Chapter 50

473. The doctrine of hermaphrodites has nevertheless been warmly maintained by foreign writers, among whom we may noticeAldrovandus,Licetus,Schurigio,Paul Zacchias, andBauhin.

474.Comment. Soc. Reg. Scient. Gottingen.T. 1.

475. Phil. Trans. vol. 89, A. D. 1799.

476. Anatomy of the human body, p. 314, and the plate. A similar case is to be found in theSloane M.S.in the British Museum, no. 4432, 5. “Hoc non satis animadvertantes mulierculæ nativitate ejus adstantes, in dijudicatione sexus erravere, et Infans Elizabethæ nomine baptizabatur.”

477. This observation applies to the irregular structure of quadrupeds as well as to that of man;Hallerdissected a ram, in which the parts had been supposed to be those of an hermaphrodite, whereas he found the animal with the imperfections above related.

478. This appears to have been the fact in the case related byMr. Pring. See London Medical Repository, vol. 18.

479.M. Ferrienobserves, an erroneous opinion prevailed in France that the greater number of miscarriages between three and four months, were males; the mistake, says he, evidently arose from the size of the clitoris at this period—Mem. de l’Acad. Royal des Sciences de Paris, 1767, p. 330. See alsoArnaudon Hermaphrodites.Parsons, Phil. Trans. 1751, 142.

480.Male’sJuridical Medicine, edit. 2, p. 266.Baillie’sMorbid Anatomy.

481. Hist. de l’Academie Royal, &c, 1720.

482. Principles of Forensic Medicine, p. 498.

483. We omitted to state in page286that an enlarged Clitoris is almost endemial in some countries, particularly Egypt and Darfur, where the excision of it is very commonly practised, and the operation is performed a little before the period of puberty, or at about the age of 8 or 9 years; this custom is mentioned byStrabo, and also byAlbucasis, who in his 7th chapter observes, that every parent knows when a child has those parts longer than ordinary, and cut and burn them off while the girls are very young.De Graafwas also acquainted with the fact, and observes, “Estque hujus partis chirurgia orientalibus tam necessaria quam decora.”

484. In which case the finding of the jury should follow the words of the commission, or the inquisition may be quashed.Ex parte Cranmer, 12.Ves.455.

485. The wordMadhas been derived by Dr. Haslam from the GothicMod, which signifiesrage; he observes, “it is true, we have now converted theOintoA, butModis the ancient word.”

486.Ideocy, orfatuity a nativitate, vel dementia naturalis. Such a one is described byFitzherbert, who knows not to tell 20s, nor knows who is his father or mother, nor knows his age; but if he knows letters, or can read by the instruction of another, then he is no ideot.F. N. B.233. new edit. 517. These, though they may be evidences, yet they are too narrow, and conclude not always; forideocyor not is a question of fact triable by jury, and sometimes by inspection.Hale Pl.29.Bl. Comm.304.

487. Hence the termLUNACY, from the supposed regulation of the intellect in certain states, by the influence of the moon; and the distinction between Idiot and Lunatic was formerly of the greatest importance, as the King had the custody of an Idiot to hisown use, not so of a Lunatic. F.N.B. 530, n.Dyer, 25.

488.Igiter si de insania ejusque variis generibus judicium ferendum est, hoc ab iis potissimum fierio portet, quibus omnia pertinent, quæ ad omnem hominis naturam proprius perspecta sunt, atque cognita, medici igitur de dignoscendis insanis audiendi sunt.—Platner de Insanis et furiosis.

489. The word is originally Greek, ιδιωτης, aprivate person, or one who leads a private life, without any share or concern in the government of affairs.

490. Anciently the king could grant the care of an idiot’s person and the profits of his estate during his life, without account, except for necessaries; but since the Revolution the crown has always granted the surplus to some of his family.Ridgw. Pa. Ca.159.App. n.1.Lysart v. Royse. Sch. and Lef.153.Fitz-geralds Case ib.436.

491. See also LordWenman’s case, 1P. Wms.702,Beverley’s Case, 4Co. R.126;Rochfort v. Ely, Ridgw. Parl. ca.515App. note1.

492. This term is recognised by the 4thGeo.2,c.10.Carew v. Johnson, 2Sch. and Lef.304, and SirEd. Cokesays it is the most legal name, 1Inst.246: “HereLittletonexplaineth a man of no sound memory to benon compos mentis. Many times (as it here appeareth) the Latin word explaineth the true sense; and calleth him notamens,demens,furiosus,lunaticus,fatuus,stultus, or the like, fornon compos mentisis most sure and legal.” LordCokesays, “Non compos mentisis of four sorts: firstIdiota, which from his nativity, by a perpetual infirmity, is non compos mentis; secondly, he that by sickness, grief, or other accident, wholly loses his memory and understanding; thirdly, a lunatic that has sometimes his understanding and sometimes not, “aliquando gaudet lucis intervallis;” and therefore he is callednon compos mentis, so long as he hath not understanding.”

493. Where it is among other things laid down that mere weakness of mind only is not a sufficient reason for granting the custody of the person and of his estate. The cupidity of relations is too apt to magnify indiscretion, eccentricity, and more particularly pecuniary extravagance into signs of madness; juries and commissioners cannot be too much on their guard against such modes of proof, lest one half of the world should lock up the other. The Romans committed prodigals to the custody of a guardian, as if they had been infants or madmen; but this is not the law of England.

494. In common parlance it is called the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery; but in strictness, the care and regulation of ideots and lunatics is a branch of the king’s prerogative (17Ed.2.c.9.) which is committed to the Lord Chancellor, not by delivery of the great seal, as his general jurisdiction is, but by warrant under the sign manual; therefore the appeal is to the King in Council, and not to the House of Lords; and neither the Master of the Rolls nor the Vice Chancellor can sit for the Chancellor, or make any orders in matters of lunacy.

495. SeeBeverley’s Case, 4Co. Rep.123. So in the case of MissKendrick, 8Ves.67; LordEldonsaid, “No one can look at this case without seeing, that every person about this lady is satisfied, that some care should be thrown round her. If clearly it is fit to protect her against executing powers of attorney, that she should not decide where her person, or with what trustees her property ought to be, all agreeing, that she should not choose the persons who are to have the care of her property, it is fit for me to put a controul upon those who may be proper persons to have the controul of her property. I will not subject her to another commission; but will direct two physicians, who have not been concerned nor consulted, to talk to those who have been concerned and consulted, to see the evidence, and afterwards in the most tender manner, to find the means of visiting her without alarming her, for the purpose of determining, whether her state of mind is competent to the management of her affairs. I am pretty confident LordHardwickewould not have gone so far: but finding when I came here a course of cases establishing this authority, and feeling a strong inclination to maintain it, or that the legislature should take measures to preserve persons in a state of imbecility, laying them as open to mischief as insanity; till these decisions are reviewed, I will not alter them.”An order was made accordingly, restraining MissKendrickfrom executing any instrument, except in the manner and with the attestation directed by the order.—We have not been able to discover this order in the Register’s books.

