The Sun.
London, England, 1849-10-16 00:00:00

PEAT CHARCOAL AS A DEODORISER.
A lecture on the properties of peat charcp4l as a
deodorising agent was delivered last night in the
theatre of the Mechanics' Institution, Southampton-
buildings, Chancery-lane, by Mr. Jasper Rogers,
whose name has been for some time before the public
in connexion with this subject. Mr. Shaw, the
editor of the Mark-lane Express, was called to the
chair. There was a very numerous attendance of
auditors, comprising several gentlemen distinguished
for their scientific attainments.
The lecturer commenced by a description of peat
charcoal, as found in the Irish bogs, which, he said,
oossessed in itself fertilising properties ; and in proof
of this he related several experiments which had been
made of the application of peat charcoal to potatoes,
&c., the result of which was a crop double that pro-
duced where ordinary manure had been used: ,:But it
its
peculiar when used in combination with nightsoil that
peculiar properties became most apparent. It then
retained all its own fertilising properties, while it
also possessed the power of absorbing, deodorising, and
retaining for the purposes of vegetation Fall the
chemical properties of nightsoil ; and the two
substances thus combined formed a manure more
valuable than any ever before offered to the world.
When put on the land peat charcoal had the power of
drawing to itself all the ammonia and salts which
every shower of rain brought down; and as it gave
out nutriment to the plant, it received a new supply,
from the atmosphere, thus forming an almost inex-
haustible reservoir of manure and moisture. He then
proceeded to describe its deoderizing effects as
applicable to a large city; and in the course of his ob-
servations he condemned the system both of cesspools
and of sewers. His plan would be to have a tank
provided for every house, communicating with the
water-closet on the one side and the common sewer
on the other; the bottom of the tank covered with the
peat charcoal, through which the water would
percolate into the sewer, while the solid parts would
be absorbed and deodorised in the tank, such tank to
be emptied at stated intervals. Or, if this should be
objected to as involving too much trouble—though he
did not see that it would involve more than the
present system of emptying the dust •holes
of the metropolis—the same principle could be
carried out on a large scale by having a street
tank, or even one capable. of acting as a receptacle
for 500 houses. The expense of a house tank would
be from 101. to 15/. ; the expense of a street tank
would not be more than 7501.; exclusive of the cost
of earthen pipes from each house, leading into it;
and the value of the manure would repay the cost
tenfold. He proposed to apply the same principle to
churchyards, as he was satisfied that if the surface
of a churchyard was covered for three or four inches
with granulated prepared charcoal, and that again
with a small quantity of macadamised stones, no
odour would penetrate through such a covering. So
with regard to the filtration of water, he was satis-
fied that the present complaints of the citizens might
be allayed without the formation of new water com-
panies, if the water at present obtained was only
properly filtered. He proposed to allow the water to
rise up through a stratum of charcoal and a sponge,
and it would then become like spring water. In fact,
that principle of charcoal in the filtration of water
had long been known ; the only objection to its ap-
plication lay in the price. Formerly it could not
be obtained under 91. per ton, but since peat had
been used, it could be had for from 21. 103. to 31.
per ton.

The lecture was illustrated by diagrams of the
tanks proposed, and the means by which their con-
tents were to be removed ; and at the close of the
lecture an experiment of the deodorising power of the
charcoal was made, by mixing together and passing
through a machine two parts of charcoal to one of
night soil. Three judges were appointed to test the
fairness of the experiment, of whom Sir Charles Aldis
was one. The combined matter, after being ground
together in the mschine, came out a fine granulated
powder, which. Sir Charles and the other judges
declared to be perfectly free from smell—as free,
indeed, from any unpleasant odour as the purest
earth. The other gentlemen appointed to act as
judges concurred in this opinion.
After some conversation Sir CHARLES ALDIS moved
a resolution, that the experiment had been fairly and
openly performed; and that the results justified the
predictions and sustained the facts advanced by Mr.
Rogers in the course of his lecture.
The motion was seconded and unanimously agreed to.
Thanks were then voted to Mr. Rogers for the
lecture, and to Mr. Shaw for his conduct in the chair,
after which the meeting separated.

SERIOUS ACCIDENT TO LIEUTENANT KINLOCff.—
On Wednesday Lieutenant Kinloch, Grenadier Guards,
son of Sir David Kinloch, Bart., of Gilmerton, while
hunting on the grounds of his relative, Colonel Dundas
of Carronhal!, Stirlingshire, broke his leg by the stumb-
ling of his horse. The unfortunate young gentleman
was immediately taken to Carronhall, and has suffered
severely from the accident, but we are glad to learn that
he is gradually recovering.--Caledonian Mercury.
The respected Member for East Somerset, William
Miles, Esq., has most liberally taken off 10 per cent.
from his rents at the last settlement. This is the
second reduction which Mr. Miles has made.—Farley's
Bristol Journal.