Chapter XVI: Appendix (6)

In considering the circumstances external to the residence which affect the sanitary condition of the population, the importance of a general land drainage is developed by the inquiries as to the causes of the prevalent diseases, to be of a magnitude of which no conception had been formed at the commencement of the investigation: its importance is manifested by the severe consequences of its neglect in every part of the country, as well as by its advantages in the increasing salubrity and productiveness wherever the drainage has been skilful and effectual. The following instance is presented in a report from _Mr. John Marshall, Jun._, the clerk to the union in the Isle of Ely:—

“It has been shown that the Isle of Ely was at one period in a
desolate state, being frequently inundated by the upland waters, and
destitute of adequate means of drainage; the lower parts became a
wilderness of stagnant pools, the exhalations from which loaded the
air with pestiferous vapours and fogs; now, by the improvements which
have from time to time been made, and particularly within the last
fifty years, an alteration has taken place which may appear to be the
effect of magic. By the labour, industry, and spirit of the
inhabitants, a forlorn waste has been converted into pleasant and
fertile pastures, and they themselves have been rewarded by bounteous
harvests. Drainage, embankments, engines, and enclosures have given
stability to the soil (which in its nature is as rich as the Delta of
Egypt) as well as salubrity to the air. These very considerable
improvements, though carried on at a great expense, have at last
turned to a double account, both in reclaiming much ground and
improving the rest, and in contributing to the healthiness of the
inhabitants. Works of modern refinement have given a totally different
face and character to this once neglected spot; much has been
performed, much yet remains to be accomplished by the rising
generation. The demand for labour produced by drainage is
incalculable, but when it is stated that where sedge and rushes but a
few years since we now have fields of waving oats and even wheat, it
must be evident that it is very great.

“On reference to a very perfect account of the baptisms, marriages,
and burials, in Wisbech, from 1558 to 1826, I find that in the
decennial periods, of which 1801, 1811, and 1821, were the middle
years, the baptisms and burials were as under:—

Baptisms. Burials. Population in 1801.
1796 to 1805 1,627 1,535 4,710
1806 to 1815 1,654 1,313 5,209
1816 to 1825 2,165 1,390 6,515

“In the first of the three periods the mortality was 1 in 31; in the
second, 1 in 40; in the third, 1 in 47; the latter being less than the
exact mean mortality of the kingdom for the last two years. (_See
Registrar-general’s Second Report, p. 4, folio edition._) These
figures clearly show that the mortality has wonderfully diminished in
the last half century, and who can doubt but that the increased
salubrity of the fens produced by drainage is a chief cause of the
improvement.”

_Mr. R. Turner_, medical officer of the Newhaven union, states,—

“The district which has been under my care comprises five parishes,
three of which, viz., Kingston, Iford, and Rodmell, are (more
especially the two latter) situate in close proximity to marshes,
which were formerly for a considerable portion of the year inundated;
of late very extensive improvements have taken place in the drainage
of these levels, and in consequence of that change, the diseases
constantly engendered by marsh miasmata, viz., typhus and intermittent
fevers, are not more common than in other districts which present to
the eye a fairer prospect of health.”

_Mr. G. R. Rowe_, medical officer of the Ongar union, observes,—

“It is worthy of remark, that in the districts surrounding Chigwell no
malignant, infectious, or contagious disease has appeared during my
experience of thirty years’ occasional residence, and even during the
prevalence of cholera not one case occurred. The land is well drained,
the situation elevated, and the cleanly habits of the poor, with the
benevolence of its residents, have tended much to the prevention of
disease, and its amelioration when occurring.”

_Mr. W. Sanders_, medical officer of the Gravesend and Milton union, states,—

“I beg leave to suggest how extreme are the beneficial effects of a
proper drainage, which shall prevent stagnant water, and its
deleterious consequences, accumulating in crowded neighbourhoods. This
is exemplified in this town, and also in Tilbury Fort opposite, which
is built on a marsh, and where, during the cholera period, then under
my care, not a single case occurred.”

_Mr. Emerson_, one of the medical officers of the Eastry union, states,—

“There is, I believe, no locality which has been for some years so
exempt from fevers of a malignant and contagious character as the
eastern coast of Kent. Accordingly, idiopathic fever, under the form
of synochus and typhus, very rarely occurs, and when it does appear,
is generally of an isolated kind. Intermittents, also, which fifteen
or twenty years since were so generally prevalent in this district,
have become comparatively of rare occurrence, and indeed have almost
disappeared from the catalogue of our local endemics. This exemption
from ague and other febrile epidemics of an infectious nature may be
justly imputed to the total absence of malaria, and of all those
causes which usually generate an unwholesome and contaminating
atmosphere, viz., from the whole district being secured from
inundations by the most complete and effectual system of drainage and
sewerage. Also, from the exposed state of the country favouring a free
and rapid evaporation from the surface of the soil.”

