PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION H. 689 
refuse that has in any case to be disposed of—about one-sixth— 
and the proportion to the quantity of water used becomes less as 
this increases, which is the observed tendency in most town 
supplies. When it can be conveniently arranged, the closets 
should be against an outside wall, and the soil-pipe should be out- 
side the wall, and should, in all cases, be carried up above the 
roof, the connections with it and the closets being trapped. 
Alongside the soil-pipe there should be a smaller ventilating-pipe, 
into which the closet-traps are ventilated. The horizontal part 
of the soil-pipe, called the “house drain,” should be carried by 
the most direct line to the street sewer, but it should not pass 
under the house. If this is unavoidable it should be of cast iron, 
laid on a solid foundation. There should be an “air disconnec- 
tion ” between the sewer and the house-drain, near their junction. 
The waste-pipe, which disposes of the sewage from sinks, &c., 
should be treated in the same way; but at the foot of the pipe, 
and near the wall of the house, there should be a disconnecting 
trapped chamber, into which all the foul drainage from outhouses, 
&c. (except closets), should also be led, preferably by open drains 
of half-round glazed tiles, which are easily cleaned. Various 
kinds of traps are described and illustrated by diagrams, and it 
is pointed out that it is essential they should be ventilated in 
order to prevent unsealing. Each trap should have a separate 
connection with the waste-pipe, as, if several traps are on pipes 
joined together below the trap, the action of one may unseal the 
other. 
The second kind of refuse, the solid waste, consisting of ashes, 
cinders, bones, small rubbish, tins, sweepings, and such kitchen 
waste as is intercepted by the strainers, should, in towns, be 
placed in covered receptacles, and removed daily by the dustman 
in a covered cart, and it is best disposed of by burning. Where 
the water-closet system is inapplicable, either from want of a 
proper water supply or of underground drainage, as in some 
villages, barracks, country houses, &c., probably the best substi- 
tute is the dry-earth closet, or the ‘‘Goux” pail system. Closets 
should be detached from the house, and the pans should be made 
so that the urine is carried off separately and led by pipes into 
the drains carrying the other waste water or liquid sewage, and 
conveyed to a distance from the house bya rapid current. Unless 
this be done the so-called dry-earth system is little better than 
the ordinary pail system, which has the great fault of keeping the 
excreta for a considerable time, whereas they ought to be instantly 
removed. 
A system of house drainage, however well designed, may be 
made worse than useless by bad construction or workmanship, 
and it is suggested that only such plumbers as have been examined 
on the principles of sanitary work, and have certificates of com- 
petency and experience, should be allowed to carry out such 
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