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profit of £15 per house, or three millions of money per annum. In 

 order to do that, they would have to collect the refuse from all these 

 houses into one great cesspool, and then apply the agent he alluded 

 to; and were that done, it would be the best means of clearing the 

 metropolis of that nuisance which now so much affected the health of 

 its inhabitants ; for as matters now were, who could stand for an in- 

 stant in the vicinity of one of those gratings in the street without 

 being sensibly affected by the effluvia which proceeded from it? Af- 

 ter some illustrations in proof of his statements, Mr. Rogers concluded 

 his paper by stating that he was about to give the public a proof of 

 the truth of his theory, by erecting an establishment for the purpose 

 of carrying it out. He did not see the smallest difficulty there could 

 be in carrying it out in the metropolis. At the present time, their 

 ashes were collected for the benefit of the parish in which they re- 

 spectively resided ; and why should they not give up the other refuse 

 matter in like manner to the parish, upon a proper understanding ? 

 It was true no experiment had been as yet made on a large scale, in 

 order to test the truth of his theory, but the reason was, that charcoal 

 could not be obtained on a large scale. He had been requested by 

 the Guardians of the Poor at Macclesfield, some weeks ago, to try 

 the experiment on a nuisance there ; and although the charcoal was 

 of a very bad description, the peat having been obtained from a 

 neighbouring moss, it had been eminently successful, and he had no 

 doubt would be so in every case. 



Mr. J. Toulmin Smith said, while he did not deny the efficiency of 

 the agent spoken of by Mr. Rogers, he was a strong advocate for the 

 use of liquid manure, as after long practical experience he had found 

 it best suited for the purposes of vegetation. On his own premises, 

 he had a tank, into which the whole of the excretions were conveyed 

 from the house, and which he pumped out and applied for garden 

 purposes in its liquid state, and he had always found it answer well. 



Mr. Rogers conceived that Mr. Smith resided in the country. 



Mr. T. Smith : At Highgate. 



Mr. Rogers: Well, your system might do well at Highgate; but 

 how was a man to carry it out in the heart of London ? There was 

 no doubt that liquid manure was valuable, but the moment it was 

 pumped out of the tank, and came in contact with the air, that mo- 

 ment the ammonia passed from it, and was lost; but when mixed 

 with charcoal, the moment the ammonia came in contact with the 

 charcoal it was fixed, the charcoal acting as a reservoir for it, and 

 giving it out to the plant when it was required. 



