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 DISEASES OF MINERS. talth 3764, Do yoii find that your recommendations are xases complied with ? — Yes, they are complied with, but •rs. still it would be very desirable if any means could be adopted by which a miner in the early stage of con- sumption could l)c removed somewhere where he could really have the proper quantity of food ; because, sup- posing that we order three pounds of meat a-week, the probability is that some of that food will go to the sup- port of the family, and that the miner would not reap the entire benefit of it. 3858. {3Ir. Aiistin Bruce.) Do you consider that a general average of health is consistent with short life —It woiild not appear so. Hereditar}' disease exists to a very great extent in Cornwall, and consequently they die younger; and they are not ill very long. Most cases of consumption which I have are what I term acute, where the patient goes off* in a few months. 3949. (Jlf)-. Kendall.) You have stated, as I under- stood you, that the average life of miners is short, and that their average health is good ?—Yes ; that is a con- tradiction. 3950. But, as I understand, you state this with the exception that there are many cases of hereditary dis- ease f—Yes. 3951. Hovr do yon account for that hereditary dis- ease ?—Verj' frequently it is in this way ; that a miner, when in the last stage of consumption, may beget three or four children, and the probability is that the majority of those children (in fact, I think, that by a good deal of research you could prove it) would bo consumptive. 3952. In olden time was much less care taken than is taken now, and did men in consequence become con- sumptive much more freqiiently than they do now; was there much care as to the dries and the mode of ascent, and so on, in your experience ?—I cannot say much one way or the other. 5953. Were thei-e more cases of consumption in olden time than now?—Undoubtedh'; I think]that the men are more careful of themselves. 3954. And that the mode of ascent is better ?—Of course the mode of ascent is better. I lay great stress iipon the man-engine ; I think that that is the salvation of the men. 3955. As regards the work of a navvy and of a miner, do j-ou think that the agricultural labourer, who is in the open air, could at all compete with the navvy in work?—I do not know ; I am not capable of giving an opinion upon that point. I know from conversing with miners, that they were astonished at the great amount which the navvy did, and that they could not do so much work in the same amount of time. 3989. Surely not to a great extent ?—Yes ; I suppose that there are few counties where there is more con- sumption than in Cornwall. Mr. John Plarce. 4001. [Chairman.^ What is the next point as to which you diff'er from Dr. Tayler?—Dr. Tayler was asked whether he had heard the miners complain of any symp- toms that were produced by working in bad air. T believe that our mines are, generally speaking, as well ventilated now as they can be, perhaps some more pre- cautions might be taken ; but it often happens that where the air is bad, it is in an end where the men arc driving to come to a shaft coming down to give them .air, or they are putting up a rise, and very often I have heard the men say that their heads have become light and giddy, and that they have had a ringing in the cars which is produced by a bad supply of oxygenated blood to the head. Then again with regard to diseases of the heart, as far as my experience has gone, I have observed a great deal of enlargement of the heart, and that en- largement would necessarily be permanent, and there is hypertrophy of the heart induced by the extra action which the heart is called upon to perform when the men have been climbing from great depths, an increased pul- .sation of the heart is then caused and increased respira- tion, and hypertrophy, which is a thickening of the heart. Sometimes there is more functional derangement from which the miners may recover, as is the case with others. Another thing that has struck me forcibly is that miners have not suffered, if at all, more than an equal number of the population in any other class, from phthisis or tubercular consumption, of which there may be perhaps a slight average against the miners ; but, as a general rule, I should say it was not so. The disease of the miners which is called consumption, in my (A.) Health opinion, is decidedly nothing more than bronchitis, and Disea»es, having the general symptoms of tubercular disease, but of Miners. those symptoms being very diflTerent in their stethosco- pic character. 4051. [Cliairman.) But many of the men may work on for some time without complaining ?—Yes, for many years. There was one poor fellow who has just died, and I knew him to have symptoms of the disease from which ho died 15 yeai's ago. 4052. Was he then told that there was a chance of its terminating in the way it did ?—I had often said to him, '' I will give you something to relieve you, but yours is the miners' disease, and we cannot alter that state of the chest. 4053. What was his reason for going on working after that ?—I suppose it would have been difficult for him to get anything else to do. 4054. He was compelled to work on for his liveli- hood ?—Yes. 4135. {Mr. Austin Bruce.) To the best of your belief, arc there any men under your charge at this moment in whom the miners' disease is forming ?—I have no doubt there are ; but in answering the question off- hand I cannot at once recall cases to my mind. I have two men who are now home suffering from it, but they are advanced cases. I have no doubt that I could find many iiicipient cases of the miners' disease. Mr. JouN Bekkyman. 4223. [Cliairman.) You say in an advanced stage of the disease, what is the disease ? — I entirely agree with what Mr. Pearce has stated, that there is quite a distinction between tubercular phthisis and the ip.iners' disease, and that they are two distinct dis- oi'dor?;. I believe that the foundation of the miners' disease is at first bronchitis, and that re]3eated attacks of that bronchitis lead to a disordered state of the different tissues of the lungs, the bronchial tubes, and the air vesicles themselves. It is from repeated attacks of bi'oncliitis, not one only, but repeated attacks of bronchitis, and a continuance of cough. •J'229. If the miners left the work in which they are engaged v/ith bronchitis, would they equally, if they caught bronchitis in any other occupation, bring on the same state of disease ? —Xot unless it was repeated, and then it would have that eff'ect. 4230. Are you of opinion that working in the mines is likely to cause a repetition of that disease ?—Very likely. I think that it is the nature of the occupation which causes repeated attacks, and I think, also, that climbing is an additional cause. 4231. Have you examined any of these patients especially ?—Yes, I have examined their chests ; we have but few opportunities of examining, and particu- larly of making post-mortem examinations. 4232. Have you had any opportunities at all of mak« ing post-mortem examinations?—No, I cannot say that I have had any of which I could give a distinct and jjropcr history. 4233. Do you find that amongst any other class of the population anything like the same kind of disease prevails ?—We find the same kind of disease occasion- ally among the people who have been exposed to similar causes. 4234. In your parish are the cases which mostly come under your notice those of miners ?—Yes, it is a mining district hereabout, and those who come under my care are frequently miners who suffer from this disease. 4235. Do you ever meet with them in an early stage ? —Yes, occasionally. 4236. Have you known any cases in which they have recovered ?—Yes, but that is not in an advanced stage of the disease. I think that if the^^ were removed to some other calling the disease could be prevented from, proceeding to an extreme. 4241. {Mr. Austin Bruce.) Then their work must have something to do with the causes a9ecting their health, arising either from its severity or the conditions under which it is carried on ?—I think it is from the * nature of their occupation. 4242. What should you specially point out as that part of their occupation which produces the most injury ?—I should say, first, it is from working in bad air, and from their coming up in an exhausted state from their work ; coming out of a hot atmosphere and](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2398482x_0007.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