An order was made accordingly, restraining MissKendrickfrom executing any instrument, except in the manner and with the attestation directed by the order.—We have not been able to discover this order in the Register’s books.

496. A broad distinction, however, is to be made between the immediate and remote effects of intoxication: we shall have occasion to dwell at greater length upon this subject, under the consideration of Criminal Responsibility, in the third part of this work; upon the present occasion, we shall only observe in the words of Dr. Haslam, that although the usual effect of fermented liquors is temporary, yet that a single debauch may produce a state of mind that may be continued into a permanent insanity; and the person so affected may remain for many months in a state of mental derangement, and during the prevalence of his disorder may be compelled to forego all intoxicating beverage.

497.See Bl. Commen.497;Hall v. Warren, 9;Ves.605;White and Wilson; 13Ves.37; 1Fonb. Tr. Eq.51, and cases there; 1Collinson, 608, & cases there.

498. A lunatic ought not to be brought before the Court of Commissioners under any artificial excitement. In a recent instance, a lunatic, or supposed lunatic, was brought before commissioners for a second examination, his conduct at the first having been rational; in the interval he had been permitted to drink a considerable quantity of ale, spirits, and bottled porter, immediately after which he was again produced, when his altered demeanor convinced the jury (ignorant of his potations) that he was lunatic, and a verdict was found accordingly. One of the commissioners being afterwards accidentally informed of the circumstance, laid the case before the Lord Chancellor, who immediately quashed the commission. The conduct of these keepers could not be too severely reprobated, and we may take this opportunity of hinting that the practice of holding any judicial investigation in taverns and public houses (where it can be avoided) is liable to many objections; at least theInquisitio post prandiumshould be abolished.

499. Access has also been denied to a party having an interest,Ex parte Littleton, 6Ves.7; but query.

500. And when the lunatic’s estate is too small to bear the expense of a commission, a reference has been directed to the Master, and an order for the payment of dividends made on his report. This appeared to LordLoughboroughto be irregular; the precedent was only to be followed in cases of necessity.Eyre v. Wake, Ves.179. In 1799 the expense of a commission was about £120. LordTalbotadmitted a defendant who had lost his memory by extreme age, to answer by guardian, the matter in demand being but small. 2P. Wms.110, and LordEldonrestrained a supposed lunatic by injunction from doing certain acts, vide ante, MissKendrick’s case.

501. A Commission must not be sued out to be held in terrorem; if a person keep the Commission by him several years without executing it, he is guilty of a contempt, and the Commission will be discharged with costs. 2Atk.52.An Inquisition in England is not sufficient to bind lands in Ireland; there must be an Inquisition and finding under the Great Seal of Ireland.Duchess of Chandos’ Case, 1Sch. and Lef.301.

An Inquisition in England is not sufficient to bind lands in Ireland; there must be an Inquisition and finding under the Great Seal of Ireland.Duchess of Chandos’ Case, 1Sch. and Lef.301.

502. A Commission of lunacy, in a proper case, will be granted on the application of a stranger.Ex parte Ogle.15Ves.112.Ex parte Ward.6Ves.579.

503. The Commissioners are selected by the Lord Chancellor, who generally appoints experienced Barristers; some benefit might arise if two of the Censors of the College of Physicians were added to the commission.

504. On foreign proceedings in the nature of Commissions of lunacy, seeSylva v. Da Costa. 8Ves.316.Ex p. Gillam, 2Ves. jun.587.

505. In this case an Irish Peeress was committed for not producing her husband.

506. The supposed lunatic should have due notice, and the Commission be executed near the place of abode.Ex parte Hall.7Ves.261, for it is his privilege to be at the execution of it.Ex parte Cranmer.

507. A lunatic who would have been convicted of a capital crime but for the plea of lunacy, may recover, and claim his liberty, as was the case ofHadfield, who shot at his late Majesty, and who presented a petition for enlargement to the House of Commons. It is more than doubtful whether such applications should ever be complied with; a man restored to sanity under coercion may very quickly relapse when he becomes his own master; a moderate quantity of spirits, or exposure to other irritation, may readily produce a paroxysm which may be attended with fatal consequences, either to the party himself, or, to some other. Public policy therefore requires a continuance of the restraint, however painful to the individual. If there be one case which admits of relaxation less than another, it is where injuries of the head have produced the insanity. For the trial ofHadfield, see 19How. St. Tri.1281.

508.Delirium, a word employed by the Romans, had its origin from the process of ploughing; for when the oxen deviated from the line to be pursued, they were said to bede lira, out of the track; and this figure was transferred to the deviations of the human intellect, when it erred from the established course. Delirium, says Dr. Cullen, may be shortly defined,—“In a person awake, a false judgment arising from perceptions of imagination, or from false recollection, and commonly producing disproportionate emotions.” It is of two kinds; as it is combined with pyrexia and comatose affections: or, as it is entirely without such combination; in the latter case it is namedInsanity.

509. There frequently exists an illusion as to particular things, to which, says Dr. Male, men of genius are sometimes subject, which leads them to indulge eccentric whimsies and extravagant fancies, whilst on every other subject their perception is clear, and their conclusions correct; instances of this kind abound in every treatise on insanity, and may be traced from the earliest period of history. Pythagoras believed that he had lived in prior ages, and inhabited different bodies, and that in the shape of Euphorbus he had assisted in the siege of Troy. Tasso fancied himself to be visited by a familiar spirit, with whom he conversed aloud (Hoole’s Life of Tasso). The hero of the celebrated romance of Cervantes, exhibits a well-drawn picture of this species of insanity; and although in a less attractive costume, how frequently do we recognise Don Quixote in every rank and description of society? If, says a celebrated writer, the circle in which this absurdity revolves is so very small as to touch nobody, a man is only what is then calledsingularin that respect; but if its orbit is extended so as to run foul of other people, he is then called a madman, and is confined.—Armata, Part II.

510. The admirers of modern Tragedy might be reasonably alarmed if their approvals should be too strictly construed into symptoms of madness.

