30 



• KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



[Jan. 9, 1885. 



metbods for the ntilisation of sewage and the prevention of ' 

 pollution of the waters of the district. Now, although all 

 this is in advance of a purely liydraulic system, like that of 

 London, we can scarcely refrain irom expressing the 

 opinion, that several interests of a strangely heterogeneous 

 character must have been at work to produce so mixed a 

 result To sum up, both the pail-system and the hydiaulic- 

 system with its counteracting schemes for the disposal, at I 

 any cost, of the resultant sewage, are of modern date, and 

 both are failures which differ but in degree. 



One step further, and we come to Manchester, the 

 emblem of future perfection. The corporation of the town 

 have taken a most active and praiseworthy precedent in 

 the institution of a system, which, if it were but universally 

 introduced throughout England, would be worthy of the 

 genius of a modem Xapoleon. Tie disposal of house and 

 street refuse of all kinds has been placed under the 

 supervi:iion of a competent statf of workers, and a fair 

 representation of their indefatigable labours was placed 

 before the judges at the late "Health" Exhibition. It 

 ■was there shown that all the deleterious waste matters for 

 the year 1S84 amounted to more than 82,000 tons, which 

 were satisfactorily dealt with at the Health Committee's 

 Works at Holt Town, Beswi.k, on the North-east side tf i 

 Manchester. " Of the 82,000 tons sent to Holt Town,* 

 the rags, paper, wire, and tins (110 tons) are sold. The 

 ■wet and dry cinders are mainly used as fuel for the 

 furnaces of the boilers which work the machinery, effect 

 the evaporation, ic, whilst the remaining matters are con- 

 verted into manure, soap, candles, lubricating grease, mortar 



bricks and concrete The animal matters have their 



ammonia fixed by acids or sulphatic salts, and are evaporated 

 to dryness for manure. . . . The sanitary result of the 

 operations of the Health Committee is this, that the death- 

 rate of the city has been reduced fr.m .3.3 per 1,000 to 

 about 24 or 25 per 1,000. In comparison with many other 

 towns this does not seem a low death-rate; hw. in com- 

 parison with its own former death rate, it is so, though it 

 will, no doubt, be much further reduced ; but Manchester 

 is unlike almost all other towns cr cities in being a city of 

 cottages, occupied by 340,000 people of the working- 

 class and the residuum below them. Of the four classes 

 to be found in Manchester during the day, the iirst, and 

 nearly all the second, live outside the city ; the third and 

 fourth are almost the sole residents ; atd amongst these 

 the death-rate is always high, wherever they mav be found." 



The Corporation manure manufactured at Holt Town, 

 in conhideration of its great intrinsic wi rth, is valued at 

 the low rate of £3 per ton, a sum of money which is also 

 realisable through the woiking of the systems of less mag- 

 nitude which we have already noted, and which come 

 within the range of operation of every intelligent house- 

 owner. So confident of the hiah commercial value of their 

 product are the Manchester Health Committee, that they 

 invite purchasers to have a special analysis made of each 

 lot they desire to buy, and, moreover, to pay for one half 

 of the cost of such examination ; providing, at the same 

 time, a comjost whose ingredients shall show an average of 

 the fallowing high standard from an agricultural view-point ; 



+ Organic matter, coDtaining salts of ammonia 3o5i 



Sulphate of lime 5^76 



JPhos[)boric acid 2^3G 



Alkaline salts, containing 25 per cent, potash 4'39 



Oxide of iron, alumina, ic 14^67 



Moisture 15 07 



Insoluble matter 1941 



* Prospprtus of the Manchester Corporation Concentrated 

 Uannre, 18S4, p. 1, et seq. 



t Ccntaiuing nitrogen 223, equal to ammonia 2'73. 

 J Equal to Tribasic phosphate 51G. 



All that we can say in conclusion is, that we trust that 

 the spirit of exemplaiy enterprise, attested to by the 

 foregoing facts, will, ere long, be followed practically by 

 every t'jwn, village, and isolated tenement throughout the 

 length and breadth of the country, with the happy result 

 in a participation cf the benefits which Manchester's in- 

 habitants now so deservedly enjoy. 



