152 
prevent sewage gases gaining access to the houses. How- 
ever, it is to be feared many of the so called traps are traps 
to catch and transmit disease, and not to stop it. He had 
himself, at his residence in Crumpsall, a drain from a sink- 
stone communicating with the sewer, and for the last fe w 
years it had acted moderately well, except during sudden 
falls of the barometer, when smells would get into the house 
in spite of the traps. During the past summer a servant 
having found some sewage gases escaping into the yard 
from the eyes communicating with the sewer, trapped them. 
When he (the President) returned home last autumn he 
found the yard quite free from smells, but his house full of 
them, the traps in the yard having forced them inwards. 
No time was lost in cutting the pipes communicating with 
the sewei - , so as to allow the refuse water to discharge itself 
into the open air and fall into a stench trap communicating 
with the sewer. This has effectually stopped all smells 
from sewage gases entering his house. The connection of 
of house drains with main sewers is no doubt a fertile 
source of disease, and in some cases even the means of 
transmitting it from house to house. 
Mr. Richard Weaver, Sanitary Engineer and Chemist, 20, 
Nile Street, Leicester, had lately informed him that he (Mr. 
Weaver) had some seven months ago visited Sunderland, 
then suffering from a smart attack of small-pox. The 
sanitary officer and chairman of the Health Committee 
stated that the sewers had excellent ventilation. This 
excellent ventilation consisted of six openings into chimney 
stacks, for the most part at the lower extremites of sewers. 
Now, until the fallacy was pointed out, the responsible 
authorities considered six openings, promiscuously selected, 
