Other evils arising from insufficient knowledge. 75 



With our present extremely imperfect knowledge of 

 Physical and Chemical science, we can perhaps hardly 

 form an idea of the amount of knowledge yet to be 

 discovered respecting the phenomena which manufac- 

 tures present. 



One of the inevitable results of these difficulties in 

 manufacturing processes and of deficiency of know- 

 ledge, is the production of a large amount of goods of 

 an inferior quality ; and useless goods, technically 

 called " wasters," the cost of which has to be laid 

 upon the saleable ones, and thus the price of the lat- 

 ter is enhanced to the consumer. For instance, flint 

 glass discoloured by iron has sometimes to be sold at 

 a loss for making common enamel ; waste window 

 glass has to be sold as " rockery " for ornamenting 

 gardens, and defective articles of glass or metal have 

 to be re-melted. 



In consequence of this want of new knowledge, 

 manufacturers continue to suffer losses which might 

 be avoided ; high prices of useful articles are main- 

 tained ; defects in their quality are not improved ; 

 preventable accidents still continue to happen ; the 

 health of workmen continues to suffer ; many means 

 of curing diseases remain unknown ; medical practice 

 remains full of empiricism, &c., &c. 



The great sewage question is apparently in this 

 predicament ; we are probably trying to solve it with- 

 out first discovering the requisite knowledge; inventors, 

 engineers, and consulting chemists have racked their 

 brains, and have not been able to devise a satisfactory 



