The influence of occupation in developing phthisis is forcibly illustrated in the following table:—
| District. | Nature of principal Industry in the District. | Death-rate by Phthisis and other Lung Diseases at between 15 and 25 years of age, per 100,000 of each class referred to. | |
| Male. | Female. | ||
| Berkhampstead Leighton Buzzard | Extensive female employment in straw-plaiting | 219 319 | 578 554 |
| Newport Pagnell Towcester | Extensive female employment in lace-making | 301 239 | 615 577 |
| Yeovil | Extensive female (with some males) employment in glove-making | 280 | 409 |
| Leek Congleton Macclesfield | Extensive employment (more female than male) in silk work | 437 566 593 | 856 790 890 |
| Standard Northern District | Agriculture | 531 | 333 |
The above figures may be supplemented by the others, which show the difference between the deaths from phthisis and other lung diseases occurring amongst the agricultural and the manufacturing populations, and are another illustration of the nature of the toiler’s occupation upon his liability to consumption. Thus, for every 100 deaths by phthisis and other lung diseases that take place amongst the men in various agricultural districts of England between the ages of fifteen to fifty-five, there are in Coventry 163 deaths; in Blackburn and Skipton, 167; in Congleton and Bradford, 168; in Leek, 182; in Macclesfield, 184; in Bolton, 190; in Nottingham, 192; in Rochdale, 193; in Derby, 198; in Salford and Ashton-under-Lyne, 203; in Leeds, 218; in Preston, 220; and in Manchester, 263.[101]
[101] Quoted by Dr Wynter Blyth.
As bearing directly upon the above portion of our subject, we may quote the sixth report of the medical officer of the Privy Council, who therein states—“In proportion as the people of a district are attracted to any collective indoor occupation, in such proportion, other things being equal, the district death-rate by lung diseases will be increased.”
The much larger number of cases of lung disease amongst those who pursue indoor callings than amongst others whose occupations are carried on out of doors, arises principally from the defective ventilation of the workshops or rooms in which the labour is carried on.
When indoor occupations are practised in large and efficiently ventilated apartments, or existence is passed in healthy houses, as in the dwellings of the rich and upper classes, who have also the additional advantages of good food and warm clothing, the liability to phthisis becomes immensely diminished.
The much greater immunity from the disease which the richer enjoy over the poorer classes has been carefully pointed out by Dr Guy, who, writing on this subject in the ‘Journal of the Statistical Society,’ says—“The ratio of deaths from consumption follows the same order as the average age at death, being lowest where the average age is highest, and the reverse. Thus the average age at death of the class of gentlemen is 58·61, and the ratio of deaths from consumption 1 to 2·60; while in the class of artisans the average age is 48·06, and the proportion from consumption is 1 to 2·29.
| Number of Deaths | |||||||||||||
| Condition. | 15 to 20. | 20 to 30. | 30 to 40. | 40 to 50. | 50 to 60. | 60 to 70. | 70 to 80. | Under 30. | Under 40. | Average age at Death. | Ratio. | Consumption. | Other Diseases. |
| Gentlemen, &c. | 10·84 | 18·67 | 27·11 | 19·27 | 15·06 | 6·03 | 3·01 | 29·51 | 56·62 | 39 | 1 to 5·00 | 166 | 835 |
| Tradesmen | 8·46 | 24·34 | 26·98 | 20·11 | 12·70 | 6·35 | 1·06 | 32·80 | 59·78 | 38 | 1 to 2·60 | 189 | 491 |
| Artisans | 7·25 | 23·69 | 26·24 | 22·79 | 13·34 | 6·26 | 0·43 | 30·94 | 57·18 | 381⁄2 | 1 to 2·29 | 2318 | 5308 |
“Again, the class of gentry presents a