1867.] On the Application of Sewage to the Soil. 357 



J!* o| jSeta of Clitdlio. 



Fig. 24. Seta of Chastogaster vermicularis. 

 Fig. 25. Seta of Ctenodrilus partialis. 



N.B. — The figures are enlarged to different scales ; the seta) are very highly 

 magnified. 



VI. ON THE APPLICATION OF SEWAGE TO 

 THE SOIL. 



By nature man is improvident ; in the midst of plenty he is wasteful 

 and inconsiderate ; and it is perhaps one of the chief blessings of 

 civilization, that it brings with it conditions calculated to reform this 

 defect in his character. 



Where food is plentiful, and the surface of the earth thinly- 

 populated, men think little of economy in regard to the products of 

 the soil, and rarely reflect upon the necessity of providing either for 

 their own future wants or for those of their posterity. But in 

 those countries where the land is valuable, the population crowded, 

 and where men are dependent for the supply of their wants upon 

 the industry and productions of neighbouring states, their sense of 

 foresight is quickened, and they cease to think of to-day only, and 

 seek to penetrate into and provide for the future. 



In our last number we drew attention to a movement which has 

 for its object the provision of improved dwellings for the artisan class 

 in our large towns, and we then expressed the view that legislation 

 on that subject is of far greater importance to the well-being of the 

 community, than any enactment in connection with the enfranchise- 

 ment of the lower classes ;* and now it becomes our duty promi- 

 nently to direct attention to another national reform which will, we 

 feel confident, be regarded at no very distant period, as equalling if not 

 exceeding in importance either of those to which reference has been 

 made ; namely, the utilization of sewage, especially in our large towns. 

 Our readers little dream how wide and numerous are the rami- 

 fications of this question. The successful execution of the scheme 

 will save innumerable fives, will conduce to the comfort, add to the 

 means of support, and cheapen the food of the poorest as well as of 

 the richer classes. 



Without such a reform, our cities would soon become (what 

 portions of them are already) centres of pestilence ; meat and bread 

 would be enhanced in value even more rapidly than they are at 

 present ; waste lands would remain waste lands for ever, and whilst 

 we should neglect, as now, the most useful fertilizing agent that we 

 possess, casting it into the sea as an alternative to prevent its pol- 

 luting our rivers and destroying the valuable stores of fish which 



* " The Artizans' and Labourers' Dwellings Bill :" Quarterly Journal of Scic nee,' 

 No. xiii., p. 215. 



