14 



century. Mary Queen of Scots suffered from it, and in a letter ot 

 that period still extant it is fully described and referred to as "The 

 new acquaintance " There is also existing an account by a Dr. 

 Short of a visitation of influenza to Madrid in 1510, when ."two 

 thousand were let blood off and all died," and " so great was the 

 mortality, that the poor fought for coffins for their dead relations." 

 It is mdeed a cause for congratulation that owing to a more 

 enlightened system of treatment, no such appalling results have 

 occurred during the present epidemic. 



One of the most imjiortant subjects which science has yet to 

 solve is that of free ventilation for our large cities. In Dr. Ballard's 

 report, which was presented last session to Parliament, he enforces 

 the necessity of sufficiently wide streets, that these should be 

 broken at frequent intei-vals by cross streets or squares, and that 

 every house should have free breathing space, back as well as front. 

 He also empli.isises the point that allpla':-es where food is prepared, 

 sold, or stoied, should be freely exposed both to light and air, and 

 lastly that cleanliness in all such places should be enforced by 

 local authorities to the utmost of their power. Dr. Ballard also 

 insists thrtt the pract.ice of keeping food in a cellar or underground 

 pantry in a private dwelling-house cannot be too strongly depre- 

 cated. , 



Eeferring to another important point of sanitation, Mr. William 

 Webster's invention for disposing of sewage by electricity is one 

 worthy of attention. The sewage flows through a long channel, in 

 which are a number of iron plates, connec ed with a dynamo and 

 traversed by the electric current ; it is thus brought into immediate 

 contact with the electric force, and a chemical action is set up, by 

 which the suspended matters are precipitated. So effectual is this 

 action in purifying the sewage that, parodoxical as it may seem, a 

 powerful disinfectant is produced from it consisting of hypochlorous 

 acid, the strongest oxydising agent known. The working cost of 

 this scheme is said to be only thirteen shillings per million gallons. 

 or six-tenths of one farthing for a thousand gallons. The annual 

 cost for the whole of London is therefore reckoned at about ^36,000 

 per annum. 



Another method of treating sewage is that of Mr. Hugo Woll- 

 heim. This process consists of mingling milk of lime and herring 

 brine with the sewage, v/hich is then run into tanks to settle. The 

 lime averages 47 grains, and the herring brine three grains per 

 gallon of sewage. The suspen'^ed matters are precipitated in about 

 half an hour, and a clear effluent is produced, which Dr. Klein 

 pronounces absolutely free from living organisms, and the residium 

 of sludge is perfectly inoffensive. The cost of materials ranges 

 }d per thousand gallons, or about £2 or £3 per miUion 



