Mr. Wynter Blyth, in reply, said with regard to the observations of the president as to whitewashing, taking off wall-papers, &c., that similar precautions were adopted by him. As to the difficulty of using chlorine, he might have rusted the steel and the fire-grates and destroyed the tints of the apartments, but he did not mind that so long as he disinfected the rooms properly. Dr. Saunders had taken exception to the term micro-zöoids, but 'zöoid' was a word very extensively used by all writers on zoology. He rather preferred the term, although it might be open to objection. He had received a paper from Mr. Kingzett, but he had not read it, as he wished whilst making his experiments to remain perfectly unbiassed. Dr. Moore had stated that there would be a non-poisonous disinfectant found; but it had to be found. He did not dispute that the ordinary disinfecting operations do get rid of a large amount of infection, but not all of it. With regard to experiments upon scarlet fever, measles, &c., such experiments were at present not possible.

The meeting then adjourned.

THE RECENT EPIDEMIC AT

KIDDERMINSTER.

PROPOSED REMEDIAL MEASURES.

WITH a view to the remedying of the various sanitary defects found to exist in the town of Kidderminster, both in connection with the sewerage and the water supply, and to carry out the recommendations made by Dr. Parsons, the Local Government Board inspector, as the result of his inquiry into the cause of the recent outbreak of enteric fever, special reports have been prepared and submitted to the Town Council by Mr. Comber, the surveyor, and Mr. E. Pritchard, C. E. Dr. Parsons recommended that the Town Council should, with all practicable speed, procure an additional supply of water, free from all risk of pollution, and as soon as this could be accomplished discontinue the supply from the well at the sewage pumping station; maintain a careful guard against any conditions likely to cause pollution; remove all irregularities in the construction of the sewers, make provision for frequent and adequate flushing, prevent the discharge of heated liquids into the sewers as much as possible, provide openings at about every hundred yards to allow of a free passage of air, the severance of all air connection between housedrains and sewers, the management of the sewage farm so as not to cause a nuisance, the reconstruction of large or defective ashpits on a smaller and more modern scale, the remodelling of the existing by-laws and the consideration of making others for dealing with offensive trades, the construction of a public abattoir and the closing of the more objectionable of the existing slaughter-houses, the replacement of middens so placed or constructed as to be a nuisance with some form of improved dry closet, and the making of arrangements whereby the medical officer could be promptly furnished with notice of deaths from infectious diseases.

The above are among the recommendations made by the Local Government Board inspector, and it will be seen that they involve an almost entire revolution in the sanitary arrangements of a town like Kidderminster, and the expenditure of a vast sum of money. Messrs. Pritchard and Comber also reported on the subject, and recommended the tubing of the well at the pumping station, the construction of another well, with additional pumping power, the covering-in of the existing reservoirs, and the construction of a high-level service reservoir, a constant supply of water, the prohibition of pig-keeping in the populous parts of the borough, the abolition of midden privies, and various matters connected with the flushing and ventilation of the sewers. It was proposed to carry these recommendations into effect by sinking a well through soft red sandstone of 10 feet diameter and 123 feet deep, with a borehole of 18-inch diameter and 377 feet deep,

making a total depth of about 500 feet, erecting machinery capable of raising 1,250 gallons per minute, conveying the water to covered reservoirs, whence it could be distributed in mains as required; by reconstructing the Park Lane sewer, which has in three instances a reverse fall, whilst in two other instances the inclination was not sufficient to allow the heavier matters to pass down freely; by reconstructing such portions of other sewers as are the least satisfactory, applying a system of open ventilation to the sewers throughout the town, and constructing 56 flushing tanks of 1,000 gallons holding capacity each, fitted with a self-acting discharging syphon, in various parts of the town. On February 12 a special meeting of the Town Council was held to take the whole matter into consideration. First came the report of the Drainage and Waterworks Committee, who stated that, after an interview with Mr. Pritchard as to the possibility of some of the more costly items being dispensed with without prejudicing the safety of the town and the health of the inhabitants, they had come to the conclusion that it was absolutely necessary the works advised by him should be carried out without delay. They therefore recommended that application be made at once to the Local Government Board for sanction to borrow 27,000!. for the carrying out of the work recommended; that a site be purchased for a reservoir; that Mr. Pritchard be employed as the solely responsible engineer of the works, at a remuneration of 5 per cent. upon the amount expended; and that an independent clerk of the works be engaged. The report was adopted. The sanitary committee at the same meeting recommended that notice be given to all owners of properties having privies and middens causing a nuisance in any part of the town on or about the level of the Horsefair to convert them into water-closets, and alter dustholes in accordance with a plan deposited in the borough surveyor's office; that all middens connected with privies in the higher parts of the town be filled up to within nine inches of the groundlevel; and that all dustholes be roofed; also that the model by-laws of the Local Government Board respecting cleansing of footways, the regulation of common lodging and slaughter-houses, and with reference to offensive trades, be adopted. These recommendations were all agreed to.

