Theatre hygiene : a scheme for the study of a somewhat neglected department of the public health / by Walter E. Roth.

  • Roth, Walter E. (Walter Edmund), 1861?-1933.
Date:
1887
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Theatre hygiene : a scheme for the study of a somewhat neglected department of the public health / by Walter E. Roth. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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    ously defective, the outer doors were kept locked, the staircases ■were badly constructed, and the exits far from adequate. Unfortu- nately the example set before us in this respect by the central city of the whole civilized world iseven one to be avoided, not followed; for at the present moment there is not a single London theatre which structurally can be considered perfect, which obeys the pre- scribed regulations, and which maintains all its appliances and arrangements in thorough working order and repair. Such, then, being the case, it is somewhat remarkable to find that inquiries on so important a branch of the public health have hitherto been neglected, and all the more so in countries which are supposed to pride themselves on the excellence of their sanitary laws and institutions. It is true that here and there some official report has been made on actual defects in existing structures, and perhaps certain alterations recommended ; it is equally true that certain world-renowned architects have made the ligliting, warming, and ventilation of public buildings objects of special study ; but until two years ago the sanitary aspects of theatre- life generally—the true Theatre Hygiene—appear to have been entirely overlooked. There then appeared a short series of articles written anonymously in the Stage newspaper : this was followed a little more than a year later by a more elaborate paper in the Sanitary Record on ' Some Suggestions and Materials for a Study of the Hygiene of the Theatre.' It may not be out of place here to mention that some of the earliest and at the same time scientific investigations into the sanitation of theatres were made by Dr. Tripier of Paris, who published his results in 1859. This gentleman, who is still living, has often been consulted for an opinion not only as to remedying structural defects in already existing French theatres, but also as to the hygienic requirements of proposed new ones—an example which it would bewell for some of our managers to bear in mind and imitate. The site upon which a theatre is built should be such as to admit of the building being free on all sides ; this is necessary to allow egress to the open air, also for light and ventilation, as
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