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8
Nor ought it to be taken for granted. It is a question
for medical observation and statistical analysis. The
evidence of these has not been called.
From special opportunities of observing the forms
and progress of disease prevalent on the Thames; from
careful inquiry into the origin of those diseases; from
a comparison of the sickness of the Thames with the
sickness of Shoreditch; and from the periodical examination
of the water of the Thames under the varying
influences of tides, wind, rainfall, and temperature, in
which I have been aided by Dr. Odling, the Medical
Officer of Health for Lambeth, the conclusion has been
forced upon my mind that great exaggeration, if not a
total misapprehension, prevails upon the subject of the
pernicious influence of the Thames upon the Public
Health.
I call attention to one fact: since the replacement
of the old "Dreadnought" by the present ship, now
nine months ago, not a case of fever has originated on
board this floating hospital.
To return to the causes of mortality in Shoreditch.
The most fatal diseases are thus placed in the order
of destructiveness:—1, Diarrhœa, 110; 2, Phthisis,
(Lung Consumption) 94; 3, Hooping Cough 52; 4,
Typhus 51; 6, Tabes Mesenterica, (Scrofulous bowel
Consumption) 36; 6, Scarlatina and Pneumonia (Inflammation
of the Lungs) each 35.