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It is certain that these miasmata are heavy, and accumulate in the lower
part of the atmosphere; and that they are more virulent when applied
through the medium of moisture. Their course may be traced to a considerable
distance from their source, forming currents wafted along by the
wind; and people at the top of a hill may be affected by them, although
from their weight a wall might stop them or alter their course.
Ague is now endemic in but few parts of England, where it was formerly
very prevalent, the progressing system of drainage and cultivation
tending to put an end to it; and the only mode of exterminating the disease
is by a proper and perfect system of surface drainage.
It is not to be supposed from the term "marsh miasm," that marshes
are the only sources whence these exhalations arise; they may be formed
upon local accumulations of wet undrained earth, slime, mud, &c.
They are of course more powerful when most extensive, therefore the
disease resulting is modified according to amount of concentration, sometimes
exhibiting itself merely in the form of apparent debility, loss of
appetite, headache, &c.; at other times, with all the virulence of the disease,
differing only in degree according to the dose of poison, from mild
ague and fever, and those severe cases which are fatal in a few hours; from
the mild ague and remittents of this country to those which are fatal in the
second or third paroxysm in hot countries.
Cause VIII. The State of Dwelling Houses.
The condition of dwelling houses may be a source of disease, not only
from Causes I. II. III. VI. VII., viz., want of light, want of ventilation,
deficient or impure supply of water, noxious gases eliminated by decomposing
animal and vegetable poison, but they may be detrimental to health
from dampness occasioned by insufficient foundation, bad surface drainage,
want of proper relative elevation above the ground as regards the neighbourhood
immediately surrounding, want of proper dry flooring, want of
such repairs as are necessary for cleanliness, want of proper protection
from the weather in consequence of insufficient or dilapidated roofing, want
of proper windows, and too early habitation in houses recently built.
These causes are all liable to produce characteristic disease. Besides
those already mentioned, I may name catarrhs, influenzas, bronchitis,
rheumatism, diseases of skin, &c.; and such diseases tend to shorten life,
and further increase the eatalogue of pauperism and vice.
Sundry of the causes here enumerated, act more prejudicially for various
evident reasons at a low elevation; and vary materially according to the
amount of wind, temperature, peculiar states of the atmosphere, such as its
electric state, barometic pressure, sudden atmospheric changes, amount of
heat, moisture, rain fall, &c. &c.
The healthiness of a district also depends materially upon the kind of
occupation of its inhabitants; and the length of life varies materially
according to the kind of employment by which its inhabitants earn their
daily living.
For instance, in some occupations poisons enter into the system through
the medium of the skin, or enter the stomach, or arc breathed into the