Fever, in its relations to sanitary reform, being the address in medicine, delivered at the sixteenth anniversary meeting of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association, held at Bath, August 16th & 17th, 1848 / by W. Davies, M.D.

  • Davies, William, M.D.
Date:
1848
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Fever, in its relations to sanitary reform, being the address in medicine, delivered at the sixteenth anniversary meeting of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association, held at Bath, August 16th & 17th, 1848 / by W. Davies, M.D. 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.

    29/36 page 27
    Fever from Defective Sanitary Condition. I feel constrained to make a few remarks on this paper, because the statements are put forth as indisputable facts; and those who do not receive them as such, are looked upon as persons who have not directed their attention peculiarly to sanitary investigations; and further, that it is to deny the whole evidence on which the fabric of medical science rests/' The fever is said to have been spotted typhus, therefore, coming vdthin the definition of typhus, which I have already endeavoured to establish. Now, notwithstanding all the confidence with which Dr. Watson has expressed himself concerning these cases, a few words will, I think, suffice to show that they are very inadequate for the support of the doctrine in question. The two cases occurred at the house of a baker in the outskirts of Liverpool; the one in June, the other in September, 1847. There are few occupations more calculated for bringing the individuals who follow them into frequent intercourse with others than that of a baker. This position I need not illustrate. Now, what was the condition of Liverpool at the time these persons were seized with fever ? In the suminer quarter of 1847, the very time referred to,- there were registered 3,327 deaths from fever, and 1,700 cases at once were supplied with hospital accommodation; while, at the same time, about 6,000 were estimated to be under medical care at their own dwellings. And yet Dr. Watson thinks it necessary to hunt up a foul drain to explain why two bakers, at an interval of three months, shall suffer under typhus. In the commencement of this Address, I stated that the question concerning the cause of fever had been much complicated by the introduction of a popular element into the disciission,—that is, by disquisitions on the subject, by men whose education and habits of thought had not been such as to qualify them for the due appreciation of the elements out of which a judgment has to be formed. The fourth number of the Journal of Public Health furnishes a striking example of this fact. Mr. William Lee, an engineer, of Sheffield, has written a paper on typhus fever in rural districts. Mr. Lee, after stating that typhus and other forms of febrile disease generally have an efficient local cause, goes on to say, that To ascertain these causes of disease, requires a consider- able amount of constructive skill and experience of engineering, chemical, geological, and other scientific attainments, quite distinct
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3