Chapter XIV: Part 2: of Table

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|
| Mortality Figure.
-------------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
Occupation. | | Diseases of | Diseases of
| Phthisis. | Respiratory | Circulatory
| | System. | System.
| | |
-------------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
Agriculturist | 106 | 115 | 88
Potter, | | |
Earthenware | | |
manufacturer | 333 | 668 | 227
Cutler | 382 | 518 | 167
File-maker | 402 | 423 | 204
Glass-maker | 295 | 445 | 157
Copper-worker | 294 | 406 | 186
Gunsmith | 324 | 325 | 153
Iron and Steel | | |
manufacturer | 195 | 450 | 162
Zinc-worker | 240 | 347 | 126
Stone-quarrier | 269 | 307 | 137
Brass-worker | 279 | 273 | 126
Chimney sweep | 260 | 291 | 142
Lead-worker | 148 | 397 | 272
Cotton manufacturer| 202 | 338 | 152
Cooper and wood | | |
turner | 250 | 276 | 137
Rope-maker | 219 | 267 | 118
Bricklayer, mason | 225 | 251 | 130
Carpet manufacturer| 226 | 245 | 87
Tin-worker | 217 | 234 | 124
Wool manufacturer | 191 | 256 | 131
Locksmith | 223 | 205 | 104
Blacksmith | 159 | 233 | 136
Baker, confectioner| 185 | 207 | 130
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It thus appears that there are 22 industries in each of which the mortality from tubercular phthisis and respiratory diseases together is more than double that of agriculturists; and further, that these 22 occupations include 8 (giving employment to more than 100,000 men) in which the total mortality from these diseases ranges from three times to as much as four and a half times that of the agricultural class.

_Potter, Earthenware, China Manufacture._--“The earthenware manufacture is one of the unhealthiest trades in the country. At the age of joining it is low: but the mortality after the age of thirty-five approaches double the average: it is excessively high; it exceeds the mortality of publicans. What can be done to save the men dying so fast in the potteries and engaged in one of our most useful manufactures?” Thus wrote Dr Farr in 1871, with regard to the pottery manufacture of that day. And Dr Ogle, writing ten years later, confirmed this statement, adding that the mortality of these workers at all ages from twenty-five to sixty-five had increased since 1871. He further stated that at that time (namely, in 1881) their comparative mortality figure was no less than 1742, which was only exceeded by the figures for costermongers, Cornish miners, and inn and hotel servants. In the three-year period 1890–92 things had only slightly improved: the mortality in this occupation from all causes remaining almost unchanged; and although phthisis claimed fewer victims than in 1881, lead poisoning had become more than twice as fatal since the previous record, and diseases of the circulatory and urinary systems had seriously increased in fatality. The excessive mortality of these workers is mainly due to phthisis and diseases of the lungs and heart. Of their entire mortality figure (1706) from all causes, not less than 1001 is contributed by phthisis and other diseases of the lungs. The mortality of potters from bronchitis is more than four times as high, and that from other respiratory diseases is three times as high as the mortality of occupied males in the aggregate.

Potters succumb to non-tubercular disease of the lungs much more rapidly than they do to tubercular phthisis; and it is certain that much of the so-called potters’ phthisis ought properly to be termed cirrhosis of the lung. Deaths from this affection should never be included under the head of phthisis, which term is now restricted, by universal consent, to the tubercular malady of that name.

The mortality figure of potters from lead poisoning is 17, and comes next to that of plumbers, as fourth highest in the list of industries liable to plumbism. The mortality figures, due to diseases of the nervous and urinary systems, in these two occupations, exceed the standard for occupied males by 54 and 50 per cent. respectively.

The term “potter” is a very comprehensive one, and is ordinarily understood to mean any workman employed in a pottery. But Dr Arlidge, the author of the best essay of modern times on the ailments of this class of workers, has shown how widely the operations in pottery manufacture differ from one another in their effect upon health. Speaking of the manufacture of earthenware generally he says: “This manufacture stands foremost among those wherein the employment is distinctly chargeable with the production of disease; and the principal materials to which its unenviable character is due are the clays and the flint used in it. However, these minerals are not the only agents that render the fictile trade one so highly injurious to health, for lead also is largely used for glazing and colour-making, and is a frequent cause of plumbism among the artisans. Again, it is a manufacture having many departments, between several of which no common characters can be said to exist. This holds good of the two principal departments, viz., (1) the making of the articles from potter’s clay; and (2) their ornamentation by painting and gilding. They are often spoken of as the “clay” and the “finishing” departments. It is with the former that we are in the first instance concerned, because in it the production of dust ... is pre-eminently the cause of disease.”[43]

