392 APPENDIX G. 



weather, the vessel is covered with a moveable roof to shield it 

 from the rain ; in dry weather this is removed, to allow the 

 action of the sun and wind. The solid ingredients of the pap 

 gradually subside, and fermentation sets in ; the water evapo- 

 rates. By this time the vessel in the privy is again ready for 

 emptying. A fresh quantity of water is added, the whole mass 

 is again stirred and most intimately mixed together, in short, 

 treated exactly like the first emptying. The same process is 

 repeated, until the cask or pan is fvill. After the last supply 

 of excrements, and thorough mixing, the mass is left, according 

 to the state of the weather, for two or three weeks longer, or 

 until it is required for use ; but under no circumstance is the 

 manure ever employed in the fresh state. This entike course 



OF PEOCEEDING CLEABLT SHOWS THAT THE JAPANESE AEE NO PAR- 

 TISANS OF THE NITROGEN THEORY, AND THAT THEY ONLY CARE FOR 



THE SOLID INGREDIENTS OF THE DUNG. They Icavc the ammonia 

 exposed to decomposition by the action of the sun, and 

 its volatilisation by the ivind, but take the greater care 

 to shield the solid ingredients from being tvasted or siuept 

 axvay by rain, &c. As the peasant, however, pays his rent to 

 his landlord not in cash, but in a certain stipulated percentage 

 of the produce of his fields, he argues quite logically that the 

 supply of manure from his privy must necessarily be insufficient 

 to prevent the gradual exhaustion of the soil of his farm ; 

 notwithstanding the marvellous richness of the latter, and in 

 spite of the additional supply of manuring matter derived from 

 the water of the brook or canal from which he takes his mate- 

 rial for irrigation. He places, therefore, wherever his field is 

 bordered by public roads, footpaths, &c., casks or pots buried in 

 the ground nearly to the rim, urgently requesting the travelling 

 public to make use of the same. To show how universally the 

 economical value of manure is felt and appreciated in all classes 

 of society in Japan, from the highest to the lowest, I need 

 simply state the fact that, in all my wanderings through the 

 country, even in the most remote valleys, and in the homesteads 

 and cottages of the very poorest of the peasantry, I never 

 could discover, even in the most secret and secluded corners, 

 the least trace of human excrements. How very different with 

 us, in Grermany, Avhere it may be seen lying about in every 

 direction, even close to privies ! 



