I04 



SCIENTIFIC NE\VS. 



[July 1st, 1887. 



DOMESTIC SANITATION, 



No. 3. — Situation. 



MANY of us have but a very limited pow;er of selecting 

 the spot where we are to live. We cannot set up 

 our household gods at Bournemouth or Torquay, at Lynd- 

 hurst or Conistone, but we find ourselves, in virtue of the 

 " struggle for existence," chained down in great, smoky 

 cities. Yet even in these cities there is a choice of healthy 

 and unhealthy districts — the latter sometimes the more 

 fashionable. 



Many persons suppose that the first point is to make for 

 the higher grounds, and especially for hill-sides where, it is 

 supposed, all impurities will very readily flow away. But 

 experience tells a different tale. We could mention towns 

 in the north of England, where declivities, almost too steep 

 for vehicles, have suffered far more from cholera, small- 

 pox, fevers, etc., than even the bottoms of confined valleys. 



Nor is this, after all, anything paradoxical. In the 

 sewers along such hill-sides the liquids tend towards the 

 lower grounds, whilst the sewer-gases accumulate towards 

 the upper parts of the drains and there seek an exit. 



If there is no regular system of sewerage the case is many 

 limes worse. The soakage from cesspools, as well as all 

 other kinds of waste liquids, trickle gradually down from 

 level to level, and find lodgments under the foundations of 

 houses. A well-built city on a steep hill-side, has, indeed, 

 a very picturesque appearance — 



" Line o'er line, 

 Terrace o'er terrace, nearer still and nearer 

 To the blue heavens. ' 



But it somewhat mars our enjoyment of such a scene if 

 we reflect that each terrace thus becomes a kind of sewei" 

 for those situate higher up the declivity, and the ground is 

 soddened with pollution. Far safer it will always prove t" 

 live on a well-drained plain with inclines just sufficient t° 

 prevent anything from accumulating in the sewers. 



From questions of levels and altitudes we come next to 

 that of the soil, or rather of the sub-soil. We commonly 

 see houses or plots of building-land recommended as situate 

 on the sand, the gravel, or the chalk. Now it is perfectly 

 true that such sub-soils, from their dryness and consequent 

 warmth, will be found most suitable for rheumatic subjects 

 or for persons liable to affections of the chest, such as 

 bronchitis, asthma, etc. But before a sandy or chalky soil 

 can be pronounced preferable in all points to one of a 

 heavier character we must have answers to some difficult 

 questions, Has any putrescent organic matter soaked down 

 into the soil from above, or drained into it from neighbouring 

 higher grounds ? This is not at all improbable if the plot 

 in question has been used as a market-garden, and been of 

 course saturated with animal manures. Should such 

 putrescent matter exist below, the gases given off will rise 

 up through the porous soil, carrying with them disease- 

 germs. So fully is this risk now realised, that if any of our 

 troops are on the march in unexplored tropical regions, 

 they are caused in preference to encamp on clay soils where 

 there is less fear of poisonous emanations. 



It is, therefore, prudent to select a house built upon a 

 compact sub-soil, if only well drained to get rid of damp, 

 rather than one placed upon a light, porous stratum of whose 

 history nothing is known. 



The greatest danger to be avoided is one far too common 

 in the outskirts of London, that is, so-called " made ground." 

 It often happens that clay, where of a desirable quality for 

 brick-making, is dug away to a considerable depth. A 

 notice is then put up to the effect that " Rubbish may be 

 shot here," which does not, however, authorise the summary 

 execution of " Jerry " builders. The cavity is then gradually 



filled up with promiscuous rubbish, such as the contents of dust- 

 bins, after everything of a saleable character has been picked 

 out. Now, the dust-bin, unfortunately, is not the receptacle 

 merely for ashes, fragments of crockery, and other inorganic 

 refuse. It may, and often does, contain putrid fish, the stalks 

 and paringsof vegetables, and, in short, anything undesirable, 

 which all the skill of a modern maid-servant cannot force 

 down the sink. That such matter when left to accumulate 

 must putrify and give off offensive odours, needs not to be 

 demonstrated. Yet upon such masses of abomination, 

 Jerry aforesaid will lay the foundations of a " desirable 

 residence, replete with every modern convenience" — re- 

 plete also, too often, with the seeds of disease and death. 



It ought to be binding upon all corporations, parish or 

 other local authorities, to pass all dust-bin refuse through 

 one of those " destructor " furnaces which are now in use, 

 before it is employed for mending roads, filling up hollows, 

 or the like. 



Among other enemies to well-being rank graveyards and 

 cemeteries, especially when placed, as they too often have 

 been, on elevated ground. Many persons remember, but 

 many more have forgotten, the crusade carried on by Dr. 

 George Walker — " Churchyard Walker," as he was then 

 called— against the City graveyards, and generally against 

 interment within and near churches, and close to human 

 habitations. Like most pioneers, he was opposed, insulted, 

 bullied, and when the great reform which he urged was 

 finally accepted, the credit of the enterprise was given, and 

 is still given, to others, who shine, if at all, mainly by the 

 reflection of his light. But let this pass. In a couple of 

 centuries we shall adorn the sepulchre of George Walker, 

 the father of modern sanitary reform. 



But the closing of the City graveyards only displaced, 

 without destroying, the nuisance. The cemeteries which 

 were laid out, as it was thought, at a safe distance from 

 London, are now bordering upon, almost enclosed by popu- 

 lous, growing suburbs. Thus the caution is needful, " Keep 

 away from the cemeteries." And this word of warning 

 will be required until cremation, the " pure fire-angel," is 

 universally adopted. 



Other foci of mischief to which every prudent man will 

 give a wide berth are the hospitals erected by the Asylums 

 Board. 



We now find ourselves approaching the sewage question, 

 the disposal of the offensive but unavoidable refuse products 

 of animal life. 



On this subject the individual householder seems power- 

 less, and can simply use the facilities provided for him by 

 the community. But his vote and his influence go to de- 

 cide whether a rational or a foolish system of sewage treat- 

 ment is to be adopted. We will venture to add that until 

 every ratepayer has a clear understanding of the question 

 there is a strong probability that the local authorities will 

 go astray. 



The problem is two-fold. We must prevent these sub- 

 stances from polluting the air, the waters, and the soil, or 

 from becoming in anyway off"ensive or dangerous; and, 

 secondly, we must restore them to their proper place, the 

 cultivated land, so as to maintain its power of yielding crops. 

 Whatever method of dealing with sewage fails to fulfil both 

 phases of the question stands self-condemned. 



It must be remembered, as it has been proved by num- 

 berless experiments, no less than by the experience of 

 farmers and gardeners in all ages, that the entire mass of 

 any soil is by no means food for plants. There are merely 

 certain ingredients existing in limited proportions, which 

 fulfil this function and which are capable of becoming ex- 

 hausted. If we keep removing from any plot of land its 

 vegetable produce, whether fruits, grain, roots, hay, or the 



