 

 beds in the ends of the wards adjacent, and in close proximity, was 

 frightful, — out of all comparison with that of the other parts of 

 the establishment. It ceased as soon as the nuisance was abated. 

 During the prevalence of epidemics, and among the dwellings of 

 the poor, this system becomes invaluable, as it is both cheaper 

 and better than any other, requires no skill or experience, is al- 

 ways ready, or easily attainable. After having been used once or 

 twice, or as long as it is found advantageous to do so, it forms 

 the most concentrated and valuable of all manures; and, when 

 understood by the agriculturist, ought to command a high price. 

 It is, in fact, poudrette, but far more powerful as a fertilizer, even 

 when only used once, than poudrette as usually manul'actured. 

 The amount of money thus saved in an institution containing sev- 

 eral hundred patients would be considerable, and mure important 

 still, if used as in the case of the Jamaica Asylum, in the cultiva- 

 tion of a farm worked by the more quiet class of patients. 



"In a crowded population, where it is important to carry the 

 cultivation of the ground to its highest possible yield, it becomes 

 proportionally more valuable. In the dormitories of the worst 

 lunatics, the box or utensil for excretions is pushed by an attend- 

 ant through an opening in the wall at the floor, from the outside, 

 and the patient can thus use it without the possibility of getting 

 hold of it for mischievous purposes. Even for private residences, 

 especially in the country and in villages, this would be a very 

 cheap and convenient arrangement. The closet, placed on the 

 ground floor, but not necessarily, might open by a door about a 

 foot square into a back yard, and thus obviate the necessity for 

 conveying the utensil through any part of the house ; nor would 

 it be necessary to remove the vessel more than once a day. This 

 arrangement would be far less expensive than even the common- 

 est privies, which, however well constructed, are notoriously of- 

 fensive in hot weather, and are often the foci of dangerous epi- 

 demics. 



" In the December number of the ' London Lancet ' is a notice 

 of the * Bengal Sanitary Commission's Report on Experiments 

 made to Test the Dry-Earth System.' It has been in operation 

 in India for upwards of a year, having been first recommended 

 by the Rev. Mr. Moule. ' The Commission further reports,' says 

 the ' Lancet,' * that the system is one of the most valuable contri- 

 butions to practical sanitation, and is particularly well adapted for 

 gaols.' * The result of official inquiries, as to the working of the 

 system in Bengal, shows that it is thoroughly established in the 

 hospitals, lunatic asylums, and gaols.' Dr. Mouatt, the Inspector 

 General of Gaols, pronounces its introduction to be, * without ex- 

 ception, the greatest public benefit conferred by a private individ- 

 ual, in a matter so essential to public health, that he is acquainted 

 with.' The Inspector remarks that the employment of dry earth 

 was introduced by Sir Henry Lawrence in the Punjab ' many 

 years before it was perfected as a system by Mr. Moule.' It is 

 gratifying to find, from this report, and the above comments of 

 the ' Lancet,' that I have not overestimated the value of this 



