PercivaVs Essays. ig 



Dr. Percival had a wider sympathy and a greater command 

 of the field of action. 



In the essay on ' The State of the Population in Man- 

 chester and other Adjacent Places,' ' we see our supposed 

 modern sanitary laws announced clearly to the people of 

 Manchester by Dr. Percival. Let us look at some points. 



He tells of the rapid increase of Manchester since 1765, 

 that the births were more numerous than deaths, the first 

 being as i to 25, the second as i to 28*4, and Liverpool 

 increasing more rapidly, being multiplied by six since the 

 beginning of the eighteenth century. He is astonished at 



* the progress of trade and opulence,' and the expression 



* so populous are the environs * sounds strange now. 



Let us show some important conclusions. 



Half the children born in Manchester die under five 

 years of age. 



Diseases are most frequent in January, February, and 

 March. The difference between a small town, Bolton, and 

 a county manor contiguous to it is held worthy of obser- 

 vation. 



The quantity of rain at Manchester at some distance 

 from the mountains is stated at thirty-three inches per 

 annum (we make it a little more now). 



It has been observed (in Rutley's 'Chronological History 

 of Weather') that moist seasons in Great Britain and Ireland 

 are more remarkably free from epidemic diseases than the 

 dry ones ; and that storms are attended with more health 

 than calm weather. Elsewhere he mentions exceptions, 

 when wet and heat come together ; advises an enumeration 

 of the people in England similar to that lately undertaken 

 in Manchester. 



* Vol. iv. of Dr. Percival's Works. 

 c 2 



