Government regulations for the prevention of cholera : also instructions prepared by the Edinburgh Board of Health and approved of by the Royal College of Physicians.

Date:
1848
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Government regulations for the prevention of cholera : also instructions prepared by the Edinburgh Board of Health and approved of by the Royal College of Physicians. 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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    other body of a like nature, or any commissioners of sewers, or guardians of tiie poor. By this Act it is provided, that upon notice in writing, signed by two or more inhabitant householders, that any dwelling-house or building is in a filthy and unwholesome condition, or that there are upon such premises any foul and offensive cesspool, drain, gutter, or ditch, or any ac- cumulations of filth, or that swine are so kept as to be a nuisance or injurious to health, the authorities shall ex- amine, or cause the premises to be examined ; and if, upon examination, or upon a medical certificate of two legally qualified practitioners, it appears that the nuisance exists, the public authorities shall make complaint before two justices, who are required to make order for the removal of such nuisance. The amended provisions contained in this Act should be early considered, promulgated, and en- forced, especially those for the proper cleansing of open and foul ditches, near habitations, by the labourers under the direction of surveyors or trustees of highways. The union medical officers, whose duties take them to the relief of the destitute sick, are necessarily familiar with the places in which disease is most prevalent and fatal, and these are invariably found to be the dirtiest lo- calities, where, consequently, the cleansing operations are most required ; and the Nuisances Removal Act imposes upon the guardians the duty of directing and enforcing the proper performance of these operations. In several districts the police, in going their usual rounds, have been employed with great advantage in reporting daily as to the houses, courts, alleys, passages, and streets within their district, most in need of cleansing; as to the carelessness or neglect of the scavengers in the performance of their duties, and as to the existence of nuisances of vari- ous kinds. The boards of guardians, or special committee formed out of their body, are therefore recommended to associate themselves witli special committees of town coun- cils, who, by their watch committees, have the control of the police, and to engage for these purposes the valuable services of the force. Highly important services have been rendered by the parochial clergy and other ministers of religion, in associ- ation with lay committees, for the purpose of maintaining a system of house to house visitation in the more depressed districts; and, wherever it is practicable, the boards of