TIE ST STAR LESSO^'S. 



By Eichard A. Proctok. 



THE map of the stellar heavens, as presented this week, 

 needs scarcely any explanation. It will be obseryed 

 that the map has not, properly speaking, top, bottom, or 

 sides ; the centre represents the point overhead, the cir- 

 cumference marks the horizon. The stars of the first three 

 magniti:des only are shown, and the constellations are 

 numbered, not named. The numbering begins with the 

 Little Bear, to see which in its proper position the map 

 must, of course, be held with the " Northern Horizon " 

 downwards. The other constellations are taken as nearly 

 as possible in the order of their distance from the pole (a in 

 1 is the Pole star), from Draco, the Dragon, which beir>g 

 nearest the polar constellation is numbered 2, to Argo, the 

 Ship, which being the farthest from the pole of all those 

 included in this series of maps is numbered 45, the last 

 number in our list. The constellations are also taken 

 around the pole in the order of their right ascension, — or 

 in the direction in which the hands of a watch move, 

 around the Nirth Pole, which in the southern skies means 

 from right to left. 



The constellations included in the set of maps are 

 numbered throughout as follows : — 



1. Ursa 3/tjior, the Little Bear 



(a, the Pole Star). 



2. Draco, the Dragon (a, 



Thuhan) 



3. Cepheus, King Cephcus. 



4. Cassiopeia, the Lady in the 



Cl.air. 



5. Per^evs, the Champion (/?, 



Algol, famous variable). 



6. Auriga, the Charioteer (a, 



Capella) 



7. Ursa ilajor, the Greater 



Bear {a, /3, the Pointers). 



8. Canes Venalici, the Hunting 



Dogs (n. Cor CaroH). 



9. Covia Berenices, i^ueen 



Berenice's Hair. 



10. Bootes, the Herdsman (a, 



Arcturus). 



11. Corona Borealis, the Nor- 



thern Crown. 



12. Serpens, the Serpent. 



13. HercuUs, the Kneele.r. 



14. Lyra, the Lyre (a, Vega). 



15. Cygnns, the Swan (a, 



Arided ; (i, Albires), 



16. Pega!,us, the Winged Horse. 



17. Andromeda, the Chained 



Lady. 



18. Triangula, the Triangles. 



19. Aries, the Ram. 



20. Taurus, the Bull {a, Alde- 



huran ; 7], Alcyone, chief 

 Pleiad). 



21. Gemini, the Twins (a. 



Castor ; p, Pollux). 



22. Cancer, the Crab (the 



cluster is the Beehive). 



23. Leo, the Lion (a, Regulus). 



24. Virgo, the Virgin (o, Spica). 



25. Libra, the Scales. 



26. Ophiuchus, the Serpent 



Holder. 



27. Aqnila,the Eagle {a,Altair). 



28. Delphinus, the Dolphin. 



29. Aquarius,iiieWater Carrier. 



30. Pisces, the Fishes. 



31. Cetus, the Sea Monster (o, 



ilira, remarkable va- 

 riable) . 



32. JEridanus, the River. 



33. Orion, the Giant Hunter 



(a, Belelgcux ; /3, Bigel). 



34. Canis Minor, the Lesser Pog 



(a, Procyon). 



35. Hydra, the Sea Serpent (a, 



Alpha'd). 



36. Crater, the Cup (o, AU.es). 



37. Corrus, the Crow. 



38. Scorpio, the Scorpion (o, 



Antares). 



39. Sagittarius, the Archer. 



40. Capricornus, the Sea Goat. 



41. Piscis Australis, the iSou- 



them Fish (a, Fomal- 

 haut). 



42. Lepus, the Hare. 



43. Cotumba, the Dove. 



44. Canis llajor, the Greater 



Dog (a, i^irius). 



45. Argo, the Ship. 



An interesting article on " The Development of the British Coal- 

 Pield" (which should be read in its entirety) appears in the 

 January issue of the Manufacttirer. 



