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4
drainage but the waste water from the kitchen sink. As all the
rest of the offices were well drained, the existence of this
oesspool was not even suspected, much less known, because from
the manner of its construction its contents could not be seen
through the grating. Another instance was that of a house,
the basement of which was flooded after heavy rains, and as the
water was clear and not sewage, it was supposed to have been
caused by land springs, but drainage of the basement did not
make matters any better. Every effort was made to detect the
cause, which remained undiscovered until a deep cutting was
made along the garden walk of the adjoining house for purposes
of drainage, when the owner of the first-named house thought
that an examination of the ground might give some clue to the
dampness of his house. On looking into the trench he saw that
a drain had been cut across, and on putting a stick into each
end of the drain, he found that it ran in the direction of his
house. This was an old field drain, which still drained the
adjoining gardens, and had been cut off close to the footings
by the workmen when building the house. This drain was
connected with the new drain in his neighbour's garden, when
the cure was complete. This is the second instance I have
known of dampness in houses being caused by field drains
having been cut off instead of being connected with the new
drains. Many other nuisances also arose from neglect of workmen.
Thus a very offensive smell was noticed in a house in which there
had been frequent cases of illness, which was attributed by the
medical attendant to sewer gas. The smell was most perceptible
in a bedroom, and on taking up the floor boards an open 2-inch
leaden pipe was found. On making enquiry it was ascertained
that the former tenant had had a bath in the room, and
the plumber had simply contented himself when removing
the bath with cutting through the pipe, which was directly
connected with the soil pipe, instead of properly closing it. In
another instance the basement of a house was made quite wet
by the supply pipe to a wash-hand basin having been cut off
close to the supply pipe of the house, and imperfectly knocked