THE BEDFORD SEWAGE FARM.

ACCORDING to the report on modes of treating town sewage, by Mr. Robert Rawlinson, C.E., and C. Sewell Read, M.P., which was presented to both Houses of Parliament last session, the town council of Bedford have managed to solve the question of sewage disposal by a yearly outlay of the ratepayers' money amounting to 3717, or 1d. in the pound on the rateable value. The population of Bedford is stated to be 18,000 souls, and its rateable value 65,000l. The council cultivate a sewage farm of 180 a. 3 r. 30 p. at Newnham, which is about a mile from the town. The soil is 'a rich loam with a gravelly subsoil, well adapted for the purpose to which it is devoted, and the surface has been specially laid out for irrigation.' The volume of sewage delivered every twenty-four hours averages 700,000 gallons, inclusive of 300,000 of sub-soil water. It flows by gravitation into a sewage well, and is thence pumped over the land. The profit and loss account for the year 1875 was this in brief:

the communicability of that disorder. The husband that he had had small-pox a few years previously. of the patient was not re-vaccinated, on the ground He, however, took the complaint, whilst a baby who was nursed at the breast after the eruption was fully had of course been vaccinated only a month or two out in the mother has escaped infection. The baby ago. Thus the recent vaccination in the infant at a more tender and susceptible age has proved a stronger protection from the infective power of the disease than a former attack of the disease itself in the more vigorous parent. Both cases are now entirely convalescent. The bedding has been destroyed, the house and clothing disinfected, and Dr. Fox does not apprehend any further spreading of the disease. The Board will, according to the 121st section of the Act, be asked for a small sum as compensation for the articles destroyed by order of the board's officers. Dr. Fox adds that a gradually diminishing general and infant mortality during a sickly season encourages him to believe that good results are following from recent attention to increased ventilation of the sewers.

The

CAMBRIDGE.-Dr. Anningson was only appointed in May 1875, and therefore presents his report for six months only. He begins by describing the position of the town, and its water-supply. He says that many of the houses are supplied by wells only, the water of which is quite unsafe for drinking, but that the water from the waterworks is good, although hard. He gives a brief meteorological table, which shows that the air of Cambridge is rather warmer and moister than the average for all England. The population, excluding collegians, is 26,652, and the number of houses 6,251. There were 470 births and 283 deaths, giving an excess of births over deaths of 187. The annual birth-rate was 304, and the death-rate 17'94 per 1,000 inhabitants. zymotic death-rate was only 2.78, against 4.2 for the fifty large towns of England. The death-rate from all causes was very high in the first two quarters of the year, which accounts for the very low rate in the last half year. An outbreak of typhoid fever broke out rather suddenly, and the first cases were traced to the use of polluted pump water, but in the majority of those that took place afterwards no cause could be ascertained. The mortality was The sanitary 159 per cent. of the known cases. records are imperfect for the year, but there were 208 orders issued for the removal of nuisances. Dr. Anningson inspected 200 houses in the poorer localities, and gives a list. of places which require alteration and amendment. There appears to be one great oversight, viz. that 42 of the bakers are allowed to use pump water, out of a total of 72.

FYLDE.-The population was estimated as being 12,578 in 1875. The births were 386, and the deaths 220 in number, so that the birth-rate was 30.6, and the death-rate 17.4 per 1,000 inhabitants, being 3'3 below the average of all the rural districts. Of the 220 deaths 44 or 20 per cent. occurred amongst children under one year old, or as few as 114 per cent. of the total births. There were 22 deaths from the seven chief zymotic diseases, which included three of typhoid fever. As regards scarlet fever Mr. Walker says that isolation is neglected because parents believe that the children must have it once in their lives. Mr. Walker complains of the cottages as not affording sufficient accommodation, and being in a bad state of repair.

