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ganic matter." It may be the germs of infusoria and confervas,
or may be urinous matter; may be innocent, or may contain
the poison of cholera. But we have no chemical test beyond
the test of mere quantity. We have tried many other forms of
testing without good result; yet, suffice it to say that the inhabitants
of London should watch the character of the drainage
of the Upper Thames Valley, most carefully.
As to pump water, cool and sparkling as it is, every day's experience
shows from what foul sources it may be derived. Whoever
drinks water from the pumps in Mount-street, should think
of the awkward fact, that one house in Adam's-mews, of 20 or 30
inhabitants, never had any outlet for its drainage till this year,
but that all the house sewage had been allowed to soak into the
gravel. Moreover, the sewer in Bell-yard had given way, and
soaked into neighbouring cellars, and, unless the laws of nature
were reversed, it would find its way into the pump well in that yard.
2. Respecting the infectious fevers, as the fever poison, being
a material substance, must exist somewhere, we may point to the
275 houses cleansed, as, at all events, some contribution to the
public safety. So much of the infectious poison as adheres to
walls and ceilings, or lies in sinks and closets, must be destroyed
by the limewash, which has been employed so profusely.
3. No one can form a notion of the wretchedness caused in
some houses by the leakage of water from rainwater pipes, or from
the water company's supply pipes. Kitchens are flooded, and
walls made damp permanently, and the servants and others who
live in the basement made subject to rheumatism. We may point
to the 32 cases in which leakages have been remedied, and may
say that some of them were most puzzling, and took much time to
explore.
We will not go through the other heads, but content ourselves
with one practical remark about the maladies which cut off such
frightful numbers of elderly people in January and March. Cold
is the great agent, and one to be combated by fires, clothing, and
food. But cold is not all. People "catch cold" who are never
exposed to it. There is a malaria in addition to a low temperature,
and in all probability a more liberal use of quinine would
render the other remedies employed more efficacious.
Our thanks are due to Mr. Jay and Mr. Jorden, the registrars
and vaccinators; to Mr. Hughes, registrar: to Drs. Bloxam, W.
Bloxam, and Symes, Messrs. W. Griffith, E. Davis, F. Goodrich,
sen., and W. Fain, of the Royal Pimlico Dispensary, and to
Mr. Connock of the Mount-street Dispensary, for much valuable
information and many facilities in the discharge of our duties.
With regard to the Small-pox Wards at Mount-street, we will
only say, that some remarkably serious cases were treated with
astonishing success; and that the ventilation and other arrangements
for the benefit of the sick, and for the safety of the other
inmates of the house, were most ably and successfully carried out.
C. J. B. Aldis, M.D.
R. Druitt.
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