184 Value of Human Life in Canada, 



streets and yards should be cleared as soon as ever the substance 

 is soft enough to be removed ; that the liquid manure, instead of 

 running to waste in the river, should be employed to fertilize the 

 land ; that all back yards not used for cultivation, should be paved 

 with brick or stone ; that houses should be drained with some 

 other material than wooden troughs ; that the plan of fixing frame 

 houses on wooden legs over swamps should be expressly prevented ; 

 and that a complete system of sewerage should be provided for the 

 poorer, far more than even for the wealthier portions of the com- 

 munity. 



The mere fact of sewering and cleansing 20 streets in Manches. 

 ter, inhabited by 3,500 persons, reduced the mortality from 31 to 

 25 per 1,000 ; that is, prevented 21 deaths and 588 cases of sick- 

 ness in 7 months. In Windmill Court, London, there were 41 

 cases of sickness in 7 months. The landlord paved and sewered 

 it, and supplied it with water ; and in the same space of time after- 

 wards, there were only 2 cases. He did it at his own expense, 

 and " made a good thing of it." — When the Manchester Council 

 swept their streets by machine every day, they found that the 

 roads scarcely ever needed repair. In Aberdeen and Perth, the 

 expense of the similar daily cleansing was more than covered by 

 the sale of the manure. 



What is poison to man is food to the plant. One pound of 

 urine contains all the elements necessary for one pound of wheat. 

 The fcecal matter of two adults is sufficient manure to raise an 

 acre of corn or pease ; or that of one man will produce an acre of 

 turnips, if the green matter is returned to the soil. The value of 

 manure in Flanders is $9-25 per man. Land near Edinburgh, 

 which used to let for only $15 per acre, now fetches from $100 to 

 $200 per annum, simply from being irrigated with town refuse. 

 And in the town of Rugby, the system of drainage is so complete 

 that whatever is deposited in the dwelling in the morning, by noon 

 is spread over the fields in a minute state of division, before de- 

 composition has time to develope its poisonous stench. 



As the cost of sanitary measures is generally the greatest ob- 

 stacle to their adoption, it may be well to inquire whether their 

 neglect is not still more costly. The following is an attempt to 

 exhibit the — 



