The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-29 00:00:00

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vt:WSPAPER,
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43"41!A11a - ‘4"-
tions, addressed to the Registrar-Gener
Acland, the Regius Professor of Mediel
, •
University of Oxford, in reference to t -
that city, and in the region extendierov • -
bi
Thames Basin. It appears that there were two ca
of typhoid fever in Worcester College which were
registered. The site of the college is low and not-
well-drained, but these defects apply to the whole
city. There is no systematic drainage, and the whole
subsoil is infiltrated with filth from cesspools and
other reservoirs of putrescent matter. The evil is
too great and ramified to be cured by local improve-
ment, and Dr. Acland assigns this as a reason why
the inhabitants are apparently so indifferent, they
deeming it useless to engage in minor plans which
advises, " that the drainnaadgtecloafey.
would fail through a
the
wleheo,lethTerheafmorees,
ttcommckissoiuognh.," triolbise
iisnevtehno
b
v edys
ea
fboavG m
e oriv'ee
rdndi negnon le
schemed
,tthhaonu
gthh ei t m
reallyet rop of
el iramn dar erianratg,eef
anow abnedi enrg
it, for unless the upper Thames be conserved in
purity the lower Thames must be foul with constant
descending filth. Under proper regulations each
town on its banks would divert its sewage from the
river. It is true that some drainage works have
been during many years in progress on the upper
Thames and its tributaries, but they have not been
prosecuted on any concerted plan. There can be no
doubt that the gigantic works superintended by Mr.
Bazalgetto will conduce most powerfully to the
health of London, but his labours cannot be corn.,
plete if, from the higher grounds, the Thames be-
tween the bridges is liable to daily invasion by
corrupt waters, which poison the supplies of the
water companies. Dr. Acland insists that the ele-
ments of disease are conveyed in water, though the
distance may not be accurately known. He also
thinks that "the soil modifies in a high degree the
effects of the surface waters." There are other evils
eepmeimpureaelyaterewt2ie4 cannot-he expressed in
the death rate, because they do not actually extin-
guile* Hsi "feeble 'sewer, tardy conval-
eac'‘iite, distress, and discomfort incalculable." Of
course ail these are fatal to labour as a productive
power, be it physical or intellectual, and therefore
fatalie national wealth.
On-the Bth April, 1861, when the census was
taken-,-- the- population of London was 2,803,989.
If we take the difference between the two lust
censuses- as the guide to calculation, it would
appear that the daily increase to the population of
London is 121 souls; but its natural increase, that
is the excess of births over deaths, was about 72
only; thus it received daily an •
immigrant population
of 50 who settled permanently. Here is a fertile
text for- those •
speculative and ingenious statisti-
cians who anticipate
limit the builded area of citi •es according to their •
fancy, their hopes, and their fears. Of course
much depends on the sani •
tary state of lccalities ;
fever, the offspring of overcrowding
and imperfect
ventilation, rapidly thins numbers, and cholera
and influenza smite their thousands and tens of
thousands. But, as in the past 20 years so in time
to come, that increased regard for
human lit© which
attends civilisation is not likely to fail,
and there-
fore it may be presumed that population will con-
tinue to increase. But much yet remains to be done
in the direction of preventive measures, The streets
must be widened and better cleansed
,the rivers
purified, dead the dwellings of the poorer classes im-
proved inireeommodation ; though the greatest of
all reforms must be affected by individuals them-
selves, in strictly adhering to habits of temperance,
the great conservator of life and health.
An appendix to the report of Dr. Farr is most
valuable in a medical point of view. It refers to
the public health in 1861. He shows that since
1832 there has been an unusual prevalence of diarr-
-I,CC3, passing into cholera or dysentery, and in 1861,
these diseases killed more than 20,000 persons,
while fever immolated more than 15,440 victims.
Dr. Farr confirms the views of 1)r. Acland as to
water, soiled by impure admixtures, being one of
the vehicles of disease. He says :—" The ova of
worms and the seeds of various diseases aro thus
diffused among children ; while great numbers of
men and women in the prime of life also suffer, and
often die of the maladies which are the inevitable
consequences of violations of natural laws." Dr.
Farr also refers incidentally but significantly to the
sewage of towns, and shows it to be a part of the
economy of nature to restore to the land, the source
of food, the refuse arising from it after consumption.