_Cutlers, Scissors-makers._--The mortality among cutlers is enormous; at all ages it is very high, but at ages beyond thirty-five years it exceeds the standard among occupied males generally by from 64 to 72 per cent. The comparative mortality figure for cutlers at ages from twenty-five to sixty-five years is 1516, which is higher than the average of other occupations by 59 per cent. Cutlers, although in this respect they have an advantage over potters, are nevertheless among the occupations which suffer excessively from “pulmonary” disease. Their mortality figure for phthisis is 382, and for respiratory diseases is 518, against 106 and 115 respectively, the figures for agriculturists. Taking these diseases together, cutlers sustain a mortality in excess of that of other occupations by 122 per cent. It has been shown by Dr Headlam Greenhow and others that the great mortality among cutlers and grinders arises from the irritation caused by the mechanical particles produced during the process of manufacture, and received into the lungs with the air of respiration.

Cutlers suffer slightly from lead poisoning; their mortality from this cause being represented by 3. The occurrence of lead poisoning among cutlers is a novel feature in the mortality returns for 1890–92, Dr Ogle having found no deaths from that cause in the sample of these workers examined by him in preparing his supplement for 1881. In the mortality figures for diseases of the urinary system there is, among cutlers, an excess of 37 per cent. as compared with the standard among occupied males. From diseases of the nervous system the excess of mortality among these workers is 11 per cent. Taking together the mortality ascribed to alcoholism and to liver disease as a rough measure of the mischief caused by intemperance, there is a slight excess among these workers as compared with the standard.

Since the previous record the mortality among cutlers has increased; and this not only at the higher ages, as appears to have been the rule in most other occupations, but also among men under forty-five years of age. Their mortality attributed directly to alcoholism, which had been much below the average in 1881, has risen above the average in 1891, but there has been no corresponding increase under the head of liver diseases. Since the former period the mortality of cutlers from heart disease has increased by 58 per cent., from lung diseases other than phthisis by 38 per cent., and from tubercular phthisis by 9 per cent.

_File-cutters._--Judged by their general death-rate, file-cutters are the least healthy men included in our list of occupations, with the exception of publicans (in certain districts) and of dock labourers--their comparative figure being 1810, or three times as high as that of agriculturists. As compared with the standard mortality of occupied males, that of file-cutters is in excess by not less than 90 per cent. At each of the age-groups of the working period of life the mortality among file-cutters is appalling, and this is especially the case at ages above thirty-five years, when the death-rate exceeds the average by from 93 to 110 per cent.

As with cutlers, so with file-cutters--their great mortality appears to depend on the irritation caused by particles of stone or of metal which find their way into the air passages with the respired air. Dr Headlam Greenhow, writing so long ago as 1858, stated that file-cutters owe their enormous mortality from lead poisoning to the circumstance that the files are cut on blocks of lead: their mortality figure for plumbism, in 1890–2, was no less than 75!

Diseases of the urinary system cause a mortality among file-cutters which is above the average by 154 per cent., and diseases of the nervous system a mortality in excess by 159 per cent.

Intemperance does not seem to be especially rife among file-cutters, but they are addicted to suicide in about double the normal proportion.

The comparative mortality figure of file-cutters has increased considerably since 1871: the increase being relatively greatest since 1881. At the age-group 45–65 the increase in the death-rate has been steady throughout the entire period of twenty years, but at ages under forty-five, although between 1871 and 1881 there had been a fall in the death-rate, this has been followed since the latter year by a rise of considerably greater amount.

The mortality from tubercular phthisis, which had been 407 in 1881, has still further increased to 414 in 1891. According to recent experience, file-cutters die from diseases of the circulatory and respiratory systems even more rapidly than they did in 1881.