SANITARY MATTERS IN AMERICA.

The

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) THE TENEMENT-HOUSE COMMISSION. In previous letters I have spoken of the Tenement-house Commission created by the State Legislature of New York to investigate and make a report upon the evils attending the tenement-house population. The report has at last been made public. It is estimated by the Commission that there are 26,000 tenements in New York city. death-rate among tenement-house dwellers has risen from 51.11 in 1870 to 56.50 in 1884. This death-rate would be greater if so many cases of sickness were not removed immediately to the charity hospitals, to which institutions the deaths, when they occur, are credited. There is one district known as 'The Bend,' where the mortality of children under five years of age is 65.00. The Commission recommends that this block be cut through, extending from Leonard Street to Pell Street. If this is done, some of the worst tenement-buildings will be removed. They support this recommendation by citing the provisions of the Cowan and Cross Parliamentary Acts for the removal of buildings for sanitary purposes. It is in the rear tenements, of which there are 3,000, in which there is the greatest sickness. These should have additional yardspace, or should be removed.

The chief inspector attached to the Commission was Mr. Frederick Owen, a sanitary engineer, and the author of the supplement on American practice to the reprint of Parkes's Hygiene, made by Wm. Wood & Co. Mr.

too large, as it is impossible that all the sewers can have the same amount of duty to perform. In the present case the 12-inch sewer, which has the greatest duty to perform, never runs more than a quarter full, and it is therefore -evident that it is not too small. It follows, consequently, that a number of the sewers must be too large.' When it is remembered that the system of sewerage is extended to the outlying parts of the district it will be readily imagined that, the population being a good deal scattered, 'long lengths of sewers are frequently to be found in roads where there are no houses,' 'that in many cases during the greater part of the day the sewers are almost dry,' and that 'in many cases there are so few houses connected with the sewer that the greatest flow of water that takes place is not sufficient to force the solid matter along, and in such cases the sewage continues to accumulate until the sewer is artificially flushed.'

All sewers are liable to slight irregularities which matter but little when there is a strong flush of water, but when there is hardly enough water to move the solids along, it is manifest that the slightest irregularity will be of grave importance, as it will often retard the passage of sewage. matter, and sometimes even arrest it until it is forced on again by an extraordinary flush.

Mr. Field considers that this disproportion between the size of the sewer and its work is the principal defect in the system, and he is confirmed in that opinion by the fact that the few sewers which have a constant and appreciable flow of sewage in them are much less offensive than those which have little or no flow.'

The report continues, Many people would consider the fact of the pipes being larger than what is required no fault at all, but I cannot agree with this. Where the quantity of sewage is small, the larger the sewer is the less power the sewage has to force itself along, and vice versa. After making every allowance for future increase of population, there can be no question that smaller pipes would be amply sufficient for many of the sewers, and that they would considerably facilitate the passage of the sewage.'

Another objection taken by Mr. Field was that through various alterations to the manholes the ventilation had been diminished; as he says, 'The greater the extent of ventilation the more thorough will be the dilution and oxydisation of the gases in the sewers, and the less their offensiveness. This was well illustrated by a fact that was observed on several different occasions in the course of my investigation. A ventilator on the top of a manhole would be noticed as emitting an offensive smell, and on removing the manhole cover, so that a much freer ventilation was afforded, the smell would gradually diminish, and, after a time, practically cease. This seems to point to the fact that it would be advantageous to increase the ventilation.' The substance of Mr. Rogers Field's recommendations is that additional effective flushing of the sewers should be resorted to, that structural defects should be remedied, and that the utmost additional means of ventilation should be provided.

It must be gratifying to the Bromley Board to find that their sewage system has come out so well from Mr. Field's very searching investigations, and they, no doubt, will be eager to adopt his suggestions, which are carefully made in detail, and may then rely upon the extinction of those complaints which have been the occasion of their asking for this valuable report.

