Report of the Central Board of Health of Jamaica / presented to the legislature under the provisions of the 14th Vic. chap. 60, and printed by order of the Assembly.

  • Jamaica. Central Board of Health
Date:
1852
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the Central Board of Health of Jamaica / presented to the legislature under the provisions of the 14th Vic. chap. 60, and printed by order of the Assembly. 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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    pu)n]r wf'HUre A sr-lT-evident trulli is oonveycd hy provision as; a saaitrtry measure, t!)at the pe- riodical or daily reniovai, if possible, of all dirt, sta- l>le manure, foul vepretatiou, and stagnant water from premises ainl y^nds, essentially necessary to the promotion of heaUh. ' Yet while the proiinilgation of this simple, but s:dutary, rule has created a smile, the sarcastic remark has not been wanting. Is this all that sanitary measurts are to teach us? why we knew this before/' In replyinj^' to so feeble an en- 'quirer it would only be necessary fully to admit the pre-existence of this knowledge, and at the same time to ask the question w hether, being fully aware of its efficacy, is it in general practised ? or is it not, on the contrary, grossly and criminally overlooked, not only in every part of this island, but in every country ? or has its mdisptnsable necessity, as a pre- ventive of disease, been sufHciently and forcibly im- pressed upon the minds of those poor and ignorant persons who do not know it, but are daily and hourly exposed to the pernicious and too often fatal, conse- quences of this very ignorance ? Then if by reite- rating this simple but salutary precaution, public at- tention is driven to its rigid observance, will not much good have been effected, and the desired end obtain- ed, namely, the enforcing not alone of the cleanli- ness of the person, but even of the premises inhabited by the masses ; and thus, by removing the impurities of their vicinity, at once fortify the whole comm.unity, and place it in a state of preparation to resist and conquer the very approach of epidemic diseases ? It has also been urged, as an objection to the present progress of sanitary measures, that before il can be expected that the labouring classes will practise cleanliness, and reform their injurious habits in re- gard to their health, it would be necessary to enlarge the number of schools and increase the means for their obtaining moral and religious instruction, or in other words—that they must first be educated and trained to paths of virtue and morality. Is it quite