_Glassmakers._--The making, blowing, and engraving of glass occupies a prominent place among unhealthy trades, for several reasons. In the first place, the workers are exposed to extreme variations of temperature--in some processes, that of glassblowing especially, the operatives are constantly exposed to the intense heat of the furnace, as well as to that which radiates from the pots of molten glass which they are engaged in blowing. The intense heat and profuse sweating naturally induce painful thirst, which the workmen evidently allay by excessive drinking: this is shown by the fact that their mortality from alcoholism and from nervous disorders is nearly double that experienced by operatives in other trades. In the next place, glass-makers are subject to plumbism, their mortality figure attributed to this cause being no less than 12, or sixth highest in the list of industries subject to this complaint. According to Dr Arlidge, who has contributed much valuable information on this subject, it is in the cutting and engraving of glass that the operatives are exposed to contact with lead. In these processes “putty powder,” which is a compound of lead and tin, is constantly used, and as the men are careless as to ventilation and cleanliness, often taking their food with unwashed hands, it is easy to understand how lead finds its way into the system.

The comparative mortality figure for glass-makers is 1487, and is, therefore, in excess of the average by 56 per cent. Phthisis and diseases of the respiratory system are especially fatal to workmen in this industry, and they suffer more severely than other occupied males from diseases of the circulatory, digestive, and urinary systems, as well as from cancer. Since 1881 the mortality of glass-workers has increased considerably, and this is true of the younger as well as the older workers in this industry.

_Copper-workers._--As the number of operatives engaged in the working of copper is small (scarcely exceeding 8000), only general remarks can be made concerning their health.

At all ages the mortality of copper-workers exceeds that of other occupations; their comparative mortality figure is 1381; it is therefore considerably above that of metal-workers generally, and is also above the standard for occupied males in the aggregate by 45 per cent. That copper-smelting is an injurious occupation is proved by the pallid, sickly appearance of the workers. It has been noticed by Dr Arlidge, as a result of personal experience, that the hair of copper-smelters (especially where this was originally fair or white) becomes much discoloured; but this discoloration is caused, not by absorption of the metal, but simply by adhesion of copper particles to the hair. Nevertheless, he thinks that cupreous salts do eventually find their way into the circulation, and when this is the case the characteristic symptoms of colic, vomiting, and purging with extreme prostration are produced. A greenish or purplish red line is also noticed in the gums, in the same position as that which is occupied by the blue line in cases of lead poisoning. The operations of filing, turning, and polishing of copper are especially injurious to the workmen, and like other dust-inhaling processes, lead to fatal results by interference with the respiratory functions--lung diseases being much more common among these operatives than the average, whilst their mortality from pulmonary phthisis is in excess by 59 per cent. Copper-workers die much more rapidly than other operatives from diseases of the circulatory, digestive, and urinary systems, their mortality from all these forms of disease being greatly in excess of the average among workers in metals generally.

_Iron and Steel Workers._--At the census of 1891, more than 200,000 workers in iron and steel, above the age of fifteen years, were enumerated, but the number had _decreased_ since the preceding census by 2 per cent. The labour of iron and steel working is heavy and exhausting. The operatives, whether at the blast furnaces or at the rolling mills, whether puddlers or moulders, are exposed to intense heat, as well as to great vicissitudes of weather, for most of their work is done in the open air, or at any rate in outdoor sheds unprotected from cold and draughts. The men are for the most part sturdy and of powerful build: the arduous nature of their occupation making it impossible for any but the most vigorous to follow it. In spite of these natural advantages, however, statistics show that iron and steel workers are by no means so healthy and long-lived as they ought to be.

The death-rates of these operatives are higher than the corresponding rates among occupied males generally, and also higher than the rates of other metal workers, at all stages of life up to sixty-five years. They have a comparative mortality figure of 1301, which is higher than that of occupied males, as a standard, by 37 per cent. Iron-workers suffer more severely than do other occupied males from influenza and from diseases of the nervous, circulatory, respiratory, digestive, and urinary systems; their mortality figure from diseases of the lungs being more than double the standard figure, and that from phthisis also greatly exceeding the average.

Since 1881 there has been a considerable increase in the mortality of iron and steel workers: the increase has affected both divisions of the working period of life, but has been far the greatest among men over the age of forty-five years.

