The sanitation of domestic buildings / by Frank Latham.

  • Latham, Frank.
Date:
[1898]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The sanitation of domestic buildings / by Frank Latham. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    effects, whilst the most dreaded and infectious diseases may be traced to bad drains, the germs of disease being contained in and conveyed by the escaping drain air. In many old houses, where the drainage has not been modernised, it is frequently the rule to find their condition unsanitary. Cases have come under the author's notice where the cesspool has, or cesspools have, been found beneath the kitchen floor, these having no proper ventilation. The yard of a house will perhaps be undermined with cesspools, the owners following the custom of emptying the contents of the old into a newly-dug one, these overflowing the one into the other, old wells being not infrequently utilised for such pur- poses. The cesspool and well are sometimes dis- covered side by side, the steining (when it exists) of the latter bearing distinct greasy marks of sewage percolation. The closets and other domestic arrangements are often placed under the staircase and other unsuitable corners, whence they ventilate into the house. The position of storage cisterns in many houses permits of no proper access for cleansing and in- spection purposes, the cisterns themselves being without suitable covering, and not effectually cut off from communication with the drains. In some cases, where it is readily accessible from the bedrooms, servants may, if the cistern be not covered and locked, dip and wash filthy articles in the water. These are, then, some of the defects which frequently exist in old houses, and it is even far from rare in houses of recent date for such arrangements to be