582 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



means and processes of improvement, maj-- properly be asked to the discus- 

 sion of some of the prominent characteristics of city sewerage. 



It has pleased the creator of man to endow him with a compound ele- 

 ment of earthly existence, having a spiritual and immortal nature in com- 

 bination with a human form, which is constantly troubled with necessities 

 of the hour, and in need of constant care. The glory and dignity of tlie 

 soul, and also of the body, is here chastened and humbled by the- recurring 

 wants and weaknesses of human nature, which are imperative in their de- 

 mands, and find their only cessation in the rest of the grave; and the greater 

 part of man's existence is a struggle with these infirmities. 



Out of this obvious law of existence have come all the methods and ap- 

 pliances for social comfort and the general welfare. The upward tendency 

 of the higher existence carries with it the subordinate organization, and 

 every efibrt for the general welfare of those masses of individuals who form 

 our communities is a valuable contribution to the law of charity and the 

 offices of kindness. Improved construction of dwellings, conveniences of 

 public conveyance and travel, street pavements, public institutions of 

 charity and of learning, food suppl}', water supply, sewerage, gas supply, 

 and the like, are prominent sources of gocial amelioration and are indices 

 of progress in civilization. • 



Of human infirmities, or laws of bodily existence, the necessity of ade- 

 quate disposal of hourly and daily accumulations of matter, also pertains 

 to that law of the continued existence of matter, which has attracted the 

 earnest study of the most profound thinkers of the race. In the natural 

 world nothing is lost, whatever transformations each particle may undergo. 

 Among all the food-consuming plants or animals, or inhabitants of the 

 earth, nothing is taken within the organization which is not also, in some 

 form or other, given up. So far, then, as the human race is concerned, this 

 law of restitution places the question of adequate disposal in the same 

 class with that of adequate supply. The air we breathe, the water we 

 drink, the food we eat, must also not only be properly used, but properly 

 accounted for. 



The infringement of any phj'-sical law, or of any moral law, brings an 

 inevitable punishment. Science has demonstrated, in its sublime analysis, 

 that the body was not created to suffer, and that it always does suffer 

 through the infringement of certain laws and conditions of its existence. 

 Precisely so with regard to our special subject of discussion. Auy com- 

 munity which neglects the proper disposal of its constant accumulations 

 nui.st, m theory, and does, in practice, suffer grevions injury !n individual 

 comfort -and health. The instances which testify to this law are so abun- 

 dant and so conclusive as to indicate this theory beyond dispute. 



From lessons taught by experience, that preceptor which human nature 

 is always prone to challenge, it has been found all over the world, and 

 from its earliest ages, that the upward progress of civilization is marked 

 by provisions for the more effectual suppl}' of general necessities, and for 

 the health and comfort of the masses. In some ages and countries these 

 provisions have assumed a luxurious expansion, and have resulted in pub- 

 lic works which, like the aqueducts of the Incas of Peru, or of the emperors 

 of Rome, have stood the test of many centuries in their eloquent witness to 



