in the Natural Sciences. 30T 



been all too much overlooked. A work *, however, has lately 

 appeared, likely to attract some attention to these subjects, and 

 which exhibits not only a comprehensive view of the diseases and 

 premature mortality more pecuharly applicable to upwards of 

 150 specified trades and professions, but also the agents which 

 produce them, with suggestions for their removal. The inhabit- 

 ants of Leeds and its manufactures are those to which the inquiry 

 relates. The following are some of the author's introductory 

 remarks in regard to the objects of his investigation. 



" Man, in his several relations, is assuredly the most interesting subject 

 for examination and reflection. His external form, his internal structure, 

 the number and complexity of organs, their harmony and mutual support, 

 the surprising power which restores injured parts, the organs which, connect- 

 ing man with his fellows and the world, are the agents of social relation,— 

 these exhibit the first animal in the universe — the work of a Creator all-wise 

 and benevolent. 



" Though we cannot rival the agency of superior wisdom ; though we can 

 neither make man, nor improve his original organization ; we mat/ reduce 

 his character, weaken his frame, and bnng on him premature decay and death. 

 It is one thing, indeed, to view this being, as God made him : it is another, 

 to examine him in a state of moral and physical degradation." 



" If we turn our view from man to his works, we see the wUdemess con-, 

 verted into towns and cities, roads cut through mountains, bridges carried 

 over rivers and even arms of the sea, ships which traverse the globe, lakes 

 converted into corn-fields, forests made into pasture, and barren roeks cover- 

 ed with timber ; — in a word, we see the face of the world changed by human 

 will and human power." 



" These, and works like these, are assuredly wonderful. But while we 



admire, let us examine. What are the effects of these surprising works 



effects, I mean physical and moral ? I say nothing of the wealth they pro- 

 duce or have produced, for wealth is good or evil according to its application : 

 I refer to the health of fifty thousand persons, who spend their lives in the 

 manufactories of Leeds and its neighbourhood, or in allied and dependent 

 occupations. I ask, if these fifty thousand persons enjoy that vigour of body 

 which is ever a direct good, and without which all other advantages are com- 

 paratively worthless ? I ask, if the duration of life is as great here as in the 

 agricultural districts ? 



" To come more immediately home, let us compare the mortality in 

 Leeds with that of a town destitute of manufactures ; and afterwards with 

 that of a merely agricultural district. I take at random Ripon and Pickering 

 Lythe. In 1821, the population of the town and borough of Leeds was 

 83,796, and the burials were 1516, or one death in 55 persons. In the liberty 



* " The Effects of the Principal Arts, Trades, and Professions, and of Civic States and Habits 

 of Living, on Health and Longevity ; with a particular reference to the Trades and Manufactures 

 of Leeds : and Suggestions for the Removal of many of the Agents which Produce Disease, and 

 Shorten the Duration of Life. By C. Turner Thaclirah. London, 1831." 



