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have been made against the present ventilators, even when
placed in more open situations than that just mentioned.
It is not necessary to prove that the emanations from
sewers are highly dangerous to animal life, for experience
seems to have decided this question. Indeed, a very
conclusive proof of their fatal tendency occurred near
to our own dwellings, when the Kennilworth Sewer was
opened at Pimlico in October 1849, when five men were
as suddenly poisoned by the sewer gases as if they had
swallowed prussic acid. Many other similar instances
have occurred in the metropolis since that period, one in
June 1857, at the Green Bank Sewer at Wapping Wall,
and another in August following in a branch sewer at
Whitechapel. We have also met with cases likely to
prove very dangerous, owing to leakage from pipes connected
with water closets. The walls of the rooms
become damp, and noxious exhalations escape; but should
they be used for sleeping apartments, the danger to
health and life is increased.
Neither is it requisite to enter fully into the merits of
antiseptics, or anti-putrescents, deodorizers, and disinfectants,
although they may be very useful under certain
circumstances. The two first have been considered to be
inexpedient for the present purpose, unless they could be
applied before sewage matter had become decomposed,
which is impracticable. With regard to the two latter,
some are difficult of application, others would be dangerous
to the workmen, and most would be too expensive,
when it is remembered that there are about thirty miles of
sewage to deal with in this parish. Some, however, of the
disinfectants are extremely valuable, by bringing the
putrid matters into contact with the atmospheric oxygen.
Of these, charcoal is esteemed the most useful to fulfil the