48 
DISPOSAL OF THE FILTH OF PARIS. 
DISPOSAL OF THE FILTH OF PARIS. 
From an intimation in our last number, we fulfil 
our promise in copying the following judicious 
remarks on the “ Filth of Paris,” from Mr. Colman’s 
late volume on European Agriculture, which will 
apply equally well to the large cities of the United 
States, as to those of France ;— 
There remains one establishment to be spoken 
of, directly connected with, and of great impor¬ 
tance to, agriculture, as well as to comfort and 
health; but which, having no other than a dis¬ 
agreeable interest to many of my readers, I fore¬ 
warn them at once to pass it over : though a French 
writer humorously observes, that “ a book written 
upon assafcetida is in itself no more offensive than a 
book written upon roses.” 
This subject considered in a philosophical and 
practical view, is of the first importance. It would 
be altogether a false, in truth, a mere affectation of 
delicacy, to hesitate to treat it as its importance 
demands. In all the arrangements of Divine Prov¬ 
idence, nothing strikes the reflecting mind with 
more force than the beautiful circle of mutual de¬ 
pendence and reciprocity in which everything pro¬ 
ceeds ; so that the humble elements perform their 
part, and the most elevated and brilliant can do no 
more; and the part of the former is as essential to 
the common well-being as that of the latter. 
Look at a heap of manure, composed of every 
offensive substance which can be congregated toge¬ 
ther, reeking with detestable odors, and presenting a 
mixed mass of objects utterly disgusting to the touch, 
the smell, and the sight. Yet this is the food of 
the vegetable world; containing all the elements of 
richness, nourishment, health, and beauty. All 
these, the plants know how to separate, to analyze, 
to digest, and appropriate, and with a skill distanc¬ 
ing the sagacity of science, they will return it pu¬ 
rified and sublimated in bread and wine, and oil; 
in flowers of exquisite coloring and beauty; in 
perfumes the most odorous which nature’s toilette 
can furnish; in fruits luscious to the taste ; and, 
above all, in products indispensable to life, and full 
of health and strength. The farmer, standing in 
his barnyard, knee deep in its offensive accumula¬ 
tions, may proudly say, u Here is the source of my- 
wealth ; that which has fed my cattle shall now 
feed my crops ; that which'has given fatness to my 
flocks shall now give fatness to my fields.” A 
mysterious power is ever operating in every depart¬ 
ment of nature; suffering nothing to fail of its use;. 
“ gathering up the fragments, that nothing be lost 
and providing for the various wants of the infinite¬ 
ly-varied forms of life, to which existence has been 
given, and from whom, if the Creator should, for 
one second, withdraw his guardian care, the whole 
must instantly perish. 
The refuse of a city may be considered as of at 
least five different kinds; first the ordinary refuse 
of a house, such as fragments of vegetables, re¬ 
mains of food, bones, rags, and a thousand miscel¬ 
laneous and nameless substances ; second, the re¬ 
mains of fuel, such as ashes and soot; third, the 
refuse of different trades, of workers in leather, 
workers in bone, workers in horn, soap boilers, 
glue manufacturers, workers in hair and in wool, 
sugar refineries, and the innumerable other trades 
always to be found in the busy hive of a city; 
fourthly, the dung of the domestic animals, cows 
and horses; and lastly, human ordure, ornightsoil, 
I shall say little of some other substances, which 
have been used for purposes of manure; but it is 
well known that many graveyards have been ran¬ 
sacked for the purpose of gathering up their mouL 
dering relics, and that many hundreds of tons of 
human bones have been transported from the field 
of Waterloo, to England, for the purpose of enrich¬ 
ing the cultivation. It cannot be denied in this 
case to be a more rational, humane, and I will add, 
Christian use, than that to which they were put in 
the bloody arena, where they were first deposited. 
In Paris, every species of refuse is husbanded in 
the most careful manner. No refuse is allowed to 
be thrown into the streets after a very early hour 
in the morning, nor until after ten o’clock at night. 
This refuse consists of what may be called the 
house dirt, and is laid in heaps in front of the 
houses near the gutters. A very numerous class 
of people, called chiffonniers, consisting of as 
many women as men, with deep baskets on their 
backs, and a small stick with a hook at the end, 
carefully turn over every one of these heaps, se¬ 
lecting from them every article of bone, leather, 
iron, paper, and glass, which are thrown at once 
into their baskets, and being carried to their places 
of general deposit, are there again examined and 
assorted, and appropriated to any specific applica¬ 
tion for which they may be suited. These persons 
appear like a most degraded class; they inhabit 
particular quarters of the city, and the interior of 
their habitations is such as might be expected from 
their occupation. The profession descends in fami¬ 
lies from father to son, and from mother to daughter. 
They are a most industrious race of people; and 
many of them may be seen, even at midnight, with 
their lanterns, taking advantage of the first pickings, 
and anticipating the labors of the coming morning; 
and with the earliest dawn they are sure to be 
found at their tasks. No article of food escapes 
them; and they call the street their mother, be¬ 
cause she often thus literally gives them bread. 
Though their occupation is necessarily dirty, yet 
they are almost always comfortably clad, and are 
never ragged. They never beg, and disdain to be 
considered objects of charity. They are licensed 
by the city authorities, for which some trifling sum 
is paid, and for which they must be recommended 
for their sobriety and good conduct. They have 
their particular districts assigned them, and are 
very careful to prevent all foreign intrusion. 
The chiffonniers having done their work, next 
come the sweepers and collectors of dirt. Every 
inhabitant of Paris is required, under a penalty, to 
have the sidewalk in front of his place of business 
or residence carefully swept every morning. The 
sweepers of the streets in Paris are almost uni¬ 
versally women, who, with long twig or birch 
brooms, sweep the streets thoroughly, and all the 
accumulations are taken in carts to be transported 
to the great places of deposit. The women assist 
as much in loading the carts as the men. These 
women appear to work extremely hard, carrying 
always a long broom in their hands, and a shovel 
fastened to their backs, to be used as occasion may 
require. The gutters in Paris are washed out 
' every morning, by fountains which aie placed in 
