ADDITIONAL NOTES ON CONTAGION. 257 



M 1. In the neighbourhood of Biiton, in Gloucestershire, about a mile from Willsbridge, 

 which was my residence for nearly four years, there is what is called, ' a bone manufac- 

 tory,' in which animal bones, after the extraction of their medullary oil by boiling, are 

 distilled, and yield the usual products, muriate of ammonia and sulphate of soda. From 

 this manufactory, a fcetor of the most offensive nauseating nature proceeds, and fills the 

 atmosphere for nearly a mile around, diminishing in strength as it recedes from its source, 

 and in proportion to its dilution or decomposition. The country i3 thickly inhabited, and 

 near the manufacture itself is the village of Oldland, the population of which is very con- 

 siderable ; yet, in not one instance has this manufaclure proved, in the smallest degree, 

 injurious to health. I have frequently visited it with the most complete impunity. For 

 several years the superintendant, Mr. Henderson, his wife, and family, lived in a house, 

 having on one side, connected with it, that in which the retorts are placed, and on the 

 other, that in which the bones are boiled:— yet they had every appearance of health, 

 and they assured me they enjoyed it. A more convenient house, on a neighbouring hill, 

 becoming vacant, Mr. Henderson rented it for the accommodation of his family. Soon 

 after they began to reside in it, they lost their health, and were, when I last saw them, 

 much inclined to return to their old and stinking habitation. This exemption from dis- 

 ease in the manufactory of sal ammoniac, &c. has been noticed by Morveau and Chaptal. 

 Edin. Med. and Surg. Joum. vol. 2. p. 295. 



" 2. Between Bristol and Hanham, on the banks of the Avon, is Conham, remarkable 

 for nothing but its having been chosen for the site of an extensive manufactory for the 

 conversion of the flesh of dead animals into a substance resembling spermaceti — a project 

 which has been relinquished several years ago. This being also not very distant from 

 Willsbridge, I made a good deal of inquiry into the result, as far as it affected the health 

 of those immediately engaged in the process, and of the inhabitants of its thickly-peopled 

 neighbourhood. The foreman, or superintendant, Richard Bolston, residing now at Jef- 

 fries-hill near Hanham, has been my principal informant: and his account was confirmed 

 by that of Mr. Thomas Pearsall, of Willsbridge, and other respectable persons. Bolston 

 was two year3 employed constantly in this business; and during that time resided in the 

 midst of dead animal bodies, horses, asses, and dogs, many of which were left to pass 

 through the natural process of putrefaction. He had three labourers under him, and he 

 declares that neither himself nor any of these men suffered from a moment's sickness, or, 

 indeed, experienced the smallest inconvenience. Their business was to cut up the car- 

 casses, to strip the muscular flesh from the bones, and to dispose of it first in boxes, 

 perforated for the admission of water, which were afterwards laid in pits filled with 

 water. The eDtrails, and every part not useful to them, were left to putrefy on the sur~ 



35 



