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88
1913
growth. Mr. C. E. Green, F.R.S.E., in a work, " The Cancer Problem: A
Statistical Study," recently published, points out that the Registrar-General's
Reports show that it is more prevalent in some districts than in others; that
it is to be found in some trades and not in others; that it is almost unknown
among tanners and paper makers who work daily in lime; and that it occurs
more frequently among those brought into contact with sulphur fumes. Mr.
Green shows, also, that while the disease is extremely prevalent when coal
is burned, its absence is noticeable where peat is consumed. From this he
infers that a fuel rich in sulphur is responsible for the prevalence of the
disease; and he noticed that in one district, where a special peat containing
sulphur was burned, cancer was found. He points out also that where the
houses of the people built on sloping sites, owing to smoke accumulating, the
death-rate is high, but that where there is a free draught the incidence falls.
He points out that in the Strand area the roof lines of the houses are very
irregular, thereby preventing smoke from passing away quickly, and that in
Stepney they are level; and that this may account for the fact that in the
Strand area, Cancer causes one out of every seven deaths from all causes, and
in Stepney only one in fifty-four.
This smoke theory is a striking thing, and deserves consideration, for if
correct, as "The Times" says, it furnishes yet another argument for the
necessity of efficient smoke consumption. It is quite probable that the idea
is not so far fetched as might at first appear, because it must not be forgotten
that Cancer is associated with the pitch and tar industries.
Organs or Parts Attacked.—These varied widely among men and
women. Thus the larynx was the seat of the disease in 8 instances among
men and in 1 among women, the tongue in 14 instances among men, in none
among women; the oesophagus, in 15 among men, and in 1 among women.
Although men suffered so disproportionately from the disease in some of the
parts attacked, yet it must not be forgotten that women suffer and die in large
numbers from cancer of the various organs, which together are called the
generative system. Thus the breast was the seat of the disease in the case of
39 deaths; the uterus in 46, the ovaries in 3.
Table LVII. is interesting and instructive, for it gives- a full statement of
the various parts of the body affected with the disease, as well as the sex and
age of the persons who died.