In common with all other natural laws its viola-
tion is attended with heavy and certain penalties,
for not only does subsistence frequently fail incon-
sequence, but putrid dirt, through its accumulation,
generates pestilence.
Dr. Farr refers to Dr. Murchison's book on the
" Fevers of Great Britain," and divides those
which are well known, and capable of exact defini-
tion, into the three distinct heads of typhus,
typhinia, and typhoid, or typhia. These are
chiefly generated by overcrowding, and are often
diffused by infection. Of typhus, 21 in 100 cases
die in 'the London Fever Hospital, but second at■
tacks are very rare. Typhinia a • is form of relaps-
ingitfever. The patient attacked by / after being
n d
apparently recovered at the en ays, is
d of save
fever
again prostrated on the fourteenth day •
epidemic, and infectious, prevails in time of famine.
It is generally fatal in the ratio of one case out of
49. Typhoid, or typhia, is endemic in character,
and its presence may be known by ,the eruption of
rose spots on the a•
kin ha the London Fever Hos-
pital terminate fatally. It attacks
19 cases in 100
the young, but rarely recurs a second time. Filth
and the exhalations arising from it generate this
disease. The prevalence of this scourge, greatly
by cleanliness in dwellin
preventible g.houses, has
enter on these details
induced to to as warnings to
the working classes, who cannot be too much on
guard against its insidioustheir approaches in close
and unventilated neighbourhoods. In 1861 there
died in London of fever 1,770 persons, but the ave-
rage of deaths from this
cause is larger in the whole
kingdom. The chief metropolitan fever fields cover
ehoreditch, Whitechapel,4Ste ney, mile-end, Pop-
lar, and Bernaondse
y. The hoPs
l is in Islington,
Pop-
where the deaths ere registerecil-but they are not
due to Islington, the patients being sent to it from
all parts of London
Quitting the I s an
metropo
• a entering the pro-
vinces • a Island and Alver-
lo quest of fever Portse
stoke, Portsmouth and,Gosport, the great seats of
military and naval power, are described as fatal
fever districts;
tion for healthiness, exempt.
enjoys a popularreputa Valley toWinches-
ter.the Itchen f
Fever travelled up
another centre, rom which it
Abined" woaraanad Eton. It was typhoid which
spread to
Windsor
of the lamented Prince Albert.
deprived the
mortality in the 12 years ending in
The range 0- was from 6.63 to 10.41 in 10,000
1861, from fever,
persons.therit! is a comparatively new form of dis.
Dipb
and on its first appearance its true; character
ewaasse'only recognised by the ablest medical practi-
tioners, it being generally confounded with putrid
sore throat and scarlatina. This epidemic was at
its height in 1859, and has since slowly subsided.
It is chiefly fatal to the young. "In seven yeaas
1553 adults died of the disease at 25 and upwards ;
under that age 28,216 died." The ravages of scar-
latina are chiefly felt in the coal districts of the
north of England, and it is recommended that the
cause should be investigated. Small-pox is said
now to exist "by sufferance." The legislature has
provided for the protection of helpless children by
vaccination,wbich is either neglected or inefficiently
Performed, but where the blame lies it Kelta to be
impossible to determine. Another fatal diet es,
which entirely depends on individual free will is
alcoholism, described as " slow poisoning
spirits." It not only kills, but thoseby
who sur-
vive its insidious attacks are sure to become en-
feebled in body and mind.
The annual mortality from derangement of the
respiratory organs is peculiarly fatal. Of these the
most dangerous are bronchitis and pneumonia. It
appears that the latter has not much varied
last ten years, but within the same period the
former has increased from 17,073 to 30,986. Been-
chitis is chiefly fatel to the old ; pneumonia to thB
young. From heth these inflammations girls are
more free than boys, It is remari:able how ninny
meet their deaths from burns and scalds, and burns
have increased given superficial
in recent pears.
skin injuries from these causes, followed by sick-
ness, are frequently fatal after many. weeks.
These are popularly ascribed, in the mewrity of
cases, to accidents, but the more correct term would
be carelessness. It is advised that all open fires,
liithts, and kettles of hot water, should be eur-
, rounded by good guards, and that dresses should
be starched with such chemicel tneteriele as render
them incombustible. •