vegetable matter which is useless for other purposes. The patentees direct that these materials are "to be mixed in such proportions as may be most convenient, together with a small percentage of sulphate of iron or sulphate of lime." The materials are pressed close to the bottom and sides of the tub by means of a mould, which is afterwards withdrawn. A separate bin must be used for the ashes and house-refuse; but urine may be emptied into the tub, and is supposed to be absorbed by the lining, the excreta remaining tolerably dry. The tub is removed once or twice a week, according to circumstances.

When these closets are well managed, they are generally clean and inoffensive; but in many cases Dr. Buchanan and Mr. Radcliffe found that the solid excreta were not kept dry, and then the tubs possessed no vantage over unprepared tubs.

The same system has been applied to public urinals, the absorbent material acting as a filter through which the urine passes into a receptacle containing a small quantity of iron sulphate. The urine thus collected is afterwards used along with the contents of the tubs in the preparation of manure.

4. Pails, into which ashes as well as excrement are thrown. This system has long been followed in the more crowded parts of Edinburgh, but is objectionable in many respects. The pails are deposited daily in the streets, and the contents carted away by the scavengers.

5. The Pail or Trough-closet system. This also is in use in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and is adapted to large collections of people. In the pail-closet system, the closets are ranged in double rows and roofed in, with a passage between them for the scavenger. The

seats, and the divisions between them, are made of slate. A pail is placed below each seat, and removed daily. In connection with the privy is a water-tank for cleansing purposes. In the trough-system, the iron trough or latrine has a sloping bottom, and is supplied with a little water to make the contents run easily. These are emptied through a vertical pipe into a closed tank, from which they are removed in closed carts, without, it is said, creating much nuisance. In some of the Glasgow factories there is one such latrine on each of the storeys, and it is used by 180 to 200 persons.

6. In the Eureka system, as carried on some time ago at Hyde near Manchester, a box containing some deodorising mixture was placed under the privy-seat. It was allowed to remain there for several days, and when full was closed with a tight-fitting lid previous to its being carted off to the manure manufactory. No slops were allowed to be put into the boxes. The manufactory, however, became such a nuisance that the system was discontinued.

7. Fosses Mobiles. This system is now followed in many continental towns, and is a great improvement on the system of fosses permanentes. The fosse mobile is a closed tube placed on a stand with wheels, and connected by a descent-pipe with the different closets or faiences of a house. When filled it is replaced by another of the same construction. The abfuhrtonnen of the Germans are of a similar description, but in many of the larger towns the bucket under the privy-seat is used (Berlin, Leipsic, etc.)

Wherever the pail or trough system is carried on, it is requisite that the pails or boxes should be straight and round, so that they can be easily cleaned.

The

material best suited for their construction is galvanised iron, or wood well pitched with tar. The closets or privies in connection with them should also be built of non-absorbent materials, such as slate. Above all, it is essential that the system be under the management and control of the public authorities, to ensure cleanliness of the privies, and regular and efficient removal of the excreta.

SECTION III.-THE DRY METHOD.

1. Moule's Earth-closet.-This consists of a wooden box with a receptacle or pail beneath, a reservoir for the dry earth above, and an apparatus for measuring and delivering the requisite quantity of earth, whenever the closet is used. The closet is made self-acting by means of a spring in connection with the seat, or it is worked by a handle as in the ordinary water-closet. It is essential that the earth be previously dried and sifted, that a sufficient quantity be thrown into the pail before the closet is used, and that the same amount be delivered over each particular stool. The quantity requisite for the deodorisation of each stool (inclusive of the urine) is found to be 1 lb. The slops and the rest of the urine must be removed in some other way.

This system has been introduced, with more or less success, into several public establishments in this country (Broadmoor Lunatic Asylum, the Manx Lunatic Asylum, Isle of Man, the Reading Workhouse, etc.), at the Wimbledon Camp, and several villages throughout the country. Its use in India has been very highly spoken of by Dr. Mouatt, late Inspector of Indian Gaols.

Dr. Buchanan, in Mr. Simon's Report for 1869, makes the following summary with regard to the working of the earth system :

(1.) The earth-closet, intelligently managed, furnishes a means of disposing of excrement without nuisance and apparently without detriment to health.

"(2.) In communities the earth-closet system requires to be managed by the authority of the place, and will pay at least the expenses of its management.

"(3.) In the poorer classes of houses, where supervision of any closet arrangements is indispensable, the adoption of the earth system offers special advantages.

"(4.) The earth system of excrement-removal does not supersede the necessity for an independent means of removing slops, rain-water, and soil-water.

"(5.) The limits of application of the earth system in the future cannot be stated. In existing towns, favourably arranged for access to the closets, the system might be at once applied to populations of 10,000 persons.

"(6.) As compared with the water-closet, the earth system has these advantages :-it is cheaper in the original cost, it requires less repair, it is not injured by frost, it is not damaged by improper substances driven down. it, and it very greatly reduces the quantity of water required by each household."

The agricultural value of the earth excrement, its facility of transport, and variety of application, are also pointed out.

The disadvantages of the system are, the difficulties of procuring, drying, and storing the earth, particularly in crowded localities; the special service

a

and attention which the closets require, the frequent discomfort attending their use when the earth is very dry and powdery, and the inadequacy of the system as means of removing the whole excreta and slops. Add to these circumstances the enormous aggravation of all the difficulties of the plan, when not 50 but 50,000 households have to be provided with the necessary appliances, and induced to work them properly, and we can have no hesitation in pronouncing the dry earth system, however suitable for institutions, villages, and camps, where personal or official regulations can be enforced, entirely unfitted to the circumstances of large towns." (First Report of the Rivers Pollution Commissioners, 1868.)

When the closets are properly managed, it appears that the fæcal matters are disintegrated, so that after a time no excrement whatever can be detected in the mixture. After keeping and drying, therefore, it may be used several times without losing its deodorising and absorbing properties, but much depends on the quality of the earth used at the outset. The suitability of various soils are given in the following order:—1, rich garden mould; 2, peaty soils; 3, black cotton soils; 4, clays; 5, stiff clayey loams; 6, red ferruginous loams; 7, sandy loams; 8, sands.

For isolated buildings and small country villages, where there is no difficulty in obtaining suitable earth, and afterwards disposing of it, and where the necessary labour and management can be procured, the system, according to Dr. Parkes, is almost perfect.

The closets may either be used as fixtures or as movable commodes, the latter being intended for use in bedrooms, hospital-wards, etc.