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ililBilii® HEALTH PRIMERS. 
No. 3. HEALTH PRIMERS. 
EDITORS. 
J. LANGDON DOWN, M. D., F. R. C. P. 
HENRY POWER, M. B., F. R. C. S. 
J. MORTIMER-GRANVILLE, M. D. 
JOHN TWEEDY, F. R. C. S. 
G. W. BALFOUR, M. D., St. And., F. R. C. P. Edin. 
J. CRICHTON-BROWNE, M. D., Edin., F. R. S. Edin. 
SIDNEY COUPLAND, M.D., Lond., M. R.C.P. 
JOHN CURNOW, M. D., Lond., F. R. C. P. 
J. LANGDON DOWN, M.D., Lond., F. R. C. P. 
TILBURY FOX, M. D., Lond., F. R. C. P. 
J. MORTIMER-GRANVILLE, M. D., St. And., F. G. S., F. S. S. 
W. S. GREENFIELD, M. D., Lond., M. R. C. P. 
C. W. HEATON, F.C.S., F.I.C. 
HARRY LEACH, M. R. C. P. 
G. V. POORE, M. D., Lond., F. R. C. P. 
HENRY POWER, M. B., Lond., F. R. C. S. 
W. L. PURVES, M. D., Edin., M. R. C. S. 
J. NETTEN RADCLIFFE, Ex-Pres. Epidl. Soc., etc. 
C. H. RALFE, M. A., M. D., Cantab., F. R.C. P. 
S. RINGER, M.D., Lond., F. R.C. P. 
JOHN TWEEDY, F.R.C.S.. 
JOHN WILLIAMS, M. D., Lond., M. R. C. P. 
CONTRIBUTORS TO THE SERIES. HEALTH PRIMERS. 
THE HOUSE 
AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
NEW YORK: 
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 
549 & 551 BROADWAY. 
1879. CONTENTS. 
PAGE 
Introduction 5 
Soil, Situation, and Construction 17 
Drainage 25 
Water Supply 33 
Ventilation .42 
Closets, Urinals, Slop-water, Dust-bins, Scullery, 
and Sinks 50 
Warming and Lighting, Paint and Paper .... 72 
Bedrooms, Nursery, Laundry, Kitchen, Larder . . 75 
Disinfectants, Antiseptics, Infectious and Conta- 
gious Diseases 79 
Summary and General Application 82 
Note 85 THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS 
INTRODUCTION. 
The prevention of disease and the maintenance of 
health are now subjects with which most of us are 
becoming more or less familiar. During the past ten or 
fifteen years, a great many facts have been discovered 
and demonstrated, all of which go to prove that what the 
late Dr. Parkes fitly terms "personal care of health" 
will result in the exclusion from our houses of many 
diseases that now cause a large amount of mortality, 
and a still larger amount of misery, among the teem- 
ing population of the towns, as well as among the 
more scattered inhabitants in the rural districts of the 
kingdom. Diarrhoea, cholera, typhoid fever, dysentery, 
diphtheria, and, in a great degree, consumption, are all 
diseases of the preventable class. Small-pox, scarlet-fever, 
erysipelas, and typhus-fever belong to the contagious or 
infectious groups of diseases, and their disastrous effects 
may be much modified, even if the spread of the malady 6 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
cannot be altogether arrested, by intelligent administration 
in our own homes. Coughs, colds, bronchitis, inflamma- 
tion of the lungs and their membranes, and rheumatism 
may be classed for the purposes of these notes under 
one head, for they are mostly due to the action of 
draughts, damp air, wet clothes, and damp dwelling-places. 
We have these three groups of diseases, the eminently 
preventable, the contagious or infectious, and the catarrhal 
group. We may safely say that all these diseases are 
avoidable, though not in the same degree. But there 
can be no doubt of the fact that all are directly and 
distinctly influenced by the house and its surroundings, 
whether the house be a palace, a mansion, a cottage, or a 
hut, and whether it be built in South Kensington or in 
Whitechapel, on Blackheath or the Essex marshes, on 
the breezy highlands of Dartmoor or by the waterside 
of the Thames, the Clyde or the Mersey. The conditions 
of existence may be dissimilar in many respects, and the 
extreme conditions very wide apart indeed. But it will 
be our endeavour to show that the principles which 
govern health are the same whether the house be a 
mansion or a hovel, and we believe that the application 
of these principles is, comparatively speaking, as simple 
in the one case as in the other. 
But there is great variety in houses and their surround- 
ings, and in the hygienic conditions of existence. Air, THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
7 
water, light, heat, soil, and situation are all concerned 
in the matter, not to speak of personal care of health 
(which in this book will not be specially referred to). 
Let us begin at the beginning. It maybe said with some 
show of reason that it is absurd to talk to, or to write 
for, a man as to his house and its surroundings who lives 
in a tumbledown cottage at the outskirts of a low-lying 
village, or occupies a tenement among the foul courts 
and alleys that still exist in parts of London and many of 
our populous provincial towns. Dirt and disease usually 
accompany each other, and under some circumstances the 
extinction of the one, and the diminution of the other, is 
said to be a physical impossibility. If, however, a man's 
house be his castle in any sort of way, he may and can 
accomplish something within, though he may have, in 
cities and towns, little or no control over the surroundings. 
The remarks that immediately follow, therefore, concern 
those only who are compelled to live in crowded streets 
or in rural cottages, and they are succeeded by notes on 
houses and their surroundings applicable to other classes 
of buildings and their inhabitants. 
The air of the living and sleeping rooms can be kept 
comparatively, if not positively, pure by leaving a window 
sash partially open, or adopting the simple recommenda- 
tions recorded on pages 44-48, and by keeping the 
chimney shaft constantly clear, whether there be a fire in 8 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
the grate or not. Water is tolerably plentiful in populous 
neighbourhoods, and there need be no practical difficulty 
in keeping floors clean. They should be washed on a 
dry day, and all the windows, as well as the door, freely 
opened during and after the operation. The expenditure 
of a very few halfpence will buy sufficient limewash to 
coat walls and ceilings at frequent intervals, say, as often 
as every three months. Whether the closet or privy is 
shared with others or not, it will be an advantage to see 
that it is not blocked, that it is flushed regularly, that 
floor and seat are kept clean, that its walls are lime- 
washed at least as often as those of the house within, and 
that, if any window exist, it is kept open as constantly as 
possible. With this, as indeed with all other windows, 
it is a good plan to nail a piece of wood along the top 
edge of the window slanting inwards, so that, when the 
top sash is open, the air from without is directed upwards, 
and so a draught is prevented. The dust-bin is a source 
of nuisance in all thickly populated neighbourhoods. Foul 
smells may, however, be in great measure avoided if 
nothing but ashes are thrown into dust-bins in a town. 
Potato parings, cabbage stalks, and other vegetable refuse 
should be dried under the grate and afterwards burnt. 
It is frequently difficult to secure water fit for cooking 
and drinking purposes, even if the supply be fairly abun- 
dant, because the cisterns, casks, &c., in which the day's THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
9 
supply is collected are very badly built, or very badly 
kept Whether the supply be stored in cistern or butt, 
or any other receptacle, see that it is emptied and 
thoroughly scrubbed at least once a quarter. If it can 
be limewashed at the same time, so much the better. 
Remember the necessity of keeping these water recep- 
tacles covered, so as to prevent, as far as possible, the 
thousand and one impurities that exist in the air of towns 
from finding their way into and polluting the water after 
it has reached the receptacle from the main. If the ne- 
cessity for this suggestion be doubted, take a train from, 
say, Charing Cross to Greenwich, or from Fenchurch 
Street to Blackwall and back, and count on the way up and 
down the number of uncovered, dilapidated, and ruinous 
cisterns and water-butts on either side of the line. Read 
also, and adopt, if practicable, any of the suggestions on 
this subject found in pages 34-37. If the drinking-water 
has any taste or smell, or is at all thick in appearance, boil 
it always before drinking. If a filter be needed, buy two 
pounds of animal charcoal, and clean it by pouring on 
to it some boiling water. Dr. Parkes' cottage filters may 
then be thus prepared. He says:-" Get a common 
earthenware flower-pot, and cover the hole with a bit of 
zinc gauze or • of clean-washed flannel, which requires 
changing from time to time; then put into the pot about 
three inches of gravel, and above that the same amount of 10 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
white sand washed very clean. Four inches of charcoal 
constitute the last layer, and the water should be poured 
in at the top, and be received from the hole at the bottom 
into a large glass bottle. The charcoal will from time to 
time become clogged, and must then be cleaned by heating 
over the fire in a shovel. The sand and gravel should also 
be cleaned or renewed from time to time." This very 
simple and cheap filter, kept in constant use, and the 
boiling of all suspicious water, will render us tolerably 
safe from water-propagated diseases, among which typhoid 
fever, cholera, and dysentery are pre-eminent. 
If the washing must be done at home, great efforts 
should be made to accomplish it when the head of the 
house is away at his business, and the children are at 
school. The work is at all times specially disagreeable 
to those not immediately engaged in it, and the damp air 
resulting from the hanging up of clothes to dry in an in- 
habited room is bad and unhealthy for the occupants 
in every way. London and most other large towns are 
provided with public laundries, and health will best be 
consulted as well as the comfort of the family by making 
use of these establishments, and so keeping the air of 
your rooms dry as well as clean. 
In proportion as rooms are limited in size, so must 
the importance of keeping that space as clear as possi- 
ble be carefully considered. All bed-hangings, curtains, THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
11 
carpets, and clothes occupy spaces that had better be 
filled with air, make the room itself " fusty," and help 
to collect and store up dust and dirt, as well as fleas 
and other still more objectionable insects. Hence, if 
one is compelled to live in a crowded locality, with 
little room-space, health will be best maintained by doing 
with as few hanging things as possible. Iron bedsteads 
and coir or even straw mattresses, with no bed-cur- 
tains and very little carpet, should be used. In fact, the 
bedroom should contain nothing that is not absolutely 
necessary. It should be remembered that, in the matter 
of space, if there are but two rooms, it is better as a rule 
to make a bedroom of the larger, though the reverse is 
generally done. Burn as little gas as possible, and if 
practicable fix a metal tube above the burner to carry off 
the heat, as described on page 48. If instead of gas, a 
paraffin or other kind of oil lamp be used, it should be 
borne in? mind that the commoner kinds of oil, i.e. those 
that smell disagreeably, are not only extravagant but un- 
healthy. On the score of health, as well as of comfort, 
lamps of all kinds should be kept very clean. 
In rural districts, the surroundings of the habitation, 
however humble it may be, have to be considered, as well 
as the house itself. And here it is astonishing how much 
is often done by the occupier (unintentionally, or rather 
carelessly,) to render the immediate-vicinity-of his dwelling- THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
12 
place unwholesome and favourable to the development 
of preventable disease. In how many cases in villages 
and around detached houses is it the prevailing custom 
to throw all slops and refuse immediately outside the 
back door, so that a heap of decomposing organic matter 
and a pool of dirty water collects and remains from one 
year's end to the other ? The children play about, and 
inhale the unwholesome vapours ; the pigs, fowls, ducks, 
and geese take their pickings at leisure, and the doorstep, 
•is a disagreeable, and often a dangerous spot, although, 
by the way, few of those interested appear to be aware of 
the fact. To avoid this evil, a fair-sized tub should be 
provided into which all slop-water should be thrown, and 
when the tub is full, its contents should be scattered 
over the garden, where it will assist fertilisation. Privies 
(see pp. 56-63) should be placed as far from the house 
as possible, to avoid nuisance, and should not, on any 
account, discharge their contents into either stagnant or 
running water. For if the water is stagnant, a nuisance 
is very soon created, and foul smells arise; and if the 
discharge takes place into a running stream, the current 
of which is strong enough to keep the channel clear, the 
water is fouled both at the place of discharge and in its 
course below, and is rendered unfit for drinking purposes 
either by men or animals. Provision should be made for 
the exclusion of wet, and for the entrance of fresh air THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
13 
into the privy-pit during all seasons of the year, also for 
the prevention of soakage from it into the ground ; and the 
contents should be regularly removed at frequent inter- 
vals, and used as suggested. Comfort as well as health 
is promoted by insisting upon habits of cleanliness and 
decency in the use of such places, for their condition in 
many hamlets and about solitary farmhouses is often ex- 
cessively disgusting. Earth closets have been successfully 
adopted in many districts, and if they are carefully super- 
intended and only fine dry earth is chosen, they may be 
confidently recommended. 
The want of water in country districts is still a crying 
evil, and health officers could, if required, furnish informa- 
tion on this point that would appear scarcely credible to 
those who live in towns, and consider an unlimited and 
constant supply of water a matter of course. Many in 
rural districts are dependent solely on small streams in 
the neighbourhood, which dry up in the summer, and 
are in numerous cases fouled by privies, slop-water, or 
other varieties of sewage. The water of ponds is some- 
times used, and many cottages have a shallow well near 
the house, and often at a lower level, so that sewage, 
slop-water, and other refuse soak into it. But, notwith- 
standing this need, little care is taken anywhere to collect 
rain-water systematically, and store it for seasons of 
drought. The roofs of cottages, farm buildings, &c., all 14 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
have some, and frequently a considerable extent of, rain- 
catching area, and, as is well known, rain-water; even if 
somewhat polluted by dirt from the roof, quickly cleans, 
so to speak, by keeping. Two or three large casks, well 
hooped, tarred, and protected from the sun, or, better 
still, an iron or cemented tank, with pipes laid into it from 
roofs in the neighbourhood, would be found an immense 
advantage as well as a saving in districts where the poorer 
inhabitants have in dry summers to depend upon the 
generosity of the squire or the parson, or (as we have 
often seen in the eastern counties) have to buy water for 
washing as well as drinking purposes at the rate of a 
penny a pail! If it is absolutely necessary to keep water 
for any number of hours in the house, do not let it 
remain in the bucket, but keep for the purpose a large 
glazed earthenware jar with a cover, or a covered stone 
jar, and clean it out thoroughly at frequent intervals. It 
is better not to use any sort of metallic pails for drawing 
the water, but to keep to the old wooden bucket, and 
great care should be taken that this bucket is not used 
for any other purpose than that of drawing water from 
the well. 
