. A treatise on hygiene and public health . vent decomposi-tion, and the production of offensive effluvia. Theoccasional renewal of the compound, when dis-solved, is all the care that is required. The examination of house-pipes and traps.—The regular and systematic inspection of the drain-age arrangements of houses, although a matterof paramount importance in a sanitary point of view, is almost whollyignored. House-drains, even when properly constructed according to thebest possible system, require occasional examination. How much morenecessary is it that house-fittings, as usually constructed
. A treatise on hygiene and public health . vent decomposi-tion, and the production of offensive effluvia. Theoccasional renewal of the compound, when dis-solved, is all the care that is required. The examination of house-pipes and traps.—The regular and systematic inspection of the drain-age arrangements of houses, although a matterof paramount importance in a sanitary point of view, is almost whollyignored. House-drains, even when properly constructed according to thebest possible system, require occasional examination. How much morenecessary is it that house-fittings, as usually constructed, with a multi-tude of defects, should be periodically subjected to a thorough inspection,in order to detect and remedy serious faults, which may otherwise remainunsuspected until serious illness attracts attention to the probable causeof the trouble. Traps may become obstructed, openings designed forventilation get clogged up, and joints may give way and allow the foulsewage matter to exude and pollute the ground under the dwelling. The. Fig. S3.—Urinalfector. disin- SOIL AND WATER. 507 pipes themselves frequently corrode by rust, or by the action of sewer-gas, as has been pointed out by Dr. Fergus, and allow the sewer-gas toescape. Various other defects may exist, unsuspected, unless some meansof examination is resorted to at frequent intervals. Because the house-drains have been well constructed, it is unwise toinfer that they will always remain so. The fact that a drain is water-tight to-day is no guarantee that it will never leak. Considering the per-ishable nature of the materials used in its construction, the liability todisarrangement by accidental circumstances, as, for example, the settle-ment of a foundation-wall, and the frequency with which obstructionsoccur, either by the gradual deposit of matters suspended in the sewage,or by the surreptitious introduction of extraneous substances, it cannot betoo strongly recommended that the drainage of every house be peri
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjecthygiene, bookyear1879
