462 [Assembly 



raternal and external domiciliary, and their personal arrangements, 

 is most desirable, it could be given in such forms as would certainly 

 arrest attention and be productive of incalculable benefits. The cir- 

 cumstances of life, which have influence in producing disease, are 

 €ndless in number, and yet the sufferers, in too many instances, are 

 wholly ignorant of their power, or even of their existence. This is 

 true to a great extent of the rich and educated, as every physician 

 knows, but it is emphatically the case with the destitute and ignor- 

 ant, to whom the laws of health and life, are a sealed book. 



These labors I regard as answering to the spirit of the law, and, 

 in nearly the words of an able writer on poverty and crime, ^' The 

 wisest civil regulations that can be devised, will avail but little for 

 the advancement of society, if the officers who execute them, look 

 not beyond the letter of their commissions, and fail to communicate 

 what they learn of the causes, the remedy, and the prevention of 

 diseases." 



To this subject, the language of an inspired penman may be liter- 

 ally applied: — "The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." 



A sanitary police, composed of such individuals as are herein 

 suggested, would constitute a sufficient corps of Health Missionaries. 

 Their time would be principally devoted to the purpose of teaching 

 the poor the rules which should regulate their household operations; 

 and the value of fresh air, ventilation, cleanliness, temperance, &c., 

 would form constant themes for them. The circulation of tracts on 

 health, distributed with the same freedom as religious tracts now 

 are, by hands equally interested in the comforts and condition of the 

 poor, would form a powerful addition to their means of usefulness. 

 The Dispensary Physician wields for these f)urposes, a power possess- 

 ed by no other class of men. 



To the habits of life of many of the laboring classes, to their 

 confinement in small apartments, and to their ignorance of the laws 

 of life and health, by which especially, even their contracted ar- 

 rangements are unnecessarily kept in a bad condition, we are to look 

 for no inconsiderable amount ef the injury which they sustain. The 

 moisture, filth, and confined atmosphere of the courts and alleys, are 

 also prolific sources of disease; in the occupations of many lurks 

 the enemy. But if we restrict our attention to them, we shall over- 

 look a very large proportion of the causes of mortality, and with 

 all our efforts to improve the sanitary condition of our city, we 

 should fail in some of the most essential points. A well regulated 



