INTRODUCTION ii 



With the object of saving the manure, as well as immediately 

 disinfecting the faeces, Moule, in 1863, introduced the system of 

 earth closets. By a mechanical arrangement each discharge 

 of faeces is covered by a shovelful, about i J pounds, of dry earth. 

 Its absorbent character instantly removes all odour when only 

 a light covering is spread over the solid discharge. The final 

 effect is a bacterial one, by which paper and solid faeces are 

 reduced to a loamy powder, which can be dried and used again 

 several times. Two reasons, however, militate against success : 



1. Urine or other moisture ruin the absorbent effect unless 

 a large quantity of earth is used. 



2. Owing to the rapid loss of nitrogen and the admixture of 

 earth, the manure is of little value, containing only about 

 xV per cent, of nitrogen and h per cent, of phosphoric acid. 



The process is rather a deodorizing than a disinfecting one, 

 as pathogenic organisms are not killed; but for places without 

 a copious water-supply this system has great advantages, and 

 is much superior to privies. Dr. Vivian Poore, in his garden 

 at Andover, elaborated this idea, and showed that it can be 

 worked effectively without nuisance and with very satisfactory 

 crops. As to the kind of earth, sand and gravel are inert, 

 chalk feeble, and dry clay good, while garden soil, loam, and 

 peat give the best results. In public urinals without a water- 

 supply sawdust can be substituted. 



The Goux-Thulasne method, called shortly ''the Goux," 

 is used frequently on the Continent, and has been worked 

 successfully at Halifax in England. It is a combination of the 

 earth and pail systems. In an iron barrel with handles a 

 slightly conical core is held, and the intervening space packed 

 with dry earth or a pulverulent disinfectant. When the core 

 is withdrawn, a cavity of the same shape is left. These 

 receptacles are carried round on a dray, and left at the houses. 

 At the end of a few days they are collected, shaken so as to cover 

 the excreta with powder, and closed by an air-tight iron lid 

 before removal. Success here again depends on the exclusion 

 as far as possible of moisture. This is a useful method for sick- 

 rooms when the excreta must remain for some time. 



Places in which "conservancy systems" are in practice are 

 classed together as "midden towns." Their sewage excludes 

 a great part of the human excreta, and is made up of — 



(a) Waste water from kitchens, highly charged with de- 

 composable matters and grease. 



