Until very lately the tendency in plumbing has been to-ward great and unnecessary complication and costliness and the result is a tendency on the part of the public to "do away with set plumbing" as far as possible. They despair of understanding the elaborate piping and fixtures, and the fear of sewer gas, added to the certainty of heavy expense, has had the effect of rendering set plumbing unpopular.

A favorable reaction has, however, now set in, and the leading Sanitary Engineers and Plumbers urge greater simplicity in work, and better and more scientific fixtures.

The new system has not only the advantage of being safer, more durable, and more economical than the old, but also of being intelligible to the ordinary householder. Being easier to understand, it is easier to keep in repair, and the important sanitary advantages of good plumbing may be enjoyed in confidence.

The following pages are devoted to explaining, in as simple a manner as possible', the principles of this improved modern sanitary plumbing, and of the best and simplest fixtures now in use. They have already appeared in a series of articles written and published in 1886 in "Building" and are now republished in this little book to meet a demand for the matter in a more compact and convenient form.

4 Pemberton Sq., Boston.