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demonstrate in a shifting population. Besides, it is not, it cannot be thus circumscribed.
According to the direction of the wind and other conditions, that I need
not particularise, every portion of the Metropolis in turn may be laid under the influence
of noxious effluvia from any other part of it. Islington does not suffer alone
from the foul vapours it may throw off into the atmosphere, nor can it fail to take its
share in the harm arising from adjacent or even more distant districts. But even if all
this were not manifestly true, I say that it is neither possible nor necessary to prove
the individual deleterious operation of these effluvia. It is impossible, not only for
reason already assigned, but because, in a metropolis like this, no one of the various
sources of atmospheric impurity ever does, or ever can act singly upon the inhabitants,
although, now and then, from peculiar circumstances, the action of some one may be
intensified; and it is unnecessary, because all that is practically requisite to be assured
of, is the truth of my major proposition, and that the offensive, or irritating
vapours arising from such trades as are the subject of discussion, really do contaminate
the air.
If, as is sometimes the case, the healthiness of the men engaged in these trades, and
therefore exposed to the effluvia in a concentrated form, be alleged in disparagement
of these opinions, the burthen of the proof clearly lies with those who make the
assertion. The aspect of the men who have followed these occupations for the longest
time, certainly cannot be adduced in their favour: in this respect, they will bear no
comparison with the workmen, for example, in an iron foundry. They may not suffer
more from absolute disease, but I question if they would be as readily accepted at an
insurance office, where the appearance of a candidate in relation to his age, forms an
important element in a medical opinion. It would also have to be shown that, as a
body, they were equally little addicted to indulgence in spirituous liquors.
Setting aside also, the occasional instances where the disgust occasioned by the
unpleasant odour, diffused through a neighbourhood, gives rise to nausea and vomiting
even in persons not unaccustomed to it, an indirect disadvantage in a sanitary point of
view arises from the closure of all the doors and windows of dwelling houses reached
by the effluvia, which their offensive character renders compulsory. This is no
frivolous complaint. If there were no other reason for placing these trades under
control for the benefit of the public health, this might alone constitute a basis for
authoritative interference. At the very season of the year when for comfort and
health, the admission of fresh air is most eagerly desired, some of the most disgusting
of the trades (as that of boiling putrid meat) are in the height of their activity, and
the prevalent winds are just such as to waft the nauseating vapours through the
Western and North-Western districts of Islington.
I have the honour to be, Gentlemen,
Your very obedient Servant,
EDWARD BALLARD, M.D., L.R.C.P.
42, Myddelton Square, Medical Officer of Health.
February 23rd, 1858.