_Zinc-workers._--The number of men engaged in this industry is small, although it has increased by 50 per cent. within the last decennium. Nevertheless, the vital statistics of zinc-workers are important, as showing excessive mortality from all the diseases enumerated in the table on page 135. The evidence is conflicting as to the evolution of noxious matter during the process of extracting zinc from the ore; but the workmen are exposed to great heat, and to the inhalation of irritating particles, in consequence of which they are said to suffer exceptionally from digestive and respiratory troubles. Zinc is coming more and more into use in the process of galvanising sheet-iron, so as to protect it from rust; and in this operation the workmen are exposed to the fumes of sal-ammoniac and to other substances which are said to produce a form of nervous derangement that is apparently peculiar to this process.

Zinc-workers are subject to a mortality considerably above the average. Their comparative mortality figure is 1198, and at ages beyond middle life they die more rapidly than occupied males generally. Their mortality from respiratory diseases and pulmonary consumption together is more than double the standard figure, and they die faster than the average from diseases of the circulatory system.

_Lead-workers._--The occupation of lead-working is pursued by but very few in this country; only about 2000 men above the age of fifteen years having been thus returned at the census of 1891, and even this number is rapidly decreasing. But the injurious effects of lead-working are by no means limited to the operatives designated lead-workers in the census returns. In the list of one hundred occupations prepared for my larger work on occupational mortality, not fewer than thirteen were selected as showing unmistakable evidence of plumbism. These occupations are as follows (the figures represent the comparative mortality figures from lead poisoning in the several trades)--

Lead-worker 211
File-maker 75
Plumber 21
Painter and Glazier 18
Potter 17
Glass-maker 12
Copper-worker 8
Coach-maker 7
Gasfitter, Locksmith 6
Lead-maker 5
Printer 3
Cutter 3
Wool manufacturer 3
Occupied males 1

The above occupations are arranged in order according to their mortality from lead poisoning, as shown in the tables. A little consideration, however, will show that these figures represent but very imperfectly the _relative damage_ sustained by the several operatives as a result of their occupations. If, for the sake of example, we compare the mortality figure of lead-workers with that of potters, it would appear, by the table, that the former workers die from plumbism more than twelve times as rapidly as do the latter. But, on closer examination, we find that whilst the whole body of lead-workers are constantly in contact with lead as a necessary condition of labour, not more than a twelfth part of the potters are so circumstanced. It is the dippers and the glost-placers among potters who are the chief, if not the only, serious sufferers from lead poisoning; but as these workers are not distinguished in the census returns from other potters, their deaths are distributed over the whole class of potters, and thus a false impression is conveyed as to the amount of mischief done by absorption of lead, in those branches of the industry where the workers are actually exposed to contact with this metal. Again, when the figures for painters and glaziers are compared with the figure for file-cutters, a great disparity becomes evident; the file-cutters suffering apparently more than four times as severely from plumbism as do the painters and glaziers. But on inquiry, we find that whilst, on the one hand, file-cutters handle lead continuously in the course of their work, on the other hand, painters and glaziers are by no means so constantly exposed to this danger--much of their time being spent on labour which does not involve contact with lead, or inhalation of particles or fumes of that metal. If the death-rates attending those processes in the occupation of potters and of painters which are continuously subject to lead poisoning could be separately ascertained, there is no reason to doubt that they would show results quite as unsatisfactory as those experienced by lead-workers.

Although lead-working is known to be a very unhealthy trade, it is evidently impossible to deduce from the vital statistics of only 2000 workers more than very general conclusions. Speaking generally, however, the mortality returns warrant the statement that, in the main working period of life, these operatives sustain a mortality which is about 90 per cent. above that of other workers, on the average. Their comparative mortality figure from all causes is no less than 1783, and is therefore nearly three times that of agriculturists. Of the total deaths occurring among lead-workers, one-third are from “pulmonary disease,” _i.e._, from tubercular phthisis and diseases of the respiratory system taken together, and one-eighth are from lead poisoning. As compared with the standard for occupied males, the mortality among lead-workers is excessive from diseases of the urinary, nervous, circulatory, and digestive systems, in addition to the causes above specified.

