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46
Riders, on the other hand, stand on a different footing. The
affirmation that "the cause of death of these two men is to
be attributed to the wretched state of the Sewer, and the
bad gases caused thereby," is in direct disagreement with the
evidence of scientific witnesses given at the enquiry, as it is
inconsistent and at variance with the terms of the verdict
itself.
Sulphuretted hydrogen, in sufficient quantity to cause
death, is not a product of Sewage under ordinary circumstances.
When found, either the gas itself or the compounds
from which it is derived, must have been introduced from
an extraneous source. Dr. Letheby, when confronted with
this question in 1861, and in reference to a similar accident,
after careful analyses of samples taken from a number and
variety of Sewers, arrived at the conclusion that sulphuretted
hydrogen found in London Sewer air, unless introduced by
some agency and from without, never exceeds 0•2 per cent.
in volume. The largest contamination of the air of the
oldest and most congested of the Parisian Sewers, determined
by Gaultier de Claubry in 1829, was 12•5 per cent.,
and taking the mean of 19 analyses made by him, such
contamination did not exceed •81 per cent.†
To induce death, or even sudden collapse from poisoning
by sulphuretted hydrogen, something more than the trace
usually found in the most stagnant sewer air is needed.
The celebrated French chemist, Duchatelet, inhaled an
atmosphere containing 29 volumes per 1,000 for a considerable
time without loss of consciousness. Coming nearer
home, the workmen engaged on the construction of the
† The Analyses of four samples of residual Sewage taken from Sewers
of Lambeth, shows the presence of Sulphuretted Hydrogen respectively, in
the following per centages, viz.: 0.07—0.22—2.05—0.38; these per centages
represent the volume found in the Sewage itself, and not in the air of the
Sewers. Vide Appendix, Nos. 6, 7, 8, 9.