from the solid a monthly saving of about £140 for maintenance has been effected. Since leaving Kimberley for Johannesburg, Dr. Turner, the late Medical Officer of Health, has applied to me for full particulars, with a view to erecting similar ones in his new sphere of action, and Dr. Ried, the present M.O.H. for Kimberley, has expressed his entire approval of the Latrines and the manner in which they are worked. During the present year I have been entrusted with the working of the Sanitary Service of this town, and as soon as possible preparations were made, experimental at first, at the Municipal Sanitary Site, for separating the liquids from the solids. Formerly the tank wagons discharged their contents into trenches, the overflow water from which was conveyed to large pits. My new process, which is still in the embryo stage, will separate the matters as they leave the wagons, the liquid running into a channel, from which it will be pumped and distributed over the ploughed surface of the ground, and the solids will be stacked in layers with red ground in galvanised wire-netting bins for future use, I hope, for fertilising purposes. As a result I shall look for a saving in working expenses, a minimum amount of offensiveness to the senses, and eventually extensive cultivation, though I anticipate difficulty with the liquid unless dilution be possible. I have endeavoured to emphasise the necessity of keeping free, or freeing, solid excrement from liquid of any description; this really is the whole purport of my paper, and I trust that I have not wearied you in the attempt, but I consider the matter of high importance, and worthy of further following up. There is still something more to which your attention should be drawn in connection with the subject. A dry earth closet, known as O'Brien's, and which hails from Australia, I believe, is well known in the Cape Peninsula, and through my suggestion has been adopted in the Kimberley Town Hall, and is also being installed at the Public Latrine on our Market Square. It may not be generally known, however, that this closet separates the liquid from the solid excre ment, by means of a perforated pail, the urine being received in a receptacle underneath. The system is admirable where it can receive the little due attention it requires, and I have nothing but praise for it. I am not in a position, however, to recommend its universal adoption as yet, owing to the misuse to which it may be subjected at some hands. But there are many points in its favour. It is the least offensive earth closet I have experienced; the pail being removed from the front, there is no draughty flap at the back to worry one; and certainly if this system could be universally adopted, there would be no unpleasant odours floating about our streets during the process of removals; with this system the removals could, in my opinion, be safely carried on during the day. I have now given three instances, and all are in connection with this Borough, of satisfactory results following the principles laid down in this paper. At our Native Location, on economical, sanitary, or efficiency grounds, I am certain that the present system in vogue is superior to any conservancy system yet devised. At our Municipal Sanitary Site, the same advantages are being proved, but I must admit that I should have liked my work there to have had a longer test before writing about it. As regards O'Brien's Closet, I pointed out that it is the least offensive earth closet that I have met, and I believe that if universally adopted this method could be worked cheaper than the ordinary pail system, but I have stated that I cannot yet recommend its general use. You will agree, I think, from the details I have here given you, that the Pails System, as carried out in this country, is capable of very great improvement, and that it is only right for the comfort and well-being of all concerned that where it is intended to continue such a system every effort should be made to conduct it upon the best possible lines. I have carefully refrained from arbitrary details; they can be varied and still be correct. It is the principle which I feel is not sufficiently well known, upon which all stress should be laid. It must ever be remembered that to mix liquid of any description with solid excrement is dangerous, disgusting, and complicating, and has caused deaths incalculable, both through cesspools and sewers. It is, I think, entirely unnecessary to discourse further on the method herein alluded to, for I am certain that if any one of you will but experiment in a proper manner upon the lines laid down, you will be astonished with the success that will be achieved. So far my paper has only dealt with the disposal of solid excrement, and may consequently be considered incomplete without some reference to the disposal of urine and slop water. It is not my intention, however, to deal with these matters at length now. Suffice it to say that at my Latrines in our Native Location the urine is most satisfactorily dealt with in the soft wood sawdust, being ultimately buried as a solid manure. In the O'Brien Closet, too, it is received into a receptacle under the perforated pail into a mixture supplied by the patentee, and causes no offence. Several successful filtering urinals have been devised, and some are even in use in this country and Australia, and in the Northern Countries of Europe, where it has been found impossible to adopt the watercarriage system, and the question of improving their other methods. has been directly forced home