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accordance with this law, the hundreds of millions
of China have no sanitary evil like this with which
we have now to contend, and no one who looks
to the laws which govern the life of animals and
plants can believe that a system, which demands
the destruction of so large an amount of material
essential to the growth of the food of man, and
at the expense of producing disease during that
destruction, can long continue. It may be expedient
to carry out the main drainage plan of the
metropolis immediately; but the prevention of
the permanent loss of the elements which constitute
the refuse of our towns, is a problem fraught
with too great interest to society ever to be given
up. It seems impossible to recover these elements
from the water with which they are mixed before
passing into the sewers, and it does seem as if the
time was come when the great question must be
opened afresh, as to whether we have done right
in the introduction of water for the removal of the
human refuse in our houses. There can be no
doubt that plans as cleanly, as free from objection,
and as economical as this of water-removal might
be introduced, and which would secure the utilisation
of that which is now an entire loss, and which
it is questionable whether, under any circumstances
whatever, can be otherwise than a source of offence,
disease, and death.
Amongst the other sanitary operations of the
year, I would especially allude to the improvements