plaints of bad smells), smoke poured into the house through a slop-closet so robbed of its water-seal; and the housemaid confessed to me that she had often dipped her flannel into the closet-trap, when cleansing the basin, and robbed it of its seal, doing it in ignorance. But the connection of the waste-pipe from a slop-sink with that of a soil-pipe is rather a question of the class of closet fixed upon the soil-pipe-leaving out of consideration the question of hot water. For if one seal between the house and the soil-pipe is considered sufficient—as in the "wash-out" and "wash-down" closets-the matters sent through a slop-sink and water-closet being of the same. character, or nearly so, there can be no reason why one pipe should not be made to answer the double purpose of slopsink waste and soil-pipe combined. 5. But where valve-closets are fixed on a soil-pipe, as they are provided with more than one seal (Chap. XXX., Art. 2), there would be good reason for keeping the waste-pipe from a slop-sink out of it, and carrying it down independently of the soil-pipe and disconnecting it from the soil-drain. Or in the case of a private house, the waste-pipe from the slop-sink and wash-up sink combined might be branched into the waste-pipe from the general sinks, or into the waste-pipe from a bath, as shown in fig. 153; but the bathroom in such cases should have no communication with a bedroom, and the waste-pipe in every such case should discharge with an open end into a disconnecting-trap. 6. In private houses, where hardly anything but liquid slops-from chamber utensils and toilet basins-would be emptied into the slop-sinks, a 2 in. waste-pipe, as shown in fig. 143, would be found to be large enough. And where so required, a wash-up sink of white-ware or fire-clay, for scalding out the chamber utensils, could be fixed, in combination with the slop-sink, as shown at A. Or a slop-sink with a flushing-rim could be fixed, as shown at c, with a syphon flushing-cistern, as shown at v, for flushing out the sink-waste when so required. 7. For hospitals, where excreta, poultices, etc., etc., would be emptied into the slop-sinks, the waste-pipes should be treated as soil-pipes-fixing 3 in., 31⁄2 in., or even 4 in. pipes, as circumstances might require; though a 31⁄2 in. pipe (with trap-ventilation) is large enough for a tier of two or three slop-sinks. The "McHardy " patent hospital slop-sink is specially Fig. 144.-EXPANSION OR TELESCOPE JOINT. constructed for cleansing bed-pans and bottles. The bedpan is put into the sink, which is specially constructed to receive it, when a powerful flush of water is sent up into its interior from the bottom of the sink, and the pan thoroughly cleansed and flushed out; which greatly reduces the risk of the nurse inhaling infected air. 8. Where hot water draw-off sinks are fixed in combination with the slop-sinks, or hot water is laid on in any way to the sinks, and the waste-pipes are of lead and fixed out side-as should be the case where possible-telescope joints, or expansion joints, as shown in fig. 144, should be made upon the pipes, to allow them to expand and contract without breaking. Some joints which I had made upon 2 in. bath-wastes and 3 in slop-sink waste-pipes eight or nine years ago, were found to be sound and good when last tested, and water at a very high temperature has often been sent through the pipes. To make the joint, open the end of the under and outer pipes by driving a mandril (or a gradation of sizes) into it for a depth of about 7 in., taking care to keep the mandril true all the while; and to prevent one part of the socket stretching more than another, well heat the pipe first. Round up the end of the inner pipe upon a mandril. A little grease rubbed over the mandril will enable it the better to be withdrawn after it has done its work; but where indiarubber is to be fixed between the pipes, the grease—which acts injuriously upon india-rubber-should be carefully removed from the pipes again. An india-rubber ring should be drawn over the end of the inner pipe, and the outer pipe opened just enough to allow the pipe and ring to enter, so that the end of the inner pipe, when put together, stands about an inch above the shoulder of the socket of the outer pipe. A sliding cap should be fixed on the top, as shown in fig. 144, to keep dirt, etc., out of the socket. 9. Where the waste-pipe from a tier of slop-sinks, or from a tier of wash-up and slop-sinks combined, or from a tier of general draw-off sinks, would be subject to expansion and contraction from hot and cold water discharges, and the pipe could not be fixed outside, instead of fixing the pipe of lead inside the house it would be better to fix coated castiron pipe with india-rubber expansion joints, as shown in fig. 146; or the pipe could be of wrought iron-galvanized inside and out-with screwed joints. 10. Traps should be fixed under the slop-sinks as circum stances require, a larger size being fixed in hospitals; in fact in such places the traps, waste-pipes, and ventilationpipes should be of the sizes as used for the water-closets. (Art. 7.) 11. No slop-sink or slop-closet should be fixed without a means of flushing it out. Flushing-cisterns, similar to those described for flushing out closets (Chap. XXXII., Arts. 3 and 4), should be fixed where possible, as shown at v and w, fig. 143. .12. It seems a waste of words to say that a sink made of a non-absorbent material is more wholesome than one made of an absorbent kind, such as wood or sandstone; and yet the latter kinds are often fixed in places where there would have been no difficulty in fixing sinks of fireclay, stoneware, earthenware, or copper, supposing the man who provided the sandstone sink had some objection to lead-lined sinks. 13. For washing up glass or china, wood sinks lined with tinned copper are preferable to either earthenware or fire-clay-where money and tempers are valued; for whilst there would be no elasticity in the latter (fire-clay), there would be just enough in the former (copper sink) to prevent many breakages of glass, china, and temper. 14. Round about the top of a sink there should be no opening, crevice, or place where filth could fall into, and by accumulating become offensive. 15. The bottoms of sinks should fall towards their outlets, and the outlets or apertures ought always to be large enough to receive gratings, or plugs-and-washers, which should have a water-way through them equal in area to fully charge the bore of the trap and waste-pipe to be fixed to them, as shown at A, fig. 145. (Chap. XXIV., Art. 7.) The brass cobweb-grating, which was introduced and named by me many years ago, whether fitted to a brass rim or not, whether soldered over the mouth of the trap or fitted to the washer of a brass plug-and-washer, allows a sink to be emptied so much quicker than a round-hole grating, that one wonders why this kind of screener has not become universal; but its use is becoming more extensive every year. 16. All sinks which could have their apertures-their outlets-sealed up with fitted plugs should have overflowpipes fixed to them; and this overflow-pipe, where it could not be carried out to the open air, should be connected to the sink in such a way that it could readily be flushed out and cleaned. (Chap. XXXV., Art. 4.) 17. For pantry sinks, a 2 in. brass plug-and-washer, a Fig. 145. 14 in. anti-D-trap, as fig. 89, and 11⁄2 in. lead waste-pipe discharging under the grating of an aerial disconnectingtrap fixed outside the house, make a wholesome arrangement. But in all cases, whether this kind of trap or a round-pipe trap be fixed, where the discharging end of the waste-pipe is more than four or five feet below the trap, it is necessary that the trap or waste-pipe should be vented, to prevent syphonage. 18. A 2 in. waste-pipe is quite large enough to take the branches of two or three sinks fixed on the several floors of a four-storied building. As previously explained, where hot water is laid on to a tier of sinks, and the waste-pipe is |