The Sun.
London, England, 1853-09-17 00:00:00

THE LAWS OF CROLEBA.

It may be right to premise that the observations
which are to follow the above title are not intended
to be limited to a strictly logical definition of the
laws of cholera, and that we shall feel at liberty
not only to advert to any facts we may find it
necessary to chronicle for the purpose of showing
how those laws have developed themselves, but
also to digress a little from time to time, in order
to bring to the subject sundry contributions by
which it may be enriched. We ask leave to use
our title somewhat like the x of the aJgebraist, and
to declare its value when we arrive at the close of
our procesg:

,'~__~..

Until the month of February, 1852, we are not
in a position to show that cholera had its laws—at
least, we could not furnish anything amounting to
their digest and exposition. At the first appear-
ance of the epidemic in this country, in 1832, and
for many subsequent years, it was a subject com-
pletely shrowded in mystery ; its nature was not
understood, its movements were a riddle, and its
proper treatment, even among the most scientific
and experienced, was unknown. Of late years the
magic wand of science has been drawing its circle
around•this angel of death, and, if we had a popu-
lation ready to obey her voice,, we should enjoy
something like an immunity from the sufferings
and the deaths which we have with a Turkish
fatality considered inevitable.
We say February, 1852, for it was at that date
that we were furnished with a complete history of
cholera in England—a history both natural and
chronological of the epidemic, from its first appear-
ance down to the close of 1849. We refer to the
" Report of the Mortality of Cholera in England in
1848-9, presented by the Registrar-General to Sir
George Grey, the Secretary for the Home Depart-
ment." That document did not appear until two
years after the epidemic had passed over us, and,
great as was the temptation to notice it for the in-
valuable information it presented, we abstained
from entering into the subject from an unwilling-
ness to revive a distressing topic, and from a con-
viction that a year or two would bring up the pain-
ful subject again. This document we shall now use
as our textbook in the discussion on which we are
about to enter, and it wikll be our object, departing
somewhat from its order and method, to give our
readers the benefit of that extensive induction of
which it is the record.

The Registrar-General having confided the duty
of framing a complete history of the late epidemic
to Mr. William Farr, that gentleman proceeded to
his work with the scientific ardour for which he is
distinguished, and, aided by his able assistants, he
rendered available for his purpose the vast piles of
returns which fill the Registrar's-office, taking ad-
vantage, also, of the new population returns " to
determine accurately the mortality of the districts
of London and of the country in which the disease
had been most fatal."

To show the value which may be claimed for the
deductions that are to follow, it may be well, in
the first place, to notice the materials from which
they are drawn, and which consist of a list of every
case of death from cholera and diarrhoea in 1848-9,
transcribed from the registration volumes, the
whole forming a large mass of manuscript, which
contains the particulars of 72,180 deaths. " The
list of persons who died of the two diseases in
1848-9 would fill an octavo volume of about 2,500
pages." The report, instead of presenting a death
register, contains the abstracts and salient facts
relating to each locality in a condensed form. By
means of the ample tables with which we are fur-
nished we can trace " the march of the epidemic
through every country day by day," and that
" through 17,000,000 of people settled over a wide
extent of country in all the various ccircumstances
of life."

Aided by the ingenuity of his assailants, the
author of this report has been enabled to record the
daily progress of the cholera mortality in a number
of diagrams, which tell their tale to the eye of the
observer in such a manner as greatly to assist him
in arriving at results and make him almost inde-
pendent of the tables of figures given to assist his
more minute inquiries.
We have a "Map of England, shaded to show the
prevalence of cholera in the several districts during
the epidemic of 1849," whereon the relatives degrees
of mortality are expressed by the darkness of the
shading. In this map, in Hull, where the mor-
tality
was 237 in 10,000 inhabitants, the shade is
darkest ; in Guildford, in Surrey, where the mor-
tality was 5 in 10,000, the shading is imperceptible.
This faithful sheet presents mournful patches of
black, beginning northwards, on the east coast, at
Alnwick, and going round to Newcastle-on-Tyne
and Sunderland, Stockton, Sculcoates, Wisbeach,
the whole valley of the Thames from Rochfore and
Sheppey, several miles above Brentford ; then
Brighton, Southampton, Plymouth, and the neigh-
bourhood, Bridgewater, Bristol, Swansea. Bridgend
Cardiff and Newport, Liverpool, and Cockermouth,
while in the interior the funereal hue falls heavily
on Leeds, Gainsborough, Nant witch, Newcastle-
under-Lyne, Wolverhampton, Walsall, West Brom-
wich, Dudley, and Stourbridge, Coventry, Hitchin,
Hertford, and Salisbury.
An admirably executed diagram, very much re-
sembling that made by the Corps of Engineers to
record the attendance at the Great Exhibition,
gives the deaths from cholera and diarrhoea on each
day of the year 1849, with the meteorological phe-
nomena registered at Greenwich on the correspond-
ing days, so that on inspection the student can
learn, in reference to any given day during that
year, the number of deaths from either disease, the
temperature, the quantity of rain that fell, the di-
rection of the wind, and the weight of the atmos-
phere, and, like the well-known diagram to which
we have referred, giving the appearance of a needle-
shaped mountain, throwing up its loftiest pinnacle
to indicate the day on which the numbers attained
their maximum.

In the same way another diagram shows the
deaths from cholera in 11 divisions of England ;
another gives the temperature and mortality of
London for every week for the last 11 yeari, shown
by circular figures. This is followed by a set of
circular diagrams representing the Plagues of Lon-
don, and showing the weekly deaths in the years
1593, 1603, 1625, 1636, 1665.
These elaborate diagrams, the extended tables by
which they are followed, and the body of " Notes
on Cholera," furnished by the various local regis-
trars, form the apparatus which has been employed
to work out one of the most interesting problems
to which the labours of a scientic mind could be
directed. How that problem has been worked, the
solution given, and its practical uses, are subjects
to which we deem it most important at this period
to call public attention, as we intend in our further
observations, and from which it will be seen that
the use made of these materials is worthy of their
great value and importance.—Times.

DISTRESSING ACCIDENT ON WINDERMERE.—OnTues-
day afternoon, about five o'clock, as two young gentle-
men were rowing from Waterhead down the lake in a
light skiff or wherry, the boat suddenly capsized, and
before any assistance could be rendered, the hapless
youths had sunk to rise no more alive. The accident
took place at Ecclerig Crag, about 20 yards from land,
and in eight feet depth of water. They were on their
way to join a party at Miss Marriot's, of the Abbey,
Windermere. Half-an-hour elapsed before the bodies
were recovered. They were immediately removed to
the Low-wood Hotel, and medical aid procured from
Ambleside and Bowness. Every means were made use
of for some hours to bring about resuscitation, but
without avail, A coroner's inquest took place on Wed-
nesday forenoon, when it was stated that the young men
were seen in the light skiff, stripped as rowers, full of
life and frolic, sometimes standing up in the boat,
and then heedlessly jerking themselves down, and
throwing their legs over its side. Their names were
Thicknesse, aged 23, only son of the member for Wigan,
and Woodcock, 21, son of the eminent banker of that
town. A verdict of " Accidentally drowned" was re-
, turned.