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    SANITARY LECTURES. 51

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    As Many Readers Of The English Woman's J...

    such things as Allopathy or Homoeopathy in nature ; these are merely the terms which men who have opinions rather than facts in their

    heads play off against each other . I would advise you not to adopt the one system or the other . With regard to home doctoring , I

    would say , however , that—as it is a most dangerous thing to give large doses of powerful medicines without knowing their

    effectsof the two systems , that of giving these infinitesimal doses is the better . If you _tvill doctor at home , pray do it in that infinitesimal

    way . " . Dr . Lankester , in the course of some remarks on the fatal effects

    of bad drainage and uncleanliness in the houses of the poor , gave the following valuable suggestions to ladies engaged in district

    visiting : — " There are many fertile causes of disease , such as bad drainage ,

    want of water , & c , which the poor themselves cannot remove , - they are dependent on their landlords . But it should be known that there

    exists a law—the Metropolitan Management Act—which appoints medical officers of health for every district ; and I think that

    benevolent ladies , when they visit the houses of the poor , and find that the dust has not been properly removed , or that the walls have not been

    whitewashed , or the drains not attended to , or that any similar cause of disease exists , cannot do a better thing than at once to

    report to the medical officer of health _;* because the poor people can themselves do nothing in these things . But the law compels their

    landlord to attend to drainage , and cleansing , and everything of that kind . This is a most important thing for all people to know who

    "would do good to their poor neighbors . By applying to the medical officers of healthbad drainageaccumulations of dirt , and all similar

    , , causes of disease can be removed , and much life saved . There are many religious and benevolent people who visit the homes of the

    poor ; but they too frequently give little attention to sanitary matters . They are not sufficiently impressed with the importance o £

    healthy bodies j they devote their attention too exclusively to the spiritual condition of the people . But let me express my deep

    conviction , that the sanitary , work must receive a greater share of attention before the efforts for the spiritual elevation of the people can be

    successful . We can do comparatively little good amidst filth and misery . We may talk and talk to a person who is lying ill of a

    _$ fever , or in a state of chronic disease ; but it will too often be in vain . ...

    " With regard to deficient water supply in the houses of the poor ,, much may be done by application to the medical officers of health ..

    Think how important the water supply is ! I have seen a motherof a family living in an attic with five or six children , and having to

    bring * every drop of water from a court-yard below at some distance * For full directions as to the mode of reporting to the medical officers

    Sons of health . 1860 , see . ) " The Health of the Parish , " price 2 cL ( London : Jarrold and

    E 2

    Sanitary Lectures. 51

    SANITARY LECTURES . 51

• Citation
  • English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Sept. 1, 1860, page 51, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01091860/page/51/