The sanitary aspect of the sewage question / by James Adams.

  • Adams, James Maxwell, 1818-1899.
Date:
1868
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The sanitary aspect of the sewage question / by James Adams. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    5 1 arranj „_-emeiit3 are made for this purpose, and in all they are miserably inefficient- Thus^in thi-ee of the worst closes of the district, I occasionally observe a frail old pauper paddUng about the principal dung-stead with a broom or shovel, and the entire sanitary operations of these localities are due to his soUtary exertions, in return for which he receives the shelter rent free, of a wretched cellar in the neigh- bourhood. '• The supply of water is very scanty—a single pipe or fountain is made to suffice for one or more of these closes, and the trouble of going such a distance, as is required, in order to procui-e a siipply, seems to be sufficient excuse for the people to restrict the use of this essential element to the narrowest limit compatible with necessity. In this field of study, the more I saw of the diseases prevailing among the poor, the more strongly I was satisfied that good sewage and an abundant water supply ^vere necessaries for healthy existence, and in connection with these sanitary requisites it became specially impressed upon me that the proportion of the diseases that in gi-eat measure are preventible—viz., epidemic, endemic, and contagious—as -weU as the mortality arising therefrom, was much greater among the poor than among the general population. I set myself to elucidate these and several other points in which I felt interested. I applied to the proper authorities, and obtained possession of,a very large number of the old registers, or case-books, of the dis- trict surgeons, and, with the assistance of a hired clerk, I laboured constantly for fully six months in extracting and tabulating all the data these registers could furnish. I thus noted and arranged in various fonns the details of upwards of 150,000 cases of disease, and in so doing, the localities of disease, the streets, closes, or tenements which gave the largest returns became necessarily very familiar, and from time to time I made special inquiries regarding some case or group of cases more than usually in- teresting. At length I came to the belief that a map showing the iinseiuered spots of the city would faithfully represent at the same time the localities of fever and of other forms of disease often endemic. Accordingly, I got a quantity of skeleton maps lithographed, and aided by some friendly coadjutors, I laid down the lines of many gutter-drained districts. This was a serious laboiu-, for there v^as little reliable information at that time. The municipality had just been extended, and our excellent master of works, Mr Oan-ick, although very willing to aid me, was new in office, and only beginning that course of reconstruction and extension of the Glasgow sewers for which he has received so much deserved commendation in every quarter where the value of such labour is appreciated. It was, therefore, under the influ- ence of this teaching that I formed my opinions regarding the effects of sewerage on a town population. This is not the place to go into details, hwt I may refer to two sets of the kind of facts which serve to show something of the over-proportion of preventible diseases which affect the poor. Of 103,136 cases of disease of all kinds occurring among the poor dm-ing the years 1838 to 1848 inclusive, epidemic, endemic, and contagious furnished 56,049 cases, and of these 51,068 consisted of fevers and bowel complaints. I can give no similar