Fosse

“ A late traveller (Dr. De Wette) conjectures that the American barrows are not produced by art, but by nature, because there is no fosse round them from which the earth was taken; this notion is, however, very easily refuted, as the barrows and walls are arranged in regular figures and lines, and in like manner no fosse or excavation is to be seen round the barrows in the German forests. The earth was taken from the surface in the neighbourhood, but it was by no means necessary on that account to excavate a fosse. ”

“ The fosse is here 20 feet wide. The outer scarp from the cemetery at first runs parallel to the counter-scarp of the fosse, and at the angle G is only 10 feet distant from it; it then runs towards the south-east, while the fosse tends north-east. The base of the outer scarp at H is 8 feet lower than the base of the scarp under the tower. ”

“ The land descends from the Dike both to the north and south. It would seem then that the fosse and mound were intended to protect a piece of ground through which an inroad could be easily made, the nature of the ground at either end being itself a substantial protection. A mile to the north-west of Bar Dike, and running nearly parallel to it, is another entrenchment about three-quarters of a mile in length. This entrenchment runs in a straight course across a comparatively level moor and is divided at right angles by a stream. In this case the fosse is also on the northern side of the mound. ”

“ Many fragments of the walls accompanied by the fosse are evident; deprived of the facing-stones, they appear in great masses of grout-work; i.e. of stones, broken tiles, and bricks promiscuously bedded in cement. The remains are no where more than fourteen feet high, which is much less than their original elevation, and ten or twelve in thickness. Their circumference does not exceed 1800 yards; but the adjacent fields are continually yielding up foundations, &c. which denote the suburbs to have been very extensive; tradition, indeed, reports them to have been nine miles round. ”

“ The two fosses are planted thickly with grotesquely gnarled olive-trees. The streets are clean and the houses are in good repair, but there is a lazy old-time air about the place that would clog the hurrying feet of even a sight-seeing American. ”

“ But these positions often took the form of enclosures surrounded by double or triple lines of defence, often of stupendous size. For the greater part of its extent, the vallum or bank of the oval camp of Cissbury is double, and along the outer edge of the encircling fosse is a formidable counterscarp or parapet. Poundbury, which lies on the high ground west of Dorchester, has a single bank and ditch on its east and south sides. On the west side the bank is doubled; but the north side, where the hill falls almost perpendicularly to the Frome, was left without artificial defence. ”

“ The earthen ramparts and the fosses protecting them cover an area of sixty acres, and their importance varies according to the relief of the ground; thus the thickness of the walls is very much greater on the eastern side where an attack would have been most fraught with danger ”

“ If there is any inclination in the water-bearing strata, or if there is a current of water only in one direction, then one of the wells would prove a failure owing to the proximity of the fault, while the other would furnish an abundant supply of water. ”

“ The entire substance of the contracting rock may be filled with liquid, pressed into it so as to fill every pore;--or with mineral vapor;--or it may be so charged at one place, and empty at another. There's no end to the "may be's." But all that you need fancy, for our present purpose, is that hollows in the rocks, like the caves in Derbyshire, are traversed by liquids or vapor containing certain elements in a more or less free or separate state, which crystallize on the cave walls. ”

“ We may also affirm as essential that there should be no real affluent coming down to the place of deposit, or current of running water, for that would bring down mud, and leave in the bed some other sediment than one of coal. ”

“ When a fissure crosses a water- bearing stratum, or aquifer, water is forced upward by the pressure of the weight of the water contained in the higher parts of the stratum, and may reach the surface as a fissure spring. A boring which taps such an aquifer is known as an artesian well, a name derived from a province in France where wells of this kind have been long in use. ”

“ In order to properly understand a reasonable method of treatment some consideration must be given to the composition of sewage. This is chiefly water with which is mixed a small amount of animal, vegetable, and mineral matter. Roughly speaking, the amount of mineral dirt is about one tablespoonful to a barrelful of water, and the combined amount of animal and vegetable matter amounts to another tablespoonful. ”

“ The water in the pounding tub is stirred with wooden buckets, with holes in their bottoms, for several days; and, after the sediment contained in the water, has settled to the bottom of the tub, the water is let off, and the sediment, which is the indigo of commerce, is gathered into bags, and hung up to drain. It is afterwards pressed, and laid away to dry in cakes, and then packed in chests for market.
Washing at the tubs is exceedingly unpleasant, both on account of the filth and the stench, arising from the decomposition of the plants. ”

“ Deposited materials which have been in solution in water are described as chemical deposits, and those which have played a part in the life process as organic deposits. The organic deposits from vegetable sources are peat and the coals, while limestones and marls are the chief depositories of the remains of the animal life of the water. ”

“ Except for this provision of nature, the accumulation of organic wastes since the beginning of the earth’s occupation by human beings would be so great that the earth would be uninhabitable on account of the deposits of waste matter which would have formed by this time. ”

“ How can it be otherwise when all the solid and liquid refuse which has been accumulating in the densely packed habitations during the day, lies in the narrow close from ten at night, in such quantities that the scavengers not unfrequently remove nearly a ton of it at seven in the morning, and the ground and the foundations of the houses are saturated with the liquid refuse and drainage? ”

“ Of the works mentioned, wells have fairly a primary claim upon the notice of the sanitary engineer, for, without undervaluing other sources of supply, the water from them certainly possesses the advantage over that from rivers and surface drainage, of being without organic admixture and unimpregnated with those deadly spores which find their way into surface waters and are so fatal in seasons of epidemic visitation. ”