_Stone-Quarriers._--The aggregate of men above the age of fifteen years returned under this heading, at the last census, amounted to nearly 50,000, but the numbers had decreased by about 3 per cent. since the previous enumeration. The comparative mortality figure of quarrymen is 1176, which, as compared with the figure for occupied males, is in excess by 25 per cent. At all stages in the working period of life the death-rate of these labourers exceeds that of other occupations in the aggregate. As stone-quarrying is an outdoor industry, and consequently the workers are not exposed to the unhealthy conditions of sedentary work, the vital statistics of this class should obviously be compared with those of agriculturists, rather than with those of males of all occupations. So compared, we find that stone-quarriers experience a mortality from all causes which is little short of double the standard figure. From respiratory diseases and also from tubercular phthisis, their mortality is at least two and a half times as high as the standard, and from diseases of the circulatory system they die faster than agriculturists by 50 per cent. At ages between twenty-five and forty-five years the mortality of stone-quarriers has fluctuated considerably during the last twenty years; but at ages from forty-five to sixty-five it has steadily increased throughout that period. Since 1881 the increase has been principally under the head of pulmonary and circulatory diseases. During the same interval the mortality of quarriers from phthisis and also from digestive diseases, as well as that from alcoholism and from diseases of the liver, has decreased considerably, and so likewise has their liability to fatal accident.

_Brass-workers._--At the 1891 census there were enumerated 33,000 persons over fifteen years of age under the head of brass-workers, braziers, etc., the number having increased since the previous enumeration by little short of one-third.

If death returns alone be relied on, there is little in the mortality of brass-workers that does not apply equally to other allied industries; but from the investigations of Dr Headlam Greenhow in 1858, and more recently those of Dr Simon and Dr Hogben of Birmingham, we learn that brass-workers suffer very seriously from ailments which are not experienced by the workers in copper or in zinc, the chief metals of which brass is an alloy. The disease to which these workers are exceptionally subject is known locally as “brassfounders’ ague,” which, according to Greenhow and some other authorities, is caused by the inhalation of oxide of zinc, whilst others of equal repute attribute it to copper poisoning. That brass-workers are exposed to conditions inimical to health is fully recognised by employers and employed alike, who agree in describing the trade as a most unhealthy one. Dr R. Simon (in a thesis for his degree at Cambridge) says that brass-workers rarely attain old age, and that formerly provident sick societies either altogether refused to enrol them in their lists, or accepted them as members at greatly increased rates. The workers who deal with molten metal--the founders, the mixers, and the casters--are those who are exceptionally liable to “ague.” The “mixers,” who bring together the two metals, suffer most severely. The copper is first molten, and the zinc is then added to it. When the metals come into contact the zinc deflagrates, and some of it, combining with oxygen, flies off in dense white clouds of oxide of zinc. This, of course, is of necessity inhaled by the operatives who, experiencing discomfort from the process, tightness of the chest, and other respiratory troubles, attempt to avoid it by covering the mouth and nostrils with a handkerchief.

Although, as has been previously stated, the deaths registered afford little evidence of the exceptional unhealthiness of brass-workers as compared with the workers in other metals, nevertheless we find that they sustain a mortality from “phthisis” which is in excess of that of “occupied males” by 50 per cent., whilst they die more rapidly than the average from diseases of the nervous, urinary, and respiratory systems. Brass-workers as a class are, like copper-makers, pallid, ill-nourished, and unhealthy-looking: they suffer from anæmia, dyspepsia, constipation, colic, and other digestive troubles. Happily, however, these symptoms do not permanently injure their health, for on changing their occupation, as they commonly do, for a less unhealthy one, the above symptoms rapidly subside, and their usual health is soon restored.

_Gunsmiths._--The only remaining metal-workers in the list whose mortality exceeds the average for the class are the gunsmiths. Their comparative mortality figure is 1228, and is exactly 100 in excess of that of metal workers in the aggregate. Gunsmiths die faster than the average of metal-workers at ages from twenty-five to forty-five, but less rapidly both before and after that period of life.

On reference to the extended tables in my larger work, it will be found that gunsmiths die from alcoholism about two and a half times as fast as do other workers in metal. Most of the processes in which gunsmiths engage are of an unhealthy nature, and the workers are exposed to the harmful effects of metallic and flinty dusts which set up in the lungs very similar disorders to those which have been noticed in connection with the Sheffield “grinding” trades. This industry demands expert workmanship and high finish, especially in the later processes, and involves a great deal of filing and polishing of metal, and these operations are frequently carried on in workshops which are ill-ventilated and otherwise unsuited for the purpose. As a consequence, the mortality of gunsmiths from phthisis (much of which is probably fibroid) stands at 324 against 206, the figure for metal-workers generally, and 185, the standard figure for all occupied males. From other diseases of the respiratory system and from diseases of the heart, gunsmiths sustain a mortality which exceeds the standard for occupied males by 47, and by 21 per cent., respectively. During the last twenty years, and especially during the more recent half of that period, the mortality of gunsmiths has increased considerably, and this is true whether we consider their mortality during the earlier or during the later half of the main working period of life.

