1869.] 



FREE BATHING-GROUND, 



293 



to the public." His colleague, Dr. Larocque, and other dis- 

 tinguished citizens exerted themselves greatly to rouse an 

 interest in the laws of health among the French population, in 

 which they were seconded by the Jesuits and other religious 

 bodies : and at a Provincial Convention of Teachers, the im- 

 portance of drainage and ventilation in schools was strongly 

 enforced. 



But the plague was not stayed. The Report of 1869 still 

 announced a terrible death-rate — nearly twice as heavy as in 

 Bristol, one of the most crowded of English cities; "but \its\ 

 inhabitants do not grudge the salary, or scorn the advice, of a 

 health officer of practical experience, and they ventilate as 

 well as trap the sewers." The Association had held thirty -five 

 meetings, besides the delivery of lectures, etc., and the work 

 of personal inspection. One of their most important opera- 

 tions was the establishment of a free bathing-ground * (in the 

 superintendence of which Mr. Weaver took a prominent part). 

 About 50,000 baths were enjoyed during the hot season. 

 Remarkable order prevailed : — " Even when crowded with 

 scores of the troublesome classes, the healthy pleasure and the 

 surveillance of numbers made the bathing-ground a compara- 

 tively safe place of resort ; while a dozen of the same youths 

 could scarcely be found together in the streets without offensive 

 language, or even insult to passers-by. A single policeman, by 

 his mere presence, was abundantly sufficient to control the 

 excitable boys of the district at Windmill Point [bathing-place] ; 

 while ten officers of the law could not have restrained them, to 

 the same extent, in their usual haunts." 



In this year (1869) Philip contributed a paper to " The 

 Canadian Naturalist" (afterwards reprinted, 21 pp. 8vo), "On 

 some of the Causes of the Excessive Mortality of Young 

 Children in the City of Montreal." It contains a great number 

 of carefully compiled tables, and deductions from them.f It 



* Philip wrote (July, 1876) : " The Sanitary Association accomplished 

 this necessary work for two summers, till the Corporation undertook it, and 

 — it came to an end." 



f In the Vaccination controversy of 1875, when Philip was accused of 

 having made statements in this pamphlet which were shown to be erroneous 



