ON THE TREATMENT AND UTILIZATION OF SEWAGE. 51 



The Committee continued its investigation of last year into the modes of 

 treatment and utilization now practised, and a form was prepared and sent 

 to the principal towns for the purpose of obtaining further information on 

 the subject. The replies received from 200 of these towns have been tabu- 

 lated. The Table and a statement describing the results of this part of the 

 inquiry wiU be found further on in this Eeport. 



The Committee decided upon making local investigations in towns typi- 

 cally representing various methods for the disposal of refuse matters, and for 

 this purpose appointed two engineers to make the inquiries. Cambridge and 

 Bury were first selected for examination, as being good examples of water- 

 closet and privy and ashpit towns respectively. 



The Committee considered it desirable that the existing information bear- 

 ing upon the subject of the present inquiry should be collected in the form 

 of a " Digest," which Professor Corfield undertook to prepare ; he has 

 done so, and it will be distributed with this Eeport to the towns which have 

 subscribed to the Committee's fund. 



The Committee availing itself of the proximity to London of the town of 

 Romford, a lease of the sewage of which for irrigation iipon " Breton's Farm" 

 happened to have been taken by one of its members, appointed a person to 

 reside on the farm to make observations as the cropping progressed, to take 

 gaugings, and to coUect samples for analysis, both of the sewage and of the 

 effluent water. He has proceeded with the work, and the observations &c. 

 have been tabulated and a plan has been made of the farm as laid out for 

 sewage irrigation, with the engines, tank, distributing-troughs, carriers, beds, 

 and underdrains, all of which are explained in the special description of this 

 farm, which will be found in an appendix to this Report. 



The Committee appointed Dr. Russell, of St. Mary's Hospital, London, to 

 make such analyses as they might requii'e, and those referred to and given 

 in the description of Breton's Farm and other portions of this Report have 

 been furnished by him. 



As some apprehensions have arisen to the effect that the distribution of 

 sewage over the land might possibly favour the spread of entozoic diseases in 

 various ways, and might even propagate some that have not yet been known 

 to spread in our country, the Committee has thought it desirable to insti- 

 tute a series of experiments with a view to deciding this point, or at any rate 

 throwing some light upon it. To this end three families of guinea-pigs have 

 been purchased, each family consisting of four members : one member of each 

 family has been examined by Professor Corfield, who reports that no sign of 

 entozoic disease of any description was to be found with the help of a powerful 

 pocket-lens, either in the viscera or muscles of either specimen examined. 



The three surviving members of one family are now being fed on sewaged 

 produce only, and those of the other two families on unsewaged produce 

 only : it is proj>osed to feed the members of one of these last-mentioned 

 families with an occasional meal containing entozoic larvae or ova, found 

 either upon the sewaged vegetables (it having been stated that some have 

 been so found on the Craigentinny meadows), or, failing that, in the sewage 

 itself. 



Thus there will be three families of three members each ; of which one 

 family will have been fed upon sewaged produce alone, one on unsewaged 

 produce alone, and one on unsewaged produce known to contain entozoic 

 larvae or ova. 



The animals will then be killed and carefully examined ; and it is hoped 

 that some result may be obtained even from this preliminary experiment, 



e2 



