NIGHT-SOIL. 



NIGHT-SOIL. 



fort, speaking of Georgia, says, "All this fine 

 country yields not a single tree ; and they are 

 forced to burn cows' dung." (Tournefort, vol. 

 iii. p. 137.) And again, when speaking of 

 Ezeroon, he says, " You see neither tree nor 

 bush, and their common fuel is cows' dung." 

 And Le Bruyn speaks of the same custom as 

 occurring in Persia: "Wood is very dear, 

 and is sold by weight; whence it is that they 

 are obliged to make use of turf made of camels' 

 dung, cows' dung, sheeps' dung, horses' dung, 

 and asses' dung. They use it more particu- 

 larly for heating of ovens, in which they bake 

 most of their meats in this country. They 

 even apply human dung in this way." 



Long experience has taught many nations 

 the value of this manure. In China it is pre- 

 served with the greatest care, mixed with a fat 

 marl ; and, according to Sir George Staunton, 

 made into cakes, which, after being dried in 

 the sun, constitute a regular article of traffic 

 between the citizens and the cultivators of that 

 singular empire. The same useful practice is 

 carried on in Belgium. What we throw into 

 our rivers the more thoughtful Belgians turn 

 lo account; what is a nuisance in London is a 

 source of revenue at Brussels. To a report 

 of my friend, Dr. Granville, I am indebted for 

 a pretty copious account of the value assigned 

 to this manure in the northern states of the 

 continent ; and this I will give chiefly in his 

 own language. When describing a continental 

 tour, made chiefly for the purpose of examin- 

 ing the mode of employing this description of 

 manure in Germany, he says, "The kingdom 

 of Wurtemberg is so overstocked with popu- 

 lation, and land, consequently, is of such 

 value, that every inch of it is progressively 

 brought into a state of culture by dint of labour 

 and manuring, no matter how ungrateful the 

 soil, or its situation, may at first sight ap- 

 pear. 



" The cultivation of the vine is one which 

 requires, in certain arid and mountainous soils, 

 a liberal use of the human manure. Wishing 

 to ascertain this fact from my own observation, 

 I undertook a journey through the principality 

 of Nassau, and along both banks of the Rhine, 

 examining many of the vine districts, as I de- 

 scended that river for the purpose of visiting 

 Holland. On my return, I took French Flanders 

 in my way, looking particularly to the great 

 flax districts of Tournay, Lille, Valenciennes, 

 and Cambray, where the surprising results 

 obtained from the application of human ma- 

 nure, like those obtained in Belgian Flanders 

 by similar means, have induced agriculturists, 

 within the last few years, to give to that spe- 

 cies of manure the name of 'Flemish Ma- 

 nure.' " 



And, when speaking of the little care taken 

 in England of this fertilizer, he continues : 

 "In no part of France, Wurtemberg, Bavaria, 

 Bohemia, Prussia, Saxony, the Confederated 

 States of Germany, Holland, and Belgium, is 

 there a city in which, as in London, the gene- 

 ral mass of filth, of every description, created 

 by a vast population, is first allowed to enter 

 the river which may happen to traverse that 

 city, and is then returned, diluted with the wa- 

 ter of that river, to the houses of the inhabit- 

 343 



ants, to be used either for domestic or culinary 

 purposes ; although, by avoiding the latter dis- 

 gusting alternative, foreign cities are less free 

 from unpleasant smells than London is. In 

 this respect, it may be truly said that foreigners 

 smell the filth of their cities, but do not swal- 

 low it; whereas the Londoner swallows it, but 

 seldom smells it. 



"In no large city of that part of Europe 

 which I have recently visited, possessing a 

 river, is any portion of the contents of closets 

 and cesspools suffered to find its way, or to be 

 emptied into it, except at Amsterdam, Ant- 

 werp, Brussels, Stuttgard, and Leipzig ; and 

 even there only in a partial manner. In Paris 

 the Seine is contaminated by one large drain 

 only, conveying the urine from the large re- 

 servoirs of night-soil at Montfau9on, and by 

 2 smaller ones proceeding from cesspools. To 

 convey generally, or to empty even partially 

 any such matter into the river, is a practice 

 against which the laws have provided by heavy 

 fines and incarcerations. And such is the pre- 

 sent feeling of all the governments on that 

 subject, even in the great cities I have just 

 enumerated as exceptions, that the superior 

 authorities are seriously engaged in devising 

 plans for preventing in future every possible 

 infraction of those laws ; not because it is de- 

 sirable to preserve pure the water of such 

 rivers (since no domestic use is made of it), 

 but on account of the loss of a material, deem- 

 ed most valuable, which such infractions must 

 necessarily entail. 



"Night-soil is husbanded in every part of 

 the Continent I have visited, without exception, 

 with a jealousy and care which prove how 

 valuable it is considered by the people. In 

 most of the cities of the second order, and the 

 smaller capitals, night-soil is a source of profit, 

 first, to the householder, next to a middleman, 

 and, thirdly, to the farmer, who is the last pur- 

 chaser, and employs it. 



"In all the towns of the Grand Duchy of Ba- 

 den, of the kingdom of Wurtemberg, of Bava- 

 ria (except Munich and Wurtzburgh), of the 

 province of Salsburg, of Bohemia (except 

 Prague), of Saxony (except Dresden), in some 

 of the minor cities of Prussia, in all the con- 

 federated principalities, in all the cities on 

 both banks of the Rhine, particularly Stras- 

 burg, Mayence, Coblentz, Bonn, Cologne, Dus- 

 seldorf, Nimeguen, &c., the householder dis- 

 poses of the contents of his cesspool for a 

 certain sum of money, besides getting the ope- 

 ration of emptying it. performed gratuitously. 

 By comparing the returns of the different 

 prices paid in those cities for the commodity 

 in question, one year with another, and equal- 

 izing them by an average price, the inhabi- 

 tants appear to be benefited to the amount of 4 

 francs a head yearly, and the middlemen to at 

 least 40 per cent, more on the sum he pays to 

 the original seller. I will cite Strasburg as an 

 example, since most of the other cities of the 

 same extent (on the Rhine, and in many parts 

 of Germany), and a few cities even larger pre- 

 sented the strongest analogy to the case I have 

 selected. At Strasburg, a company of middle- 

 men engage to empty the cesspools, of which 

 every house has at least two (built air and 