A large proportion of cottages still exist in this country 
that have no proper basement, but are built simply on the 
ground. As a natural consequence, when damp exists, 
the floorings rot, the walls are often more or less wet and sometimes dripping with water, and ague and diarrhcea, 
rheumatism, &c., are the results. If, therefore, the cottage 
has no proper foundation, use all possible means to obtain 
a clear space between the earth beneath and the flooring 
of the rooms above. If the earth cannot be scooped out 
from below, raise the floor a few inches, and leave openings 
in the walls here and there, so that this space under the 
floor may have free communication with the outer air. 
By adopting this simple plan, the woodwork will be pre- 
served, the house kept dry from beneath, and much sick- 
ness saved. The openings should be protected by some 
sort of grating, and had better be opposite each other. 
But any apertures, however rough, are better than none 
at all, care being exercised to provide against blocking. 
The foregoing remarks are intended only for the 
use of those compelled to live in tenements in towns, 
or in cottages in country districts. And, in such cases, 
it cannot be expected that the tenant will have much 
power or control over the construction of, or arrange- 
ments around, his dwelling-place. But even under these 
circumstances, individual energy and forethought may 
accomplish a great deal. And if, unfortunately, $ case 
of contagious or infectious disease occur, no time must 
be lost in communicating with the nearest doctor, who 
will doubtless advise isolation or the removal of the patient 
to an hospital. When this has been done, the assistance 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
15 16 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
of the medical officer of health can be claimed, and will 
be readily afforded, in the way of adopting all possible 
means to prevent the spread of the disease among the 
rest of the family. It is better to be guided by this 
officer entirely, to make him responsible for the neces- 
sary arrangements, and to accept his advice as that of a 
man who is officially deputed to restrict the spread of 
preventable diseases, and who is therefore as much in- 
terested as the master of the house in the successful issue 
of events. 
In the following pages it is proposed to consider 
severally the influences of soil and situation, particulars 
in connexion with construction, drainage, water supply, 
ventilation, closets and urinals, slop-water and dust-bins, 
scullery and sinks, warming and lighting, paint and 
paper, the general arrangements in bedrooms, nursery, 
laundry, kitchen and larder, the use of disinfectants, and 
the means to be adopted with the view of preventing the 
spread of contagious and infectious diseases. THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
17 
CHAPTER I. 
SOIL, SITUATION, AND CONSTRUCTION. 
Soil.-Soil is both an air carrier and a water carrier, 
and it contains a great variety of solid matters. As re- 
gards air, carbonic acid gas is found in all porous soils, 
arising chiefly from the oxidation of organic matter. 
Gases of all kinds will find their way through the soil. 
Houses act as suckers to the ground on which they are 
built, because the air inside is warmer than the external 
atmosphere, and so sewer-gas, coal-gas, and indeed any 
other gaseous matter, may be drawn from the earth 
below into our habitations, and take the place of pure 
air. Foul air from cesspools has been sucked into houses 
from a great distance. The late Dr. Parkes attributed 
to emanations from the soil attacks of cholera, dysentery, 
paroxysmal fevers, typhoid, and various forms of remittent 
fever. 
The amount of surface as well as of so-called ground 
water in the soil is of importance. Nearly all land has a 
current of water flowing under it, at a varying depth, 
and it may be stated broadly that the greater the depth 18 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
of this ground water, the more healthy is the site. But 
as a matter of health, it is of greater consequence to 
attend to the surface water. Surface water collects 
chiefly on clay soils, or is stopped by a clay stratum, and 
rises, causing a moist surface. Enquiries instituted by 
the medical officer of the Privy Council, and conducted 
by Dr. Buchanan, went to prove that the prevalence of 
pulmonary consumption in England is in inverse propor- 
tion to the dryness of the soil. Who shall say after this 
result that consumption is not a preventable disease ? 
In the neighbourhood of towns and cities we have to 
guard against a growing and very serious evil, viz. the 
building of houses on certain kinds of so-called " made 
ground." A great part of London, and a still larger-pro- 
portion of Liverpool, are built on a made soil consisting of 
house sweepings, street sweepings, cinders, the debris of 
graveyards, decomposing vegetables, any and all varieties 
of dust and dirt, most of which contain organic matter 
in large and of course dangerous proportions. This is 
probably the worst kind of soil upon which to build a 
house. 
The sum of the matter as to soils, then, is this. Avoid 
" made ground" always if possible, but if this cannot be 
done, take care that the ground has been " made " at 
least two years, and the longer the better. When it is 
not a question of made ground, endeavour to choose a THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
site with as little tendency to retain-surface water as pos- 
sible, with a deep run of ground-water. These condi- 
tions, of course, indicate an avoidance of all clay soils, 
which are invariably damp and unwholesome, and of 
alluvial soils also, which, though porous, are mostly wet, 
and as a consequence more or less malarious. Gravel, 
the looser limestone formations, chalk, and, in some cases, 
loose sand with permeable sub-soil, are, in a sanitary 
sense, the best soils, and sufficient information on these 
points can be always readily obtainable from the health 
officer of the district. If, as will frequently happen, par- 
ticularly near London, clay cannot be avoided, it is spe- 
cially necessary to insist upon good trenching round the 
house, an impervious drainage system with steep gradients, 
and foundations built up with cement or concrete. 
It must not be forgotten, however, that the best soils 
may be speedily fouled by imperfect drainage. A loose 
brick, careless laying of pipe sewers, insufficient cement- 
ing, and, in fact, any sort of bad workmanship under the 
house, will, in much less time than is generally imagined, 
so foul the surface soil round the house that the ground 
may be aptly compared to a big sponge saturated with 
sewage. It may be remarked as regards the power of 
retaining heat that (according to Schiibler) sand with 
some lime (speaking comparatively) retains the most, and 
fine chalk the least heat. 
19 20 
Situation.-Few of our readers may be in a position 
to choose the situation of their dwelling-place, but some 
hints may be useful, even if all cannot be acted upon. 
In a rural or suburban district it is frequently possible to 
secure a detached house. The slope of a hill is, perhaps, 
the very best situation, with trees in the immediate 
vicinity, but not close up to the house walls. The prin- 
cipal rooms should fgce south and west, or, as the next 
alternative south-east, care being taken that all privies 
and cesspools are placed well away from the house, and 
on a lower level, and that any neighbouring houses built 
above the level of your own do not drain into your 
domain. In semi-detached houses, it is necessary to keep 
an eye on the sanitary arrangements of your neighbour, 
and it will be well if, in such matters, you can arrange to 
work together. As, however, sloping ground cannot be 
always secured, it is advisable that a house built on level 
or comparatively level ground should not, especially if 
low-lying, be situated close to a watercourse of any sort, 
for moist air is, as a matter of course, to be avoided. 
For purposes of health, flat grounds can hardly, under 
any circumstances, be overdrained. It is well to shun 
the close neighbourhood of factories or mills, which even 
in rural districts often, and in many cases unavoidably, 
assist the pollution of the atmosphere as well as of the 
water in their vicinity. Above all things, in choosing a 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
21 
site, ascertain, first of all, that the supply of water is both 
good and abundant, and if you have any doubt on this 
point, apply for information to the health officer of the 
district. In urban districts, particularly those that are 
densely populated, sanitary arrangements with neighbours 
are difficult, if not impracticable. Avoid, under all cir- 
cumstances, houses that are built back to back, and avoid 
unfinished suburbs, because the lighting, paving, drain- 
age, and other matters are usually incomplete, and often 
dangerous. In some towns, the local sanitary authority 
prescribes the width of the street, and in such cases the 
width is usually ordered to be that of the height of the 
houses. This is, however, too little, and there is no 
doubt that it should not be less than nearly double the 
height of the houses in it. Open spaces should, under 
any circumstances, always exist at the back, and it is 
hardly necessary to remark that the shorter continuous 
rows of houses are the better. A garden, whether in 
town or country, is of course always advantageous. We 
may sum up the question of situation by saying: get as 
much air and light as possible, with an abundant supply 
of good water. 
Construction.-The external walls of houses are com- 
paratively seldom built with requisite care, and an old 
enemy, damp, speedily attacks us. If there be an 
opportunity of looking after the building of the house, 22 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
see that the foundations, and some feet beyond them, are 
laid in concrete. The basement story should be isolated 
from the surrounding ground by an open space, and, in 
order to prevent the admission of underground damp, a 
thin outer wall should be built, reaching the ground level, 
and leaving a space between it and the main wall. The 
majority of houses are, as we all know, constructed in 
this country of brick. The porous nature of bricks is 
very great, and Pettenkofer, one of the most distinguished 
German hygienists, has demonstrated the possibility of 
blowing out a candle through a nine-inch brick wall. 
Walls should be built double, with an interspace, 
strengthened occasionally by cross-ties of bricks. This 
will prevent to a great extent the bad results that follow 
from a driving rain, but it is always well to cover the 
outer walls with plaster or slate. It is very important to 
put ventilating bricks at frequent intervals just below the 
level of every floor, so that the joists and other wood- 
work of both floor and ceiling shall be preserved from 
damp rot by continuous ventilation from without. 
Proceeding from below upwards, the drains are of 
course the first consideration, and to these we shall 
presently refer. The style of architecture need not be 
discussed here, but it is necessary to remind the reader 
of the following points: (i) that light (and therefore 
plenty of window space) is essential to health (2) that THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
23 
windows should, for purposes of ventilation as well as 
cheerfulness, reach almost to the top of the room, should 
face the south, south-west, or south-east, and open top 
and bottom; (3) that no sleeping room should exist 
in the basement; (4) that closets should be built one 
above another, against an outer wall, or, better still, in 
a separate wing or tower, connected with the house by a 
vestibule with double doors. These are all important 
points in house construction. But to plan and build in a 
sanitary sense successfully, drainage, water supply, and 
ventilation must be all considered separately and collec- 
tively. The chief error of housebuilding (as of shipbuild- 
ing), even in the present day, consists in the fact, that 
the house is built first, and rendered fit for habitation 
afterwards; that is to say, drains are put in here, ven- 
tilating shafts there, and outlet or inlet pipes anywhere, 
the result being, as a rule, by no means satisfactory. The 
size of bedrooms must of course be governed by circum- 
stances. Make them as large as practicable, but re- 
member that each person should have, for purposes of 
health, at least 500 cubic feet of air, and as much more as 
can be given. A bath-room is a most valuable adjunct, 
especially if it has both hot and cold water supply. Hall 
space is valuable, as assisting ventilation, and the hall 
should have an entrance both at front and back. The 
plan of making the hall, so to speak, the base of a central 24 
shaft, with a skylight opening on the roof, is not always 
advisable, as, although acting as an efficient up-cast as 
far as the ground-floor rooms are concerned, it is apt to 
convey the foul atmosphere from these into the bedrooms 
above, and if the movement of air upwards be very rapid, 
the arrangement is likely to promote draughty ventilation. 
It is a good rule to arrange, as far as practicable, that the 
chimney stacks shall be built in the inner walls, as near 
the centre of the house as possible. And when land is 
not specially valuable, so that kitchens can be placed 
on the ground floor, it is a very good plan to make the 
kitchen, with the adjoining scullery, a distinct offshoot 
from the main building, but communicating directly with 
the dining-room through the housemaid's pantry or 
china closet. The servants' bedrooms may be built over 
this kitchen, and be approached by a distinct staircase. 
Kitchen wings of this sort are frequently found in Jersey 
houses, and are worthy of attention on account of great 
convenience in administration, and the fact that the heat 
of the kitchen and the smell of the food do not affect the 
inmates. The system of placing the kitchen near the 
roof has many recommendations, and its advantages 
in large establishments are undoubtedly great; but the 
adoption of this plan entails a comparatively large staff 
of domestics, and assumes the existence of a servants' 
hall, &c. In the present stage of house architecture and 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
25 
house administration, we are not prepared to recommend 
the removal of kitchens from the basement to the attic 
story. 
CHAPTER II. 
DRAINAGE. 
In choosing a house, it should never be forgotten 
that, as regards much that relates to health, the arrange- 
ments of the substructure are of far greater importance 
than those of the superstructure, and in the former are 
included the drains. In selecting one for occupation, 
begin the inspection of it literally from below upwards, 
and remember that, if the basement is foul from bad 
drainage arrangements, you may as well for all practical 
purposes be living over a cesspool. Many houses, in fact, 
exist at the present day built over cesspools, that are 
discovered only after typhoid fever, diphtheria, or some 
other variety of preventable disease has infested the build- 
ing, and thus frightened the inhabitants into a thorough 
investigation as to the causes of the outbreak. 
In building, take care, as a first principle, that no chief 
drain is allowed to run under the house at all. All out- 
lets from sinks, closets, wash-basins, &c., should be led to 
one or more junctions close to and outside the main wall, 26 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
whether at the front, back, or side of the house. It is 
usually practicable to economise labour and simplify work 
by leading all the pipes outside at one or, at all events, 
two points; but if this cannot be done, a pipe-drain 
should be constructed round two, three, or even four sides 
of the building, so arranged as to have a good fall into 
the main drain, the house drain-pipes being, of course, 
led into it. This arrangement entirely obviates the many 
risks attending the passage of pipes under the house. In 
towns and places that are sewered systematically, the 
main sewer, which is in the hands of the local authorities, 
usually runs under the road in front of the house, and, as 
a natural, but by no means necessary, consequence, the 
main drain of the house generally runs under the house 
from back to front, joining the town sewer at right angles 
in the road. A far better plan is to carry the main sewer 
along the backs of the houses, as, with this arrangement, 
the communications with the houses can be easily made, 
closets, scullery, and other sources from which foul water 
is discharged being, as a rule, in the rear. But inas- 
much as at present this arrangement is the exception 
rather than the rule, the importance of taking the main 
house pipe round instead of under the house is at once 
apparent. 
