The geographical distribution of heart disease and dropsy in England and Wales.

  • Haviland, Alfred, -1903.
Date:
1871
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The geographical distribution of heart disease and dropsy in England and Wales. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    moistiii’e, and force from the wide expanse of the Atlantic between our western coast and the Gulf of Mexico. The north-east wind spreads its influence over a great portion of England, and is little contaminated with land-air; unlike, how- ever, its great antagonist, except in its purity, it is comparatively dry, and the quantity of ozone it bears is said to be not great, its force, however, is at times considerable, and thus is it a powerful cleanser of air-sewage and miasma, when these causes of disease are not protected from its purging. The north-west wind, as we have seen, comes to us through the North Channel unpolluted by land air; and another belt is enjoyed by the north-west of Cornwall; this wind also sweeps over our island at times with prodigious force, and thus has a benign influence on those parts of England which are protected from other winds. All the other winds are more or less contaminated with land air, and were it not that their i dynamical element plays an important part, by occasionally sweeping up valleys ; which are not visited by the great prevailing sea winds, their influence on health, in consequence of their impurity, would more likely be injurious than beneficial. : The north wind comes to us from Scotland, and ranks, perhaps, the highest in | purity; then comes the west, which blows over Ireland from the Atlantic; the j south-east arrives here warm and moist, after passing over France and the j Mediterranean Sea from the coast of Africa; the south has also passed over nearly the same ground and the same sea, although it has the advantage of coming from the Atlantie; and the east we have seen to be an almost unmitigated effete land air which has passed over the cities of the continent. The Character of the Coast-line of the Hi^h and Low Mortality Divisions compared. It will be evident from the short sketch I have just given of the manner in which our principal winds come to us, that stress only has been laid The Characters of i i z' n pp t tpp the several Coast-lines upon those wliich powerfully affect oui* climate at different intervals. compared. j have not attempted to describe the many local causes which operate in deflecting the general currents of the atmosphere. In many parts of England we find recorded, day after day, gentle winds from all quarters; in many instances these have local causes, for it is well known that independently of the larger circuits which the winds perform, there are smaller ones constantly travelling over the face of the country, although of a less definite character. Again, we have the land and sea breezes which, near the shore, during a great portion of the year exert their gentle influence, which is either limited to the immediate locality, or extended inland, according to the character of the coast itself. Again, we must also bear in mind that some of the chief winds do not always flow to us from the same point, but get deflected in their course before they reach our shores; this, however, is too wide a subject to be discussed here, although it is fraught with interest, especially when we consider the variable chemical qualities of the atmosphere in which we live.