almost invariably the case, but should have other tanks allotted to them. This might be arranged by paying a small fee to the headman of the village, who could then be held responsible. On returning home from the fields cattle get into the habit of going to the same place at the tank to drink, and if they are diverted a few times they will take kindly to any other tank.

(B) Removal of Filth.

In small villages there is no conservancy whatsoever. In the larger villages a certain portion of ground is taken by the Sanitary Board outside the village. Some of this is screened off for the sexes and trenches dug, after a time the screens are removed elsewhere, the trenches filled and others dug at the new site. In towns Horbury's galvanised iron latrines are placed at certain depôts and kept clean by a gang of sweepers; while Moule's dry earth system is adopted in hospitals and public institutions. Surg.-Lieut.-Col. W. G. King says that in the Madras Presidency "only eleven towns are fairly well supplied with latrines, while in twenty-six others they are at the rate of one for 1,000 to 2,000 people." He also notices a retrograde movement in the cleanliness of private premises and especially privies. Here I may be permitted to give some personal reminiscenses.

During 1881-1883 I was stationed at Bhiwani as assistant engineer on the Rewari-Ferozpur State Railway. I used to visit the house of a wealthy grain merchant whose privy was on the top of his house, and the excreta used to trickle down a 4-inch recess along the face of the outer wall, the drinking water well was less than 40 feet from this wall. Fortunately the well was deep or the whole family would have been poisoned and would have attributed the poisoning to "Kismat" or fate. The interior decoration of the reception room had panels of Jaipur marble with mosaics, the walls were frescoed depicting scenes. from the Epic poem Ramayan, while the ceiling was highly ornate with gaudy colors and gilding. Now Bhiwani being on the edge of the Bikanir desert the wells were chiefly brackish and sweet water was a great desideratum, it so happened that I had been ordered to make a survey of all the sweet water wells. in the neighbourhood for locomotives; the merchant hearing of this came to me and offered a fee of 1,000 rupees if I would find him sweet water. I informed him that officials were not permitted to take fees but that I would give him my advice gratis. Unfortunately the ground proposed was outside his enclosure: meanwhile he had been spending large sums with diviners who lay on their stomachs all night long and pretended to hear the

subterranean rumbling of waters; however, they did not manage to tap the fresh water stratum with their wands. Soon after I left Bhiwani I heard that the merchant purchased the bit of ground suggested, dug a well and to his delight came upon fresh water. What I wish prominently to bring forward is that this man did not keep his premises in a sanitary state, nor did he employ sweepers, nor did he contribute his fair share to the local rates and taxes when he could easily have done so. Yet if an epidemic arose he would be one of the first to raise his voice against the Government of India.

There is one point that sanitary boards might insist upon, and that is that private or public pails containing excreta should be covered with ashes. Every house burns wood or charcoal for cooking food so that plenty of ashes are always available. This sanitary precaution is specially necessary in India, as it is said that the average focal matter per individual is two or three times that produced in England. Sanitary boards might also order the burning by each householder of vegetable refuse instead of throwing it on to the street or alley. In neither case would these reforms cost money, though certain persons would have to be punished before the people learnt to do what is necessary for the public health. Lastly the unions might see that the manure from cattle is not stacked up in each courtyard to rot for ever, but placed on the leeward side beyond the village. If villagers could only be persuaded that night soil when properly mixed with loam, peat, or ashes is of inestimable value in increasing the amount of crops they would soon make voluntary efforts; Surg.-Lieut.-Col. King's advice therefore to municipalities to teach the ryot by cultivating trenched ground is an excellent He also noticed that in the ceded districts and in Madras men of the highest caste would go to the night soil depôts and bargain for manure just as they would bargain for other things in the ordinary bazaars.

one.

(C) Diseases.

The common diseases in India are fever, pneumonia, small-pox, dysentery, diarrhoea, and most important of all, cholera. Everyone gets a dose of fever and sometimes pneumonia during the months of September to November when the cold weather is coming in, the remedies are flannel next the skin, quinine and nourishment. As rich and poor suffer alike I do not see that sanitary boards should be called upon to take this matter up at all, unless they can afford to build fever hospitals, and few `can afford that luxury.

Surg.-Maj. Kartikar in a paper read at the 1891 Congress says, "I say then that for compulsory vaccination to be received

without opposition or disgust by the vast majority of the Indian public in the present state of society, what is absolute necessary to do is to bring a calf to the very door." As this is the opinion of a native gentleman who must understand the feelings of his countrymen, large towns might adopt the novel procedure of sending calves round to each man's door. It is a notorious fact that the mortality from small-pox has enormously decreased since compulsory vaccination was ordered. Moreover, the ravages of this dreadful disease which was one of the curses of the Empire during former dynasties is considerably modified owing to the protecting ægis of the British Raj. Every person visiting India cannot help noticing that the greater number of natives one meets have had some form of small-pox, and therefore compulsory vaccination like Suttee is an irksome necessity. The deaths from diarrhoea and dysentery are due to the contamination of a filthy subsoil and impure water; when these are improved the percentage of deaths will decrease.

