1865.] Smith on tie Health of Metal Miners 217 



The first view of metal miners is not favourable ; they seem a dis- 

 tinct race of men, with complexions entirely new to us. We soon find 

 that this is caused by a peculiar clay which gives their countenances a 

 sallow look. There are, therefore, various appearances as the clay 

 varies. Wash the clay off, and see the men on Sunday, there is still 

 a difference, and " men of certain mines are known by their appear- 

 ance," as is shown by the evidence of the Mining Commission.* We 

 hope this remark alludes to their Sunday appearance, otherwise it is 

 of less value. 



Dr. Peacock says : — " It is impossible not to be struck with the 

 peculiarly delicate appearance of some of them, and especially of the 

 older men and boys, and young men who have worked underground 

 only for a short time. Instead of having the bright and clear com- 

 plexion of young people employed at the surface, those who labour in 

 the mines have a pale, sallow appearance, and this they seem to ac- 

 quire even after having worked underground only for a few months. 

 For men following a laborious occupation, they are by no means 

 muscular, and very generally their pulse at the wrist is feeble. 



" If inquiry be made of them they frequently acknowledge that they 

 are not in good health, complaining of dyspeptic symptoms, want of 

 appetite, qualmishness, sense of weight or flatulency after taking food, 

 sometimes pain at the pit of the stomach, and occasional vomiting of 

 the food, and an uncertain state of the bowels, either confinement or 

 diarrhoea. Very frequently, also, they suffer from pains in the back 

 and failure of muscular power, or from breathlessness, especially on 

 any active exertion, tightness of the chest, chronic cough and ex- 

 pectoration, and palpitation of the heart." One would think this quite 

 sufficient, but Dr. Peacock gives as the diseases of miners — general 

 debility, indigestion, rheumatism, &c, asthma, bronchitis, or pneu- 

 monia, or the two combined, and phthisis or tubercular consumption. To 

 these are added such forms of diseases of the heart as are generally occa- 

 sioned by any violent exertion, as rupture or injury of the aortic valves. 



" Deafness is extremely common, and frequently exists in a marked 

 degree in men who have worked several years underground, and this, 

 too, when they have never sustained any injury from blasts or other 

 accidents." 



Dr. Peacock mentions the lowness of the pulse, and it is remark- 

 able that in a series of experiments on breathing in confined air when 

 an air-tight chamber was used, we found that the most striking result 

 was a lowering of the pulse at the wrist. To this was added a rapid 

 breathing. This occurred to such a degree as to lessen the amount of 

 beats per minute by twenty, when it was considered safer to desist. 



The habit of smoking, which is much indulged in by the miners, 

 is probably caused by an instinctive desire to quicken the movements 

 of the heart, and certainly this result is produced at the moment at 

 least in some persons, whatever may be the ultimate effect. 



If we were reviewing the Eeport of the Commission and the Ap- 



* The report and evidence here referred to are published by the Royal Com- 

 mission to inquire into the condition of all mines in Groat Britain, to which the 

 provisions of Act 2 & 3 Vict., cap. 151, do not apply. 



