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one, to let an insanitary house. The legal maxim caveat emptor
cannot equitably apply in cases like these. There should be an
implied warranty, when a house is let, that it is in a proper
sanitary condition, that it is fit to live in, and before long I hope
that this will be established as a principle of law.
METROPOLITAN BOARD OF WORKS AND THE
SEWAGE QUESTION.
In my Annual Reports for 1886 and 1887, I referred,
under the heading, " Metropolitan Main Drainage," to the steps
taken by the Metropolitan Board of Works to clarify and
deodorize the Sewage of the Metropolis before its discharge into
the River, well founded complaints having been made with
regard to the condition of the river resulting from the introduction
of enormous volumes of crude sewage.
For the purpose of clarification, or precipitation of the solid
matters, lime and green vitriol were employed, supplemented
by the addition of manganate of soda and sulphuric acid to
the effluent when necessary. These last-named materials,
however, were alleged to be unnecessary when the river water
and the sewage were cool, and the latter much diluted by rainfall.
But their addition, it was stated, purified and deodorized
the effluent to such an extent as to render its discharge into the
river unobjectionable at all states of the tide, a statement very
generally traversed. I mentioned also that the Board, in order
to prevent nuisance within the Metropolis arising from the discharge
of offensive gases from the sewer ventilators, were applying
the manganate and acid, at numerous stations, to the sewage
as it flows through the main sewers. It was hoped that this
plan would ensure the arrival of the sewage at the outfalls in a
deodorized condition, and thus assist in the production of a
satisfactory effluent. The object the Board had was to avoid the