The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-08-23 00:00:00

SEWAGE GRASS AND TYPHOID FEVER.

The Tuna hi e publiehed the following letter on the
above Aubject :-
Iwnto a posttlon to ciplain he occurrence of typhoid
fever from the use of milk.

We keep a small herd of cows at Wallington from which
my home in London is supplied •Ith milk, cream, and butter.
What is not required tor ..ur own use is sent to other mem-
bers of the fao by, and when there is any surplus the neigh •
boon purchase it.
• •

During this spring my son directed, without my knowledge,
thtt the cows should be red with a small proportion of
sewage gram when, without knowing the reason, the butter
Was BO c ffenstve we could not boar it on the table: the other
members of the fami y were loud in their C mglaint, and
the neighbours for a long time cone for no more butter.
- -

too; Inquity I heard-of the use of sewage rams, which
was im med I att ly entered t ihe discontinued, when the cream,
milk, and Int.ter TVIIUMed their former excellence.
This seemed to in, too serl• nil, importsot to pass un-
noticed, en I desired my son to repeat the experiment
suddenly, w'thout any notice, when the same results again
occurred. The cows like the sewage grass, at d the milk Is
slightly in-retsed in quality by Its use. The silk has a
Slight meld odour when about 24 hours' old, and has thts
quality a day or two after the cows are fed with the gissi
The butter becomes bad about a day or too alter it is
marls, and no oars In Its preparation can avert the ran.
chitty.
- • - - -

--
I have long known that the use of pu'rld ramnees affects
the quality of vegetable., and here called apectsi attention
to the fact In the book .4 if., Garden. I did not, however,
know till lately that the putrid maft,r could he taken by
animals and communicated in the dangerous putrefactive
data ny the milk to other animals.
If )ou would like to verify the experiment a cow shall he
placed at your disposal for Volt purpose, but I hare reason
I, suspect that the tact, which has a bearing upon many
social probkms, is thoroughly well known to our II alry pro-
prletors,—l remin, Arc , ALFRED SXRE.
Bank of England, Aug. 15.
The following r,plies to the above letter have also
been publiatied in The Times:
A letter In Me TOW A of Saturday from Mr. Alfred gime,
in which he write, Viet he Pi "in a position to explain the
occurrence of typhoid fever tram the use of milk," and he
proceeds to etuto, that on two differeht occasions when his
cows were let on sewage g re. a the butter became soot!, noire
that he could not beer it en ha table.

It does not, however, &opens that any of the persons who
att this butter were attacked with typhoid fever, or. Indeed,
any the worse f..r it ii that I scarcely see how lir. hove
substantiates the prnition he has take. op.
'

Moreotor, his reperlei.ce Is so diametrically opposed to
owe In tho Wary attached to this asylum, anti, It true,
would be such is strong argument &Retest sewage farms,
that I am ,unellling It ehould pan without Intther expla-
nation.

-----
We number In this establishment nesrly 1,000 malt, and
the whole of the sewage from this population, averaging
thirty flee thcusatal gala)! a a day, Is employed to Irrigate
about tight acres ot land
This Told ts °lidded Into three pertioeu. h. each portion
[taliut regra.s is groan for two 3 ears, and Matins the third
year roots. The cropping it to inausgtd abet th• re shall al-
ways he two p,,rtions of toe lend under ryegrsta and the third
utoler roots.

The rt earns' prows mnst I,An,lnntly, often reschtnt tour
feet hiah, ant is not font or live time, during the year.
• •

From the Antonin, ti aprll to the end sI Oen h r ?shoot
30 cows end 12 horses are lat almost entirely upon N. No td
effoct has ever been elps rieoced„ On ihe contrary, oar
cream ls so rlch oust stood that we are able to clot ls at car
the manlier of the D-ronahlre farmers, and I Lever knew
the butter to be bad.

f should mid that ab Int one ounce of commercial carbolic
wad la pour:. I down early wat, clo,et in the say MO each
morning, art i that the sewage' both eolisis and liquid,. is
distributed directly on to the land, and without the h ter.
nation of any tank.. Ma las been going on now for at least
12 rearm. It wouiri be listen:alb.: to arrow hew the sewage
used to irrigate Sir, smet's grants treated, as th. Co cvrs
root he something pectin', about It. am, &c, W D.
WILLIAMS, MD, Medical Superintendent fithiez Lunatic
Asylum.
Hayward...heath, Aug. 16.

