"The side outlet, or so-called wash-out type of closets, has a shallow body of water in the bowl flushed by a strong stream of water, which is intended to drive the waste matters out into a shallow trap underneath; it violates rules I, 2, 3, 4, 7, 11, 12 and 13. The flushing of this kind of closet is usually attended with spattering. The standing water in the bowl is not sufficiently deep, and the manner of flushing is noisy and ineffective, the lighter wastes frequently whirling round and round for some time before being driven out. The trap is inconvenient of access, and its seal is very shallow and easily broken by siphonage, evaporation, or incorrect setting, and, being out of sight, the evil may not be discovered until the damage is done. The pipe surface between the basin and the trap is easily fouled and difficult to clean."* This foul surface, being above the water seal, pollutes the atmosphere of the house.

In spite of these defects, the wash-out type of closet is very widely used at the present time, and on this account it is of sufficient interest to call for an illustration (Fig. 69). Its popularity is, however, due not so much to its own intrinsic worth, as to the fact that, at the time of its introduction, no better form of water-closet existed, and the general form once introduced and spread under an infinite variety of patented modifications, a very powerful influence was exerted to sustain its popularity.

Fig. 69. - Wash-out type of Water-closet.

*Wood's Reference Handbook of the Medical Sciences. Article on "Habitations, The General Principles of House Plumbing," by J. P. Putnam. Published by William Wood & Co., 58 Lafayette place, New York.