Statistical examination of the Margate death-rate, for the five years, 1863-1867 : by order of the Council of the Borough of Margate / by Edward Mottley.

  • Mottley, Edward.
Date:
1868
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Statistical examination of the Margate death-rate, for the five years, 1863-1867 : by order of the Council of the Borough of Margate / by Edward Mottley. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    may here be permitted to remark that Margate seems to have been and to be selected for its health-giving qualities, and for that alone; but medical experi- ence and public observation have alike failed to remark how eminently favour- able the locality is for persons liable to pulmonary diseases during the winter months. It is evident from this, and the preceding publications, that the great number of patients and invalids domiciled amongst the resident inhabitants has not affected the public health of the community. If it be asked what are the objective conditions that produce so favourable a result, the answer must be found in the aphorism of the Great Father of Medicine— that where the air, the water, and the soil are good, the inhabitants are healthy. The experience and teaching of 3000 years have added nothing to this truth. At Margate, the north-east portion of the Isle of Thanet, the soil is dry, antiseptic, percolations and absorbent. No amount of rain lodges more than a few hours on the sui-face, hence the proverb— When England wrings, The Island sings. Absorption carries down the minute microscopic particles of decaying offensive matter. Evaporation carries them abroad, and contaminates the atmosphere. The commission issued a few years back by the Bavarian government to inquire into the condition of certain localities severely visited by the cholera, found the course of that terrible epidemic determined by the character of the soil upon which the towns and villages Avere built. Where the soil was spongy, wet, and saturated with moisture, the disease was most severe, and this observation is supposed to be of equal value with that of Dr. Farr, who found that the cholera in London diminished in severity as the streets, lanes, and houses were elevated above the level of the Thames. The vast substratum of chalk in the Isle of Thanet affords an inexhaustible supply of excellent water. The whole town is exposed to the influence of the prevailing winds. The sea breeze passing over a great expanse of ocean, arrives at the island in a state of almost chemical purity; owing to this quality, and the cold being modified by great Atlantic waves, it is seldom very low in temperature. These qualities are conspicuous in the eminently favourable column containing the mortality of pulmonary diseases, which are invariably mild Avhere the air is pure, clear, and temperate. It is to the presence of these great powers of nature that Margate is indebted for its public health, and comparative immunity from the spread of the most dangerous and fatal classes of disease.