511. The case of MissButterfield, which we shall have other occasion to refer to, is somewhat similar in effect to this. Mr.Scawenhad left Miss B. a considerable legacy; but being impressed by his surgeon with the idea that she had poisoned him with corrosive sublimate, he turned her out of his house and altered his will. Mr. S. died, and so evidently by mercurial poison, that Miss B. was tried for the murder, but was acquitted, there being no evidence that she was the person by whom the poison had been administered, and a considerable probability that it had been contained in some quack medicines which Mr. S. had taken. Under such circumstances a restoration of her legacy might have been expected either from the liberality of the next of kin, or from the interposition of a Court of Equity.

512. Continued by 19, and made perpetual by 26Geo.3,c.91.

513. The Commissioners appointed by the College act within London and seven miles compass, and within the county of Middlesex:—Query, why not in the adjacent counties of Kent, Essex, and Surry, in which they have but a limited jurisdiction?

514. If any alteration be necessary on this subject, we should suggest the joining in Commission the legal Commissioners of Lunatics, named by the Lord Chancellor, with the Medical Commissioners, elected by the College; the former might acquire experience in judging of the ever varying forms of lunacy, and the latter would gain legal assistance in the execution of their duty.

515. The case of Mary Mills in 1806, (1Collinson, 530, and Annual Register, 1806) shews that some additional strictness is necessary in comparing the number of registered lunatics with the number actually confined.

516. Public Lunatic Asylums may be considered as divisible into three classes, viz. 1. Those which are entirely eleemosynary, or are supported partly by an income, funded or landed, but arising from benevolence, and partly by voluntary contributions,2. Those which are supported, partly by voluntary contributions, and partly by pensionary patients, paying according to a certain gradation of rank,3. Pauper Lunatic Asylums founded underMr. Wynne’sact, at the expense of the county, and where the patients are supported by their parishes.Most Eleemosynary Lunatic Asylums, either for want of sufficient funds, or of room to accommodate all the lunatics who apply, exclude epilepsy and idiotsy, making occasional exceptions, where the friends of the patient can afford to pay the expense of maintenance. County Pauper-lunatic Asylums are compelled to receive both these classes of patients, if considered dangerous, but not otherwise.

2. Those which are supported, partly by voluntary contributions, and partly by pensionary patients, paying according to a certain gradation of rank,

3. Pauper Lunatic Asylums founded underMr. Wynne’sact, at the expense of the county, and where the patients are supported by their parishes.

Most Eleemosynary Lunatic Asylums, either for want of sufficient funds, or of room to accommodate all the lunatics who apply, exclude epilepsy and idiotsy, making occasional exceptions, where the friends of the patient can afford to pay the expense of maintenance. County Pauper-lunatic Asylums are compelled to receive both these classes of patients, if considered dangerous, but not otherwise.

517. In Scotland by 55Geo.3,c.69. In Ireland by 57Geo.3,c.106; 1Geo.4,c.98; 1 and 2Geo.4,c.33.

518. See an Essay on Madness, byDr. Johnstone.

519.Reeveon Critinism; Phil. Trans. 1808,III; and Edinb. Med. Journ. v. 31.

520. It has been calculated that the thirtieth part of the Epileptic degenerate into a state of fatuity.

521. Medical Jurisprudence, as it relates to Insanity, byJohn Haslam, M. D.London, 1817.

522. SeeBurrows’sInquiry into certain errors relative to Insanity, page 164.

523. μανία from μαίνομαιI rage.

524. μελαγχολία, from μελας,black, and χολὴbile; black bile being considered as the cause of the malady.

525. A Reply toDr. Battie’sTreatise on Madness, 8 Lond. 1785.

526. Religious fanaticism is so frequently attendant upon mania, that a question has arisen respecting their relative dependance upon each other, as to whether the former be the cause or the effect of the latter? It seems probable that both these opinions are correct, for, asDr. Burrowsvery justly observes that, as religion influences the internal man more than all the passions collectively, so it may be acauseof insanity; while, on the other hand, there is no doubt, that a lunatic may imbibe a religious as well as any other hallucination, and yet be insane from a cause very contrary to religious.

527.Haslam—Op. citat.

528.Dr. Haslamventures an opinion upon this subject, which appears to us so plausible that we shall introduce it to the notice of our readers. “The ordinary class of persons, who are usually summoned to act as jurymen, have in common with the mass of mankind, who have wanted the means of direct information, adopted the popular and floating opinions on the subject of insanity. That dramatic representations have forcibly operated for this purpose there is little reason to doubt: and some of the plays ofShakspeareexhibit many of the forms which this malady is supposed to assume. Among such characters none have more strongly fastened on the general mind than the outrageousLear, and the distractedOphelia; the subtile crasiness ofHamletleaves it doubtful whether his alienation of mind be real or conventionally assumed, and to the ordinary observer conveys more of fiction than the avowed counterfeit ofEdgar. Romances, the literary food of the idle and thoughtless, abound in descriptions of intellectual calamity; but these artificers of fancy, like many unskilful performers, are too prone to strain the loftier impressions of feeling, and distort the energies of passion into mental derangement. Something of affecting interest may be excited by the weaknesses and wanderings ofMaria, butCervanteshas exhibited the happiest and most correct picture of systematic insanity; although the vehicle of chivalry in which it is conveyed, has, to our own countrymen, blunted its interest as a physiological portrait of madness; his sallies have provoked mirth, and so keen is the relish for the ridiculous, that in the luxury of laughter, the reader has forgotten the tribute of commiseration.”

529. SeeErskine’sSpeeches, vol. iv.

530.Male’sJuridical Medicine, edit. 2, p. 208.

531. Dict. des Sciences Med. Art.Folie.

532. Op. citat. p. 208.

533. This is well illustrated by the remarkable case of Nicolai of Berlin, as cited byDr. Ferriaron Apparitions, p. 41, and also byDr. Haslamin his “Medical Jurisprudence, as it relates to Insanity,” p. 25.

534.Haslamon Insanity.

535. SeeMale’sJuridical Medicine, p. 220.

536.Dr. Burrows, in his “Inquiry into certain errors relative to Insanity,” has taken a comprehensive view of this important question, in which he attempts to prove thata very large proportion of the insane recover the perfect use of their understanding, and in elucidation he has submitted a comparative table of cures, comprising returns from all the public lunatic asylums in England, and likewise all the returns from Scotland that are accessible. To this work we must refer the reader. The statistical branch of this subject has been greatly elucidated byDr. Powell, the Secretary to the Commissioners for licensing mad-houses; and we are happy in being authorised to state that the public may shortly expect an important publication from the same author, in which the views of Dr. Burrows will probably be duly examined.

537.Dr. J. Johnstoneon Madness.

538. An Inquiry, &c. p. 64.

539. A Treatise on experience in Physic, vol. 2, p. 292; see alsoDr. Crichton’svaluable work on Mental Derangement.

540. During ten years 80 patients of this description were admitted into Bethlem hospital, 50 of whom perfectly recovered.