_Mr. George Elgar_, another of the medical officers of the Eastry union, observes that,—

“The parishes forming the fifth district of the Eastry union, are,
with one or two exceptions, close to marshes separating the Isle of
Thanet from this portion of East Kent, and consequently, during the
spring and autumn, the inhabitants are exposed to the malaria
therefrom; but for these last few years, owing to the excellent plan
of draining, very few diseases have occurred (in my opinion) that can
be said to be produced by malaria. There is very little ague, scarcely
any continued fevers; and a case of typhus, I believe, has not been
known along the borders of the marshes for these last three or four
years. Some years back, a great portion of the parishes adjoining
these marshes was under water from the end of autumn to the early part
of the following spring; then, agues and fevers of all characters
prevailed to a very great extent. Although the malaria does not
produce diseases of any _decided character_, yet, during a wet spring
or autumn, there are always cases of inflammation of the lungs or
bowels, and rheumatism, both in acute and chronic forms. The houses in
general are good, well drained and well ventilated, having one or two
sitting-rooms, as many bed-rooms, sometimes more, scullery, &c., and
convenient receptacles for refuse and fuel. The cottages generally are
_extremely cleanly_; of course there must be some exceptions, where
the occupiers would not be clean and careful under any circumstances.”

_Mr. Spurgin_, the medical officer of the Dunmow union, states—

“In this district great attention is paid to the cultivation of land,
under drainage being much attended to, on which account partly we are
not exposed to malaria, neither does ague prevail to any extent. A few
cases have occurred, and when they have it has been for the most part
in individuals whose systems have been impaired by irregular habits,
and consequently the more readily affected by external impressions, as
atmospheric vicissitudes.”

_Mr. D. R. M’Nab_, the medical officer of the Epping union, states that—

“The health of the inhabitants of these two parishes is on the whole
highly satisfactory, as will appear by this return, but I would
observe that the sanitary condition of two localities would be greatly
improved by a little attention on the part of the public surveyors and
others to the drains and ditches immediately abutting on the dwellings
of the poor inhabitants. I refer more especially to that part of
Epping which is denominated the Back-street, and the greater part of
which is in the parish of Coopersall. In very wet weather the drains
and ditches are flooded; in very dry, on the contrary, they are by the
evaporation of the fluids rendered very offensive, and thus almost all
our cases of malignant fever are situated amongst those dwellings; if
the neighbourhood had been crowded with inhabitants the mischief would
have been much greater; and even as it now is, it has been the cause
of much fatality among the able-bodied men and women. The same
observations are applicable to Duck-lane in the parish of Weald, and
also at the Gullett, but in the latter case it is principally owing to
the carelessness and filth of one or two families, who have thrown all
sorts of excrementitious substances around their dwellings, and in the
course of putrefaction it has occasionally become pestiferous.

“I may also venture to add the following observation, after twenty-six
years’ practice in this neighbourhood, that I have scarcely ever had a
case of typhus fever in a malignant form without discovering some
stagnant drain or overcharged cesspool, or some other manifest cause
of malaria in the immediate residence of the patient.”

In the reports given from the parish ministers in the statistical accounts of Scotland, the effects of drainage upon the general health of the population are strongly marked in almost every county, expressed in notes made from an examination of the returns. Sutherland—parish of _Rogart_, “healthy, and a good deal of draining.” _Farr_, “subject to no particular disease; a deal of draining.” Ross and Cromarty—_Alness_, dry and healthy, “climate improved by drainage.” It is to be understood that drainage appears to form the essential part of agricultural improvement, which is connected with the improvement of health. Thus the notes from another parish in the same county, _Kilmuir_, _Wester_ and _Suddy_, states it as “healthy; great improvement; scarcely an acre in its original state.” _Rosemarkie_, “healthy; agriculture much improved.” Elgin—_New Spynie_, “healthy, much waste reclaimed, much draining.” _Alves_, “dry and healthy, well cultivated, wood sometimes used for drains.” Banff—_Deckford_, “healthy, and people long lived, much draining.” Kincardine—_Fordoun_, “so much draining that now no swamps: formerly, agues common, now quite unknown.” Angus—_Carmylie_, “health improved from draining.” Kinross—_Kinross_, “agues prevalent sixty years ago in consequence of marshes, now never met with.” _Oswell_, “ague prevailed formerly, but not since the land was drained.” Perth—_Methven_, “the north much improved by draining.” _Redgorton_, “healthy; no prevailing disease; ague was frequent formerly, but not since the land has been drained and planted.” _Moneydie_, “healthy; an immense improvement by draining.” _Abernyte_, “since the land was drained, scrofula rare and ague unknown.” _Monzie_, “healthy; a good deal of land reclaimed.” _Auchterarder_, “much draining, and waste land reclaimed—climate good.” _Muckhart_, “great improvement in agriculture; ague formerly prevalent—not so now.” _Muthill_, “healthy, much draining and cultivation extended.” And similar statements are made from the rural districts in all parts of the country.

In the course of inquiries as to what have been the effects of land drainage upon health, one frequent piece of information received has been that the rural population had not observed the effects on their own health, but they had marked the effects of drainage on the health and improvement of the stock. Thus the less frequent losses of stock from epidemics are beginning to be perceived as accompanying the benefits of drainage in addition to those of increased vegetable production.

_Dr. Edward Harrison_, in a paper in which he points out the connexion between the rot in sheep and other animals, and some important disorders in the human constitution, observes:—

“The connexion between humidity and the rot is universally admitted by
experienced graziers; and it is a matter of observation, that since
the brooks and rivulets in the county of Lincoln have been better
managed, and the system of laying ground dry, by open ditches and
under-draining, has been more judiciously practised, the rot is become
far less prevalent. Sir John Pringle informs us, that persons have
maintained themselves in good health, during sickly seasons, by
inhabiting the upper stories of their houses; and I have reason to
believe that, merely by confining sheep on high grounds through the
night, they have escaped the rot.”

