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objects might be obtained were several parishes to
unite together and act upon a common plan, and
that it would cost less than the present inefficient,
often offensive and unhealthy system.
The cesspools filled up during the past year were
sixty-four. Wherever cesspools have been found,
they have been discovered as the result of discomfort,
disease, or death. There is no doubt in my
mind that the condition of the Thames in the
summer of 1858, was brought on by the increased
sanitary activity of the parishes of London during
the two preceding years. Injurious as undoubtedly
the state of the atmosphere was in the months of
June and July, the gases producing this effect were
less dangerous in the free air over the river than
under the dwelling houses and near to the sleeping
rooms of the inhabitants of London. As our
sanitary action proceeds we may expect that each
year will increase the effect of the sewage on the
Thames: until something is done permanently to
relieve the river of the burden of suspending, decomposing,
and depositing a mass of animal and
vegetable refuse, amounting to upwards of a
thousand tons a day.
No one can think on this subject without being
reminded of the value of the matters that thus
poison our houses and our rivers. Under Divine
direction, this precious refuse was ordered to be
applied to its natural purpose in the economy of
nature by the old Jewish people. Acting in