541. De Sedibus et Causis, Epist. 1, 8, 6.

542. See a review of a work entitled “A Treatise on the Diseases of the Nervous System, Part I; comprising Convulsive and Maniacal Affections,” byJ. C. Prichard, M.D. &c. London, 1821, p. 426, Medical Repository, Feb. 1, 1822.

543. On the manufactures and occupations above alluded to, we have make the following observations.—(1) As the vegetable matter undergoes the putrefactive process in stagnant pools, the effluvia which arise are necessarily highly pernicious; while the waters become so poisonous as to destroy the fish contained in them, as well as to prove injurious to cattle that drink of them. In Italy the process of steeping flax or hemp is only permitted at the distance of some leagues from a town.Zimmermantells us that the effluvia from this source have been known to occasion a malignant fever, which proved fatal to the family in which it first began, and afterwards spread its contagion through a whole country.Lancisiobserves, that dangerous fevers are often prevalent at Constantinople, which owe their source to the hemp brought from Cairo, and which is put wet into the public granaries, and suffered to ferment during the summer. At Helmstedt there is annually in the autumn, when the flax is steeped in the Aller, an epidemic dysentery that prevails for several weeks.(2) The manufacture of starch can scarcely be considered, in itself, a nuisance, for although it be necessary to produce the acetous fermentation, in order to remove from the fecula any colouring matter, yet if sufficient attention be paid to the operation, and the water be properly let off from the settling-vessels, no inconvenience can arise. A nuisance, however, of considerable magnitude may incidentally attend these manufactories, from the number of swine which are constantly kept by the starch maker, and the profit of which forms a part of his speculation, and which is so considerable that he can generally afford to sell the starch at prime cost, relying wholly upon the former trade for his profits.(3) The process of tanning involves several operations of a very nauseous description; the hides, for example, undergo incipient putrefaction in order to loosen the epidermis, and to render the hair and other extraneous matter easy of separation from the true skin.(4) The peregrinations and vicissitudes of fate to which the horse is doomed during life has repeatedly furnished subjects of reflection; but few are aware to how many economical purposes his carcase is converted after death, and to how many noisome processes it gives rise. The dealers in dead horses, ornackers, as they are termed, begin their mercantile anatomy by taking off the shoes and disposing of them to the farrier; the skins are next stripped off, and sold to the tanner; the carcase is then cut into pieces, and boiled in large cauldrons of water, in order to extract the fatty matter, which, being skimmed off from the surface of the liquor, is “rendered down” and packed in cases for the soap-boiler, or the manufacturer of cart-grease. Whatever remains after this operation supplies the venders of dog’s and cat’s meat with a dainty article of sale; at length the views of the greedy trader are directed to the bones of this noble animal; a number of persons find employment in chopping them into small fragments, from which the marrow is then extracted by a boiling for several hours, and added to the fat already obtained from the carcase; the dry remains are employed in the production of hartshorn by distillation; and after this process is finished, they are removed from the still, and calcined to whiteness, in order to be mixed with clay for the manufacture of porcelaine; or they are consumed for the formation of ivory-black.(5) The intolerable nuisance of a public brewery arises from the volumes of carbonaceous matter with which it overwhelms the neighbourhood. We shall therefore take this occasion to offer the remarks which we are prepared to make respecting the effects of smoke on the inhabitants of themetropolis, and on the methods which have been suggested for the mitigation of the evil. And upon this subject we entirely agree with an intelligent reviewer, that, after all, it is not a few chimneys attached to steam engines that infect the air of London with smoke; every house is busy in the work of contamination, although less observed, because administered by separate vents, and in divided doses.In the year 1661, a work was published by the celebratedJohn Evelynon the subject of this grievance, entitled, “Fumifugium;or the Inconveniences of the Air and Smoake of London dissipated; together with some remedies humbly proposed to his sacred Majestie, and to the Parliament now assembled.” The above “short discourse” has become exceedingly scarce, but the reader will find an interesting account of its contents in the Journal of Science and the Arts. It is certainly a curious coincidence that the attention of John Evelyn should have been first excited on this subject by “a presumptuous smoake issuing from one or two tunnels near Northumberland house, and not far from Scotland yard,”—the very seat of the plots of our modern fumifugists! After adverting to the situation of the metropolis “built upon a sweet and most agreeable eminency of ground at the north side of a goodly and well conditioned river, toward which it has an aspect by a gentle and easie declivity,” he proceeds to animadvert upon that “hellish and dismall cloud of sea coale, which is not only perpetually imminent over her head, but so universally mixed with the otherwise wholesome and excellent air, that her inhabitants breathe nothing but an impure thick mist, accompanied with a fuliginous and filthy vapour, which renders them obnoxious to a thousand inconveniences, corrupting their lungs, and disordering the entire habit of their bodies.” It appears that in Evelyn’s time, brewers, dyers, lime-burners, and salt and soap-boilers, were the principal nuisances; and “since then,” says the editor of the new edition of theFumifugiumin 1772, “we have a great increase of glass-houses, founderies, and sugar-bakers, to add to the black catalogue, at the head of which must be placed the fire engines of the water-works at London bridge and York-buildings, which leave the astonished spectator at a loss to determine whether they do not tend to poison and destroy more of the inhabitants by their smoke and stench than they supply with water;” to which sooty list, says the reviewer, in the Journal of Science and the Arts, above cited, “what astonishing additions have been made, within the last thirty years, in and about London? How many new water-companies, and smoke-producing manufactories have been added to the catalogue? A newspaper cannot now be printed, nor a pound of meat minced for sausages without a steam-engine; to the same smoky servant the druggist resorts to grind his rhubarb and to sift his magnesia,[544]and upon all possible occasions the services of the other elements is superseded by that of fire.” With respect to the deleterious effects of smoke upon the health of the inhabitants of our mighty city, much difference of opinion has existed; amongst Foreigners the air of London has the reputation of being extremely unhealthy, on account of the exhalation which arises from the use of coal; it excites in strangers, saysZimmerman, a considerable heat in the stomach, and sometimes a spitting of blood, and even nervous fevers which terminate in palsy. (Experience in Physic, vol.2,p.137). It is hardly necessary for us to make any observation upon a prejudice so absurd and unfounded;Evelynalso seems, in our opinion, to attribute more evils to the smoke than can be well substantiated; “I report myself,” says he, “to all those who have been compelled to breathe the air of other countries for some years, if they do not now perceive a manifest alteration in their appetite, and clearness of their spirits, especially such as have lived long in France and the city of Paris.” Although we are not disposed to consider the smoky atmosphere of London as so destructive to health as some have imagined, we are not prepared to state that it is entirely harmless. Children are certainly less healthy in this city than in the country; and the superior rapidity with which iron becomes oxidized, indicates the existence of atmospheric impurities. The phenomena of vegetation also offers another demonstration of the same fact; Evelyn has the following curious remarks upon this circumstance: “That the smoake destroys our vegetation is shewn by that which was by many observed in the year 1644, when Newcastle was besieged, and blocked up in our late wars, so as through the great dearth and scarcity of coals, these fumous works were either left off, or diminished, divers gardens and orchards planted even in the very heart of London, (as in particular, my Lord Marquis of Hertford in the Strand; my Lord Bridgewater’s, and some others about Barbican) were observed to bear such plentiful and infinite quantities of fruits, as they never produced the like before, or since, to their great astonishment; but it was by the owners rightly imputed to the penury of coales, and the little smoake which they took notice to infest them that yeare.”Although some difference of opinion may exist, as to the extent of the evil, in a medical point of view, we must all concur in agreeing upon the necessity of some plan by which it may be diminished; we shall, therefore, proceed to offer some remarks upon the proposals which have been made, at different times, for obtaining so desirable an object.Mr. Evelyn’splan consisted in the removal of all smoking manufactories from London, “five or six miles down the river Thames, or at least, so far as to stand behind that promontory jutting out and securing Greenwich from the pestilential air of Plumstead marshes.” He then proposes gardens and plantations in and about the metropolis, and enumerates a variety of fragrant plants, suited to our climate, and calculated to sweeten and improve the air.