抽水馬桶的前世今生

在科技發(fā)達的今天，抽水馬桶早已司空見慣。然而，抽水馬桶并非自古有之，最初的馬桶也不是如今這般模樣。那么，是誰發(fā)明了第一個馬桶？馬桶又經(jīng)歷過哪些蛻變呢？讓我們跟隨本文一起了解抽水馬桶漫長而艱難的“進化”過程吧。

Here is a bold statement. The water closet（WC）has been described as “one of the most important inventions of the last 1000 years”. The London Times said this in its Millennium Edition. It compared the invention of the toilet with， among others， the development of the Gutenberg printing press in 1400s， the atomic bomb， and the moon landing of 1969.

Heres another bold statement. The Independent said that “the WC is one of the most successful designs ever. It doesnt only improve lives； it saves them”.

And finally， there is one more bold statement. “It has done more to improve the health of the people of the world than any pills or potions.” The origin of this statement is due entirely to the author of this piece. It is true that the toilet is an important invention. But in the whole history of mankind the toilet is relatively recent， and as we shall see we had to wait for the great entrepreneurs of the Victorian times for it to be developed into what we know and love today.

Primitive Sanitation

Early primitives knew the rules and learned them the hard way. They knew that they must keep their sewage away from their cooking. They knew that they had to keep their kitchen upstream and their toilet downstream. If they reversed this layout there would be terrible consequences. Death would follow. Typhoid， cholera， and dysentery were just a few of the terrible diseases which thrive on poor sanitation. It is this fundamental principle that we work with today. The toilet is part of the process of separating excreta from drinking water.

Roman Latrines

The Romans were excellent sanitarians. They regarded ablutions as extremely important and built elaborate latrines in their towns and forts. Users sat on marble slabs. Each slab， with its hole， was supported above gushing water to take away excreta. Fresh water channels in front of the slabs allowed users to wash themselves using a natural sponge tied to the end of a twig or stick. Of course the invention of toilet tissue was years ahead and was not available to the Romans. The Romans left Britain in 450 AD， and their civilization and legacy of sanitary science went with them. Their heritage disappeared and Britain plunged into the dark ages. 1000 years unwashed.

The First WC

We had to wait till 1592 before the next milestone in sanitary science was achieved. This is when the rather well-to-do godson of Queen Elizabeth I， Harington， got terribly bored with his lifestyle （he was a poet） and set about designing what we now know to be the first ever， fully functioning and self-contained WC. His invention was something we can now all recognize， but not many people of his time did. It was a major breakthrough in sanitary science and toilet design. It was an efficient and reasonably hygienic means of disposal of human waste. It had a cistern containing water. It had a seat and a bowl to receive the deposit. It had a means of flushing away that deposit using a sudden rush of the water.

It was a brilliant invention years ahead of its time. And， like all great new products， devices， and gizmos， it was very expensive. It came in at around 1000 in todays money. Regrettably， it didnt catch on. No one could afford it， and only two were ever constructed. Harington made one for himself for use at his home in Kelston Manor in Bath， Somerset， England and the other for use by his godmother， Queen Elizabeth I at Richmond Palace， on the River Thames. We had to wait another 200 years before the next glimpse of the sanitary future came along. This was when Alexander Cumming invented the first valve closet.

The Valve Closet

Cumming was a watchmaker from London， and he applied his knowledge of mechanics to inventing“the sliding valve closet”. It was a genuine machine for the disposal of human waste and a major breakthrough in design. It was a major success， but not for long. The trouble was that the sliding valve the mechanism relied on fouled up soon. The slider rusted and stuck fast. Muck and filth contributed to its downfall. So， it was not so brilliant an idea after all. Regrettably it didnt catch on！

But just three years later （in1778） we saw another breakthrough. Joseph Bramah from Yorkshire， working as a cabinet-maker and locksmith， took Cummings sliding valve and converted it to a“hinged valve”. This didnt stick—the mechanism would not allow it to stick. Now this really was a success as an effective device. Thousands were sold. Every grand English country house simply had to have one， and both engineers and potters were able to make a living constructing the clever device.

The Royal Doulton Company displayed them proudly in their catalogues well into the 20th century， long after the development of the freestanding ceramic marvel we know today. The hinged valve closet was expensive and complicated and for the likes of you and me it was well out of our reach. So most people still relied on the humble privy—a plank and a bucket in a draughty hovel at the bottom of the garden. We still needed a design breakthrough that was cheap and cheerful， clean and decent， and it came at the height of the Victorian Era when great entrepreneurs set about changing the way we lived.

The Arrival of the Modern Toilet

The middle of the 1800s was the time of the“Great Stink”when the Thames was an open sewer and people like George Jennings， Edward Johns， and Thomas Twyford started the race to develop the“modern” toilet. What was needed was a freestanding， ceramic affair which required no mechanism and was relatively cheap. Many designs were produced， and the bathroom industry was born.

