192 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



land, will be sufficient to controvert any as- 

 sertion to that effect. 



In the village referred to, which has not 

 within the memory of man been visited by 

 epidemic typhoid, and in which not a single 

 case had occurred for many years, there 

 broke out in the year 1882 an epidemic which 

 simultaneously attacked a large portion of 

 the inhabitants. 



About a mile from Lawson, and sepa- 

 rated from it by the mountainous ridge of 

 the Stockhalden, which was probably an old 

 moraine of the glacial epoch, lies a small 

 parallel valley, the Furlethal. In an iso- 

 lated house situated in the valley, a farmer 

 who had just returned from a long journey, 

 was attacked by typhoid, and within the 

 next two months three other members of 

 the family contracted the disease; the de- 

 jecta from the patients, together with all the 

 house slops having been emptied into a small 

 brook which flowed past the door. 



Ten years previously it had been proven 

 that direct connection existed between this 

 brook and the springs on the mountain side, 

 which supplied the village with water; and 

 as the disease had not occurred in a single 

 house supplied with well water, the authori- 

 ties suspected that the water supply derived 

 from the springs was infected with the dis- 

 ease germs, and on investigating found con- 

 ditions existing as related above. In order 

 that the connection between the brook and 

 the springs might be proven beyond doubt, 

 the following ingenious experiment was 

 made : Eighteen hundredweight of salt was 

 dissolved in water and then emptied into the 

 brook, with the result that within a few 

 hours the water coming from the springs 

 was of a decidedly salty flavor. A similar 

 experiment with two and one half tons of 

 flour produced no result, showing that while 

 the earth was capable of filtering the water 

 so well that even such minute particles as 

 wheat flour were prevented from passing 

 through it was incapable, without the pres- 



ence of air and microbes, to properly purify 

 and oxidise it. 



This remarkable case shows : 



1st. That the power of mischief possessed 

 by sewage placed beyond the action of bac- 

 teria, is enormous. 



2nd. That the diffusibility of typhoid poi- 

 son in water is practically infinite. 



3rd. That water containing the germs of 

 disease may not be purified by Alteration 

 through a mile of solid earth (a filter so fine 

 as to arrest particles of wheat flour. 



The moral to be drawn from the fore- 

 going is that the greatest care should be ex- 

 ercised in the disposal of waste matters, and 

 that under no circumstances should they be 

 buried deeply under the surface of the earth. 



The question will be asked, " How is de- 

 caying matter to be disposed of at the sur- 

 face of the earth without creating a nuis- 

 ance?" In answer to this question it may 

 be said that as far as it applies to human 

 excreta, two methods have been found to 

 work successfully, viz. — the dry earth closet, 

 the contents of which are dug into shallow 

 trenches at regular intervals, and the septic 

 tank system, the latter being preferable for 

 the reasons that while it performs all the 

 work of the dry earth closet it will also take 

 care of all the liquid wastes from the house, 

 and it requires little attention, while the for- 

 mer depends for its success upon unremit- 

 ting care. 



A brief explanation of the construction 

 and operation of the septic tank system will 

 be of value to those who are anxious to have 

 their premises in the best possible sanitary 

 condition, and who are willing to go to a 

 comparatively small amount of trouble to 

 produce the desired results. 



Referring to the accompanying cut, it will 

 be seen that a tank (fig. i) constructed pre- 

 ferably of bricks or stone well bedded in ce- 

 ment to prevent leakage, is built at such a 

 level as to allow the discharge pipe "D" 

 which is of glazed tiles 4 inches in diameter, 



