392 APPENDIX. [No. XXXVI.A. 



some are inclined to suppose ; whether the poison was taken by the cow 

 and passed through to the milk ; or whether the milk self generated the 

 poison the public have not as yet sufficient evidence to form an opinion, 

 and it is deeply to be regretted that no inquest has been held to unravel 

 the mystery on oath. 



My observations have been restricted to the fact that vegetables take 

 matter into their juices which renders them putrescible, and that a cow 

 eating plants in that state produces milk which is putrescible, and con- 

 sequently well adapted as a nidus for typhoid poison. 



Sept. 15. 



The statement of Mr. Morgan in his letter to the * Standard ' with 

 respect to my opinion on sewage is liable to be misunderstood. 



I am of opinion : 1. That sewage-grounds, as hitherto used, are the 

 most dangerous nuisances which have ever been devised, creating vast 

 perpetual swamps calculated to spread disease, or even to engender new 

 forms of disease. 2. That the herbage grown upon sewage-grounds, under 

 improper culture, is unfit for milch cows, as it sometimes infects the milk 

 and is injurious to cattle, as it causes disease. 3. That putrid sewage is 

 liable to be absorbed by growing plants, rendering them putrescible under 

 some circumstances, and unfit for the food of man or animals. 4. That 

 sewage irrigation cannot be employed as a commercial success, and, where 

 cleansing by terrestrial filtration is necessary, towns must consider that 

 they have a nuisance to abate upon the best terms they can. 



Since these opinions have been extensively promulgated, sewage irri- 

 gators have not been so rampant, and sewage farms have been conducted 

 with somewhat more respect to the laws of Nature, and vegetables and 

 herbage have been allowed sufficient time to change the raw sewage before 

 they are consumed by animals and man. Notwithstanding this partial 

 improvement, I have reason to believe that tons of the wholesome water- 

 cress, so desirable for large towns, are sold in London, although grown 

 under circumstances in which the stalks are liable to be besmeared with 

 faecal matter. I have, therefore, in no way altered my opinion that sewage 

 grounds require official supervision and control, to protect the public 

 against the crude theories and malpractices of the sewage irrigators. 

 Mr. Morgan is unquestionably following the right course, and doing good 

 service to sanitary science, by his experiments to precipitate the sewage 

 principles and obtain their manurial properties, and finally cleansing the 

 water through an oxidizing terrestrial medium ; but whether his is the 

 best precipitating process which can be adopted on a large scale, further 

 experience is still required. 



October 14. 



's letter is a fair specimen of the tone adopted by the Croydon 



Board of Health when complaints are made, and by these general defiant 

 denials has done more to throw discredit over properly- 

 conducted sewage irrigation than any man living. It is true that I 

 took a prominent part in preventing the pollution of the Wandle by the 

 Croydon sewage, which has had an important effect in preventing the 

 pollution of other rivers. It is true that I stopped the lime process and 

 other chemical precipitating processes ; and it is also true that I recom- 