“ A great deal of the irregularity in the action of wells, and the consequent distrust with which they are regarded by many, is attributable either to improper situation or to the haphazard manner in which the search for underground water is frequently conducted. ”

“ That in time of flood a large proportion, both of the suspended and dissolved filth, is conveyed down to the intakes, and in ordinary weather considerable portion of soluble organic matter makes its way to the pumping works, and is still present in the water distributed to the consumers. ”

“ THE ZONE OF SOLUTION. Near the surface, where the circulation of ground water is most active, it oxidizes, corrodes, and dissolves the rocks through which it passes. It leaches soils and subsoils of their lime and other soluble minerals upon which plants depend for their food. It takes away the soluble cements of rocks; it widens fissures and joints and opens winding passages along the bedding planes; it may even remove whole beds of soluble rocks, such as rock salt, limestone, or gypsum. The work of ground water in producing landslides has already been noticed. ”

“ When sinking in gravel or clay, the bottom of the well tube is liable to become filled up by the material penetrating through the holes; and before a supply of water can be obtained, this accumulation must be removed by means of the cleaning pipes. ”

“ The percolation is, doubtless, much facilitated by joints, fissures, and faults, and in cases where one side of a fault is composed of impervious strata, such as the Keuper marls, or coal measures, the quantity of water pent up against the face of the fault may be very large, and the position often favourable for a well. ”

“ Such a deep supply must, however, be protected from the superficial supply by a water-tight wall extending to the surface of the deep supply, otherwise the water from the upper layers will simply drain into the well. ”

“ Many collectors are satisfied with removing the thick sediment collected at the bottom of the vessel, and use their spirits over and over again without removing from it by filtration the decomposing matter with which it has been impregnated, and which entirely neutralises the preserving property of the spirits. ”

“ Sewage is purified in passing through the soil by one or more of three processes: 1. By simple filtration or removal of the suspended matter; 2. By the precipitation and retention, in the soil, of ammonia and various organic substances previously in solution; and, 3. The oxidation of ammonia and of organic matter with the aid of living organisms. ”

“ The water passes through the three feet of soil and loam, and afterward through an average of six feet of drained coarse sand or gravel in which it meets air, and afterward filters laterally through the saturated gravel to the wells. The water so obtained is invariably of good quality in every way, colorless, free from odor and from bacteria. ”

“ When the stratum in which the water is found is very porous, as in the case of gravel and some sorts of chalk, the water flows freely; and a yield has been obtained in such situations as great and rapid as the pump has been able to lift, that is 600 gallons an hour. ”

“ The removal of kitchen and chamber slops is a matter which also requires proper attention, as this liquid frequently gives rise to unhealthful conditions, annoying alike to sight and smell when carelessly disposed of. ”

“ Most dug wells require cleaning occasionally, due to the entrance of dirt at the top and to the washing in of clay and silt with the ground water. Many of these wells contain harmful gases which have proved fatal to those entering them. ”

“ On the other hand, organic matter entrapped in the sediments, and so introduced into the strata at various depths, often acts as a reducing agency, causing the deposit of substances carried in solution in the underground-waters. ”

“ Sometimes, when a shallow dug well does not furnish the required quantity of water, the amount of water can be increased by driving pipe wells down into water strata below the one from which the dug well takes its supply, so that water will rise to the strata penetrated by the dug well. ”

“ While some of the deposits are wholly composed of inorganic débris, organic remains are freely mingled with others. The mechanical effects of tides, currents, and waves are everywhere present, but become less and less well marked as the 100-fathom line is approached. ”

“ If it were not for this property all our wells would soon become unwholesome 115from the reception of decayed animal and vegetable matter carried to them in the drainage water from the surface. It is also a well-known fact that burying dead bodies prevents the gaseous products of decomposition from reaching and vitiating the atmosphere. ”

“ However the oil may have been prepared, it will, if kept a long time, deposit a sediment. At first this contains mucilage; but the sediment from old oil consists chiefly of the products of decomposition of the oil itself. ”

“ The air may be contaminated by the products of the decomposition of the excreta of healthy persons.
The contents of cesspools, privy-vaults, and sewers, are generally composed of discharges from the bowels and kidneys, various matters washed off from the bodies of animals and from culinary and household utensils, and dissolved soap, constituting a mixture which rapidly decomposes and affords a fine soil for the nourishment and propagation of microscopic organisms. ”

“ When sufficient care is exercised in their location, water for drinking purposes can be obtained from wells in nearly all parts of the area, though when bored to excessive depths the water contained is, as a rule, contaminated with salt, oil, and other impurities that exist in the strata. ”

“ For, since the process of deposition is always going on, the matter which is deposited to-day will to-morrow be covered with a new layer, and in the course of ages it may lie beneath an immense pile of mineral matter, hundreds or even thousands of feet in thickness. ”

“ Also the living sponge presents an aquiferous system, consisting of a series of anastomosing channels passing through its mass, through which currents of water are constantly passing, entering by the minuter orifices or pores, and escaping from the larger openings or oscula, in this way bearing floating nutritive material to the fixed sarcode matter and at the same time aerating the whole animal. ”

“ The liquid is allowed to rest for some time and the suspended matter poured off almost to the sediment, which is again shaken up with fresh water, allowed to settle, and the operation repeated until all the fine particles have been floated off and the water over the sediment no longer becomes cloudy, but remains clear after the coarse and heavy particles have settled down. ”

“ The occasional flow of pure water over the surface, as in our irrigated meadows, and its descent into the drains, where the drainage is perfect, washes out acid and other noxious substances naturally generated in the soil, and thus purifies and sweetens it. ”