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7
and reported to your Board, and I am happy to say that several of the occupiers of
the premises complained of, have readily made such alterations in them, which it is
to be hoped, will prove effectual in preventing the recurrence of complaints. The
Soap Manufactory of Messrs. Soames, in Wheeler Street, of which great complaints
were made, is now entirely removed, a portion of the building having been pnlled
down.
I may here briefly state, that there is no desire on my part to use the powers
conferred on me by the Act of Parliament under the provisions of which I hold office,
to the oppression of any individual, or to insist upon the adoption of such arbitrary
and stringent measures as shall drive the wealthy manufacturers from the district. All
that is necessary to be insisted upon is, that the business be so conducted, that the
health and comfort of the inhabitants shall not be injured.
Sanitary science, by suppressing how nuisances arising from offensive trades
by providing better drainage, and improving the houses and localities of the poor, by
opening new thoroughfares, &c., has tended to reduce the rate of mortality in the
metropolis, and contributed to the comfort of the people generally. Encouragement
is therefore afforded us to continue our exertions in (he same direction, and so far
from those sanitary improvements which manufacturers have been compelled to
adopt, to render innocuous the offensive vapours arising from the carrying on of their
trades, interfering with the operations of their business, and crippling their resources,
they have, in many instances, tended to utilize and turn to great pecuniary profit,
many of the most offensive products, which were formerly allowed to escape into the
earth and air, contaminating both, and proving destructive to the health of man. As
the guardian of the public health, it is the duty of the Medical Officer of Health to
endeavour to preserve the purity of the atmosphere, and he must, at all times, and
under all circumstances, refuse to give his sanction to any thing that will injure it.
The mode in which the refining department in the mint is now carried on, is of
so injurious a character, that I must especially allude to it in this report. The acid
vapours which are given off from this establishment, occasion severe cough, difficulty
of breathing, smarting of the eyes and face, destroy wearing apparel, and brass-work
in those houses which are within the influence of the vapours. Now, as this nuisance
can be prevented, I have every reason to believe that Sir Anthony Rothschild will
avail himself of the first scientific talent in the country to obviate it, and I hope to
be able, in my next report, to announce that the nuisance no longer exists.
Mons. Poizat's refinery in Paris, which is said to be the most spacious and
best arranged in the world, is so judiciously fitted up, that the neighbourhood is free
from those injurious effects which are produced by the escape of the acid vapours
from the refinery in the mint. The condensible gazes are condensed in properly
fitted up leaden chambers, and the incondensible gazes are discharged into a high
chimney.*
* See Dr. Ure's Chemical Dictionary.