346 Atialysis of Scientific Books. 



beare such plentiful and infinite quantities of fruits, as they never 

 produced the like either before or since, to their great astonish- 

 ment ; but it was, by the owners, rightly imputed to the penury 

 ofcoales, and the little smoke which they took notice to infest 

 them that yeare." 



It would be to no purpose further to accompany our author 

 through this region of practical grievances ; we shall, therefore, 

 pass on to that part of the tract relating more especially to the 

 influence of London smoke upon the health of its inhabitants. 

 It has sometimes been argued that the fuliginous atmosphere of 

 London is rather salutary than otherwise, and that, at all events, 

 it tends to counteract contagion, and disinfect the air; it has 

 also been contended, that the mortality of its inhabitants has 

 not sustained an increase proportionate to their augmented num- 

 bers. We believe it must be admitted, that the town has not 

 become less healthy within the last fifty years, but we doubt 

 whether it is more so, which, considering the enormous supplies 

 of water which inundate every district, the widening of several 

 streets, the removal of many of those nests of filth and poverty 

 which disgraced some of the more prominent parts of London, 

 and, above all, the general amelioration of the sewers and drain- 

 age, ought indisputably to have been the case. There are so 

 many contingent circumstances that interfere with our estimate 

 of the mortality of the inhabitants of large cities, that it is very 

 difficult to form a just conclusion as to the effects of individual 

 causes ; yet, viewing, the subject in this light, we cannot, 

 however willing, ascribe any serious mischief to the mere 

 smoke ; let us, for instance, look at the mortality of Paris, which 

 equals, or even exceeds, that of London, yet its inhabitants en- 

 joy a most sweet and delightful air ; the sky is clear and serene ; 

 the foggy obfuscations and jaundiced composts of soot and vapour 

 which adumbrate London are there unknown, and our vision ex- 

 tends nearly at all times and seasons from one end of that splen- 

 did metropolis to the other; whereas here we consider it wondrous 

 clear when we can discern the Monument from Blackfriars- 

 bridge, or see St. Paul's Cross from the bottom of Ludgate-hill. 

 If indeed we adopt the maxim, non est vivere, sed valere, vita, 

 we must then concede all to the inhabitants of Paris ; for who 

 has not felt the vivifying influence of their undisturbed and 

 transparent atmosphere, in which every object has a sharp and 

 cleanly outline, and figured to himself the magnificence of Lon- 

 don, were it blessed with such a climate. To the circumstance 

 of breathing an air thus pure and uncontarainated, some of the 

 peculiarities of the English at Paris may possibly be referred ; 

 and the celebrity of the French cuisine among our countrymen 

 is not perhaps altogether independent of such a cause. " I re- 

 port myself to all those, " says Evelyn, " who have been com- 

 pelled to breathe the air of other countries for some years, if 