HEXHAM. This rural district embraces nearly 200,000 acres, and contained in 1871 a population of 27,212 persons. Dr. Maclagan says that a very great improvement has taken place during the year in the sanitary condition of the place, owing to the action of the local sanitary authority, although much still remains to be done. There were 953 births registered in 1875, giving a birth-rate of 386 and 596 deaths, which are equal to a death-rate of 219 per 1,000 population. There were 142 deaths under one year of age, or 23.8 per cent. of total deaths and 14'9 per cent. of all the births. The deaths from zymotic diseases were numerous, viz. 22.3 per cent. of the whole number, and 4.88 per 1,000 population. Dr. Maclagan refers at some length to the difficulty in obtaining information respecting the occurrence of infectious diseases, and in preventing the infected from mixing with the healthy. He complains of the want of proper cottages for the poor, and says that he considers it a misfortune that the Artisans' Dwellings Act is not applicable to small towns and villages.

CROYDON.-There were 2,155 births, and 1,362 deaths registered in Croydon during 1875, which, on an estimated population of 66,000, give a birth-rate of 343 and a death-rate of 21.6 per 1,000 persons, which latter is in excess of the average of the preceding ten years, partly in consequence of the outbreak of typhoid, and partly from the very cold weather. As we have referred to Dr. Buchanan's report on the typhoid epidemic elsewhere in this journal, we need not do more than mention it, except to state that it caused ninety deaths, which, with one from smallpox, thirty-eight from scarlet fever, seven from diphtheria, forty-five from whooping-cough, and fifty from diarrhoea, make a total of 213 deaths, or 17 per cent. of the whole, and 3.66 per 1,000 population. There were 313 deaths of childen under one year, being 23 per cent. of the total deaths, and 14′5 per cent. of all the births. Dr. Philpot states that the mortality from respiratory diseases was high, as in most other districts. During the prevalence of the typhoid epidemic, the house-drains and water-closets were flushed with solutions of green copperas and carbolic acid, and the sewers were flushed with strong solutions of carbolic acid or chloride of lime, and printed directions for the prevention of infection were freely distributed. There were 2,018 small houses inspected, 9,689 disinfections of gullies, yards, and courts, and 104 special disinfections of houses.

DUBLIN. Report of analyst. Dr. Cameron states that he analysed 601 samples of food and drink during 1875, that of 425 samples of milk as many as 86, or above 20 per cent. were adulterated; of 76 samples of coffee 9 were adulterated, of 72 specimens of mustard 13 were mixed, and that both the samples of wine were impure, so that more than one-sixth of the whole were adulterated. The tea, cocoa, pepper,

sweets, bread, flour, and sugar were pure. All the samples of milk were mixed with water only, except one, which contained 2 per cent. of cane sugar. The coffee contained a large quantity of chicory and burnt sugar, whilst the mustard was a compound of from 20 to 80 per cent. of rice or wheat flour, with a little cayenne pepper and turmeric. Forty-two persons were prosecuted, and convictions obtained, the penalties amounting to 2317.

ADULTERATED BUTTER.

On December 13, at the Borough Court, Bradford, William Yates Gledhill, butter and provision dealer, Westgate, was charged with selling adulterated butter. The town clerk conducted the prosecution, and Mr. Atkinson was for the defendant. The case was proved by

the chief inspector of nuisances, and it was shown by the analysis of the borough analyst that the butter was adulterated with from 65 to 75 per cent. of foreign fat other than butter. Mr. Atkinson pleaded that the butter was a sample, and that when it was sold the people who bought it were told it was not all butter. The magistrates imposed a penalty of 5., with 12s. costs.

NUISANCE FROM SMOKE.

W. DIXON, Govan Iron Works, was summoned for allowing smoke to issue from a chimney. The hour at which the observations were taken was from 11.52 to 12.52, and the results obtained were 44 minutes black, 14 light, and two minutes no smoke. In defence it was urged that the firm were doing all they could to prevent smoke, and that the excessive quantity emitted on the occasion in question was attributable to the fact that operations were being carried on by which the proprietor hoped to do away with the smoke altogether. A fine of 17. was imposed.-For a similar offence committed, Tod and Higginbotham, M'Neil Street, were mulcted in a penalty of 17. The emission of smoke in the hour during which the officers took their observations was 19 minutes black, 16 light, and 25 no smoke.-Robertson & Co. were charged with permitting smoke to issue from one of their chimneys in John Street. The charge was found proven, but the special circumstances connected with this case induced the magistrate to mitigate the penalty.

