Brighton as a health resort / by Alfred Haviland.

  • Haviland, Alfred, -1903.
Date:
[1882]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Brighton as a health resort / by Alfred Haviland. 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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    During the latter decade, the death-rate among females decreased both throughout the country and in Brighton, hut the decrease was not quite in proportion, and amongst males the rate actually increased. Tet with all the influx of visitors, many of whom are known to have resorted to Brighton for this very disease, and must have died there, the death-rate shows that this Health Resort is, as a rule, favourable to the consumptive, and might be rendered still more so if those who visit it were to take care to select proper sites for their abodes whilst here. With this object I offer a few plain rules:— 1st, As Regards Soil.—Dense, undrained clays, whether they be brick-earth or plaster clay, should be avoided, and even gravel lying upon clay, if the former be not drained; for high well-drained clay is preferable to low un- drained gravel. 2nd, As to Aspect.—The north-easterly and easterly aspects are the most obnoxious to the consump- tive, and houses having either of these should not be selected. It is a great point for invalids with lung trouble to be out in the open air as much as possible taking gentle exercise. The map should be consulted and a locality chosen where the aspect ranges from S.S.W. to W., for these ■winds are the true sea winds, and although not so invigorating as those which blow over the North Sea uninterruptedly without passing over land for many hundred miles, they are the winds which are the most favourable to consumptives on the South Coast. But even these should be avoided in their full foree, as the consumptive cannot stand a full force of wind from any quarter. A wide area at the S.W. of the Dyke Road, intersected by the Old Shoreham Road, has a most delightful climate. The soil is well-drained, rich, friable, and warm, and sloping gently towards the S.W. Here, when the easterly winds blow, is a delightful walk for the weak lunged, and a park should be so formed that invalids may be protected from weather all the year round, from the sun, the rain, and the too great force of the winds. Should this area be selected for building, it is to be hoped that the street arrangements will be planned so as to enable the residents to enjoy the full advantage of this favoured spot. 3rd, With regard to A Ititude.—It is well in cases of consumption to avoid too high a level, for it must be remembered that whilst the inner protective circle shields the town from the obnoxious winds it prevents the escape of smoke from the valley, when the winds are gentle from the sea. The smoke then accumulates about the heights. Another point to study is to select bedrooms and sitting rooms in such a position as to ensure the sunshine having access to them during some part of the day. In the winter it is advisable to have both the rooms with the same aspect. In the summer the bedroom might have a westerly aspect. What is applicable to consumptives is equally so to many other diseases of the lungs, which taken as a whole are less fatal in Brighton than in very many other places throughout England and Wales; the general annual death-rate from these causes being 33'6 whilst that at Brighton is only 29-6 to every 10,000 persons living, thus corroborating what has been said of Phthisis, that Brighton has a climate favorable to the amelioration and cure of those who suffer from lung trouble. It has been shown that heart disease and its too frequent sequel, dropsy, are intimately associated with rheumatism in its protean forms, and that valleys and groups of streets should be avoided where free ventilation by the sea winds cannot be obtained. The Health Guide Map will indicate such places. Not the rich only seek Brighton for its health restoring properties, and a large class of visitors must take up their abodes in the smaller and more crowded streets; it is to be hoped that the intelligent artizan will be enabled, by the map, to exercise his common sense, and select the least obnoxious sites for his residence, otherwise he had better stay away. From the idea that a change from the inland to the seaside is curative, watering-places are peculiarly liable to the importation of whooping cough, which is classed among zymotic diseases. Brighton suffers in this respect like some other large Health Resorts. In a paper I read in 1875 before the Social Science Congress, which was held at Brighton, I showed that whilst the largo Health Resorts had a high death-rate from this cause, their respective coastal districts were, as a rule, characterised by a low mortality. When once whooping cough is imported, it is difficult to keep it from spreading, and until this disease is better understood, we shallstill be burthened with fresh theories and fresh nostrums for it. The annual average mortality in Brighton during 1861-70 was at the rate of 60 to every 10,000 living, that for England and Wales being 53. I have yet to make a few remarks on diseases of the liver and stomach and kidneys. Considering the number of persons visiting Brighton with these organs more or less affected, it speaks well for the climate that the death-rate for liver complaints is so little above the average, viz., 100 to every 10,000, or only 3 above that for England generally (98). All persons ought to be careful that the skin, with its 28 miles length of perspiratory tubing, is well protected from chill. In the cases of invalids with weak internal organs this carefulness is of vital importance. The effect of a chill of the surface is at once to throw the blood inwardly and cause congestion of the weakest organ, whether it be liver, kidneys, lungs, or any other organs. Many people pass the winter without risk, but the sunny days of early spring and summer lead them into the temptation of prematurely throwing off garments which they had better keep on, and substituting cooler for warmer clothes before the sun is high enough to establish the fixed mean temperature of summer. The death-rato for affections of the kidneys is high, being 11 above that of England and Wales in 1861-70, which was 29 in every 10,000 living. The wind charts show the seasonal prevalence of the winds, and it would bo well for those who are liable to congested or other affections of the great organs of the body to avoid Brighton during those months when chilling winds prevail. In fine,Brighton as the largest seaside Health Resort in England, should be carefully studied by all those who visit it for health sake, possessing, as it does, such a variety of soils, such a variety of aspects, and such a variety of levels. It would be unwise in the extreme to lead anyone to believe that simply by going to Brighton he will find relief from his ailments, and such haphazard advice will, in many cases, cause disappointment. As a step towards a knowledge of this far-famed Health Resort, I have constructed the Health Guide Map, in the hope that it will help medical men, and the public generally, to use the natural advantages of this great seaside town, so as to cull the greatest benefit from them, and thus increase the reputation and usefulness of Brighton.