A NOVEL REMEDY FOR THE DRAINAGE DIFFICULTY.

Ir is probably unwise to speak of a novel remedy. To claim novelty for anything nowadays raises up at once a cloud of eager disputants, who are prepared, if need be, to go back to the Deluge to prove that the remedy in question, or something which they consider to be practically the same thing, has been proposed before. Of course no one can complain of this. Nothing is new in this world. But this eagerness to discredit the assumption

of novelty too often prevents people from fairly considering the proposition before them, whatever it may be. In our case this result may not so surely follow, as we doubt whether many will be ready to dispute our suggestion that this is practically a novel idea. We will let Mr. J. P. Walker, C. E., of Stirling, describe it in the words of his own circular which he has sent to us.

To the Queen and People of Great Britain.

The great object of this paper is to point out to all who take an interest in the matter the sanitary state of this country at present. If the terrible pollution of both water and land now going on is not averted, the only outcome must be desolation and death. A good many years since Baron Liebig predicted that this would take place, and he was in the habit of saying- Those British are ignorant people they rob the land of the best manure, and put it into the rivers-to poison' themselves and their cattle.' Well, that was true then, and is true still, and will only be cured by disseminating information among the inhabitants. Now, to give every reader of this paper a practical idea of how the present sanitary system is carried on, take any town of 10,000 people, divide that number by five, we then get 2,000 families. Now, each family will require 5,950 gallons of water in the week, and all of it becomes liquid sewage-in twelve months 309,400 gallons. The whole of the 2,000 families will pollute every twelve months 615,800,000 gallons, and make it into liquid sewage, and there is little wonder that disease and death are in so many houses.

Now, to get rid of all these difficulties we must take up this pure air system, and then we shall be in a position to do away altogether with traps, cesspools, and common sewers. There will then be no such thing as liquid sewage in any town, nor sewer-gas in any house.

The engraving shows houses for three families; and there may be four or six rooms, each having their bath

room with the usual conveniences. A shows the back wall, B the soil-pipe, and is common to all the closets. The top-end rises above the roof, while the lower end enters the air-tight receiver D at the base of the house, where the water is separated from the manure and passes to the drain. The soil-pipe is also joined to an air-pipe outside the wall, which keeps a continual current of pure air passing down the soil-pipe, and carries every atom of

foul air from the bath rooms. If every house was fitted in this way we should hear no more of sickness from sewer-gas. Now, that every reader of this paper may understand the great value of this invention, I will point out how it works. If we take the same number of families as at first, we find a difference. Each family now requires only 30 gallons of water in the week, and yields 40 lbs. of manure. In twelve months, 1,560 gallons will be used, and a ton of the best manure be secured for the farmer. The 2,000 families will use 3,120,000 gallons of water, and there will not be a pint of liquid sewage to pollute anything, besides leaving 2,000 tons of the best manure. Now, if Town Councils would consult with the landlords and tenant farmers in the locality to work this important system out, it would be a blessing for all, because, in the first place, the towns would get rid altogether of liquid sewage; and, in the second place, the houses of that persistent scourge, sewer-gas, while the farmer would also be enabled to double the value of his farm. The manure for many purposes would require to be slightly dried and sifted, that it might be riddled over the grass field in the month of February of each year, and thus the quantity of grass would be more than doubled.

Not

Now, to show the farmer the great value of this manure, I take one of the experiments made by Baron Liebig and Professor Way for the Royal Agricultural Society, which I know is correct. Twenty parts of land were prepared with undiluted cattle manure, and twenty parts in the same field prepared with household undiluted manure. Both were sown with wheat, and the outcome of the first was 12 per cent. of gluten, while the second gave 35*1, the maximum of gluten showing how the land has been robbed for many years. People say the farmers cannot live. likely they can, if they are always taking out of the land, and never putting anything into it; and I should say they don't deserve to live. Now, if this important scheme was put into operation in every town on the banks of rivers, in six months they would be clean. Every town can do its own work; all that is required is a large diagram, so that the people may understand the matter, and a plan or model of the receiver and pipes. And, last of all, we would desire that our most Gracious Sovereign would appoint one of her exalted councillors-a man of few words, strong mind, and great moral courage-and give him the same power that Moses had to prevent every one from defiling the water. There must be no compromise. Every house or houses must be fitted up according to plan, that this abomination may be swept off the earth. [We have thought that it might interest some to have the proposition placed before them. Our readers will not require us to point to the serious objections that there are to this suggestion, and an enthusiast like Mr. Walker is, we are afraid, beyond the reach of argument. It is, at any rate, a gratifying sign that an appreciation of the drainage difficulty should be spreading among people who have apparently but little technical knowledge upon the subject.- ED. S.R.]