BUTTERINE.'

C. THEOBALD, No. 20, Regent Street, Westminster, was summoned for selling to O. Williams, an officer of the Board of Works for the Westminster district, an article not of the quality, nature, and substance demanded by the purchaser. The officer, having asked for a pound of butter, was served, and on then telling the son of the defendant that it was for the purpose of analysis he said it was not butter, but butterine,' which was not sold as the natural production from the cow. Dr. Dupré, the analyst, showed that there was only 10 per cent. of real butter, the other 90 per cent, was composed of the fat of various animals. Defendant said he ought not to be bound by what his boy, only twelve years of age, had said. He had only been in the shop six days, and had purchased the stock of the outgoing tenant, so that he was perfectly innocent of any attempt at fraud, and any fraud lay with his predecessors. Mr. Woolrych, having cautioned the defendant as to his future conduct, recommended the withdrawal of the summons, as the defendant had evidently acted in ignorance.

ANIMAL FAT BUTTER. BURCHELL, grocer, Henry Street, appeared to answer the complaint of one of the officers appointed by the vestry of St. Marylebone to carry out the provisions of the Adulteration Act with selling an article which was not genuine. On November 22 the officer purchased half a pound of butter at the defendant's shop, for which he paid Sd. It was taken to Dr. Whitmore, the public analyst, who found it was not butter at all, but animal fat. It was more wholesome, and was much better than some of the butter that was sold in shops. The defendant said he sold the butter as he received it. Mr. Mansfield said there was no great criminality, but the defendant was responsible,

and he would have to pay a fine of 40s., and 2s. costs.

INADEQUATE STATE OF THE LAW RESPECTING BUTTER.

THE report of the Markets Committee of the Manchester Corporation for the year ending August 31 last, which has been presented, calls attention to a case in which a pastrycook and confectioner was unsuccessfully prosecuted for using unwholesome butter. The stuff seized was found to be putrid by the city analyst, and was condemned by the magistrates, but ultimately had to be restored to the person it was taken from, owing to a flaw in the Public Health Act, 1875, which omits to mention butter and eggs as articles of food which may be dealt with under its provisions. The consequences of this omission must, as the report points out, be serious to public health, as tons of similar stuff to that seized are constantly being sold, and thousands of rotten eggs are imported from France and Germany and sold to the poorer classes. The only remedy open to persons victimized appears to be the county court. It is contemplated to apply for the insertion of some remedy for this state of things in the next local Act the corporation of Manchester may seek.

A BUTCHER FINED 557.

BUTCHERS make large profits and occasionally pay heavy fines. Evans, a butcher, of Wolverhampton, was convicted at Bilston of having meat in his possession in the market described by the medical officer as 'the worst that

had ever come under human observation.' It was urged in defence that a slight error had occurred-' the meat was intended for pigs, but had in mistake been brought to market.' There were eleven joints in all, and the magistrates fined the defendant 57. for each joint, making 55., and costs. The defendant paid the fine, but gave notice of appeal. If he succeeds in getting the conviction quashed, it is to be hoped he will at all events make such arrangements as will prevent the possibility in future of his diseased meat getting mixed up with his wholesome meat and being offered for sale. It is, moreover, far from pleasant to hear of pigs being fed on the worst meat that has ever come under human observation.' It is an error to suppose that, because pigs are not squeamish in diet, they may with safety be fed on garbage. Pork thus fattened can hardly be wholesome food, and diseased meat should therefore be excluded even from the pigsty.

ADULTERATED OATMEAL.