If, however, as will generally be the case, it is imprac- 
ticable for the occupier either to plan or supervise the THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
27 
drains of the house, he should insist upon having a plan 
of the drains, and take care to become thoroughly ac- 
quainted with its details. The closet, scullery, sink, rain- 
water, bath, and cistern waste pipes will probably be found 
all discharging directly into the main drain which passes 
under the house from back to front, and then opens 
into the main sewer. Commence a process of discon- 
nexion at once, cut the rain-water pipes about eighteen 
inches from the ground, and either bend or prolong 
them so that their contents may fall over a grated and 
trapped opening connected with the main drain. Find 
out also the lower channels of the bath waste, cistern 
waste, scullery and sink pipes, have them led through the 
wall near the ground (if they are not already exposed to 
view), and treat them in precisely the same way; the open 
ends being so arranged that the water, &c. flows out over 
a grating into the main house drain through what is called 
a "gulley trap." No foul air can then enter the house 
through any of these pipes. The soil pipes of the closets, 
however, cannot be disconnected, except in relation to 
the main sewer, as described at page 28. 
Whether in the basement or the upper stories, soil 
pipes should be ventilated by a tube, nearly, if not quite, 
as large in diameter as the soil-pipe itself. This tube 
must be led out just beyond the outer wall, and be sent up 
beyond the roof, terminating in an open end. In many 28 
houses the rain-water pipe has been utilised as a drain- 
ventilator, but this is a bad arrangement: (i) because 
in most cases the upper ends of these pipes open close 
to the eaves of the house, and consequently close to the 
cistern or near one or more of the attic room windows; 
and (2) they are often engaged in carrying off a large 
amount of storm water from the roof at the very time 
when their ventilating services are most required. We 
have placed ventilation before traps, because, in our own 
judgment, the former is of far more consequence than are 
the latter. But traps cannot, and should not, be altogether 
dispensed with, although they are, in most cases, a delu- 
sion and a snare, if not guarded by ventilation. All sink, 
waste, and closet pipes should be trapped outside, beyond 
the point of origin of the ventilator. There are many 
varieties of fairly good traps, the principle of all being to 
prevent the entrance of foul air into the house by inter- 
posing a stratum of water, which, to act efficiently, must 
always be kept at a certain level. It will be readily under- 
stood that the protection afforded by these traps against 
the introduction of sewer gas into the house depends 
entirely on the continuous presence of water in the trap. 
This cannot be always relied upon : for (1) if the closet 
is not used pretty constantly, the water in the trap evapo- 
rates; (2) if improper things are put into the closet, the 
trap becomes a receptacle for them, and then, as a safe- 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
29 
guard against sewer-gas, it is worse than useless; (3) the 
water is sometimes sucked out of the trap; (4) the'bend 
of the trap may become filled with various solid materials 
which accumulate on account of insufficient or imperfect 
flushing. It will be well to consult the medical officer of 
health for the district, or an architect, as to the best form 
of trap for special situations, as new forms are constantly 
being manufactured. Under any circumstances, traps 
should be periodically examined, and therefore should 
be easily accessible, as in many cases they are broken 
by the subsidence of walls, undue pressure, or other 
accidents. 
Two other very important points require special notice. 
The principal house drain should be disconnected from 
the main sewer at some point well beyond the outer 
wall of the house. This is managed by an intercepting 
catchpit and grating, and so the possibility of foul air 
being forced up into the house from the main sewer is 
thus reduced to a minimum. And no rain-water pipe, 
as we have indicated before, should be sent directly into 
any drain. As we have explained above, all pipes from 
the roof should be disconnected near the ground, and 
their contents sent into the sewer over and through 
a gulley trap. It is assumed here that only one set of 
pipes exists in the sewerage system, which system carries 
off storm water, as well as all liquid house refuse. In some 30 
places what is called the " separate system " has been 
adopted, in which the old drains are employed to carry off 
the storm water, pipes of a comparatively small calibre 
being provided for the removal of the sewage. The 
gulley traps and their catchpits should be removed and 
thoroughly cleaned every six or eight weeks, as accumu- 
lations inevitably occur from time to time that cause 
obstructions and so impair efficiency. 
All the arrangements above mentioned can be made by 
any householder without material interference with the 
structure of the building. If, after the alterations sug- 
gested are carried out, sewer-gas or other foul smells are 
detected, a leaky pipe or drain inside the house must in- 
evitably be the cause. And here is seen the importance 
of being familiar with the topography of your drainage 
system, below as well as above the basement. As to the 
pipes below, great carelessness still exists among builders 
and contractors in laying drains at the proper level, filling 
in and stopping neatly and precisely the junctions, and 
providing for possible accidents, as settling of walls, &c., 
by which pipes are frequently broken, their contents soak- 
ing into and fouling the soil months before the accident 
is detected. As to the pipes above the basement, you 
should insist upon having them all, within as well as with- 
out the house, as accessible as possible. Plumbers, as 
the late Dr. Parkes remarks, " try to conceal everything," 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. and in consequence of this principle, when any accident 
occurs, the house is pulled about, and the walls and 
woodwork damaged to a great extent, because no one 
knows or can get at the exact direction of the offending 
pipe. Therefore all these pipes, including their inlets 
and outlets, should be visible, or, if enclosed at all, should 
be cased in with wooden coverings lightly screwed toge- 
ther, and not, as is usually the case, imbedded in plaster 
or cement, or otherwise fixed securely into the main or 
other walls of the building. We have already indicated 
that in numerous cases, even in towns, cesspools still 
exist, and may be found under the basements of many 
old houses. Of course, in the case of isolated houses, 
and in most villages, the cesspool arrangement for drainage 
purposes is the rule. In order, therefore, to make it as 
harmless as possible, the following precautions should be 
taken. The cesspool should be placed as far from the 
house, and as far from the water supply, as practicable. 
It should be securely and solidly built of brick, or con- 
crete, with a thick outer layer of clay puddling. The 
bottom should slope gradually from one side to the other, 
and the cesspool should be divided some way down by a 
wide grating to catch the solid debris. There should be 
a large manhole in the centre of the top, covered with a 
stone or iron slab easily removable, and the cesspool should 
be ventilated by a pipe of wide calibre introduced ver- 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
31 32 
tically just above the level of the overflow. All drains 
that empty into the cesspool should have disconnexions 
as close to the house as possible, so that the cesspool 
cannot under any circumstances ventilate into the house. 
Cesspools, if thus carefully constructed, and examined at 
tolerably frequent intervals, are not dangerous, and if 
placed as they should be, at a remote corner of the garden, 
their contents can with the aid of a pump and hose be 
advantageously expended in fertilising the soil. But if 
not so utilised, the cesspool should be emptied at regular 
intervals of from one to three months, according to its 
capacity, and the number of persons that use it. It must 
be remembered, however, that wherever any regular 
system of drainage exists, the continuance of cesspools is 
entirely inexcusable. 
It is not necessary to remind the reader most emphat- 
ically that a depot of sewage in the immediate vicinity of 
dwelling-houses must result in a certain amount of atmo- 
spheric impurity, and may cause a dangerous fouling of 
the water-supply. The best safety-guard against this latter 
very serious evil is in placing the cesspool as far from the 
well as possible, and on a lower level, taking care that 
its walls are thoroughly impervious, and that no overflow 
occurs. Rain-water pipes, on this as on other accounts, 
should never discharge into cesspools, and indeed nothing 
ought to be put or sent into them but liquid house sewage. 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. Unless this rule is strictly enforced, the cesspool, even 
if the above hints are adopted, will speedily become a 
nuisance and dangerous to health. 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
33 
CHAPTER III. 
WATER SUPPLY. 
Water, next to air, is the chief necessary of life. We 
may even place it before food, because all food is largely 
composed of it, and it is required, too, for personal clean- 
liness, and for the purification of our houses and their 
surroundings. It is therefore eminently advisable that 
we should have not only a bountiful supply of water, 
but that the water should be pure. Sanitary science has, 
at a comparatively recent date, shown us several im 
portant facts in connexion with this subject. It has been 
proved that water is, or can be, a carrier of epidemic 
diseases. The history of cholera, as propagated in this 
country, in India, and elsewhere, shows that it has un- 
doubtedly been conveyed by streams or by the drinking- 
water directly supplied to the inhabitants from one place 
and person to another. And the same kind of propaga- 
tion has been found to occur as regards typhoid fever. 
Epidemics of diarrhoea and dysentery have also been 
traced to the same cause. It is difficult perhaps to 34 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
determine, and still more difficult to explain, whether the 
poison as imbibed was originally solid or gaseous, i.e. 
whether the water has, so to speak, been poisoned from 
the surrounding polluted atmosphere, or whether it con- 
tains actual and active germs of disease. Be this as it 
may, we should all know, and are bound to acknowledge 
as a fact now fully established, that those who secure 
to themselves a pure as well as an abundant supply of 
water, not only provide the means for cleanliness of 
person and of surroundings, as well as for drinking pur- 
poses, but adopt at the same time one of the very best 
means for preventing the rise and progress, in the house- 
hold, of epidemic diseases. 
In discussing the various sources of supply, we naturally 
commence with those that affect large towns. Here the 
water, as the phrase goes, is " laid on " from one or more 
sources, and the householder has practically no control 
over its quality until it reaches his own house. It is 
scarcely within our province in this Primer to give in 
detail the various sources from which water companies 
obtain their supplies, nor have we space to do so. It is 
enough for our purpose to know that water is obtained in 
various parts of the United Kingdom severally from the 
chalk strata, by deep boring, from rivers, lakes, springs, 
and shallow wells, and from the clouds in the form of 
rain. In most cases the water is filtered through sand THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
35 
and fine gravel by the companies before delivery. This 
measure, undoubtedly, has considerable effect in remov- 
ing foreign matters. Let us assume that the reader lives 
in a town the inhabitants of which are supplied with 
water by a company. We must assume also that the 
quantity delivered is sufficient for the wants of the house- 
hold. It is calculated that thirty-five gallons per head per 
day is a liberal allowance for each person, this including 
water for drinking, cooking, and washing purposes, as 
well as that required for baths and the flushing of closets 
and drains. The capacity of the cisterns in many houses 
is now sufficient, if the water be delivered regularly. 
The structure and situation of the cisterns are, however, 
very important. They should be made of slate, concrete, 
or galvanised iron, and on no account of lead, at all 
events when the contents are to be used for drinking pur- 
poses. They should be built against an outer wall, and 
be well protected from the external air, to prevent pollu- 
tion as well as the effects of frost, but should not be in 
the same room with the closet. And it is very important, 
too, that cisterns should be easy of access, both for exa- 
mination and for facility of cleansing. We have seen 
cisterns in good middle-class houses, built into the bath- 
room just over the closet, and so close to the ceiling that 
it was impossible either to look into them, or to manipu- 
late with a brush, or indeed anything else, for cleansing 36 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
purposes. Every house should, when practicable, be 
provided with three cisterns, two being appropriated to 
general domestic purposes, and one reserved exclusively 
for cooking purposes and drinking-water. In many 
houses in London the cistern from which the supply of 
cooking and drinking water is obtained is in the base- 
ment, and supplies also the servants' closet, a most ob- 
jectionable and dangerous arrangement. Water-closets 
should always be supplied from a separate cistern 
serving no other purpose but for their supply, or a flush- 
ing or service-box (so-called) should intervene between 
the cistern, if used for other purposes than the water- 
closet, and the pan of the closet. 
All pipes leading to and from the cistern should be 
arranged so that they can be readily examined, whether 
inside or outside the house. Tinned pipes are far better 
than lead, and it is to be hoped that they will soon be 
generally used. It is desirable, however, that any leaden 
pipes outside or near the outer wall of the house should 
be protected from the heat of the sun, which undoubtedly 
influences the action of water on the metal. An important 
practical proof of this occurred some few years ago at 
Cape Town, when it was proved that the extensive use of 
exposed leaden pipes not only on the houses but in some 
of the mains was coincident with a severe epidemic out- 
break of lead colic, and in some cases of lead palsy, THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
37 
among the inhabitants; when iron pipes were substituted 
in the mains, and the smaller house pipes protected from 
the heat, the epidemic ceased. 
Great care should be taken to see that the overflow 
pipes of the cisterns do not communicate with the drain. 
This communication, however, often exists, and is a fruit 
ful source of mischief, because the pipe frequently acts as 
a ventilator to the drain, and discharges a stream of sewer- 
gas into the house, immediately over the water in the 
cistern, poisoning it, of course, with foul exhalations. 
The overflow pipe should in all cases be sent through the 
outer wall, and should open at once, without any sort of 
connexion, into the external air; if over a grating, so 
much the better. All cisterns in cities and towns should 
be regularly cleaned, and their sides thoroughly scrubbed, 
every three months. But if you unfortunately possess a 
lead cistern, and cannot change it, clean by flushing as 
well as you are able, but scrub as little as possible. 
The above remarks apply, of course, to arrangements 
where the water comes in only at stated intervals, and 
temporary storage by cisterns is absolutely necessary. 
The "constant service" is, however, now adopted in 
many places, and then the water is, so to speak, always 
" on," and storage, therefore, to any extent is not required. 
But the service should be (and, to be successful in a sani- 
tary sense, must be) really a constant service. If the 38 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
pipes are not always charged with water, air of some 
kind or other will collect in them, and air as well as 
water will be delivered, the former often of by no means 
the purest description. This evil is aided by an awkward 
tendency that pipes have, to leak in unexpected places; 
and hence we again urge the importance of having all 
kinds of pipes, throughout their course, as accessible 
as possible. . But do not allow soil pipes, water pipes, 
and gas pipes to be laid in close proximity to each other. 
