244 
Village Sanitary Economy. 
the worst consequences would follow from inattention, which 
would inevitably attend the sy stem when applied to the dwellings 
of the poor, and the annual cost of scavenging must be capi- 
talised in order to compare the total expense of the earth system 
with that of water. 
Fourth : Village Drainage in contradistinction to 
Sewerage, 
The objection raised to both sub-irrigation and surface-absorp- 
tion of liquid sewage near dwellings will be deemed consistent 
with the stress previously laid upon the importance of a drained 
sub-soil. Having pointed out the necessity of abstaining from 
throwing sink water and collecting other refuse in the yards and 
gardens of village dwellings, it is hardly necessary to dwell upon 
tlio advantage of having a system of underground drains, laid at 
sufficient depth below the surface throughout the village, tr) 
effectually draw out of the land any water which would other- 
wise remain in it, and which would help to support evajioration 
from the surface. The superior healthfulness shown by the 
returns of the Registrar-General to exist in districts where 
natural drainage exists proves at once, and in the most apposite 
way, the benefit to be derived from this simple and inexpensive 
operation ; inexpensive in itself, and collaterally profitable in its 
effects. The sanitary advantages of under-drainage, moreover, 
are confirmed by the improvement which has taken place in 
rural districts where the operation has been extensively carried 
out by landowners ostensibly as an agricultural improvement. 
The fogs and mists which surrounded villages in wet districts 
no longer characterise them after drainage ; ague has entirely 
disappeared, and the visitations of fever have become much less 
frequent. 
Wherever water is used for the removal of village refuse 
it will be desirable to avoid the escape of sewage out of the 
sewers into the surrounding sub-soil. To secure this object 
the sewers must be made water-tight, and if the soil is wet, and 
therefore requires draining, this condition involves a separate 
system of permeable drains (common agricultural drain pipes) 
to keep the Avater in the sub-soil down to the level of the 
sewers, by which arrangement, and by the use of self acting 
flaps at the junctions, the water from the drains may be dis- 
charged into the sewers without allowing the sewage to pass 
into the drains. This will help to keep the sewers flushed. 
In those instances where dry earth is used to remove all 
cxcretal refuse, with sewers to discharge the house refuse only, it 
is very possible that the latter may be made to serve the purpose 
of drains as well as sewers, and if made partially water-tight — 
