CHAPTER IX Introduction of Water Filters—Striking Example of the Effi- (Part 3)

it was called, far exceeded any of the others in grandeur of arch- itecture, or in magnitude and solidity of construction. Water Tower and Roman Ruins, Chester, England 24 HISTORY OF SANITATION The ruins of a work of this kind that still exist on the Esquiline Hill at Rome, are about 200 feet long by 130 feet wide, and had a vaulted roof that rested on 48 im- mense pillars disposed to form rows so as to form 5 aisles and 75) arches; “From the description of this interesting reservoir, the interior must have greatly resembled many of the covered slow-sand fillers re- cently constructed in this country, in which elliptical groined arches form the roof, Roman Water Pipes made of Bored-out Blocks of Stone which is carried on brick columns spaced as in the reservoirs at Rome, about. 15> feet from center’ to cénter, “|udging= mom the fact that not only the aqueducts but also the reser- voirs were covered to exclude light, it seems reasona- ble to conclude that Roman engineers were aware that absence of light prevented or altogether checked the growth of algze and other objectionable forms of water vegetation. Nowhere in the writings of the early historians is any men- tion made of trouble due to this cause, but as the water supply of Rome was obtained from both ground (spring) and surface sources, which in many cases were mixed together, the resultant mixture would have furnished the best possible soil for alge, the ground water providing the necessary mineral food and the surface water furnishing the seed. It is quite probable, therefore, that the aqueducts and reservoirs were covered to prevent such growths. Besides the principal reservoir, each aqueduct had a number of smaller ones at different points in the sections they supplied, to provide that neighborhood with water. It is estimated that all told there were 247 of the auxiliary public reservoirs scattered throughout the city. These reservoirs were supplied from the principal reservoir HISTORY OF SANITATION 25 through pipes of lead, burned earthenware, and in some cases bored out blocks of stone. Burned earthenware pipes were generally used not only on account of their greater cheapness, but because the Romans were aware of the injurious effect of lead poisoning, and looked with suspicion on water that had been conducted through lead pipes. When a number of individuals living in the same neighborhood had obtained a grant of water, they clubbed together and built a private reservoir into which the whole quantity allotted to them collectively was transmitted from the public reservoir. The object of private reservoirs was to facilitate the distribution of the proper amount of water to each person and to avoid puncturing the main aqueduct in too many places. When a supply of water from the aqueduct was first granted for private use, each house- holder granted the privilege obtained his quantity by tap- ping a branch supply pipe into the main aqueduct, and conducting the branch to a domestic reservoir within his own house. Later when the system of private reser- voirs was adopted, each domestic sup- ply of water was obtained from the private reservoir and piped to the domestic reservoir which was made of lead. The facade of an aqueduct reser- voir known as the “Trophies of Marius” may be seen in the accompanying reproduction of a woodcut made in the sixteenth century. The ground plan shows part of the internal construction. The stream of water is first divided by the round projecting Trophies of Marius 26 HISTORY OF SANITATION buttress into two courses which are again sub-divided into five minor streams that discharge into the reservoir as indicated in the cut. The quantity of water supplied to Rome compared favorably with the per capita allowance of water provided at the present time for the principal cities of the United States, and was far in excess of the water supplied at the present time to British and European cities. According to Clemens -Herschel however, Rome, with a population of 1,000,000 people, had a daily water supply of only 32,000,oc00 U.S. gallons. In estimating the quan- tity of water brought to the city by the system of aqueducts, Mr. Herschel makes due allowance for and deducts what he thinks might be lost by leakage, theft, water supplied to artificial lakes for sea fights, and also assumes that a certain percentage of the channels at all times were cut out of service for repairs. He makes no allowance, however, for water obtained from different sources, such as wells, springs and the Tiber River, from which, no doubt, many of the inhabitants obtained their entire supply of water. Indeed, in the year 35 8. c., M. Agrippa, as the head of the water supply system of Rome, in addition to repairing the Aqua Julia and Marcia aqueduct, supplied the city with 700 wells and 150 springs. There is no reason to believe that conditions in Rome were different from those existing to-day in our large cities, and it is more than probable that the poor people of Rome were but scantily supplied with water from the aqueducts. The supply obtained by them from ground sources should therefore be added to that supplied by the aqueducts, and Old Roman Lead and Terra-cotta Pipe HISTORY OF SANITATION 20 it would then be found, as most writers assert, that the per capita daily supply of water to Rome was equal to about 100 U. S. gallons. Such enormous quantities of water could not be poured daily into a limited area without material and physical injury resulting if provision were not made to dispose of the surplus. Hence it was that a system of drains was evolved in Rome, which, while not the first in point of time, nevertheless