^00 REPORT— 187'3. 



On Pttritt/ and Imj>unti/ in the Use and Abuse of Water. 

 By Major-Genoral Millington Synge, B.E., F.S.A., F.R.G.S., F.B.L.l 



Opinion of a Turkish lady on western liabits in the use of water. The contrast 

 presented by Turkish to western habits of obedience to religious injunctions in re- 

 spect to cleanliness of person. The systematic corruption of rivers would be impos- 

 sible consistently with eastern habits in the use of water. Western nations, even 

 when they use water for personal ablution, reclothe themselves in uncleansed gar- 

 ments: their houses are externally filthy and often so internally. The use of 

 water for assuaging thirst <an instinct rather than an act of reason. Analogy between 

 sobriety and cleanliness. On the indirect eftects on social life of habits of cleanli- 

 ness, on the wage-taking classes and on the capitalist. On the progress of the 

 age and the direction of that progi-ess : its dealings with water. On sewer-pollu- 

 tion. On the difference between the clean and the unclean. On the science of 

 puiification. The effects on air, water, and earth of contact with man. The ele- 

 ments of the ancients. Fire. On "waste," the meaning in which the term is em- 

 ployed. The art of purification. Purification not attained by dilution of the 

 impure, which is only spreading impurity : it can be attained only by transmuta- 

 tion, the ceaseless miracle of creation. The contrast between transmutation and 

 water-carriage of refuse, which sets all the laws of transmutation at defiance : it 

 multiplies the volume of waste and causes dangerous evils, and destroys the value of 

 a natural fertilizer. The cost of " main-drainage " of London. The purification of 

 water. The standard of purity is a restoration to normal condition. The conse- 

 quences of adopting the standard in remedying water-pollution : its easy applica- 

 tion. The difficulties caused by sewage-corruption of water increased by the volume 

 employed. Reclamation or restoration to the normal state should take'place within 

 the limits of the locality which causes tlie defilement. On the power of intangible 

 proportions. The easiness of water-pollution ; but its dire consequences. The pro- 

 perties of charcoal. The deodorant and disinfectant powers latent in impurity dis- 

 covered by Mr. Stanford : it is the restoration of the impure to the condition of 

 the pure. 



MECHANICAL SCIENCE. 



Address ly W. H. Baelow, Esq., C.E., F.B.S., President of the Section. 



It appears to have become an established custom that the Presidents of the several 

 Sections of the British Association should say a few words by way of address prior 

 to opening the proceedings of the Meeting ; 'and while I feel that I sliould neglect 

 a duty if I did not comply with this usage, yet I know that I shall have need of all 

 your indulgence and support while I endeavour to fulfil it. 



I should have felt some difficulty in the selection of a subject were it not that 

 the genius loci naturally suggests some subject connected with luanufacturos. 



It has been remarked by an eminent writer that there is no single circumstance 

 which distinguishes our coimtry so remarkably from all others, as the vast extent 

 to whichwe have carried our contrivances of" tools and machines for forming all 

 those articles and conveniences of which so large a quantity is consumed by almost 

 every class of the commimity. And I think it would be difficult to select a' locality 

 where the results of thought and study, the achievements of genius, and the effects 

 of strong good sense and long practice in the mechanical arts are more plainly 

 shown than they are in the place where we are now met and in the surrounding 

 district. 



It is, however, not alone in tools and machinery that this country has attained a 

 high position ; it stands preeminent also in the utilization of waste or incidental 

 products, and in tlie production of new materials. 



In the observations which I have to address to you I shall not attempt a general 



