HH62/1/ABERD/21

Transcription

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pump, strengthened my suspicions. I hope to be able, at a
later time, to present to the Committee a full report on the
water supply of this village.
A plan for the drainage of the village has been proposed, and
is, I understand, to be executed at the expense of the Earl of
Aberdeen. I cannot help remarking that, in my opinion, a
wholesome supply of water would have been a more import-
ant gift from a public health point of view, taking into
consideration the danger of a system of drainage without
sufficient water for flushing purposes.
The services of a scavenger could be usefully employed occasion-
ally in parts of the village.

ELLON. - Ellon requires improved drainage and scavenging.
Scavenging is strongly demanded here, and I fear it will be
utterly impossible otherwise to kee the place in a condition
compatible with health. The drainage of the old town should
be dealt with at once. WIth regard to the present outfall
of the sewers, I would suggest that, if permission were ob-
tained to do so, they should be carried well into the stream
so as to avoid the nuisance that their outfall on the bank
produces.

The Public Health Sub-Committee, at a Meeting held
on the 5th of December, unaminously agreed to recommend
that Newburgh, Hatton, and Port Erroll be formed into
special water and drainage districts; that Ellon should be
formed into a special drainage district; and that the pro-
prietors of the several other villages be asked to carry out
improvements as regards drainage and water supply. With
regard to scavenging of the villages, the Sub-Committee
agreed to recommend "that the District Committee should
join in any petition to Government by other districts or
County Councils, with a view of having the law providing
for the cost of scavenging by District Committees defined,
and uncertainty on the point removed."
Next year's Report will show how far these measures
have been carried to completion.

HOUSING OF THE LABOURING CLASSES.

Many of the cottages of the labouring class are not in a
condition that can be described as sanitary. Damp roofs,
damp walls, damp earthen floors, imperfect ventilation, the
old unhealthy box-bed, badly constructed ashpits and
privies, dung heaps close to windows or doors, pumps or
shallow wells in close proximity to ashpit, midden, or

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midden drain - these are some of the common faults met
with in connection with these cottages. Much will require
to be done in improving their condition
The dampness of the floors and walls that is met with so
often is a matter that deserves careful attention. The close
connection of phthisis with dampness of subsoil, and the
effect of damp dwellings generally on health, render it of the
greatest importance to take measures to secure for the work-
ing classes that their houses shall be thoroughly dry. The
following extract from a sheet on Diphtheria, issued by me
for the information of Sanitary Inspectors, will help to
show the necessity fot this:-

"Another condition that has been shown to be associated as a factor in
the production of Diphtheria is dampness in houses. Consumption
and Diphtheria are both caused by micro-organisms, the
development of which is favoured by dampness of subsoil.
"With regard to dampness, everyone is familiar with the in-
fluence of a damp house in causing Rheumatism. Dampness
has also to answer largely for glandular affections in children,
especially enlargement of the tonsils, a condition often causing
a serious interference with general health. It may further
be the direct cause of, or render more dangerous, such lung
diseases as Bronchitis (Acute and Chronic), Pneumonia, and
Pleurisy. It may intensify, and cause dangerous complications
of, many other diseases not directly due to it, as, e.g.,
Whooping Cough and Measles in children. We cannot, then,
lay too much stress upon the necessity of having this defect of
dampness remedied as far as possible in every house in which
it is found."

Improvements in many points will doubtless be effected
through the education of the people in sanitary matters.
They are often greatly at fault themselves by creating
insanitary conditions in or around their dwellings.
Attention will also have to be directed to securing in all
cases to the single houses equally with the villages an ample
supply of pure water. In some parts of this District, as,
e.g., in the Parish of Slains, the water supply at some of the
farms is very defective.
In connection with this, I would like to direct attention
to the sixth column in Table C - the death-rates in the
several districts from diarrhœa. The following extract,
taken from a volume issued from the Registrar-General's
office in 1874, will help to throw light on this subject:-

"It would be a subject as well worthy of investigation whether
the purity of the water from vegetable or animal matter in
a state of decomposition has anything to do with the