The Paris Sewage Irrigation at Gennevilliers. 113 
movable double cylinder, adapted to a pipe connected with tbe 
water-closets, &c. The inner cylinder is perforated, so as to 
allow the liquid to escape into the sewer. Only the solid 
matter remains, and is taken away. With that sole exception, 
the sewers of Paris are well planned and substantially built ; and 
when their communication with all the cesspools is complete, 
Paris will have nothing to envy, even in London, with regard to 
that essential hygienic institution. 
The Paris sewers, in fact, have been raised to the distinction 
of one of the most interesting sights of the gay capital. Most 
illustrious strangers who visit Paris make it a point to ride in 
the sewers in carts, and to float down the subtenanean stream 
in boats specially provided for that purpose ; and it is a feat 
that can be accomplished with the greatest ease and comfort, 
without any risk of contamination or offensive smell. 
In 1856 the total length of the Paris sewers did not exceed 
160 kilometres, about 100 miles. In 1874, all branches included, 
they had extended to a total length of 771 kilometres, a distance 
equivalent to nearly 500 miles. The connection with private 
houses and public establishments consists of a funnel-like orifice, 
into which the tinette, above described, is fitted ; and, as I have 
already explained, this tinette is connected by means of pipes 
with water-closets, back-kitchen sinks, and other receptacles, 
through which all domestic offals are got rid of, with the excep- 
tion of the sweepings, ashes, and other dry refuse, which are 
every morning deposited before the street-doors, and removed 
away in dust-carts. 
The streets are carefully cleansed every day with hand- and 
horse-brooms ; and the dirt is swept into the sewers through 
apertures and gutters contrived under the curb-stones on each 
side of the streets. So it may be said of the Paris sewers 
that they provide infinitely better for the sewage of the streets 
than for that of the houses — a system which every hygienic 
economist must implicitly condemn, as altogether inadequate to 
the most elementary sanitary requirements of a town. 
The sharp bend in the River Seine which I have already 
described was a natural advantage of no mean importance, of 
which the Paris Board of Works did not fail to avail themselves. 
This bend, by bringing land at a lower level than that of the 
stream in its course through Paris, within an easy distance of the 
city, greatly facilitated the discharge of the sewage into the 
river itself at Clichy, St. Ouen, and St. Denis. This local 
advantage enabled the engineers to dispense with the costly 
construction of lengthy canals across and through valuable pro- 
perty, the expense of which would have laid a heavy burden 
upon their scheme. They had, however, taken for granted 
VOL. XII. — S. S. I 
