For many years after the introduction of water-closets the appliances were of such an insanitary character, and the drains into which they discharged were so badly constructed and ventilated, that they deservedly received a bad name. They were undoubtedly the cause of a vast amount of sickness and a great number of deaths. The one point in their favour was their convenience, and this was so great that in spite of the danger the public insisted on having them. Sanitarians bowed to the public demand and turned their attention to devising improvements in the apparatus and in the soil-pipes and drains connected therewith. Their efforts have been so successful that to-day the principal objection against water-closets is not that they are dangerous to health, but that they involve an enormous loss of valuable manure. Notwithstanding the jeremiad of Sir William Crookes, the public will probably go on running the all-important nitrogen to waste.

The Pan Closet

It was in 1778 that Joseph Bramah patented his water-closet. This was of the valve type, but as it has long been discarded, no description of it need be given. It was followed by the "pan-closet," which, notwithstanding its terrible defects, has continued in use to our own day. Fortunately it is prohibited by many sanitary authorities, but large numbers are still in existence, and some makers of so-called "sanitary" fittings still continue to supply parts for repairing the apparatus, even if they do not manufacture complete closets. The pan-closet has three principal parts-(1) the basin, which is usually of porcelain and of hopper form, sometimes with a flushing rim and sometimes with nothing but a fan-spreader for the inlet of the water; (2) the pan, which is a pan-shaped vessel (usually of copper), hinged at one point of the rim, and attached to a lever in such a manner that, when the handle of the lever is raised, the pan swings downwards and discharges its contents into the container below, and when the handle is released, the pan returns to its horizontal position, surrounding the lower part of the basin, and receives and retains the last portion of the flushing water; and (3) the container, which is a cast-iron chamber, large enough to admit of the free movement of the pan; as a rule, a lead D-trap was fixed under the container.

Not a single important part of the apparatus is without one or more serious defects. The basin is of bad shape, easily fouled, insufficiently flushed, and with too small an area of standing water. The pan is quickly corroded, and therefore ceases to hold water. The container exposes a large area to the action of the "soil," and is soon coated with filth, as it cannot possibly be cleaned by the small amount of water used in flushing. And the D-trap also retains filth, and is in consequence more easily corroded, particularly in the parts of the trap above the water-level. To complete the black list, the flushing water is generally supplied through a very small pipe brought directly from the cistern used for storing drinking water.

This description ought to have been entirely unnecessary in the twentieth century, but as long as manufacturers and merchants continue to advertise the dangerous apparatus, so long must warning words be uttered. It would be a blessing if every pan-closet now in existence were at once declared a nuisance and removed. No one could reasonably complain that adequate warning had not been given, for as long ago as 1852 the apparatus was condemned by the now defunct "General Board of Health" of this country.