The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1858-08-05
statistics OF Impure AIR ON Health
and Mortality.

The London public hao been aRitated with
one Of It's periodical excitements in refer.
ence to the impurity OF the Thames, the in
balations from which, Ia summer, are of
the most noisome and deleterious character.
The deaths in London, at last accounts, had
risen ten per cent. above the average, even
for this period OF the year some cases of
cholera had appeared, and one man, on his
death.bed, distinctly traced his disease to the
impurity Of the Thames.
There can be NO doubt that foul air is
more unhealthy than the public believes
ieere can be as little doubt that muaicipali-
ties, even when officials know the danger
ous character of the atmosphere around,
care too little to correct the evil. Statistics
prove that certain avocatioGis, which are car
ried on amid impure air, are more fatal to
human life than pursuits conducted under
more favorable auspices. The report Of the
English Registrar General shows that the
farmers life is the longestj the butchsr's
and innkeeper's the shortest and We all
know that while the former inhales the fresh
air of the country the latter brenthes the
tainted eff1uvia Of slaughter houses. or the
foul atmosphere Of grogshoPs.
The inhalation Of impure air acts directly
upon the system. Injurious matters, when
taken into the stomach, are subjected to a
long process of preparation and sitting, du.
ring which the useless and obnoxious are
often rejected, so that no bad effects result.
But the lungs exercise no such protective
power. They have not the faculty OF elm.
mating good air from. foul. Impure air,
moreover, not only poisous the system but
| sk 90 Nhuo
those who inhale foul airs, are liable to catch
any epidemic that may be prevaling-small
pox, typhus, cholera, &C. This was s!ri.
kingly illustrated in England in 1849,
when the Asiatic cholera ravaged the island.
Among other places, the workhouse at Taun-
ton was signalzed by the appearance of the
disease, which broke out in its most mslg.
naht form. In less than week twenty-five
per cent. of the inmates perished, while the
survivors suffered more or less from cholera
or diarrhea. On inquiry, it was found that
the building was very badly ventilated, there
being, in the school.room, only about sixty.
eight feet Of cubic air for each pupil. In a
Jail in the same town, where each prisoner
had eight or nine hundred cubic feet of air,
no cholera made its appearance.
Impure cir is fertile source of scrofula.
It also frequently lay - the seeds Of cousump D.
ton, 1t undermines the vital powers gen.
orally, imparing digestion and supplying the
Intellectual faculties. But its effects are
most deleterious on infants. In Iceland,
where the air of the dwellings is VIGOROUSLY
close and sitting, two out Of every three
children die before they are twelve days old.
The mortality among infants, which makes
so frighitul figure in our Board of Health
returns, originates, in great degree, in the
impure air of the courts, alleys and narrow
and dirty rooms, in which so many are born.
| In hospitals it has been found that bad ven-
4 tilation has been accompanied with an i'm
mediate increase Of infant mortality.
! What is agitating London, ought also 10
be influencing US in Philadelphia. All Cit
4 les, and more than half the dwellings in cit
les, suffer, especially in summer, from i'm.
pure air, which sanitary precautions, on the
part OF municipalities and householders,
would prevent. Everybody can do some
thing, in case like this, to.Gorrcct the evil.
Each tosse that is kept fresh and sweet, es.
ssts, so tar forth, towards the general puri.
fcution prolongs infant life lessons the
bills. of mortality; improves the general
health Philadelphia Ledger.