Oct. 31, 1884.] 



* KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



363 



for twelve miles from Edeyrn to Braich-y-pwll. The beds 

 incline to the westward, dipping at angles of from thirty 

 to fifty degrees. This strip of i)re-Cambrian rocks is from 

 two to four miles broad. On the west and south is the 

 sea, while its eastern boundary is marked by a dislocation, 

 or line of fault, so that the true relations of the strata to 

 the succeeding Cambrian beds cannot be traced. On the 

 Survey Map the entire strip is coloured as " altered Cam- 

 brian," but it is difficult to conceive of any agency which 

 could so completely alter so great a thickness of strata, in 

 addition to which there is clear evidence that these most 

 ancient rocks are largely volcanic in their nature and 

 origin, while the Cambrian rocks of Wales exhibit no traces 

 of such action. 



Bardsey Island consists of similar hard schists to those 

 of the mainland, all much contorted. It is best reached by 

 boat from Aberdaron. 



{To be continued.) 



THE INTERNATIONAL HEALTH 

 EXHIBITION. 



XXII.— THE PRESENT ASPECT OF THE SEWAGE 

 QUESTION. 



THAT the old adage, " prevention is better than cure," 

 seems at last to have gained ground as a principle of 

 the first importance amongst modern sanitary eugineers, is 

 amply testified to by the many valuable measures which have 

 of late been brought into operation, and prominently placed 

 before the notice of the public at the Exhibition which has 

 just come to a close. ..'Jt 



" The Rivers Pollution Prevention Act, 1876," enacts 

 " that any person who causes, or knowingly permits, any 

 noxious or polluting liquid proceeding from any factory or 

 manufacturing process to fall, flow, or be carried into any 

 stream shall be deemed to have committed an oflence 

 against that Act." As an outcome of this measure, a 

 company, entitled the " ^Manufacturers' and Mill-owners' 

 Mutual Aid Association," has been instituted, under the 

 presidency of the Hon. C. W. Wentworth Fitzwilliam, 

 M.P., of Alwalton, Peterborough. It has been expressly 

 ■established to provide means whereby manufacturers, mill- 

 owners, and others may be enabled to cari-y into effect the 

 provisions of the Acts in force for the prevention of pollu- 

 tion of rivers ; and we would here call the atteution of 

 sanitary authorities, riparian owners, occupiers of factories, 

 mills, mines, and other analogous industries to the advan- 

 tages held out by the Association. 



Taking it for granted that the majority of the manufac- 

 turers are at a loss how to proceed in the elimination of 

 noxious liquid matters proceeding from their works, and 

 how to counteract the evils by a judicious outlay, the 

 company have established a skilled stafi", supplemented by 

 an adequate capital, to supply their wants. A sample of 

 the eflluent water may be sent to them for reporting upon 

 at an agreed rate, and the result of investigations will 

 include an estimate of the cost for the entire prevention or 

 mitigation of the nuisance ; at the same time an explana- 

 tion is given of the advantages likely to accrue through the 

 working of the process in each special instance. The 

 Association, moreover, either performs the required work, 

 or advances money for its fulfilment. 



We may add that the process which has been applied by 

 them for many years, with the highest degree of success, 

 is one of ordinary straining, conducted in such a way as to 

 retain and separate all fluids of an oily nature, in addition 

 to solid particles. The straining is carried on through a 



succession of frames, with suitable filtering cloths stretched 

 upon them, and has been in operation at Messrs. S. H. 

 Johnson &, Co.'s exhibit for the Association in the grounds 

 of the Exhibition. Numerous models and actual machines 

 for the purification of rivers and streams, with samples of 

 water before and after treatment, and many valuable 

 ])roduct3 gained therefrom, testify to the worth of the 

 processes employed. We may also remark that the filter- 

 case of the excellent Carbon Paper Water-Filter of Messrs. 

 Johnson, of Stratford, E., has been constructed upon the 

 jirinciple of their larger straining apparatus, now adopted 

 by the Association. 



We thus see how easily a compliance with the Act of 

 Parliament for the prevention of Rivers Pollution may be 

 established ; and we trust that all those interested in the 

 question may be led to inquire more particularly into the 

 details of the benefits to be derived from the Association, 

 by an application to its secretary at 5, The Sanctuary, 

 Westminster, S.W. 



Sewage contamination, such as that which flows into the 

 Thames and other rivers of importance, has for some time 

 past been a sore subject of discussion. Many are the plans 

 that have been suggested from time to time to eflect a 

 complete cure. Amongst these, the extension of main 

 sewer.s to carry away the oflensive products far out into 

 the sea, the distribution of the sewage over the land, ic, 

 have failed to attract any attention, because they are cal- 

 culated to overcome the evils by a substitution of enormous 

 ex|)enditure without any adequate return. 



We believe that the qiiestion admits of solution in a 

 mitigation or abatement, rather than in a wholesale pre- 

 vention. In the instance of diseased conditions, the en- 

 lightened physician does not seek to make a radical cure 

 of the case he has diagnosed, but rather to adopt a process of 

 gradual reduction. Here we have a kind of sewage dis- 

 ease which has been going on year after year for a consider- 

 able period of time, and we hold that the treatment, to be 

 eflTectual, must involve a process of time, so as to keep up 

 an equilibrium in the administration of benefits for the 

 public ; in short, Peter must not be robbed to pay Paul. 



Dwelling-houses are being erected in every direction 

 around London with marvellous rapidity. Why cannot 

 the Local Boards of each district compel each new builder 

 to dispense with sewers fur exorementitious matters, and 

 make use of the earth-closet and ash systems of the Man- 

 chester Corporation, Morrell, and others? The waste pro- 

 ducts would certainly entail an increment in the stafi' of 

 their dustmen ; but then it can be clearly shown that they 

 may be turned to profitable account, and thus add to the 

 available funds of each district for the benefit of its poor 

 and helpless. In course of time the suburbs would become 

 healthy without aggravating the evils of the metropolis, 

 and there would then only remain the sewers cf the latter 

 to contend against. Then, too, extensions of the systems 

 could in time be put into operation, so as to lessen the 

 sewage, by a disuse of the water-system in existing houses 

 and the introduction of the earth and ash processes. 

 Gradually the reform would work inwards, until the great 

 centre of the city itself is subjugated. 



In the meantime, however, other methods of value are 

 available, and if they are also brought into use, we cannot 

 really see why the Thames water should not be rendered 

 permanently wholesome. Amongst these, we may mention 

 that of the Native Guano Company (Limited), of 29, New 

 Bridge-street, Blackfriars, E.G., called the " A.B.C. process 

 for the prevention of pollution of rivers by the purification 

 and utilisation of sewage," exhibited under group 3, class 

 22, at the Exhibition. The Company deservedly obtained 

 a Gold Medal and Diploma of Honour at last year's 



