REMARKS

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DRY EARTH CONSERVANCY.

By THEOBALD 11INGEE, M.D., 40th Regt. JST. I., Offg. Civil Surgkon, &c.

Under instructions from the Inspector General of Prisons, ]Korth-"Western Provinces, numerous experiments werec arried out during the past year in the " Banda Jail," with a view of

testing the time necessary to arrest permanently the putrefactive process of deodorized excreta, as well as to ascertain the deodori-

zing properties of the various kinds of earth found in the neigh- bourhood. The result of these experiments may he briefly stated as follows, viz.:?

1st.?The soil of Banda consists chiefly of a gravelly, sandy, and clay loam, and the black or so-called cotton soil of Bundle- eund.

2nd.?Two seers of either kind of earth are required to com- pletely deodorize and render pulverulent fourteen ounces of foeces; the mass thus formed undergoes no putrefactive process afterwards, even when mixed with water into mud. 3rd.?The average quantity of foeces passed by a native may

be estimated at fourteen ounces in twenty-four hours, and of urine

about fourty-five ounces, and although two seers of earth are requir- ed to deodorize fourteen ounces of foeces, and about the same quan- tity to render 'twenty ounces of urine portable for all practical pur- poses ; when the excreta are removed at once andburiedin trenches, as is carried out in this jail, considerably less earth is required ; for instance, the foeces and urine of 283 prisoners took eighteen maunds of earth. This was buried in a trench 2J feet deep, with one foot of earth thrown over it, and on being opened eleven

days afterwards, no unpleasant smell was perceptible : this ex- periment was made during the rainy season.

4th.?Earth, manured and unmanured, from the jail garden soorkee, sand, potter's clay?were mixed in the same proportions (as the other earths) and with similar results; there was no

perceptible difference in their deodorizing powers; in fact, from the numerous experiments made with the soils of this district, all appear to answer equally well as " deodorizers."

5th.??' Poudrette," in a moderately dry state, was stored in an

empty barrack and kept from the direct action of wet, during the

rainy season. It was examined on several occasions, but no

disagreeable smell was perceptible at any time, nor did it undergo decomposition. 6th.?A pit, four feet long, four feet wide, and eight feet deep,

was dug outside the jail, and filled on 29th July with poudrette (dry) to within two feet, covered over with earth, which was well rammed down, and carried a few inches above the level of the

surrounding ground, so as to prevent the lodgment of water imme-

diately over and around its edges. Trenches, two feet wide, two feet deep, and six feet long, were

also filled with