The Express.
London, England, 1851-07-19 00:00:00

CRYSTAL PALACE ?

j which,
!a pri.

.~ ~ .

JULY 19, 1851.

A MEDICAL MAN'S PLEA FOR A WINTER
HARDEN IN THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

Under this title we have a pamphlet (published
by Mr. Van Voorst), in which the writer ezhibits a very
important aspect of the question now in debate relative to
the Crystal Palace. The author says :
4' The unhealthiness of London may be estimated by the
fact that, although the proportion of marriages among its
citizens is.greater far than among the population at !are ,c
the births which result are actually fewer, and the deaths
more numerous; thus :

Pawns mar- Births to 100 Death, to
1812. ried to too males and 100 110 persons
persons living. female. Befog. living.
In all England 1.541 6.400 1.-:09
In London 1.931 4.055 2.363
The annual mortality per cent. being :
Living to I.lvlng to
one death. one death.
Males. Females. 314 es. Females.
In England 2.2;0 2.104 44.1 47.2
In London
Results which nothing else than a condition of health
highly unfavourable to the Londoners can possibly explain.
" And in effect, when we examine into the remarkable,
and apparently discrepant results here displayed, we find
them to depend upon causes strictly atmospheric; that is to
say, upon the prevalence of those diseases which affect the
air paNsagcs, and upon the ills incidental to an impure at-
mosphere and over-crowded dwellings. Thus, of all the
deaths which occur annually in London, somewhat more
than one-third are caused by tubercular and respiratory
diseases, while in the rest of England the proportion te
about one-fourth.

Deaths from
tubermilurikod

Deaths from respirat.Jry
all comes.
In England (excluding London) 360.3J3
In [union 6x,414 21,692
"Now it is to be carefully observed that, although these
causes are most in operation during the winter months,
Deaths from tubercular and rcepiratoty diseases In the sum-
mer quartirs of ei3O (lanulun)
Deaths from tubercular sad impdratory diseases In the win-
ter quarters of 1830 (Lannon)
they appear to origivate leas in the inclemency of the wea-
ther than in circumstances which affect the purity and
quantity of the air we breathe. For, referring to the re-
turns from a suburb, unusually exposed, but healthy in
other respects, we find that, at Hampstead, the annual
mortality per cent. of males under five years of age is 6.286,
and of females, 4.918, while in the warmer but crowded
district of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, it is no less than 12.058
among males and 9.140 among females—a fearful dispropor-
tion—which, however, does not prove that a cold air is
good, but that no rigour of climate can compete, as a source
of disease, with the effects of close confinement to limited
and crowded areas and a corresponding deprivation of pure
air.

THE ATTENDANTS AT THE BRITISH
MUSEUM AND THE GREAT EXHIBITION.