有這樣一種大膽的說法：有人認為抽水馬桶是“過去一千年中最重要的發(fā)明之一”?！秱惗貢r報》在其千禧年專版不僅給出了如上評論，還將馬桶這項發(fā)明和其他一些成就相提并論，諸如15世紀的古登堡印刷機、原子彈以及1969年的人類登月。

還有另外一種大膽的說法：《獨立報》宣稱“抽水馬桶是有史以來最成功的設計之一。它不僅改善了我們的生活，而且還拯救了我們的生命”。

最后，還有一種更為大膽的說法：“對于改善世界人民的健康狀況來說，抽水馬桶的作用大過任何藥品或藥劑。”這種說法完全出自本文作者之口。誠然，抽水馬桶是很重要的一項發(fā)明，但在人類整個歷史長河中，這項發(fā)明相對較新，從后文中我們也可以看到，我們一直等到了維多利亞時代，才有偉大的創(chuàng)業(yè)家們將抽水馬桶改進成了我們今天熟悉又喜愛的樣子。

原始的衛(wèi)生狀況

早期的原始人類知道一些衛(wèi)生規(guī)則，而且費了很大勁才掌握這些規(guī)則。他們知道污水必須遠離飯菜。他們知道廚房必需設在上游，廁所必須設在下游。如果二者的布局顛倒了，后果會很嚴重，死亡會接踵而至，而傷寒、霍亂、痢疾只不過是惡劣衛(wèi)生條件下會滋生的諸多可怕疾病中的一小部分而已。我們今天遵循的也是這個基本原則。廁所正是人類分離排泄物和飲用水這一進程中的一部分。

羅馬人的公廁

羅馬人都是優(yōu)秀的衛(wèi)生學家。他們認為保持個人清潔是至關重要的事情，便在他們的城鎮(zhèn)和城堡內建造了精心設計的公共廁所。使用者坐在大理石石板上，每塊石板上有一個洞，洞下方會有水流涌出將排泄物沖走。石板前方有清水管道，使用者如廁后可以用綁在樹枝或棍子一端的天然海綿蘸著這水清洗一下。當然了，廁紙在多年之后才發(fā)明出來，那時的羅馬人自然沒的用。公元450年，羅馬人離開了不列顛，也帶走了他們的文明和衛(wèi)生科學方面的傳統(tǒng)。隨著這個傳統(tǒng)的消失，不列顛一下子陷入了黑暗時代，此后的一千年都過著不衛(wèi)生的日子。

首個抽水馬桶的誕生

我們不得不一直等到1592年，衛(wèi)生科學史上的下一個里程碑才出現(xiàn)。當時，女王伊麗莎白一世那非常富裕的教子哈林頓極度討厭自己的生活方式（他是一位詩人），便開始著手設計我們現(xiàn)在所知的有史以來第一個功能完善的一體化抽水馬桶。我們現(xiàn)在都能認出他的發(fā)明，但在他那個時代卻沒有多少人能認出來。他的發(fā)明是衛(wèi)生科學和廁所設計史上的一個重大突破，是處理人類排泄物的一種有效且相當衛(wèi)生的方式。這種馬桶有一個儲水的水箱、一個座位以及用來接收排泄物的桶身。它可以用一股突然涌出的水流將排泄物沖走。

這種廁所在當時是一項非常超前的杰出發(fā)明，當然，它也像所有那些了不起的新產品、設備和機械裝置一樣非常昂貴——它剛問世時的價格相當于現(xiàn)在的1000英鎊。遺憾的是，它并沒有流行起來，因為沒有人能買得起。這種抽水馬桶當時只造了兩個。一個是哈林頓給自己造的，安放在他位于英國薩摩賽特郡巴斯城凱爾斯特莊園的家里，另外一個是給他的教母女王伊麗莎白一世用的，安放在泰晤士河邊的里士滿宮里。我們只得又等了200年，才迎來人類衛(wèi)生事業(yè)的下一道曙光——亞歷山大·卡明發(fā)明了第一個閥沖水馬桶。

閥沖水馬桶的發(fā)明

卡明是倫敦的一個鐘表匠，他運用自己的機械學知識發(fā)明了“滑動閥馬桶”。這是一個名副其實的處理人類排泄物的機器，它在設計上也有重大突破?；瑒娱y馬桶獲得了極大的成功，但是好景卻不長。它的問題在于，這個裝置賴以運作的滑動閥門用不了多久就會被弄臟，滑塊很快就會生銹、卡住，而糞便和污物正是罪魁禍首。所以說，這個設計理念終究也不是那么完美。很遺憾，它也沒有流行起來！

但僅在三年之后（1778年）我們就看到了另外一個突破。來自約克郡的家具木工、鎖匠約瑟夫·布喇馬接手了卡明的滑動閥門并將它改造成了一個“帶鉸鏈的閥門”。這個閥門不卡了——這個機械裝置不會讓它卡住的。此時的抽水馬桶才真正成為一種有效的器具，因而大獲成功，賣出了好幾千個。英國每一幢豪華的鄉(xiāng)村別墅都必備一個，工程師和制陶工們也都可以靠生產這種精妙的器具謀生。

一直到20世紀，皇家道爾頓公司還十分自豪地在其產品目錄上列出鉸鏈閥門馬桶，而那時我們今天熟知的獨立式陶瓷馬桶早已出現(xiàn)了。鉸鏈閥門馬桶昂貴又復雜，像你我這種人根本消費不起。所以大多數(shù)人還是依賴簡陋的無沖洗設備的廁所，就是那種在花園盡頭的通風茅舍中用一塊厚木板和一只桶搭建成的馬桶。我們仍需要馬桶設計上的一個突破：便宜、舒適、衛(wèi)生、得體。這個突破直到維多利亞鼎盛時期，偉大的創(chuàng)業(yè)家們開始著手改變我們的生活方式時才出現(xiàn)。

現(xiàn)代馬桶的出現(xiàn)

19世紀中期是英國的“大惡臭”時期，那時的泰晤士河成了露天的下水道。像喬治·詹寧斯、愛德華·約翰斯和托馬斯·特懷福德等人開始競相制造“現(xiàn)代”馬桶。當時所需的是一個不需要機械裝置的、獨立式的、價格低廉的陶瓷設備。許多設計隨之涌現(xiàn)出來，衛(wèi)浴產業(yè)就這樣應運而生了。