# Injurious Manufactories. 
and under certain circumstances : the steeping of flax 
and hemp, for instance, which is performed in ponds or 
still waters, infects the air and kills fishes ; and the dis- 
eases to which it gives rise are all known and described : 
Accordingly wise regulations have almost every where 
enjoined, that this operation should be carried on with- 
out the precincts of towns, at a certain distance from 
every dwelling, and in waters, the fish of which consti- 
tute no resource for the public. These regulations un- 
questionably ought to be continued ; but as the execu- 
tion of them is attended with some inconvenience, it is 
to be wished, that the process of Mr. Brale, the superi- 
ority of which has been confirmed by Messrs. Mongez, 
Berthollet, Tessier, and Molard, should soon become 
known and adopted. 
Other operations on vegetables, or certain products of 
vegetation, to obtain fermented liquors, as in breweries ; 
to extract colours, as in the manufactures of litmus, ar- 
chil, and indigo ; or to divest them of some of their prin- 
ciples, as in manufactories of starch, paper, &c. do not 
appear to us of such a nature as to be capable of excit- 
ing any disquietude in the mind of the magistrate. At 
all events, the emanations arising from these substances 
in a state of fermentation can prove dangerous only near 
the vessels and apparatus in which they are confined, 
ceasing to be so the moment they are mingled with the 
open air ; so that a little prudence only is required, to 
avoid all danger from them. Besides, the danger affects 
only the manufacturers themselves, and by no means the 
inhabitants of the neighbouring houses, so that a regula- 
tion enjoining these manufactories to be removed out of 
towns, and to a distance from any dwelling-house, would 
be an act of authority both unjust, vexatious, and inju- 
rious to the progress of manufactures, and in no respect 
a remedy for the evils attending the operation. 
VOL. J. 
D 
