HH62/1/ABERD/7

Transcription

[Page 6]

There is rarely a fireplace, and moisture rising from the
stable, or coming, as it often does, through the roof, renders
the place damp and unhealthy.

There is another very important view from which to
regard these sleeping apartments, and that is their general
moral effect on the men. Comfort in such places is, of
course, a thing unknown. Dr. Lawson, Medical Officer for
Midmar, well describes this view of the question. After
giving a vivid description of some such places, he continues -
"The men-servants are, as a rule, healthy, hardy young
fellows, and are quite capable of roughing it somewhat, and
I do not think it is their health so much that suffers by
living in such dens as their morals, the feelings of decency
and self-respect, which are at the foundation of good conduct
and character, cannot be kept alive in such places."
It will be necessary to insist on these places being dis-
used and replaced by others more fit for human habitation.
In the newer steadings more attention is being paid to pro-
viding suitable accommodation, and it is certain that the
comfort of such sleeping apartments is fully appreciated by
the men.
The District Committee have dealt very sharply with one
case which it was found necessary to bring before them.

COTTAR HOUSES.

The cottar houses on farms are too often in a very
unsatisfactory condition. The point most important to
secure in connection with them is - that they shall be dry
as far as they can be made so. I think it is unquestionable
that the percentage of deaths from respiratory diseases, in-
cluding consumption, would be less were these conditions
better attended to. Too often, also, the houses are draughty,
and the effect of this on the same class of disease is well
described by Dr. Paterson, Inverurie. "In bad weather," he
says, "many cases of bronchial trouble have scarcely a
chance of recovery on account of the impossibility of keep-
ing out draughtss from defective roofs, doors and windows."
Inspection of the houses of the labouring classes is one
of the most important parts of Public Health work. The
whole work of a Public Health Department is directed
towards the prevention of disease. Recent medical research
has thrown great light upon the cause of many diseases
and the conditions that favour their development. Inspec-
tion of the dwellings of the labouring classes is directed
towards the removal of such conditions, either in the

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building itself or around it - a wiser plan than to wait till
our attention is forced to their existence, and the necessity
for their removal by the actual outbreak of disease. The
better classes are perfectly alive to the necessity of securing
healthy homes, and are in a position to do so. The poorer
classes are too often not in the same fortunate position, and
cannot obtain unaided the advantages of healthy homes,
however much they may desire them.

WATER SUPPLY.

The water supplies to individual houses in the district
are here, as in all the other districts, open, in many cases, to
pollution, from thier proximity to drains, ashpits, and
middens. This is undoubtedly the cause of most cases of
enteric fever and diarrhœa that are prevalent in country
districts, and the practice that I have for some time adopted,
of analysing a sample of the drinking water in every case
of typhoid reported, has led to some interesting results.

THE NOTIFICATION ACT.

This Act has been in force for fourteen months, and has
proved of invaluable assistance in checking the spread of
infectious disease. The close connection with Aberdeen,
through scholars attending school there, and people living
in the district going into town to business or work, renders
it impossible to prevent the dissemination in the district of
every form of infectious disease prevalent in town. During
the latter half of 1891, while an epidemic of unusual severity
was raging in the city, many cases, clearly traceable to in-
fection brought from the town, occurred here and there, and
but for the advantage gained by immediate notification and
hospital or house isolation, a widespread epidemic would, in
all probability, have occurred. In his report on North
Newhills, Dr. Maver, Medical Officer, says:- "An epidemic
of scarlet fever has been nipped in the bud, and this entirely
owing to notification and the enforcement of isolation. Had
fever made its appearance at so many points before the
adoption of the Notification Act we would have had a wide-
spread epidemic."

HOSPITAL ACCOMMODATION.

The hospitals to which the Local Authority have been
entitled to send patients were the Aberdeen City Hospital
for Infectious Disease and the Woodside Hospital. The