ir pump or by means of steam injected into it, which, on
condensation, forms a vacuum; and the contents of the cesspit are
drawn through the tube by the atmospheric pressure into the cylinder
or barrels. A plan which is practically an extension of this system
has been introduced by Captain Liernur in Holland. He removes the
faecal matter from water closets and the sedimentary production of
kitchen sinks by pneumatic agency. He places large air-tight tanks in
a suitable part of the town, to which he leads pipes from all houses.
He creates a vacuum in the tanks, and thus sucks into one center the
faecal matter from all the houses. Various substitutes have been tried
for the cesspit, which retain the principle of the hand removal of
excreta. The first was the combination of the privy with an ashpit
above the surface of the ground, the ashes and excreta being mixed
together, and both being removed periodically. The next improvement
was the provision of a movable receptacle. Of this type the simplest
arrangement is a box placed under the seat, which is taken out, the
contents emptied into the scavenger's cart, and the box replaced. The
difficulty of cleansing the angles of the boxes led to the adoption of
oval or round pails. The pail is placed under the seat, and removed at
stated intervals, or when full, and replaced by a clean pail. In
Marseilles and Nice a somewhat similar system is in use. They employ
cylindrical metal vessels furnished with a lid which closes
hermetically, each capable of holding 11 gallons. The household is
furnished with three or four of these vessels, and when one is full
the lid is closed hermetically, the vessel thus remaining in a
harmless condition in the house till taken away by the authorities and
replaced by a clean one. The contents are converted into manure. In
consequence of the offensiveness of the open pail, the next
improvement was to throw in some form of deodorizing material daily.
In the north of England the arrangement generally is that the ashes
shall be passed through a shoot, on which they are sifted--the finer
fall into the pail to deodorize it, the coarser pass into a box,
whence they can be taken to be again burned--while a separate shoot is
provided for kitchen refuse, which falls into another pail adjacent.

Probably the best known contrivance for deodorizing the excreta is the
dry earth system as applied in the earth closet, in which advantage is
taken of the deodorizing pr