shovel quickly, thus spreading the earth from the container over the fæcal matter in the pail.

66

Figs. 5 and 5a show Moule's recent "chucker action closet, by which the contents of the pail are covered by a simple mechanical contrivance which casts forward a measured quantity of earth. IA" is the reservoir for earth. "B" indicates the earth. C" is a piece of metal called the " chucker," which comes forward smartly on the user rising from the seat, which movement sweeps the earth off the tray.

Fig. 3. "Pull-out" Earth Closet.

Properly used and attended to, there is much to be said in favour of a dry earth-closet instead of a midden for a cottage or house in a rural district, unconnected with a sewerage system, where even a small garden is available, if the pail is emptied daily, or two or three times weekly, and the contents applied thereto; and provided the closet is not under the same roof as the dwelling, unless cut off from it by a passage with a through current of air.

A tight-fitting lid (not wooden) should be part of every pail if the hygienic side of the question is studied.

It has been considered by authorities on the subject that the contents of the pails should be buried daily, even shallowly; and if applied with care, and the ground cultivated, this method can be productive of nothing but good.

Antiseptics must not, however, be mixed therewith, as such admixture would destroy its fertilising properties and render the ground sterile, besides killing the microbes in the upper layers of the soil which do the work of purifying.

It is interesting to note in this connection that the bacteria in the top layers of the soil play an all-important part in the process of decomposition, which brings about the decay of

vegetable matter, whereby it becomes suitable for plant food, thus aiding the growth of vegetation for another year.

The Addition of "Living" Earth.

Certain earth, if applied to the excretal matter in the pails, possesses high purifying" value.

66

To ensure this the earth should be slightly moist, and taken from the first few inches of the soil, because it is these top layers which teem with innumerable forms of microscopic life, some of which bring about a process of nitrification, by feeding upon the organic matter in the night soil, and rendering it fit for plant food by reducing it to an inorganic state.

When the pails are emptied, for the same reason, their contents should only be placed just below the surface of the soil to allow the nitrifying organisms the fullest scope for their activity. It is considered that these bacteria gradually decrease in numbers the deeper from the surface, until, after a depth of about four feet, they are practically non-existent.

(This fact accounts for the possible dangers due to the presence of any disease-producing germs in the liquids escaping from a leaky cesspool, for instance, and percolating into some underground source of water supply.)

We shall notice, when dealing with the action of bacteria

Fig. 5. Moule's "Chucker" Action Closet.

in septic tanks,* the work of this class of organism. Let it suffice to add here that the earth provided for the containers in the closets should be well aerated and not too moist.

Not infrequently ashes, and other dry house refuse, are added to the contents of the pails. Though this may be useful for the purpose of absorbing any moisture, the effective value of either, for the purpose of "purification," is scarcely worth considering, because, in the case of the former, for instance, the action of heat upon the ashes has rendered them sterile, or dead," and, as a result, the active bacterial life is absent. Again, the absorption of the moisture, which is

* See p. 63.

chiefly urine, reduces the manurial value of the fæces to a very large extent.

In every case the ventilator of the closet should be screened off from flies and the lid of the pail kept tightly closed. because they are fæcal-feeding insects and may convey the specific germs of disease, especially typhoid fever. When it is realised that one fly can carry 100,000 organisms on its six legs, the importance of taking these

precautions can be appreciated, especially if we consider the predilection of flies for walking over butter, meat, jam, and other articles of food.

It is a good thing to place a little petroleum in the pail, or to mix it with the earth in the container.

It must be remarked that, from a sanitary point of view, the dry earth or pail-closet system is most unsuitable for towns.

Conversion of Middens to Dry Earth-Closets.

Properly done, this change can be most satisfactorily effected. The seat and floor having been removed, the 、 midden-pit should be cleaned out, the excretal matter which it contains, and which will possibly be found in a semi-liquid condition, carefully removed and applied to land, for which, it need scarcely be remarked, it is an excellent manure.

A quantity of good disinfectant should then be poured into the pit. It should afterwards be filled in with good earth, well rammed. After settling, a floor of concrete, or good hard paving stone, can be laid, with a slight fall to the door.

A wooden seat, arranged for the front or back to be removed, or hinged to fall down, to permit the easy removal

of a moveable pail for the purpose of emptying, should complete the work. An ordinary galvanised iron pail or bucket can be used for any of the previously described mechanical or other class of dry earth-closets. Preferably a tight-fitting lid should be made for it.

The pail should be placed under the seat, and should be removed for emptying daily, or at least twice weekly. The contents ought to be dug into land or a garden, one of moderate size being capable of receiving the same without unpleasantness to the occupants of adjacent houses.

It is preferable to apply dry earth to the pail after each usage, and various kinds of pail-closets constructed for this purpose are described elsewhere.*

Disposal of Slop Waters.

Where a dry earth-closet is in use slops and house waste waters ought not to be emptied into the pail, but should be conveyed away from the house and its precincts, either through agricultural drain-pipes with open joints placed underground, which will permit of the liquid percolating into the surrounding earth, or through drain-pipes with properlymade Portland cement joints, whence it is allowed to pass into the earth some distance away, or into an underground storage tank, to be pumped up as needed for garden watering, etc.

Slop-Closets.

In cases where it is difficult to supply water for flushing a closet pan or economy is sought, and the premises are situate in such a position that the arrangement is allowable, the slop water-closet is useful, and can be connected up to a cesspool by drain-pipes.

Figs. 6 and 6a illustrate plan and section of Duckett's automatic slop water-closet, the water for which is supplied from a sink waste. This waste water is discharged into a moveable receptacle, or "tipper," so poised that when full its contents are discharged into the closet basin. A useful flush for the tipper to hold is three gallons.

House slops can also be separately collected in such a tank as Field's, which is a self-acting flush tank. The outlet must be connected with open-joint drain-pipes, laid under garden land, and by flowing out of the joints into the soil the liquid feeds the vegetation. When full the sudden discharge of the tank sends the liquid quickly along the pipes.

* See p. 8.