is8 



NATURE 



[Dec. 28, 1 87 1 



itself from every one of these small pipes, perhaps a dozen 

 or more in a house, if it cannot be supplied more easily 

 elsewhere. 



The principles to be kept in view in dealing with de- 

 fects such as those stated are obvious enough. 



The general drain system of every street or district 

 should be studied as regards its pneumatic relations, and 

 means should be adopted for relieving the pressure within 

 the system by ventilating outlets in safe positions. By 

 placing charcoal strainers at all these outlets, sewer air 

 would be deprived of its destructive qualities before pass- 

 ing into the streets. In special cases provision would 

 have to be made for preventing the tide or strong winds 

 from entering the mouth of the main sewer. 



Then as regards the household drains. There is nothing 

 easier than to ventilate the soil-pipes through charcoal 

 filters in the manner stated. And as regards the numerous 

 small pipes of sinks, baths, &c., not one of these ought 

 on any account to communicate directly with a sewer. 

 They ought all to be collected and allowed to discharge 

 their contents in the open air over a trap communicating 

 with the house drain, so that reflux of sewer gas into the 

 house would be simply impossible. 



Much evil has in times past arisen from imperfect 

 drains within houses. Properly there should be none such. 

 All connections of water-closets, sinks, baths, &c., with 

 the house drain, should take place outside the house walls, 

 and where from bad construction drains have been laid 

 within houses and cannot be altered, they should be re- 

 placed by glazed earthen pipes laid in concrete, every 

 joint made perfectly air-tight. 



Cess-pits and traps ought never to be permitted within 

 walls. The trapping should be all outside. 



From want of attention to these long-known principles 

 most of our houses are sick, and require separate diagnosis 

 and treatment. They can all be cured if we only could 

 find an authority to undertake the cure. 



Were it not that in many instances we should have men 

 of straw to deal v.'ith, we should feel disposed to advocate 

 the application of Lord Campbell's Act to these cases. 

 But as the recovery of damages would be a remote 

 contingency, why should not Local Boards of Health, 

 with their highly-paid health officers and surveyors, be 

 required to see not only that all the details of water 

 supply and drainage in new houses are safe, but that un- 

 safe houses are made safe by their proprietors, or con- 

 demned as unfit for habitation ? 



After all is done, however, the chief remedy must be 

 sought in technical training on all house questions in the 

 application of which scientific principles are involved. 



It may be safely stated that there is no technical sub- 

 ject of greater importance than this, and our recent ex- 

 perience has shown that there is no subject on which 

 more training is necessary than to build a comfortable 

 healthy dwelling. 



SUTTON'S VOLUMETRIC ANALYSIS 

 Volumetric Analysis. By F. Sutton. Second Edition. 



(London : J. and A. Churchill.) 

 '^">HE present volume is almost the only representative 

 -L of a considerable Ijranch of chemistrj'. We are sur- 

 prised that Volumetric Analysis has not come into more 



general use amongst chemists, for the saving of time in 

 most instances is very great, whilst for accuracy it frequently 

 surpasses gravimetric analysis. Since the last edition of 

 this work was published (1863), chemistry has made great 

 advances ; in volumetric analysis there has been a gradual 

 extension and development, although nothing very new or 

 startling has taken place during this period. This edition 

 is a far more handsome volume than the last, the type 

 and engravings being everything that can be desired. 

 The author states in his preface that the new system of 

 atomic weights has been adopted ; the nomenclature also 

 has been changed to a great extent, although we are 

 sorry to find that the system adopted is by no means 

 perfect. Thus we read of " the carbonates of lime, baryta, 

 and strontian " (p. 26), whilst in a later part of the book 

 such terms as " hydric chloride," &c., are met with. These 

 of course are extreme cases ; would it not have been 

 better to have adopted some definite system through- 

 out the book ? We regret to say that the larger 

 portion of the book is disfigured by a great number 

 of small errors ; for instance, the cross references in 

 many cases are wrong, thus at page 80, the reader is 

 referred to § 80, 2, for the determination of chlorides by 

 Liebig's method, the paragraph referred to is an article 

 " on the examination of raw phosphates and phosphatic 

 manures." Again, we are told on p. 116 to refer to § 71 

 for the titration of phosphate, but this paragraph describes 

 the estimation of sulphuretted hydrogen. We have 

 noticed so many errors, some in formulas, some in e [na- 

 tions, and again in grammar, that, though making every 

 allowance for printer's errors, we must conclude that the 

 edition has been carelessly revised. There is one para- 

 graph we should wish to call attention to, the first on 

 p. 132, which we confess we have not been able to under- 

 stand clearly. The number of new processes introduced 

 is not large, nor are they of very great importance. We 

 think, however, that methods such as the estimation of 

 nitric acid by indigo might have been omitted, and that, 

 for instance, the iron process for phosphoric acid might 

 have been introduced. If Mr. Sutton would give, as far 

 as possible, the precise cases for which each process is 

 most suitable, v.'e think the value of the book would be 

 much increased. His long experience in these matters 

 would render this addition of great importance, and 

 would save much trouble. 



Fifty-four pages of the volume are occupied by a descrip- 

 tion of the processes of water analysis (furnished by Mr. W. 

 Thorp) ; this consists of a lengthy description of Frank- 

 land and Armstrong's process, which has undergone con- 

 siderable modification, and a much shorter description of 

 Wanklyn and Chapman's process. We look upon this 

 part of the book as very valuable, for water analysis has 

 now become quite a study, and such a clear and concise 

 statement as that in the present volume will be found of 

 great service to any one engaged in this work. 



The last section of the book, consisting of seventy- four 

 pages, is " On the Volumetric Analysis of Gases," con- 

 tributed by Prof. H. McLeod. We cannot praise this 

 portion of the volume too higlily, the engravings are 

 excellent, many of them we believe being from the original 

 drawings of the author. We do not think that any 

 student could do better than take this as his guide to gas 

 analysis. It is the most clearly written and practical 