It Is always a pi, y when a men of sCienCe, In a moment of
excitement, jumps to a conclusion trim an I,c,mplete
knowledge rit facts, hut it is a still greater pity who a lOW
of Mr. Some's scientific eminence pimps to a hasty conclustro,
unwarranted by fact., and embodies It tir the form of a
sensational communication to the dady press, instead of
writing to a technical or scientific journal to suggest hi.
doubts and to Lk for further lotormal m. But Mr. :irate's
enthusiastic teo,perament is sea, !flown, 11,d this hos
led him, on the preset t occadon, to a c unimion IWO his
googr laden:oft as a Yellow of the Royal Society, had he taken
time ti think about it, would have shown him booked further
,agmtuetion. that Mr S.oec's c res no Veil eosins.. grass
.m or Vain occasions, and that cobicidentelly attar such feed.
lug gave certain result. In their milk, must of cottr,e be arc
cepted as facts, because they are debts the scope of Mr
Sense's internal knowledge. But I would observe, first, that
the" rencid " and •. had " nutter were tiot nece-sorl4
the result of the food, taro ln,lat. d exoeriments stich as he
mention• being quite loselli,lent to e.tablish ans thirty .if the
sort ,ecoruily, hut If Li e bats hotter wa. the r and of
the grass it do,. not ',sew...J.lly fill. that it weather...Mr
°file sewage. there are many things requiring careful
examination in the matter :

1. How long had the grans been cut previously to the cow.
getting It?
2. Flow had It been conveyed from the orentge arm to Mr.

flaws.a'snows and how had It

keen kept or stored during the

-
whole Interval a•ter cutting?
- - -

8 Ho. 111 the buni on %11-tch ft Is produced laid out for the
nerptton of the tewmce?

4 /a it hid ont In the UR) which I have heard Mr. Smee
describe, so that the sewago stands I. ponds, stognating on
the surface of the gr. und, severs' Inches deep for men, hours,
and Petri dap, together?

b. When had the rase been sewageil lest previously to its
beim: t ut?

There is noticing sdrprislog in grass grown utoler the in -
moms I/ ,;ioated by these Ipiestlour, and posse•ly kept f
many bouts before being eaten by the cows, prolueing the
results that Mr. Bmoo talks of.
Therefore Mr. Saito las inae jump Ni. 1 to assuming
that sewage, grass properly grown on land, properly fold out,
and given to cows in a proper 1111•1111tT, malt produce list
milk But be surely makes a still more extraordioary
jump In asauming Hutt he has explained the Menlo.
bane outbreak ot typhoid by Isis little expel iment at
Wallington. There Is no reason to imppo,e that the cows
on the farm in Oxfordshire were fed on gross grown either
on the cotoriona Croydon Form, which is such a thorn
In the sides? Mr. Sone, or on any ,dher sewage lam. lint,
supposing that tinny had been, wont iambi Mr. Since need
to prove? 1. That there was typhoid fever In Cr /don. 2.
That the germs of the fever could be conveyed into and kept
In • state of ft tatty ill the grass. 8 That they could be
conveyed Into and kept hi a medlar state of In rtiiily In the
eicmacila of the noes. & That tney could simile!, be con
veyed Into the milk. 6 that, after tall these tqI•DaPII had
been gone through, in iripport of which there are no physl.
°logical tints whatever, the germs of the disease still it-
malned la • tanudit,lon to'reprudace themselves in the human
subJec•...