T. PEARKS, a corndealer, of High Street, Kensington, was summoned for selling oatmeal adulterated with an admixture of barley-meal to the extent of 35 per cent. Thomas Lightfoot, one of the inspectors under the Board, proved purchasing a quart of oatmeal of the defendant and paying 5d. for it. In answer to questions, the inspector said barley-meal was sold at 2d. per quart. He never heard of the analyst for Kensington refusing to give certificates in such cases. It was not a test sample. Mr. Thomas, who defended, submitted that the Act should be construed strictly, for, although a salutary one, it worked a hardship upon some people. He said there was not one sample of oatmeal out of a hundred which did not con

The defendant sold it exactly

tain an admixture of barley. in the same state as he bought it. Mr. J. B. Edwards, Mark Lane, who sold the oatmeal, said he had examined many samples of oatmeal since the case had occurred, and was surprised to find so many containing an admixture of barley, but not to the extent of 35 per cent. Looking at a sample produced by the defendant, taken out of the sack from which the other was sold, the witness was of opinion that it was a good sample. It would not be right to have 35 per cent. of barley in oatmeal. He had written to the manufacturer, as witness was as much concerned in clearing up the matter as the defendant, and received a certifijourned the summons for the sample to be analysed at cate stating that he considered it pure. Mr. Bridge ad

Somerset House, on the understanding that there would not be a conviction in the event of the admixture being 15 per cent., and not more.

COMPENSATION RIGHTS OF QUARTERLY TENANTS.

mill Street.

THE Master of the Rolls has had before him the case of Syers v. The Metropolitan Board of Works, which raised a question of some public importance with regard to the compulsory taking of house property for public purposes and the right to compensation of the occupiers. The plaintiff was quarterly tenant of the house No. 56, TurnIt was required for the Metropolitan Street Improvement Act, 1872, and the defendants purchased it of the owner, under the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act. Having thus become owners of the premises, the defendants gave the plaintiff notice to quit, and at the expiration of his tenancy required him to turn out, on the ground that the house was required to be pulled down, whereupon the

plaintiff brought the present action, with the object of having the defendants restrained from pulling down the houses until they should have compensated him for his alleged interest therein. Mr. W. G. Harrison, in support of the motion, contended that the plaintiff had not only a moral right to compensation, but also a legal right, as a party interested in the premises, within the 18th section of the Lands Clauses Act. The Master of the Rolls thought that, roughly speaking, the meaning of the Lands Clauses Act was this-that where lands are required for the purpossession without either paying or securing the value, poses of an undertaking the promoters shall not take

and that where there are several interests in the same without acquiring all. lands the promoters shall not acquire one interest The question was, whether

the plaintiff had any interest in the premises within the meaning of the Act. Legal interest he certainly had not, for his tenancy had been determined legally by notice to quit; neither had he an equitable interest, for the defendants stood in the shoes of his former landlord. It had been suggested that he had a moral interest, on the ground of a sort of duty to renew on the part of his former landlord, because a good landlord generally continued a good tenant; and that, no doubt, was a notion which prevailed, though not in this island, and in the island where it did prevail was enforced, not by the terms of the law, but by other and even more unpleasant means. The plaintiff had, in the events which had happened, no interest whatever in the premises, and he should refuse the motion.

HOW DISEASE IS SPREAD.

A MAN named James Griffin, who keeps a small shop in High Street, Jarrow, was summoned before the Jarrow magistrates, at the instance of the sanitary authority, for exposing his child who was suffering from an infectious. disease, to wit, scarlet fever, on the 24th ult. Dr. Spear, medical officer of health, said the practice of allowing children to go out before they were sufficiently recovered was the most prolific cause of spreading disease. not wish the magistrates to inflict a severe penalty upon the defendant, but simply that he and others should be deterred from doing the like again. On the 24th ult. he