_Dr. Harrison_ makes some observations on the effects of imperfect drainage in aggravating the evils intended to be remedied, of which frequent instances are presented in the course of this inquiry:—

“A grazier of my acquaintance has, for many years, occupied a large
portion of an unenclosed fen, in which was a shallow piece of water
that covered about an acre and a half of land. To recover it for
pasturage, he cut in it several open ditches to let off the water, and
obtained an imperfect drainage. His sheep immediately afterwards
became liable to the rot, and in most years he lost some of them. In
1792 the drains failed so entirely, from the wetness of the season,
that he got another pond of living water, and sustained, in that
season, no loss of his flock. For a few succeeding years, he was
generally visited with the rot; but having satisfied himself by
experience, that whenever the pit was, from the weather, either
completely dry or completely under water, his flock was free from the
disorder, he attempted a more perfect drainage, and succeeded in
making the land dry at all times. Since that period he has lost no
sheep from the rot, though, till within the last two years, he
continued to occupy the fen. * * *

“Mr. Harrison, of Fisherton, near Lincoln, has by judicious management
laid the greatest part of his farm completely dry, and is now little
troubled with the rot, unless when he wishes to give it to some
particular animals. His neighbours, who have been less provident, are
still severe sufferers by it, nor are their misfortunes confined to
sheep alone. Pigs, cows, asses, horses, poultry, hares, and rabbits,
become rotten in this lordship, and have flukes in their
livers. * * * *

“The late Mr. Bakewell was of opinion, that after May-Day, he could
communicate the rot at pleasure, by flooding, and afterwards stocking
his closes, while they were drenched and saturated with moisture. In
summer, rivers and brooks are often suddenly swollen by
thunder-storms, so as to pass over their banks, and cover the adjacent
low lands. In this state, no injury is sustained during the
inundation; but when the water returns to its former channel, copious
exhalations are produced from the swamps and low lands, which are
exceedingly dangerous to the human constitution, and to several other
animals, as well as sheep. * *

“A medical gentleman of great experience at Boston, in Lincolnshire,
and who is considerably advanced in life, has frequently observed to
me, that intermittents are so much diminished in his circuit, that an
ounce of the cinchona goes further at this time in the treatment of
agues than a pound of it did within his own recollection. During his
father’s practice at Boston, they were still more obstinate and
severe. For my own part, I have declared, for several years, in
various companies, that marsh miasmata are the cause of both agues and
the rot. And as miasmata are admitted, by the concurring testimonies
of medical practitioners in every part of the globe, to be produced by
the action of the sun upon low, swampy grounds, I hope this
interesting subject will be fully investigated, and effectual plans
carried into execution, for the preservation of man, and of the
animals which are so useful to him.”

I may here mention a circumstance which occurred at the Poor Law Commission Office, and which with succeeding information tended to direct our attention to the subject of sanitary measures of prevention for the protection of the rates. A medical officer of one of the Unions who came to town for the transaction of some business before the Board, begged to be favoured by the immediate despatch of his business, inasmuch as, from a change of weather which had taken place since his departure, he was certain that he should have a number of cases waiting for him. On being asked to explain the circumstances from which he inferred the occurrence of disease with so much certainty, he stated that within his district there was a reservoir to feed a canal: that they had let out the water as they were accustomed to do in spring time for the purpose of cleansing it; and that whenever such weather occurred as then prevailed during the process, he was sure to have a great number of fever cases amongst the labourers in the village which immediately adjoined the reservoir. It appeared to be, in fact, a case in which the rot was propagated amongst the labourers in the village under circumstances similar to those before cited in which it was propagated amongst the sheep.

The following portions of evidence afford instances of the condition in which a larger proportion of the country remains, from the neglect of general land drainage, than would be conceived from any _à priori_ estimate of the amount of prevalent intelligence and enterprize.

_Mr. R. W. Martyr_, one of the medical officers of the Langport union, thus describes the condition of a large proportion of his district:—

“The parishes of Kingsbury and Long Sutton being the district No. 1 B
of the Langford union, the population of which amounts to above 3,000;
Kingsbury, containing 2,000; and Long Sutton 1,000, or thereabouts.
Both these parishes are partly surrounded by low meadow land, and are
liable to frequent inundations, often covering many thousand acres,
and sometimes to a great depth; the level of much of this land being
below the bed of the main river or drains, makes it very difficult
(when once inundated) in very wet seasons to drain or carry off the
immense body of water they often contain.

“These inundations are caused by the banks of the main rivers not
being sufficiently strong or elevated, and from the bridges not being
capacious enough to carry the immense body of water brought down from
the neighbouring hills and country higher up, which, in heavy rains,
sometimes takes place so rapidly as to completely overflow the banks
in twenty-four hours; but besides the casual or accidental giving way
of the banks of the rivers, it is sometimes done by interested persons
for the purpose of warding off the mischief from themselves by
throwing it on their neighbours.

