I20 The Essentials of House Sanitation — 



bore flush, and yet, by a movable cage, checks the inlet of solids 

 and gives access to the trap. The same arrangement is appli- 

 cable to other forms of slop waste. He described the best 

 methods of immediately and thoroughly removing the contents 

 of closets, and recommended for this purpose a simple form of 

 wash-out closet, the details of which he fully described, dwelling 

 chiefly upon the points most essential for the effective working 

 of the apparatus. He strongly condemned the old pan closet, 

 which cannot be free from local pollution, and warned house- 

 holders against the push of interested manufacturers, who 

 recommend costly apparatus involving no essential prin- 

 ciple that is not fully met by a much more simple form of 

 closet ; and the more direct its discharge is, the better. We 

 have still a survival of the old system in the downward bend 

 from even otherwise good closets. The discharge should not 

 be downward within the house, involving further bends. The 

 discharge should be through the wall direct, and if possible 

 above the floor line, and accessible, the pan to have a good 

 3-gallon flush. The full flush secures the ''immediate" as well 

 as the " thorough " removal into the open air. 



Having shown how the liquid and other refuse should be 

 " immediately '' and " thoroughly " passed into the open air, he 

 traced its further passage into the town sewer through a trapped 

 air chamber. This trapped air chamber is absolutely essential, 

 and must not be dispensed with upon any account. This was 

 very fully described and illustrated by diagrams and models, 

 many of the latter showing the unnecessary complication before 

 the public, and the necessity for exercising common sense in 

 their selection, — above all, to see that the air chamber is freely 

 open, and that the trap is accessible. This air chamber, 

 trapped at the town side, should, if possible, be the receptacle 

 for the soil pipe and waste from the scullery and bath, so that 

 the water in the trap may be kept changed, and not allowed 

 to become stagnant. With this arrangement there is very 

 little fear of sewer gas. There may be bad effects from the 

 local pollution which carelessness may allow to occur at the 