Numerous instances have occurred in which one has 
leaked into the other, and sewer or coal gas has impreg- 
nated the water, with disastrous results. A case quoted 
by Dr. Buchanan occurred some time ago where, the 
drain being laid in juxtaposition with the water pipe, the 
former leaked into the latter, and the inhabitants of the 
house were systematically, though, of course, unwittingly, 
poisoning their drinking-water with their own sewage. 
If, therefore, under any circumstances (whether the " con- 
stant " or the cistern service is in operation) any " fizzing " 
noise is heard when the tap is turned, look to it. If the 
water delivered is unsavoury in smell, examine the pipes 
for leaks, and if, as is probable, you find one or more 
leaky places, have the evil remedied, and so prevent an 
outbreak of typhoid fever. Although we cannot, per- 
haps, even in towns be entirely independent of water 
storage, it is plain that the constant system, when properly THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
carried out, ought to be encouraged, and will, we hope, 
be soon universally adopted in all places supplied sys- 
tematically with water from a common source. 
Most houses have more than one cistern. But the 
rules above epitomised should apply to all, because the 
experience of householders must teach them that, with 
the exception of very small and particularly well con- 
ducted establishments, it may be difficult practically to 
appropriate any one cistern to drinking-water, expecting 
that thirsty boys, girls, and servants will always avoid 
drinking from taps connected with any particular cistern. 
Treat all your cisterns alike as to situation, cleanliness, 
pipe arrangements, &c., and keep at least one large filter 
constantly full, out of which all drinking-water is to be 
taken. It would be invidious to particularise filters, or to 
name any special variety. There are many kinds, good, 
bad, and indifferent. But in making a choice the follow- 
ing hints will suffice. Charcoal is infinitely the best filter- 
ing and cleansing medium, and animal is much better 
than vegetable charcoal. Animal charcoal is a somewhat 
costly article of commerce, but it is practically inde- 
structible. A filter should therefore be chosen the chief, 
or the sole filtering medium of which is animal charcoal, so 
arranged (either in loose pieces or in a cake) that it can 
be removed for cleansing purposes. The cleansing is 
best performed by subjecting the charcoal to a red heat 
39 40 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
on a shovel over an open fire or in a stove, and this 
operation should be practised on an average at least once 
every six months, according to the purity of the water 
when delivered from the mains. If these precautions are 
taken, and none but filtered water is used for drinking 
purposes, we may consider ourselves fairly safe from 
most, if not all, evils that are likely to accrue from 
drinking unwholesome water. If no kind of efficient 
filter can be procured, water, before drinking, should be 
boiled, unless its purity is beyond suspicion. 
If, however, you are beyond the reach of water com- 
panies, your supplies must necessarily be procured direct 
from a well, a spring, from a river, or from the clouds. 
Surface, i.e. shallow, wells are to be avoided if possible, 
as they are all likely to be contaminated with sewage. 
No well should be used that is near a cesspool, or, if on 
the slope of a hill, below the level of the cesspool. 
Shallow well water is often, of course, easily obtainable, 
in many soils ; but it is far better to dig through all sur- 
face strata, even at the cost of some labour, and take 
water from the lower levels, where it is far less liable to 
contamination. If water be taken from a spring or a 
river, care should be employed to find out whether the 
stream is free from sewage pollution. By far the larger 
proportion of rivers in Great Britain still receive the 
drainage of towns built on their banks, so that, unless the distance between the point at which the supply is 
taken and the town above it is very great, sewage pollu- 
tion to a considerable extent is of course inevitable. 
And comparatively few wells are safe from some sort of 
surface pollution, so that filtering or boiling is, under all 
these circumstances, essential. In some cases rain-water 
only is procurable, and has to be stored with care, and 
used sparingly. The Eastern nations give us excellent 
lessons in the storage of water, and it is astonishing, in 
rural districts in this country, how much good rain-water 
is wasted. A large and well-built tank in every village, 
properly covered and protected, and fed from the roofs 
of the surrounding houses, would, in the absence of any 
other regular supply, as well as in the dry season, save 
a vast amount of suffering, and prevent much disease. 
Rain-water, if properly stored, is the purest kind obtain- 
able, and most houses and cottages can collect a large 
amount from their roofs. Whether tanks, casks, or any 
other receptacles are used, great care, as with cisterns, 
should be exercised, to ensure that they are kept scrupu- 
lously clean, and that arrangements are made for the 
prevention of pollution from without by properly fitted 
covers, &c., and for keeping the walls and bottom per- 
fectly clean. 
It is hardly necessary to remind you that, if any trouble 
exist as to the water supply, the nature of which is not 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
41 42 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
easily and clearly discoverable, you should at once apply 
to the sanitary officers of the district for advice, so that, 
if necessary, an analysis of the water may be made. It 
is useful to know what are the general physical signs of 
a good water. It should be clear, inodorous, and taste- 
less. It should also be colourless and entirely free from 
sediment of any kind. But it need not always be con- 
demned on this score alone, for the presence of rust from 
the tanks or pipes will make water of a muddy red hue, and 
peat will often colour water, although harmlessly. Dr. de 
Chaumont says : " Although too much importance must 
not be given to the physical qualities, we may confidently 
say that a water that is not clear, colourless, tasteless 
(except as above limited), and inodorous, is not a first- 
class water." We recommend these remarks as well 
worthy of close practical application. 
CHAPTER IV. 
Comfort, as well as health, at home is very much 
influenced by the way in which our houses are venti- 
lated. Even in the present day, the finest mansions 
are in this respect often the worst arranged, and there 
are indeed very few houses of any kind the occupants of 
VENTILATION. which have not at some time or other to complain of 
draughts or stuffiness, disagreable heat from gas, or foul 
smells arising from various causes, but all due to the fact 
that the air of the room is not changed sufficiently often, 
because the ventilating arrangements are insufficient. 
The amount of air required for an adult, so that the 
atmosphere may be kept perfectly free from any odour, is 
not less than 3000 cubic feet per hour, and this fact alone 
shows that in crowded localities, or even in good-sized but 
ill-constructed rooms, the problem of proper and effectual 
ventilation is one not readily solved. In the absence of 
all mechanical appliances, the air of a room is changed 
by means of the windows, the chimney, and any chinks 
created by imperfectly fitted doors and sashes. When 
both doors and windows are closed, the only exit for the 
foul air is by means of the chimney; and, under ordinary 
circumstances, if the door and sashes fit well and closely, 
the atmosphere of the room will become proportionately 
impure. This condition of things, of course, is worse in 
the evening, when the burning of gas assists to decrease 
oxygen and increase carbonic acid. But if the houses 
occupied by all classes of society be examined, hundreds 
will be found in Belgravia and Kensington, in Mayfair or 
Bloomsbury and in the City, as well as in the suburbs 
and at the Eastend, with no sort of mechanical aids to 
ventilation. So that, as a matter of fact, the occupants 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
43 44 
of such rooms are only saved from partial suffocation or 
many minor maladies by the faulty fittings of the wood- 
work of their houses. 
If it is your misfortune to occupy a house in which 
aids to ventilation are conspicuous by their absence, 
much may be done to remedy this serious defect without 
pulling the rooms to pieces. The window is, of course, 
the first and simplest aid, and all windows should be 
made to open top and bottom. If possible, keep the top 
sash down a few inches constantly. If the weather is 
cold, and the room small, so that this arrangement 
cannot be borne, fix a piece of wood the exact width of 
the window, and ten inches or a foot wide, into the 
bottom edge, and shut the lower sash down upon it. 
This will at once cause a continuous current of air to 
flow into the room between the sashes, the lower one 
being higher than the upper. A lighted taper held at 
the upper edge of the lower sash will speedily show you 
that this current is almost invariably an intake, indeed 
always an intake unless the air of the room is colder than 
the external atmosphere, a contingency that compara- 
tively seldom happens in this country. Another very 
simple plan is to take out a brick, or to make a slanting 
opening in the wall communicating with the external 
air. If the brick be taken out, a triangular wooden box 
should be inserted in the opening, so as to carry the air 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
45 
from without inwards, in an upward direction. In both 
cases, whether the slanting opening or the box arrange- 
ment be adopted, the air entering upwards will strike the 
ceiling at an obtuse angle, and be sent in a scattered 
stream down into the room, thus avoiding a draught. A 
lid or slide should be provided, so that the opening can 
be closed if the ingress of air is excessive. 
We come next to Arnott's plan of ventilation, which 
is undoubtedly one of the most simple and useful con- 
trivances in general use. An oblong aperture is cut in 
the chimney breast near the ceiling, and one of Arnott's 
ventilators inserted. The ventilator consists of a box 
with a balanced valve, which valve, when the fire is alight, 
opens inwards (i.e. towards the flue), and affords a rapid 
and continuous means of egress for the foul air. When 
there is no fire in the room, it is usual to keep the valve 
permanently open by a cord and weight fitted to the 
apparatus. Many varieties of these valvular ventilators 
have been contrived, some in which the valves are made 
of mica, which is exceedingly light, does not easily corrode, 
and is very sensitive to the action of the wind: Others 
are made with an india-rubber valve, which arrests the 
outside air, but opens automatically to act as an exhaust. 
Rooms may also be ventilated by louvre openings, which 
are usually placed immediately under the cornice, and 
connected with the external air by a fire-brick. Glass 46 
louvres are sometimes substituted for the upper panes of 
the window, and a circular glass ventilator, which can be 
opened and closed at pleasure, has been in vogue for 
several years, and is said to answer exceedingly well. 
These methods may be either on the exhaust or plenum 
plans indifferently, i.e. some may remove the foul air, 
and others introduce a fresh supply. But all are com- 
paratively simple, and can be adopted at little cost. 
Another substitute for the sash ventilating plan is to intro- 
duce into the room one or more so-called Tobin's tubes. 
These tubes pierce the outer walls horizontally about, 
say, waist high, and, in reaching the interior, are diverted 
upwards at a right angle, discharging fresh air into the 
room some two to three feet from the ceiling. The air 
ascends, and is distributed gently and without draught 
over the room. There are many devices for concealing 
the tubes, or giving them an ornamental aspect. 
Perforated bricks of many kinds constitute a simple 
and very useful mode of ventilation. Even in houses 
where any attempt to purify the air of the dwelling and 
sleeping rooms is as yet utterly neglected, these bricks 
are commonly inserted below the floors, to ventilate the 
interspaces, and keep the wood from the influences of 
dry-rot. Perforated iron plates are sometimes used, buf 
the bricks are more sightly, and the effect of rust is 
avoided. One or more of these bricks can be substituted 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
47 
in each room for ordinary bricks, always arranging 
that the openings, wherever made, communicate directly 
with the external air, i.e. are made in an outer wall. 
Whether the tube, brick, or any other scheme be 
adopted, the arrangements should be such as to suit the 
temperature of the summer months, for in colder weather 
a certain proportion of the openings can be always closed 
if necessary. There are many other mechanical modes 
of ventilation, the details of which are all more or less 
complicated. A very effectual system may be seen in 
the new wards of the London Hospital and elsewhere, by 
which the air is introduced from without by means of a 
tube laid under the floor to a point below the grate. 
It is then conducted upwards on both sides of the flue, 
and, having been warmed in its passage, is passed into 
the room through one or more openings near the ceiling. 
Perforated cornices are also occasionally used, fitted with 
a diaphragm, so that one-half of the tube receives cold 
air from without, and distributes it into the room by 
several openings, and the higher section, which has small 
openings throughout its entire length, receives the foul 
air, and discharges it into tubes on each side of the flue, 
whence it is taken to the roof. It should always be 
remembered that gas exercises a very powerful influence 
in rendering the air of a room impure and unwholesome. 
All ordinary gas-burners consume from three to four 48 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
cubic feet of gas per hour, and it is found that one cubic 
foot of gas not only destroys the oxygen of eight cubic 
feet of air in combustion, but produces about two feet of 
carbonic acid, besides other impurities (Wilson's ' Hand- 
book of Hygiene'). No gas-burner, therefore, should 
exist in any room unless a tube of zinc or iron is placed 
over it to carry off the deleterious products of combus- 
tion, and convey them at once in the open air. This 
rule is disregarded in numberless houses belonging to the 
middle and upper classes, and an enormous consumption 
of air, as well as fouling of air by gas-jets, is the inevit- 
able result. The sunlight apparatus now so generally 
used in most large public buildings is supposed to ven- 
tilate as well as to afford light by means of the tube 
arrangement, and a ventilating globe light was invented 
some few years ago for use in dwelling-rooms, the main 
poin. of which is the creation of an exhaust draught as 
soon as the jet is lighted. The foul and heated air is 
carried away by a special tube either up the chimney 
shaft or into the open air. 
We have, of course, assumed in the foregoing remarks 
the existence of a fireplace and chimney in all inhabited 
rooms. For although it is asserted, and, as we believe, 
truly, that from three-fourths to seven-eighths of the heat 
generated by a fire goes up the chimney, and is of course 
wasted for all warming purposes, the time is yet far THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
49 
distant when the Englishman will be content to give up 
his domestic hearth as it has existed for centuries, and 
exists at the present day. The pernicious plan of stop- 
ping up chimneys in the summer still continues, house- 
keepers telling us that a down draught causes dirt. But 
insomuch as chimneys are in most rooms the best and 
simplest ventilators that we possess, they should never be 
closed except in case of fire. 
It is not necessary in this place to describe many 
other modes of ventilation involving fans, cowls, and 
other mechanical contrivances, all of which are as rule 
applicable only to very large buildings. There are, 
however, some few cardinal points in connexion with 
ventilation that must, as first principles, be complied 
with. All rooms should be lighted from the external 
air, i.e. not have a borrowed light. No closet should 
ventilate into an inhabited room, and the tops of the 
windows should be very near to, if not as high as, the 
ceiling. 
It must not be forgotten, in estimating the immense 
importance of pure air, that, of the three chief require- 
ments of human existence, air is the one that must of 
necessity be constantly and continually supplied to us. 