"The object of the respiratory process in warm-blooded
animals, it is well known, is to extricate from the body car-
honk acid, the product of the decay and waste which the
tissues are constantly undergoing ; and air-breathing ani-
mals are supplied with a simple apparatus to effect this.
Their external skin is reflected inwards, and forms passages
and chambers into which the air they inhale is received,
and on the walls of which the blood, containing the carbon
of the system, is distributed ; this apparatus constitutes the
lungs. When the animal inspires, the chambers become
gently distended with air, and the blood, hitherto dark from
the presence of carbon, becomes red. It has exchanged its
carbon fur the oxygen of the fresh air, and is fitted, by this
momentary contact and interchange, to renew the decay
and waste which arc constantly taking place in every
organ of the body.
" Now, through the lungs of an adult man not less than
00,000 cubic inches of air must pass in the twenty-lour
bun; that is, an adult shut up in a room of twenty-four
feet square (by no means a small room), will have breathed
the whole contents of the chamber four times over at the end
(lithe first twenty-four hours of his confinement. The at-
mosphere then surrounding him would not be in the same
state as when he entered the chamber, for he would have
consumed nearly all the oxygen it contained, and exhaled in
its place a quantity of gas highly deleterious to life—a quan-
tity sufficient, in fact, to furnish a weight of not leas than
eight ounces troy of actual carbon. The aeration of the blood
would by this time have become impeded, and by and
by would be actually suspended ; as it is, it is no longer
reddened by contact with such an atmosphere, but, black
and impure, continues a languid circulation till the hue of
health has fled and the skin assumed a sallowness approach-
ing to lividity. Were the experiment carried far enough,
the individual would actually die asphyxiated. It is more
to our purpose, however, to stop it at this point, for it illus-
trates, exactly, the effect produced upon human beings
who exist—we cannot say, live—from year's end to year's
and in houses insufficiently ventilated.
" Thus, it has been calculated that a London child, a real
denizen of the place—of necessity and on account of the
weather and the state of his health, together, passes a
period in the house equal to about eleven months in every
year, i. e. he is sot out of doors for more than three hours
s-day, during 250 of the 36-5 days which compose the year.
Is it wonderful, then, knowing as we now do the inevitable
consequences of such confinement, that his skin assumes
the characteristic pallor and sallowness we have described ;
and that, after a sufficient time, he himself becomes the sub-
ject of one or more of those diseases which we hare shown
are mainly instrumental in his destruction ? Those whose
lot it is to contemplate and to combat the influences of such
an existence are prepared for what they find in the Regi-
strar-General's reports of the mortality among London chil-
dren; but the public generally, we venture to state, are
quite unconscious that, of all the children born in London,
nearly one-sixth of the whole number die before they
have attained the age of one year, and one-third be-
fore the age of five years; and that these re-
sults are so different from those obtained from certain
open, and known healthy, parts of the country, that the
chances of a London child, as compared with those of a
rustic in these districts, are not more than as nine to four-
teen. Thus, at Toubridge, a proportion nearly equal to
one-ninth of the whole population die before the age of one
year, and one-fifth before the age of five years.
" The figures are— _ . _

TO THE EDITOR OP THE EXPREVI.

rely upon your accustomed liberality for
the insertion of This, my application on behalf of a very
worthy body of men (viz.), the attendants of the British Mu-
seum. Every frequenter knows of this national institution,
and I am sure fully appreciates the attention and courtesy
shown by these men at all times, and sometimes in very try-
ing seasons, and their energies are more particularly called
forth this summer by the unusual influx of visitors, and the
opening of the Museum to the public two extra days in each
week. _ .

I am sure then his Royal Highness Prince Albert,
and the gentlemen composing the great commission will
feel surprised when they learn that the trustees of this in-
stitution have not only not volunteered a few days holiday
to the men to view the " worlds show," but have (as I am
credibly informed) actually refused a petition from the men
to that effect.
_ .

Pray, am, see what you can do for them.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
July 16. A READER.

