Special report on the prevention of cholera / by the Medical Officer of Health for Glasgow, to the Board of Police.

  • Glasgow (Scotland). Medical Officer of Health.
Date:
1865
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Special report on the prevention of cholera / by the Medical Officer of Health for Glasgow, to the Board of Police. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    figured largely among the returns submitted to the Board of Police. In consequence of these and other considerations, I had some time ago expressed to the Sanitary Committee my conviction founded on personal inspections, that it can no longer be left to the discretion of subordinate officers to judge when the cleansing of the receptacles of night-soil should be performed, but that some positive rule should be adopted for the guidance of the Inspector of Cleansing. At present there is the additional stimulus derived from the apprehension of Cholera to assist us in overcoming these difficulties, and I have no hesitation in recommending, with all the force of conviction, that the Inspector of Cleansing should be in- structed and empowered to cause the entire removal of every ves- tage of night-soil within the bounds of the Police Act, at least once within each twenty-four hours. And further, that the Master of Works should have authority to add to his staff, to such an extent as may be necessary, in order to enable him to deal with defective constructions of ash-pits and middens as rapidly as possible in all parts of the city. Under a system of daily cleansing a large pro- portion of the present receptacles would be found to be unneccess- arily large; while on the other hand, their large size and imperfect construction form one of the most serious obstacles to perfect removal of the refuse-matter. It is very desirable, also, to place a barrier in the way of a return to a negligent course, by reducing the size of the receptacles, and thus rendering undue accumulation difficult, if not impossible. In certain cases the use of disinfectants, as recommended in the “ General Memorandum,” should be employed both by the officers of the Inspector of Cleansing, and by the residents of infected localities. The latter precaution might be made contingent on the advice of the Medical Officers of Health, or of the Parochial Medical Officers. The other instructions in the “ General Memorandum,” such as the white-washing of uncleanly premises, the prevention of over- crowding, ventilation, domestic cleanliness, etc., etc., are already in operation wherever the advice of the Medical Officers, or the legal powers of the Police Act, can be applied with advantage. The special supervision of lodging-houses, and the provision of hospital accommodation, and medical advice and comforts for the sick might come to be required, were the disease actually declared epidemic, but need not be further adverted to in this communication.