Sir John Sirnon. 337 



on Pathology at St. Thomas' Hospital, and published an introductory 

 discourse, " On the aims and philosophic method of pathological 

 research," which is remarkable as showing the grasp he had at this 

 early period of the fundamental principles of a branch of science which 

 had then barely come into existence. This was followed in 1859 by 

 the publication of the course of lectures on "General Pathology," 

 which will be referred to further on. 



In 1848 Simon married Jane, daughter of Matthew Delaval 

 O'Meara, who had served with distinction as Commissary-General in 

 the Peninsular War. Two months later he received the important 

 appointment of Officer of Health to the City of London, which he 

 held for seven years. His work in this capacity is -embodied in 

 his City of London Annual Reports. These were separately published 

 in 1854, and in part republished by the Sanitary Institute 33 years 

 later. 



In 1855 Simon entered the service of the State as " Medical 

 Officer " of the Central Sanitary Authority. The post was, in the first 

 instance, attached to the General Board of Health, which came to an 

 end in 1858. The Legislation of that year devolved the functions of 

 that Board relating to Public Health on the Lords of the Council. In 

 1859 an Act was passed by which the appointment of Medical Officer 

 was rendered permanent, and the duty imposed on the holder of it of 

 advising and acting for his Ministerial chief (the Vice-President of the 

 Council for Education) on all matters relating to sanitary administra- 

 tion. This office was then held by Mr. Lowe (afterwards Lord Sher- 

 brooke), to whose active intervention the successful carrying out of 

 the arrangements above referred to was in great measure due. 



From the moment that Mr. Simon's position was secured, he lost 

 no opportunity of using the resources of his office for the advancement 

 of Pathology. Even before this was accomplished he had written an 

 important Report on the preventability of certain kinds of premature 

 death, which was founded on the elaborate statistical investigations 

 just before contributed to the Board of Health by the late Dr. Headlam 

 Greenhow, F.E.S. These were subsequently published under the title 

 of " Papers relating to the Sanitary State of the People of England,"* 

 a work which has since become one of the classics of sanitary 

 science. Simon was thus able at once to take the position that 

 "where preventable disease prevailed in excess, the setiological 

 facts ought to be ascertained by medical investigation for the informa- 

 tion of the general public, the Government, and the Legislature." 



The Board of Health had not been in possession of the necessary 

 machinery for making such inquiries, but as soon as the new authority 



* "Public Health Eeports," edited by Edward Seaton, M.D. Lond., 1887, 

 pp. 427-488. 



B 2 



