1839J 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



627 



or his servant, go through and collect the domestic 

 contents. Those ought to be collected in eacji 

 house into a square box, with a lid, in a supersa- 

 turated stale, whi-ch box the lessee would carry with 

 liini, leaving another for the use ol' the next day, 

 with a quantity of saturating matter, as ashes, 

 dried soil, &c. fie might also collect the Huid ex- 

 uviae lor the benefit ofthe manulacturers, in a sep- 

 arate ]ar; these boxes miirht be put upon his barrow 

 below, by which he might carry liiem into the 

 ward deposite, emptymg each box therein by a side 

 door, taking care, however, to supersaturate the 

 whole. ' ' . ' 



As the sweepings of the streets and olher rub- 

 bish might not be suliiQient ibr all this siipersatu- 

 ration, the carts that carried oli" the rubbish might, 

 in coming in li-oin the country, bring a quantity of 

 the niaiter necessary iar this purpose, which could 

 be distributed about the ward in the morning by 

 the proprietor or his servant in the retOrne-Q box. 

 It would be proper to begin with carefully cover- 

 ing the bottom of the box. The top of the con- 

 tents also, in like manner, should be covered with 

 equal care. 



The great difficulty to overcome is, to make this 

 a work' that persons can go about without difficulty 

 or dissrust. Nothing but supersaturation can pre- 1 

 vent the last, and th» due system of police the I 

 first. Penalities for throwing exuviae out of the 

 windows, and certain immunities secured to the 

 proprietor or lessee of these temples, are neces- 

 sary. But were the work once keeuly setaguing, 

 a variety of improvements might succeed ; and 

 the bu>iness, like many others of those that 

 were from the first disagreeable, might be clothe i 

 with decency, and even, in course of lime, with not 

 unseetnly flowers and ornaments. 



I beg pardon lor being so minute; but it is im- 

 possible to expect any advantage withoitt this; for 

 as people recoil Irom this subject as a thmg unfit 

 for notice, they must be convinced, not only of its 

 expediency, but also of its practicability. 



I shall conclude with just noticing that were 

 the system, above recommended, adopted through- 

 out the kingdom, many thousand acres of ground 

 would be made of double their present value. 

 Many thousand invaluable plants, now rare, would 

 be produced in our gardens; the atmosphere of our 

 towns and streets would be purified; and numbers of 

 people not only supplied with labor, but with la- 

 bor of the most productive kind to the kingdom. 



GJjAUCCTS. 



Edinburgh, 19. May, 1809. 



ON HUMAN EXUVI^ AND SOIL-HOLES. 



From the Edinljurgli Farmers' Magazine. 



(S/r, — In adding to the hints of your correspon- 

 fden Glaucus, in last number, I do not think il 

 necessary to follow him in his sort of half apology 

 for commenting on stercoraceous subjects. It 

 would be ridiculous to suppose that the readers of 

 Ihe Farmer's Magazine will regard any discus- 

 sion as repulsive which is connected with the im- 

 pro"ement of their art; and, in truth, none but the 

 'nasty ideas' of 'nice people' will ever find any 

 thing repellent in discussions (with due periphrasis, 

 to be sure) connected with the Cloacinean goddess. 

 This letter then, sir, (not to offend your more 



squeamish readers with calling things by their 

 right names), will treat of human exuvicn and soil- 

 holes. 



Ideas similar to those which have been urged 

 by Glaucus, and by Dr. Hunter in one of your 

 early. Voiunies, relative to the importance of col- 

 lecting these exuviae more carefully, have olten 

 struck me. Thtj/e can be little doubt that the an- 

 nual ejedamenta of an individual, if properly ap- 

 plied to an acre, of soil tVaniing manure, would 

 enable it to produce a quarter more ol" grain of 

 any kind, than. without tliis application; but, to be 

 within the mark, let us say one f()urth of this, or 

 two bushels; the value of which we will call ten 

 shillings. The amount, then, to which, by this 

 applrcation, the national vvealih may be reasonably 

 supposed capable of being annually extended, is, 

 in the whole empire, no less than eight millions 

 of pounds. Now, what proportion of this manure 

 may we conjecture to be at present profitably ap- 

 plied? In the country, doubtless, the greater part, 

 and in many large towns a partial proportion. But, 

 in some of our populous cities, there is reason to 

 believe that nine tenths ol this manure is utterly 

 wasted. On the whole, it may be fairly assumed, 

 that not more than one half is profitably applied. 

 By this neglect, therefore, a national loss of foui' 

 millions is anually, sustained. Is it not worth 

 while to inquire how this may be avoitled, even 

 though at ihe risk of turning the stontachs of some 

 ov'er nice readers? 



The first question to be resolved, is, in what 

 way are the human exnvige of your great cities 

 wasted? Generally, ofcouri^e, by being conveyed 

 ii^to the common- sevrers, and fi-om. fhence to "fat- 

 ten ihafuci in the ocean', ip'stead of augmcniing 

 the produce of our fields and pastiTres. ^ The bogs 

 of London seem commonly to communicate with 

 the sewei'^: but I confess 1 was always puzzled to 

 guess whither the pipes of the icater-dosets, now 

 so frequent, are conveyed. I conclude however, 

 to the same quarter. How is this waste to be re- 

 remedied? The rich will doubtles continue their 

 water-closets. If -they communicate, therefore, 

 with the sewers, their contents must be wasted. 

 The bogs miglit perhaps be abolished, and more 

 economical repositories be abolished, and more 

 economical repositories provided. The mode may 

 be best explained by detailing the practice in this 

 respect at a neighboring town, where there are 

 not, I venture to say, ten cart-loiids of human exu- 

 via; wasted in a twelvemonth. 



In Hull, the place I allude to, every house is 

 provided with a soil-hole. This is a 'sine qua nan 

 to the meanest tenement, and tlie very first f/c.s«Z- 

 ("/-aiu?;! that a builder considers essential. None 

 of these communicate with the sewers. They are 

 usually very small, and with but one seat; in the 

 front of which is an opening, closed in common 

 by a square board, which fits prff^ty accurately, 

 and is fastened by two Wooden buttons or nuis. 

 The bottom is made to slant a little towards the 

 back of the building; but is rarely more than a 

 few inches below the floor. ■ Into this seat all the 

 ashes made by the family are consiantlythrown. 

 The consequence is, that the exuviae are so com- 

 pletely neutralized that no elfensive smell is felt, 

 though they are ofien built close by the back-doors 

 in very confined yards. The dustmen, as they 

 are called, of whom many have accumulated con- 

 siderable fortunes, send their qurts apd men every 



