The authorities in Hamburgh have applied to Mr. Lindley, the engineer, for a plan for the drainage of that town, and he has recommended for adoption the same principles, and the application of the refuse for agriculture, at a distance from the houses, instead of discharging it into the water which washes the town.
[26]. Dr. Bisset Hawkins, the medical Commissioner in the Factory Inquiry, stated in his Report, “I believe that most travellers are struck by the lowness of stature, the leanness and paleness which present themselves so commonly to the eye at Manchester, and above all, among the factory classes. I have never been in any town in Great Britain nor in Europe in which degeneracy of form and colour from the national standard has been so obvious.” P. 6. From a return obtained in 1836 and presented to the Manchester Statistical Society, of the cattle passing the toll-gates and the meat sold in the markets, it appeared that the consumption exclusively amongst this population could not be less than 105 lbs. each person annually, man, woman, and child, or 450 lbs. yearly per family of butchers’ meat alone, exclusively of bacon, pork, fish, and poultry. The wretched personal appearance of this population was only equalled by that of the Irish population of St. Giles, where the man earned from 14s. or 16s. to 1l. per week, (the wife and child earning something in addition,) but where it is their habit to live chiefly on potatoes and use little meat. The effect of a pure atmosphere, independently of diet, is shown in this population when they go into the country during harvest time. After a fortnight or three weeks’ absence, in which they will have had little change of living, except, perhaps, taking less spirits, the whole family return with the hue of health.
[27]. I have referred to the experience since the year 1801 in France, where the registration of births amongst the migratory population of the crowded districts, where the greatest mortality prevails, is likely to have been as imperfect as in England, but that experience is, on the whole, confirmatory, and proves that in the worst districts the births still exceed the mortality.
| Increase of Population in 35 Years in every 10,000 Persons. | Proportion of Births in 35 Years to 10,000 of Population. | Proportion of Deaths in 35 Years to 10,000 of Population. | Excess of Births over Deaths in 10,000 of Population. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 groups of departments of lowest mortality | 311 | 10,705 | 8,079 | 2,626 |
| 6 groups of departments of mean mortality | 2,396 | 12,439 | 10,044 | 2,395 |
| 6 groups of departments of highest mortality | 4,190 | 13,024 | 12,350 | 674 |
[28]. In recruiting for the French army, the standard is now fixed at 1·566 metres of height, which is about 5 feet 1½ inches English.
Fifty years ago, however, the standard height was 5 feet 4 inches English.
The English standard is for the Foot Guards 5 feet 6 inches.
| lbs. avoirdupois. | |
| The mean weight in Belgium (Brussels and environs) of the man is | 140·49 |
| In France (Paris and the neighbourhood) the man is | 136·89 |
| The mean weight of the Englishman (taken at Cambridge), from 18 to 25 | 150·98 |
| (In coaches it is usually considered that it averages 165 lbs.) | |
| The mean height of the Belgian male is | 5 feet 63 10 inches |
| The mean height of the Frenchman | 5 feet 4 inches |
| The mean height of the Englishman | 5 feet 9½ inches |
(M. Quetelet and M. Villermé, on the authority of M. Tenon, Annuaire de l’Obs. de Bruxelles, 1836.)
[29]. The diseases included under “Other Diseases,” include the deaths registered from a number of miscellaneous causes too numerous to be specified in the table.