Oct. 13, 1870] 
is 
NATURE 
483 
prevalent throughout Central America, in conjunction of course 
with the action on them of time and the elements. He gave a 
most interesting account of a ruined city in British Honduras, 
called Xmul, which he claims to have discovered, and concluded 
by pointing out the great extent of unknown and untravelled 
districts in Central America, particularly in Guatemala, as pre- 
senting a fine field for futare geographers and naturalists, and 
expressed it as his firm conviction that there existed at the 
present day an Indian city—yet to be discovered — whose 
inhabitants occupy the same splendid palaces and temples as in 
the days of the Spanish Conquest, whose priests inscribe fresh 
precepts on their tablets, and who would then read to us their now 
mystical hieroglyphics. He supported the statement by describing 
an exploration he madein the southern district of British Ilonduras 
westwards towards Guatemala, where, after several days’ perilous 
_ river navigation and further journey on foot, he discovered in the 
neighbourhood of the Coxcomb Peak the remains of an aban- 
city he spoke of. 
doned maize plantation, and saw smoke ascending from the 
distant forest ; and believes that the tribe of Indians who occupy 
this part of the country, which was before considered to be 
uninhabited, have some connection with the mysterious Aztec 
° 
Mr. H. Howorth corroborated the date of the foundation of 
the city of Quiché, as verified by a Mr. Spencer, who had also 
read a hieroglyphic on the lintel of a doorway at Palenque. 
Mr. Spencer had also discovered great similarity between the 
names of the signs of the zodiac and the arrangement of the 
calendar of the Aztecs and those in use in Thibet. Several 
members present took part in a discussion, to which Cap- 
taia Carmichael replied, adding that he had recently returned 
from California, where he had heard a Japanese and a digger 
Indian of Nevada, then brought together for the first time, 
conyerse intelligibly. 
Section G.—MECHANICAL SCIENCE 
On the Sewage of Liverpool and Neighbourhood.—My. J. N. 
Shoolbred, C.E. In this paper the author said it was calculated 
that about 900,000/. had been expended in drainage and sewage 
works in the borough of Liverpool. Of this about 600,000/. might 
be set down as requisite for drainage (the primary object) ; 
300,000/, would, therefore, represent the amount due to con- 
veyance of water-closet sewage ; and setting aside 20 per cent. 
upon this as interest, together witha large amount for deprecia- 
tion and repairs, &c., there would be 60,000/., or about 25. 4d. 
per head, as the annual expense due to the removal of the water- 
closet sewage. Taking the length of sewerage over the whole of 
the borough of Liverpool, the probable average distance that 
the sewage has to travel from its entrance into the sewer till its | 
discharge into the river Mersey is about one mile and a half, or 
perhaps eyen more, inasmuch as the inhabited portions of the 
town mainly lie back away from the river. Liverpool and its 
neighbourhood are favoured by nature with above the average 
amount of facilities; first, for the collection of its sewage by 
water carriage, and then in finding, at a comparatively short 
distance, an outlet in the river Mersey for the larger portion 
which it is deemed advisable to get rid of inthis manner. Again, 
Liyerpool is fortunate in having an outlet which, at least for the 
present, secures immunity to the town from the unpleasant con- 
sequences which sometimes arise from creating an acknowledged 
sewage nuisance; while, should the town itself at any time prefer 
to derive some benefit out of this refuse which it now throws 
away, Liverpool possesses, at no great distance, a most suitable 
and extensive site for utilising its sewage by irrigation upon the 
land, with at the same time a certain market in itself for the 
vegetable produce of that irrigation. The author then detailed 
the arrangements made in 1866 and since, or in progress, for the 
concession of the Liverpool sewage to companies whose object is 
to use it in irrigation upon sewage farms ; and he also described 
the nature of the lands which are, or may be, used for sewage 
irrigation. 
