HOME HYGIENE. 



365 



This is almost invariably the case in country 

 villages, and, as might be expected, it is in vil- 

 lages where the drainage is most imperfect. 

 In making the plans for the drainage of a 

 dwelling the object should be, in the first place, 

 to have as few openings into the house as pos- 

 sible; and, in the second, that all waste-pipes 

 from sinks, water-closets, and bath-tubs should 

 be carried out of the building at the nearest 

 possible point of exit. The English method of 

 breaking the connection between the waste- 

 pipe and the house-drain is doubtless the best 

 that can be devised, but it can not be adopted 

 in severe winter climates, although the emana- 

 tions from a drain or sewer are of a much 

 higher temperature in winter than the sur- 

 rounding air. When disconnections are made, 

 as shown in the cut (Fig. 6), the introduction of 

 sewer-air into the house will be absolutely pre- 

 vented. By this plan the waste-pipe coming 

 out of the house empties into a catch-basin at 

 the head of the drain, which is covered by a 

 small grating. The sewer-air from the drain by 

 this method passes directly out into the atmos- 

 phere, and, becoming instantaneously diluted, 

 is almost innoxious. This practice, however, 

 can not extend to any waste-pipes except those 

 from kitchen-sinks, stationary wash-stands, and 

 bath-tubs. As the night-soil from the water- 

 closet consists so largely of solid matter, it is 

 desirable that it should be carried farther from 

 the house before the connections are broken. 

 For this reason it is proper that the drain empty 

 into a flush-tank, that known as Field's being 

 the most commonly used. The manner of 

 making this connection and the construction 

 of the flush-tank are shown in the cut (Fig. 7). 



FIG. 7. FIELD'S FLUSH-TANK. (Waring.) 



It can not be too often repeated or too clearly 

 stated that the more waste-pipes there are in a 

 dwelling, however complicated the system of 

 traps, and however perfect the ventilation, the 

 greater will be the danger of contamination of 

 the air, not only from sewer-air, but from the 

 particles of organic matter adhering to the 



sides of the different waste-pipes constantly 

 undergoing decomposition. It is therefore ap- 

 parent that bath-rooms, stationary wash-stands, 

 and the like, should never communicate direct- 

 ly with the sleeping or living room. 



If the connection between the waste-pipes 

 and the house-drain be broken, the drain is 

 less likely to become obstructed. The neces- 

 sity for care in the construction of house-drains 

 is at all times urgent, but in practice it is made 

 to depend upon whether the householder ob- 

 tain his water-supply from a well, or whether 

 he be supplied from public water- works. In 

 the former event the drain will usually be con- 

 structed with considerable care, but it is not 

 common that the effect of soil contaminated 

 and rendered poisonous by means of a broken 

 or leaking house-drain is appreciated. In fact, 

 there is some doubt, even in the minds of sani- 

 tarians, as to the extent of the effect produced 

 by decomposing excrementitious matters in 

 soil. The statistics on this point are those 

 from the cities of Eastern Asia, where it is 

 the practice to throw all slops and night-soil 

 upon the surface of the earth, and leave its 

 disposal to the care of Heaven. Some have 

 even asserted that the death-rate from zy- 

 motic diseases was not in excess of that in 

 European villages where the like conditions 

 do not prevail. But mortality statistics must 

 be furnished with greater accuracy, and the 

 population of the cities established by a cen- 

 sus rather than by loose " estimates," before 

 any trustworthy conclusions can be reached. 

 If, therefore, these assertions be left out of the 

 account, and the experience of European na- 

 tions be taken as the guide, we shall find a 

 general and widespread belief as to the dele- 

 terious effect of these poisonous emanations. 

 Indeed, modern sanitary procedures rest entire- 

 ly on the basis that uncared-for house excreta 

 are poisonous and dangerous to health, and all 

 appliances are constructed with a view to re- 

 moving them as far from human vicinage as pos- 

 sible. It is, however, to be considered that ex- 

 crement allowed to decompose in the open air 

 is less dangerous than that mixed with earth 

 away from the air and sunlight. House-drains 

 should be constructed of vitrified earthenware- 

 pipe, it having been found impossible to pre- 

 vent the old-fashioned square-brick drain from 

 leaking and contaminating the soil. The size 

 of the house-drain should be governed by the 

 size of the waste-pipes and amount of sewage 

 to be carried. Colonel Waring is of the opin- 

 ion that these drains are usually constructed 

 too large. If the drain be small enough so 

 that the volume of water keeps it constantly 

 filled, it is not liable to allow cryptogamic 

 fungi to be attached to its sides, nor is it so 

 liable to the production of sewer-gas. If the 

 flush-tank be used, as is here recommended, it 

 will be necessary that the size of the drain 

 should correspond to the outlet of the flush- 

 tank, and, as the flush-tank is so constructed as 

 to be easy of access, the drain itself is unlikely 



