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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 :

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These extracts are quoted seriatim as they are given in the report, and may be taken as representing the sanitary condition of the great majority of the other 55 places which were examined and reported on during 1871. But even this gives a very meagre idea of the extent to which this frightful neglect with regard to nuisance-removal prevails throughout the country; for, in addition to the above, 86 other cases of local epidemics, either present or threatening, were brought under the notice of the Health Department of the Local Government Board, into which no personal inquiry could be made, on account of the numerical inadequacy of the inspectorial staff. The same defects would

doubtless have been found to exist in the great majority of these localities, and it is not too much to assume that they prevailed to a greater or less extent in many other places, although the mortuary returns did not direct special attention to them.

Excrement and refuse lying about the narrow streets and back courts, excrement and urine soaking into the soil and oozing into underground cellars and wells, excrement accumulating in enormous cesspools or open. ditches, no provision for excrement-removal;-such phrases as these are repeated so frequently in the reports of the Health Inspectors as to make them appear stereotyped and sensational. And yet they are only bare statements with regard to numerous instances of the grossest sanitary neglect. In many towns, such as Northampton, Guildford, Leicester, and Bridport, built upon porous strata, it was found that the contents of the cesspools drained so freely into the ground, that their removal was either not required at all or at very rare intervals. In others, again, such as Steyning, the cesspools drained into open ditches, or, as at Penzance, overflowed, after a heavy shower, into the gutters.

Merely covering the midden and cesspool, therefore, by no means lessens the dangers attaching to them. One special requisite is that they be lined with cement, or made otherwise water-tight. In Manchester the midden-pits are lined with Rochdale flags embedded in mortar, and have the bottom sloping to an outlet opening into the drain. The ashes and house refuse are introduced either through an opening in the front of the privy seat, by lifting the privy seat when hinged, or through a shoot protected by a gird which sifts them, so that the cinders are retained, to be again used as

fuel.

Ventilation of the pits is secured by providing ventilating flues, which are carried up the walls of the houses to three feet above the eaves, while removal of the contents is effected through holes closed by ledged doors, which open into the passage running behind the row of houses.

With regard to the different plans of the middensystem found in use amongst the poorer classes, Dr. Buchanan and Mr. Radcliffe (see Twelfth Report of Medical Officer to Privy Council) give the following

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(a) The midden-system of old type (in all the old parts of almost all towns).

(b) Middens of large size, and permitting much accumulation, but compulsorily supplied with some means of keeping the contents dry (covers, drains, or both), and for preventing leakage into the earth (Preston, Leeds, Birmingham).

"(c) The same (though smaller), with the addition of special constructions aiming at the effectual covering of excrement by ashes.

"By sloping bottom (Nottingham, Stamford).

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By hinged seats or steps (Manchester, Salford). "By ashpit and shoot (Manchester).

"(d) The same arrangement, with the midden reduced to a mere space under the seat (Hull)."

In the Hull system the ashes are thrown in through a hole in the seat, and the front board of the seat is movable, to enable the scavenger to get at the contents. The slops go into the drains.

Where the midden-system is continued, it is essential that the pit should be small, in order to ensure frequent removal of the contents; that it should be

water-tight, be roofed in, and have a sloping floor; and that it should be well ventilated, and situated at a safe distance from the house. It is not necessary that it be drained, for if the ashes do not keep the excreta dry, the system is a failure. But even when it is carried out with every regard to structural detail and management, the midden-system will always be objectionable, not only on account of the great expense of scavenging, but also because of the annoyance and discomfort necessarily arising from the frequent visitations of the soil-cart.

Particulars with regard to the construction of a cesspool suited for isolated buildings have already been given in the Chapter on Dwelling-houses. In this country, the continuance of the cesspool-system in large towns is condemned, not only on account of the nuisance attending removal, but because the more liquid contents are allowed to drain into the sewers, and are productive of as much pollution in the sewers as waterclosets. On the Continent, however, the system is still carried out on a large scale. The fosses permanentes of Paris, Brussels, and other continental towns, are huge pits, placed generally under the courtyards. They are lined with cement, so as to render them impervious, and are usually ventilated by shafts rising some feet above the roofs of the houses. The contents are removed three or four times during the course of the year by air-tight carts (tonneaux), from which the air is exhausted previous to filling, so that the sewage is forced into them through a hose by atmospheric pressure. The closets in connection with the cesspools are almost invariably in a filthy state, from the habit of standing on the seat, which appears to be prevalent in private houses as well as in public places.

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