History of the cholera in Manchester, in 1849 : as reported to the Registrar General of Births, Deaths, &c. / by John Leigh and Ner Gardiner.
- Leigh, John, MRCS.
- Date:
- 1850
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: History of the cholera in Manchester, in 1849 : as reported to the Registrar General of Births, Deaths, &c. / by John Leigh and Ner Gardiner. 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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![A, 7 mostly found in the layer of sand and gravel described as lying between the clay and the rock, is usually softer and freer from mag- nesian salts. The clay itself is nearly free from calcareous or mag- nesian carbonates, whilst the gravel of the districts before-mentioned, contains a large quantity of these salts. Hence it is probable that the large quantity of earthy matter the water contains, is owing to^ its percolation through this de])osit. It is owing to the muriate of magnesia present, that the water containing it is so often unfit for manufacturing purposes. The water of those wells immediately adjacent to burial-grounds situated in gravelly soil is generally somewhat softer. No doubt the anmionia disengaged from the decomposing bodies precipitates the magnesian salts. The natural drainage of the town is effected on the large scale by the rivers Irwell, Irk, and JMedlock; these receive some of the surflice water from the inclined lands they traverse, together with the contents of the sewers and a vast quantity of refuse matter, poured into them from different manufactories. ^Vere the courses of the rivers uninterrupted, the immense quan- tity of matter with which they are loaded, rendering them black and turbid, would in a great measure be swept on into the country to enrich the agricultural district adjacent to the town, and no time would be afforded for that decomposition which is so injurious to the inhabitants of their particular localities, and the occasional freshes that happen from heavy rains would sweep out anything that might have subsisted during a dry season. But these streams are dammed up in many places, even in the very town, by weirs thrown across, and behind which matters held in suspension subside to a considerable extent; these decomposing yield putrid emanations of a most offensive character. During the hot days of sunnner and autumn, bubbles of gas may be seen continually ascending to the surface of the water and bursting, the contained gases being carburetted hydrogen, sulphuretted hydrogen, and car- bonic acid. When the water runs freely this is never seen. It can scarcely be said now that Manchester is a badly sewered town, large wide sewers with the necessary regard to the due inclina- tion have been laid in most of the streets, and the Corporation has been most active in carrying out the sewering and paving of all streets requiring it, whether old or new, and nothing is wanting but a suffi- ciency of water for flushing. It is hoped that on the completion of the new water-works, sufficient water will be obtained for this purpose. It is in the courts and alleys and in the conditioij of house-drains that the greatest deficiencies exist; these are usually left to be drained by the landlord, and are in a most wretched and unwholesome con- dition. The due inclination to the large drains has not been observed in their construction, and they are scarcely ever cleaned out. The consequence is, that in many well-sewered streets the houses and](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22272148_0011.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
