William Tennant Gardner. X11 
Glasgow. In 1801 the population was 83,805; in 1811, it had risen to 
110,400; in 1821, to 147,043; in 1831, to 202,426; in 1841, to 280,692; 
and in 1851, to 347,001. In 1818, there was a severe epidemic of typhus; 
in 1832, this was repeated, with, in addition, an epidemic of cholera, and 
a death-rate of 46 per 1000. In 1837, there was another typhus epidemic ; 
1843 brought an epidemic of relapsing fever; 1847 had a typhus epidemic 
with a death-rate of 56 per 1000; 1848-9 was visited by a second cholera 
epidemic, in which 3772 deaths occurred; 1851-2 showed more typhus ; 
and 1853-4 had a third cholera epidemic with 3885 deaths, and a death- 
rate of 42 per 1000. It is now difficult to realise exactly what those figures 
mean, and yet this must be attempted if we wish to understand the real 
state of matters. Thus,in 1837, the population of Glasgow was 253,000, 
the death rate was 41 per 1000, and the number of deaths from “ fever” was 
2180, or 8°6 per 1000. At least 21,800 persons suffered from the disease 
during that year. In 1847, the number of persons affected by fever must 
have been about 45,000. If we wish to contrast this with the state of 
matters in Glasgow at the beginning of the present century, we may take 
1901, said to be the worst epidemic year of recent years.* In 1901, the 
population of Glasgow was 761,712; the general death-rate was 20°6; the 
number of deaths from fever was 220; the number of cases of fever 
notifiable, 1385; and the number of deaths from all infectious diseases 
3416, or 44 per 1000 living. The total number of cases of infectious 
diseases registered during the year was 21,145, or less than the number 
believed to have suffered from “typhus” fever alone in 1837. 
The cause of the terrible state of matters that prevailed up to the passing 
of an important municipal act in 1862 was undoubtedly due to overcrowding 
in insanitary dwellings, to the entire absence in the poorer parts of the city 
of even the most obvious sanitary apphances, and to the want of hospitals 
for the segregation of the sick during an epidemic. In January of 1862, 
(Gairdner was chosen to be the first medical officer of health, and five district 
surgeons of police were appointed his assistants. At the same time, a 
“special non-medical inspector ” represented the entire sanitary staff. The 
first sanitary office was a room measuring fifteen feet by ten feet. These 
rudiments of a sanitary department soon developed. JDisinfecting and 
washing houses were established, nuisances were removed, careful inspection 
was made of specially insanitary districts, committees were formed for 
special purposes, intra-mural burial grounds were closed, and a hospital for 
fever was founded at Belvidere, and became in course of time one of the 
finest fever hospitals in the country. Year by year the sanitary machinery 
was improved and in particular the danger of overcrowding was combatted 
* These figures have been obtained from a paper from the late Dr. J. B. Russell, 
entitled, ‘The Evolution of Sanitary Administration in Glasgow.’ The facts regarding 
1901 are given by the present medical officer of health of Glasgow, Dr. A. K. Chalmers, 
in a footnote to Dr. Russell’s paper, as it appears in a volume entitled, ‘Public Health 
Administration in Glasgow,’ a memorial volume of the writings of Dr. J. B. Russell, who 
succeeded Gairdner as medical officer of health. See pp. 1, 4, ete. 
