Practical Sanitation: a Handbook for Sanitary Inspectors and Others Interested in Sanitation

PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION.

THE question of sanitation is one which is now attracting the serious attention of the general public. People are beginning to enquire for themselves into matters which, hitherto, they have closed their eyes to. The necessity for no longer allowing grave sanitary defects to exist in our houses and their surroundings is now generally acknowledged, and this has led to a demand that plumbers shall possess a sound knowledge of their work. The action of the Sanitary Institute in encouraging a desire on the part of Inspectors of Nuisances, or as I generally designate them in this book, Sanitary Inspectors, to acquire a practical and scientific knowledge of their duties, supported in many instances by Sanitary Authorities, who make it a condition that such Officers shall hold a certificate of qualification, has greatly helped on the cause of Sanitation.

In the autumn of 1890 I delivered a course of lectures on Sanitation, in Stafford, under the auspices of the County Council. The course was principally intended for Sanitary Inspectors in the county, but others, including Members of Local Authorities, builders, plumbers, and a section of the general public interested in the subject, availed themselves of the invitation to attend.

This lecture scheme attracted the attention of the Sanitary Institute, who, the following year, in conjunction with the County Council, organised a second course of lectures in

Stafford, the lecturers being well-known specialists. At the termination of this course, an open examination was held at Stafford by the Sanitary Institute, for which, in addition to candidates from other parts of England and Scotland, twentyfive Staffordshire Inspectors entered; of these, twenty-three satisfied the examiners, and obtained the certificate of the Institute, by far the largest percentage of passes that had been recorded since the institution of the Examination about ten years ago.

Hitherto, such Lectures have been delivered in London only, but, recently, the example set by Staffordshire has been followed in other counties and towns, for example, Derbyshire, the West Riding of Yorkshire, Cardiff, and Newcastle-on-Tyne, and it is likely that the movement will extend still further.

On the termination of the first Course of Lectures, I was requested by those who attended the Class to publish them, but this I could not do, as they had been delivered from notes only. It occurred to me, however, that a Hand-Book on Practical Sanitation, arranged specially for Sanitary Inspectors and others engaged in the work, although written in a form which would be useful to the general reader, and, possibly, to Students of Technical Instruction Classes, would fill what would appear to be a vacant corner in the literature of the subject.

With this object I have compiled these pages, which include descriptions of insanitary as well as sanitary work and appliances, illustrated by numerous diagrams.

As the end for which sanitary appliances are designed may be entirely defeated through the ignorance or culpability of the workmen employed in fixing them, attention has been paid to the details of plumbing and drainage work,-sufficient, it is hoped, to enable Sanitary Inspectors to recognise faulty work, and appreciate the dangers that may arise from it.

The subjects of Sanitary Law, Model Bye-laws, and other matters which are not of such general interest, are introduced in the form of an Appendix, which has been carefully compiled

by Dr. Herbert Manley, Medical Officer of Health for the County Borough of West Bromwich, with a view more especially to meeting the wants of the Sanitary Inspector. This Appendix also deals with the duties of Sanitary Inspectors and their relations to the Sanitary Authority and the general public.

Bøker