were the only ones known to have been constructed by the ancients, until within a comparatively recent date ruins of sewerage systems were unearthed in Bismya, an ancient Symerian or pre-Babylonian city. SYNOPSIS OF CHAPTER. Early Sewage Disposal— Removal of Offensive Ma- terials from Temples of Jerusalem—Sewage System of a Pre-Babylonian City— Sewers of Rome—The Cloaca Maxima—The Dejecti Effusive Act. EFORE describing the sewerage system of Rome, B it might be interesting to glance backward at the efforts made prior to that time to dispose of excreta and household wastes. : It is in Deuteronomy, one of the Books of Moses, that first mention is made of the disposal of excreta: ‘‘ Thou shalt have a place also without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad. ‘‘And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shall turn back and cover that which cometh from thee.” No doubt the object of Moses in promulgating that law was to preserve cleanliness about camp and to hide offen- sive matter from sight in the least odorous way. Neverthe- less no more sanitary method could have been adopted. Deposited as the soil was, in small quantities, just under- neath the surface of the ground it was soon reduced to harmless compounds by the teeming bacteria in the living earth. Recent explorations in Jerusalem have brought to light extensive drains for the removal from the vicinity of the temples of offensive matters peculiar to the bloody sac- rifices of that ancient people; and in an August, 1905, issue of the Scientific American, Edgar James Banks, field 29 30 HISTORY OF SANITATION director of the Babylonian expedition of the University of Chicago, gives an interesting description of house drains and sewage disposal wells constructed at Bismya some 4,500 years ago. The following account is abstracted from that article: ‘‘Babylonia is perfectly level. From Bagdad to the . Persian Gulf there is not the slightest elevation save for the artificial mounds or an occasional changing sand drift. In most places there is a crust of hard clay upon the sur- face, baked by the hot sun of summer time so hard that it resembles stone. Beneath the crust, which at Bismya is seldom more than 4 feet in thickness and in places entirely lacking, is loose caving sand reaching to an unknown depth. ‘‘ Drainage in such a country, without sloping hills or streams of running water, might tax the ingenuity of the modern builder. In constructing a house, the ancient Sumerian of more than 6,000 years ago first dug a hole into the sand to a considerable depth. At Bismya several instances were found where the shaft had reached the depth of 45 feet beneath the foundation of the house. From the bottom he built up a vertical drain of large cylindrical terra cotta sections, each of which is provided with grooved flanges to receive the one above. The sec- tions of one drain were about 19 inches in diameter and 23% inches in height; others were larger and much shorter. The thickness of the wall was about 1.06 inches. The tiles were punctured at intervals with small holes of about 34 inch in diameter. The section at the top of the drain was semi-spherical, fitting over it like a cap and pro- vided with an opening to receive the water from above. Sand and potsherds were then filled in about the drain and it was ready for use. The water pouring into it was rapidly absorbed by the sand at the bottom, and if there it became clogged the water escaped through the holes in the sides of the tiles. The temple at Bismya was provided with several such drains. One palace was discovered with four. A large HISTORY OF SANITATION dl bath resembling a modern Turkish bath and provided with bitumen floor, sloping to one corner, emptied its waste water into one. The toilets in the private houses of 6,000 years ago were almost identical with those of the modern Arab house—a small oblong hole in the floor, without a seat. Several found in Bismya were provided with vertical drains beneath. ‘‘In clearing out the drains a few of them whose open- ings had been exposed were filled with the drifting sand. Others were half full of the filth of long past ages. In one at the temple we removed dozens of shallow terra cotta drinking cups not unlike a large saucer in shape and size. Evidently it received the waste water of the drinking foun- tain and the cups had accidentally dropped within. ‘‘In the Bismya temple platform, constructed about 2750 B. C., we discovered a horizontal drain of tile, each of which was about 3 feet long and 6 inches in diameter and not unlike in shape those at present employed. It conducted the rain water from the platform to one of the vertical-drains. One tile was so well constructed that for a long time it served as a chimney for our house, until my Turkish overseer suggested that its dark, smoked end project from the battlements of the house to convince the Arabs that we were well fortified; thus it served as a gun until the close of the excavations.”’ The first sewers of Rome were built between 800 and 735 B.c., and therefore antedate the first aqueduct by be- tween 440 and 487 years. It is evident, therefore, that as originally planned the sew- ers of Rome were intended to carry off the surface waterand inother ways serve to drain the site of the ancient city. Indee d ) the The Cloaca Maxima. From an old woodcut 32 HISTORY OF SANITATION The Cloaca Maxima. From a Recent Photograph Cloaca Maxima, which was constructed during the period of the Kings, from 735 to 510 8.c., was intended to drain the marshy hollow between the Capitoline, Palatine and Esqui- line hills, and afterwards, by a process of development, be- came part of a combined sewage system for the city. That the engineers who designed the sewerage system of Rome had a clear conception of the service expected of such drains, is evidenced by the manner in which the system was proportioned. The pipes gradually enlarged from their extremities in the buildings through all the ramifica- tions of the system until they finally reached the outlet at a bulkhead or quay-wall in the Tiber. Itis stated by early writers that so complete was this system of sewers that every street in the ancient city was drained by a branch into the Tiber. The Cloaca Maxima was one of the largest and most celebrated of the ancient sewers. The solidity of this struc- ture can be judged by the fact that it has been in 33 OF SANITATION HISTORY ‘O “d 004f ‘poXeadg proxy Ssuravy Apey uevydssq 84 HISTORY OF SANITATION uninterrupted service for over 2,400 years, and at the present time is still in use, with no signs of immediate failure. The arches were made of neatly jointed stones fitted together without cement. It is stated by Pliny that a cart loaded with hay could pass down the Cloaca Maxima. It should be borne in mind, however, that a Roman cart and load of hay were of smaller dimensions than a modern one. The actual dimen- sions of the mouth of the sewer are 11 feet wide by 12 feet high. The lateral branches of the main sewer were of a size in proportion with their requirements and in proportion to the main or trunk sewer. The dimensions of these sewers are evidenced by the service they performed for Nero, who threw into them the unfortunate victims of his nightly riots. Wh ite eaten street in Rome was provided with an adequate sewer, it is more than probable that only a small per- centage of the popu- lation had branches extending into their houses. In those that had, the latrines were located adjacent to the kitchen, where Greek Bath Tubs terion g bytes Greek Women Bathing HISTORY OF SANITATION 35 untrapped end of the sewer noxious gases were contin- ually arising to vitiate the surrounding air. The only ventilation the sewers of Rome had was through these untrapped ends. Many of the houses of Rome were lofty and inhabited near the top by the poor, who—drainage systems not extending above the first floor—had very imperfect means for carrying off rubbish and other accumulations. A prac- tice seems to have grown up then of throwing such liquid and solid matter from the windows, sometimes to the dis- comfort or injury of hapless pedestrians. To provide against accidents due to this cause, the De- jecti Effusive Act was passed, which gave damages against a person who threw or poured out anything from a place or upper chamber upon a road frequented by passersby, or on a place where people used to stand. The act, however, gave damages only when the person was in- jured, but nothing was recoverable if the wearing ap- parel was damaged. A strange provision of this act was that it applied only in the daytime and not to the night, which, however, was the most dangerous time for passersby. (ar avd aag) eee NIVdS |Z ry =F | wr Vt, VIAQDUS s hah AS be - ene | VIAODAS: 40 } We ; We : : LOACHTAOY “ae 4 , + a | LOACIAOV x (\ peummen easSo 2 ——— eS is See" ——— SYNOPSIS OF CHAPTER. Origin of Bathing—Early Greek Baths—Roman Private Baths—Public Baths of Rome—Ruins of Baths of Caracalla—Description of the Thermz—The Thermez of Titus at Rome—Baths of Pompeii—Heating Water for Roman Baths—Therme of Titus Restored. HE value of bathing for pleasure, cleanliness and health was early realized by the ancients, who in many cases made the daily bath part of their religious ritual, with the hope of thus inducing a practice that would, from constant observance, become a habit not easy to over- come, and which would be a lasting benefit to the health of the individual and a safeguard to the community. It perhaps was among the Greeks that bath tubs were first introduced. The early Greek bathing vessels (see preceding wood- cuts) were made of polished? marble, shaped something like a punch bowl, stood about 30 inches high, and were not occupied by the bather as in a modern bath BT Mosaic from the Floor of the Baths of Caracalla 388 HISTORY OF SANITATION Ruins of the Baths of Caracalla, Rome tub, but served only to hold the water which was applied to the bather by an attendant, who dashed or poured, as cir- cumstances required, a vessel full of water on his head or body. Both woodcuts shown were reproduced from ancient Greek vases and convey a fair idea of the way these baths were used. Oneof the bathers is shown with an iron, bone, bronze or ivory instrument called a strzgz/zs, in his hand, which was used to scrape off perspiration when the bather emerged from the hot room, or induced a flow by exercising in the gymnasium, which was generally connected with the baths. The inscription on the woodcut, representing men bathing, shows that this was a public bath, and is probably the earliest picture of a bathing establishment extant. The women's bath bowl differed but slightly from the men’s. It was a trifle lower and considerably deeper, but the method of using was the same as for the men. While the Greeks were prior to the Romans in the use of the bath, they considered it effeminate to use warm HISTORY OF SANITATION 39 water, and consequently their bathing establishments never attained the luxury and splendor that later marked the Roman baths. When bath tubs were first introduced into Rome, the wealthy inhabitants fitted up their houses with a bathroom much as do the people of our own time. As the luxury, pleasure and benefit of the bath became better known, more elaborate bathing facilities similar toa modern Turkish bath were installed. In some houses several rooms were devoted to this purpose. The anointment of the body with oils was one