Epitome of evidence taken before the Commissioners appointed to enquire into the condition of all mines in Great Britain to which the provisions of the Act 23 & 24 Vict. cap. 155 do not apply, with reference to the health and safety of persons employed in such mines / presented to both houses of Paliament by command of Her Majesty.
- Great Britain. Royal Commission on Mines
- Date:
- 1864
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Epitome of evidence taken before the Commissioners appointed to enquire into the condition of all mines in Great Britain to which the provisions of the Act 23 & 24 Vict. cap. 155 do not apply, with reference to the health and safety of persons employed in such mines / presented to both houses of Paliament by command of Her Majesty. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.
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![(A.)—HEALTH AND ] (A.) Health 19,428. Are they very liable to relapse ?—That I can and Diseases hardly say. I have not been here long enough to say. of Miners. I have had one or two relapses. It seems to me that deficient ventilation is the cause which does so much mischief to the men. 19,42f>. [Sir Philip Egcrton.) What opinion have you formed of the general health of the district, exclusive of the miners themselves ; of the families of the miners, for instance ?—My opinion is that we are excessively subject to disease of the lungs here ; that is to say, the general population, men, women, and children. 19,432. Are you inclined to attribute the prevalence of consumption and lung diseases to the air of the dis- trict, or to the overcrowding of the habitations ? —I think it is to be ascidbed to the air of the district—the constant changes of temperature that we are subject to. Nathaniel John Haydon, Esq., M.D., L.E.C.P. 19,543. {Chairman.) How long has the Yarner Mine been worked ?—Between 6 and 7 years. 19,644. What is the ore raised from it ?—Copper. 19,54-5. What is the deepest level P—40 fathoms ; they are now sinking on the 50. 19.546. Is the mine a wet mine ?—It was formerly a very wet mine, the water coming in on the men from the upper pai t of the workings ; this arose from the nature of the ground. It is now very much improved ; a steam pumping engine has been lately pnt up. 19.547. Did the men suffer at that time ?—Yes, they were very sicklj*. 19.548. Are thej- improved in health?—Yes ; but they are still sickly. 19.549. What do they principally suffer from ?—Pec- toral disease, such as bronchitis, inflammation of the lungs, and rheumatism. 19.564. Have you ever had opportunities of investi- gating the diseases of miners except in those mines ?— Yes. I formerly resided for four years in Cornwall, where I had frequent and continual opportunities of seeing and studying the diseases of miners ; and .«ome years since I had the medical care of a mine (lead mine) in Hemiock. 19.565. Have you known any cases of miners' asthma? —Yes ; I have seen many who have suffered from it; T have ojie case under my care at present. 19,o66. How does it begin?—With slight difficulty of breathing and cough, depending on bronchial irri- tation ; the amount of difficulty of breathing and cough necessarily differs in different individuals; in some cases the cough is neaily always present, dry and harsh. 19.567. {Mr. Holland.) How does it proceed; and what are the sounds on percussion and auscultation ?— The circulation becomes affected and you have increased frequency of pulse with more or less palpitation of the heart; a very harassing cough. You have a loud re- spiratory sound, Imt a dulness on percussion; this after a time is followed by a state of extreme exhaustion ; the sufferer appears to waste away ; his pvilse becomes much slower; and in this state of sinking, or almost living death, he may and often does go on for several years. 19.568. Is there any black spit?—Yes; a black spit is a frequent symptom of the second stage of the disease; it is called by some authorities carbonaceous bronchitis or black phthisis. 19.569. Have you formed any opinion how black spit is produced ?^—I imagine it to be a carbonaceous dejjosit from the blood, produced in the lung, mainly dependent on a long continued breathing of bad air in imperfectly > ventilated mines. 19.570. Is it your opinion that a free and perfect ven- tilation of mines is necessary to prevent miners' asthma and black spit?—I believe a free ventilation of the mines, conjoined with a good change and dry, are the essentials for preserving the health of miners. 9,571. Is black spit never produced by other causes than by bad air ?—I have seen black spit in a gentle- man now a ]Datient of mine, ivho was never in a mine in his life. He suffered for some time from a trouble- some bronchitis, and for the last two years has shown black spit. It has been examined microscopically by some eminent London men ; and we came to a perfect conclusion, that in this case he had a carbonaceous deposit, and not a malignant disease. I do not know what produced it. It is a very common thing to find black matter in the lungs and bronchial glands. ISEASES OF MINERS. 