556 THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE.

Book
U
Iron Brains.
1888. The "Newman" complete system of Ca&t Iron Drainage, of which the first
introducers and sole manufacturers are the North British Plumbing Company. A paper
is published by them, On Ihe use
of
Cast Iron for House Drains, by W. D. Scott
Moncrieff, C.E., read at the National Health Society's Exhibition, 1883. The advanta.ges
of cast iron are put thus : 1, its superior strength and capacity to resist fracture;
2,
the
greater lengths in whicli it can be manufactured, and the corresponding reduction in the
number of joint-i ; 3,
the greater facilities for making the joints secure by means of lead
run in, sulphur, oxi ised iron filings, red lead and yarn, &c. The points to be considered
in adopting cast iron are : 1,
the available means for preserving it ; 2,
the determination
of the capacity and weight of the pipes;
3, the character uf the connections best suittd
to the material;
4,
the nature of the joints; 5, the comparative cost. The prei^erving
methods besides paint are: 1,
the coating with a preparation of tar, known as Dr.
Angus Smith's compositiim ; and 2, the Bower-Barff process, consisting of coating the
surfaces of the iron with magnetic oxide after a very careful cleansing, and then
painting to protect the surface from being injured too deeply at any time, for if
scratched, oxidation quickly follows. They can also be gl ized inside. At each end of
the drain a manhole can be formed, so that the drain could l)e swept clean from end to
end by a sweep's machine. Some objections have been raised to iron drains, more espe-
cially that of the iron cracking, as it is well known iron rain-water pipes will crack,
even wlien protected from the atmosphere.
I8880. The pipes in 6 to 9 feet lengths, with inspection covers, curved junctions, are to
be laid on concrete, or on a dwarf wall, or on iron bearers, and in a trench or subway under
the passage, so that the whole length can be open to inspection at any time. Five-inch
pipes are usually adopted,
fths
of an inch thick, giving about 120 lbs. as the weight of a
6 feet length. When the soil pipe is connected to tlie iron soil drain, a copper ferrule
should be wiped on to the end of the suil pipe, the latter being threaded and caulked as
for the ordinary iron joint. The joints may also be screw joints. The company also
furnish the necessary house drain terminal, manhole covers, flush tank with annular
syphon, rain-water flushing head, grease trap, water-waste preventer cistern, mica non-
return valve, soil-piipie cowl, improved valve closets, air ventilator and tubes, Winser's
channel pipes and bends, straight and taper, in lest enamelled stoneware
;
white enamelled
sinks for kitchen and scullery; caulking sleeve of brass, for securing lead pipts in iron
sockets, with oakum and lead
;
and many others of similar modern appliances.
Testing a Brain.
1888;). There are several methods of ascertaining if the pipes are properly laid, as
well as for finding the place of an escape of smell into the house. 1. By the peppermint
test, relying upon smell. This is applied by pouring down the ventilating or other
accessible pipe outside the house, about two ounces of strong (essence 0') peppermint,
quickly followed by about two quarts of hot water, the orifice of the pipe being
ins-tautly plugged up to prevent the escape into the atmosphere of the scent. If per-
ceived in any room, or closet, or sink, there exists the evil. 2. By the smoke test,
relying upon sight chiefly, the invention
(1883) of Mr. C. Innes, C.E. Straw may be
placed in the drain, say at the inspection shaft (if there be one), then saturated with
petroleum, and lighted, with care on account of the flare. Then the drain must be
covered over so that the smoke shall ascend the drain, esc.iping at the ventilating pipe, if
there be no crack or defect by which also to escape. A pinhole in an iron pipe has thus
been detected when the previous test failed to point out the exact spot. Pain's
"
smoke
rockets" burn from ten to fifteen minutes, and emit a dense volume of smoke. "The
Banner piatent drain grenade
'
or "drain ferret" is made of thiu glass, and charg^d
with poAverful pungent and volatile chemicals. When the grenade is dropped down any
pipe it breaks, and the efl^ect produi-td by its contents is distributed only as intended.
When drains to be tested by the smell or smoke test pass through a house, care
must be taken to close all openings
;
and when applied outsidf, the openings should be
closed, to prevent any smell futeringfrcm the outside.
1888(7. In places where the drain is deep and has been laid in clay with rubbish
over, and perhaps finished by concrete with a coat of cement over, tr tile, or other
paving, if the ground be probed with an iron or steel rod to the bottom of the
trench, it has been found that smoke Avas acually issuing fiom the drain
;
and it also
sliowed the state of the ground, the point of the probe indicating the nature of the
soil at the bottom of the trench. A third test is the water test to the main drain of
a house. The pipes have to be stopped up at both ends in order to be filled with water,
and some upright part formed, or selected, for the purpose of observing if the
drain hold the watir, or the reverse. The ends of the branches into it having been
also stopped up, the water may then be turned on, and the pipes filled to a part marked
on the upright pipe. It is thou to be carefully watched to ascertain if the water lalls