(from the Lewd.)
This is a question now asked in every quarter, and
by all ranks of society. The reply, that no Ooth, Vandalic,
or sacrilegious hands, will ever be permitted to pull down
se fairy-like sad beautiful a structure, is almost unanimous.
Such being the state of public feeling, it appears wholly
superfluous to adduce any arguments on the subject ; the
only point now remaining at issue being, how to appro-
priate the building most advantageously. This we propose
discussing on the present occasion ; and so any inquiry of
that kind involves important hygienic principles, interest-
ing to the entire community, their investigation conse-
quently come. within the legitimate province of a medical
journal. •
Considering the variable character of our climate, espe-
cially during winter and spring, and the advantages of pos-
sessing a locality of sufficient extent, where all may be able
to breathe an atmosphere untainted by smoke, and of
equable temperature, whatever may be the prevalent
1 weather, besides having a place in which the eye is grad-
' fled by the sight of plants and flowers at all seasons,
whilst the mind may be at the same time improved by con-
templating the products of nature, interesting works of
art, and the great results of human ingenuity, the proposi-
tion of converting the Palace of Olass into a perpetual
garden and museum, containing the productions of various
climes, is decidedly the most feasible, and if carried out
judiciously would prove highly advantageous. To invalids,
and especially to tie rising generation, who will soon
become the artisans, professional men, and future le.
gislaton of England, an establishment of the kind
proposed would be truly invaluable, seeing that all might
then take exercise and be instructed by surround-
ing objects, without exposure to the vicissitudes of
season, whilst protected from harm—so liable to happen
in crowded metropolitan thoroughfares. In addition
to these advantages, the contemplation of nature in
all its beauty, embellished by art and science, which a pro-
perly arranged garden or museum always roduces upon
the minds of visitors, would likewise have a beneficial in-
fluence upon the feelings and intellectual faculties, not only
of those who came for study or mental recreation, but
also on persons attracted thither for the sole purpose
of physical enjoyment. But although it seems by no means
desirable to convert the proposed garden into a mere
receptacle fur invalids, or to make it • large nursery
for the juvenile population of London, no individual
will deny, wen it even used chiefly for; such purposes,
that the plan would still constitute a great boon to every
member of the commonwealth. To the former class,
such as dyspeptic, hypochondriac, and nervous persons of
both sexes, who are often afraid to go out of doors, parti-
cularly in doubtful weather, lest they should catch cold or
sutferinjury to health, • promenade of the kind proposed
would often prove highly unative; whilst to young people
an hour or two spent in bodily movement, when breathing
pure air, and admiring surrounding objects, could not be
otherwise than invigorating to the': physical frames and
mental faculties.

Deaths Meths
under One under Five
Births. Tear. Years.
In Loudon 53,319 5,003 10,5(4
la Zeeland
la Tunbridge__
" Nor is there any discrepancy between these figures and
what we actually observe in practice. Sir Jas. Clark, speak-
ing of children not hereditarily predisposed to tubercular
diseases (which, we may mention, include consumption and
scrofula), says, •If a child be confined to rooms in
which free ventilation is neglected, a few months
will often suffice to induce tuberculous cachexia.
The countenance will become pale, the flesh soft,
the limbs emaciated, the abdomen tumid, and the
evacuations foetid and unnatural. The external lymphatic
glands, especially those of the neck, will enlarge, and the
child will speedily fall a victim to tuberculous disease. .
If this is the case,' he goes on to say, 'in a strong infant,
the offspring of healthy parents, and perfectly healthy at
its birth, how much more certainly and rapidly will the
same effects be produced in the feeble infant of unhealthy
parents ?' Again, In the confined districts of large
and populous cities, where neither pure air nor sufficient
light can enter the buildings, the food of the inhabitants
cannot be assimilated, even though the supply be unexcep-
tionable.

" Mans. Baudelocque speaks still more strongly Tclle
est la veritable cause, la scule cause, petit-etre, de la ma-
Adis scrophuleuse. . . . Partout oa it y tides scrophu-
leax canes estate ; que partout oil elle existe it 3, a des
serophaleux, et que la oa elle manque Is maladie scrophu-
leuee tent pas canoe.'
"Do these things admit of a remedy? We think it must
be at once admitted that they do not. So long as 2,500,000
human beings continue their endeavours to exist upon_ the
volume of air afforded them by the present area of London,
so long will they continue to languish, and so surely will
they die prematurely. The limited utility sanitary mea-
sures, too, which have for their object the mere purification
of the air, will now become apparent—they cannot purify
what there is not.
" But although no radical cure offers itself, we have
ideas our reach a prophylactic of great power. If we
Sere et enlarge the scope of our London atmosphere, we
am at least, baffle the destroyer, by coaxing the crowded
bislitants out of their houses, and 17 means of our parks
sol open spaces, so
.spreading the living mass for a
Am loan of certain auspicious days in the year,
is to send them home, for the nonce, invigorated
sal refreshed. Could we get them out on every day of the
pm; could we turn any portion of our pares and open
quo into protected exercuing grounds, available at all
vows el the year; could we make these exercising
pow& perfectly pervious to a large body of moving and
•sg air ; could we secure for this contained air a
anisette and standard temperature, and a constant hygro-
metric condition ; could we insure this during the Ave
Imam in the year that our children are immured in
and our invalids hermetically sealed
alf is twig bers—we should then, we believe, bo oh.
mining for them as much as the nature of their situuttak
and the inevitable conditions we have just considerra, aga
pmeibly permit them to enjoy.
" And all these conditions we have tho authority of
competent persons for stating are perfectly attain' &big.
should the public intimate Its desire to see them combined
in the Crystal Palace.