A NEW MILITARY HOSPITAL. THE military authorities have exhibited during the past month, at the Horse Guards, a well-made model and plans of a large military hospital for one of our stations in a hot climate, the exact locality, for prudential reasons, being for the moment withheld from the general public. It will be sufficient, however, to state that the site is a small peninsula, the principal stretches of water running east and west, overlooking on one side a harbour, which in itself constantly affords an ever-changing and interesting view, and further picturesqueness will be gained by planting a variety of shrubs in the long central avenue of the grounds. The special requirements of the uneven site have been carefully studied and successfully met by the designers, Major-General Sir Andrew Clarke, of the Royal Engineers, and Mr. E. Ingress Bell, an architect of repute.

Beginning from the mainland from the east we find ample accommodation for the medical officers, and detached buildings assigned as follows: 'separation wards' for infectious cases, or those whom it is often for a variety of reasons desirable to withdraw from the general number, Prisoners,' 'Medical Staff Corps,' and 'Administration' i.e. kitchens, stores, laboratory, &c. A covered way on the north of the main avenue affords a convenient method of reaching the blocks of wards, and at the same time shuts off the mortuary and various depressing surroundings.

The wards, nine in number, are circular in shape, 66 feet in diameter, about 21 feet high, and So feet apart; each will contain twenty-six patients, making 300 in all, including the accommodation provided in the previously mentioned buildings. The liberal allowance of 2,600 cubic feet of air will thus be allowed to each patient, and we may mention that hitherto the minimum amount for hot climates has been fixed at 1,500 feet. The advantage of a circular ward is apparent when the ventilation is considered, as the vitiated air is drawn in a direct longitudinal direction from the bed to the centre of the building, there collected and carried up through a shaft about 6 feet in diameter in the dome, worked by a fan-extractor, whereas in a rectangular ward the air is drawn more or less diagonally across the room, and the exhalations from one patient may pass disagreeably close to or even directly across the bed of another.

Further advantages are claimed for the circular plan, as the circle encloses a larger area and cube than any figure of equal perimeter, and therefore will, with a given length of walling, accommodate the greatest number of patients, as the whole length of the enclosing wall, with the exception, of course, of the actual door openings, can be allotted to beds, whereas in a rectangular ward the two longer sides only are capable of such appropriation. The important question of aspect also can be more readily considered, and the exigencies of a site are more easily met, to say nothing of the larger amount of light and air between the wards themselves, thus conducing to the better ventilation of the entire space. In addition to the points mentioned, the full diameter of the ward may be exposed to, or defended from, any desirable or undesirable quarter of the compass, as the varying circumstances of the season or hour may dictate. We are inclined to agree, then, with the conclusion that the circular form is, in short, the logical result of attempts which have from time to time been made to improve the sanitary condition of wards of the ordinary construction by rounding off their internal angles. By degrees the quadrants have been struck with ever-increasing radii, and this proceeding strengthens the view that the ultimate solution of the problem lies in the adoption of the circular form. Bearing in mind the heat of the climate, various means have been considered to render the place comparatively cool when necessary, and with this view a fountain is placed in the centre of each ward under a suitable canopy, which cannot fail to be effective in appearance. The beds can be wheeled out into the verandah, which is formed by the arcade, and this arcade serves also to cut off the direct rays of the sun, no slight consideration. There is a storey or 'Baracca' above, on the principle of the Italian Belvedere' (for which Oriental precedent can be found before the Christian era); in times of emergency double the normal accommodation could be thus provided; and although this temporary space would not perhaps, be so sanitarily perfect as the lower half, the addition would doubtless at times be welcome. An instance of a sudden demand upon hospital resources may be noted at the present time in Egypt, where the total of sick and wounded in the British force is 500, including fo y cases of sunstroke and other effects of excessive heat and exhaustion; the bise hospital providing accommodation for only 140 patients, the auxiliary hospital on Quarantine Island has been enlarged so as to hold another hundred beds, and in order to relieve the pressure on the medical department