“When these floods occur in the winter season, and there is but little
herbage, or early in the spring, and are followed by dry weather, the
surface of the ground becomes dry and healthy, and they are then
highly beneficial to the land, and but little prejudicial to the
health of the surrounding inhabitants; but when, as is sometimes the
case, these floods take place late in April, May and June, and cover
hundreds of acres of hay, some cut and some uncut, and which must of
course rot on the ground, the effluvia and stench is then often
unbearable, and highly prejudicial to the health of the neighbouring
villages, and it is sometimes years before the land recovers its
healthy state, producing nothing but rank herbage, and causing agues,
fevers, dysentery, and numerous other diseases. Many of these evils
may, I think, be remedied if the owners of large estates in this
neighbourhood would interest themselves in the matter: I am persuaded
the increased value of their property would amply repay the outlay
necessary for the purpose. When the land is in this unhealthy state,
it appears to be equally prejudicial to the animal as the human
subject, producing numerous diseases among cattle, particularly among
sheep, many farmers losing the whole of their flocks.

“Although much remains to be done to remedy the mischief complained
of, yet a considerable improvement has taken place within the last
twenty years by enclosing many of the large commons, and by that means
partially draining them; and also by enlarging the back drains which
carry the water to a lower level into the main river, by which means
it is carried off much sooner, and less mischief is done, than if it
remained longer on the surface of the land.

“It is stated in a very old history of Somerset, that about 300 years
ago, nearly the whole of the inhabitants of Kingsbury, Muchelney, and
Long Load, were carried off by a pestilence (without doubt meaning a
malignant fever); and that for many years afterwards it was considered
so unhealthy that it was inhabited solely by outlaws, and persons of
the worst character, a clear proof the country is in a much healthier
state now than it was in former times.

“In addition to the more general causes of disease arising from the
flat state of the country, and its liability to inundations, are many
others of a more local character, and much easier of removal, in the
village of Kingsbury; and in many others there are numerous pits or
ponds in the winter season filled with muddy water, and, in summer,
mud alone: these are often situated in the front or at the back of the
cottages, and are receptacles for all manner of filth, and in certain
seasons are productive of very serious diseases, and at all times
highly injurious to health. Besides the mud pits above mentioned,
there is scarcely a cottage that is not surrounded with all manner of
filth, oftentimes close to the doors of the inhabitants, very few of
the cottages being provided with privies, or if there be any, they
only add to the general nuisance from being open and without drains.”

_Mr. Oldham_, the medical officer of the Chesterfield union, gives the following account of his district:—

“Wessington is situated upon an elevation, but the houses are arranged
around a green or unenclosed common, upon the surface of which are a
great number of small pools, which, for the most part, are stagnant.
In the winter season they overflow, and at this season the
neighbourhood appears less infected with fever. In the summer months,
and greater part of the spring and autumn, they are stagnant, and
undoubtedly a fruitful source of malaria; indeed the neighbourhood of
Wessington is scarcely ever free from fever at these seasons of the
year.

“It perhaps may not be amiss to mention, I have attended a number of
persons in the neighbourhood of this common who have been attacked
with fever, who were at the same time well fed, and lived in
comfortable and tolerably well-ventilated houses.”

He then adduces instances, and proceeds—

“From the facts before mentioned, I am led to conclude that the
decomposition constantly going on in these small pools is the source
of the malaria, and that the malaria so engendered propagates fever.
1st. Because there are cases of fever in this locality nearly all the
year. 2d. Because paupers, and persons who are better fed, and live in
more comfortable and better ventilated houses in the neighbourhood of
this green or common, are attacked with the disease, and, I may say,
almost indiscriminately. 3d. Because during the years I have attended
the paupers of the district, there has scarcely been a case of fever
in the winter season when the pools are overflowed, and the atmosphere
is colder, and consequently unfavourable to fermentation and
decomposition. In my opinion the only method to remedy this evil would
be to drain the common, which is small, and its situation being
elevated, would greatly facilitate its drainage. The condition of a
few of the smaller and more confined of the tenements might be greatly
improved.”

_Mr. L. Reynolds_, one of the medical officers of the Dore union, thus describes in his report the district where some fever cases occurred:—

“Of those cases the six first have occurred on Colston Common, a small
marshy spot, never drained, and containing several pools extremely
unhealthy, from decaying vegetables that never are removed. This year
the same families have been again attacked, and shall be so every year
till that nuisance be removed. In a medical point of view, such
commons are injurious, and they are extremely expensive to the unions,
for they cause fever, asthma, and rheumatism, from their incipient
moisture, thus injuring the labouring classes, and heavily taxing the
parish.

“The four next have occurred at a place called Toad Ditch: it well
deserves the name; it is a collection of badly-built houses, rendered
unhealthy from the large ditch, into which every kind of refuse is
poured; the removal of that nuisance is imperatively called for. All
these houses have one privy in common, but the ditch is the place
generally used.

“This district would be much served by enclosing and draining Colston
Commons, by keeping the sewers at Kingston clean, and by draining the
ditch at Toad Ditch. These are the only removable nuisances of which I
have any knowledge.”

_Mr. Blick_, medical officer of the Bicester union, describes the prevalence of typhus:—

“This disease has been very prevalent in this district during the past
year, indeed we are never free from it. I think its origin may be
traced, in most instances, to a constant exposure to an atmosphere
loaded with malaria, and propagated, in the second place, by
contagion, so little attention being paid to prevent its diffusion.

“The malaria alluded to arises from the decomposition of vegetable
matter left upon Otmoor (a marsh of about 4000 acres), by the previous
winter’s flood, and acted upon by the sun, &c., during the summer.”