_Chimney Sweeps, Soot Merchants._--Recent statistics agree with those of earlier records in attributing to this industry a very unsatisfactory position in the scale of health. Compared with those of other occupations, the death-rates of chimney sweeps are excessive at all ages below the sixty-fifth year. Their comparative mortality figure amounts to 1311, and is therefore higher than the standard by more than one-third part.

Chimney sweeps are, by the nature of their calling, much exposed to the inhalation of particles of soot and of other irritating matters which seriously affect the respiratory functions. They die more rapidly than the average from pulmonary tuberculosis, and from other diseases of the lungs, as well as from diseases of the heart and urinary organs. Their mortality from suicide is also more than double the average, and their figure for intemperance is more than four and a half times that of occupied males generally. But it is in regard to their extreme liability to malignant disease that chimney sweeps are deserving of special consideration. Their mortality from different forms of cancer amounts to 156 as compared with 44, the figure for occupied males in the aggregate. In the list on p. 135 there is no other occupation in which the ravages of cancer at all approach those to which chimney sweeps are subject. Of the 512 deaths from all causes among chimney sweeps, as many as 61, or about 1 in 8, were from cancer, and 18 of the 61 were returned as from chimney sweeps’ cancer. Of these 61 deaths 3 were ascribed to sarcoma, and the rest to carcinoma or other forms of malignant disease. In the course of the last twenty years the mortality of these workers has decreased considerably. Between 1871 and 1881 their mortality figure, modified for purposes of comparison, had fallen by 11 per cent., the fall in the death-rate having been common to both divisions of the main working period of life, but much greater at ages under than at ages over forty-five years. In the interval between the two last censuses, on the contrary, the fall has been greater at ages above forty-five years. Although chimney sweeps still die from cancer in enormous over-proportion, there has happily been a great abatement in their fatality from this disease since the previous record. In 1880–82 the mortality figure had been 290, whilst in 1890–92 the figure, modified to allow of comparison, was 157, showing a reduction of nearly half within that interval.

_Textile workers._--In the accompanying list there still remain several dust-producing occupations in which the mortality from pulmonary diseases is in excess of the average, notwithstanding that the workers are not exposed to the action of metallic irritants. Of these there are four which may be taken to represent the textile trades--viz., the manufacture of cotton, wool, rope, and carpets--in all of which the mortality figure from respiratory diseases is not only vastly in excess of the figure for agriculturists, but is also considerably above that of other occupied males. Among textile workers, cotton operatives (especially those of Lancashire) are the most unhealthy. Their mortality figure from all causes is higher than that of occupied males generally, by from 20 to 23[A] per cent., whilst from diseases of the respiratory system exclusive of phthisis, their mortality is in excess by proportions varying from 53 to 65[44] per cent. The workers in cotton mills suffer severely from the presence, in the air, of “fluff” and “flue” that escapes from the cotton, especially in the preparation of the yarn. The amount of this and the degree of irritation to which it gives rise when inspired, varies with the quality of the material used; inferior and brittle cotton, being more liable to breakage in the course of manufacture, gives off more dust than do the finer kinds, and requires for its successful working a warmer and moister air. The workers in the lower-class cottons therefore suffer more seriously in health, and require more perfect arrangements for ventilation than do those who deal with materials of higher quality. Cotton spinners have to work all the year round in a very warm and humid atmosphere, and accordingly suffer from debility and exhaustion caused by profuse sweating. The temperature and moisture of the sheds are maintained at a high standard both night and day, in order to prevent brittleness in the cotton fibres, and as a consequence the operatives become peculiarly sensitive to chills, brought about, perhaps, by injudicious exposure to draughts. From personal experience in Manchester, for a period of twenty-five years, I can testify that these workers are exceptionally liable to acute rheumatism, and this statement may be confirmed by reference to the mortality tables in my larger work, which show that the mortality of cotton spinners from this disease exceeds the average by not less than 70 per cent. The operation of “sizing,” preparatory to the weaving of cotton, introduces a new element of danger. The size contains, in addition to flour or farina, a very large proportion of china clay, which finds its way into the air passages, and there produces its well-known mischief. It is pleasant to record that cotton operatives do not add to the evils of their occupation by undue recourse to alcohol: their mortality from intemperance being below the average by 23 per cent.