He did

He

visited the defendant's provision shop, and he saw the child in the shop, with its hands on the counter where the food was lying. He ordered defendant to close the shop, as two or three of the family were down with the fever. In a few days he paid another visit to defendant's, when he found the shop open, and another infected child in it. In the case of the first child, the skin was scaling off its hands after having had scarlet fever, and he mentioned the second one to show the carelessness of defendant. ordered the shop to be closed, as defendant had only two rooms-the one in which the family lived and the other the shop. Mr. J. B. Dale: Have you power to make such an order? Dr. Spear: Indirectly I have. Mr. Dale: It is a serious matter to do that. Dr. Spear: It is much more serious to spread disease. Mr. Dale: Yes; but I would like to see where the Act of Parliament gives you power to make such an order. Dr. Spear The law says that infected persons, clothing, or things shall not be exposed in a public place, and the mother who was in attendance upon the children, served in the shop. Mr. Dale expressed his satisfaction at this explanation. Defendant alleged that he had taken every precaution, and had used the usual disinfectants as well as washing the children with carbolic soap. Mr. Dale said it was a very serious matter, and Dr. Spear was only doing his duty in bringing the case before the bench, as infectious diseases were dangerous to the people. This being the first case of the kind, the mitigated penalty of Is. and costs would be inflicted.

:

ANN GALLAGHER was summoned for exposing the clothes of persons suffering from scarlet fever. Griffin had assisted this woman to shift from one house to another, and attributed to that the introduction of fever into his house. The woman, however, seemed to convince the bench that she had not been careless in any way, for they dismissed the case.

ERECTION OF URINALS: IMPORTANT

DECISION.

THE Master of the Rolls has decided the case of Mason v. Wallasey Local Board, an application on the part of the proprietor of an hotel, at New Brighton, for an injunction to restrain the local board from erecting a public convenience opposite the hotel, in accordance with plans recently sanctioned by the board. It was clear on the present evidence that the place was not a proper and convenient one, frequented as it was by crowds of excursionists; whether it was or not was a question for the Court, with or without a jury, to decide, and not for the local board, who ought to be restrained from proceeding with the erection until the question could be tried. The Master of the Rolls remarked that the English are too squeamish about these matters, and that there are few towns on the Continent which are not better provided with accommodation of this sort than London. In order to succeed at the present stage of the case, the plaintiff must show that the local board were exceeding their statutory powers or actuated by some improper motive. He read the 39th section of the Public Health Act, and said that the words 'proper and convenient' were words the import of which was sometimes called 'relative'-in other words, they did not mean absolutely proper and absolutely convenient, but proper and convenient with regard to the requirements of the public. An erection of the kind proposed to be erected might be proper and convenient in Victoria Road, either because that was the best place to erect it in, or because there was no other place to erect it in. It was the duty of the board under the Act to find out, first, what were the requirements of the public, and secondly, a place where those requirements might be most conveniently satisfied. Surely the board, who were a sort of local parliament elected by the inhabitants of the district, had better means of deciding those questions than a judge? In conferring those powers on local boards the Legislature assumed that there would be a bona fide exercise of them, and it was not for the Court to take the decision of these questions upon itself

and paralyse the action of the defendants in the meantime unless there were evidence-which there was not in this case-of improper motives. The evidence on the part of the board was that this erection was imperatively required, and was of a character to satisfy public decency-nay, more, was of a somewhat ornamental character. It had been argued that it would itself create a public nuisance by causing a crowd to assemble in the public thoroughfare; but if it did the police might interfere. All things considered, there was not sufficient ground at the present stage of the case to induce him to grant the injunction, but the defendants must undertake to remove the erection after the trial if the Court should then be of opinion that it ought not to have been erected.

Review.

Swimming, Diving, and Saving Life in Water. By WILLIAM WILSON. Glasgow: Kerr and Richardson. 1876.

THOUGH there is a natural lull in aquatic entertainment in this country during winter, it would be an error to suppose that no swimming was practised. To say nothing of the club members who bathe in the Serpentine daily throughout the winter in all weathers, and whose swimming handicap of 100 yards is advertised to come off at Christmas if not prevented by the ice, we have numerous excellent tepid swimming-baths open-such as the Marylebone, Queen's Road, Endell Street, Chelsea Road, and others. In fact, winter is a period of practice and preparation for the performance and enjoyment of summer.

