UTILIZATION OF SEWAGE. 31 



told by Prof. J. H. Long, that " the dirty current may bo 

 seen floating from the outlet towards the crib, and that his 

 analyses indicate that the Avater of the city is polluted by 

 the scAvage." 



Drinking our own sewage is not quite as revolting as 

 being ol)liged to drink a ncighl)or's. By the now someAvhat 

 famous Pogan Brook, Boston takes her Avater mixed with 

 the sewage of Natick from one quarter, and the discharge 

 from the women's prison and the subsoil Avater from a large 

 cemetery on the other side of the lake. 



Hartford, Providence and Worcester, each has its sewage 

 question to dispose of. 



Among the pernicious effects of the present method em- 

 ployed for disposal of seAA\age, is the destruction of fish in 

 the Blackstone beloAV Worcester. The disappearance of cod 

 from the Avharves of Boston and the abandoned oyster beds 

 of the upper harbor, and even the clams Avhich formerly 

 were taken in great numbers from Clam Island, haA^e long 

 since put on immortality as a result of too filthy environ- 

 ments. The fish have all been destroyed in that part of 

 Lake Cochituate which receives Pegan Brook. Examples 

 of this nature might be recorded almost Avithout number. 



ANCIENT METHODS OF GATHERING SEAA^AGE. 



The pool of Sik)am is said to have received the washings 

 of the temple, and the liquid was used for the purpose of 

 irriffatino; the king's jrardcn. Under the ashes of Vesuvius 

 are found Avater-closets connected Avith scAvers at Pompeii. 

 In the reign of George the Third, house detritus was 

 excluded from the seAvers under penalty of a fine, and 

 among the mound builders of America, remains of systems 

 of drainas^e have been discoA'ered. 



The number of systems by Avhich sewage is gathered in 

 modern times, are comparatively few. Most of the large 

 cities in Europe and America have Avhat is knoAvn as the 

 single system, by which sink drainage after traversing a 

 cesspool, the contents of AA'ater-closets, and the surface 

 Avater, empty into a common scAver. The double system, as 

 emploj'ed at Memphis and afcAv European cities, separates 

 the rain Avater from the detritus of the houses. Philadel- 



