I am wondering if anyone is aquainted with a privy type found at an
1860s elite home in small-town Minnesota. The privy is contained in a
corner of summer kitchen addition and entered from the house. The holes
are suspended over a small cart that is accessible from the back
exterior.
 
Is this a feature of Victorian modesty so that women wouldn't be seen
going "out back," or of progressive agriculture-- waste could be
directly applied to the nearby orchard? Even without the understanding
of germ theory,  wouldn't this arrangement have created an insalubrious
maism within the house? The owner admits to have caught malaria from
damp air in his youth. Is anyone aware of prescriptive literature
promoting this arrangement? The house owner was a book farmer and great
follower of Andrew Jackson Downing.