Report by 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

Credit: Report by 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 King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

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$a7id Couim^ions Diseases. 10.> nci Spiinisli jars, into uhicli the rain is collected as trails, with'\\liat. is [)rociired trom the roof of the oiises by means of gutters and pipes. In such dis- I'icts ponds furnish the chief supply of water to the loor. In case of dron^iht they sometimes have to go lon.i; way to ohtain snfficient for drinking purposes. it these periods cattle and other stock are frequently hliijed to he turned into the deep woods to subsist n the moister ves^etation, and hi any rate to be creened from the eflects of a scorching sun ; but in pite of this, they often die in numbers. The water, however obtainctl, especially after hea- y rains, is thick and discoloured, and l)efore it can le drank with any feeling of pleasure, it requires to >e liltered or cleansed from its impurities ; this is isually eflected by passing it through drip-stones, omposed of a species of coralline sand stone from 3arbadoes ; the poor, however, cannot indulge in his luxury, and too often are they obliged to allay hirst with a, fluid of the colour, if not of i'ue consist- ence, of pea soup, living witii larvie of musquittoes. As regards w^ater for domestic purposes, it is very nuch to be feared that a large ])roportion of our poor copulation seldom think of that. Their persons are lever abluted, save on crossing a river or being ex- cosed to a heavy shower of rain. Even wlien the laily ablution of the hands and face is performed, t is done bv means of a few ounces of water, and ^vithout soap or towel. As regards the washing of lothes, this generally is executed at the side of a I'iver, or stream of water, which locality often pre- sents at these periods, a busy and noisy scene, cha- racteristic of a tropical climate ; here the washer- women assemble in nurabei-s, and having stripped themselves and tyed a napkin or cloth round their loins, proceed to wash and b(mff the clothes with a species of wooden battledore. This is frequently con- tinued from morning till night, their bodies being thus partially immersed, and partly exposed to the rays of the sun; a large portion of the population,$