19,572. Are you aware that some high authorities (A. consider black spit to be a melanotic deposit?—I ami. know there are a variety of opinions in this matter. o/M The peculiar characteristic is the black matter. Mes- sieurs Foy and Thenard from their analysis affirm it to be a highly carbonized insoluble matter, supposed to be altered colouring matter of the blood. . Dr. Fyfe is of the same opinion. Dr. Cassell calls the black appearances spurious melanosis. Professor C. J. B. AVilliams says the production of black matter may co- exist with various modifications of the nutritive pro- cess, * * * * as in the peculiar combination of black with opaque caseous matter, not unfrequently found in the lungs and bronchial glands; but, agreeing with Andral, he hesitates to class simple melanosis with malignant growth. I have not seen Professor Virchow's Avork ; but I am informed he considers the deposit to be melanosis, and that Professor Goodsir coincides in that view. But without doubt two of the best papers on this subject are to be found in the Edinburgh Monthly Journal of Medical Science, 1846, by Dr. Ma- kellar; and in the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, 13th vol., by Mr. Graham. It is here shown to depend essentially on the smoke from the lamp sus- pended from the miner's head while at work; to the inhalation in confined mines both of the carbonic acid generated in the pit and of' that expired by the labourers themselves; and also the inspiration of heated air after the explosion of gunpowder i-equired in the works in which float carbon and carburetted gases! The black spit, which is after all one of the most serious complications of disease to which miners are liable, inasmuch as it is a s^'mpton of a grave, intract- able, and incurable pulmonarj^ affection, has been long known. Haller relates it, so does Bayle and Laennec (Herbert's edition, 1846, p. 355, 71), under the name of Melanosis ; l)ut !M. Andral in his notes to Laennec (op. cit. p. 822, 2)) very distinctly combats this view, ej:pecially in the case of miners, and he relates instances of miners who ha^ e been killed by violence, and who thiough lii'e had exhibited no signs of pul- monary disease, had on post-mortem examination been found with extensive black deposit in the lungs. In Copeland's Dictionary of Medicine, vol. 2, p. 787, this disease is well treated of under the title of Spurious Melanosis. In the Cyclopedia of Practical Medicine, vol, 3, pp. 97. 98, 99, 100, there is a most valuable paper from the pen of Dr. Carswell, Spurious Melanosis, f rom the introduction of carbonaceous matter. He relates the case of two miners: The first of whom was a. patient in the Royal Infirmary, Eding., and died there; he relates the P.M. appearances, and the analysis made by Professor Christisou of the black matter. 1. Concentrated nitric acid boiled on it did not alter the colour. 2. Immersion in a strong solution of chlorine had no effect. 3. A strong solution of caustic potass boiled on it took up some animal matter and filtrated very slowly. 4. He subjected a small portion of the black powder left after the action of the boiling nitric acid, well washed and dried, and introduced into a glass tube with a ball, to the action of a low red heat a considera- able quantity of gas, which had the odour of coal gas, and on the approach of a light took fire and burnt with a dense white flame. In the tube a dark yellow fluid likewise condensed, which had exactly the odour of impure coal tar naphtha, and became a soft mass on cooling of the consistence of lard. This, when com- pressed between layers of filtering paper, yielded an oily stain to the paper, and left a white matter, which dis- solved in boiling alcohol, but appeared again on cooling in the form of minute obscure crystals. Dr. Christisou remarks on this, It is scarcely possible not to recognize the ordinary products of the distillation of coal; and Dr. Carswell said, The result of this analysis does not permit a doubt as the to the origin and nature of the black discoloration in the case ; but Dr. Carswell suggests that while there can be no doubt that these black masses are due to the inhalation of carbonaceous matter is it not moreprohahlc that the accumulation is determined by a morbid state of the lungs themselves f It is impossible not to be struck with this question of Dr. Carswell. The almost habitual breathing of bad air necessitates the fact that the blood is never pro- perly decarbonized from a want of a proper or sufficient quantity of oxygen; carbon can only combine with a given proportion of oxygen; carbonic acid is carbon in combination with the largest proportion of oxygen](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2398482x_0018.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
