MAGAZINE OF SCIENCE AND ART. 
195 
pure atmosphere, will insure themselves against 
many ofi “ the ills that flesh is heir to,” and 
may qiso insure their lives at a cheaper rate 
than their less fortunato fellow-citizens. 
Young as our city is. so much has already 
been done that is inimical to health and longe¬ 
vity, as will take our legislators, were they ever 
so much more attentive to the subject than they 
appear inclined to be, both time and trouble to 
undo. Our streets arc too narrow—our houses 
and public buildings almost entirely destitute of 
any provision for ventilation—our poorer classes 
allowed to occupy narrow lanes, and dirty, un¬ 
drained courts and alleys—in lodging-houses 
crammed to repletion, enough of itself to breed 
a pestilence, and without proper arrangements 
for cleanliness, comfort or even decency—slaugh¬ 
ter-houses diffuse their reeking odours around— 
candle and soap manufactories poison the air 
with their disgusting stench,'and steam-engiues 
darken our otherwise cloudless skies with their 
dense masses of unconsumed fuel. I cannot, 
for obvious reasons, do more, on the present oc¬ 
casion. than mention as matter of regret, that 
the praiseworthy efforts of our City- Commis¬ 
sioners to give us two most importautdesiderata 
—an efficient system of sewerage, and an ample 
supply of water—have been obstructed. I can 
only hope that their successors, while displaying 
not less energy, will be more fortunate in their 
endeavours. 
The importance of an efficient system of sew¬ 
erage can scarcely be overrated. lir. Southwood 
Smith, in his evidence before the Sanitary Com¬ 
missioners in 1847 or ’48, says, “ The records of 
the London Fever Hospital prove indubitably 
that there are certain localities in the metropolis 
and its vicinity which arc the constant seats of 
fever, from which this disease is never absent 
and the following is the description he gives of 
these districts :—“ In every district in which 
fever returns frequently and prevails extensively, 
there is uniformly bad sewerage, a bad supply of 
water, a bad supply of scavenger's, and a conse¬ 
quent accumulation of filth: and f have ob¬ 
served this to be so uniformly and generally the 
ease, that 1 have been accustomed to express the 
fact in this way: If you trace down the fever 
districts otr a nrap, and then compare that map 
with the map of the Commissioners of Sewers, 
you will find that wherever the Commissioners 
of Sewers have not been, there fever is prevalent; 
and, on the contrary, wherever they have been, 
there fever is comparatively absent.” 
To illustrate the intimate relation existing 
between the state of the atmosphere in towns, 
and the amount of sickness and rate of morta¬ 
lity in them, Dr. Duncan Inis instituted a com 
parison, in these particulars, between Liverpool, 
Manchester, and -Birmingham. The rate of 
mortality in these towns stands thus:— 
Deaths. 
Birmingham... 1 in 30 
Manchester (Union). 1 „ '29 
Liverpool (Parish) . 1 „ 28 omit¬ 
ting fractional parts. 
The proportion of fever deaths to population 
annually in these towns is— 
Birmingham . 1 in 917 
Manchester. 1 „ 498 
Liverpool. 1 „ 407 
The relative intensity of the operation of the 
causes of atmospheric impurity in these towns 
corresponds precisely' with the rate of mortality 
in them. Thus, Liverpool has 100,000 inhabi 
tants to the square mile ; Manchester, 83,000 ; 
while Birmingham has only' 33,000. The cellar 
population in Liverpool has been estimated, after 
careful investigation, at 20 per cent.: in Man¬ 
chester, at Ilf per cent.: while in Birmingham 
there are no cellar residents. The nunyber of 
courts in Liverpool is 1982, of the worst con¬ 
struction, and containing a population of 55,534 
souls. In Manchester, it has been stated, the 
proportion of the population inhabiting courts 
is somewhat less than in Liverpool. In Bir¬ 
mingham tlio courts are numerous, but far supe¬ 
rior in construction to those of Liverpool and 
Manchester. The drainage and cleansingof the 
streets, aud other circumstances affecting the 
purity of the atmosphere in these three towns, 
Dr. Duncan has shown, likewise hold tho same 
relative position in regard to efficiency-. Mr. 
Holland, of Manchester, ascertained that the 
mortality in twenty streets in Chorlton-on-Med- 
lock, after having been properly drained and 
paved, fell from 1 in 32 to 1 in 89, the deaths 
being diminished more thau 20 per annum. 
When, in tho month of November, 1831, % it 
was reported that cholera had appeared in Sun¬ 
derland, the overseers and guardians of tho poor 
of Birmingham commissioned a fellow-pupil and 
intimate friend of mine, then one of their in¬ 
firmary surgeons, to proceed thither for the pur¬ 
pose of investigating the character and effects of 
the disease, and the general condition of tho 
people. A copy of his report, which they had 
printed, furnishes me with the 'following state¬ 
ments :— 
“The town of Sunderland,” he says, “ consists 
of three parishes, viz.—Monk Wearmouth, with 
a population of about 6000 ; Bishop Wearinouth, 
with 14,000; and Sunderland, with 20,000 inha¬ 
bitants. Iu Bishop Wearmouth nearly all the 
wealthy inhabitants reside, and the number of 
its pauper population is very small ; the streets 
are generally' sufficiently wide and clean, and 
their elevation above the level of the rivor is 
from 100 to 120 feet. In Sunderland, which 
is a continuation of Bishop \Yearjnouth, there 
are very few streets of proper width, aud 
their general elevation is from 70 to 90 feet 
lower thau in the adjoining .parish. The bye- 
streets are extremely narrow, several not being 
broad enough for the passage of a common cart, 
and during my residence in the town were rarely 
cleansed from the dirt and other impurities al¬ 
lowed to accumulate in them for many days 
together. The houses in these lanes commonly 
had no yards attached to them ; the rooms were 
dark, ill-ventilated, and dirty. and very 
often each room, from the cellars to the attics, 
was occupied by a whole family— Dr. Barry found 
120 individuals living in ono of these houses!” 
Those parts of Monk Wearmouth bordering on 
the river were in a similar state. After show¬ 
ing, by statistical reports, that the population of 
these portions of the town had been in former 
years much more obnoxious to the attacks of 
other epidemics than theii neighbours who occu¬ 
pied the higher, wider, and cleanlier parts, be 
mentions that tho burials in Sunderland from 
the 26th of October to the 14th of December, 
both days included, were, in the years 1829, 48; 