_Wool, Worsted Manufacturers._--Wool-workers suffer much less severely from their occupation than do cotton operatives. In the weaving of woollen materials, a lower and drier temperature is required than in the case of cotton-weaving, and the mischief caused by “sizing” with china clay and other irritants has no place in woollen manufacture. Nevertheless, in certain of the processes, especially where inferior foreign wools are manufactured, a good deal of dust is disengaged, and this produces its ill-effect on the lungs of the workers. It is also in connection with dirty or blood-stained foreign wools that the majority of cases of anthrax or wool-sorters’ disease have been observed from time to time, which have been the subject of inquiry in past years by the Medical Department of the Local Government Board.

It is worthy of notice that wool-sorters are even more careless as regards exposure to cold and draughts than are even cotton workers, and their mortality from rheumatic fever is much higher, being double that experienced by agriculturists as a class. Wool-workers have a comparative mortality figure from all causes, which is somewhat above the average for occupied males generally, but is below that of other textile trades. Workers in wool appear to be remarkably free from intemperance, their mortality figure being less than one-fourth of the average. From diseases of the digestive system other than the liver, wool-workers die half as fast again as do occupied males generally, whilst from diseases of the nervous, respiratory, and urinary systems, as well as from cancer, the mortality of these workers is from 10 to 22 per cent. in excess of that standard.

_Other Workers in Dusty Trades._--The accompanying list includes a few industries, the workers in which have not yet been alluded to as regards their health: such as the rope-makers, carpet-makers, coopers, bricklayers, bakers, etc. These industries, although not remarkable for the production of other serious forms of illness, have this feature in common, that being essentially dust-producing processes, they one and all induce among the workers excessive suffering from pulmonary affections. Although the mortality of these workers from phthisis and other lung diseases is considerably below that of metal-workers, nevertheless it is in every case inordinately high, exceeding the mortality of agriculturists by proportions varying from 77 to 120 per cent.

EFFECTS OF BREATHING FOUL AIR.

In my larger work on occupational mortality, detailed vital statistics are given respecting those workers whose occupation is not in itself necessarily unhealthy, but who are the victims of unwholesome conditions of labour, either self-inflicted, or else caused by the ignorance or the parsimony of persons in authority. The evils here alluded to are the result partly of the accumulation of respiratory and other impurities in the air breathed, from neglect of suitable methods of ventilation, and partly of the cramped posture adopted in certain cases (notably by tailors and shoemakers) in their sedentary indoor labour. Considerations of space preclude the insertion here of a complete list of these occupations; but in the following table a selection has been made of those industries in which the workers are liable, in the greatest degree, to damage from the inhalation of foul air in the course of their employment. For each of these occupations the figures indicating the mortality from phthisis and from diseases of the respiratory and circulatory systems are separately shown, and in another column the combined mortality of the several occupations from the first two of these forms of disease is compared with that of agriculturists, the latter being taken as 100. The occupations have been arranged in the descending order of their mortality from tubercular phthisis and respiratory diseases together.

Comparative Mortality from several causes in certain unhealthy occupations.

+----------------+---------------+-----------------------+
| | | Phthisis and Diseases |
| | Comparative | of |
| | Mortality | Respiratory Organs. |
| Occupation. | Figure +------------+----------+
| | (all Causes). | Mortality | Ratio. |
| | | Figure. | |
+----------------+---------------+------------+----------+
|Agriculturists | 602 | 221 | 100 |
| | | | |
|Bookbinder | 1060 | 543 | 246 |
|Printer | 1096 | 540 | 244 |
|Musician | 1214 | 522 | 236 |
|Hatter | 1109 | 511 | 231 |
|Hairdresser | 1099 | 489 | 221 |
|Tailor | 989 | 466 | 211 |
|Draper | 1014 | 441 | 200 |
|Shoemaker | 920 | 437 | 198 |
+----------------+---------------+------------+----------+