March 27, 1 585 ] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



259 



We must, then, in the case of Jupiter, louk to a far 

 distant future for the period of the planet's existence as a 

 life-sustainer. The intense heat ot the planet must in 

 course of time be gradually radiated away into space, until 

 at length the tiaie will come when life will be possible. 

 Then, doubtless, will follow a period (far longer than the 

 life-sustaining portion of the earth's existence) during which 

 Jupiter will in his turn be the abode of life. It may be 

 that before then the sun will have lost so large a proportion 

 of heat that life on Jupiter will be mainly sustained by the 

 planet's inherent heat. But more probably the changes in 

 the sun's heat take place far more slowly than the changes 

 in the condition of any planet, even the largest. Possibly, 

 even, the e{»ch when Jupiter will be a tit abode for life, 

 will be so remote that the sun's fires will have been re- 

 cruited by the indrawing ot the interior family of planets. 

 For it must be remembered that the ])eriods we have to 

 deal with in considering the coolins of such an orb as 

 Jupiter are so enormous, that not merely the ordinary 

 timemeasurep, but even the vast periods dealt with 

 by geologists must be insignificant by comparison. 

 Yonder is Jupiter still enwrapped in clouds of vapour 

 raised by his internal heat, still seething, as it were, in 

 his primeval fires, though the earth has passed through all 

 the first stages of her existence, and has even long since 

 passed the time of her maturity as a life-sustaining globe. 

 It is no mere fancy to say that all the eras of Jupiter's 

 existence must be far longer than the corresponding terres- 

 trial eras, since we actually see Jupiter in that early stage 

 of his existence and know that the earth has passed through 

 many stages towards the final eras of decay and death. It 

 is, indeed, impossible to form any opinion as to the probable 

 condition of the sun or of the solar system when Jupiter 

 shall become fit to support life, seeing that, for aught we 

 know, far higher cycles than those measured by the 

 planetary motions may have passed ere that time arrives. 

 The sun may not be a solitary star but a member of a star- 

 system, and before Jupiter has cooled down to the life-sus- 

 taining condition, the sun's relation to other suns of his own 

 system may have altered materially, although no perceptible 

 changes have occurred during the relatively minute period 

 (a trifle of four thousand years or so) since astronomy 

 began. 



(To be continued.) 



CHAPTERS OX MODERN DOMESTIC 

 ECOXOMY. 



XX.— THE FKAMEWOKK OF THE DWELLING-HOUSE. 



STBUCTUEAL EXAMPLES (continued). 



THE DISPOSAL OF HOUSEHOLD REFUSE. 



IN" conjunction with the earth-closet system, a novel mode 

 of dealing with liquid waste, so as to meet the require- 

 ments of large towns, has been adopted by Messrs. Lawson 

 it Djnkin, of Bournemouth. Mr. Donkin's invention has 

 been aptly termed the " The Patent Combination Earth 

 and Water-Closet." By means of this apparatus the liquid 

 excreta, which usually accompanies each dejection, is made 

 to pass into a separate receptacle from that for the semi- 

 solid soil, and is conveyed away into the drain-pipes, or 

 may be collected in reservoirs for future treatment. The 

 ■woodcut. Fig. 11, shows that it consists of a basin. A, with 

 two sub-divisions. The foremost of these, C, forms a 

 urinal, whilst the nether compartment, B, is a pan for the 

 reception of the soil. The action of the seat serves to 

 turn the earth-valve, D, and thus to shoot out a charge of 

 earth into the soil-receptacle, A ; whilst an ordinary pull- 



up handle, dotted in the figure, performs the double duty 

 of discharging the pan and flushing the urinal. The entire 



Fig. 11. 



device is a mechanical masterpiece ; it is quite original, it 

 thoroughly fulfils the objects of the designer, and compares 

 favourably in price with either water-closet furniture or 

 other apparatus of its kind. 



We now come to the last and, from a combined utili- 

 tarian and sanitary point of view, the best form of dry 

 closet hitherto introduced ; inasmuch as it combines the 

 several apparatuses required for drying, sifting, and applying 

 the corrective re-agent, in a simple and strong automatic 

 whole, which is not only quite etTective, but labour-saving, 

 and thus overcomes the chief dililculty with regard to the 

 working of the dry system. It uses one kind of householcT 

 refuse — fine ash-dust — to destroy the pernicious influences 

 of excrement, and in doing so, produces a saleable commo- 

 dity of the highest value to the agriculturist. 



We have already demonstrated the difference between 

 fire-place waste, consisting, as it does, of unconsumed fuel 

 and ash-dust, and the ash-dust alone, as correctives to de- 

 composition, and we pointed out that the difference between 

 the indiscriminate use of the former and the intelligent 

 separation of the latter constitutes the line of demarcation 

 between a midden, movable or unmovable, on the one 

 hand, and a closet on the other. This distinction serves to 

 distinguish Mr. Morrell's ai)paratu3 as a closet, because a 

 specially-prepared re-agent — sifted ash-dust — is used. 



Fig. 12. 



All the labour that is necessary to set the apparatus m- 

 good working order is shown by Fig. 12. The servant is 



