The Sun.
London, England, 1862-01-18 00:00:00

signs of offensive decomposition, notwithstanding
that in the early part of November it was charged
with a large proportion of saline and sewage matter.
At that time the total amount of dissolved consti-
tuents in the water was from 182 to 192 grains per
gallon—of this from 18 to 20 grains were organic;
but since the middle of November the k oluble mat-
ters have not exceeded 42 grains per gallon, and at
the present time they amount to only 24. The mean
temperature of the water has been 48 deg. of Fah-
renheit, and the range of the temperature has been
from 40 to 50 deg. As to the rainfall for the season,
it has not been excessive, for the total amount has
been only about 7 inches, and the number of wet
days 43, both of which are very near to the ave-
rage. Touching the sanitary work of the quarter,
1,550 houses have been carefully inspected, and 780
visits made to the common lodging-houses. These
have resulted in the issuing of 562 orders for sani-
tary improvement in the various particulars of
cleansing, limewhiting, draining, improving the
water supply,and abating indecent and unwholesome
overcrowding. All the markets and slaughter-
houses have been duly inspected, and the officers
have seized 17,0341 b. of meat, and 3,211 head of
game and poultry as unfit for human food. It con-
sisted of 53 sheep, 24 pigs, one calf, 116 quarters of
beef, and 196 joints of meat. The poultry and game
consisted of 777 fowls, 385 geese, 373 ducks, 290
pigeons, 197 wild fowl, 990 rabbits, 46 hares, 43
haunches and quarters of venison, 110 head of game,
and a hamper of larks. All the game and most of
the poultry were putrid, and of the meat 9,8381 b.
were diseased, 3,9631 b. were putrid, and 3,2331 b.
were from animals which had died from natural
causes. As soon as the meat is seized it is sprinkled
with creosote of coal-tar, which checks putrefaction
and prevents the use of it as food ; after this it is
sent to the boilers and destroyed. Although the
amount of bad meat seized in the city markets is
large, it is by no means so large as it was about a
year ago; and, as the proportion is gradually de-
clining, there is hope that the vigilance of the
inspectors in preventing the sale of such meat in the
city markets is fast putting a stop to the supply of
it. It is proper to mention that the officers have re-
ceived great assistance from the salesmen, who ge-
nerally give them no;ltice of the arrival of unwhole-
some meat. The water supply to the city by the
New River Company has been periodically tested,
and has always been found good and wholesome.
The average composition of the water has been 21.2
grains of solid matter per imperial gallon, of which
13.9 were carbonate of lime and magnesia, 2.6 sul-
phate of lime, 1.5 alkaline chloride, 1.4 alkaline ni-
trate, 0.8 silicious matter, and 1 grain organic mat-
ter. As usual, the contrast of the water with that
of the city pumps has been very marked, for the
latter have yielded from 42 to 117 grains of solid
matter per imperial gallon, of which from 2 to 10
grains were in the state of past or present decom-
position. No application has been made during the
quarter for any analysis of food or drink; and it is
to be feared, from the experience of the last six
months, that the Adulteration of Food Act will be-
come a dead letter.

The Court ordered that the report be printed and
circulated.

THE SOUTYERN EMBANKMENT OP

THE THAMES.

The following document has been issued by Mr.
John Thwaites, the Chairman of the Metropolitan
Board of Works, in reference to the points for con-
sideration by the Royal Commissioners as to the
embankment of the southern side of the Thames :
" Spring-gardens, Jan., 1862.

" Assuming the necessity for a southern em-
bankment to be conceded, it may still be useful to
consider at the outset of our inquiry the prominent
reasons for such a work, in some degree indicat-
ing the course which may most advanta-
geously be pursued. The plan already reported on
for the northern side demands the removal of very
large quantities of deposit from the shoals in the
river, many of which immediately adjoin the
southern shore. This operation will have a great
tendency to cause a constant settlement towards
the deepened portion of the river's bed, and conse-
quent injury to the piling, wharf walling, and other
defences on that side. Some of these are already
old and decayed, or were originally but imperfectly
adapted to their situation, and hence we may
conclade that it will be necessary to provide a solid
wharf wall along all that part of the southern shore
which fronts the embankment previously recom-
mended. But there is another urgent reason for a
southern embankment, which must exercise a con-
siderable influence on the framing of any seheme
for that side, namely, its constant liability to injury
from flooding. The extent of this evil, its heavy
pressure on the large labouring population of the
parishes adjoining the river, the misery, sickness,
and death produced by its periodical recurrence,
with the consequent heavy charges on the rates,
can only be thoroughly appreciated by those who
have themselves witnessed its effects. Obviously,
to carry out thoroughly any effective remedy, the
future embankment must be of sufficient height to
be above the reach of the highest tide, namely, 16
feet above the Ordnance datum, and it should be
at least conterminous with the thickly inhabited
portion of London beyond the Thames. Itsprecise
limits will depend upon the evidence hereafter to
be laid before the Commiss:oners ; but the termi-
nation of the embankment already carried out by
her Majesty's Office of 'Works, in connection with
Battersea Park bridge, might form a convenient
commencement on the western side. Some difference
of opinion will probably exist as to its extent east-
wards; but it must be remembered that London-
bridge forms neither the moral nor material limit
of the metropolitan area. The inhabitants of Ber-
mondsey and Rotherhithe suffer equally from floods
with those of Lambeth and St. Saviour's, and are
equally contributory to metropolitan burdens.
"Doubtless the liability to repair, maintain, and
raise the banks and defences of all rivers and
watercourses rested originally with the owners of
property, and this liability was maintained by
the Metropolitan Sewers Act, sec. 38, and the
Metropolis Local Management Act, sec. 69. The
third head of inquiry is the improvement of the
means of communication in connexion with the
embankment. The new street in the course of for-
mation by the Metropolitan Board of Works, taken
as the continuation of Stamford-street and the
York-road, will form a very complete inland line of
traffic from east to west; but, valuable as it is, in-
creased facilities to the great transport trade on
the southern bank, from Nine Elms to London-
bridge, are urgently demanded. Along certain por-
tions of this bank several excellent links are found,
such as that afforded by the Commercial and Belvi-
dere roads, and less completely by Bankside ; but
the defective sections adjoining Lambeth Palace,
thence to Vauxhall, and between Blackfriars-bridge
and Bankside, greatly need amelioration. What
remedies it may be possible to afford for these ac-
knowledged evils, what particular mode of construc-
tion it may be convenient to adopt, and what line
of embankment and thoroughfare will be most
commodious and economical to follow, are obviously
questions demanding very patient investigation,
and on which much light will probably be thrown
by the evidence which will be offered to the Com-
mission. It is clear that it will not be possible to
assimilate the operations on the south side in any
degree to those on the north. The displacement of
the river side trade already recommended in the
Commissioners' report must increase the demand
for premises on the south side, and any further in-
terference with wharf property would be highly
impolitic. Without prejudging the solution of
the problem by the Commissioners, their attention
may fairly be directed to the useful suggestions
afforded by the mode in which Mr. Thomas Cubitt
effected a somewhat similar operation at Pimlico.
No two engineering problems admit an identical
solution, and Mr. Cubitt's dispositions would, doubt-
less, require modification ; but still his combina-
tion of the requirements of trade with the advan-
tages of convenient communication appears to
be a peculiarly happy one, and deserving of atten-
tive study. In addition to the engineering wit-
nesses who may be examined, the local authorities,
large manufacturers and warfingers, and other com-
mercial interests, can afford very valuable informa-
tion as to their peculiar wants, and the best mode
of satisfying them. A circular of inquiries to the