1897-8. TRANSACTIONS. 87 



varieties in the Northwest, an Indian Chief asked him if he 

 proposed to take them to his squaw. It seems that the Indian 

 women collect and dry the sphagnum moss, and encase their 

 Imbies in it, and that it keeps them perfectly dry and comfort- 

 able during the long journeys which they have often to under- 

 take when they are swathed up in Indian fashion and carried 

 on the backs of their mothers. Dr. Dawson also tells me that 

 along the trails in the same region tufts of moss are to be seen 

 stuck on poles, and exposed to rain, sun and wind. It is in 

 this way that the moss is prepared and stored for the sanitary 

 requirements of the Indian babies when travelling. That 

 which has been the practice of Indian tribes for centuries is now 

 being introduced in many German cities not only as the best 

 system from a health point of view, but as the one likely to be- 

 stow great advantages on agriculture. The committee on man- 

 ures of the German Agricultural Society is now devoting much 

 attention to this subject, and any one, who wishes to know 

 the progress they have made and the valuable results they 

 have arrived at, should study the valuable book by Dr. J, H. 

 Vogel, published in 1896, on the disposal of City Refuse. 



It would indeed be a fool-hardy and Quixotic undertak- 

 ing for anyone iir the present day to begin a crusade against 

 the water-borne system of sewage removal. The love of ease 

 and modern conveniences, and the indisposition to look the 

 problem of city sanitation squarely in the face are too 

 strong to afford such a reformer any chance of success. But 

 in localities where no such system has been established and 

 in towns where local circumstances make it impossible, it 

 would, in my opinion, be advantageous for the authorities to 

 consider seriously the moss litter system of dealing with 

 human excreta. Even in cities or their suburbs, where there 

 are districts almost destitute of any system and where the re- 

 moval of refuse is a source of constant annoyance, the use of 

 moss litter might prove to be an unhoped-for blessing. The 

 manure resulting from its use is entirely deprived of any of- 

 fensive character, and would be of the greatest advantage to 

 the farmers of the neighborhood. 



(The lecturer concluded by referring to the various 

 methods employed for reclaiming and cultivating moorlands 

 in place, and gave particulars concerning the Rimpau dam 

 system at Cunrau on the Elbe, and the Corporation farm on 

 Carrington Moss near Manchester.) 



