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opacity and volume go together. As the sections dealing with smoke
are taken from the Statutes of 1853 and 1866, it is probable that it was
intended that proceedings should only be taken in regard to black
smoke which was opaque at the point of exit, but if a magistrate is
satisfied that the smoke is a nuisance then the facts as to density and
volume should be considered by him in assessing the penalty to be
imposed. The greyer the smoke, the less should be the fine. It has
been proved by experience that the emission of smoke from furnaces can
be completely prevented by proper construction, the use of various
appliances, suitable coal, and effective stoking. Further, this can be
effected with a considerable saving, as a cheaper coal can be burned.
" Smoke as Nuisance.—Sufficient facts have been accumulated to
show that smoke, in any quantity, is a nuisance—destructive of health,
of vegetation, of buildings, works of art, &c. The Hon. Rollo Russell
has calculated that smoke costs London over £5,000,000 annually,
nearly all of which could be saved if coal smoke could be excluded from
the atmosphere. A comparison of the amount of sunshine enjoyed in
Westminster and at Kew shows that the latter has 30 per cent. more
than Westminster (see Annual Report for 1907, p. 7). The fall of soot
has been estimated to amount to 40 cwt. per acre per annum. Soot
consists, to a certain extent, of particles of unburnt carbon, but, in
addition, every million cubic feet of chimney gases from an ordinary
domestic fire contains about 5½ lbs. of heavy oily substances, which
condense on the carbon particles. In addition there is a considerable
quantity of sulphuric acid given off from the combustion of coal (coal
contains about 2 per cent. of sulphur, and in the process of conversion
into sulphuric acid, each atom of sulphur takes away from the air 3 of
oxygen). It has been calculated that nearly half a million tons of this
corrosive acid is poured out in gaseous form from the chimneys of
London annually; much of this adheres to the particles of soot.
" It is unnecessary to enumerate the evils which result from the
presence of this quantity of corrosive, tarry soot, they will occur at once
to the mind, but residents in London have become so accustomed to
them that, it is, probably, only in periods of fog that their attention is
directed to the question. Sir Oliver Lodge, writing on the subject of
' Fog,' gays: ' A fog which consists solely of condensed aqueous vapour
ought to be evaporated and cleared up by the general warmth of a great
city, so that dwellers in a well-drained town should be freer from the
nuisance than those who live in open country or on the sea-board. That
it is intensely worse is due to its adulteration with the products of
imperfect combustion. A very considerable proportion of this contamination
of the air arises from domestic and office fires. A great part of
the coal thrown on office fires is not burnt at all, but is merely distilled