A SIMPLE REMEDY REQUIRED. 43 



fearful penalty we are paying for the neglect of simple 

 sanitary precautions. 



Dr. Whitmore, the Medical Officer of Health for 

 Marylebone, in his reports to the Vestry on the unhealthi- 

 ness of the six districts into which the parish is divided, 

 stated that, owing to its wide streets and large and well- 

 ventilated houses, the Cavendish Square district had a 

 death rate of only 14'1 per thousand, while, owing to its 

 naiTOw streets and small and badly-ventilated houses, that of 

 Christchurch district was 2T7 per thousand, but even this 

 was an improvement, for owing to the perseverance of the 

 sanitary officials there was an annual saving of about 

 300 lives. 



We might fill ten thousand pages with such facts. 



The remedy for that procrastination which permits great 

 districts of "poor neighbourhoods" to fester in the heart of our 

 cities, must be found in some very simple and efficient system 

 of ventilation a system within the reach of all classes, 

 as effective in purifying the air of a church or a theatre, 

 as in removing the foul air from crowded workshops and the 

 confined dwellings of the industrial classes. 



It was this consideration which influenced Robert 

 Boyle to avoid all complications in working out the problem 

 of ventilation, and with the assistance of his son, such 

 determined and vigorous efforts were made to provide simple 



