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Fig. 24. Seta of Chatogaster vermicularis.

Fig. 25. Seta of Ctenodrilus pardalis.

N.B.-The figures are enlarged to different scales; the setæ are very highly magnified.

VI. ON THE APPLICATION OF SEWAGE TO

THE SOIL.

By nature man is improvident; in the midst of plenty he is wasteful and inconsiderate; and it is perhaps one of the chief blessings of civilization, that it brings with it conditions calculated to reform this defect in his character.

Where food is plentiful, and the surface of the earth thinly populated, men think little of economy in regard to the products of the soil, and rarely reflect upon the necessity of providing either for their own future wants or for those of their posterity. But in those countries where the land is valuable, the population crowded, and where men are dependent for the supply of their wants upon the industry and productions of neighbouring states, their sense of foresight is quickened, and they cease to think of to-day only, and seek to penetrate into and provide for the future.

In our last number we drew attention to a movement which has for its object the provision of improved dwellings for the artisan class in our large towns, and we then expressed the view that legislation on that subject is of far greater importance to the well-being of the community, than any enactment in connection with the enfranchisement of the lower classes; and now it becomes our duty prominently to direct attention to another national reform which will, we feel confident, be regarded at no very distant period, as equalling if not exceeding in importance either of those to which reference has been made; namely, the utilization of sewage, especially in our large towns.

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Our readers little dream how wide and numerous are the ramifications of this question. The successful execution of the scheme will save innumerable lives, will conduce to the comfort, add to the means of support, and cheapen the food of the poorest as well as of the richer classes.

Without such a reform, our cities would soon become (what portions of them are already) centres of pestilence; meat and bread would be enhanced in value even more rapidly than they are at present; waste lands would remain waste lands for ever, and whilst we should neglect, as now, the most useful fertilizing agent that we possess, casting it into the sea as an alternative to prevent its polluting our rivers and destroying the valuable stores of fish which

* “The Artizans' and Labourers' Dwellings Bill:" Quarterly Journal of Science,’ No. xiii.,

p.

215.

they contain, we should still be obliged to import at an enormous cost similar materials from foreign lands, which are becoming rapidly exhausted by the constant drain upon them. Certain principles are now well established with respect to this great question, and these may be enumerated as follows:

First, in regard to its sanitary aspect. The present system of disposing of the refuse of our large towns by removing it in a dry (or we should rather say, moist) and solid condition is unhealthy and difficult, and with an increasing population it will become more so from year to year.

Great care will be necessary in effecting the change from the "dry" to the "wet" system, for it has been shown beyond a doubt, that the larger the amount of fæcal matter discharged into the sewers, the greater will be the difficulty in preventing the escape of noxious gases; and it was recently shown by an opponent of the new system, that an imperfect construction of the water-closet or of its connection with the sewers, might even lead to the pollution of the drinking-water supplied to families through the suction or passage of gases from one set of pipes to the other.

To obviate these difficulties two conditions are necessary; carefully constructed appliances for receiving, carrying away, and storing (when not required for immediate use) the sewage to be utilized, and a large and constant water-supply. It would be wasting our own time and that of our readers, to discuss the various minor objections which have been raised against the new system, either by persons interested in some patent, or by those who have hobbies of their own to ride. The fiat has gone forth, that the old system of defecation shall cease; it is troublesome, noisome, degrading (very degrading to those labourers who are employed upon it), and barbarous; and it kills its hundreds annually in our large towns.

Just as we have plainly stated the sanitary difficulties as well as the advantages of the new system, so we will now, with equal frankness, detail its commercial and economic benefits and refer likewise to its difficulties. The immediate and undeniable advantages which have already arisen, and will continue to result from the application of sewage to the soil are, the recovery of waste lands and an increase in the area of pasture land, and with it a larger supply of meat, butter, and cheese. To these advantages we see at present no limit even in Great Britain. It is merely a question of steam-power and iron-piping-and there is not a sandy common, foreshore, or plain, which may not be converted into a smiling meadow, yielding repeated crops of succulent grasses for the nourishment of innumerable herds of cattle.

Of this fact there are proofs enough in the operations which have already been carried on for a century on the Craigentinny

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