It is unnetesearj to enter at greater length, either
into the gene:al benefits such a winter garden would
indubitabl7 produce, or into the details which appear
accessa:y to carry out that project. Nevertheless, tid.
coasting the principle of making the establishment
self-supporting, the pries of admission should
be so moderate as to render it accessible to the
million, with perhaps one or two days for exclusives ;
whereby its usefulness would be much more extended, and
the pleasure derived at the same time diffused to the
widest possible range. Another suggestion of moment,

...on made by, sante parties, deserves more thad "It will.he et n read' *at we Ililv• carefully confined, peace was concluded,hereturnedhome with a warm teelingof
-,4 notice, viz., the orapoml of admitting equestrians I ourselves to these points in our argument which gratitude towards those heroic men, for he felt, to use an ag-
...min itsi ',rejects. To any proposition of teat kind there • have appeared to us of ' paralnenht Hygienic ink- ricultural phrase, Olat e?. stoek could not be a feel 030 when
are mint serious objections. Indeed, in our estimation, the ; portauce, and that we have need no rhetoric more persua- the produce was so goal. (Great cheering and laughter.)
4 greden ought to be exclusively restricted to pedestrians, Sive than a few figures. We desire cipreesly to state, too, Ile would ask all who heard him, if it did not make a great
'-add those using wheeled chairs, who, being invalids, • that we have no wish to see the Crystal Palace converted difference to u country. that tie: town population should be
',cannot otherwise enjoy locomotion. No animals what- into so exclusive resort for invalids. We have even a hoe- orderly, rather than otherwise, and if it was not moot ins.
ever should bo allowed to enter, since they conta- ror of the very name of moltarium, and arc writing not portant to the rural districts that the labourers should tar
mjnate the atmosphere, and would besides prove a great for a class, but fur the public at large. If wo have used God, honour the Queen, and do their duty to their neigh-
: 11‘1141111qe :to the general company. To change the glass I exclusive arguments, it is because we felt that, by our me- hours as they wished to be done by. (Cheers.) He was
palace intim immense riding-school, or to make it only I dical exprience we could tho better illustrate and plead happy to say he was acquainted with many of the lower
another Rotten-row under cover, would be a most disagree- the necessities Of every one of our fellow-citizens. !classes who followed these precepts, and these persons wire
able nonoyance ; and to permit parties whom a facetious l 44 Were the Crystal Palace, however, at our disposal, not only happier in themselves, at by their good conduct
I daielnea calls " fast women in wide-awakes " to canter ; together with the surplus thousands in the hands of the they were promoting the best interests of society at large.
amt, to be ogled at by ancient and juvenile bcaux,whether i Royal Commissioners, we would go much further than (Cheers.)
isamelisre or on foot, is wholly inadmissible. Against such a either llenarius or Mr. Paxton. We would have, in addi- 4 The meeting was afterwanls addressed by Colonel Chal-
we enter our protest, and hope it will never be I tioa to the shrubs and fountains—both of great utility as loner, Captain Bulkeley, the Marquis of llownshire, Mr.
Equestrians of all degrees at present possess ; agitators and renovators of the air—springs of living water ; Hudson, Mr. Beeville, and others, and the proceedings
toelb for manoeuvring in the park rides or Reusing- I for personal use. We would sinks wells in the Crystal closed as they began, iu perfect order and propriety.
,
where they have already become sufficiently Palace, and establish a system of baths, which would cons- 1
to nursery maids and rld ladies. To these bine all that is desirable in the spas of Germany with all that I
taddisettlo regions they ought to confine their future feats. is decent in the Roman Therms. We would have a copious
The promoo striders in the Crystal Palace would disturb and well-arranged library and reading-rooms, retiring and
Ifts podloirialo, besides being a desecration. reclining-rooms, couches for repose disposed about thebuild-
ins, hand.carriages of every description, and a scale of re.
freshments so liberal and complete, as to furnish those who
would spend the whole day in the place with the most
ample means of doing so.
"ITo the owners and occupiers of the houses in the neigh-
bourhood we would say—would that we were in your posi-
tion : as owners, on accouut of the increased value which
we should expect our property to acquire ; and as occupiers
in our contiguity to such a winter park as we are sure Mr.
Paxton can make for us. The crowd which now throngs
about the transept and takes shelter under our porticoes,
sad the omnibuses which distract us, the policemen, the
symposium, and the dust, we should expect to disappear,
one by one, and to find ourselves, at no very distant period,
entire masters of the situation."

