8 



KNOWLEDGE 



[Jan. 2, 1885. 



the 7tb to .stars so faint tliat in his powerful ganging tele- 

 scope they could not be iucUvidually seen), and this accord- 

 ing to his father's second gauging principle indicated also 

 enormous range in distance ; ai.d (iii) great number.s of 

 nebulre of all orders, indicating, if his father's \iews about 

 nebulif -nere sound, that beyond each of the Magellanic 

 Clouds, but separated from tliem by enormous distances if 

 unoccupied, lie immense numbers of galaxies of suns form- 

 ing two systems of such galaxies so situate, by an incredible 

 chance, that they seem to correspond exactly in shape and 

 position with the Xubecuhe. All this is certain, if the 

 older methods (if interpretation are intisteil npun. " The 

 access to the Xnbeculojon all sides," says Sir John Herschel, 

 " is tbroi;i;li a de-ert," " Intensely p^or and barren regions," 

 he says of those spaces which surround these Magellanic 

 Clouds. In directions, then, all round the Nubecula the 

 limits of the galaxy are very nea*-, — according to both the 

 gauging principles of Sir W. Herschel. Again the Nube- 

 cula? are abrcjlutely richer than any other parts of the 

 heavens in nebula?, which here form apparently two clouds 

 of star clouds, coinciding in extent with the Magellanic 

 Clouds. If these nebu'ie are outlying stellar universes, 

 they must lie at enormous distances beyond the Nubecula', 

 yet appear to be coincident in shape and position with 

 them, — a thing as incredible as that clouds in the sky 

 s'lould have jirecisely the same shapes and jiositions as dust 

 marks on the pane of glass through which I see these 

 clouds. 



(To he continued.) 



CHAPTERS 



OX :\IODERX 

 ECOXOMY. 



DOMESTIC 



IX.— THE FEAilEWORK OF THE DWELLING-HOUSE 



{continued). 



GENERAL PEIXCIPLES OF CONSTRUCTION. 



I'^HE earth and ash systems for the treatment and utilisa- 

 . tion of household refuse products are so very impoitant 

 in the economical management of a healthy home, that we 

 desire to lay special .stress upon the subject in this considera- 

 tion of the principles of its application, and we cannot do 

 so more conclusively than by a direct appeal to facts which 

 have come under our notice, and which are alike as in- 

 tere.^ting to the specialist as to the seeker after general 

 knowledge. 



Before we proceed to quote our instances in support of a 

 summary of conclusions, it may be as well to draw the 

 attention of our readers to a novel and noteworthy method 

 for the disposal, to advantage, of house slops, sink water, 

 ttc, in an ordinary abode, which, although not strictly 

 included within the area of our immediate field of obser- 

 vation, is most closely allied thereto. It has often been 

 objected, in discussions u[)on the merits of the earth and 

 ash systems, that they do not deal adequately with the 

 aqueous waste of the household. Hitherto, servants have 

 been in the habit of pouring house slops into the basin of 

 the prevalent water-closet, and would therefore be tempted, 

 in the event of the universal introduction of the other 

 plans, to do the same thing, with the disastrous conse- 

 quences of a foul deluge. This, however, does not actually 

 happen to any alarming extent, as we shall show hereinafter. 

 It is W'orthy of notice, at all events, and more specialh^ to 

 suburban householders with suitable garden land, that what 

 we have termed the "aqueous waste-products" may be 

 turned very simply to actual beneficial account and in the 

 following manner : — 



" Where there is a garden a'fjoining the house the slop', 



itc, may, in most cases, be turned to good account, and 

 may be removed from the house without the least annoy- 

 ance, by the use of Field's Patent Self-acting Flush-tank. 

 Let all the slops fall into tbis tank ; let the drain from the 

 tank to the garden be of well-jointed, glazed socket-pipes ; 

 let it empty itself into a small tank, about 18 in. deep, 1 ft. 

 wide, and of such a length as may be necessary; let the 

 surplus rain water from the roof also enter this tank. Out 

 of it lay 3-in. common drain-pipes, 8 ft. apart, and 12 in. 

 below the surface. Lay mortar at the top and bottom of 

 the joints of tlie pipes, and leave the sides open. The liquid 

 oozes through the sides of the joints of the drain-pipes and 

 penetrates the surrounding soil ; and the result is something 

 fabulous. This simple plan will effectually deal with the 

 slops, there being involved thereby neither smell, nor risk 

 of poisoning the atmosphere by foul gas ; and thus house- 

 slops and sink-water may readily be turned to profitable 

 account. 



" In a garden where this plan has been adopted for eight 

 or ten years, the pipes were recently taken up in order to 

 see how far they might have been filled with the mud of 

 subsidence. After so long use, very little mud wa^ found, 

 and none to prevent the working of the system, excepting 

 where, in one or two places, the bad laying of the pipes 

 caused some slight obstruction."* 



It is obvious that the above-mentioned plan will become 

 widely adopted wherever the earth system is estabilished, 

 and wherever it can possibly be applied. But there are 

 numerous instances where it can never be called into action, 

 and then due care must be taken in the separation of inoc- 

 cuous from excrementitious products, and the committal 

 of the latter into the soil-pail or vault. This is, perhaps, 

 the only flaw of any magnicude in the earth system, but 

 it is one which habit will, in the course of time, entirely 

 eradicate, when servants and others will learn through 

 necessity to become more methodical in their household 

 duties, and gradually substitute well-regulated for slovenly 

 customs. 



Legal obstacles to the introduction of the earth and ash 

 systems have ceased to exist since the incorporation of the 

 " Sanitary Amendment Act" of Parliament,! and they can, 

 therefore, be put into operation in any suitable locality 

 either on a large or on a small scale. They are specially 

 applicable to the wants of schools, factories, asylums, and 

 other small communities of persons. On .^ailing vessels 

 and yachts the supply of earth 'and ashes can be readily 

 provided for, even on very long voyages, and thus dispense 

 with the obnoxious system now in use everywhere. Towns 

 and villages can also be adequately dealt with, so that 

 there is no ground for reasonable excuse anywhere except 

 in very large cities, where the reform must necessarily be 

 gradual, and that because of pecuniary difficulties at the 

 outset. 



We shall now give an outline of the value of the system, 

 gathered from actual reports upon its practical working in 

 what may be regarded as typical examples. Dr. Buchanan, 

 in his report " On the Dry-Earth System of dealing with 

 Excrement,'! says: — '-As regards the principle of the 

 earth-closet, the evidence as to the powers of dry earth is 

 unequivocal. If about a pound and a half of suitable 

 earth, carefully dried, be thrown over a dejection all smell 

 from it is forthwith removed ; and if the same quantity be 

 mixed with half a pint of urine the latter is absorbed. The 

 mixture of the earth with stool and urine is not only in- 



* •• Monle's* Patent Earth System," Loudon, ISSl, p. 22. 



t July 31, 18GS. Cap. exv. sect. 70. 



X ■' Appendix to Twelfth Report of the Medical Officer of the 

 Privy Council, September, 1870." 



