whole length of the ridge of the roof. The windows, capable of being opened top and bottom, should not be fewer than one to each pair of beds, or in large huts, one to each bed, nor should be of less size than the sash-window in common use for houses. The ventilating opening beneath the ridge may have flaps, movable from within the tent by ropes and pulleys, so that the opening to windward can be closed, if necessary, in high winds. Doubled-walled wood huts may have additional ventilation by the admission of air beneath this outer and inner wall, and its passage into the interior of the hut through openings with movable covers at the top of the inner lining. The roof should be covered with waterproof felt; the edges of the felt fastened down by strips of wood, not by nails. The hut should be warmed by open fire-places, fixed in brickstove stacks placed in the centre of the floor, the flue being carried through the roof."

In places where no sewerage-system exists the excreta may be removed by the pail or dry-earth system, but in either case disinfectants should be used, and outside doors or flaps should be provided in the closetblocks to permit the removal of the excreta directly from the closets and not through the wards.

The following are ground-plans of a hospital hut for eight patients of each sex, having the same infectious disease (fig. 12), and of an extension of hut-hospitals where plenty of ground is available (fig. 13). Both plans are copied from the Memorandum of the Medical Department of the Local Government Board already referred to.

The majority of temporary hospitals erected by the London vestries have been made of corrugated iron

lined with match-wood.

In the Hampstead hospital the interval between the wood and iron is filled up with felt, a plan which adds greatly to the warmth of the hospital and prevents draughts.

Fig. 13.-A, Administrative Buildings (Kitchen, Stores, Offices, Nurses' Bedrooms, etc.); B, Laundry, etc.; C, Disinfection, Dead-house, etc.; D, Huts for 10 patients each, with Scullery and Bath-room at end, and Closet and Sink at other end of each; E, Open Corridors. The dotted lines show direction of farther extension.

At seaport towns it is proposed to use hospitalships of the "Dreadnought" type, but any hull of an old vessel, capable of floating and large enough, would suffice. Wooden huts erected on the upper deck would supply

the ward accommodation, while the body of the vessel could be utilised for the administrative department. The "Dreadnought" is fitted with a Warren's cooking-stove, which is well adapted for the requirements of any temporary hospital, inasmuch as it is complete in itself and very economical. Hospital-ships would prove of immense value in the event of cholera again visiting this country.

CHAPTER X.

REMOVAL OF SEWAGE.

THE term sewage may be conveniently used as indicating the excrementitious matter thrown off by the bowels and kidneys, and, indirectly, the refuse, whether solid or liquid, which is constantly accumulating in inhabited places, and requires to be constantly removed if cleanliness and health are to be maintained. A consideration of this subject will therefore have reference not only to the different methods of excretal removal, but also to scavenging.

SECTION I.-MIDDENS, ASHPITS, AND CESSPOOLS.

In thinly-populated districts the disposal of the excreta and house-refuse is accompanied with little risk, provided they are not allowed to accumulate in close proximity to a house or near a well. The open midden, ashpit, or cesspool, under these circumstances, cannot be pronounced very objectionable from a sanitary point of view, because they can be cleaned out periodically without creating a nuisance, and any neglect in keeping them in order is seldom attended with serious consequences. In towns, however, the case is very different. These filth-accumulations, when no other system of removal is followed, are of necessity in close

proximity to the houses, and the effluvia arising from decomposition may, and often do, become so intensified as to pollute the surrounding atmosphere to an extent which is seriously detrimental to health. (See Chapter on Air.) But in addition to this danger, there is the other, and perhaps greater danger, of water-contamination. The fluid contents of the midden or cesspool may drain into the surrounding soil, so that eventually it becomes excrement-sodden, or it may find its way into the neighbouring well. Hence, in many instances, the inhabitants may be said to live in an atmosphere charged with the mephitic gases given off by the decomposition of their own excrement, and to drink a water tainted by the foul liquid which oozes from the excretal mass. No wonder then that special diseases are engendered, that the general health of the community is lowered, and that poverty, with all its attendant evils, overtakes the disabled among the working-classes.

Formerly such a state of things was the rule, and not the exception, in towns, as well as in less densely populated parts. The midden or cesspool consisted of a hole dug in the ground, with no attempt at preventing percolation, or the escape of effluvia into the surrounding air. But, even in the present day, the reports of the Health Inspectors of the Privy Council show that in many places there has been little or no improvement in this respect. Thus, to select a few out of the numerous reports summarised in the First Report of the Local Government Board, the following may be given :