Reader, did you ever stand on the sea beach shore and see day go out in a flood of glory—the bosom of the ocean blush as the monarch of day smiled his parting beams of light—tinging the clouds with golden hue and shedding a light on all creation and making it beautiful? These clouds were not alone created for the poet or the painter, nor to give scenic beauty to the landscape; but to supply the wants of the flowers of the valley, the beasts of the forest, and to be a source of health, power, and wealth to man. The heating rays from the sun so act upon the water as to cause a mist like a gossamer veil to arise. This is tossed about in the atmosphere by the various currents of winds which set in from the Equator to the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Thus is it that rain-bearing clouds are distributed over the land. The vapour contained in these clouds is condensed by the various degrees of temperature through which they are wafted, and form either snow or rain. This sinks down into the earth, and forms springs; or the snow, melting on the mountains, runs down and forms rivulets: and hence our chief water supply.
“Look around on this world, it is sweet, it is fair,
There is light in the sky, there is life in its air,
Sublimity breathes from the forms of its hills,
And beauty winds on with its rivers and rills;
The dew as with diamonds its mead hath bespread,
From its groves are a thousand wild melodies sent;
While flowers of each tint are by morning imparted,
Oh! why is there woe in so lovely a world.”
Rain water, when collected in the country, is doubtless the purest and best adapted for ordinary household purposes, but in London and large cities it contains many impurities; when collected in our tubs or cisterns, it is impregnated with all the dust, dirt, and smoke that hangs more or less like a funeral pall over smoky cities; the air contains more or less sulphurous acid, and the carbon that escapes from our chimneys and is deposited on the tops of our houses, hence the sooty taste that soft or rain water has.
Well or spring water always partakes more or less of the character of the ground or the strata through which it passes, hence the explanation of the great differences which exist. Water that passes through chalk is characterised by its hardness, because it holds a large quantity of carbonate of lime in solution. Thus it is with chalybeate springs, which contain a large proportion of the salts of iron, and others, that contain sulphate of magnesia; these instances illustrate the fact that water is a great solvent, and partakes of the character of the materials through which it passes, and hence the differences which we find existing in the water we derive from wells. There are not many public pumps in my district, and fortunately they are not in the vicinity of churchyards, nor in communication with cesspools. There is not therefore much danger of wholesale poisoning by drinking water from these sources. The water, as supplied by the West London and Grand Junction Companies, is, I believe, of good quality; for from the samples I have examined, and the reports furnished by Dr. Whitmore, the water appears free from those organic impurities which are indications of danger, and are specially to be guarded against in times when cholera threatens us. The water, which in not a few of the houses in my district, is supplied by the water companies pure, is rendered impure in the tubs and cisterns in which it is stored. Water not only has the property of becoming impregnated with mineral substances, but also the property of absorbing gases. It is strange, but nevertheless true, that the worst place possible for tubs, cisterns, and water reservoirs, is selected, viz., next to or over water closets, or over dust bins; this obtains almost universally in my district. The consequence is, in the one case feculent exhalations arise, and are absorbed by the water; and in the other, exhalations from the decomposed and decomposing vegetable and animal refuse; further, the tubs and cisterns in many cases appear to have been neglected for a long time. The lids do not fit, consequently these cisterns are receptacles for all kinds of filth. Those who live in the upper rooms are not over-scrupulous as to how, when, or where, they dispose of their waste matters, but it often finds a lodgement on the outbuildings, and not seldom is washed more or less into the cisterns. These cisterns, like the people and the rooms they inhabit, are not characterised by cleanliness. If I might judge from appearances, I should conclude that they are seldom washed out. If I ask when the tub or cistern was last cleaned out, nobody seems to know; for, what is everybody’s duty is nobody’s work.
