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The disposal of human waste is critical, especially where humans are in close quarters. As Joe J. Simmons III shows in this redesigned volume, information about this vital function on ships of the great era of sail is amazingly scarce. In Those Vulgar Tubes, Simmons has collected and interpreted the available archaeological and iconographical evidence, providing historians and anthropologists with a rich view of a historically censored subject. In his introduction, Simmons discusses evidence of what methods early sailors used for relief. Subsequent chapters focus on each century of pre-modern exploration and the developments of ship design at bow and stern where sailors were accommodated. Officers had the luxury of enclosed, closetlike facilities; the book's title comes from a poem in which the ship's chaplain begs to be allowed to use the officers' luxurious facilities rather than the "vulgar tubes"--the downward-projecting trunking through which effluvia was directed into the sea. With clear illustrations and a timeline that graphs the development of sanitary facilities, Those Vulgar Tubes fills a longstanding void in the history of maritime travel.… (more)
User reviews
One neat little trick was to move the "sanitary box" from side to
By the latter part of the 16th century, the "head" or "beak-head" had become more standard and was probably an attempt to build some kind of ram on the front of the ship. Forward facing guns were also employed. Having sanitary (don't you love the euphemisms) arrangements up front close to the sea and in the open had several advantages: open to the sun and washing action of the waves. It was also the area where common seamen were "stowed," as opposed to the stern which was the province of the officers. Tubs for the collection of urine were employed to help with fire-fighting.
The 17th century introduced new ship design. The beak-head was reduced and "seats-of-ease" were employed by 1670. They were located in the aft part of the beak-head, a rectangular box with backrest of the rail and unhindered access to the sea below. I suspect lingering was rare except in the calmest weather. A 1692 model of an English eighty-gun ship shows only two of these devices for a crew of 650. On the model it is assumed the person using it faced outward, perhaps so as to be able to see heavy seas coming. I wonder if there might have been more and the model builder just didn't want to make more. Internal facilities did not appear until the early 19th century and the more extensive use of iron in the hulls had much to do with it.
I must admit to really enjoying books like this that tell us about the most common things that we all need but rarely talk about. It would have been nice in the movie Master and Commander to have them indulge in a little verisimilitude. My only gripe is that the illustrations are often not very clear. There was one I enjoyed very much. Entitled " 'Hanging Out' (do you suppose that's where the phrase comes from?) from the fore chains," it shows a bare-ass sailer hanging on to the shrouds in a rather uncomfortable posture (pg 74).