68 
PHCCEEDINGS OE THE SCIENTIEIC ASSOCIATION.. 
from the West Indies.” By R. J. Lechmere Guppy, Esq. r 
Presented by the Author. 
2. “ On the Relations of the Tertiary Formations of the 
West Indies. By R. J. Lechmere Guppy, Esq., F.G.S. 
With a Note on a new Species of Ranina , by Henry Wood- 
ward, Esq., F.G.S., and on the Orbitoides and Nummulinee , 
by Prof. T. Rupert Jones, F.G.S.” Presented by R. J. 
Lechmere Guppy, Esq., F.G.S. 
The following communication was read 
On Earth Closets. By the Hon. Henry Mitchell, M.H., 
Ph.D. — Mr. James of Halton, Weston Furville near Triny, 
in writing to the Times says : “ The process of deodorisa- 
tion by earth referred to in Hr. Hawkesly’s letter in the 
Times of Friday last may be seen in full operation on 
Baron Rothschild’s estate here. Any one taking an in- 
terest in the improvement of the condition of the poor and 
the state of our rivers, would do well to satisfy himself of 
the truth of Hr. Hawkesly’s views by a personal inspection 
of the whole process. 
In the earth-sheds here he may see excrementitious mat- 
ter on its first removal from the closets, and in barrels dried 
and ready for the corn and turnip drills, in all its stages 
perfectly inodorous, even when subjected to the fiercest 
summer heat. The deodorisation may be effected either 
by the rough and ready application of a shovelful of garden 
earth every day, or by the more refined and perfect appa- 
ratus patented by the Revd. Mr. Moule. It is with this 
little machine that the Halton closets are fitted ; they are 
cheap, self-acting, and cannot get out of repair. To the 
benefit conferred by them on the poor, the cottagers them- 
selves will speak. There are yet enough of the old cesspools 
remaining to enable a visitor to appreciate at a glance the 
