Report to the honorable the Commissioners of Sewers of the City of London, upon the results of the experiment of applying charcoal to the sewer ventilators / by H. Letheby and W. Haywood.

  • Letheby, H. (Henry), 1816-1876.
Date:
1862
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report to the honorable the Commissioners of Sewers of the City of London, upon the results of the experiment of applying charcoal to the sewer ventilators / by H. Letheby and W. Haywood. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    atmospheric oxygen, but from the presence of sul- phuretted hydrogen; and this the charcoal of the respirator would destroy. It is desirable therefore that each of the sewer men be provided with a respirator of this construction, and be advised to use it when the air of the sewer is expected to be unusually offensive, and when they are disturbing large deposits of mud. There will be, doubtless, difficulty in compelling men to use these precau- tions ; but if they are provided for their use, the Commission will have the satisfaction, should an accident again occur, of knowing they have done the utmost in their power to prevent it. 31. The second part of this branch of the inquiry—is as to the effect the introduction of the system has had upon the sanitary condition of the houses, as regards the escape of sewer gases into them from the drains. Upon this head our infor- mation is of a negative character. All that can be said is that we have had no evidence of increase of effluvium in the interior of dwellings; nor do the mortality or sickness returns indicate an unusual amount of disease of a pythogenic character. Un- fortunately, as has been pointed out by your Engineer in his Report on the Ventilation of Sewers, there are evidences that from most of the house drains, even in the houses of the better