446 
Supplement to the "Tropical Agriculturist." [December i, 1889 
procedure pursued in the treatment of the sewage i s 
quite simple. As the liquid flows from the sewer 
to the land, where it is to be used as a liquid man 
ure, it is mixed with a preparation of milk of lime and 
brine in given proportions. The mixture is then turned- 
into pits where the lime precipitates the solid matter 
and effectually destroy a 11 organism, while the brine 
deodorises the mixture. The offensive smell is re- 
placed by a briny odour, and in the course of half an 
hour the clear water may be drawn off, leaving a re- 
siduum which may be placed on the land with bene- 
ficial effects, and without giving off nauseous fumes, 
even in the hottest weather. A practical demonstration 
of the process was given last month at the Wimbleton 
Local Board Sewage Farm, in the presence of a number 
of scientific men and sanitary officers of towns. The 
Lord Mayor of London also witnessed the demonstra- 
tion. The process gave thorough satisfaction. Some g 
tons of sludge treated in the manner described, neither 
compressed nor dried, and having been un der alternate 
sun and rain for a month, was found to be absolutely 
inodorous. According to Dr. Klein, the most careful 
and exhaustive tests have failed to discover any micro, 
organism in the samples submitted to him. The process 
is the invention of Mr. Wollheim, and has been patented 
by him. The cost of treating a million gallons of 
sewage by the process is said t be from £2-10 to £3. 
This invention must be looked upon as one of great 
value, as the question of treating sewage in an inexpen- 
sive way so as to render it innocuous and at the same 
time to derive some benefit out of the valuable fertil- 
ising material it contains has been so far unsettled. 
Many inventions have been put forward, such as mechan- 
cal and chemical filtration, distillation, precipita- 
tion, but they have all failed as being impracticable 
on a large scale or too expensive. Irrigation has been 
adopted to a large extent in continental cities, but it 
as process that is limited in its applicability to certain 
crops. The "Amines" process has not this disadvant- 
age, and since there can apparently be no doubt about 
its perfect innocuous qualities fron a sanitary point 
of view — qualities which a good many sanitarians 
hesitated in allowing to sewage irrigation — it will no 
doubt recommend itself as an inexpensive and cheap 
way of dealing with sewage to many corporations. 
Influence of Tbees on Rainfall. — The original 
source of rain-water supply is the sea, which 
sends to the land a tolerably regular annual 
store of moisture. When this falls as rain, either of 
two things may happen — the water may go away 
directly to the sea, or it may return to the atmosphere 
as vapour to be again precipitated as rain. The chance 
of its re-evaportion is determined by the speed with 
which it flows away. From a treeless region it rapidly 
escapes; in an extensive district of forest it may again 
and again pass from earth to air, and from air to earth. 
The columns of vapour, which may be often seen ascend- 
ing from a dense wood, afford visible evidence of the 
elfcct of forests on rainfall. The air above the trees 
becomes much cooler than it is in the recesses below 
the foliage. Thi3 heated air within the wood seeks to 
rise, and escapes in great columns wherever there is 
a wide gap between the branches; as soon as it attains 
the cooler level above, the moisture is condensed, and 
the air, before transparent, becomes charged with 
steam. To replace this ascending air, a broad current 
drifts towards the emerging stremns of vapour, 
generally from the higher parts of th s forest, where 
the air, owing to the elevation of the site, is cooler 
than in the lower levels. This repeated passage of the 
moisture from earth to cloud, and from cloud to earth 
greatly increases the amount of force which the rain 
applies, in its falling drops, to the earth's surface ; 
but the rank vegetation protects the surface of the 
land from the erosion which the rain would otherwise 
bring about. 
♦ 
VETERINARY NOTES. 
Hydatids in the brain of sheep give rise to the form 
of disease known by the various names of " sturdy," 
"gid," and " staggers." These constitue the cystic stage 
in the development of Tarda cosnurus, a tapeworm found 
in the dog. When the mature segments of the woim 
are expelled from the intestines of the dog, they fall 
in the pastures and are taken up by the sheep. In a 
short time the embryos which are contained in the egg 
in each mature segment find their way into the brain 
and become developed into hydatids. To prevent the 
disease it is obvious that dogs which harbour tape-worms 
s hould be treated with the remedies which destroy those 
parasites — for instance, dosing regularly with J to 1 dra- 
chm of areca-nut : and it is especially desirable that when 
the head of affected sheep is cut open by the butcher, 
and the hydatid taken out, it should be burnt or other- 
wise effectually destroyed, instead of beiDg laid about to 
be picked up and swallowed by a dog, which would thus 
beoome infected with tape-worms. The cystic worm — 
the scolex stage — of the the tape-worm in the dog is 
known as ccenurus cerebrulis, so called since it passes this 
stage in the brain of sheep. 
The remedies are of more consequence to owners 
of lean stock, than to those who can send an affected 
animal at once to the market as " fat " without much 
loss. Au animal cured of " sturdy " is none the worse 
afterwards for breeding purposes. The seat of disease 
is the surface of the brain, at its base or in the " lateral 
cavities." These cavities are situated one on each side 
of the forward brain, and there, in common language, a 
" water bag " grows, containing many youug tapeworms. 
This spreads against the brain, causing absorption of 
that organ, with usually a thinning and softening of 
the skull in one or other of the hollows on the crown of 
the head, immediately in front of a line drawn between 
the ears. There the skull is very thin. Partial 
paralysis results, and the sheep gets . blind on ) 
and turns to, the side to which the " water-bag " 
inclines. Boring with a trochar and canula to extract 
