No. 216.] 415 



influence of other sources of the " ills which flesh is heir to," par- 

 ticularly of deficient or improper nourishment and bad nursing; and 

 frequently no nursing at all, especially among Dispensary patients. 



The condition of the dwellings of many of the poor of our city, 

 is a subject much needing the careful attention of the philanthropist, 

 if not of our municipal authorities, who, it appears to me, ought to 

 have a more watchful supervision of the tenements of this portion of 

 our population. 



Respectfully thy friend, 



STEPHEN WOOD. 



From B. W. McCready, M. D. late physician to t/ie City Dispen- 

 sary ^ and City Prison. 



Wednesday, Septembei 3d, 1844. 



Mv DEAR Sir — If I apprehend aright the purport of your queries, 

 you wish to know of me, whether I have met w-ith any cases of in- 

 fectious diseases occurring among the poor, which might have been 

 prevented by proper sanitary regulations. In the summer of '42, a 

 number of cases of Typhus fever, of a very severe type, occurred in 

 a building in the rear of 49 Elizabeth-street, under circumstances 

 which left no doubt as to its local orio-in. The front building, a 

 small two story frame house, was partly occupied by the proprietor, 

 or lessee, of the building, as a liquor store, and partly sub-kt lo sev- 

 eral Irish families. A covered alley-way led to the rear building. 

 This was a double frame house, three stories in height. It stood in 

 the centre of the yard. Ranged next the fence, were a number of 

 pig styes and stables, which surrounded the yard on three sides. 

 From the quantity of filth, liquid and otherwise, thus caused, the 

 ground, I suppose, had been rendered almost impassable, and to re- 

 medy this, the yard had been completely boarded over, so that the 

 earth could nowhere be seen. These boards were partially decayed, 

 and by a little pressure, even in dry weather, a thick greenish fluid 

 could be forced up through their crevices. The central building was 

 inhabited wholly by negroes In this building theie occurred, in the 

 course of six weeks, nine cases of typhus fever. The two first taken 

 resided on the ground floor, and both died. The ottiers residing on the 

 second and third floors, finally recovered. Two other cases, at least 

 occurred among those who were temporarily in the house as nurses, 

 or visitors, but as they were all at their own houses,* these patients 

 did not come under my own observation. The disease would un- 