to the people. As regards the removal and disposal of slop-water, if other means are found impracticable, a partial or complete system of slop sewers could be adopted, which could be far less intricate, far less expensive, than sewers to take solid sewage, and could also be made self-cleansing without requiring clean water to flush them. The argument that if sewers be constructed they may be made to take everything, is wrong, for then, as I have tried to point out throughout this paper, our troubles would begin, and it is difficult to say when or where they would end. I do not wish it to be thought that I am entirely opposed to sewagę sewers, for towns are allowed to grow to such lengths, and carry such enormous populations on small areas that sewers are undoubtedly a very quick and easy manner of removing foul matters. But because it has been found necessary, no other satisfactory means having been discovered, to introduce sewage sewers into our larger towns, it does not follow that every town and village should be so provided, and therefore when other methods are in vogue at these places, let them be as decent as possible, and improved upon at every opportunity. There were other questions connected with Sanitary Science to which at first I intended referring; I think, however, that I have chosen the most urgent portion of my subject, and that it has been amply sufficient for the scope of a short paper. Before finally concluding, a few words with reference to the work of the Sanitary Inspector in this country may not be out of place. Year after year Blue Books are published dealing with the Public Health. Insanitary conditions are continually being pointed out. Suggestions have been made that Sanitary Inspectors should be appointed under Divisional Councils to supervise the work of sanitation in the various villages within their area, but I have not heard of a single such appointment being made. Qualified Inspectors have been brought into the country by Municipalities from time to time, but, to my knowledge, several have drifted into other professions and others may follow their example. This surely is a pity, and a retrograde rather than a progressive movement. It is important, I think, that Municipal Officials should be more in touch with one another for the interchange of ideas. Sanitary progress has been very slow, and will continue so, so long as the smaller towns and villages fail to appoint qualified men and try to improve matters by simply writing to another town whose system might be good or might be bad, but totally unsuited to those seeking information, though no one is in a position to point this out. It is with appreciation that I acknowledge the honour of having been asked to write this paper, and the duty has been a pleasure to me. I trust that my views have been clearly expressed, and if it is considered that they have been directed in the right direction that good will result. Personally, I shall look forward with interest to perusing papers on this or other branches of this subject in connection with future Congresses of the South African Association for the Advancement of Science. = By C. D. H. BRAINE, ASSOC. M. INST. C.E. In January, 1905, the Governor of the Transvaal and Orange The Hon. Mr. Justice Wessels. Mr. W. L. Strange, M. Inst.C.E. Mr. J. A. Neser. Mr. E. Rooth. Mr. G. D. Adamson. Mr. E. R. Grobler. Mr. D. C. H. Braine, Assoc. M. Inst. C. E., Secretary. The Part of my duty, as Secretary of the Commission, was to hold meetings in various parts of the Transvaal, so as to explain to farmers, and others, the work being done by the Commissioners, and to discuss with them the various suggestions under consideration. The total number of meetings held amounted to thirty-seven, and in going from place to place I have travelled over the greater part of the Transvaal. During the tour I took every opportunity of visiting the irrigated farms along the route, and I found farm irrigation in a very primitive condition. One or two farms stand out as brilliant examples of what can be done; but in most cases the work is very unsatisfactory and shows great lack of knowledge and care, water being often badly and wastefully used. Proper irrigation is the result of scientific as well as practical knowledge, and the most successful men are those who irrigate with due regard to scientific principles. These principles are not generally understood by our farmers, and I believe no experiments on the duty, and use, of water have ever been made in South Africa until last year. It is greatly to the credit of the Transvaal Agricultural and Irrigation Departments that such experiments are now being carried out at Potchefstroom; but they have not been instituted long enough to give decisive results. Many experiments of the sort have, however, been made in the United States of America, and, as the climatic conditions in the Western States are so similar to those in South Africa, the important results obtained should be invaluable to irrigators in this colony, and form a useful guide to our own experiments. The bulletins and other publications on the subject are not known to the average farmer, and it should be part of the duty of every Irrigation Engineer to keep in touch with the work being done in other countries, and impart the knowledge to our agriculturalists. There is so much to be learnt on the subject, and the results are of such great economic value, that it would be in the interests of agriculture if Government experiment irrigation stations were started in various parts of the country. |