Dr. de Chaumont reminds us that " we may abstain for a 
time from food, if we have reason to believe that its condi- 
tion is objectionable; we may, for a short time, and at the 50 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
cost of greater suffering, abstain from drink of any kind, 
if we have reason to apprehend danger in that direction ; 
but we are bound to breathe the air as we find it, under 
pain of death itself." It is hardly requisite to remind the 
reader that consumption, bronchitis, and other diseases of 
the respiratory organs account for more than one-fourth 
of the total mortality in the United Kingdom, and that 
by far the larger proportion of these deaths are due to 
the habitual respiration of unclean air. The actual and 
comparative success that attends the treatment of the 
sick, and the maintenance of health in all large public 
institutions, whether their inmates be soldiers, sailors, 
convicts, or paupers, has always depended upon the 
means adopted to secure a continuous and sufficient 
supply of pure and wholesome air. Is it not therefore 
worth while, by the adoption of some of the simple plans 
recommended above, to endeavour to stop the spread of 
preventable diseases in our own houses and homes ? 
CHAPTER V. 
CLOSETS-URINALS SLOP-WATER-DUST-BINS SCULLERY 
AND SINKS. 
Water- Closets and other Privies.-There are very few- 
sanitary matters about which architects, even in this nine- THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
teenth century, are more careless than the position and 
arrangements of the water-closets or privies in and about 
a house. It appears still to be the rule as to water-closets 
to put them in any corner more or less out of the way, 
that cannot be utilised for any other purpose, with no 
regard whatever as to the ventilating arrangements. 
Sometimes the situation is disagreeably and inconve- 
niently conspicuous, and in many cases the apartment 
has no independent window, but borrows its light from 
the hall, the staircase, or some other room. - Servants are 
proverbially neglectful as to the cleanliness of these places, 
and the closets in the basement are usually in a chronic 
state of stuffiness, gloom, and dirt. They are often made 
a receptacle for slops and other sorts of debris, solid as 
well as fluid. The consequence is that the pipes are 
frequently out of order, even if well supplied with water, 
inasmuch as, contrary to the apparent opinion of some 
persons, these pipes are elastic in only a very limited 
degree, and decline to permit the passage of glass bottles, 
broken china, worn-out wearing-apparel, &c. 
The situation of the closets, whether they be supplied 
with water, earth, or any other material, is very important. 
Under any circumstances, all closets should be built 
against an outer wall. They should be arranged, if 
possible, in a tower, one above another, distinct from the 
house itself, and communicating with it by a vestibule 
51 THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
52 
guarded with double doors. This vestibule should be 
open on both sides to the external air, and if it and the 
closets can be placed at the corner of the house, and 
jutting out at an angle of forty-five degrees, so much the 
better. The apartment itself should be well lighted by a 
window opposite the seat, and carried up to, or within a 
few inches of, the ceiling. The panes should be either 
louvred or arranged in such a manner that they can be 
kept permanently open. All pipes in connexion with the 
closet should, be easily accessible, i.e. boxed in lightly with 
screw fasteners. As little carpet or thick matting should 
be put on the floor as possible, and the servants should 
be positively forbidden to throw any slops, or, in fact, 
anything, into the pan, as foul smells and clogging of the 
pipes are the speedy and inevitable results. And, besides, 
most houses are usually provided with sinks on the upper 
as well as the lower floors for the reception of slops. But 
these sinks must be made of slate, or glazed earthenware, 
and require strict supervision, or they speedily create a 
nuisance. 
The varieties of water-closet pans and machinery are 
so numerous that it is difficult to describe them, and 
equally difficult to recommend any particular pattern. 
In this, as in other sanitary matters, simplicity should be 
studied, and, according to our experience, the least com- 
plicated forms are the cleanest, last the longest, and THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
comparatively seldom get out of gear. The general 
principle of all closets supplied with water is pretty much 
the same. The essential apparatus consists of a pan, a 
valve set in action by an elevator or a depresser, or both, 
by which water is introduced into the pan, the water with 
the contained excreta, &c., finding their way through a 
trap into the soil pipe below. We must refer the reader, 
for a detailed description of the many kinds now in use, to 
the manufacturers. But in choosing such things, it is well 
to remember that there should be as little metal work of 
any kind about the apparatus as possible, that the trap is a 
usual, but not an indispensable, adjunct, and that there is 
no safety from sewer-gas unless the soil pipe is ventilated 
immediately beyond the trap. There are two descriptions 
of water-closets which may be held to fulfil sanitary condi- 
tions satisfactorily. They are in certain respects somewhat 
similar in construction. One is called the patent valve 
closet and trap. Both parts are made in one piece, but in 
this form the pan has a side outlet through a conical valve 
into the syphon, and thence below into the soil pipe. The 
pan and its adjuncts, including the trap, are all made of 
white glazed stoneware. In the other, which is also 
patented, the water supply at the inlet is regulated in a 
different way. The inventor ignores the trap altogether, 
claiming as an advantage, on the score of simplicity, 
that in fixing this closet not only is no trap of any kind 
53 54 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
required, but plumbing work, wires, or cranks are un- 
necessary. In this last-mentioned form of closet, of 
course, we are compelled to trust to the integrity of a 
stop valve, technically called the "plunger"; but in many 
respects this is the best form of apparatus that we 
have seen, and its efficiency has been tested for many 
months in a large commercial establishment in the City, 
where these closets, almost entirely unventilated, are 
used daily by nearly two hundred persons. With regard 
to the ventilation of the soil pipe and arrangements 
for water, see Chapters on drainage and water supply; 
PP- 25, 33- 
The use of so-called disinfectants and deodorisers in 
water-closets has of late years become a fashion, and has 
been carried to a very ridiculous extent. You cannot 
now go into the closet of any house inhabited by the 
upper or middle class without finding something that is 
supposed to remove all noxious gases and all evil smells. 
Carbolic acid in many forms, chloralum, " sanitas," and 
other substances and liquids, whose name is legion, all 
have their patrons. The practical but very unwholesome 
result of all this is, that people are induced to substitute 
one nasty odour for another, and to think that they have 
thereby made, in a sanitary sense, all things right. The 
household finds the atmosphere intensely nasty, takes no 
heed of, and makes no examination into, any possible THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
55 
obstruction, or any defect of ventilation, but pours into 
the pan a quantity of his favourite deodorant, chlorine, 
carbolic acid, or whatever it may be. But the stink re- 
turns, and if the deodoriser is persisted in without search 
being made for the source of the stink and this source 
removed, typhoid fever, diphtheria, or other zymotic dis- 
ease finds its way into the house. It may be taken as 
a rule, that these powders and liquids, now bought by 
tons, and often uselessly applied, fail to accomplish their 
assumed object, and the wisest plan is to call in an 
architect or medical officer of health, if disease is to be 
prevented that may cost lives, and will certainly result in 
much suffering. 
Water is by far the most convenient vehicle for the 
removal of excreta, but, unfortunately, its application for 
this purpose is limited. There are large centres of popu- 
lation in this kingdom, and extensive areas of country 
where, from the want of any general water supply, or from 
an absolute deficiency of the supply, the water-closet is a 
luxury restricted to the dwellings of the wealthy and well- 
to-do. Moreover there are important districts and centres 
of population where the use of the water-closet is objected 
to mainly on account of the difficulties involved in the 
ultimate disposal of the sewage. In these districts the 
disposal of the excreta forms one of the most difficult and 
troublesome questions of public health; and in a great 56 
proportion this disposal, it must be confessed, is effected 
in a manner which is simply and actually barbarous. 
The common privy of our great manufacturing and 
mining districts, and of our agricultural districts, is, as 
a rule, a relic of the-earlier stages of our civilization, if 
not, indeed, of actual barbarism. Several methods have 
been suggested by which, the water-closet not being 
available, the nuisance of the common privy may be 
avoided, and the disposal of the excreta accomplished 
by methods more consistent with modern requirements. 
These methods are of several sorts, each of which 
has its peculiar merits, and its special adaptability to 
particular wants. It is requisite that a brief description 
of these different methods should be given here, for 
upon the selection of the best sort of privy to be 
adopted, when a water-closet cannot be secured, much 
of the wholesomeness of the house and its precincts will 
depend. 
The different modes of disposal of the excreta other 
than by the water system have been classified as follows: 
the Midden System; the Pail System; the Earth System; 
and the Charcoal System. 
The Midden-Privy.-The midden-privy of old construc- 
tion is the type of all that is bad among privies. It 
consists, as may still be- seen in very many places, of a 
receptacle of large size open to the air, with which the 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
57 
closet communicates, built so as not to prevent leakage 
of its filthy contents into the ground, and often connected 
by a drain with the common sewer. Such construction 
is by no means essential to this form of privy. It is pos- 
sible, indeed, so to construct these privies that nuisance 
from them shall be diminished very largely, if not wholly 
avoided. The following are the conditions to be observed 
where the midden-privy is still had recourse to:-The 
privy should be detached from the house; no part of the 
middenstead should be sunk below the ground ; and 
the latter should be made water-tight, covered in so 
as to exclude rain, but with ample provision for the ad- 
mission of air, undrained, and of small capacity; arrange- 
ments should be made that the ashes and house refuse 
when thrown into the middenstead may fall upon and 
cover the excreta. The last-named condition is effected 
in several ways, of which the plans adopted in Hull and 
Glasgow are the best. The Hull midden-privy has a 
middenstead which consists only of the space beneath 
the privy seat and the floor of the closet. This space is 
sufficient to contain a week's accumulation of the filth of 
a household. The seat takes out to admit of the scavenger 
removing the contents of the middenstead, and being 
fixed on hinges, it can be raised to facilitate the casting 
of the ashes and dry house refuse upon the deposited 
excreta. No slops are thrown into these middensteads, 58 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
and their contents, when ordinary care is adopted, are 
dry, odourless, and inoffensive, the excreta being usually 
completely hidden under the house-refuse and ashes. In 
the Glasgow midden-privy the covering up of the excreta 
is effected in a different way. This form of privy is 
usually adopted for several families, and the size of its 
middenstead is calculated to contain a three-days' accu- 
mulation of filth. The middenstead projects behind the 
closet, and ashes and house-refuse are thrown into it 
through an opening at the side or in the rear. Beneath 
the opening an inclined plane, usually of slate, is so fixed 
as to direct the matters thrown in at the opening upon 
the excreta. This arrangement answers the purpose well 
of covering up and abating nuisance from the excreta. 
In some instances the middensteads of these improved 
privies have been made of a capacity to contain a three- 
months' accumulation of filth, and it is astonishing how 
greatly midden nuisance is diminished by the form of 
construction described, even when the accumulation is 
so large. But, regard being given to the health of the 
persons frequenting a midden privy, it is not desirable 
that the receptacle should contain more than a week's 
filth, and that if it is necessary to make provision for its 
storage until it can be used elsewhere, this should be 
made in a separate receptacle apart from the closet. 
Pail-Closets.-The middenstead of the midden closet THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
59 
described above is a fixed receptacle, but it must be 
obvious how greatly the question of construction is sim- 
plified if for a fixed receptacle a movable one, in the 
form of a pail or box, is substituted. A simple pail of 
wood or iron placed beneath the privy seat for the re- 
ception of the excreta gives great facilities for dealing 
with the contents, and for their removal. Pail-closets 
variously managed are becoming now the most popular 
mode of dealing with the excreta in parts of England 
where water-closets cannot be obtained. Nay more, so 
successful have these pail-closets proved in obviating 
nuisance from the excreta in many towns, that a general 
question of pail-closet or water-closet has arisen, and is 
now being warmly discussed. We have already expressed 
our preference for the water-closet, but we are prepared 
to concede that where the water-closet cannot be had the 
pail-closet may become a very efficient substitute. This 
latter is worked in several different ways. But, first of 
the closet. This consists of the ordinary privy, with a 
flagged floor, and space beneath the seat to receive the 
pail. The pail may be placed there from the front, the 
seat being made movable, ob from the side or the back 
by means of a door constructed there. The seat, as a 
rule, is hinged, and can be raised. In the simplest form 
the pail is used as a movable middenstead, that is to say, 
it receives in addition to the excreta the ashes and house- 60 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
refuse. This is the case at Nottingham. In another 
form the pail receives the excreta, only some common 
deodorant being placed in the pail each time it is emptied, 
the ashes and house-refuse being received in a separate 
receptacle, as at Rochdale and other places. The sepa- 
ration of the ashes and house-refuse in the case of Roch- 
dale and similar cases is effected to facilitate the conver- 
sion of the excreta into a commercial manure. In 
other forms of the pail-closet screened ashes are cast 
into the pail after each use to abate nuisance and to add 
to the manurial value. The screen may be a loose one 
with a box for ashes kept in the closet, or it may be fixed 
so that when used the fine ashes fall from it upon the 
excreta. 
The most elaborate form of pail-closet is now in use 
in Manchester. In this city the pail-closet is being 
rapidly adopted throughout in place of the old midden- 
privy and in preference (with comparatively few excep- 
tions) to the water-closet. Some 50,000 pail-closets have 
already been constructed there and are now in successful 
operation. The arrangement for screening ashes here is 
fixed to the closet and admits of the fine ash falling into 
the excreta pail, and the coarse ash being removed for 
re-burning. The house-refuse is collected in a separate 
pail or box. The pail-closets are for the most part 
cleaned weekly, and an important part of the procedure, THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
61 
where the cleansing is carried out by the sanitary autho- 
rity, is that the pail is washed after each removal of the 
contents. Where' the privy has to be cared for by the 
occupiers the pail-closet affords the greatest facilities for 
dealing with the excreta, especially if there be garden 
ground attached to the house. It is then easy to pro- 
vide a receptacle for the contents of the pail apart from 
the closet, and to prevent nuisance from them by a cover- 
ing of dry earth and the exclusion of wet. 