[545]In the year 1682, Mr.Justellcommunicated to the Royal Society, “An account of an Engine that consumes smoke, shewn lately at St. Germains Fair in Paris.”Dr. Leutmann, of Wirtemburgh, described in his “Vulcanus Famulans,” a stove which draws downwards, so that the contrivances of theMarquis de Chabannes, and others who have burnt their smoke by a downward draught of air were not original.Dr. Franklinin 1785 (Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Benjamin Franklin, vol.iv.p.408) suggested a mode of burning smoke; but to the illustriousMr. Watt, we are more particularly indebted for the first important hints upon this subject; his patent may be seen in thefourth volume of the Repertory of Artsfor 1796, p. 226; and the great engines at the Soho manufactory have all along been worked without smoke; it is therefore not a little extraordinary, as a late reviewer has justly observed, that in the Report from the Committee of the House of Commons “to enquire how far it may be practicable to compel persons using steam engines and furnaces in their different works to erect them in a manner less prejudicial to public health and public comfort,” and upon which report the bill of last session is founded, no notice is taken ofMr. Watt’ssuggestions and inquiries. In the Parliamentary Report, to which we have just alluded, there are two inventions for the destruction of smoke, which appear to have principally occupied the attention of the Committee, and which profess to accomplish the object, with a very considerable saving of fuel, viz:Mr. Brunton’s Fire Regulator.In this patent a newly constructed fire-place is applied to the engine boiler, containing a circular grate, which is made to revolve slowly upon its axis; the fire upon this grate is fed in front by a kind of hopper continually delivering small coal, which, from the rotatory motion of the grate itself, becomes equally spread upon its surface, so as to maintain a thin fire, and a sharp draught; the coal is thus rapidly decomposed and burned; the smoke at first produced having to pass across the grate, and over the red hot, and already coaked fuel.Patent of Messrs. Parkes of Warwick.—The principal agent in this improvement is a current of air, admitted just beyond the end of the fire-place, by means of an aperture which may be increased, or closed at pleasure, and which the patentee term an “air valve.” A small fire is first made to burn brightly at the back of the grate; coals are then filled in towards the front, in which direction the fire gradually spreads; their smoke necessarily passes over the clear fire, where it becomes sufficiently heated to constitute flame, as soon as it meets with the current of air entering at the valve; and a striking experiment with this apparatus consists in alternately shutting and opening the air-valve, which is accompanied by the alternate appearance and disappearance of the smoke.Instead, however, of insisting upon any form of fire-place, greater benefit would arise from an enactment respecting the height of chimneys; our intelligent reviewer, of whose remarks we have so frequently availed ourselves, observes, that by conveying black smoke, and other pernicious fumes into a capacious and very lofty chimney, much of the noxious matters that otherwise escape into the atmosphere are decomposed and precipitated or condensed within; of the truth of which, the chimney of the grand-junction engine, at Paddington, and that of the West Middlesex water-works, at Hammersmith, offer striking illustrations; when these machines are at work, the former produces little smoke, while the latter inundates the neighbouring gardens with perpetual showers of solid soot; and yet the only difference is in the relative altitude of the two chimneys; the boilers being, in all respects, set and constructed alike. A chimney from 150 to 200 feet would in most cases prove effectual, and the expense might be considerably lessened by making one shaft receive all the tributary fumes of many flues. But to return to the nuisance of breweries, from which we have made so long a digression; it is probable, that the smoke from these chimneys could not be remedied either by Brunton’s or Parkes’s patent, but the increasing the altitude of the chimney would seem to promise a mode of relief; we are also to look to the employment of steam as a substitute for fires; high pressure steam has been very extensively employed for this purpose in Whitbread’s brewery, and the smoke has in consequence sustained a very perceptible diminution.(6) Sulphuric acid makers are continually indicted; and it would appear that by a scientific improvement in the process, the escape of the sulphurous acid, which constitutes the grievance, might to a great degree be obviated. How does it happen that, notwithstanding the cost of the materials necessary for the production of sulphuric acid, is in France at least double what it is in England, the French can afford to sell the article 25 per cent. cheaper than the English? the answer is obvious,—the great part of the materials are sent off into the air, in the form ofsulphurous acid, andnitrous gas, to the annoyance of the neighbouring animals and vegetables, and the ruin, too often, of the proprietor. SeeJournal of Science and the Arts. In a report drawn up in the year 1806 by Guyton Morveau, and Chaptal, upon the subject of injurious manufactories, by command of the minister of the interior, it is declared that the distillation of acids can only prove dangerous from want of due precaution.(7) The manufacture of Prussian blue is necessarily attended with highly offensive vapours. The first part of the process consists in mixing hoofs and tup’s horns with Russian or American potass, in large iron stills, to which heat is gradually applied, until the vessel become red hot; the animal matter and alkali being thus fused into a mass is laded out into iron pans, where it concretes into solid blocks, technically calledmetals.(8) The operation of unfolding the cow’s horns by the application of heat is attended with a terrible stench; the trade in lanthorn leaves was formerly very considerable with Russia; but it was nearly annihilated by an edict of Catherine; the less flexible parts are made into combs; and the tips of the horns are sent to Birmingham for the manufacture of buttons.(9) Owing to the viscid nature of the materials, it is impossible to make varnish without burning the animal matter, which occasions a stench of the most insufferable kind; and is so suffocating, that very lately two workmen lost their lives in a manufactory of this article in Gray’s-inn-lane.(10) The animal matters employed in this process give rise to a stench which has repeatedly formed the ground of indictment. The most nauseous part of the trade, however, consists in concentrating the waste lees, for the purpose of obtaining by fusion in a reverberatory furnace, an article which is calledBLACK ASH, and which contains, amongst other salts, thesulphuret of soda.(11) “Renderers of tallow” are persons who convert the butcher’s fat, &c. into tallow.(12) The process of smelting different ores is the most injurious of all the operations of art, although to the senses it may be less nauseous than those in which animal matter undergoes decomposition by heat, or putrefaction. These evils, however, by the ingenious application of various mechanical and chemical expedients, have in many instances been very materially diminished, and in others, entirely obviated; this is strikingly illustrated in several large works for smelting lead ores; and the proprietors of the Hafod copper works, at Swansea, are at present engaged in an experimental inquiry into various plans which have been proposed for diminishing, or preventing the ill effects which arise from the metallic fumes. Acquainted as we are with the liberality and science of these gentlemen, we have little doubt of the result; and we mention the circumstance in this place in order to recommend similar efforts on the part of persons engaged in other works; and at the same time for the purpose of preparing the reader for some observations which we shall take occasion to offer, on the subject of the law of nuisance, in relation to its operation in stopping works of such national importance. It would be premature to enter into any detailed account of the chemical means which promise a successful resource on this occasion; we shall only observe that the great mischief seems to arise from the quantity of arsenic, so universally present in the ores of copper; and there is reason to hope, from the experiments already made by Mr. J. H.Vivian, thatLimemay be usefully employed in preventing its volatilization. The author of the present note has had ample opportunities of investigating the effects of arsenical fumes, which arise from the burning-houses in Cornwall, and from the great copper works carried on at Hayle in that county, and they appear to be especially pernicious to graminivorous quadrupeds; horses and cows lose their hoofs; and the latter animals are not unfrequently seen, in the vicinity of the works, crawling along on their knees; they are also subject to a cancerous affection in their tails; and milch cows loose their milk. The herbage also suffers materially from the poisonous smoke, especially in wet seasons; corn is blighted in the ear, and never perfects its seed, unless care be taken to select at that period such ore as will yield but little sublimate. Cabbages do not appear to suffer in the least; nor are potatoes materially injured; and it is not the least curious circumstance in the history of these works, that the apple-trees in their vicinity grow and bear fruit without sustaining any of those ill effects which we should have anticipated, but, on the contrary, the arsenical fumes appear to destroy all the insects which usually infest such trees, and their trunks exhibit a cleanness which would delight the horticulturist. The men employed in these works are occasionally affected with a cancerous disease in the scrotum, similar to that which infests chimney-sweepers; it is however probable that this arises from the immediate application of the excoriating material made by the hand in the act of rubbing the part. A similar affection was a short time since observed in a manufactory, in which the workmen were engaged in making an arsenical solution for a green dye, used in calico printing.(13) Gas Works. We have lately learnt, that a method has been adopted to get rid of the nuisance which has arisen from the residual liquor from these works, by evaporating it in pans, placed in the ash-pit of the furnace, and by which the iron bars of the fire-place are at the same time kept cool, and are therefore much longer preserved. The contrivance may be seen at the gas works in Worship-street.

