View report page

7
taken place in the physical condition of the people, so that they are now less
able to bear up against the ravages of disease, they require for their well being
a larger amount of nutritious food, fire, and clothing than formerly; and unless
the weekly wages of the labouring classes have increased, they are unable to
procure these necessaries in sufficient quantities The best kind of nutritious
food, such as meat of good quality, has lately been so dear that many of the
working classes are unable to purchase it Besides, much of the food, such
as bread, oatmeal, &c, which is purchased by the poor, is largely adulterated
with substances containing a very small amount of nutritious properties Milk,
the chief, or at least that should be the chief article of food for children, is
rarely to be purchased in its genuine state, being usually adulterated with
half its weight of water Here then is a fertile source of disease in children
The majority of children of the poor, and many of those belonging to the more
wealthy classes, are not only underfed, but they are not sufficiently clothed
There is very little danger to the health of a child by overfeeding, provided
that plain food only be given to it Nature sets a limit to the quantity of food
a child requires for its support by the withdrawal of the stimulus of appetite
Many skin and parasitical diseases are frequently caused by a diet not sufficiently
nutritious, and such diseases attack the children of the rich, although not
so frequently as the children of the poor, but in both the cause is the same
It is of the utmost importance to the well being of a child, both as regards
its mental capacity and physical condition, that it should be not only fed with
animal food twice a day, and be well clothed, but that it should breathe pure air;
for, by providing it with these necessaries, we shall find that the fatality of the
tubercular class of diseases will be greatly diminished, and a more robust race
of men and women will grow up, thereby increasing the strength, and consequently
the wealth of the nation Secondly, the hours of labour in certain
businesses are too long, and more especially so where the rooms in which many
of the young men and women employed in tailoring and similar occupations are
overcrowded, badly ventilated, and lighted with gas Thirdly, the exposure of
infants to the cold, and the administering to them of opium and other narcotics
Fourthly, the increased mental labour which so many men engaged in business
appear now to impose upon themselves, and the increased anxiety which attends
the carrying on their mercantile transactions Various other causes are in operation,
which I need not here particularize, whereby the health of the people is deteriorated
I may, however, mention one more, viz, the breathing of the tainted
atmosphere in the several places of entertainment, caused by their being charged
with the products of the burning of an unnecessary large quantity of gas, and of
the respiration of crowded audiences The atmosphere of many of the churches
where gas is used has a very pernicious effect upon many persons The same
remark applies to the injurious effect of burning gas in every room of a dwellinghouse,
where adequate means are not provided for carrying away the
vitiated air
In conclusion, I may be permitted to remark, that we have much reason for