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149
is well known, not only that the paving of yards about small
cottages and tenement property in towns has in its results
been shown to be a public health measure of first importance,
but also that the nature of such a measure has depended
largely on the use of a form of pavement which really ensures
impermeability." The reference to this branch of the subject
concludes as follows :—
"Where open spaces about dwellings are large, and
where organic pollution of surface soil is practically
absent, we may rely, as inhibitive of this (typhoid)
bacillus, on the influence of sunlight and of alternating
weather; but in our towns the conditions
have become too artificial, and the open air about
dwellings has become too restricted, for us to
hope that under the unnatural conditions which
have been induced by urban aggregations of dwellings,
we have any right to expect the full benefit of
Nature's remedies."
I should but weaken the force of these observations by
any comments of my own; and it is, I am sure, unnecessary
to dwell on their exact pertinency to the circumstances of the
soil and surroundings of the houses in the "Notting-dale"
Special Area, to cite the strongest instance of many that from
time to time engage the attention of the Sanitary Committee.