346 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



I November 



The Council provide against tlie effect of j)ernicious vapoiirp, by 

 recniirinfT (according to M. D'Arcet's system) the construction, for 

 all tlio operations in which vapour is disengaged, of a flue liaving 

 a strong upward draught, and an opening only just large enough to 

 admit the execution of the work. Air-valves are to he used to 

 prevent down-draught in the chimneys, which are coated with a 

 mercurial soot, and often filled witli acid or mercurial vapour ; and 

 the height of the chimney is required to he sufficient to prevent 

 the deleterious effects of tlie vapours upon the inhabitants of the 

 neighbourhood of the manufactory. 



Street Gas. — The disagreeable odour of street gas is due to hydro- 

 sulphuric acid, free or combined with ammonia or pyrogeneous 

 products. M'hen the sulphuretted hydrogen and hydro-sulphuret 

 of ammonia reach the burner, the combustion converts the sul- 

 phur into sulpliuric acid, which exercises a deleterious influence on 

 health. 



It is curious, that in this respect, the provincial towns of France 

 exhibit an advantage over the capital. In many of the former, gas 

 is delivered to the consumer free from sulphuretted hydrogen and 

 ammoniacal gas. By proper management, the process of purifi- 

 cation may be rendered complete, and will give, in place of a re- 

 sidue of valueless lime, a product valuable for chemical and agri- 

 cultural purposes. A commission appointed to examine the pro- 

 cess of M. Mallet, which has been successfully employed at Bou- 

 logne, Abbeville, and other towns, reports, tliat his method con- 

 sists in passing the gas, before it reaches the lime, through chloride 

 of manganese, or sulphate of iron, which rob it of the ammoniacal 

 salts by a double decomposition ; precipitating certain products, 

 and leaving others in solution in the liquor in whicli the gas is 

 washed. The separation of the sulphuric and free carbonic acids 

 is subsequently effected by lime, of wliich a much smaller quantity 

 is required than by the old method. M. Mallet's process has the 

 advantage of utUising a substance otherwise valueless ; for the 

 salts of manganese which he requires are the refuse of numerous 

 kinds of manufactures, where it has been hitlierto a useless in- 

 cumbrance. In localities however, where it cannot be procured, 

 sulphate of iron, the product of alum-works, may be substituted. 

 Moreover, either substance, after being used at the gas-works, 

 furnishes a valuable chemical product — muriate of ammonia, or 

 sulphate of ammonia, 



Hanitary Police. — At the instance of the Minister of Agriculture 

 and Commerce, the Prefect of Police submitted to the Council the 

 important question whether the bodies of persons deceased in the 

 colonies, of such diseases as plague, typhus, yellow fever, or 

 cholera, could be conveyed to France with safety. The Council 

 replied unanimously in the affirmative ; pointing out, at the same 

 time, certain measures of precaution, founded on a singular expe- 

 riment made by some of its members who had been sent to Egypt 

 ujion a commission for the purpose of examining the nature of 

 the plague. All the person.s nn this commission wore nc.rt their shin, 

 for a u-hole day, vithout inconvenience, clothes infected hi/ the plague, 

 and impregnated with pus, — the only precaution taken being to soak 

 (not wasli) the clothes for a certain time in cliloride of soda. 



A Report on the effects of the Cholera Morbus in Paris was made by 

 special commission, consisting principally of members of the 

 Council of Health. From this document, published in ISSi, and 

 returns made to the commission, the following particulars are de- 

 duced : — Tlie cholera appeared nearly simultaneously in Paris and 

 the departments, and its duration was the same in both (March to 

 August, X832.) The mortality was greater among ivomen than 

 men. Tlie ages which suffered least were those from G to 20 years. 

 The total mortality in Paris due to cholera was t8,402 persons,'"' 

 or 23"42 in a thousand ; and the malady was most fatal during the 

 month of July, and in localities where the population was poor 

 and the air confined. The excesses to which the working popu- 

 lation of Paris give themselves up on Sunday, appear to have pro- 

 duced an augmentation of 1/8 in tlie numlier of admissions into 

 the hospitals on Monday, 'i'he military tlirougbout the country 

 suffered in the proportion 2.5-GG to a thousand, which exceeds the 

 corresponding proportion (21'S3) of the civil jiopulation. In some 

 districts infected by putrid emanations, the disease was not more 

 destructive than where the air was purer. I'p to the 1st of August, 

 the number of deaths was 17,070, or 1 in 46. In the Cite and the 

 vicinity of the Hotel de Ville the mortality was truly friglitful, and 

 may he readily traced to the filtliy condition of those parts of 

 Paris. In many of the houses, the walls were blackened by the 

 damp exhalations of unclosed cesspools ; the pipes from these were 

 in other cases choked, and discharged their contents on the ruined 

 staircases. In some cases these pollutions escaped into the living- 



Ihe total number of deaths in Paris, in 18.'i2, was 44,ll:i of whiih lS,i'i2 were due to 

 eholera, leaving 25,717 arising from other causes. 



