On Drainage and Sewerage of Towns. 868 
ing it generally, to include all those cases, whatever may 
be the cause, where a disregard to all ideas of comfort as 
dependent upon order and method, or, to use a more expres- 
sive term, on ¢édiness, ts exhibited. 
The subject is deserving of special consideration at present, 
as from the circumstances in which the colony is now placed, 
there is a natural tendency towards a state of things ana- 
logous to that which prevailed in many of the towns of 
England, from which the evidence, bearing upon the facts 
stated above, was drawn. 
House rent is high ;—there is therefore every disposition 
among the labouring classes to crowd as many as possible 
into one room. 
Fuel and water are dear ;—proper attention will not there- 
fore be paid to ventilation or cleanliness. 
Labour is very much in demand ;—less than usual therefore 
will be expended in keeping the houses and adjoining yards 
clean,—in removing soil, rubbish, &c. 
Itis by no means improbable that the epidemic which has 
prevailed, and which indeed does still prevail in Hobart 
Town and elsewhere, has been rendered more fatal than it 
otherwise would have been by the causes alluded to above ; 
for the evidence given to the commissioners tended to prove 
that the poisonous condition of the atmosphere which they 
inhale predisposes children to acute fevers, accompanied 
with arash upon the skin; such as scarlet fever, measles, 
small-pox, and renders such diseases fearfully mortal. 
The evils arising from the state of things above described 
are patent enough; but how can they be met? How can a 
remedy be applied, simple in its operation, and at the same time 
effective enough to neutralize, if not all, at all events the 
most pressing, of the influences which affect so injuriously 
the health and morals of a town population? In reply to 
