General report on the sanitary condition of the town of Kelso / drawn up at the request of the Board of Commissioners of Police, by Charles Wilson, M.D.

Wilson, Charles, 1804-1883

Date:: 1848

Credit: General report on the sanitary condition of the town of Kelso / drawn up at the request of the Board of Commissioners of Police, by Charles Wilson, 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.

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$t 12 No. 19. Considerable accumulation of dung, in a yard with very defective drainage. CLASS C. No. 1. (V. Appendix C.) Dung-hill, properly situated, but admit- . ting too great an accumulation. No. 2. Byre, dung-hill, and ]oigsties, generally in an offensive con- dition, but in an open locality. No.^ 3. Three pigsties, with large dung-hill, in a tolerably open situation, but in which an accumulation is occasionally permitted to an unwholesome extent; and the fetor of which, when dis- turbed for its removal, is said to bo extremely disgusting. If this nuisance have any connection with another in a field to the west of the Drying-house lane, it must certainly rank as the very Avorst of its class. No. i. Back-court, with large dung-hill. No. 5. Court, surrounded by stables, &c., and containing four several dung-heaps, with defective drainage. No. 6. A stable, with large accumulation of dung. No. 7. Pigsties, witli dung-hills ; one in a covered outhouse, insuf- ficiently ventilated. No. 8. Large dunghill, in open locality ; but with defective drain- age, permitting the im]-»urities to flow irregularly over the court. No. 9. A dung-heap, with ashes, vegetable refuse, and ordure, lying in a public thorough-fare, otherwise in an offensive condition. No. 10. Open channel from byres, complained of as offensive by the occupants of a narrow alley through which it passes. No. 11. Dung-hill, with considerable accumulation. No. 12. A close, with two byres, and three dung-pits, closely con- tiguous, capable of containing 20 cubic yards of manure. No. 33. Stable, containing cow and horse, in too limited a locality : and requiring, therefore, great attention in cleansing and venti- lating. No. 14. Court with two dung-hills ; defective drainage. No. 15. Manure, and house refuse, covering a surface of about 25 square yards. No. 16. Back-court, with offensive dung-heap. It is obvious, from these noisome details, that my mission, as was to be anticipated, has guided me neither among the amenities nor the elegancies of our native town yet the period at which I was called upon to make my inspection was one not likely to lead to an exag- gerated view of any general inattention, on the part of the inhabitants, to those proprieties of external life which mark an ad\ anced stage of progress in civilization and intelligence. The weather was line and dry, Avith cool and bracing airs: and I felt frequently con- strained to confess, from the recollections of past experience, that *$