IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF HUMAN EXCRETA AND IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF MANURE THEREFROM, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1875

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Francis George Whitwham at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 2nd April 1875.-A communication from abroad by François
Alcidi Bonnefin, of the Island of Mauritius.
I, FRANCIS GEORGE WHITWHAM, of Cannon Street, in the City of
London, Accountant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF HUMAN EXCRETA AND IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF MANURE THEREFROM, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," a
communication to me from abroad by François Alcidi Bonnefin, of the
Island of Mauritius, to be as follows..
This Invention relates to the treatment of human excreta and to the
production of manure therefrom, and consists of a peculiar process of
and apparatus for effecting the deodorization or disinfection of the solid
and liquid portions together and of the liquid portion separately, in order
to fix the salts and gases and render the excreta capable of being
employed as a manure for agricultural purposes.
In carrying out the said Invention I employ a receptacle for the
excreta, into which the solid and liquid portions are simultaneously

page_text: discharged. This receptacle, which may be made of any desired shape, is
composed of a tub or vessel forming a moveable cesspool in which there
is supported at a suitable distance from its bottom a moveable or falso
bottom, perforated with holes, and having fixed thereto or placed thercon
a perforated or open worked cylinder composed of metal or of other
suitable material. Over the surface of the moveable or false bottom
there is placed a layer of pounded carbon or charcoal or other suitable
porous substance, previously saturated with sulphate of iron or other
suitable chemical agent, and thoroughly dry, which layer of porous
material is covered with a layer of crushed or ground substances
intimately mixed with chemical agents as herein-after mentioned. The
cylinder herein-before referred to may if desired be dispensed with, m
which case a basket or a vessel of wickerwork may be disposed abovo
the combined layers of porous and other substances. Between the
internal sides of the tub or vessel and the external sides of the basket or
cylinder there are introduced any suitable absorbent and filtering
materials or the combined substances hercin-after mentioned. The
apparatus so constructed is either disposed directly underneath the scat
of a closet or it may be placed in the lower part of a building, and the
closets on the various floors be made to communicate thorowith
by means of pipes, or it may be otherwise arranged according to

page_text: or vessel.
When the tub or vessel is removed the excreta is to be
covered with a layer of the above or any suitable absorbent substance,
and a certain quantity of such substances may also if desire be supplied
by a rocking apparatus or other suitable moans cach time the closet is
used.
In the case of urinals and the like receptacles, I propose to employ an
ascending filter, for the purpose of purifying the urine or other liquid
so as to retain the organic and fertilizing substances whilst admitting of
the escape of the surplus and useless water.
This apparatus is composed of a receptacle filled with a substance
which is saturated with any suitable disinfectant, such for example as
sulphate of iron, at the bottom of which receptacle there is formed an
aperture provided with a pipe which is covered with a screen or with
straw, or otherwise arranged so as to slightly obstruct the passage of the
liquid. Below the above mentioned receptacle there is placed another
receptacle also containing a substanco saturated with the disinfectant,
such lower receptacle being provided with a double or intermediate
perforated false bottom, in the centre of which is an ascending pipe
which the descending pipe from the upper receptacle enters. This
intermediate bottom is covered with a layer of a substance, such for
example as charcoal or other porous material which has been pounded
but not ground or pulverized, and which has been saturated with one or
more of the chemical agents herein-before mentioned or any other
chemical agent suitable for the purpose, and above this is placed a
layer of fine sand. The liquid under treatment is first brought into
contact with the disinfecting material in the upper receptacle and then
passes into the lower receptacle, where it is again acted upon by the
disinfecting material, and being gradually increased in quantity rises
again and is brought into contact with the chemical agent with which
the porous body on the intermediate bottom is saturated, and thence is
caused to pass upwards through the layer of fine sand leaving below the
organic matter which may be subsequently employed in the manufacture
of manure. The water thus purified may be allowed to run off direct,
or be saturated with salts of sulphate of iron for the purpose of dis-
infecting the drain into which it is discharged.