Observations on foul water irrigation, founded on a personal survey of different districts of the city, and an examination of their comparative salubrity / [William Tait].

  • Tait, William
Date:
1839
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on foul water irrigation, founded on a personal survey of different districts of the city, and an examination of their comparative salubrity / [William Tait]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    private patients, .and shew to the inhabitants of Edinburgh good grounds for congratulating themselves on the salubrity of their city— In 1835, there occurred 6,180 1836, . 10,092 1837, . . 21,800 It. is unnecessary to offer any comment on the above tables. The facts speak for themselves. The gradual increase of fever in Edinburgh can be compared with the increase of fever in Glasgow, and then it will be seen whether or not Mr Drysdale was justified in making such obser¬ vations. The latter table is computed from the number of deaths which occurred from fever, on the assumption that 1 in 15 of those attacked in 1835 died; 1 in 12 in 1836, and 1 in 10 in 1837, which calculations are considered to be correct. When the question of irrigation is viewed in the light of a public nuisance which cannot be longer tolerated, those who are desirous of its removal, have more particular claims on the support and co-operation of all the inhabitants of this city. Every thing that is disagreeable or offensive either to the prejudices or senses of the populace, ought, if possible, to be removed, particularly if the interests of others are not greatly involved. The proprietors of the meadow lands can lose nothing by their improvement, as they may still continue a source of considerable revenue in the form of gardens and nurseries, which would, at the same time, beautify and ornament the suburbs of the city. It ought, however, never to have been discussed as a question affecting the health of the community, without sufficient proof of its truth. It ought to have been remembered, that although an excellent method for arousing the people to a sense of the evils which surrounded them, it was also calculated to frighten ; and that it may be discovered when too late, that inconside¬ rate assertions have caused many to leave, and prevented others from making Edinburgh a place of residence. This is an occurrence which not only affects the proprietors of houses, but all the commercial interests of the city. Amongst the nuisances which exist, the irrigation is not in our opinion the greatest. The different police dunghills around the city are much more deserving the attention of the authorities, and as they are completely within their own control, why do they allow them to remain so near to the public entrance to the town, as if their odour and appearance were objects of attraction for strangers, or as if to form a contrast to the many fine objects afterwards to be witnessed within it? When the attention of the public has been attracted to nuisances, it is hoped they will not relax in their zeal for improvement, till every one of these disgusting depots is removed to a greater distance, and away from the sides of the roads, and till every close, and every stair where filth is accumulated, shall be daily visited by the scavenger. The careless and slovenly manner in which the duties of the scavenger are frequently performed in some of the wynds and closes of the city, where the public eye is not present to criticise, is truly disgraceful; in the very places, too,