DRAINS SEWAGE. 



Fig. 7. 



Among ancient nations, the Romans carried 

 underground sewerage to great perfection, in so 

 far as removal of the excreta was concerned ; 

 and it is worth while, in these days of sanitary 

 preachments, briefly to glance at their cloaca a 

 term which includes not only the larger sewers 

 which led to the Tiber, but the small drains or 

 pipes of wood or clay leading into these. The 

 whole city was thus intersected by subterranean 

 passages. The most celebrated of these drains 

 was the Cloaca Maxima, the construction of 

 which is ascribed to Tarquinius Priscus, and 

 which was formed to carry off the waters brought 

 down from the adjacent hills into the Velabrum 

 and valley of the Forum. The work is evidently 

 of great antiquity. The 

 arch of this cloaca is 

 semicircular, and formed 

 of three rings of voussoirs, 

 as shewn in the annexed 

 cut, being 14 feet in 

 width. The blocks are 

 hewn, and joined to- 

 gether without cement. 

 The erection of such 

 spacious sewers to take 

 off the drainage-matters of houses which were 

 mere huts in comparison, contrasts painfully with 

 the indifference shewn until lately on these 

 points by modern governments. In fact, until 

 within the last fifty years there was hardly such 

 a thing as systematic drainage of houses ; and 

 privy-pits and cess-pools prevailed everywhere. 

 In the country, the former were generally placed 

 in the garden attached to the house, and at 

 some distance off, so that there was not much 

 danger attached to them. In the towns, cess-pools 

 existed among the houses, but they were very 

 objectionable and dangerous, and constantly ne- 

 glected. These cess-pools were large under- 

 ground tanks built in brickwork, into which all 

 the sewage from the house was discharged. In 

 them the filth accumulated and putrefied until it 

 was periodically removed by manual labour. They 

 acted like immense brewing vessels, sending up 

 deadly vapours, which had no escape, except back 

 into the house among the inhabitants. The cess- 

 pools also frequently leaked, and so, if any wells 

 were near, poisoned the water. When Bramah 

 invented the water-closet, and a larger supply of 

 water had to be found for towns, the cess-pools 

 began to overflow at such a rate, that a general 

 revision of the whole system became necessary ; 

 and at the same time, medical men insisted upon 

 the continuous and perfect removal of filth as the 

 only reliable sanitary process of dealing with the 

 matter. 



The subject may be divided as follows : I. The 

 Management of the Sewage of Cottages ; 2. 

 Dwelling-houses and Public Buildings in the 

 Country ; 3. Towns ; and 4. The Utilisation of 

 Sewage. 



i. Cottages. It is obvious that in the case of 

 single detached cottages, expensive arrangements, 

 such as those necessary for water-closets, could not 

 be provided, and some simpler plan must be fol- 

 lowed The privy should be placed, whenever that 

 can be managed, on the north or east side, and 

 to the rear of the house. The whole sewage-matter 

 should be received in a square galvanised iron 

 pail underneath a seat, which pail can be removed 



from the outside, and into which a small quantity 

 of house-ashes or dried earth should be placed, 

 either daily, or as often as the closet is used. This 

 will quite fix the ammonia. The iron pail should be 

 removed at least once a week, and emptied into the 

 garden, where there is one. No danger can pos- 

 sibly arise from this if strictly followed, and all the 

 sewage-matter is turned to its proper purpose. 



The application of this earth-closet system is 

 not confined to single cottages. Chiefly through 

 the zeal of the Rev. Henry Moule, vicar of For- 

 dington, in Dorsetshire, it has been systemati- 

 cally worked out and introduced with success 

 into numerous villages, hospitals, prisons, public 

 schools, and barracks. It has been adopted on a 

 large scale in India, where, indeed, its partial use 

 had long been known. The deodorising effects of 

 dry powdered earth, whether field-mould, brick- 

 dust, or fire-ash, are quite remarkable ; a slight 

 covering effectually prevents all effluvia. It is 

 found that i pounds by weight, or i pints by 

 measure of dry earth, is sufficient for each time of 

 using the closet The closet may be in the form 

 of a commode for use in a sick-room, in which 

 case there is a metal pail under the seat removable 

 by a front door ; or it may be fixed in the place 

 usually occupied by a privy or a water-closet In 

 this case, instead of the pail, there may be a cell 

 lined with cement, and having the bottom paved 

 with stone or asphalt. The earth is supplied by a 

 box fixed behind the seat, and above the level of 

 it ; by means of a handle, a valve at the bottom of 

 the earth-box is opened, and a definite quantity of 

 earth falls into the pan or into the celL In the 

 fixed closet, the mixture of refuse and earth may 

 go on accumulating for weeks with little appre- 

 ciable odour. Dry earth may be procured in 

 summer, and stored for winter use ; or it may be 

 dried in drawers or trays under a kitchen-range 

 No sand should be used with the earth and ashes ; 

 and no house-slops of miscellaneous kinds should 

 be thrown into the pail or pit The deposit has a 

 value as manure of from 203. to 303. a ton. 



Several modifications of the dry-closet system 

 have been invented ; and it has been introduced 

 into manufactories. The charcoal or ashes of 

 burned sea-weed are found to be a more powerful 

 deodoriser than even dry earth ; they have a much 

 greater power of retaining the nitrogenous con- 

 stituents of urine. 



2. Dwelling-houses and Public Buildings in tht 

 Country. It is not likely, however, that those 

 who have once been accustomed to the common 

 water-closet could ever be reconciled to the use of 

 the dry-closet in the ulterior of dwelling-houses, 

 and therefore the object is to render the use of the 

 water-closet liable to as few objections as possible. 

 In planning the position of water-closets for a 

 house, the first thing to be thought of is, that they 

 should be, if possible, on the north side of the 

 house, and on exterior walls. If they are placed 

 in the interior of the house, it is troublesome to 

 get at the drainage if required, and the closets 

 themselves are not so easily ventilated. What- 

 ever form of closet is used, it must be provided 

 with an efficient water- trap or cess-pool to prevent 

 the reflux of foul air from the drain. The accom- 

 panying figure represents the mechanism of a 

 | water-closet, with a water-trap of the usual siphon 

 form. It is desirable that the closet should be 

 surrounded by brick walls, and, in fact, isolated 



607 