It is a well-known fact, that when animal and feculent matters are suspended in water, and that water is used for drinking purposes, that it has produced diarrhœa. In water that is contaminated with sewerage the diarrhœa is accompanied with choleric symptoms, such as purging, vomiting, cramp, and even some loss of heat. This should be a warning not to allow impurities of any kind to abound in our drinking water. Fetid gases absorbed by water render the water bad; not that the sulphuretted hydrogen in itself is the thing to be dreaded, but because its presence fosters the growth of vegetable and animal products that are highly detrimental to health, and are, I believe, predisposing causes, if not virtually the agents in choleraic diarrhœa. It is in water under these conditions that plants and animals abound. They are minute, microscopic, I admit, but on that account none the less dangerous. The living plants and animals are not to be regarded with so much horror as the dead, because they rapidly undergo decomposition; and, while in this state, if taken into the system, act as ferments disturbing the normal functions of the body, and often giving rise to diarrhœa. This is not a mere assertion or hypothesis, but is supported by well-observed cases by some of the most competent men in the medical profession. In support of the above, I quote the following words from Dr. Parkes, professor of military hygiène. He says:—“An epidemic of diarrhoea in a community is almost always owing to either impure air, impure water, or bad food.” The practical deduction is, that if we would maintain the health of a parish and prevent cholera, diarrhœa, typhus, or any other epidemic, we must improve our sanitary condition. Pure water lies at the foundation of all sanitary improvements. Let it be well known that impure water is to be dreaded, and the fear of an epidemic may prove a healthy stimulus to increased activity and cleanliness in connection with a subject of such vital importance. Whether cholera visits us or not, we shall be all the better for having paid proper attention to our sanitary arrangements. I would suggest the propriety of having all tubs, cisterns and reservoirs cleaned out; all waste matters removed from the roofs of outhouses; all back premises thoroughly cleaned. I think from what I have said, this can hardly be regarded an unnecessary work; but should this be deemed impracticable—though I cannot see how it can be—I would suggest the desirability of all water used for drinking and culinary purposes being filtered; that is, where there is any suspicion of decomposed organic matter in the cistern, tub, &c. Any working man with ordinary ingenuity might contrive to filter his water through a little sand and vegetable charcoal. I know of no filters that could be purchased for 1s. 6d. or 2s., which I presume is about the extent that many of the poor in my district could go to. A rough-and-ready filter might be made out of a large flower-pot, the hole at the bottom being plugged up with sponge, and then a layer of charcoal and another layer of sand. The water would percolate through these substances, and be as clean and pure as the water from the mountain rill. The flowerpot might be suspended over another vessel, which would receive the pure water, or it might be so placed as to stand on two pieces of wood over another vessel. There are many ways of filtering water, but it is only my object to show how simple, inexpensive it is, and that it is within the means of the poorest to protect themselves from the disastrous effects of impure water, at a little cost of labour and at a still less cost of money.
There can be no doubt that water is not appreciated as a sanitary agent. This may arise either from ignorance or indifference; but, after what has been said, I trust that the apathetic neglect of the primary laws of health, and that blind confidence in an overruling Providence, that in the end all will come well—may vanish as the baseless fabric of a vision. It is in vain to call upon the local authorities to supply a larger quantity of water, if we either from ignorance or indolence neglect to use it. It is in vain to call upon landlords to build houses properly drained and ventilated if those who take them are ignorant and indifferent to the value of fresh air and good drainage. Dirt is allowed to begrime the walls, so as to render it difficult to tell what the original colour was; in a word, many of the rooms in George-street, Charles-street, Little Bell-street, Little Church-street, East-cottages, and many others in my district, are so neglected by the tenants as to become neither more nor less than fever nests. Soap and water and white lime, to judge from the condition of very many of the rooms in my district, might be as expensive a luxury as salt in Abyssinia. Every traveller that visits tropical countries is sure to complain of the annoyance and inconvenience of mosquitoes, and I am equally sure that every visitor to the dwellings of the poor in the locality I have indicated might reasonably complain of the visitors, who, on account of the dirt, have taken up a permanent residence, but whose name it is not deemed polite to mention, though as far as number is concerned they might be justly termed legion.
Almost without exception the poor bear the marks on their own body of their careless indifference to the laws of health and cleanliness. I do not believe that the poor are too bad to be mended, nor that they are too dirty to be taught the necessity and desirability of cleanliness. Those who suffer thus from sanitary mismanagement are not to be improved by calling them filthy, incorrigible, and worthless, but by kindly pointing out the evils which arise from their own carelessness, and suggesting remedies which they themselves can carry into operation. The very worst have some good in them, and by appealing to that good in a kindly, honest spirit we may arouse that laudable ambition of self-respect and self-help, which will do more to improve the sanitary and social condition of the needy poor than could be accomplished by extraneous help, if it did not secure the hearty sympathy and co-operation of the poor. Until the poor take an interest in their homes and feel a pride in preserving them clean, healthy, and comfortable, we shall always be hearing of and seeing the homes of the poor in a dilapidated condition. Flooring and doors will be used as firewood—sewers will be blocked up by materials that ought never to have been thrown down—dirt, filth, and all manner of rubbish will be allowed to accumulate—how is this to be remedied? To remedy this evil, mere obstructiveness and selfishness must get out of the way. The homes of the poor must be cleansed, repaired, and made comfortable; and then if cleanliness were made a condition of tenancy as I have had occasion before to suggest, it would go a long way to keep the property in repair. I feel confident that where tenants keep their rooms clean they acquire an interest in them, and do not destroy nor wilfully damage them. Further, every effort ought to be made to instruct the poor in the knowledge of the laws of health. Let it be clearly shown to them that dirt, disease, and poverty, are intimate companions, and that if they would escape