of a house, it should be situated at a safe distance from the building, made perfectly water-tight, and be abundantly ventilated. The plan of construction should be on the liquid-manure tank principle, the walls being of brick-work set in cement, surrounded by a clay puddle, and lined inside with a coating of cement. Both roof and bottom should be arched, the roof provided with a manhole, and the bottom built with a fall towards one end, where a pump could be fixed. The depth should not exceed 6 or 7 feet, otherwise the increased hydrostatic pressure would necessitate expensive walling. To separate the solids from the liquids, a galvanised iron wire diaphragm or grating should divide the tank into two parts. All cesspools should be regularly cleaned.

out at least once a month.

If the water-supply is to be derived from a well, the well and cesspool should be widely separated. In case of accidental leakage, it is also necessary that the well should not be near the house drains. To exclude subsoil water, the upper part of a well should be made water-tight, and the mouth should be protected against the entrance of surface water.

After having secured dryness and healthiness of subsoil, the next point of importance which has to be kept in view is the isolation of the area upon which the proposed dwelling is to be erected from the subsoil, and this can be effected in the cheapest and best way by using concrete. In order to prevent damp from rising into the walls, a damp-proof course should overlay the whole of the foundations. Two or three courses of slate laid in the best cement will answer the purpose, or, if external symmetry in the damp-proof course be made a desideratum, tiles made of highly vitrified stone

ware should be employed. When there is a basement storey, it should be isolated from the ground by an open space. The entrance of underground damp may also be prevented by constructing what are called dry areas; that is, by leaving a space between the main wall and a thin outer wall which reaches to the ground level, the two being joined together here and there by stretching bricks.

As much of the dampness in walls is due to driving wet, well-planned houses are now often built with hollow walls, in which case ties or bonding bricks must be laid in at regular intervals, to render the strength and stability of the twin walls equivalent to a strong single wall. With single walls, built of soft porous material, the effects of driving wet may be obviated by slating or tiling them, or by applying to the outer surface one or other of the several patent waterproof compositions which are well recommended.

Perforated bricks should be introduced at suitable distances in the outer walls, to admit air to the joists and beneath the flooring.

One of the gravest faults in the construction of even the better class of houses in the present day is the little attention which is paid to the position and arrangements of water-closets. They are too frequently situated in out-of-the-way corners, where only borrowed light can be obtained, and efficient ventilation is impossible. The best position is in an isolated block, built tower-fashion, and abutting against the outer wall of the house, with a closet on each floor and the supply cistern on the top. There should be an anteroom or passage between each closet and the house, large enough to admit of sufficient cross ventilation by means of open windows, or windows

provided with ventilating panes. A double set of doors would be required,—one leading into the house and the other cutting off the passage from the closet. The closetseat should face a window in the outer wall, so that abundance of light may be secured for inspection with regard to cleanliness, and direct draught from the window be avoided. The window should extend up to the ceiling, and have double sashes. The closet may be permanently ventilated by keeping the top sash drawn down, or by air-bricks inserted immediately beneath the ceiling. In smaller sized houses the closet may be simply projected from the building, with the seat facing the door, and with two opposite windows reaching to the ceiling between the seat and door. Cross ventilation and sufficient light would thus be obtained, without the interposition of an anteroom.

There are so many kinds of closets, well arranged in all their details, that it is difficult to say which of them are most to be recommended. There are others, again, such as the round hopper closet-pan fixed into an ordinary sigmoidal bend, which cannot be sufficiently condemned, unless worked by a very high pressure of water; they are constantly getting foul, and it is seldom that the whole of the excreta are removed. Generally speaking, those closets are the best which provide for good flushing and rapid and complete removal of the excreta, without permitting reflux of foul air. The pan should be roomy and made of white glazed earthenware, the machinery should work easily and not be apt to get out of gear, and the seat should be so framed as to come asunder readily to permit of inspection. Amongst closets which have been found to work satisfactorily may be mentioned the "Holborn Closet" and

"Universal Closet," both manufactured by Mr. Finch. of the Holborn Sanitary Works; the "Patent ValveCloset and Trap" of Mr. Jennings; the "Elastic ValveCloset;" and "Underhay's Regulator Valve-Closet."

As soil-pipes communicate directly with the drains, they should be carried up to the highest part of the roof, and be of the same diameter throughout. Efficient ventilation of the drains is in this way secured at a most important point, and the pipe from the closet trap can be connected with the soil-pipe without interfering with the upward current of sewer-air. If the soil-pipe cannot be carried straight up to the top of the house, the bends or angles should be made as obtuse as possible, and in any case it should not be plastered or built into the wall, but left free for inspection throughout its whole track. It is obvious that, were this plan universally adopted, there could be no pressure of sewer-gas against the closet trap, and therefore little or no risk of its entering into the house by this channel.

It has been urged, by way of objection against this plan, that, where houses are closely packed together, and are of different elevations, the sewer-gases discharged from the pipes of the lower houses would find their way into the higher, and thus become not only a nuisance but a source of danger. With ample sewerventilation, however, the objection does not hold good, because the sewer-air is so diluted as to be inoffensive and comparatively pure; besides, in cases where it is. proved to be offensive, some such mutual arrangements as are adopted with regard to offensive chimneys would meet the difficulty.

With regard to all other pipes, whether waste-water pipes, sink-pipes, or pipes from lavatories, it should

be laid down as a rule that none of them should lead directly into either the soil-pipe or drain. They should be carried outside the house to within 12 or 18 inches from the ground, and deliver on to the grating of a yard or gulley trap. Such a trap might be ventilated by the rain-water pipe when the rain-water is allowed to flow into the drain, or through a charcoal tray. But although the sewer-gases are in this way prevented from entering the house, it is still necessary that the sink and other pipes should be trapped. Scullery and sink pipes, for example, will require article-intercepting traps, and pipes to lavatories or baths must be provided with syphon traps to prevent the ingress of cold air.

All traps on house-drains should be ventilated either by pipes carried to the roof or parapet of the house, or by means of charcoal trays. Unless protected in some such way, they are comparatively useless.

Details concerning the ventilation and warming of a house have already been given in Chapter IV., and the only points which need be repeated are—the importance of constructing a separate extraction flue for each room in the chimney-stack, the desirability of inserting ventilating fire-places, and the great advantage of securing that the products of gas-combustion be conveyed by special channels into the outer air.

It is needless to say that the rooms in a well-constructed and healthy house should be spacious, airy, and light. The windows should reach to within a short distance of the ceiling, and should always be made to open. It is preferable to have them glazed with plate glass, to economise heat. No single bedroom should be of less dimensions than 1000 cubic feet, nor should any bedstead be fixed in a recess.