_Mr. J. Holt_, the medical officer of the Leighton Buzzard union, reports:—

“I have had only 34 cases of remittent and intermittent fevers during
the last year, which is a small number in comparison to the amount
usually occurring in hot summers. The great prevalence of these fevers
at such times is attributable principally to the number of stagnant
ponds and ditches which are situated in the very midst of many of the
towns and villages of this union, and which, in hot weather, become
quite putrid and offensive from the quantity of decaying animal and
vegetable matter. I have generally observed that the greater number of
these fevers occur in houses situated in the immediate vicinity of
these ponds, and have no doubt is the chief cause of nearly all the
fevers of this description. The villages to which I more particularly
refer are Egginton, Eddlesbon, Cheddington, &c.”

The sanitary effects of road cleansing, to which house drainage and road drainage is auxiliary, it appears is not confined to the streets in towns and the roads in villages, but extends over the roads at a distance from habitations on which there is traffic. Dr. Harrison, whose testimony has been cited on the subject of the analogy of the diseases of animals to those which affect the human constitution, in treating of the prevention of fever or the rot amongst sheep, warns the shepherd that, if after providing drained pasture and avoiding “rotting-places” in the fields, all his care may be frustrated if he do not avoid, with equal care, leading the sheep over wet and miry roads with stagnant ditches, which are as pernicious as the places in the fields designated as “rotting-places.” He is solicitous to impress the fact that the rot, _i. e._ the typhus fever, has been contracted in ten minutes, that sheep can at “any time be tainted in a quarter of an hour, while the land retains its moisture and the weather is hot and sultry.” He gives the following instance, amongst others, of the danger of traversing badly drained roads. “A gentleman removed 90 sheep from a considerable distance to his own residence. On coming near to a bridge, which is thrown over the Barling’s river, one of the drove fell into a ditch and fractured its leg. The shepherd immediately took it in his arms to a neighbouring house, and set the limb. During this time, which did not occupy more than one hour, the remainder were left to graze in the ditches and lane. The flock were then driven home, and a month afterwards the other sheep joined its companions. The shepherd soon discovered that all had contracted the rot, except the lame sheep; and as they were never separated on any other occasion, it is reasonable to conclude that the disorder was acquired by feeding in the road and ditch bottoms.” The precautions applicable to the sheep and cattle will be deemed equally applicable to the labouring population who traverse such roads.

Such instances as the following, on the prejudicial effects of undrained and neglected roads, might be multiplied. _Mr. E. P. Turner_, the medical officer of Foleshill union, in accounting for some cases of fever, states:—

“These cases of typhus all occurred in the same neighbourhood, where
the road is bad and a dirty ditch of stagnant water on each side of
it; the road is generally overflowed in the winter. The disease broke
out in the month of October; other cases occurred in the same
neighbourhood at the time.”

The nature of the more common impediments which stand in the way of the removal of the causes of disease and obstacles to production described in the preceding, are noticed in the instances following. Others will be adduced when the subject of the legislative means of prevention are stated.

_Dr. Traves_, on the sanitary condition of the poor in the Malton union, states,—

“The whole of the low district above alluded to, and extending into
the Pickering union, (known by the name of the Marishes, or Marshes,)
has at different times within the last few years been the seat of
typhus and other fevers.

“Attempts were made by some of the landed proprietors a few years ago
to effect a system of drainage and embankments likely to prevent the
inundations of these rivers in wet seasons, but the attempt was
abandoned in consequence of the reluctance of certain townships to
bear their portion of the necessary outlay, and any partial system of
embankment is positively injurious, inasmuch as the water that is let
in upon the land at a higher point of the river is prevented returning
into the stream again by an embankment at a lower point, so that this
water, containing vegetable matters in a state of decomposition, must
remain stagnant until evaporated by the sun’s rays, or dissipated by
the wind; cases of fever occurring under these circumstances have
repeatedly come under my observation, as well as that of other medical
men familiar with the district, and this fruitful source of disease
(in seasons like 1839 more especially) will probably now remain in
full force until an Act of the legislature shall effect a change.”

_Mr. Thomas Marjoribanks_, the minister of Lochmaben,—

“No means of any consequence, so far as I am aware, have yet been
tried to remedy the evil, the removal of such substances as generate
malaria. There are no scavengers appointed for the removal of
nuisances. One great mean of preventing the generation of malaria (in
my opinion) would be the lowering of the bed of the river Annan, which
would to a great extent free the surrounding lands of stagnant water,
give greater facilities for draining, improve the system of farming,
lessen the risk of damage, and increase the quantity as well as
improve the quality of the food which the low lands produce, and in
every way conduce to the comfort and cleanliness of the inhabitants.
It is computed that in consequence of the flooding of the Annan,
damage during the last four years has been done to the amount of
6,000_l._, and this along only about three miles of its course. The
property is very much subdivided, and, in consequence, poverty and
want has increased to a great extent among the small proprietors.”

In closing this exposition of the state of the chief external evils that affect the sanitary condition of the labouring population, it may be observed that the experience, on which the conclusions rest as to the principles of prevention is neither recent nor confined to this country. That which is new, is the advantages we possess beyond other times, and perhaps beyond all other countries, in capital and practical science for its application. The experience of the advantage of public sewers to the health of a town population is nearly as old as Rome itself. I may refer with M. Du Châtelet to the experience of that city, to illustrate the consequences of neglects, such as are manifest amidst large masses of the community throughout the country, and are partially displayed in the mortuary registers first cited. He gives the details from the treatise _De Adventitiis Romani Cœli Qualitatibus_, by the celebrated Italian physician Lancisi, who deeply studied the sanitary condition of Rome, and wrote several admirable works on the subject, which had the happy effect of inducing the pope to cleanse and drain the city:—

“The barbarians of every tribe having several times pillaged and
sacked the city of Rome, the aqueducts were destroyed, and the water,
spreading into the surrounding plains, formed marshes, which
contributed greatly to render uninhabitable the surrounding country.