We now come to the worst scourge of all-cholera. Most of us who have had to do with an outbreak of cholera in our coolie camps know how difficult it is to get the coolies to burn the infected rags or to take the cholera pills unless we are standing by, and we all get severe reprimands from the Government of India for not keeping off an outbreak which we were powerless to prevent. It is said that cholera is waterborne and is of course due to Koch's cholera bacillus, at any rate in Northern India it is of frequent occurrence in the springtime when the unripe fruit comes in. If village headmen would only give warning in time the first few cases could be nipped in the bud; for cholera spreads very rapidly when it once makes a start.

Before closing it is necessary to say a few words on ventilation. At Bhiwani, which was said to contain 33,000 inhabitants in 1883, I can only remember four decently paved streets 24 ft. in width metalled with kankar. Most of the streets or alleys were 12 to 16 ft. in width and were unmetalled. Bhiwani was also a walled town, so that unless a strong wind was blowing very little air circulated at all. It will take many years teaching to induce even the intelligent Brahmin to believe that 5,000 cubic feet of air per hour constantly changed are required in an oriental climate to live healthily; as to the unsophisticated rustic, he would tell you that he much preferred 5,000 odours from his goats and herds, for do not the shastras tell him that even the presence of a cow is a blessing?

I might have said something on offensive trades, drainage and other sanitary matters, but then we should exceed the limits of village sanitation.

In conclusion, I take the liberty of suggesting to village

unions as follows: After repairing the roads, devote what money you have, first of all to covering in the village wells and supplying iron pumps, and have these wells periodically cleaned say four times a year. Keep the tanks for drinking water separate from those for washing your clothes and persons, and on no account let cattle get into the former. Insist upon excreta being covered by ashes, and vegetable refuse being burnt by each householder as much as possible. By cajolery or giving honorary titles squeeze out as much money as you can from the wealthy members of the community who ought to do something to assist the British Raj which has done so much for them, enabling them to obtain such wealth as they never could have acquired under any other rulers. See that the latrines are on the leeward side of the village, and that the sweepers do the work allotted to them; don't permit offensive trades within the village itself, and lastly, when there is a cholera epidemic don't sit still and say it is Kismat or fate, but at least burn the clothing of the cholera patients. If you do even these few things you will receive the Asis or blessing, not only of posterity but also of your contemporaries, and India will certainly consider you worthy of a place in Swargâ or Paradise.

"Notes upon the Planning of Secondary Schools," by J. OSBORNE SMITH, F.R.I.B. A. (FELLOW.)

THE systematic supply of Secondary Schools, and the development of Endowed Schools during the past thirty years, have encouraged and indeed given great impetus to the production of school buildings of a healthier and more cheerful type than those which they supplanted.

At the request of the Council, I have prepared a few notes upon the conditions which affect the health of the children who are being taught in some of the more recently erected schools.

ASPECT.

Various opinions are held as to the most suitable aspect for class rooms, the influence of sunlight upon the young and tender being so important, no rooms for teaching should have a sunless aspect.

In south-east rooms the early morning sunlight is much appreciated during the colder months of the year, and the

difference between north and south rooms from the point of cheerfulness is most marked.

In situations where it is not possible to secure direct sunlight upon the chief windows of a room, it is often possible to arrange for it to enter otherwise. The less favoured positions can be occupied by the studio, cloak-rooms, laboratory, lavatories, &c. CLASS ROOMS.

The dimensions and proportions of the class rooms vary, but the shape is usually found more convenient the nearer it approaches a square. When the form is oblong the main lighting should be upon one of the longer sides. The height of course varies with the size, but if the means of ventilation are ample the rooms need not be so lofty as they are sometimes made-e.g., 12 feet will be found sufficient from a sanitary point of view, as well as on the score of economy, for class rooms to hold thirty to forty children.

The relative positions of the door and fireplace in relation to the windows, deserve more consideration than is usually given. Waste of space necessarily arises where both door and fireplace are not situated at the end of the room occupied by the teacher. It is not convenient for the fireplace to be in the centre of the end wall; sometimes it may be well placed near the door. The corner of the room on the right hand of the teacher is a position with many advantages.

The fireplace should contain some form of ventilating or warm air producing grate, and fresh air should be brought to it from outside well above the ground, all inlets being short and accessible for cleaning; the air chamber for warming the incoming air ought also, for cleanliness sake, to be readily accessible. In large rooms or where there are two or more external walls, it is sometimes found desirable to supplement the fire by hot water pipes under the windows or along the wall opposite to the teacher. Open fireplaces should not be omitted from schools of this kind, without very full and serious consideration of the means to be employed to warm and ventilate the buildings and especially the class rooms.

ASSEMBLY ROOM OR CENTRAL HALL.

This important room should be near the principal entrance, and have ample means for access-it was a common defect in the earlier schools that only one entrance was arranged. This should be regarded as inadmissible except in very small schools. It is now not unusual for the class rooms to be entered direct from this room; this is done chiefly for reasons of economy, but the plan with a corridor between the hall and the class rooms has

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