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1. In The Night-Soil Men, who were the toshers and what did they do?

The toshers would wade through the muck of low tide dressed in velveteen coats. They walked with a lantern strapped to their chests to help them see. They carried an eight-foo-long pole that they used to test the ground and pull themselves out if they fell into a quagmire. They would search the river's edge for coins.

2. In The Night-Soil Men, what type of specialists emerged to take care of waste removal?

Because the waste problem was so bad in London, specialists emerged who carted goods to the appropriate markets. The bone collectors sold their goods to the bone-boilers. The pure-finders sold their dog feces to tanners. Other scavengers collected items like rags to sell.

3. Why are the bacteria-driven processes of decomposition important?

Bacteria-driven processes of decomposition are important, because without them, the earth would have been overrun by offal and dead carcasses long ago. If bacteria disappeared from the world, life on earth would disappear in a few years.

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