530 



PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION H. 



"The question of the improvement of sanitation has long been 

 been one of great concern among the Borough Corporations of the 

 mother country. It is the attention wliich has been devoted to 

 it which mainly accounts for the low rate of mortality enjoyed by 

 the towns of the mother country in comparison with those on the 

 Continent of Europe." 



" The severity of pestilential visitations has been greatly miti- 

 gated where it has not been entirely averted by the sanitary 

 measures adopted." 



3.— SANITARY SEWERAGE. 



By J. B. Henson, C.E. 



Whenever human beings congregate, and form settled communi- 

 ties as in cities and towns, certain results follow which are inimical 

 to the liealth of the individuals. Chief amongst these is the rapid 

 production of organic and putrescible refuse, which, if not regularly 

 and completely removed, accumulates and contaminates the soil, 

 the air, and the water ; through these media the vital powers are 

 assailed, the standard of health lowered, and diseases are therefore 

 easily contracted and propagated. Many of the old cities of 

 Europe and Asia have, in times past, suft'ered terribly from this 

 cause. In those day.s, however, there wei'e neither the knowledge 