“The aqueducts existing no longer, the sewers and privies were alike
neglected, and produced serious and frequent sicknesses, which were
more effectual in destroying the population than the arms of the
barbarians. All the historians of these remote times, and particularly
St. Gregory, in his Homilies, and the deacon John, in the Life of that
saint, give a frightful picture of the city of Rome. The air became so
vitiated that plagues and fevers of a malignant character continually
carried on their ravages to such a point that Peter Damien, writing in
the eleventh century to Pope Nicholas II., to intreat him to accept
his resignation, alleged as the pretext the danger he ran every
instant of losing his life by remaining in the town.

“It was principally during the abode of the popes at Avignon that all
which regards health was neglected at Rome, and some historians have
not hesitated to attribute to this negligence the depopulation of the
town, which was reduced in a little time to 30,000 inhabitants.

“Things remained in this state to the end of the fourteenth century,
an epoch at which the popes, resuming the ancient labours, restored
things to their proper condition; a new title to glory of Leo X., who
of all the popes was the one who occupied himself with this important
object in the most especial manner.

“It is, in part, to these precautions that we are to attribute the
rapid increase of the population of Rome, which, from 30,000 souls,
reached in a short time to 80,000; and it is a thing worthy of our
attention that after the death of this pontiff the population quickly
fell to the number of 32,000, because, according to the contemporary
authors, everything having been neglected, the first calamities were
renewed.

“Happily for Rome this state of things did not continue long, because
all successive popes, instructed, it appears, by the experience of
ancient times, having carried on immense labours, and constructed
fresh sewers, have given to the air of this city the necessary
purity.”

Italy presents instances, though comparatively modern, of the removal of disease by land drainage:—

“At Vareggio,” observes M. Villermé, “in the principality of Lucca,
the inhabitants, few in number, barbarous, and miserable, were
annually, from time immemorial, attacked about the same period with
agues; but in 1741 flood-gates were constructed, which permitted the
escape into the sea of the waters from the marshes, preventing at the
same time the ingress of the ocean to these marshes both from tides
and storms. This contrivance, which permanently suppressed the marsh,
also expelled the fevers. In short, the canton of Vareggio is at the
present day one of the healthiest, most industrious, and richest on
the coast of Tuscany; and a part of those families whose boorish
ancestors sunk under the epidemics of the _aria cativa_, without
knowledge to protect themselves, enjoy a health, a vigour, a
longevity, and a moral character unknown to their ancestors.”

The histories of other cities, and particularly of Paris, afford illustrations of the effects of the neglect of public cleansing, which begin in the ignorance and carelessness of the superior officers, and continue in the predominance of ignorance and obscure interests of a multitude in the present day:—

“For several years the suppression of an enormous cesspool at Paris
near the Barrière des Fourneaux was implored by the inhabitants.
Placed under the predominant winds, it was a permanent cause of
annoyance to the quarters of St. Germain and St. Jacques. But all
petitions were in vain. A singular occurrence brought about the event
for which the people had prayed more than 50 years. In a hunting
party, the Prince of Conde was carried by a fiery horse towards this
same cesspool; finding it impossible to turn the animal, the prince
had the presence of mind to throw himself on the ground, but the horse
darted forward into the cesspool and disappeared. The next day an
order was issued from Versailles, enjoining M. Lenoir, the lieutenant
of police, to fill up the cesspool, which was accordingly done.”

A particular evil had attracted the attention of an able minister, who had recourse to the expedient which we have seen recently re-discovered and introduced into practice into one section of the sewerage of London:—

“The great sewer of Montmartre being uncovered, and the fall
exceedingly small, it was easily choked, and spread infection through
all the neighbourhood. Turgot thought that the best method to obtain a
ready flow for the muddy waters it received was to wash it by frequent
currents. A vast reservoir, capable of containing about 22,000
measures of water, was in consequence established at the opening of
the sewer, opposite the Rue des Filles-du-Calvaire. The waters of
Belleville were conducted there, together with those of two wells dug
in the vicinity. This volume of water was, on certain days, let into
the main sewer by means of flood-gates, which could be opened at
pleasure. The scouring of the sewer by a current of living water
attracted the public attention, and produced the most happy results.
Shortly the people could dwell on the confines of this ancient ditch
without fear of dangerous exhalations. The quarters of the Faubourg
Montmartre, of the Chaussée-d’Antin, of the Ville-l’Evêque, and of the
Faubourg St. Honoré, became populated. At length the land was so
valuable in these different quarters that the possessors of the banks
of the sewer demanded and obtained the permission to cover it over at
their own expense.”

The mode of cleansing had, however, been before proposed by another minister:—

“In the conferences which were held in 1666 and 1667 at the house of
the Chancellor Seguier respecting the grand police of the kingdom, a
thorough examination was made of the sewers of Paris, which began to
multiply. The minutes of these sittings still exist. We see there the
opinions given on the subject by each of the members of the
commission, and particularly by Colbert, who in the sitting of the
13th of January, proposed, as the best method of cleansing the sewers,
to establish several fountains in the quarters where they were
necessary, and at the side of each of them a reservoir of 15 measures,
which should be let out all at once. Nothing, assuredly, could be
better than this proposition. But one thing was wanting to the
minister—the water could not be procured.”