rooms, and, in many, the only access of air and light was from a 

 court, 3 feet in diameter, the bottom of which was used as a 

 common receiitacle. Added to this, a large jiart of tlie population 

 of these quarters constitutes the very dregs of society, and subsists 

 on tlie fruits of dishonesty or debauchery. The retribution wliich 

 in the case of these persons followed the violation of the laws 

 of society, may he estimated by the fact, that in tlie lodging- 

 houses of the 7tli, 9th, and 12th Arrondissements (the worst parts 

 of Paris), the number of cases of cholera was 1 in 9, and the 

 deaths 1 in 19. 



The annu.al mort.ility for 10 years previously was 25,300 ; so that 

 the mortality in 1832, exclusive of cases of cholera, exceeded the 

 annual average. The total duration of the disease was 27 weeks, 

 from the 2Gth of March to the 30tli of September (from one 

 equinox to the other). 



'I'he report from which the above particulars are taken, con- 

 cludes with an earnest appeal on the part of the commission for 

 those sanitary reforms of which their inquiries have revealed the 

 necessity. Tlie statical returns furnished them %vith appalling 

 details respecting the filth, indigence, and neglect of a large part 

 of the population. Among the measures specifically recommended 

 are, that no new street should be built less than 40 feet wide (the 

 present average is 25 feet) ; that the height of the houses should 

 be limited ; that public conveniences should be constructed ; for 

 open gutters, under-ground pipes communicating with the sewers 

 should be substituted ; that there should be an increased supply of 

 water, which it stated to be supplied to the inhabitants of Paris 

 at the rate of 7 litres for each person, the corresponding rate in 

 London being 62 litres ; and finally, that as far as possible the 

 centre of Paris should be rendered more open, by new streets and 

 public promenades, sufficiently spacious to be planted with trees. 



The following summary of the proceedings of the Conseil in one 

 particular class of their duties, will give some idea of the extent 

 of their whole labours : — 



Including Licenses 



steam engines, refused. 



61 

 68 

 97 

 95 



105 

 90 



130 



23 

 22 

 22 

 17 

 23 

 20 

 24 



RAILWAY RESCUE,* 



It is a gratifying proof of railway progress, that attention is 

 now more strongly directed to the means of running light trains. 

 It is true that in the beginning, in the Liverpool and Manchester 

 Railway contest, lightness of the engine was considered the great 

 essential ; but for a long time, there was an exigency which de- 

 manded all the energies of engineers, and that was — increase of 

 speed, AV'hen we recollect how very moderate were the expecta- 

 tions of most parties, as to the rate to be run by a locomotive; 

 when we recollect that ten miles an hour was treated as an extra- 

 vag.ance, and that superiority over good coaches was doubtful. 

 AVhen railways were started, twelve miles an hour was got by 

 good coaches, and for posting a higher speed ; and the locomotive 

 engineer had to get such a velocity for the railway, as should give 

 it a decided superiority over all rivals, and overcome by force the 

 prejudices which were entertained against railway travelling alto- 

 gether. The engineers put their strength in getting a higher 

 speed, and it must be borne in mind that they wei'c the more 

 pressed to do so, as propositions were then put forward and ex- 

 jieriments made, showing that a high speed for passenger travel- 

 ling could be got on canals, and there were several plans for putting 

 locomotives on the tow-paths of the canals. The steam-carriage 

 was then on the road, and in better favour ; and it was necessary 

 to get on the railway a speed beyond that at which steam-carriages 

 could safely be run on the turnpike roads. 



Pl•o^'ided speed was got, whether by an increase of weight or 

 expense, it mattered not : and it was got, and every year has added 

 to the weight ; but we are prepared thereby for a new era. By 

 these great exertions, not merely the weight has been increased, 

 but the working power, and the economy of working has been 

 greatly promoted. 



If the locomotive engin eer had his attention absorbed an d 



* London. Effingham Wilson. 1848: 