On Sewers in Running Sand.—Messts. Reade and Goodison, 
Civil Engineers. This paper formed a very natural sequel to the 
preceding one, inasmuch as it dealt with the difficulties cf con- 
structing sewers in the sands between Liverpool and Southport, 
the district traversed by the Liverpool, Crosby, and Southport 
Railway, and the means which the authors had adopted in order 
to overcome those difficulties. The whole of the district referred 
to is one mass of sand, resting on a bed of moss and marl, 
yarying from ten to twenty feet deep below the surface, It has 
| 
no natural drainage, and in wet seasons in the lower portions or 
slacks, flushes of water form, in consequence of the elevation of 
the shore line of sand-hills. After enumerating the manifold 
difficulties which they had to encounter, the authors described at 
considerable length the appliances which they ultimately resolved 
upon using. The primary object which they wished to attain 
was to get a dry subsoil wherein to lay the pipes, that the cement 
joints might have time to set and become water-tight, and by 
securing more time for the laying of the pipes, laying a greater 
length at a time, and the prevention of disturbance or drawing 
of the pipes while preparing the next excavations, to ensure 
greater certainty and perfection in the gradients and junctions, 
and consequently improve the general system of pipe sewerage. 
From the experiments which they have made with the subsoil 
drains, they have thoroughly satisfied themselves as to their 
efficiency. The subsoil drains are in fact a foundation for the 
pipes of the sewer, and the sewer itself can be as readily con- 
structed upon them as if the ground were perfectly dry. They 
have begun to use the subsoil drains in the sewerage works which 
they are carrying out at Birkdale, a length of 10,000 yards. 
On the Ashpit System of Manchester.—Alderman Rumney. 
The authorities of Manchester have at all times objected to the 
general use of water-closets in cottage dwellings. In the first 
place, because they believed that in the limited space available 
in houses occupied by the working classes, they would prove 
a greater nuisance than the privy and ashpit outside ; secondly, 
because of the loss of valuable manure which would be occa- 
sioned ; and thirdly, because, looking at the rapid increase of 
population in the district, and the limited area of the watershed, 
the time would come when all the water available would be re- 
quired for domestic and manufacturing purposes, and could not 
be wasted in water-closets. Adhering, then, to the dry in 
opposition to the wet system, the corporation has for some time 
been engaged in the attempt to improve the existing privies and 
ashpits, and to discover the best form to be adapted in all new 
property erected within the city. In the construction of ash- 
pits, the object of the Health Committee appointed by the cor- 
poration was to prevent as far as possible the decomposition of 
the excreta, and consequent generation of gases passing off into 
the surrounding atmosphere ; and as decomposition is accelerated 
hy moisture, they determined that all ashpits should be made 
dry, excluding the rainfall by covering them over, and the 
drainage from the yard by requiring the floors and walls to be 
made water-tight ; they required also that the ashes from the 
pit should be placed daily in the ashpit for the purpose of con- 
densing as far as possible the ammoniacal and other gases, 
and preventing organic matter impregnating the air in the 
immediate vicinity. In addition to these arrangements, it was 
foreseen that in summer time, when decomposition is most 
vigorous, and the supply of neutralising ashes most scanty, a 
closed ashpit might become a greater nuisance than an open 
one, and a ventilating shaft or chimney was determined upon, to 
be carried from the top of the ashpit up to the side of, and a 
little above, the eaves of the house, for the purpose of carrying 
off all the gases and light vapours, and allowing them to mix with 
the surrounding atmosphere at an elevation which would not in- 
juriously affect the inmates of the dwelling. In the Appendix 
to the Report of the Medical Officer of the Privy Council just 
printed, Dr. Buchanan and Mr. Radeliffe express themselves in 
high terms regarding the new system. Already upwards of 1,500 
new privies and ashpits have been erected under the supervision 
of the committee; the occupants of the houses are perfectly satis- 
fied, and are constantly expressing their approval. 
When the reading of the papers was concluded, a long and 
animated discussion followed, the speakers being Professor A. 
Reynolds, Mr. Brierly (of Blackburn), Professor Ansted, Mr, 
Rawlinson, C.B., C.E., Mr. Glazebrook, Mr. Hawkesley, C.E., 
Professor A. W. Williamson, and Mr. Hope, V.C. 
The first paper in this Section on Saturday gave rise to a very 
unpleasant occurrence, in which the President, according to 
general report, adoped a rather unusual proceeding. His treat- 
ment of the author was somewhat unceremonious. The paper 
was entitled i 
On a new Heat Enginte-—Mr. A. W. Bickerton, F.C.S., 
Associate of the Royal School of Mines. After the author had 
well-nigh done reading his paper, the President quite unex- 
pectedly stopped him, and told him that he had been 
talking absolute nonsense. If he (the President) had seen 
his paper first, he would not have permitted it to be read, 
as there was no time to discuss a thing which was radi- 
