General Report on the Sanitary Condition of the town of Kelso : drawn up at the request of the Board of Governers of Police / by Charles Wilson.
- Date:
- 1848
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: General Report on the Sanitary Condition of the town of Kelso : drawn up at the request of the Board of Governers of Police / by Charles Wilson. 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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![To the Honourable the Bailie^ and the Commissioners of Police of the Town of Kelso. Gentlemen, In compliance with your request that I should make a survey of the Town of Kelso, and should draw up a Report regarding its general Sanitary condition, and i^articularly regarding the noxious influences which might be discovered to exist amongst us, with the view of supplying information which might servo afterwards, under your sanction, as the basis of such measures of improvement and reform as might seem to you justifiable and necessary for the safety of the inhabitants, I now beg leave to submit to you the following observations, the result of an investigation conducted with all the care and attention which I was able to bestow, and which the im- portance of the duty entrusted to me appeared to me to demand. In detailing these observations, it shall be my aim to lay them before you in a form as distinct and concise as possible; and I shall therefore abstain from enlarging upon any preliminary topics, such as the general position and arrangement of the town, and its peculiari- ties of site or of climate, all of which would be requisite for the just comprehension of my subject were I addressing those unacquainted with the locality, but which may bo safely dispensed rvith, at least in their broader features, in a series of statements intended for those as familiar with the more obvious outlines as myself. I shall not fail, however, Avhere the occasional introduction of these toj)ics may appear essential, to make such incidental refei'enco to them as Avill servo for the elucidation of any remarks or recommendations which I shall consider myself justified in presenting for your consideration, after having gone through the simple detail of what I have seen and observed during the course, of my scrutiny. In nearly the whole of our principal streets the pavement is sub- siding into irregular hollows, wliieli, in moist weather, servo as re- ceptacles for mud, and render difficult the process of cleaning. The side kennels are so shallow that they arc easily obstructed, or o\er- flown ; and the footways are thus rendered occasionally impassable. In several of the lanes and less im]>ortant thoroughfares too little convexity has been given to the surface, while the kennels are choked by layers of thick mud, so that there is no proper escape Streets and Thoroiigli fares](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2190344x_0005.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
