Dietaries for the inmates of workhouses : Report ... of Dr. Edward Smith.

  • Great Britain. Poor Law Board
Date:
1866
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dietaries for the inmates of workhouses : Report ... of Dr. Edward Smith. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    DIETARIES V FOB THE INMATES OE WORKHOUSES. REPORT OF Dr. EDWARD SMITH, F.R.S., Medical Officer of the Poor Law Board, and Poor Law Inspector. To the Right Hon. C. P. Villiers, M.P., President of the Poor Laio Board. Sir, In the year 1863 I visited various parts of every county in introduc- England, under instructions from the Privy Council, and ascer- vatwns!er tained in a very precise manner the dietaries then in use by different sections of the working classes, and particularly by agri- cultural labourers and their families. The nutritive values of the foods used were calculated, and the results were published in the Sixth Report of the Medical Officer of the Privy Council. The great area over which the inquiry extended, the large number of persons included in it, and the precise scientific method pursued, both in collecting the facts and estimating their value, have afforded more accurate and extended opportunities than heretofore of ascer- taining the quantity and kind of food which the people obtain at their own homes, and of judging as to the kind and quantity which the same classes require when fed in public institutions. But before the knowledge thus gained could be applied to workhouse dietaries, it was needful to ascertain the details of the dietaries already in use, the effect of them upon the paupers, and the means at the command of the master and other work- house officials for the selection, preparation, and distribution of food. This could not be satisfactorily obtained without a special
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