8 
of the advantages of the earth closet as a 
means of preventing the vitiation of the atmos- 
phere. I should like it to be clearly understood 
that certain circumstances are to be taken into ' 
consideration before the earth-closet admits of 
discussion as a sanitary appliance. First of 
all, we may suppose a place totally without 
underground drainage, as are Melbourne 
and Brisbane, and with nothing but the 
ordinary cesspool accommodation. Then, 
again, in a place like Brisbane, where the heat 
is so great in the summer months at a time 
when there are copious falls of rain, which fill 
up cesspits— often mere holes dug a foot or 
two deep — causing those reeking rills of 
odoriferous ooze so disgustingly familiar at 
every turn, and the great difficulty and enor- 
mous expense attendant on emptying them — 
in fact, the impossibility often of even getting 
anyone to do the work — are potent reasons fox 
considering whether or not some sort of con- 
trivance like the earth-closet may not even- 
tually come into use. In Melbourne I know 
from personal inspection and converse with 
those interested in these matters that 
they are most anxious to introduce by force 
of law the earth-closet system, so convinced 
are they of its adaptability to their wants. 
The earth closet seems to be based on the most 
natural principles, for we see cats and dogs, 
and animals which are jealous of their presence 
being detected by their natural enemies, bury- 
ing their droppings to destroy all trace of 
smell. And the law of the ancient Israelite 
was clearly based on natural principles ; he 
was required “ to have a place without the 
camp whither thou shalt go forth abroad ; and 
thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon ; and 
it shall be when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, 
thou shalt dig therewith and shalt turn back 
and cover that which cometh from thee.” — 
Deut. xxiii, 13,14 It seems that the Rev. Mr. 
Moule, vicar of Fordington, Dorset, is the 
inventor of the Earth Closet, and, like all 
enthusiasts, he rides his hobby too much ; 
yet he has not succeeded in converting 
the sanitary reformers to his way of 
thinking on the subject, although he has 
written and agitated much from first to last. 
Some remarks were made in a paper on 
“ Hospitals,” recently read before this society, 
condemnatory of earth closets, and the Builder 
was quoted in support of such condemnation. 
But certainly the whole of the Builder's 
opinion was not quoted, otherwise I should not 
have found the following remarks on the Rev. 
Mr. Moule’s closets in an old volume of that 
periodical. After speaking of the improve- 
ments made in Mr. Moule’s patent earth- 
closets, such as his having made one self-acting 
and another with an arrangement for trans- 
ferring the soil to a shaft or receptacle, the 
writer of the notice goe3 on to say — “ The dry 
earth-closets must be a decided improvement 
in rural districts, where there are not even 
decent cesspools, far less drainage ; but we 
cannot agree with the reverend inventor 
that it ought to take the place of drainage 
in towns, far less in London — even to 
which he appears to desire its introduction. 
Did he ever estimate the quantity of dry earth 
per annum with which it would be requisite 
to supply the metropolis, or even any large 
town, on his system ? It is not on this ac- 
count, however, that we object to such a sys- 
tem in towns. Were the theoretical operation 
of his closetB to be always depended on in prac- 
tice, including perpetual and universal care and 
attention as to the supply of earth, thorough 
deodorization and other circumstances, the 
offence to sense and health might not be very 
great ; but the reverend inventor does not seem 
to make sufficient allowance for inevitable 
wide-spread and perpetually-recurring neglect, 
indolence, recklessness, and ignorance, which 
would to a certainty render his system 
one of the most abominable town nuisances 
in existence — worse even than cesspools.” 
It appears to me that the writer just quoted 
did not take the trouble to test the operation 
of the earth-closet— if the Rev. Mr. Moule’s 
self-acting one was really practicable, for as to 
its mechanism I am quite ignorant, and the 
Builder does not enlighten us thereon ; — for 
had he thoroughly and fairly tested the closet, 
I doubt not his prophecy as to the inevitable 
neglect would have been somewhat modified. 
I must confess that for a long time my pre- 
judices quite coincided with those just men- 
tioned, and I came to the conclusion that unless 
a cheap, simple, self-acting apparatus could be 
constructed, .that the dry-earth closet must only 
remain a thing of the imagination — the mere 
hobby of a country parson ; but a variety of 
circumstances conspired to stimulate me 
to endeavour to plan such an appa- 
ratus, for the use of such places as 
hospitals, gaols, and lunatic asylums, where 
some officer would always be available for the 
duty of attending to them daily. I purpose to 
detail the steps I took in perfecting the ap- 
paratus ; but before doing so, I would men- 
tion that besides the Rev. Mr. Moule, many 
other persons have directed their attention to 
the subject, amongst whom are Messrs. G. 
Smith and Co., of Glasgow, who patented a 
closet “ which pours out sawdust from a per- 
forated box every time the lid is closed.” I 
have a sample of their closet in my possession, 
which is called a' “ patent earth-closet”, but it 
won’t work with soil or sand. I never tried it 
with sawdust ; but how could any town get 
supplied with sawdust for such a purpose P 
A Mr. Owen, of Manchester, made use of 
disinfecting powder in a similar apparatus, so 
also did Mesers. Muir and Carrick ; but Dr. 
Lloyd, of Anglesea, prefers charcoal in his dry 
closet. Messrs. Macfarlane, of Glasgow, have 
also several patent dry closets, and I have 
no doubt there are many others in existence. 