:Other point. sfr Sm.° states that he has long known
that the Woe of nutrld" minor, s affects the quality of vege-
tables. Will he kindly explath what he means by ' putrid "
manure,/ All manure Is ousel, putrid but of all manures,
surely tutelage is the Inset putrid, because It 14 the only
rn,nure that is slivers and necessarily used within 21, or 36
hours, at latest. alter it comes into existence.
- • -

•
Mr. Sint e tiers to place a caw at your disposal for the
purpose of experiment. I have great pleasure In offering to
place at either your disposal or that of Mr. Sm.re my entire
sewage farm at Itomford, for the purpose of any and every
experiment which he can possibly devise. Ile Can
taste vegrtab'es of all kinds crown by the sewag . Ile can
taste cheeses made with the milk, and already some months
old but not yet ripe. Ile way arab se the grass, examine
It with a microscope, amalyee and examine the milk,
watch and examine all the processes going on at the
farm. -butter making and cheesernakltig—and he may make
comparative experiments to ascertain the length of time that
toe milk, butter, c.wese, and any other produce on the farm
aid keep as Coinpertei with his own produce; xliii, finally,
ho nay do, on Doctor Spencer Conhold did, al tughter one, or.
II he likes, several of the animals, and °wee, them, ..nd
nikrmc,aplcally examine them, Anti aual)ze them, and eat
thena.—l remain, it., W. WISC.
Parolees, Aug. 16.

y taoncent from so accurate an observer at Or. Smee
tie 'nasals the most careful censideration. He soys that
sewage grass deteriorates the pewit:en of his cows ; also that
sewage affects the quality of vogrtahiss.

With regard to the former. I beg to otter a possible expla-
nation. I have noticed several crops of sewage grass they
are always coarse, rank, and luxuriant. The sewage is nodded
ovr them, and, although the grass abs ohs from the earth a
large quantity of sewage matter (or pa flubs), a considerable
nuantlty a !here, to the blades, which remains unaltered at
regards its chymical ani phy steal qualities, and is still dele-
terious.

Now. when sewage panes through earth It becomes con-
siderably changed as regards Its chymical and physical quail-
ties also, when the plant absorbs sewage mathr, it must
neeerawity become extensive.). altered before It is finally
m 21,11111401. In short, under such circumstances It Is held
that sewage 'Ankles become perfectly innocuous.
If a cow gas grass g wered with sewage pantries unal-
tered in their compottilon, I believe it may affect the milk
and butter.

With regard to other things fed by sewage, as, for csarnple,
turnips slat mansold-wurs.l, it Is different. Very little se.
ace grashes over the root., but it percolate. the earth around.
The plant titling a long time to grow. It has a h. trerchanee
of having the notions matt,/ adhering to the root w ushed
off I/ rain or rendered innocuous by the action of the air.
The grass hes not this advantage : It grows quickly, and le
soon can, lb sides which the folt.ee in dense, protecting the
Under part from the action of air and rain.

Sewage matter, however delyterious which ham perco-
laled the earth and bv-u ssahndated by a plant to I believe,
perfectly harml-aa Very daferent, however, will be the
I Sect upon the animal econ,Ymy of unaltered sewage par-
ticles nllllOll4 to the le4vea of a plant
_

The ta•sage of the nu:aeries mart, of ty pheld fever through
the system of a cow to excrete in pernicious influence upon
man is too wide • subject for this letter.
As regsreis vegetable', being affected (Dr. Omen does not
Say which way, I c neclude he means for the worse) by
putrid manures, If Dr. Smee means by that sewage, I cane
not agree with him. Some vegetables eeo not thrive on
sewage; others, mainly those which require a larger quan-
tity of water and nuerimeut, simply luxuriate on sewage.
I will undertake either to show or to send Dr. Smee some
exceedingly fine vegetables led by sewage, which, I think,
he cannot say are affected for the worse.—l remain, lee.,
WILLIAM FLOAR Erna, A. Officer of Beath to the
Combined District., of Let,eateishire.