But the water, though abundant in the vicinity of Paris, is still wanted, and the cause of the want is thus noticed by M. Du Châtelet:—

“Paris possesses an immense mass of water, which can be distributed
into every quarter and every house. Does the demand multiply with the
pipes? Assuredly not, and one might well be surprised to see the
negligence and apathy of proprietors in this respect. Some persons
adduce the fact to prove that seven litres[12] of water are sufficient
for the inhabitants of Paris, whilst sixty are necessary for London,
and still more for Edinburgh. But if we look closer to the conduct of
the proprietors, we shall find that it proceeds from calculations well
understood. It is the certainty that they will have sooner to empty
the cesspools which scares them. This operation, and the expense it
often brings with it, influences the venal propensities of the
proprietors. Is it likely that they will pay for water of which the
inevitable result will be to multiply the number of operations they
dread the most, and which increase the expense in an enormous
proportion? Thus the actual state of our cesspools, and the mode of
emptying them now in use, are, in our opinion, the principal causes
which prevent individuals from taking the water, and which retard the
period in which the city will receive the interest of the enormous
sums that it has devoted, and still devotes daily, to the supply of
water.”

It is to be hoped, however, that the legislature will give the powers and direct the means requisite in this country, to furnish to every city in Europe a practical demonstration that by the art of the engineer, the obstacle to improvement, formed by the great expense and annoyance of removing the refuse of houses and streets may be rendered inconsiderable. In Paris the interests of turbulent bodies of men, the water-carriers, and another class of men called the chiffonniers, who live by raking for what they can find amongst the refuse cast into the streets, are opposed to any change which will reduce the charge of imperfect cleansing, and the disease promoted by filth. The general practice in that metropolis is to cast all the rubbish of the house into the street on the overnight, or before seven o’clock in the morning, when men attend with carts to sweep it up and remove it. In the nighttime, however, the chiffonnier comes with a lantern and rakes amongst the refuse, and picks from it bones, rags, or whatever may have been thrown away by accident, or the carelessness of the servants. The offensive filth of their persons and their occupation, makes them outcasts from other classes of workmen; they sleep amidst their collections of refuse, and they are idle during the day; they are like all men who live under such circumstances, prone to indulgence in ardent spirits; being degraded and savage, they are ready to throw away their wretched lives on every occasion. There are nearly 2000 of the chiffonniers alone in Paris, and they and the water-carriers were conspicuous actors in the revolution of 1830. During the administration of Casimir Perrier the householders had complained of the inconvenient mode of cleansing the streets by large heavy carts drawn by three horses, which, during their slow progress throughout the day, obstruct the public thoroughfares and occasion great inconveniences, especially in the narrow streets.

In the beginning of the year 1834, when the cholera broke out, the attention of the authorities was directed to sanitary measures, and the municipality decided that the cleansing of the streets should be done by contract, by a quick relay of carts of a smaller and more convenient shape, drawn by single horses; and in order to diminish the inconvenience of the presence of these improved vehicles, the contractor was allowed to collect one load for each of his carts on the overnight, which would have led to a practice similar to that of London, where the dust-carts take the refuse direct from the house without any deposit in the streets. But in this arrangement an important interest had been overlooked; the chiffonniers, who were said to have been aided and directed by the owners and men belonging to the superseded vehicles, rose in revolt, attacked and drove away the conductors, broke to pieces the new carts, threw the fragments into the river, or made bonfires with them. Unfortunately at that time the cholera had broken out at Paris. The mobs of chiffonniers which collected on the following day were swollen by other crowds of ignorant, terrified, and savage people, who were persuaded that the deaths from the strange plague were occasioned by poison. “My agents,” says the then prefet of police, in an account of this revolt, “could not be at all points at once, to oppose the fury of those crowds of men with naked arms and haggard figures, and sinister looks, who are never seen in ordinary times, and who seemed on this day to have arisen out of the earth. Wishing to judge myself of the foundation for the alarming reports that were brought to me, I went out alone and on foot. I had great difficulty in getting through these dense masses, scarcely covered with filthy rags; no description could convey their hideous aspect, or the sensation of terror which the hoarse and ferocious cries created. Although I am not easily moved, I at one time feared for the safety of Paris—of honest people and their property.” In fact the riot was one of the most dangerous that had been witnessed in that city, and it was not suppressed without great exertions and some loss of life. The anxieties which it occasioned to the minister, Casimir Perrier, and his disgust at the political use made of it, were considered to have contributed to his death. He was himself attacked with the cholera, and died a few days after. Shortly before his death, when expressing his disgust, he said to the prefet, “My friend, we are harnessed to a vile carriage.” “Truly so,” replied the prefet, “and the ways are dreadfully dirty.” The material ways of the city continued as they were, the prefet seeing that the introduction of the new carts became “a motive to discontent and collision,” took upon himself to set aside the contract with the contractor, who, he states, received no other compensation for his losses than a permission which he could not use to collect the refuse during the day, and the chiffonniers continue to the present time in the exercise of their wretched vocation at the expense of the public health and cleanliness.

