weeds, &c.--is made, all dead cats, hens, or puppies finding burial there;
and the whole closely covered with earth to absorb, as fresh earth has the
power to do, all foul gases and vapors; and if at intervals the pile is
wet through with liquid from the cesspool, the richest form of fertilizer
is secured, and one of the great agricultural duties of man
fulfilled,--that of "returning to the soil, as fertilizers, all the salts
produced by the combustion of food in the human body."

Where the water-supply is brought into the house from a common reservoir,
much the same rules hold good. We can not of course control the character
of the general supply, but we can see to it that our own water and waste
pipes are in the most perfect condition; that traps and all the best
methods of preventing the escape of sewer-gas into our houses are
provided; that stationary or "set" basins have the plug always in them;
and that every water-closet is provided with a ventilating pipe
sufficiently high and long to insure the full escape of all gases from the
house. Simple disinfectants used from time to time--chloride of lime and
carbolic acid--will be found useful, and the most absolute cleanliness is
at all times the first essential.

With air and water at their best, the home has a reasonable chance of
escaping many of the sorrows brought by disease or uncertain health; and,
the power to work to the best advantage being secured, we may now pass to
the forms that work must take.




CHAPTER IV.