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166
which is added to deodorize the sewage before being discharged
into the river at the Outfalls. The conclusions arrived at from
chemical examinations are, in the main, borne out by the
microscopical evidence obtained by Mr. Dibdin. Thus, for
example, no muscular fibre or spiral vessels, indicating animal
matter, appear beyond Gravesend, although vegetable fibre and
hairs were traced as far as Southend. The percentage of
particles of flint, indicating road detritus, is higher in Section 1
than in any of the other three. From Southend to Harwich
there were very few fibres of any kind, but at that town they
were again met with, and sewage pollution was evident. On
the north shore, from Yantlet Flat to Margate, nothing of a
sewage character was met with beyond occasional woollen and
cotton fibres. Samples taken from the two sand banks ("Gunfleet"
and "Little Sunk") showed, under the microscope, no
signs of sewage pollution. A large amount of detailed information
is set out in Tabular Appendices to both of the Reports
upou which the conclusions in the body of the Reports have
been founded.
It will be remembered that Sir Henry Roscoe's engagement
with the Metropolitan Board of Works was for a
limited period, which expired on the 25th March last, before
which date the Board itself came to a premature end. The
County Council, while hoping to enable to avail themselves, in
the future, of Sir Henry Roscoe's services, did not think it
necessary to renew his appointment upon their own accession to
the responsible position occupied by the Board in relation to
the sewage question ; so that the investigations have, for the
present at least, come to a close. Sir Henry Roscoe's reports,
meanwhile, are on record, and they undoubtedly embody a
great mass of valuable scientific information, which will be of
service in any future inquiry. It remains to be seen what will
be the effect upon the river of the costly scheme of subsiding
reservoirs, and of the deodorization of the sewage, to which the
Council no doubt will give a fair trial, although the old Board