GARDENING OPERATIONS FOIL TILE

ENSUING WEEK.

From the Gardener's l'hreasiere.

rIANT DEPAILTIIENT.

Do not allow any of the transient summer beauties
to remain in the flower-houses longer than they arc orna-
mental; and those which have been grown as annuals, to
serve merely for a season, should be thrown away when
they cease to be useful ; fur if kept beyond a certain stage,
they only engender filth, and harbour insects. That portion
of the Gloxinias Achimenes, and other bulbs requiring a
season of rest, which are now becoming shabby hi appear-
ance, should be placed in a close frame, where they can be
ripened off by gradually diminishing the quantity of water.
It is seldom necessary to extend this care to the whole of
the stock, as a few of the best puts of each kind will furnish
enough to work from next year. Take care that these
plants are correctly labelled before the foliage is destroyed;
and mention on the label the date when put to rest, that
they may be excited in the same rotation next year. By
going over the stock in this manner, more room will be
gained for those plants which are being grown Ihr autumn
and winter. These should enjoy a rather freer admission of
air during the day, that they may be gradually loured to
a cooler temperature than that in which they have been
growing for the last three months. The same course of
treatment must be pursued with stove phntii in general,
especially with those which have completed a growth for
next year's flowering ; these may be placed on the spare
shelves of a greenhouse, from which the plants have been
removed. In this situation they must have abundance of
air, except when the weather is cold or windy. Greenhouse
plants require similar attention in everything except tempera-
ture, which should be kept as low as possible, unless for
plants which it is desirable to bring quickly into flower. On
fine afternoons syringe overhead with a lure rose all plants
which are under artificial covering. In fine warm nights
it will be of great benefit to remove the glass or other cover-
ing, that the plants may be refreshed by the evening dew;
and also during warm, gentle summer showers. Some of
the earliest specimens of the lilium lancifolium and varieties
will soon be coining into flower. Place them in a situation
in the conservatory where the sun's rays will not act too
powerfully upon them. Supply them with sufficient water,
and occasionally with liquid manure, that their flowers may
be prolonged, and enhanced in brilliancy ; and also that their
foliage may be preserved.

