MANURES. 219 



closet^ simple as it is, and dealing only with materials which are 

 accessible to all, is competent to compass the entire reform which 

 we have suggested. Through its aid, (and we write from actual 

 experience,) that which has been an offense in our lives need be an 

 offense no longer ; and the material on which, as long experience 

 has demonstrated, the permanent prosperity of nations is founded, 

 may be preserved, concentrated, and deodorized without losing its 

 value, and presented in a form in which it may readily become an 

 article of commerce which will bear long transportation, may be 

 kept an indefinite time, and is the best of all concentrated fertili- 

 zers for every crop that the farmer raises. 



We have in this paper set forth, no more strongly than the 

 established facts of the case warrant, what must seem to all 

 thoughtful men the strongest argument on which the use of earth 

 closets depends. We propose, in a future paper, to discuss those 

 features of the subject which will commend themselves more 

 especially to those who care more for the questions of health and 

 decency than for questions of political economy. 



The earth closet, alluded to in the foregoing extracts, is a 

 simple mechanism invented by Mr. Moule, whereby a given 

 quantity of sifted dry earth is thrown upon faeces in such a manner 

 as to entirely cover them, the quantity of earth being sufficient to 

 wholly absorb the escaping odors. 



Of course the mechanism is only incidental. It affords a con- 

 venient means for accomplishing a result which would be as com- 

 pletely attained if the earth were deposited in any other manner j 

 and in some public institutions and military barracks of British 

 India, this apparatus is not in use, but its principle is availed of by 

 the aid of a box of dry earth and a tin scoop or measure, with 

 which the covering is done by the individual. 



The Earth Closet Company, of Hartford, Ct., having purchased 

 Mr. Moule's American patent, is now manufacturing commodes, 

 and the machinery for fixed closets, and they are being rapidly 

 introduced in all parts of the country. 



The invention is fully illustrated and described in the Scientific 

 American^ from which the following is extracted : — 



