I884.J 
On Sanitary Reform. 81 
There is one of these latter (which we will not name) where 
the prevailing notion with regard to “ Matter in a wrong 
place ” seems to be briefly comprehended in a saying once 
used to the writer by a cottager whom he was visiting : — 
“ It’s all clean dirt, sir.” In this town, where’er the “casual 
eye ” of the visitor is cast, solid and liquid filth of various 
dye arouses his slumbering indignation, and his final con- 
clusion, after a full survey of the sanitary conditions of the 
place, is that “ these people love to have it so.” It’s all 
clean dirt to them. Money, says Bacon is like muck, not 
good except it be spread. And it would appear that the in- 
habitants of the town referred to partly appreciate this 
remark ; though it seems to one intimately acquainted with 
local affairs that they do not spread their money in order to 
manage and utilise the muck, but stick fast to the filthy 
lucre, while they display to the greatest possible disadvan- 
tage (of pedestrians) the varied qualities of the dirt, so that 
it may meet the eye at every turn ! 
But, with all gravity, we may venture to affirm that this 
is not merely a financial question. We shall not probably 
be far wrong if we regard it as one chiefly dependent on 
popular education. We can hardly hope to witness the full 
application of Sanitary Law till our working population is 
animated not merely by the craving for knowledge, but by 
an earnest desire to exhibit, in all the phases of social life, 
that right economy of force which we denominate “ material 
justice.” 
In spite of the introduction of Science teaching among 
the people, the vast majority of our population remain — and 
will doubtless continue for some time to come — in a state of 
darkness respecting Sanitary Science. But the problem of 
improving public health consists not merely in the diffusion 
of knowledge, but in the application of moral and religious 
principle to the outward forms of life. 
Clergymen, district visitors, and others might often do 
good, if well informed themselves, by pointing out violations 
of Sanitary Law to the poor. Ignorance itself is a power- 
ful force, continuous in aCtion and cumulative in its disas- 
trous effects ; the practical observance of law is, on the 
other hand, ever potent for good. A moderate acquaintance 
with physical law would often be of priceless value to those 
in the lowest walks of life. But, unfortunately, laziness 
and indifference are too often in contention with knowledge ; 
the kindly warnings of Nature become, in time, a dead 
letter ; familiarity has destroyed perception. To many of 
the inhabitants of our city lanes filth and disorder give no 