The Earth-closet and the Charcoal-closet. - These 
methods of dealing with the excreta differ wholly from any 
of the preceding methods described. The action of dry 
and suitable earth upon fresh excrement is very remark- 
able. It presently forms with the excrement an inodorous 
compost in which all traces of excrement are lost, and 
which, judged by experience, forms an admirable manure 
for many garden crops. An earth-closet should be con- 
structed like the pail-closet or the midden-closet as the 
case may be. It is preferable that the construction 
should be as the pail-closet, if the contents are to be 
removed frequently; a construction like that of the 
midden-closet, as above described, is usually followed if 
the contents are not to be removed except at longer 
intervals. Forms of these closets are made in which, by 
means of a simple mechanism with a hopper, the requisite 
quantity of dry earth can be distributed upon the excreta 62 
after each use of the closet. This quantity should be 
about one pound and a half, four pounds being about the 
allowance required per head per day. The kind of earth 
to use is important. Chalky and sandy earths do not 
answer. Clays, loams, especially of a peaty character, 
and brick-earth answer admirably. The compost may 
be long in the receptacle without giving rise to offence, 
and three months may be permitted to elapse before its 
removal, but as a rule it is unadvisable to allow so large 
an accumulation in a closet. A simple but sufficient 
arrangement of this form of closet consists in placing a 
vessel with dry earth and common handscoop in a con- 
venient position within it, and throwing a scoopful of the 
earth upon the excreta after each use. Another simple 
expedient for cottages in rural districts is by having a 
covered space behind the seat of the closet, easy of 
access, in which a store of garden soil, collected when 
dry, is kept. A portion of this soil is thrown from behind 
upon the excreta by a spade at frequent intervals. Some- 
times also the ashes are deposited by the side of the 
earth, and sifted upon it, the fine ash being used with 
the dry earth. An arrangement of this sort answers 
admirably in abating privy nuisance and in forming an 
excellent compost for garden purposes. 
In the charcoal-closet, charcoal is substituted for dry 
earth. The excreta are completely deodorised by this 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
63 
agent and putrefactive changes held in check for an 
undetermined time. One fourth quantity of charcoal is 
required for use in the closet as compared with the 
quantity of dry earth. 
The success of the several closets described is dependent 
upon the continuous care given to them. Where the 
sanitary authority undertakes the regulation of these 
closets and the removal of their contents, no difficulty 
ought to be experienced in their management. Where 
the occupier is himself responsible for the management 
no insuperable difficulty ought to be experienced if due 
care has been given to the selection of the kind of closet 
adopted, and its adaptability to the circumstances of the 
case. (See Note for additional details as to the structure 
of water-closets, earth-closets, privies, &c., at end.) 
Urinals.-These are in the majority of cases a great 
nuisance in a house, and arrangements should be made, 
if possible, to do without them altogether, as a chamber- 
utensil in the closet is, under most circumstances, an 
efficient substitute. If, however, a urinal is considered 
indispensable, it should be made of slate, or glazed 
earthenware, as little metal as possible being used in the 
construction. A tap, with constant water supply, should 
be fixed above the urinal, and a good stream should be 
directed into the pan every time it is used. The exit pipe 
should be trapped and guarded as carefully as that of the 64 
closet, and the pan with its adjuncts must be kept scrupu- 
lously clean, or foul smells will be engendered inevitably 
and speedily. However, as we have already remarked, 
this sort of apparatus is best conspicuous by its absence, 
for even if carefully used, drippings will fall to the floor 
below and speedily cause a nuisance. 
Slop-water.-Carelessness in the disposal of slop-water 
is proverbial in every class of house and in all districts, 
whether in town or country. In town houses the servants, 
unless closely watched, will invariably throw slops into 
the upper floor closets, to save the trouble of bringing 
them downstairs. The soil pipe is thus often clogged and 
eventually stopped, and the smell is specially objection- 
able and unwholesome. A sink should therefore, if 
wanted upstairs at all, be constructed under a tap, and 
used exclusively for the conveying away of slop-water. 
The exit pipe should be of wide calibre, properly guarded 
and disconnected on the same principle as the rest. 
There can then be no sort of excuse for getting rid of 
that liquid refuse in an improper way. Slop-water gene- 
rated in or near the basement is best disposed of by pour- 
ing it down a wide grating at the back of the house, 
communicating with the main drain; taking especial care 
that this or any other channel of exit is well flushed pretty 
often with some fluid deodorant, as a solution of carbolic 
acid or of sulphate of iron. 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 65 
In places outside sewered areas one of the greatest 
difficulties to be dealt with in securing the vicinity of 
the house from nuisance is the difficulty of dealing with 
the slop-water. The nuisance liable to occur from this 
source stands second only in offensiveness to that arising 
from improperly constructed and ill-kept privies. It is 
too commonly the case in small towns, villages, hamlets, 
and even in detached houses, for the slops to be thrown 
carelessly upon the ground in the vicinity of the house, 
or for them to be carried into a neighbouring ditch; in 
the one case keeping the soil near the house saturated 
with offensive putrefying filth, in the other case, hardly 
less productive of nuisance, fouling the air. In small 
towns, villages, and hamlets a common plan of sewerage 
will alone, as a rule, meet the evil. Under the circum- 
stances of detached houses, or houses with gardens, one 
or other of the following modes of procedure may be 
adopted with success. 
i. The slops may be carried by a drain to a small 
water-tight tank in the garden, and thence ladled as occa- 
sion may require, on the garden. The cultivation of 
garden crops has been carried on with great success by 
the use of the slop water thus collected for the irrigation 
by hand of the cultivated plots of ground. 
2. Another method of disposal may be practised by 
laying in the garden a series of sub-irrigation drains- 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 66 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
common agricultural pipe-drains-and distributing the 
slops through them. The slops, unfortunately, are apt to 
penetrate but a little way in these drains except when 
poured into them in quantity from a washing-tub, or by 
other means, about to be described. Nevertheless, not- 
withstanding the slight extent of flow of the slop-water 
along the drains, if the soil be porous, nuisance is by 
this means avoided, although little benefit to the crops 
above may be obtained by the sub-irrigation. 
3. A third method of disposal of slops includes both 
the foregoing plans. A writer has given an interesting 
description of their application at the vicarage of Ford- 
ington, in Dorsetshire, the residence of the Rev. Henry 
Moule, M.A., whose name is so well known as the prin- 
cipal promoter of the dry-earth system of disposal of the 
excreta. The writer referred to says : " Mr. Moule, whose 
name is commonly associated solely with the dry-earth 
system of excrement disposal, has by no means limited 
his attention to that system alone. The dry-earth system, 
indeed, is perhaps more correctly described as a part of 
a more general scheme which Mr. Moule is engaged in 
maturing for dealing with the whole refuse of a household. 
As part of this scheme, I witnessed in a small plot of 
garden, attached to his house, the successful disposal and 
utilization of the whole of the liquid refuse of the house- 
hold. This refuse flows to a catch-pit in the garden, THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
67 
which has an overflow into a sub-irrigation drain. The 
garden is cultivated by alternate cropping, the only manure 
applied to it being the fresh slops, which are ladled from 
the catch-pit and distributed to the garden daily. Luxu- 
riant successive crops of garden vegetables are obtained 
in this manner, and Mr. Moule is of opinion, as the result 
of his experiments, that the liquid refuse of a family of 
from seventeen to twenty persons can be thus profitably 
used on five or six perches of ground, as many as three 
or four crops being grown yearly. The following illus- 
tration of Mr. Moule's procedure may be given. On two 
perches of ground, from which potatoes had been removed, 
drills were run, and after these had been saturated two 
days with slops, brocoli was successfully transplanted to 
them in blazing sunshine. Then, between the drills, holes 
were made to the depth of ten inches, and prepared for 
subsequent transplantation of cabbages by filling them 
again and again with slops. Meanwhile, on both sides 
of each row of holes, a row of autumn carrots was sown." 
4. A fourth mode of dealing with slops has been devised, 
and successfully carried out. In this mode sub-irrigation 
is followed, but the peculiarity consists in the manner in 
which the slop-water is delivered into the sub-irrigation 
channels. We referred, in noting the second method of 
disposal recorded, to the slight extent to which slop-water 
penetrated into sub-irrigation drains, as poured into them 68 
in ordinary flow. This difficulty has been overcome by 
the invention of an automatic flush-tank fixed at the head 
of the sub-irrigation channels. This tank, which is made 
of ordinary pottery-ware or of iron, receives the slop- 
water in the first instance, and it is so constructed that 
when the slop-water reaches a certain level in it, it is 
discharged automatically by means of a syphon into the 
sub-irrigation drain. The rush with which the slop-water 
is thus discharged carries it to the furthest extremity of 
the sub-irrigation channels, if these have been properly 
laid, and so distributes the fluid over a large area of 
porous soil. These " flush-tanks " have proved eminently 
successful in operation, and they enable slop-water to be 
most effectually disposed of without nuisance, where 
ground is available for the purpose. 
The principle of the flush-tank admits of being applied 
on a larger scale to the disposal of the slop-water of ham- 
lets and villages, as has been shown by Mr. Roger Field 
and Mr. Bailey Denton in conjunction. These gentle- 
men have designed a sewage-tank, arranged on the same 
principles as the " flush-tank," and which is adapted for 
dealing with the sewage of populations which is not of 
sufficient quantity to flow by ordinary gravity through 
channels arranged for its utilization on cultivated land. 
Dust-bins.-The dust-bin is one of the objectionable 
necessities of civilised life. In crowded localities its im- 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
69 
mediate proximity to the house is inevitable, but much 
may be done to minimise the dangers that arise in con- 
sequence. As things are now, the day's dust in many towns 
is put outside the door of each house in the morning, and 
carted away by the dustman. A vast amount of refuse 
is scattered through the air during the process, and so 
assists very materially to pollute the atmosphere of our 
cities and towns, no practical effort by way of deodorisation 
or disinfection being made to obviate this serious evil. 
In most London houses the dust-bin is conveniently 
enough placed in the exterior of the front basement story, 
and close to or near the bottom of the area steps. It 
should be well protected from rain and wet, and should 
not be large enough to hold more than, at all events, a 
week's collection of house refuse. The walls should be 
carefully built of some non-absorbent material, and the 
bin should be thoroughly cleaned and limewashed at 
least four times a year. Although no wet or even moist 
materials should be thrown into it, it is desirable that 
provision should be made for the speedy escape of any 
fluid that may collect at the bottom of the bin ; and the 
regular removal of the contents should be strongly in- 
sisted upon. Dustmen are sometimes difficult to manage, 
and in several of the metropolitan districts the work of 
collecting is not only done carelessly, but very irregularly. 
As, however, the removal of house refuse from the imme- 70 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
diate vicinity of dwelling-houses influences considerably 
the maintenance of health, we cannot urge this subject 
upon the attention of our readers too emphatically. 
Various places are assigned for the dust-bin in urban 
and rural districts. Whatever the situation may be, take 
care that it is not under the kitchen, or indeed any other 
window, that the conditions above mentioned as to con- 
struction are adhered to, and that, in process of collection, 
the dust has not to be carried through any part of the 
house. Preferably the dust-bin should be a movable 
receptacle, and this is insisted upon in the districts where 
a daily removal of the dust is required and carried out by 
the sanitary authority. 
Scullery and Sinks.-As kitchens are in very many cases 
situated in the basement, they seldom come under the 
eye of the master, and their sanitary arrangements are 
in consequence generally defective, and frequently very 
bad indeed, simply because administrative carelessness 
speedily puts any well devised system of slop and refuse 
disposal out of gear. The master or mistress of a house 
should pay an unexpected visit to the scullery at least once 
a week, not only to see that the place is clean, but to 
prevent the accumulation of all solid refuse, consisting 
chiefly of spoiled vegetables, bones, fat, tea-leaves, and 
dripping, most of which articles should find their way at 
once into the dust-bin if it is not practicable to consume THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
71 
them in the kitchen fire. The scullery should, have no 
cupboards in it, and ought, of course, to be provided with 
an abundant supply of water. The sink is often a stand- 
ing grievance and a fruitful source of mischief. Most sinks 
are furnished with a circular perforated plate and bell-trap, 
which is almost invariably removed, and is indeed practi- 
cally useless for sanitary purposes. No house is safe from 
the entrance of sewer-gas by the sink pipe, unless this 
pipe is cut off as it emerges from the outer wall of the 
house, and is made to discharge over a grated and trapped 
opening into the sewer below. A tolerably wide meshed 
grating is probably the best covering for the upper, i.e. 
the sink, end of the pipe, and this grating should be so 
fixed that the servants cannot tamper with it. The sink 
should be made of stone or slate (the latter is preferable), 
and be placed against an outer wall, with a window im- 
mediately above it. If this arrangement exist, any defect 
in the pipe can be easily detected and quickly remedied, 
and no soakage or leakage ought to remain undiscovered 
for a day. The disconnexion referred to above will make 
the entrance of sewer-gas into the house by this means an 
impossibility, especially if the pipe be still further protected 
by a trap considerably below the upper opening. There 
are at least twenty varieties of these traps, and the choice 
can safely be left to the architect or engineer; simplicity 
being in this, as in other matters, a chief consideration. 72 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
CHAPTER VI. 
WARMING AND LIGHTING-PAINT AND PAPER. 
Warming and Lighting.-The enormous waste of heat 
and light in most houses is so notorious that it is specially 
advisable to direct attention to the fact on the score of 
economy as well as health. Nearly all houses in this 
country are warmed by open grates, and the plan, though 
wasteful, will, we believe, continue to be adopted for 
many years to come. Stoves and chimneys, as at pre- 
sent arranged, conduct more than half the heat up the 
chimney. This may to some extent be obviated by 
bringing the grate as forward as possible. Stoves should 
be chosen on account of their radiating rather than their 
absorbing qualities, and many such can now be pro- 
cured. Economy of fuel can best be compassed by 
some contrivance that will admit the introduction of 
the fuel into the bottom instead of the top of the grate. 
