TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION H. 401 



strictly enforced. It can readily be imagined that the igno- 

 rance of some householders and the greed of others would, 

 under ordinary circumstances, cause considerable trouble in 

 carrying these regulations into effect ; but, fortunately, the 

 Sewerage Act, above referred to, places very large powers in 

 the hands of the Board and its officers, so that but little diffi- 

 culty is really experienced. 



[Here followed a description in minute detail of the various 

 sanitary appliances which have been adopted in Sydney.] 



2. Remarks on the Christclmrch District in connection with 

 its Drainage and the Dis^yosal of the Seivage. 



By Courtney Nedwill, M.D., and Edwin Cuthbert, 

 M.Inst.C.E., Engineer to the Christchurch Drainage Board. 



The Christchurch District is distant from the sea about five 

 miles, above which, at high water, it stands only 16ft. The 

 area included in the city and suburbs consists of 2,800 acres, 

 having a population of about thirty -five thousand. The ground 

 is composed of a series of strata of clay, sand, and shingle, in- 

 terspersed with water above large water-carrying beds, which 

 lie at a distance of from 80ft. to 280ft. from the surface. 

 Springs derived from this source issue in several places over the 

 district ; and at Avon Head, four miles from Christchurch, 

 some large ones form the head-waters of the river which flows 

 through the town. Through Christchurch the fall is fairly 

 good, but thence in its course to the sea is very slight, the tide 

 affecting it within two miles of the eastern boundary of the 

 city. 



Before the drainage-works were put in hand the subsoil 

 water was generally to be found within from 2ft. to 3ft. of the 

 surface, while in some places it frequently covered the land. 

 The almost uninterrupted flow from the numerous artesian 

 wells had a considerable influence in helping to make the dis- 

 trict a waterlogged one. At this period Christchurch was 

 undoubtedly very unhealthy. Slop- water, added to subsoil- 

 water, saturated the ground, and common cesspits were then 

 to be found in almost every quarter of the district. In the 

 year 1875 — the date we are now speaking of — the population of 

 the city itself was only 10,611, yet there were no less than 49 

 deaths from typhoid fever and 21 from phthisis ; while the in- 

 fant mortality-rate, calculated by proportion of deaths under 

 one year to 1,000 births, had reached the high figure of 184-2, 

 the general death-rate itself being 30-4. 

 26 



