在科技發(fā)達(dá)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(gè)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(zhǎng)而艱難的“進(jìn)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(rèn)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(shí)報(bào)》在其千禧年專版不僅給出了如上評(píng)論，還將馬桶這項(xiàng)發(fā)明和其他一些成就相提并論，諸如15世紀(jì)的古登堡印刷機(jī)、原子彈以及1969年的人類登月。

還有另外一種大膽的說法：《獨(dú)立報(bào)》宣稱“抽水馬桶是有史以來最成功的設(shè)計(jì)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(duì)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?！边@種說法完全出自本文作者之口。誠(chéng)然，抽水馬桶是很重要的一項(xiàng)發(fā)明，但在人類整個(gè)歷史長(zhǎng)河中，這項(xiàng)發(fā)明相對(duì)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(shí)代，才有偉大的創(chuàng)業(yè)家們將抽水馬桶改進(jìn)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(fèi)了很大勁才掌握這些規(guī)則。他們知道污水必須遠(yuǎn)離飯菜。他們知道廚房必需設(shè)在上游，廁所必須設(shè)在下游。如果二者的布局顛倒了，后果會(huì)很嚴(yán)重，死亡會(huì)接踵而至，而傷寒、霍亂、痢疾只不過是惡劣衛(wèi)生條件下會(huì)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(gè)基本原則。廁所正是人類分離排泄物和飲用水這一進(jìn)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(xué)家。他們認(rèn)為保持個(gè)人清潔是至關(guān)重要的事情，便在他們的城鎮(zhèn)和城堡內(nèi)建造了精心設(shè)計(jì)的公共廁所。使用者坐在大理石石板上，每塊石板上有一個(gè)洞，洞下方會(huì)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(dāng)然了，廁紙?jiān)诙嗄曛蟛虐l(fā)明出來，那時(shí)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(xué)方面的傳統(tǒng)。隨著這個(gè)傳統(tǒng)的消失，不列顛一下子陷入了黑暗時(shí)代，此后的一千年都過著不衛(wèi)生的日子。

首個(gè)抽水馬桶的誕生

我們不得不一直等到1592年，衛(wèi)生科學(xué)史上的下一個(gè)里程碑才出現(xiàn)。當(dāng)時(shí)，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(shè)計(jì)我們現(xiàn)在所知的有史以來第一個(gè)功能完善的一體化抽水馬桶。我們現(xiàn)在都能認(rèn)出他的發(fā)明，但在他那個(gè)時(shí)代卻沒有多少人能認(rèn)出來。他的發(fā)明是衛(wèi)生科學(xué)和廁所設(shè)計(jì)史上的一個(gè)重大突破，是處理人類排泄物的一種有效且相當(dāng)衛(wèi)生的方式。這種馬桶有一個(gè)儲(chǔ)水的水箱、一個(gè)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(dāng)時(shí)是一項(xiàng)非常超前的杰出發(fā)明，當(dāng)然，它也像所有那些了不起的新產(chǎn)品、設(shè)備和機(jī)械裝置一樣非常昂貴——它剛問世時(shí)的價(jià)格相當(dāng)于現(xiàn)在的1000英鎊。遺憾的是，它并沒有流行起來，因?yàn)闆]有人能買得起。這種抽水馬桶當(dāng)時(shí)只造了兩個(gè)。一個(gè)是哈林頓給自己造的，安放在他位于英國(guó)薩摩賽特郡巴斯城凱爾斯特莊園的家里，另外一個(gè)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(gè)閥沖水馬桶。

閥沖水馬桶的發(fā)明

卡明是倫敦的一個(gè)鐘表匠，他運(yùn)用自己的機(jī)械學(xué)知識(shí)發(fā)明了“滑動(dòng)閥馬桶”。這是一個(gè)名副其實(shí)的處理人類排泄物的機(jī)器，它在設(shè)計(jì)上也有重大突破?；瑒?dòng)閥馬桶獲得了極大的成功，但是好景卻不長(zhǎng)。它的問題在于，這個(gè)裝置賴以運(yùn)作的滑動(dòng)閥門用不了多久就會(huì)被弄臟，滑塊很快就會(huì)生銹、卡住，而糞便和污物正是罪魁禍?zhǔn)?。所以說，這個(gè)設(shè)計(jì)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(gè)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(dòng)閥門并將它改造成了一個(gè)“帶鉸鏈的閥門”。這個(gè)閥門不卡了——這個(gè)機(jī)械裝置不會(huì)讓它卡住的。此時(shí)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(gè)。英國(guó)每一幢豪華的鄉(xiāng)村別墅都必備一個(gè)，工程師和制陶工們也都可以靠生產(chǎn)這種精妙的器具謀生。

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

現(xiàn)代馬桶的出現(xiàn)

19世紀(jì)中期是英國(guó)的“大惡臭”時(shí)期，那時(shí)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(jìng)相制造“現(xiàn)代”馬桶。當(dāng)時(shí)所需的是一個(gè)不需要機(jī)械裝置的、獨(dú)立式的、價(jià)格低廉的陶瓷設(shè)備。許多設(shè)計(jì)隨之涌現(xiàn)出來，衛(wèi)浴產(chǎn)業(yè)就這樣應(yīng)運(yùn)而生了。