543. On the manufactures and occupations above alluded to, we have make the following observations.—

(1) As the vegetable matter undergoes the putrefactive process in stagnant pools, the effluvia which arise are necessarily highly pernicious; while the waters become so poisonous as to destroy the fish contained in them, as well as to prove injurious to cattle that drink of them. In Italy the process of steeping flax or hemp is only permitted at the distance of some leagues from a town.Zimmermantells us that the effluvia from this source have been known to occasion a malignant fever, which proved fatal to the family in which it first began, and afterwards spread its contagion through a whole country.Lancisiobserves, that dangerous fevers are often prevalent at Constantinople, which owe their source to the hemp brought from Cairo, and which is put wet into the public granaries, and suffered to ferment during the summer. At Helmstedt there is annually in the autumn, when the flax is steeped in the Aller, an epidemic dysentery that prevails for several weeks.

(2) The manufacture of starch can scarcely be considered, in itself, a nuisance, for although it be necessary to produce the acetous fermentation, in order to remove from the fecula any colouring matter, yet if sufficient attention be paid to the operation, and the water be properly let off from the settling-vessels, no inconvenience can arise. A nuisance, however, of considerable magnitude may incidentally attend these manufactories, from the number of swine which are constantly kept by the starch maker, and the profit of which forms a part of his speculation, and which is so considerable that he can generally afford to sell the starch at prime cost, relying wholly upon the former trade for his profits.

(3) The process of tanning involves several operations of a very nauseous description; the hides, for example, undergo incipient putrefaction in order to loosen the epidermis, and to render the hair and other extraneous matter easy of separation from the true skin.

(4) The peregrinations and vicissitudes of fate to which the horse is doomed during life has repeatedly furnished subjects of reflection; but few are aware to how many economical purposes his carcase is converted after death, and to how many noisome processes it gives rise. The dealers in dead horses, ornackers, as they are termed, begin their mercantile anatomy by taking off the shoes and disposing of them to the farrier; the skins are next stripped off, and sold to the tanner; the carcase is then cut into pieces, and boiled in large cauldrons of water, in order to extract the fatty matter, which, being skimmed off from the surface of the liquor, is “rendered down” and packed in cases for the soap-boiler, or the manufacturer of cart-grease. Whatever remains after this operation supplies the venders of dog’s and cat’s meat with a dainty article of sale; at length the views of the greedy trader are directed to the bones of this noble animal; a number of persons find employment in chopping them into small fragments, from which the marrow is then extracted by a boiling for several hours, and added to the fat already obtained from the carcase; the dry remains are employed in the production of hartshorn by distillation; and after this process is finished, they are removed from the still, and calcined to whiteness, in order to be mixed with clay for the manufacture of porcelaine; or they are consumed for the formation of ivory-black.

(5) The intolerable nuisance of a public brewery arises from the volumes of carbonaceous matter with which it overwhelms the neighbourhood. We shall therefore take this occasion to offer the remarks which we are prepared to make respecting the effects of smoke on the inhabitants of themetropolis, and on the methods which have been suggested for the mitigation of the evil. And upon this subject we entirely agree with an intelligent reviewer, that, after all, it is not a few chimneys attached to steam engines that infect the air of London with smoke; every house is busy in the work of contamination, although less observed, because administered by separate vents, and in divided doses.