The course of the present inquiry shows how strongly circumstances that are governable govern the habits of the population, and in some instances appear almost to breed the species of the population. Conceiving it probable that the amount of filth left by defective cleansing had its corresponding description of persons, I made inquiries of the Commissioners of Metropolitan Police. From returns which they obtained from their superintendents, it appears that of the class of bone-pickers, mud-rakers, people living on the produce of dungheaps in mews, courts, yards, and bye lanes insufficient cleansed, 598 are known to the police. From an observation of the proportion of filthy children and adults who appear amidst refuse whenever there are new buildings and an unusual quantity of rubbish, and from other circumstances, I believe that, were the refuse of houses daily cast into the streets in London in the same manner as at Paris, London would soon have as large and as dangerous a population of the chiffonnier class. I am informed by Sir Charles Shaw, the chief commissioner of police at Manchester, that there are 302 of them known within the police jurisdiction of that town also. He complains that they have heretofore been licensed in their occupation; that, the children are pilferers, and occupy the attention of the police, and furnish a large quota to the stock of juvenile delinquents and the population of the prisons. I am informed that in Bath there are about 100 of them known; and in other towns and places I have little doubt that they would be found in like proportions, which approach the proportions of the stated numbers of chiffonniers to the population of Paris. These degraded creatures are also found amongst the inmates of the workhouses, and the close identity of their habits with those of the chiffonniers of Paris afford a striking proof of the similarity of the population produced by similarity of circumstances. They are thus described to me by an eye-witness:—

“The bone-pickers are the dirtiest of all the inmates of our
workhouse; I have seen them take a bone from a dungheap, and gnaw it
while reeking hot with the fermentation of decay. Bones, from which
the meat had been cut raw, and which had still thin strips of flesh
adhering to them, they scraped carefully with their knives, and put
the bits, no matter how befouled with dirt, into a wallet or pocket
appropriated to the purpose. They have told me, that whether in broth
or grilled, they were the most savoury dish that could be imagined. I
have not observed that these creatures were savage, but they were
thoroughly debased. Often hardly human in appearance, they had neither
human tastes nor sympathies, nor even human sensations, for they
revelled in the filth which is grateful to dogs, and other lower
animals, and which to our apprehension is redolent only of nausea and
abomination.”

The following report from one of the superintendents to the Commissioners of the Metropolitan Police describes the manner in which they appear to the police, their moral character, and the efficacy of the means of prevention:—

“With reference to the question of the Commissioners as to the means
of subsistence of that portion of the population which at present
exists by picking bones in the bye-lanes, &c., in the event of those
places being properly cleansed, I am of opinion that they would be
compelled to adopt some more laborious and useful means of obtaining a
livelihood, such as field labour, &c. They are at present an idle,
dissolute class, prowling about the stables, yards, backs of premises,
and lanes, willing to commit petty felony wherever opportunity
presents itself. While it would remove them, on the other hand, the
instant removal of filth from the metropolis must prove beneficial to
the health of the inhabitants.”

It will then be found to be an ultimately beneficial effect of the removal of the circumstances by the adoption of such modes of cleansing as diminish the prevalent amount of filth or filthy processes, that it will force a change to other occupations of a less degrading character, and diminish the number of persons “brought up” to them. Any provision of the nature of a poor law may be said to be badly constructed which does not allow the exercise of a discretionary authority to alleviate any severe inconveniences to the poorest classes from such changes. For the sake of preventing the growth of the like misery, it would probably be found a good civic economy to maintain the whole of the existing class in idleness, if idleness were not in itself a curse to them. I mention this, because the parish officers frequently oppose improved modes of paving and efficient cleansing, (as they generally opposed the new police on the ground that it diminished the means of subsistence of decrepit old men as watchmen,) for the avowed reason that it is expedient to keep the streets in their present state of filth in order to keep up the means of employing indigent persons as street-sweepers and sweepers of crossings in removing it.

It is found in the metropolis to be a beneficial result of the increase of the practice of removing night-soil by the self-acting process of water-closets communicating with the sewers, that it prevents the increase of the number of nightmen formerly requisite for the performance of that offensive and dangerous labour, and is in the metropolis diminishing the number.

Yet it should be borne in mind, that until more complete measures are adopted, even the services of such agents are an improvement, and in crowded cities are only neglected at the expense of the degradation of the whole mass of the labouring population. An example is to be found in the state of some districts mentioned by _Dr. Speer_, who in his account of the diseases of the lower orders in Dublin, given in the Dublin Hospital Reports, noticed the fact that the fever cases always came from the filthy districts; and he observes,

“We cannot wonder at the rapidity with which contagion often spreads.
Both in and out of doors, it seems facilitated in every way; within
doors every article of furniture and wearing apparel is disfigured
with filth; every spot seems encrusted with its layers, and the
foulest odours abound everywhere. Out of doors, at least in warm
seasons, our churchyards, slaughter-houses, and the masses of filth
and offal with which our streets and lanes are disgraced, contribute
no less to the propagation of contagion. In the larger and better
streets, the cleansing is very well attended to, but in the narrow and
crowded ones, where the necessity of its removal is infinitely
greater, the heaps of filth are truly disgraceful. In some of my
visits I have been obliged to wade through masses of filth enough to
sicken the stoutest and strongest—masses which have remained
undisturbed for months, perhaps for years, and thus generating the
most putrid effluvia. We know that vegetables are very dear in our
markets. Why? Because our gardens are not sufficiently manured; this
manure lies in our lanes and alleys, and only wants collecting; but
what would this be compared with the benefits from the purification of
our atmosphere which its removal would produce?”