IS 37] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



161 



turp, and ilelbrms and defiles whatever he touches. 



The ojx'iiiii^- ol" suniiuer in our towns, presents 

 a very dillerent aspect, and is accompanied witii 

 very diti'erent associations. It is true, that some 

 beautiful jrardens are seen, in which the hand of 

 man (or more <>;oneraliy oi' woman) has improved 

 on nature, by brin!j,'in<f togetlier, in numbers, na- 

 ture's choicest ornaments. Bui these are excep- 

 tions to the ireneral appearance. The broad slof)py 

 flats, receptacles of collected niin water and oozes 

 li-om hill-sides, which durmg winter and s|)rin.|: 

 merely barred tiie way of walkers, or, at worst, 

 gave I Item wet leet, and cohls and pleurisies, now 

 are dryiuiX up, without the Corporation beinir put to 

 the cost of the small ahiount of (htching that would 

 have kept the ground dry at all times. _ A "green 

 mantle"' overspreads .the standing poo!s-r-and all 

 will soon become a naked, ugly, and Ibul-fecenfed 

 mud. The thickly settled attd commei'cial parts 

 of towns may, perhaps,, have nothinir visible worse 

 than men, and merchandize, brick houses, and 

 paved streets: but all the out-skirts and vacant 

 places are (ull of" abominations to cleanliness and 

 health, and of otfence to the nostrils as well as to 

 the eyes. The commencement of warm weather 

 gives activity to decomposition, and the soft 

 air is redolent of its products:- and in sundry 

 ■different spots of ever}^ town, the efffluvia aris- 

 ing from filthify kept yards, of stables and hog- 

 styes, of privies, and sometimes the breezes 

 tainted by a dead cat, ot, if without the sub- 

 urbs, by carrion of lartrer kind, are offered to our 

 «ense of smelling, in doses of various degrees ol' 

 intensity, and in every variety ofcombination. We 

 become accustomed by the habit of endurance to 

 these, as to all other evils, and in time, ixre scarcely 

 ■conscious of the magnitude of the nuisance. But 

 its offensiveness is estimated at the .true value, by 

 visiters Ire-sh from the pure air of the country. 



Now approaches the time when the Police, and 

 the Board of Health will begin to bestir Uierasel-ves 

 to abate nuisances of this kind, but in such a way 

 as to effect no manner of benefit. Their operations 

 merely consist in moving decomposing matter, or 

 its sources, from one spot to another, there to pro- 

 ceed as before — :ind by thus moving and dispers- 

 ing filth, to hasten its decomposition still more, 

 though rendering its products less evident, by their 

 being more widely diiTufed. But the total amount 

 of the production of such eiRavia is not the less in 

 quantity, nor the less hurtful, because, by being 

 more wide-spread, and diluted, and by contami- 

 nating more of the atmosphere, the scent is less 

 concentrated and offeiisive. xVll the- operations of 

 the most industrious and zealous Board of Health 

 do not lessen the amount of decomposition^ within 

 the limits of a town, unless the putrescent matter 

 is actually throwh into and floatetViiway by^i rapid 

 river, or otherwise conveyed away to poison the air 

 some where else, where {Irere may be fewer people 

 to breathe of it. Every removal; and exposure of 

 new surliices, serves only to quicken the progress of 

 decomposition. 



It is not a little remarkable that this general 

 state of filthiness is caused and maintained, in a 

 great degree, by the fastidious or squeamish nicety 

 of our people. It is almost universally considered 

 that it is quite too dirty a business, too offensive to 

 the imagination, as well as the senses, to use car- 

 rion and human excrement for manure. If this 

 silly prejudice did not operate, and if proper eco- 

 Vol. V^— 21 



nomy were used to collect, preserve, and apply 

 ^hcse rich and most decomposable substances, the 

 profit which they would bring as manure, would 

 iiir more than pay l"or the expense of the proper 

 procedure to preserve th« matters, and at the same 

 time to maintain cleanliness. But it is not only that 

 the contents of |>riv)es are suffered to accumulate, 

 because of their being no profitable demand for 

 them, .(as exis!s in countries wliere the worth of 

 manure is better understood,) but there is that 

 wapt of accommodation. in the number and situ- 

 ^xtion of privies, which operates to the injury of 

 comfort, of decency, and in many cases, directly aa 

 well as indirectly, to the injury of health. We are 

 so exceedingly nice, ' or pro^id, that we desire to 

 conceal the existence of such humiliating neces- 

 sities of our nauirc; aiid no conveniences for the 

 purpose are'[)rovi(ied, and kept in proper order for 

 public use: and tlie privation is a matter of ex- 

 treme inconvenience to all decent visiters to a 

 town, who have not acquired a knowledge of, and 

 a right to use, some such places. The same mor- 

 bid feeling of shame that prevents on the one side 

 the accommodiitions being afforded, also prevents 

 on the other any complaint of the want of them. 

 But the ground for complaint does not the less 

 exist-.— as every countryman can testify, and even 

 every townsman, when visiting another town than 

 his rjwn. So nice and squeamish are our people on 

 such subjects, that to treat of it by word or writings 

 would be considered by very many as both ridicu- 

 lous and offensive; and when one ventures still fiir- 

 ther,' as I shall do, to rcconmiend modes of remov- 

 ing the nuisance, and converting it to profit, there 

 is much ground to expect that nothing will be ex- 

 cited, except a sense qf the ridiculous in some, and 

 a feeling of disijust in others. But I have never 

 been deterred from urging what was deemed 

 highly expedieilt, by the dread of being laughed 

 atj and as to exciting disgust, it is just what is 

 desired, provided it can be directed airaiinst the 

 habits which are held up to condemnation. 



\n large cities, necessity has compelled the 

 adoption of mearis to get rid of excreraentitious 

 and Other filth, by a general system of sewers, or 

 subterranean passages, into which all such matters 

 are thrown, and by the flowing of water through^ 

 in abundance, they are washed into the adjacent 

 river. The sewers of some great cities have been 

 constructed on a plan so vast, and at so much ex- 

 pense, and were so excellent in their operation, 

 that they have been considered as not less worthy 

 of admiration than the magnificent temples and 

 palaces. If the only object was to cleanse a town, 

 an"d there W'as sufficient command of water, and of 

 money, there could be nothing to object to this 

 pian. Certainly the expense of constructing the 

 se\Yers would be an objection not worth notice, 

 when compared to the value of their intended ef- 

 fect. '' But if the system were not perf"ect, and the 

 supply of water always abundant, the evil would 

 be made so much the greater by being concealed 

 from observation. There is another objection to 

 this plan,, in its contaminating and corrupting the 

 waters of the rivers into which the sewers empty; 

 and it may well be doubled whether water so de- 

 filed, does not itself throw off deleterious effluviaj 

 and is not rendered more liable to cause decompo- 

 sition in whatever decomposable matter it may 

 reach; and thus that the waters are not only made 

 to stink, but also to poison those who have destroy- 