In the year 1661, a work was published by the celebratedJohn Evelynon the subject of this grievance, entitled, “Fumifugium;or the Inconveniences of the Air and Smoake of London dissipated; together with some remedies humbly proposed to his sacred Majestie, and to the Parliament now assembled.” The above “short discourse” has become exceedingly scarce, but the reader will find an interesting account of its contents in the Journal of Science and the Arts. It is certainly a curious coincidence that the attention of John Evelyn should have been first excited on this subject by “a presumptuous smoake issuing from one or two tunnels near Northumberland house, and not far from Scotland yard,”—the very seat of the plots of our modern fumifugists! After adverting to the situation of the metropolis “built upon a sweet and most agreeable eminency of ground at the north side of a goodly and well conditioned river, toward which it has an aspect by a gentle and easie declivity,” he proceeds to animadvert upon that “hellish and dismall cloud of sea coale, which is not only perpetually imminent over her head, but so universally mixed with the otherwise wholesome and excellent air, that her inhabitants breathe nothing but an impure thick mist, accompanied with a fuliginous and filthy vapour, which renders them obnoxious to a thousand inconveniences, corrupting their lungs, and disordering the entire habit of their bodies.” It appears that in Evelyn’s time, brewers, dyers, lime-burners, and salt and soap-boilers, were the principal nuisances; and “since then,” says the editor of the new edition of theFumifugiumin 1772, “we have a great increase of glass-houses, founderies, and sugar-bakers, to add to the black catalogue, at the head of which must be placed the fire engines of the water-works at London bridge and York-buildings, which leave the astonished spectator at a loss to determine whether they do not tend to poison and destroy more of the inhabitants by their smoke and stench than they supply with water;” to which sooty list, says the reviewer, in the Journal of Science and the Arts, above cited, “what astonishing additions have been made, within the last thirty years, in and about London? How many new water-companies, and smoke-producing manufactories have been added to the catalogue? A newspaper cannot now be printed, nor a pound of meat minced for sausages without a steam-engine; to the same smoky servant the druggist resorts to grind his rhubarb and to sift his magnesia,[544]and upon all possible occasions the services of the other elements is superseded by that of fire.” With respect to the deleterious effects of smoke upon the health of the inhabitants of our mighty city, much difference of opinion has existed; amongst Foreigners the air of London has the reputation of being extremely unhealthy, on account of the exhalation which arises from the use of coal; it excites in strangers, saysZimmerman, a considerable heat in the stomach, and sometimes a spitting of blood, and even nervous fevers which terminate in palsy. (Experience in Physic, vol.2,p.137). It is hardly necessary for us to make any observation upon a prejudice so absurd and unfounded;Evelynalso seems, in our opinion, to attribute more evils to the smoke than can be well substantiated; “I report myself,” says he, “to all those who have been compelled to breathe the air of other countries for some years, if they do not now perceive a manifest alteration in their appetite, and clearness of their spirits, especially such as have lived long in France and the city of Paris.” Although we are not disposed to consider the smoky atmosphere of London as so destructive to health as some have imagined, we are not prepared to state that it is entirely harmless. Children are certainly less healthy in this city than in the country; and the superior rapidity with which iron becomes oxidized, indicates the existence of atmospheric impurities. The phenomena of vegetation also offers another demonstration of the same fact; Evelyn has the following curious remarks upon this circumstance: “That the smoake destroys our vegetation is shewn by that which was by many observed in the year 1644, when Newcastle was besieged, and blocked up in our late wars, so as through the great dearth and scarcity of coals, these fumous works were either left off, or diminished, divers gardens and orchards planted even in the very heart of London, (as in particular, my Lord Marquis of Hertford in the Strand; my Lord Bridgewater’s, and some others about Barbican) were observed to bear such plentiful and infinite quantities of fruits, as they never produced the like before, or since, to their great astonishment; but it was by the owners rightly imputed to the penury of coales, and the little smoake which they took notice to infest them that yeare.”

Although some difference of opinion may exist, as to the extent of the evil, in a medical point of view, we must all concur in agreeing upon the necessity of some plan by which it may be diminished; we shall, therefore, proceed to offer some remarks upon the proposals which have been made, at different times, for obtaining so desirable an object.

Mr. Evelyn’splan consisted in the removal of all smoking manufactories from London, “five or six miles down the river Thames, or at least, so far as to stand behind that promontory jutting out and securing Greenwich from the pestilential air of Plumstead marshes.” He then proposes gardens and plantations in and about the metropolis, and enumerates a variety of fragrant plants, suited to our climate, and calculated to sweeten and improve the air.[545]

In the year 1682, Mr.Justellcommunicated to the Royal Society, “An account of an Engine that consumes smoke, shewn lately at St. Germains Fair in Paris.”Dr. Leutmann, of Wirtemburgh, described in his “Vulcanus Famulans,” a stove which draws downwards, so that the contrivances of theMarquis de Chabannes, and others who have burnt their smoke by a downward draught of air were not original.Dr. Franklinin 1785 (Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Benjamin Franklin, vol.iv.p.408) suggested a mode of burning smoke; but to the illustriousMr. Watt, we are more particularly indebted for the first important hints upon this subject; his patent may be seen in thefourth volume of the Repertory of Artsfor 1796, p. 226; and the great engines at the Soho manufactory have all along been worked without smoke; it is therefore not a little extraordinary, as a late reviewer has justly observed, that in the Report from the Committee of the House of Commons “to enquire how far it may be practicable to compel persons using steam engines and furnaces in their different works to erect them in a manner less prejudicial to public health and public comfort,” and upon which report the bill of last session is founded, no notice is taken ofMr. Watt’ssuggestions and inquiries. In the Parliamentary Report, to which we have just alluded, there are two inventions for the destruction of smoke, which appear to have principally occupied the attention of the Committee, and which profess to accomplish the object, with a very considerable saving of fuel, viz:

Mr. Brunton’s Fire Regulator.In this patent a newly constructed fire-place is applied to the engine boiler, containing a circular grate, which is made to revolve slowly upon its axis; the fire upon this grate is fed in front by a kind of hopper continually delivering small coal, which, from the rotatory motion of the grate itself, becomes equally spread upon its surface, so as to maintain a thin fire, and a sharp draught; the coal is thus rapidly decomposed and burned; the smoke at first produced having to pass across the grate, and over the red hot, and already coaked fuel.

