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but this only, when their application can be made in a concentrated
form, and in a direct manner, to the objects infected;
but it must not be supposed, that their use can under
any circumstances be a compensation, for the neglect of an
efficient system of ventilation. The vitiated air of the room
should be displaced, by a continually flowing current of
fresh air, and provision be made for the purpose, in such a
manner, that the patient be not subjected to any draught,
and yet a free and ample interchange of air, be secured.
Although I hold in high appreciation the benefits which
have been conferred upon the Metropolis by the advanced
policy of the Metropolitan Hoard of Works, yet I cannot
view without feelings akin to regret, the action of that
Board in regard to the London Sewage and its disinfection.
Lambeth is a riparian parish, the waters of the Thames
wash its shores, and the waters receding, leave that portion
of the Parish, which at high tide is mythical, at ebb tide a sad
reality. Can anyone who has an interest in the health of those,
who people the riverside districts, view the masses of black
slime, pregnant with disease, that disfigure the bank, without
the consciousness that such an influence must be produced,
that is baneful to the public health in the present, and may
have far-reaching effects in the future ?
On looking over the weekly death returns on one occasion,
my attention was drawn to this peculiar circumstance: a
child had received an injury in the W estminster Bridge
Road, and was taken to St. Thomas's Hospital, and remained
under treatment lor several weeks; the child had recovered
from the worst effects of its accident, when it was suddenly
seized with illness, and died, its death resulted from diphtheria,
enquiries relative to the cause were made, no other patient,
in the ward, was suffering from diphtheria, and no one could
throw any light upon the manner in which the child had
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