The Sun.
London, England, 1867-09-26 00:00:00

SIMPSON on " Public Health" was listened to wi th
deep attention. Sir JAMES is President of th
Health Department, a post for which he is em'i-
nently qualified. Sir JAMES, in the course of bis
address, spoke strongly of the great evils arisi, ag
from overcrowding of cities and towns, and Vae
accumulation of manure and sewage in rural d is-
tricts. In describing the condition of the low eat
class of Irish hovels, where the family, the pigs,
and the poultry share and share alike in bed and
board, the speaker mentioned an illustration of
their ways which occurred in the Edinbrirgh
High-street some time since. A de otos
visiting an Irish family in the upper storey fc sund
among them an immense pig, and, on asking how
it could have been got upstairs, received for ans wer,
" Faith, yer honour, she never was below!" The
evils of overcrowding in towns are very forcibly
illustrated by the fact that, notwithstanding such
drawbacks, the people in the country districts live
longer than in the towns. On the question of hos-
pitals, Sir J. SIMPSON quoted some startling sta-
tistics. It seems the average mortality in hospi-
tals is very much higher than was supposed.
" The men treated in a surgical hospital," says Dr.
J. StmrsoN, " was exposed to more chances :of
death than the soldier on the battle-field." In cases
of amputation the subsequent mortality ranks very
high, and, although there are no reliable statistics
on this point, the general impression in the profes-
sion is that the private practitioner finds no such
mortality after his operations. The great evil
seems to be the crowds of patients assembled
together, while we must take into account the de-
pressing moral effect of the melancholy associations.
It is anything but encouraging for a sick man to see
around him other sick men, some a little worse
than himself, others much worse, others on the verge
of death. He sees the painful course which he may
have himself to tread marked out before him, in all
its successive stages. His rest at night is disturbed,
and his system has little chance of recovering its
tone. Whatever may be the prevailing cause it seems
from the results of a commission of inquiry issued
by the French Government that in hospitals one
case in 88 died, while of the same class at home
only one in 212 died. Neither were these statistics
collected from partial observation, but were taken
from a million cases in various continental and Bri-
tish hospitals, and 900,000 cases where the patients
were treated in their own miserable hovels. Sir J.
SI3IPSON, after referring to the treatment adopted
in the Shakers' settlement in America, where fever
is &most unknown, and good food and sweet
ale are the only medicines, said he thought
if our hospitals were changed from crowded
palaces, with a dozen of sick persons in
each flat, into villages and cottages, with one or
two patients in each room, a great saving of human
life would be effected. It must be remembered,
however, that the bulk of the accidents occur in
towns, so that it would be absolutely necessary to
have the hospital within easy reach. It is worth
the consideration of our hospital authorities,
and of the medical profession generally, whether
some change for the better might not be
introduced, such as, for instance, having an
auxiliary hospital in the suburbs, constructed
on the plan which Sir J. SIMPSON recommends, to
which those cases which would bear removal could
be sent, thus clearing the space for others who could
not be moved.

The mortality of children was another subject
to which Sir J. SrmrsoN alluded at some length, and
on which his observations were valuable. The
ignorance of mothers and nurses had, he thought,
much to do with the excessive mortality, and he
touched upon a few of the more important
points. Pure air was, he said, one of the first
requisites for infants, that it should be warm. He
censured the practice of imperfect clothing, of
letting children sleep in the cold, and of bathing
them in cold water. The vital influence of heat is,
in fact, very much underrated in our nurseries,
although if the guardians of infancy took the trouble
to think they might learn a lesson from the brute
creation. The first object with bird and beast as
soon as a safe house for the little living charges is
secured is to keep them warm. There is no " sleep-
ing in the cold," for young bird, or kitten, or
puppy ; the careful mother has provided too well
for that. Nature herself guards against the danger
of insufficient clothing,but little tender human beings
are, according to the wisdom of nursery de3pots, to
be made hardy, to be sent out in frost and wind with
bare legs, and allowed to run about indoors in
draughts and chills, with bare necks and arms.
Sir J. SIMPSON has entered upon his duties vigor-
ously, and if he can infuse as energetic a spirit, and
as sound a judgment into his coadjutors, he will do
good service before the work of his section is done.