FORCING DEPARTMENT.
rINERIES.—Give every encouragement to those plants
which are now showing and swelling, by means of a moist
high day temperature, and good bottom head, and by shad-
ing during very warm weather. If the quantity of fruit
which has already made its appearance is inadequate to
meet your probable requirements during winter, water may
fur a short time be withheld from u portion of the plants
which are fittest for fruiting. On the other hand, carefully
avoid any cheek to those which it is desirable to keep on in a
growing state. VlNElttla.—lit the late vineries the grapes
which are required to hang till the new year should be well
thinned, and the shoulders tied out, so as to ensure a free
circulation of air amongst the berries, that their skin and
footstalks may be better matured, and less liable to decay
during winter. The potting of strawberries for forcing should
be proceeded with as soon as the young plants have made
sufficient rood to allow of their being transferred to the
pots with nice little balls of soil, which will adhere to them
if taken carefully up with a curved trowel. We prefer this
laying them in small pots, as it saves time and pots, and
succeeds perfectly. The soil fur forcing strawbemes should
be of rather a strong loamy nature, and have some well
rotted cow or horse-dung added to it. Take pains to make
the drainage very perfect, as it is necessary to give a con-
siderable quantity of water during their growth through
the autumn, and when they are being forced next season;
and if the drainage is defective the health of tho plants must
suffer. Some gardeners du not pot their plants till Septem-
ber, hut we prefer doing it as early us we can, placing them
at once into the site of pot in which we intend them to
fruit, or putting them auto 4 or 5-inch pots, and shifting
them, in a fortnight or three weeks, into 7-inch pots. A
portion of the healthiest plants of those which were forced
last season should be immediately shaken out of the old
soil, soaked in water, re-potted in rather larger pots, and
set on beds of coal-ashes in an open situation. During the
summer the runners must be regularly moved, and the
growth of the plants encouraged by occasional waterinFts of
liquid manure. As habit becomes a second nature to plants,
these strawberries will complete their growth much earlier
than those raised from this year's runners; and if carefully
attended to, without regard to water, they will be better
prepared for an early excitement.

FLOWEIi. O•I.DEN AND 811e1111EllIES.
Those who can spare time for budding roses will, of
course, be busy with that operation, selecting moist wea-
ther for the purpose. Very inseresting specimens for the
flower-garden may be created by budding sonic of the
choicer perpetuals, Bourbons, and other autumn-flowering
varieties, upon the strung young shoots of the climbing
species, which have formed such attractive objects during
the last few weeks. By allowing a portion of the spurs of
the original variety to remain, a pleasing succession of
bloom will be obtained from early summer to late autumn.
The propagation of hardy plants should now be energe-
tically proceeded with. After the smaller matters, such as
phloxes, antirrhinums, pentstemons, de., are completed,
cuttings should be taken off all the choice kinds of roses
which it is desirable to increase; and if this is done im-
mediately they will have time to form tine plants before
winter. They will strike pretty freely hi a close frame
on the north side of a wall, or even in a shady border
without a frame. If iu frames, pull off the sashes every
evening, that they may be refreshed by the night dews.
We never yet saw a pleasure-ground or flower-garden
which contained a superabundance of roses; but we would
direct particular attention to the early-flowering climbing
roses, than which nothing can be more beautiful when they
are tastefully arranged. In selecting the varieties for ex-
tensive cultivation, those should be chosen which, in addi-
tion to their beauty, are (Mind most able to endure the
severity of the winter unchecked, and which are least liable
to be affected with mildew during summer, as varieties differ
very much iu both these points, and many arc found to
succeed much better in some localities than in others.
FLORISTS' FLOWEILS.
PANSIES.—These will require abundant water; and it
will often happen at this time of the year that the flowers
will come so much out of character as scarcely to be recog-
nised even by the raisers; we would not advise seed to be
gathered froin these interior flowers, but would rather pull
them off. Still pipe the latter shoots, these will make neat
plants and plenty of them ; in showery weather plant out,
on well prepared beds, those which are already rooted;
should the weather prove dry, and hot, if possible cover tho
bed with hoops and a slight protection of calico; it is much
better than giving a great deal of water in this sort of
weather. Tulips : If not already done should all be out of
the ground; do not remove the loose skin when taking the
bulbs up. This is better done when thcyare dry. Dahlias:
Let stakes be placed round the plants to which the side
shoots may be attached, as they elougat • ; mulch the surface
with rotten manure, and give abundance of water. Auri-
eulas and Polyanthuses : Go over the whole stock ; they
will be benefited by stirring the surface soil ; gentle water-
jugs may be given in the evening, but still retain them in
'their shady situation. Carnations and Picotees are now
coming into bloom fast ; tie the buds, slacken those which
are too tight, and water freely.