The purport et Mr. Alfred Stuns'. Utter In The Times of
Saturday Is to show that taphold fever is Induced by the
milk of cows tel upon sewage grass, but the tvidence be ad.
duces fails entirely to show that typhoid fever bas been In-
fluenced by the milk or batter the produce of the cows which

vs been' thus fed. As eviden-3....;tf • !..et wholes-omeneas of
sewage produce, it timid he hi-own that for ten years put
an ex; eriment on a g gentle scale has been c dried on at
Croydon, which town is almost wholly supplied with milk
either brought direct from the sewage farms or Is the pro-
duce of ealries which entirely consume sewaged gnus and
other produce. Anti yet what 131 the evidence with regard to
typhoid layer? That since the compleht ventilation of the
sewers of Croydon this d's use has 1-een almost unknown
in the district The reference of Mr. WiTtam getigwick,
in The Titne• of today. to • Royal comehistion, which
at to, that typhoid is attributed to the produce of sewage
form., I. entirely without foundation. Only one case of an
outbreak of typhoid is on record In t -e neighbourhood of
Croydon which Call be attributed to milt the produce of a
sewage farm ; butte this C4lO, fortunately for the rept talon
of sewage farms, tadpoles were fauna In the milk, which at
once showed that the cause of the outbreak was not the
milk, but the polluted water wed lull. adulteratt in. For
tome years put my household have used no other milk
than that supplh d direct front a sewage form, and have
also used butter from the same source whithever we were
fortunate enough to get it. The milk hat been repeate lly
kept far teeafy.f ur hones before tong etAlrelf con.umed,
yet to ro. value of my family has ever detected anything
unoleosant in it. Os this point I may refer to • para-
graph in Dr. Carpenter's Phaxiologwal and Medical
Aspect of Sewage Irrigation, page 47, in which he aut.,
"To. chua.cter of the milk and butter obtained from cattle
Is considered • good proof of the kind of food consumed by
them." I will upon this point quote the authority of Mr.
R. W Fuller, an agriculturist and land agent of some
s'andit,g is the south of London. Ile states (Croydon
Chronicle, March 2. 1S039):—" That if there ta one thin
more thou eir,tto r p which Improper food giv n to C,..
relight be detected, it was in the ft mutt given to butter.
This was a teat which never fall. ti. Ever since Mr Mar.
entire had had the Beddingan Farm he (Mr. Fuller) had
purchased the gross grown upon these Weide His cows and
horses were tea with the gram and they were never so well
or so healthy as when so red. The milk was excellent and
In snperlor quantity ; anti with regord to the butter, he could
meg positively assert that it. torte and (tootle were perfect
His cows stood In tin ir shec• with robing to eat but the
grass and a little moth dal food, and 111 animals cc u'd 13 le
better or more healthy than they did.' It should he ob-
served that the cows of Mr. Soler were un'y fed with small
p Mon of sleaze grass. In my own exPerleoce. cons which
are only partially fed 00 0110 rich succulent sewage gems
will, it turned t'at, eat any succult no laud—sect, for trample,
as nishea, which are kno. n to glee • most disagreeable
qn .lity both ti the milk and butter. lb y may ale i rat
other herbs which will give a distinct character to the milk,
to that the mode of feeding attopttd toy Mr. Mince is no
criterion as the influence of sewage credoce on cows and if
Mr. Since or any other person chooses to meke any experi-
ment the rows should be stall-fed entirely on sewage produce,
and the tomtit will show, 'stetted by marry years' experience,
that both the quality of the nih and butter will aurpast that
produced from unirrigated lauds
It was clearly shown that the periodic outbreaks of
typhoid which affi'cted Ca3y don for some years before the
use was discovered were traceahle In every (nemee to
distinct heavy rain! all,, which had the effect of foreleg the
sewer r. ages into the houses, the recent heavy rainfalls may
have had something to do with the outbreak of typhoid in
London, for, unless c arplete ventilation of the sewen an-1
house drains Is provided, such as we have recently experienced
will surely find out the weak paees tit our sanitary arrange-
snouts—l am, ku , ltui.tWlN LATHAM, Mem. 11111 t, (ay. Rugs.,
Post Pres. Sue. Enna, Ac.
7, IVestmloster-chaniben, S.W., Aug. IS.