Patent of Messrs. Parkes of Warwick.—The principal agent in this improvement is a current of air, admitted just beyond the end of the fire-place, by means of an aperture which may be increased, or closed at pleasure, and which the patentee term an “air valve.” A small fire is first made to burn brightly at the back of the grate; coals are then filled in towards the front, in which direction the fire gradually spreads; their smoke necessarily passes over the clear fire, where it becomes sufficiently heated to constitute flame, as soon as it meets with the current of air entering at the valve; and a striking experiment with this apparatus consists in alternately shutting and opening the air-valve, which is accompanied by the alternate appearance and disappearance of the smoke.

Instead, however, of insisting upon any form of fire-place, greater benefit would arise from an enactment respecting the height of chimneys; our intelligent reviewer, of whose remarks we have so frequently availed ourselves, observes, that by conveying black smoke, and other pernicious fumes into a capacious and very lofty chimney, much of the noxious matters that otherwise escape into the atmosphere are decomposed and precipitated or condensed within; of the truth of which, the chimney of the grand-junction engine, at Paddington, and that of the West Middlesex water-works, at Hammersmith, offer striking illustrations; when these machines are at work, the former produces little smoke, while the latter inundates the neighbouring gardens with perpetual showers of solid soot; and yet the only difference is in the relative altitude of the two chimneys; the boilers being, in all respects, set and constructed alike. A chimney from 150 to 200 feet would in most cases prove effectual, and the expense might be considerably lessened by making one shaft receive all the tributary fumes of many flues. But to return to the nuisance of breweries, from which we have made so long a digression; it is probable, that the smoke from these chimneys could not be remedied either by Brunton’s or Parkes’s patent, but the increasing the altitude of the chimney would seem to promise a mode of relief; we are also to look to the employment of steam as a substitute for fires; high pressure steam has been very extensively employed for this purpose in Whitbread’s brewery, and the smoke has in consequence sustained a very perceptible diminution.

(6) Sulphuric acid makers are continually indicted; and it would appear that by a scientific improvement in the process, the escape of the sulphurous acid, which constitutes the grievance, might to a great degree be obviated. How does it happen that, notwithstanding the cost of the materials necessary for the production of sulphuric acid, is in France at least double what it is in England, the French can afford to sell the article 25 per cent. cheaper than the English? the answer is obvious,—the great part of the materials are sent off into the air, in the form ofsulphurous acid, andnitrous gas, to the annoyance of the neighbouring animals and vegetables, and the ruin, too often, of the proprietor. SeeJournal of Science and the Arts. In a report drawn up in the year 1806 by Guyton Morveau, and Chaptal, upon the subject of injurious manufactories, by command of the minister of the interior, it is declared that the distillation of acids can only prove dangerous from want of due precaution.

(7) The manufacture of Prussian blue is necessarily attended with highly offensive vapours. The first part of the process consists in mixing hoofs and tup’s horns with Russian or American potass, in large iron stills, to which heat is gradually applied, until the vessel become red hot; the animal matter and alkali being thus fused into a mass is laded out into iron pans, where it concretes into solid blocks, technically calledmetals.

(8) The operation of unfolding the cow’s horns by the application of heat is attended with a terrible stench; the trade in lanthorn leaves was formerly very considerable with Russia; but it was nearly annihilated by an edict of Catherine; the less flexible parts are made into combs; and the tips of the horns are sent to Birmingham for the manufacture of buttons.

(9) Owing to the viscid nature of the materials, it is impossible to make varnish without burning the animal matter, which occasions a stench of the most insufferable kind; and is so suffocating, that very lately two workmen lost their lives in a manufactory of this article in Gray’s-inn-lane.

(10) The animal matters employed in this process give rise to a stench which has repeatedly formed the ground of indictment. The most nauseous part of the trade, however, consists in concentrating the waste lees, for the purpose of obtaining by fusion in a reverberatory furnace, an article which is calledBLACK ASH, and which contains, amongst other salts, thesulphuret of soda.

(11) “Renderers of tallow” are persons who convert the butcher’s fat, &c. into tallow.

(12) The process of smelting different ores is the most injurious of all the operations of art, although to the senses it may be less nauseous than those in which animal matter undergoes decomposition by heat, or putrefaction. These evils, however, by the ingenious application of various mechanical and chemical expedients, have in many instances been very materially diminished, and in others, entirely obviated; this is strikingly illustrated in several large works for smelting lead ores; and the proprietors of the Hafod copper works, at Swansea, are at present engaged in an experimental inquiry into various plans which have been proposed for diminishing, or preventing the ill effects which arise from the metallic fumes. Acquainted as we are with the liberality and science of these gentlemen, we have little doubt of the result; and we mention the circumstance in this place in order to recommend similar efforts on the part of persons engaged in other works; and at the same time for the purpose of preparing the reader for some observations which we shall take occasion to offer, on the subject of the law of nuisance, in relation to its operation in stopping works of such national importance. It would be premature to enter into any detailed account of the chemical means which promise a successful resource on this occasion; we shall only observe that the great mischief seems to arise from the quantity of arsenic, so universally present in the ores of copper; and there is reason to hope, from the experiments already made by Mr. J. H.Vivian, thatLimemay be usefully employed in preventing its volatilization. The author of the present note has had ample opportunities of investigating the effects of arsenical fumes, which arise from the burning-houses in Cornwall, and from the great copper works carried on at Hayle in that county, and they appear to be especially pernicious to graminivorous quadrupeds; horses and cows lose their hoofs; and the latter animals are not unfrequently seen, in the vicinity of the works, crawling along on their knees; they are also subject to a cancerous affection in their tails; and milch cows loose their milk. The herbage also suffers materially from the poisonous smoke, especially in wet seasons; corn is blighted in the ear, and never perfects its seed, unless care be taken to select at that period such ore as will yield but little sublimate. Cabbages do not appear to suffer in the least; nor are potatoes materially injured; and it is not the least curious circumstance in the history of these works, that the apple-trees in their vicinity grow and bear fruit without sustaining any of those ill effects which we should have anticipated, but, on the contrary, the arsenical fumes appear to destroy all the insects which usually infest such trees, and their trunks exhibit a cleanness which would delight the horticulturist. The men employed in these works are occasionally affected with a cancerous disease in the scrotum, similar to that which infests chimney-sweepers; it is however probable that this arises from the immediate application of the excoriating material made by the hand in the act of rubbing the part. A similar affection was a short time since observed in a manufactory, in which the workmen were engaged in making an arsenical solution for a green dye, used in calico printing.

(13) Gas Works. We have lately learnt, that a method has been adopted to get rid of the nuisance which has arisen from the residual liquor from these works, by evaporating it in pans, placed in the ash-pit of the furnace, and by which the iron bars of the fire-place are at the same time kept cool, and are therefore much longer preserved. The contrivance may be seen at the gas works in Worship-street.

Back to Index Next