from the bitter experience of poverty, they must each sweep before their own doors; then a future, gilded with the promise of a joyous hope, shall open up before their view. Dirt with all its disgusting associations shall be supplanted by cleanliness with all its cheering comforts; disease manifesting itself in the emaciated body, the anxious brow, the glazed eye, and shrivelled face, shall give place to joyous health, with firm elastic step, with ruddy face, bright sparkling eye, and the alacrity and pleasure with which labour and toil is welcomed. Poverty in all its intensified bitterness, when associated with disease shall give place to a comfortable competency. This and much more may justly be expected, if we sow aright the seeds of the science of life, and teach men the laws which govern their health and life. The proper study of mankind is man; a more comprehensive principle has seldom been enunciated. Man in all his relations is too vast a subject for us to contemplate, therefore we purpose the consideration of man in his social relations, in so far as these relations bear upon the health of the individual or the community of which we form a part. It would be well if we all took a deeper interest in the welfare of each other, if we felt that any disease, epidemic, or misfortune, that affects any member of the community, must by the common law of relationship, affect us; the man who wilfully breaks the laws of health, not only injures himself and his next of kin, but he injures society, of which he is a member, by depriving society of the creative wealth of labour; hence we see that the individual welfare and the prosperity of the commonwealth, depends upon a right understanding of those great laws by which the Creator governs the health and life of man. I know of few places where personal cleanliness is at a lower standard than in many of the small streets in my district, therefore at the risk of being personal, I must press the subject of the importance of baths. All nations have valued baths, some have regarded ablutions as a necessary part of their religion, and have accordingly most faithfully carried into daily practice their ablutions. Others have regarded the bath as a luxury, and only to be indulged in occasionally. There are those who inhabit the far, far north, where mountains of ice wreathed in the scintillations of the northern lights tower in colossal grandeur. The cold is so intense, that animal and vegetable life struggle feebly to maintain an existence, nevertheless there man prizes his bath. There are nations basking beneath a tropical sun, where vegetation revels in luxurious richness, where birds with gorgeous plumage carol in the clear blue sky, and dolphins as they sport in the water sparkle and glitter like a thousand gems, and here man values the bath as one of the best gifts of the great Creator. Nor was ancient Greece or Rome backward in discovering the value of the bath as a sanitary and curative agent. They bear us ample testimony of the high value they put upon baths. In this short paper it would be an impossibility to discuss the various kinds of baths, hot, shower, swimming, cold, Turkish, and vapour baths; neither can it be expected that I should indicate the relative value of each to particular conditions of health or disease, but we may rest assured that each kind of bath may, when rightly used, be regarded as a health preserving and health restoring agent.
In order fairly to estimate the value of baths, we ought to know something of the structure and functions of the skin. The skin is furnished with millions of little holes and tubes, these holes are called the pores of the skin, through which watery vapour or sweat is poured out; it is estimated that there are no less than 3,000 of the tubes and holes pouring out sweat in space not larger than a shilling, so that as long as the skin is kept clean, sweat or watery vapour is poured out from the skin. This sweat contains decaying and poisonous waste matter, which is worse than useless to the system. Hence the importance of baths and personal ablutions. Further, the healthy action of the skin bears a greater relation to our health than we might at first imagine. The function or office of the skin is closely correlated with the office of other internal organs. The skin performs the various functions of absorption, secretion, excretion, &c. If the skin fails in its duty, the work is thrown upon the liver and kidneys, consequently, they are doing double duty, and if not soon relieved they become overtaxed, and consequently injured. Further, a dirty skin affects our spirits; if the skin is dirty the terminal branches of nerves and blood vessels are not benefited and strengthened by atmospheric air. I hope the above is simple and intelligible, and that I have shown that it is impossible to enjoy life if we allow our skin to be clogged with dirt. We have seen the vital importance of fresh air and pure water. Yet, as Dr. Lankester so suggestively remarks in his address upon public health at the last Social Science Congress, “As the animal organism cannot live in air and water, but requires the varied compounds of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen for its existence, the whole question of the relation of the elements used as food becomes the subject of our inquiries. Here our researches are based especially on chemical facts, and we must take for our guides Mülder and Liebig, and the great school of chemical physiologists. The freshest air and the purest water will be no protection from disease and death, unless the human system is supplied in its food with the elements necessary for the play of those chemical forces which result in life. Not only must there be food supplying the materials of combustion and nutrition, but each tissue is built up and constituted its own peculiar way. The blood must be supplied with chloride of sodium and iron, the bones with phosphate, carbonate, and fluate of lime; the muscles with potash; the bile with sulphur; the saliva with cyanogen; the teeth, hair and nails with silica. A diet deficient of any of these materials may be the source of disease. Our navy was formerly decimated for want of fresh vegetables, our army was starved on an excessive diet of salt beef, our children die if fed alone on arrowroot or corn-flour. Those who inhale abundance of fresh air, and have access to infinite stores of pure water, nevertheless fall easy victims to diseases which result from the rebundance or deficiency of the compounds which, in natural quantities, constitute the source of their daily life.”
From the above comprehensive sketch of the principles of diet, we see to what an extent food influences the health of the individual, and consequently the prosperity and happiness of the nation. The subject of diet is so important, so full of interest, and opens so wide a field for interesting investigation, that I feel I cannot do better than refer those who wish for scientific information conveyed in popular terms on the subject of food, to Dr. Lankester’s “Lectures on Food;” and, in conclusion, I would say that it is only when the processes of digestion, respiration, and elimination, are in proper correlation, that we can expect either to enjoy or preserve good health.