View report page

8 Parish of Saint George the Martyr, Southwark.
past belief. The glanders of horses arise often from the same cause, and it is stated that
the nation has saved some £10,000 a year in cavalry horses, merely from attention being
paid to this subject.
There are many trades of themselves fruitful in its production, especially those that
give off particles of dust, whether organic or inorganic. These act upon the delicate structure
of the lungs and bring about destructive changes, and when we reflect that the whole
surface of the cells exceeds 20,000 square inches, which would very nearly equal the floor
of a room 12 feet square, we need not be surprised.
The length of time that will intervene in these cases before death takes place, will
greatly depend whether the work is carried on out-of-doors or in-doors The death rate
from lung diseases, other things being equal, will always be far higher amongst those
whose work is confined and sedentary. "Where an industrial system," says Simon, "is
bad,—bad, either in excessive length of daily work, or in the overcrowdedness and nonventilation
of work-places," this disease "may be vastly developed. The maximum may
be expected to prevail in places where an overtasked population does its work in ill-ventilated
factories and cottages." Very few workshops are so constructed as to preserve the
health of the workman. Sufficient consideration in this respect has not been exercised.
There is, however, another and opposite view of this subject, which demands notice: for
not always wrong and selfishness lie on the side of the masters, and patience and resigna-
tion on the part of the workmen. There are numbers employed in deadly trades, where a
painful and premature death is certain, where the wages are proportionally high, who resist
to the uttermost every improvement and suggestion made for their benefit, lest more
enter the trade, and so their wages fall.
The deaths from brain and nerves were 182, being 27 in excess of last year. The four
previous years showed a gradual decrease, 223, 212, 175, and 155. The excess arose from
apoplexy in adults, and convulsions in children.
Deaths from the digestive organs vary little ; last year they were 62, in the previous
year 63.
Out of the 1,256 deaths, 28 were registered from premature birth and debility. Six
infants were suffocated, their ages ranging from 6 weeks to 9 months. Three males aged
respectively 22, 39, and 63 years died from injury to the brain. A male and female, aged
56 and 65 years, hung themselves. A male aged 60 blew out his brains, and a male aged
64 was murdered.
As regards our future water supply, we are at present in great uncertainty. What we
require is obvious enough, viz., a continuous and abundant supply, and at the cheapest
rate possible. The Metropolis in these respects is placed at a disadvantage with most provincial
towns. The purest water is rain water after long continued rain. The Thames
water is hard and not good for cooking. It is said that it is so hard that 35 oz. of soap in
100 gallons of its water will be destroyed before any lather or cleansing effect can be produced
: then there is to be considered the increase of labour required, and the destruction of
clothing necessarily incurred. We need purer water, although it is much better in this