Fireplaces should always be placed, if possible, near the 
centre of the house, and there are one or more plans by 
which a fire in one room may be arranged to supply 
heated air to those adjoining. If stoves are used in the 
hall, or elsewhere, special provision should be made for 
their ventilation, the air for this purpose being brought 
in direct from the outer atmosphere, and in a situation THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
73 
where no pollution from stables, drains, or closets is 
likely to occur. Stoves not systematically provided with 
fresh air dry the air of the room to an unwholesome and 
sometimes dangerous extent. 
We cannot have, in this country, too much natural 
light, so that an all-sufficient rule is to make windows as 
large as possible, for there are very few places in England 
where the occasional glare of the sun cannot be effectually 
moderated by blinds, shutters, or some such contrivances. 
As to artificial light, gas, though it generates more heat 
and absorbes more oxygen than any variety of lamps or 
candles, is cheapest and most convenient, and hence 
most general. But if used, the means recommended 
under the head of ventilation should be adopted with 
every burner, or the atmosphere within the house will be 
most seriously fouled. All so-called weak-chested persons 
are practically cognisant of this fact, and will tell you 
how much pleasanter to them is a room lighted with 
candles than one in which gas is burnt. If it can be 
afforded, we therefore recommend, on the score of health, 
that at all events the study, drawing-room, and nurseries 
should not be lighted with gas, and if arrangements can 
be made to dispense with its use in other rooms, so much 
the better. 
Paint and Paper.-Taste will always regulate these 
matters, which it is not our province to attempt to 74 
influence, except so far as questions relating to the pre- 
vention of disease are concerned. It is therefore only 
necessary to remind the householder that all paints should 
be varnished : (i) because the paint work is thus more 
easily cleaned; (2) because any deleterious ingredients 
of which the paint may be composed are thus rendered 
harmless ;-that flock papers should, as a rule, be avoided : 
(1) because they collect, absorb, and retain particles of 
dust often containing organic matter; (2) because flock 
papers frequently contain, in their colouring matter, a 
dangerously large proportion of arsenic. The attention 
of the public has lately been directed to this latter point, 
and well authenticated cases exist in which severe symp- 
toms of poisoning from arsenic are proved to have been 
caused by the presence of this metal in the loose facing 
on the surface of the wall paper. In point of fact, with 
paint and paper, choose, if you have the opportunity, 
each of a kind that will assist as little as possible in the 
collection of dirt, and which can be most effectually 
cleaned, perfectly smooth surfaces being indispensable, 
and a glazed surface desirable, in all cases. And when- 
ever a room is re-papered, take care that all the old 
paper is removed before the new one is put up. We 
have seen three or four layers of old paper removed from 
the walls, and a considerable number of insects found 
under or between these layers of decomposing material. 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
75 
CHAPTER VII. 
BEDROOMS-NURSERY-LAUNDRY-KITCHEN-LARDER. 
Bedrooms.-We have already remarked that bedroom 
space should be as liberal as possible in proportion to 
the number of occupants. In England no hangings are 
required to beds, and indeed beds are much healthier 
without them. Mattresses are better than feather beds, 
and horsehair is the best material for stuffing. There 
should be no carpet under the bed, as it collects dust, 
and that compound of nastiness commonly called "fluff," 
and as little carpet on the floor as is consistent with 
British ideas of comfort. Squares of carpet, i.e. carpets 
not fitted to the room, are, in fact, best in all rooms, 
both on sanitary grounds and on those of general clean- 
liness and convenience. The tendency of bed-rooms 
to become "stuffy" during the night (i.e. to become 
filled with air unduly charged with carbonic acid) is best 
counteracted by leaving the top sash open at least two 
or three inches, and there are really very few states of 
weather in which this cannot be borne by a healthy 
person. At any rate, sleep with either door or window 
open, unless you are fortunate enough to occupy an ex- 
ceptionally well ventilated room, with very ample cubic 
space. We are the more disposed to lay stress upon 76 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
these last items of advice, because our experiences of 
the foul atmosphere generated and bottled up in the 
sleeping apartments of the middle and upper classes show 
how little attention is paid to this matter. It is hardly 
necessary to say that bedroom windows should be 
thoroughly opened as early as possible, and should be 
kept open during the entire day, wind and weather 
permitting. 
Nursery.-It may seem superfluous to address fathers 
and mothers as to the pre-eminent importance of giving 
their children all possible space, both in their day rooms 
and sleeping rooms. In the majority of middle and 
upper class houses in the metropolis, as well as in our 
chief provincial towns, the children are usually relegated 
to small rooms high up, and so not specially accessible, 
without a good water supply, and almost invariably defi- 
cient as to cubic area. Fresh air, an abundant supply 
of good water close at hand, plenty of light, no curtains, 
and a paucity of carpets, are all nursery necessities if 
your children are to grow and thrive well. Always have 
a sitting-room distinct from the bedroom, so that the 
latter may not be occupied during the day. The careful 
application of the hints on ventilation (see pages 44-49) is 
of more consequence as regards the nurseries than any 
ether rooms in the house, inasmuch as we have to deal 
with a growing population, whose lungs are specially THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
77 
sensitive as to the quality of air inspired. Iron bed- 
steads and horsehair mattresses should be used in the 
nursery as in the other bedrooms, because they harbour 
insects less, are cleaned much more readily, and are 
cooler and healthier in every respect than wool, feathers, 
or any other material. The immediate removal of soiled 
linen, and liquid or soiled excreta, from both day and 
night nurseries is of great importance. Many servants, in 
other respects clever, are careless on this point, and so 
the rooms always have a characteristic " baby " smell. 
Laundry.-In rural districts washing at home is 
naturally the rule. In urban districts, and emphatically 
in crowded localities, it should always be the exception. 
The fumes arising from a mixture of steam, soap-suds, 
and dirty linen, are not only disagreeable, but detrimental 
to health, as engendering moist heat and favouring the 
aerial distribution of organic matter. Our large metro- 
politan and suburban laundries are now, it is hoped, in 
process of reformation and reorganisation, and indeed 
there is great room for improvement in the conduct of 
these establishments. Until, however, improvements 
occur, we must submit; but every one can aid in the pre- 
vention of disease by taking care that no linen or clothes 
of any kind that have been used by persons suffering 
from contagious and infectious maladies shall be sent to 
a laundry without being previously disinfected, and due 78 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
notice also given to those in charge of the laundry. 
Where private laundries exist, they should, if possible, be 
quite apart from the house, and care should be taken that 
the drying-ground is open, and away from the ordinary 
sources of air pollution, as stables, piggeries, &c. 
Kitchen.-The kitchen and its surroundings should be 
inspected regularly by the mistress of the house, or by some 
equally responsible, if not equally interested, person. A 
floor of wood or good cement is preferable to stone, as 
the latter is in this climate cold and comfortless. A 
central square of carpet is sufficient, as it ought to be 
taken up and shaken every day. No butter, cheese, or 
any other kind of food should be left in the kitchen 
longer than necessary, and should on no account be 
allowed to remain there during the night. The room should 
not be made a convenient hanging-place for bonnets and 
shawls, and health as well as economy is consulted by keep- 
ing the consumption of coals within reasonable bounds. 
Larder.-Unless some care is taken not only to buy 
wholesome food, but to keep it in good condition, health 
in the house cannot be fairly secured. The larder should 
be arranged so as to have at least one outer wall with, if 
possible, a northern aspect. Choose in fact the coolest 
part of the basement, and let it be so ventilated that, 
though as a matter of necessity near the kitchen, no 
kitchen air is drawn into it, except as an accidental THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
79 
occurrence. The floor should be laid with tiles or con- 
crete ; and the shelves should be of marble, slate or tiles, 
all of which are cleaner and cooler than wood. A meat 
safe, if used elsewhere than in the larder, should have per- 
forated zinc sides, and be hung where there is as much 
cool air and as little dust as possible. Nothing assists the 
decomposition of animal food so much as damp heat. 
CHAPTER VIII. 
DISINFECTANTS-ANTISEPTICS-INFECTIOUS AND CONTA- 
GIOUS DISEASES. 
Disinfectants.-Those of our readers who desire to 
know something of so-called disinfectants should obtain 
and read another of these Primers in which the subject is 
specially treated. We refer to them here because, in 
houses of almost every class, it appears to be just now the 
fashion to keep in stock, and in many cases to use very 
liberally, one or other of these articles. A powder-box 
may be found in almost every closet; the cook is exhorted 
to keep a special supply for the benefit of the scullery 
and sink, and in fact a general order exists in most 
middle-class families to the effect that any dubious or 
nasty smell is to be neutralised, or rather smothered, 
as speedily as possible, by another variety of odour. As 80 
to actual smell, the remedy is often worse than the 
evil; and the man or woman has, we take it, still to 
be found who can derive any enjoyment from the in- 
halation of chlorine gas or the vapour of carbolic acid. 
Indeed, there is no exaggeration in asserting that more 
than one-half of the fluid and liquid deodorants so plenti- 
fully scattered within and without our houses are worse 
than useless, not only as direct preventives of diseases, but 
because they give to us a sen§e of false security. The 
advice given here is briefly to avoid so-called disinfectants 
as much as possible. If foul smells exist within the 
house, whether in passages, rooms, closets, or basement, 
do not content yourself with stifling them by the use 
of chlorine, carbolic acid, &c., but find out the source of 
the mischief by a careful inspection of pipes, drains, and 
basement. In the vast majority of cases, a leakage will 
be discovered in one or other of the drain pipes, and 
the repair of this leak is of course the effectual remedy. 
Close the leak, ventilate well, and the evil ceases, without 
any resort to artificial disinfection. 
In brief, the reader should know that heat and pure 
air are the best household disinfectants. It is of course 
necessary to cleanse the atmosphere of a room, as well as 
to remove its contents, after it has been occupied by any 
one suffering from contagious or infectious disease. In 
all such cases, consult the medical adviser of the family, 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
81 
in conjunction, if necessary, with the medical officer of 
health. It is not only a duty, but it is eminently an 
advantage, to do so, for, if sanitary matters are properly 
organised throughout a district, the infected and sus- 
pected rooms will be fumigated and lime-washed, and if 
necessary, repapered, and all articles of bedding, clothing, 
&c. removed to the public disinfecting chamber, and 
properly dealt with under skilled supervision. Unless 
prepared to adopt this latter course in its entirety, the 
clothing and bedding should be destroyed by fire with the 
least possible delay. 
Disinfectants are not to be despised, but for household 
purposes they should be regarded only as secondary 
aids to the maintenance of health and the prevention of 
disease. 
Infectious and Contagious Diseases.-Although it is not 
our province in this place to discourse in any sort of way 
on the treatment of disease, it is our duty to remind the 
householder that he has grave responsibilities whenever 
his house is unfortunately occupied by any contagious or 
infectious disorder. There can, according to our know- 
ledge and belief, be no doubt whatever that it is the duty 
of the master of the house or of the practitioner in attend- 
ance to inform the health officer of the district as to the 
existence of any such case, and pending his arrival to 
isolate the patient as far as possible, and permit no one 82 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
to go m and out of the room except those immediately 
responsible for the care of the sick person. It is not 
necessary to explain in detail the measures that should 
be adopted for the safety of the household, because all 
proper directions will or should be given by the medical 
man in attendance, in conjunction with the medical officer 
of health. But the advice of the latter must be sought 
for and obtained as soon as possible, and if removal to a 
special hospital be recommended, the welfare of the patient 
and of every one else in the house will be best consulted 
by the adoption of the suggestion, and by having the sick 
person sent away under proper supervision as speedily as 
possible. It is necessary, however, to remark that no 
person affected with a contagious disease can legally be 
sent in a public conveyance, and that any departure from 
this rule subjects the offender to a penalty. 
SUMMARY AND GENERAL APPLICATION. 
We have endeavoured in the foregoing remarks to 
convey information of a kind that shall be useful to all 
classes of society. For, few perhaps, have the opportunity 
either of building a house or of choosing the site, or in 
any material respect influencing the surroundings. The 
business of life, whatever in each case it may be, compels THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
83 
most of us to live in a particular locality, and to take the 
soil, air, water, and houses of that locality as we find them. 
But the object of this Primer is to show that every one, in 
an individual as well as a corporate capacity, can, in the 
administration of his own house and its surroundings, do 
much to influence his own health as well as that of his 
neighbours. We have called attention to some things 
apparently so trivial that our readers may exclaim, " Oh ! 
we know all about that, of course." But so-called little 
things are oftenest forgotten, or thought unworthy of 
systematic attention, and it is besides very important in 
matters relating to health to learn how to do little things 
well and regularly. The best advisers are the medical 
officer of health, the surveyor of the district, and the 
family medical attendant. Every ratepayer has a claim 
upon the services of the two first-named officers, and 
medical men generally will always be glad to act in con- 
junction with them. But when repairs or alterations are 
required, and are in progress, relating to pipes, drains, or 
anything usually, and often inconveniently, concealed from 
general observation, see that the workmen do their task 
properly. Artisans as a rule do not yet understand that 
a loose joint, a leaky pipe, or an inefficient ventilator may 
mean to the household an indefinite amount of sickness 
and possible mortality, so that it is necessary not only tho- 
roughly to understand what has to be done, but to see that 84 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
it is done properly. Surveyors, engineers, and medical 
men all have their favourite varieties of closets, traps, 
ventilators, stoves, &c., and hence, as a rule, we abstain 
from recommending specially any particular kind, as- 
suming that the article chosen will fulfil the sanitary re- 
quirements indicated in our recommendations. Each 
person must satisfy himself thoroughly as to whether this 
or that ventilator is likely to work, or does work, well, as an 
incast or an outcast, if the particular class of trap chosen 
is really efficient, and so on-remembering that all these 
things should be as simple and as accessible as possible. 
With the aid of this Primer it should be practicable to 
know where to look for probable defects. But when these 
defects are remedied, and all is in good working order, 
personal supervision alone will maintain this order. Cis- 
terns, closets, sinks, overflows, and drain connexions (or 
rather drain disconnexions) should be inspected at regular 
intervals. We are dependent as a rule upon others for 
our supply of water and gas, and for the emptying of 
the dust-bin, and reminders are frequently required as to 
these matters. Intelligent co-operation is the surest road 
to success, and so-called public improvements will always 
fail unless backed by individual effort. A well-known 
and distinguished statesman has very truly told us that we 
"cannot get healthy brains to grow on unhealthy soil." 
