Manual for medical officers of health / by Edward Smith.

Date:
1873
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Manual for medical officers of health / by Edward Smith. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    diminution of phthisis goes pari passu vfith. improved drainage. The effect of marshy miasm in producing ague and other diseases needs no reference; but that of soils and subsoils as affecting health has not been so well established. There is a well-founded belief that clay soils tend to cause a damp and cold atmosphere, and thereby rheumatism and catarrh; and that porous soils, where there -is filth running into them, are apt to generate fevers under the influence of heat. The primitive and metamorphic rocks and clay slates have a good repute, but generally the population upon them is not dense. The chalk formation, sandstones, and limestones, are commonly healthy, whilst the alluvial soils are more liable to induce disease from the presence of organic decomposing matters and defective drainage. The coal and ironstone formations cannot be unhealthy in them- selves, but by reason of the habits of the people occupying them they do not show a low average of disease. But whatever may be the nature of the subsoil, the degree of health depends much upon the configuration of the sur- face, so that low and flat or enclosed localities are relatively damp and cold in winter, and damp and hot in summer, and tend to rheumatism, phthisis, debihty, and fever (par- ticularly in the latter case, where there are great accumu- lations of dirt and decaying organic matter), whilst with great elevation and free exposure to light and air the inhabitants are more healthful, vigorous, industrious, and happy. The elements which are essential to the solution of the problem are:— 1. Degree of exposure to prevalent winds and to sunlight. 2. Moisture of the atmosphere. 3. Porosity of the soil and subsoil. Conformation of