Under certain points of view, salubrity confounds itself with health; on another side, it governs health; because, without it no good rules of health can be established. Thus it has engaged the special attention of the council. We see them to shrink from no difficulty, from no mission, however painful, however dangerous even, it may be. Nothing escapes their vigilant attention, and the administration is always sure to have their aid in all the amendments that it wishes to introduce into this important branch of public service. It is thus that they pass in review all which appertains to the wholesomeness of sewers, to the improvement of the paving, to the establishment of street-fountains, to the flow of water for domestic or manufacturing purposes, to the cleansing of wells, and of waste-water wells. The construction of the receptacles of privies, those incessant causes of insalubrity and inconvenience, occupies them above all. Here is what they say upon this point:—
“The emptying of the privies in the city of Paris has become a very heavy expense to the proprietors, and the expense is always on the increase, in consequence of the modifications in the construction of the receptacles, and the more abundant use of water; a use rendered necessary by the actual form of the seats, and still more by the introduction of private baths.
“It is evident that the first condition for obtaining a result at once economical and salubrious, is to separate, on the spot, the solid matter from the liquid, to preserve what has an intrinsic value, and to reject what is only cumbersome.
“For more than half a century some men, animated by love for the public good, and several speculators, have directed their researches to discover a method of making this separation. At the head of these are Girard and Gourlier, Casaneuve, Sanson, Derosne, Chaumet, the authors of the article in the Mémorial de l’Officier du Génie, and, lastly, the architects Payen and Dalmont.
“The system of Gourlier is seducing: if it has not yet been submitted to all the trials it requires, we are able to predict before hand that it will succeed, and that it will be productive of advantage.
“The benefits of the project of Gourlier are found in a higher degree in that which has been adopted in barracks.[[55]]
“The system of movable receptacles has the sanction of time, is applicable everywhere, facilitates the removal of the contents, and enables it to be done without smell or dirt: it preserves the workmen from the dangers of asphyxy, prevents the decay of our houses, and contributes to augment the disposable mass of manure.
“To prevent the gravest consequences, it is essential not to conduct the liquid from the privies into waste-water wells, and put them in communication with the upper layer of the soil in which our wells are sunk. Prudence requires that the liquid should not be directed into the second layer, which in many parts of Paris furnishes very good water. If it is possible, without great inconvenience, to conduct it into channels altogether lower, it is still the opinion of many experienced persons that it ought not to be done under Paris for any very considerable quantities of water, and that it is necessary to reserve this resource for localities badly situated, and which are rarely met with.
“All the proofs show that the liquid of the privies may be discharged into the Seine without inconvenience. An investigation conducted formerly by Hallé and Fourcroy, on the sweepings of Paris, adds great weight to this opinion. The ancient and recent gaugings, as well as the daily observation of facts, demonstrate that the quantity of dirty water sent into the Seine would be so small compared to the water of the river, that it would always remain unperceived, and could in no way be injurious to health.
“To convey these waters to the Seine, the first idea which presents itself is to cast them into one of the three great sewers which surround Paris on the north.