Nor, we may add, healthy bodies either. THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
85 
NOTE. 
The Local Government Board has recently issued a series 
of " Model Byelaws" on the construction of New Build- 
ings for the guidance of Sanitary Authorities. These bye- 
laws should be carefully studied for the authoritative in- 
formation they give on the structural requirements of 
houses. We reproduce here, in preference to including 
them in the text, the byelaws relating to the construc- 
tion of water-closets, earth-closets, privies, &c., for their 
peculiar importance with reference to the subject of this 
Primer. Those relating to drainage of buildings are also 
worthy of perusal. 
MODEL BYELAWS. 
With respect to water-closets, earth-closets, privies, ash-pits, 
and cesspools in connection with buildings. 
Every person who shall construct a water-closet or 
earth-closet in a building shall construct such water-closet 
or earth-closet in such a position that one of its sides at 
the least shall be an external wall. 
68. Every person who shall construct a water-closet or 
earth-closet in connection with a building, whether the 
situation of such water-closet or earth-closet be or be not 
within such building, shall construct in one of the walls 86 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
of such water-closet or earth-closet a window of not less 
dimensions than two feet by one foot, exclusive of the 
frame, and opening directly into the external air. 
He shall, in addition to such window, cause such water- 
closet or earth-closet to be provided with adequate means 
of constant ventilation by at least one air-brick built in an 
external wall of such water-closet or earth-closet, or by an 
air shaft, or by some other effectual method or appliance. 
69. Every person who shall construct a water-closet in 
connection with a building shall furnish such water-closet 
with a separate cistern, service box, or flushing box of 
adequate capacity, which shall be so constructed, fitted, 
and placed as to admit of the supply of water for use in 
such water-closet without any direct connection between 
any service pipe upon the premises and any part of the 
apparatus of such water-closet, other than such cistern, 
service box, or flushing box. 
He shall furnish such water-closet with a suitable appa- 
ratus for the effectual application of water to any pan, basin, 
or other receptacle with which such apparatus may be con- 
nected and used,and for the effectual flushing and cleansing 
of such pan, basin, or other receptacle, and for the prompt 
and effectual removal therefrom of any solid or liquid 
filth which may from time to time be deposited therein. 
He shall furnish such water-closet with a pan, basin, or 
other suitable receptacle of non-absorbent material, and THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
87 
of such shape, of such capacity, and of such mode of 
construction as to receive and contain a sufficient quan- 
tity of water, and to allow all filth which may from time 
to time be deposited in such pan, basin, or receptacle to 
fall free of the sides thereof, and directly intb the water 
received and contained in such pan, basin, or receptacle. 
He shall not construct or fix under such pan, basin, or 
receptacle any " container " or other similar fitting. 
He shall not construct or fix in or in connection with 
the water-closet apparatus any trap of the kind known as 
a " D trap." 
70. Every person who shall construct an earth-closet 
in connection with a building shall furnish such earth- 
closet with a reservoir or receptacle, of suitable con- 
struction and of adequate capacity, for dry earth or other 
deodorizing substance, and he shall construct and fix such 
reservoir or receptacle in such a manner and in such a 
position as to admit of ready access to such reservoir or 
receptacle for the purpose of depositing therein the 
necessary supply of dry earth or other deodorizing 
substance. 
He shall construct or fix in connection with such 
reservoir or receptacle suitable means or apparatus for 
the frequent and effectual application of a sufficient 
quantity of dry earth or other deodorizing substance to 
any filth which may from time to time be deposited in 88 
any pan, pit, or other receptacle for filth constructed, 
fitted, or used in or in connection with such earth-closet. 
71. Every person who shall construct an earth-closet 
in connection with a building, and shall provide in or in 
connection with such earth-closet a fixed receptacle for 
filth, shall construct or fix such receptacle in such a 
manner and in such a position as to admit of the fre- 
quent and effectual application of a sufficient quantity of 
dry earth or other deodorizing substance to any filth 
which may from time to time be deposited in such re- 
ceptacle, and in such a manner and in such a position as 
to admit of ready access to such receptable for the 
purpose of removing the contents thereof. 
He shall not construct such receptacle of a capacity 
greater than may be sufficient to contain such filth and 
dry earth or other deodorizing substance as may be 
deposited therein during a period not exceeding * , or 
in any case of a capacity exceeding + cubic feet. 
He shall construct such receptacle of such material or 
materials, and in such a manner, as to prevent any ab- 
sorption by any part of such receptacle of any filth de- 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
* Ihe spaces left vacant are so left for sanitary authorities to fill 
up according to the circumstances or needs of their particular 
localities. 
t Forty cubic feet = three months' accumulations, may be taken 
as a maximum. THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
89 
posited therein, or any escape, by leakage or otherwise, 
of any part of the contents of such receptacle. 
He shall construct or fix such receptacle so that the 
bottom or floor thereof shall be at least inches 
above the level of the surface of the ground immediately 
adjoining the earth-closet, and so that the contents of 
such receptacle may not at any time be exposed to any 
rainfall or to the drainage of any waste water or liquid 
refuse from any adjoining premises. 
72. Every person who shall construct an earth-closet 
in connection with a building, and shall provide in or in 
connection with such earth-closet a movable receptacle 
for filth, shall construct such earth-closet so that the 
position and mode of fitting of such receptacle may 
admit of the frequent and effectual application of a 
sufficient quantity of dry earth or other deodorizing 
substance to any filth which may from time to time 
be deposited in such receptacle, and may also admit of 
ready access to that part of the earth-closet in which such 
receptacle may be placed or fitted, and of the convenient 
removal of such receptacle or of the contents thereof. 
He shall also construct such earth-closet so that the 
contents of such receptacle may not at any time be 
exposed to any rainfall or to the drainage of any waste 
water or liquid refuse from any adjoining premises. 
73. Every person who shall construct a privy in con- 90 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
nection with a building shall construct such privy at a 
distance of six feet at the least from a dwelling'house or 
public building, or any building in which any person may 
be or may be intended to be employed in any manufac- 
ture, trade, or business. 
74. A person who shall construct a privy in connection 
with a building shall not construct such privy within the 
distance of * feet from any water supplied for use, or 
used or likely to be used by man for drinking or domestic 
purposes, or for manufacturing drinks for the use of man, 
or otherwise in such a position as to endanger the pollution 
of any such water. 
75/ Every person who shall construct a privy in con- 
nection with a building shall construct such privy in such 
a manner and in such a position as to afford ready means 
of access to such privy, for the purpose of cleansing such 
privy and of removing filth therefrom, and in such a 
manner and in such a position as to admit of all filth being 
removed from such privy, and from the premises to which 
such privy may belong, without being -carried through 
any dwelling-house or public building, or any building in 
which any person may be, or may be intended to be, 
employed in any manufacture, trade, or business. 
7 6. Every person who shall construct a privy in connec- 
tion with a building shall provide such privy with a suffi- 
* Thirty feet should, if practicable, be the minimum. THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
91 
cient opening for ventilation, as near to the top as prac- 
ticable, and communicating directly with the external air. 
He shall cause the floor of such privy to be flagged or 
paved with hard tiles or other non-absorbent material, 
and he shall construct such floor so that it shall be in 
every part thereof at a height of not less than six inches 
above the level of the surface of the ground adjoining 
such privy, and so that such floor shall have a fall or 
inclination towards the door of such privy of half an inch 
to the foot. 
77. Every person who shall construct a privy in con- 
nection with a building, and shall construct such privy 
for use in combination with a movable receptacle for 
filth, shall construct over the whole area of the space 
immediately beneath the seat of such privy a flagged or 
asphalted floor, at a height of not less than three inches 
above the level of the surface of the ground adjoining 
such privy; and he shall cause the whole extent of each 
side of such space between the floor and the seat to be 
constructed of flagging, slate, or good brickwork, at least 
nine inches thick, and rendered in good cement or 
asphalted. 
He shall construct the seat of such privy, the aperture 
in such seat, and the space beneath such seat, of such 
dimensions as to admit of a movable receptacle for filth 
of a capacity not exceeding two cubic feet being placed 92 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
and fitted beneath such seat in such a manner and in 
such a position as may effectually prevent the deposit, 
upon the floor or sides of the space beneath such seat or 
elsewhere than in such receptacle, of any filth which may 
from time to time fall or be cast through the aperture 
in such seat. 
He shall construct the seat of such privy so that the 
whole of such seat, or a sufficient part thereof, may be 
readily removed or adjusted in such a manner as to afford 
adequate access to the space beneath such seat for the 
purpose of cleansing such space, or of removing therefrom 
or placing and fitting therein the appropriate receptacle 
for filth. 
78. Every person who shall construct a privy in con- 
nection with a building, and shall construct such privy 
for use in combination with a fixed receptacle for filth, 
shall construct or fix in or in connection with such privy 
suitable means or apparatus for the frequent and effectual 
application of ashes, dust, or dry refuse to any filth which 
may from time to time be deposited in such receptacle. 
He shall construct such receptacle so that the contents 
thereof may not at any time be exposed to any rainfall 
or the drainage of any waste water or liquid refuse from 
any adjoining premises. 
He shall construct such receptacle of-such material or 
materials and in such a manner as to prevent any absorp- tion by any part of such receptacle of any filth deposited 
therein or any escape, by leakage or otherwise, of any 
part of the contents of such receptacle. 
He shall construct such privy so that the bottom or floor 
thereof shall be in every part at least three inches above the 
level of the surface of the ground adjoining such privy. 
He shall not in any case construct such receptacle of 
a capacity exceeding eight cubic feet* 
He shall construct the seat of such privy so that the 
whole of such seat, or a sufficient part thereof, may be 
readily removed or adjusted in such a manner as to afford 
adequate access to such receptacle for the purpose of 
removing the contents thereof, and of cleansing such 
receptacle, or shall otherwise provide in or in connection 
with such privy adequate means of access to such re- 
ceptacle for the purpose aforesaid. 
7 9. A person who shall construct a privy in connection 
with a building shall not cause or suffer any part of the 
space under the seat of such privy, or any part of any 
receptacle for filth in or in connection with such privy to 
communicate with any drain. 
80. Every person who shall construct an ash-pit in 
connection with a building shall construct such ash-pit at 
a distance of six feet at the least from a dwelling-house 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
93 
* This is the space between the seat and the floor of the privy, and 
is sufficient for a week's accumulation of filth and dry house refuse. 94 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
or public building, or any building in which any person 
may be, or may be intended to be employed in any 
manufacture, trade, or business. 
81. A person who shall construct an ash-pit in connec- 
tion with a building shall not construct such ash-pit within 
the distance of * feet from any water supplied for 
use, or used or likely to be used by man for drinking or 
domestic purposes, or for manufacturing drinks for the 
use of man, or otherwise in such a position as to endanger 
the pollution of any such water. 
82. Every person who shall construct an ash-pit in 
connection with a building shall construct such ash-pit in 
such a manner and in such a position as to afford ready 
means of access to such ash-pit for the purpose of cleans- 
ing such ash-pit, and of removing the contents thereof, 
and, so far as may be practicable, in such a manner and 
in such a position as to admit of the contents of such 
ash-pit being removed therefrom, and from the premises 
to which such ash-pit may belong, without being carried 
through any dwelling-house or public building, or any 
building in which any person may be, or may be intended 
to be employed in any manufacture, trade, or business. 
83. Every person who shall construct an ash-pit in 
connection with a building shall construct such ash-pit of 
a capacity not exceeding in any case six cubic feet, or of 
* Thirty feet should, if practicable, be the minimum. THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
95 
such less capacity as may be sufficient to contain all dust, 
ashes, rubbish, and dry refuse which may accumulate 
during a period not exceeding one week upon the premises 
to which such ash-pit may belong. 
84. Every person who shall construct an ash-pit in 
connection with a building shall construct such ash-pit of 
flagging, or of slate, or of good brickwork, at least nine 
inches thick, and rendered inside with good cement or 
properly asphalted. 
85. A person who shall construct an ash-pit in con- 
nection with a building shall not cause or suffer any part 
of such ash-pit to communicate with any drain. 
86. Every person who shall construct a cesspool in 
connection with a building shall construct such cesspool 
at a distance of * feet at the least from a dwelling- 
house or public building, or any building in which any 
person may be, or may be intended to be employed in 
any manufacture, trade, or business. 
87. A person who shall construct a cesspool in con- 
nection with a building shall not construct such cesspool 
within the distance of * feet from any water supplied 
for use, or used or likely to be used by man for drinking 
or domestic purposes, or for manufacturing drinks for the 
use of man, or otherwise in such a position as to endanger 
the pollution of any such water. 
* Thirty feet should, if practicable, be the minimum. 96 
THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
88. Every person who shall construct a cesspool in 
connection with a building shall construct such cesspool 
in such a manner and in such a position as to afford 
ready means of access to such cesspool for the purpose 
of cleansing such cesspool, and of removing the contents 
thereof, and in such a manner and in such a position as 
to admit of the contents of such cesspool being removed 
therefrom, and from the premises to which such cesspool 
may belong, without being carried through any dwelling- 
house or public building, or any building in which any 
person may be, or may be intended to be employed in 
any manufacture, trade, or business. 
He shall not in any case construct such cesspool so 
that it shall have, by drain or otherwise, any outlet into 
or means of communication with any sewer. 
89. Every person who shall construct a cesspool in 
connection with a building shall construct such cesspool 
of good brickwork in cement properly rendered inside 
with cement, and with a backing of at least nine inches of 
well puddled clay around and beneath such brickwork. 
He shall also cause such cesspool to be arched or 
otherwise properly covered over, and to be provided with 
adequate means of ventilation. 
* Thirty feet, if practicable, should be the minimum. ■SHiiM 
itiMiliM 
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