5 J 2 Dr. Psrclvat on. the Effects of Famine y ^e1 



The atmofphere of a crowded town muHr, iri 

 many refpeds, nearly refemble the foul air of 

 a Ruffian cottage. Yet thoufands enjoy in. it a 

 tolerable {hare of health, though we admit the 

 truth of the poet's defcription, as well as the 

 propriety of his counfel to the delicate and 

 valetudinary; 



Ye who, amid this feverifh world, would wear 



A body free of pain, of cares a miftd; 



Fly the rank city, fhun its turbid air ; 



Breathe not the chaos of eternal fmoke. 



And volatile corruption, from the dead, j 



The dying, fickening, and the living world. 



Exhaled, to fully heaven's tranfparent dome 



With dim mortality. * 



It has been found, by experiment, that the 

 fumes emitted by almoft every fpecies of burn- 

 ing fuel, are fatal to animals, when applied in 

 a fufficiently concentrated ftate. I have com- 

 puted, that three hundred tons of coal are every 

 day Gonfumed, in the winter feafon, at Manchef- 

 ter. The factitious gas, generated by its com- 

 buftion, mufl: amount at lead to one third of this 

 quantity ; it is probable that the fmoke, pro- 

 ceeding from it, conftitutes another third part ; 

 and both together are capable of occupying a 

 fpace of very wide extent. Now if it were not 

 for the difperfion of thefe vapours by wind, the 

 precipitation of them by rain, and the influence 



• Armftrong on Heahh, Book I, 



of 