A clear, concise, and practical handbook of swimming and diving, decidedly supplies a want. Swimming has advanced greatly of late, and many of the best practical exponents of the art are incapable of appreciating, far less explaining, the rationale of its changes, while the varieties of swimming action, though easily indicated to persons familiar with them, require very simple and precise description to be understood by beginners.

Mr. William Wilson, of Glasgow, does not dub himself 'Professor,' as is the fashion with some who are profoundly ignorant of the science, as distinct from the art, of swimming, but he has long been recognised as a most successful swimming instructor; one of his pupils, a younger brother, being at present the swimming champion for Scotland.

Mr.

The instructions contained in this work are evidently cleared of redundancies and simplified by practical experience at the side of the swimming bath, and the illustrations are as clear and practical as the letterpress. Wilson's exposition is especially valuable on a point entirely neglected in most brochures on the subject, viz. the management of the lungs; at pages 29 and 40, on 'regulating the breathing,' and at page 80 on 'inflating for a long stay under water,' he gives hints of value to all interested

in the art.

All

There is one point, however, in which we would advise an addition to Mr. Wilson's work in its next edition. learners will be anxious to know what progress they are making towards perfection, and could gauge their capabilities if supplied with standard tables as to what constitutes first-class performance say, in breast swimming, side swimming, or swimming on the back, for 100 yards, 500 yards, and I mile in dead water. What would be good work for plunging, diving, or weight carrying in water. This last is of great importance in the direction of saving life. Such tables might be supplemented by a register of the best performances on record in each class of natation. In such a register it would be important to state when and where each feat was performed. This will be understood when it is remembered that for racing purposes some of our baths are supposed to represent more than their actual length, thus the Marylebone bath is called 25 yards, but is really a fraction under 73 feet, while the Brixton bath as

sumed to be 50 yards, is we hear, 146 feet only. Some time ago, we read an account of a feat by Mr. Wilson himself in which the sporting reporter announced the fact that Mr. Wilson accomplished the entire length of 'the pond' in which the illustrations took place, in four strokes only: the impression left on the minds of his readers was, if vast, also somewhat vague, as no intimation of the length of the said pond was given.

How strange are the apathy, indolence, and recklessness of men and women who prefer incurring frequent risk from accidents on the water, boating, bathing, and voyaging through life, rather than take the 'six easy lessons' which in most instances suffice for teaching the art of swimming. A burly male passenger in a pleasure boat should be an object of contempt, as increasing the risk for women and children, if a non-swimmer. We trust that before long both men and women over twenty years of age will feel heartily ashamed to confess inability to swim. To all in so humiliating a position, as also to all amateurs of the art, we commend Mr. Wilson's work.

Correspondence.

All communications must bear the signature of the writer, not necessarily for publication.

SEWER VENTILATION.

(To the Editor of the SANITARY RECORD.) SIR,-In reply to Mr. Holland's letter in your issue of the 16th inst. I would say, that the objections to the use of roof-rain-water pipes as sewer ventilators are precisely those which may be urged against the pipe ventilators of private drains, when these are depended upon for a similar purpose; seeing that the roof-pipes, when communicating with the common sewer, do so almost invariably through their connexion with the private drain.

These objections have been noticed in my papers on house-drainage, and to discuss them here would only be to repeat myself. I must, however, say, that a method of sewer ventilation which is based upon the erroneous impression that the escape of compressed air is the one requirement of such ventilation-which is, even for this limited purpose, wholly unreliable-which can from its very nature be applied only in a hap-hazard and unsystematic way, and which is practically quite beyond the inspection and control experience shows to be so necessary, may fairly have the term 'chaotic,' or any other term expressive of error and disorder, applied to it.

