18 Report of the American 



season, or precipitate it altogether, but do not let it foul water, either iu 

 lake, river or sea. There is no excuse for harboring refuse and beastli- 

 ness about us, as there are several reall}^ practical and workable processes 

 available for the treatment of sewage and refuse ; notabl}^ the Uni- 

 versal Charcoal and Sewage Company. This compan}' utilize by carbon- 

 ization all vegetable and animal refuse, as street sweepings, etc., of 

 towns and villages, and with that they state that they are able to precip- 

 itate the sewage so thoroughl}- that fish will live for months in the efflu- 

 ent water. Knowing the powers of charcoal, I quite believe all this. 

 Moreover, the manure produced by this process is very rich, as is attested 

 by scientific evidence of no mean order. This company- are quite pre- 

 pared, on the one hand, to get rid of all off'al and unsalable street refuse ; 

 and on the other, to precipitate sewage so that the effluent is perfectly 

 harmless. Now all this is ver}^ satisfactory, and demands a fair and 

 impartial trial b}' some really expA't scientist. Be this how it ma}', and 

 not for a moment laying claim to any such title, if the company- think fit 

 to send me some of their charcoal I shall be very happ}- to put it to a 

 severe test, and acquaint 3'our readers with the result. In speaking thus 

 of the above company, I mean by no word of mine to disparage any 

 others ; many are very valuable, and many experiments must be made 

 on various kinds, and samples of sewage, in order to determine that 

 which ma}' be most applicable in individual circumstances. All I would 

 say to everybody at work at sewage is, don't go and run it away down 

 rivers, estuaries or seas ; do something with it, or at any rate try ever}- 

 experiment before doing so. Sewage varies, and must be treated accord- 

 ingly. For my own part. 1 do not believe that taking out and utilizing the 

 Cray sewage would cost one shilling more (on both sides of the river) 

 than to run it out into the outfall at Dartford. For instance, I know that 

 within about half a mile on either side of this house, there is one house on 

 one side and eight or nine on the other. All these can use either earth 

 or charcoal ; but must be made to do so — prejudice is so strong in favor 

 of old methods. What we want is a pure river and river bed ; this latter 

 we can hardly expect for some time under any circumstances, as there is 

 a very great and dense mass of filth in the river, but, if all unite, north 

 and west, and without petty considerations of self interest, and without 

 any spirit of Bumbledom, we may have it at last." 



Another writer in the same paper says : — 



' ' The surface of our rivers appear as if covered with oil or other fat 

 substance. May this not be caused by the manures now put on the land, 

 making the fish so shy and timid? It would be worth the while of out' 

 Fishery Commissioners to inquire into it while at the pollutions inquiry." 