Your correspondent insists very properly upon the necessity of preventing stagnation of the liquid sewage; but is it not equally important that stagnation of the air within the sewer should also be avoided? Without free circulation of air there will be spots -man-holes and corners-in which the most deadly gases will collect, even if this condition is not general throughout the whole sewer-system; and these gases will assuredly find their way at some time or other when least expected, and where their effect may be the most disastrous. Imagine, too, the condition of the porous walls of a sewer, alternately wet and dry by the variations in the flow of foul sewage matter, over which no free current of moderately fresh and purifying air can ever pass! It cannot be doubted that the gas generated in, and escaping from, such a sewer, will be in amount enormous; or that it will be at the time of escape in such a state of concentration as, to say the least, is likely to be exceedingly dangerous. It is nothing to say that when the gas is diluted in the open air to the extent of that found in a well ventilated sewer it will be equally harmless; of course if we could command instant and unlimited dilution of all escaping sewer-gas, whenever and wherever such escape should take place, the necessity for any further trouble in the matter would be at an end.

Mr. Holland must have overlooked the second Alkali

Act when he supposes me incorrect in saying that the necessity of dilution of acid gases has been recognised by the Legislature. The Act of 1863 provides for the limitation in quantity of the acid fumes escaping (not produced); that of 1875, in addition to this restriction, which by the same section (section 4) still remains in force, provides that in each cubic foot of air, smoke, or chimney gases escaping from the works into the atmosphere there is not to be contained more than one-fifth of a grain of muriatic acid'—words clearly indicating that dilution of the escaping gas, as well as its limitation in quantity, is deemed to be necessary; and the same conviction may be seen to run throughout many of Dr. Angus Smith's reports.

JOHN SPEAR.

VENTILATION OF SEWERS.

(To the Editor of the SANITARY RECORD.) SIR,-Though Colonel Alfred S. Jones (letter p. 46) professes his desire to gratify my curiosity by explaining why the connecting of roof-pipes with sewers is 'a chaotic arrangement,' he does not attempt to do so, no doubt because he does not know. It is not uncommon for those who dislike something, they do not exactly know why, to apply to it a term they do not exactly understand, and Col. Jones finds it very difficult to point out any sound objection to the easy and very simple method of conveying part, at least, of sewer gas to the top of dwellings instead of making it all escape at the street level; he therefore cites imaginary evils, such as the liability of the roof-pipes to be obstructed, the passage of air up them prevented by descending water, or by the friction of the air, causing the air of the sewers to be confined. The proposal being to use as ventilators of the sewers as many of the roof-pipes as are not unfavourably situated, and if such are insufficient to allow of the free escape of the sewer air to make as many more openings as are needed, the objection of insufficient openings has no existence, as to be sufficient more must be provided than would be sufficient if all would always be unobstructed; and air-holes in the streets are more liable to be occasionally obstructed by mud than are roof-pipes by leaves, though not so sure to be soon observed and cleared Unless a great many of the pipes and openings are obstructed at the same time, as is scarcely possible, the sewer air will easily make its escape without having to pass through any pipe or opening with such velocity as to meet with appreciable resistance from friction. As to roofpipes, if unobstructed, getting filled by descending water, if Col. Jones can and will calculate the quantity of rain that ever falls upon a roof of ordinary area in proportion to the capacity of the roof pipes with which it is provided, he will find that it is impossible they can ever be running one-tenth full; indeed I should have thought that the most inattentive observer must have seen that they never do so. Roof-pipes never get full unless obstructed, and would not even with tropical rainfall, and many of the roof-pipes are never obstructed at the same time, because their obstruction is very soon discovered and removed.

out.

Lastly, air will escape more freely by a roof-pipe than by a hole of equal area in the top of a sewer, because sewer air is generally somewhat warmer, and therefore lighter, than that in the street. P. H. HOLLAND.

THE AMMONIA PROCESS OF WATER

ANALYSIS.

(To the Editor of the SANITARY RECORD.) SIR,-I should like to help 'Gaudens in Prœlio,' if he is a bona fide inquirer, and is really anxious to become au fait at the ammonia process of water analysis invented by Messrs. Wanklyn, Chapman, and Smith. The contents of his letter lead me, however, to think that he is not very skilled in the process, that he is rather captious, and not very teachable. If he will send me his name, I will present him with a copy of the third edition of my little book on Water Analysis,' as soon as it appears, which will, I think, clear up all the difficulties under which he groans.