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BILI S of MORTALI TY in L ONDON,
TH E clerk of the parissa in Whicli I reside,
having lest at my house, the other day, the yearly bili of mortality sor London, I perta sed it immediately with soriae attentiora. Is the sollowing history and reflections relativeto this subject, fati Within the compassi of your design, you may publim them is you please : andalthough they come frona a namelesse Writer, yOumay be satisfied of the truth of the facts, by ap plying to your secretary, Who will be informedfrom whom he received this communication. About the year I7s , a physici an in the city, who h ad sor sonae time employed a part of his' Medicat Observations and Inquiries, vol. iv. P. a I . time
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time in observing the state of the weather, theconcomitant distases, and taken s me account of the weel ly bilis, applied to the Company of Parisi1-clerks in London, and acquainted them, that to his certain knowledge, their weekly bills were defective in many respects ; that the list of distases was a very injudicious one; that their present laboUrs, theres ore, anMered very littieuseful purposse, either to them lues or the communi ty : hoWever, that it seemed practicabie toform a plan that would alike conduce to the ad vantage of their Company, and to the interestand satisfaction of the nation in generat. A memorial on this subject was delivered tothe Company in form, setting fortii the particu 1ar benefiis heiace to be expected. That in respect to medicine, the in crease or decreasse of certain diseases, at disterent times and places, wouldhe both ascertained, not only in this city, biat throughout the kingdom; from Whence much benefit might be derived to the art of healing, asweli as to the public. That the in creasse or decrease of the peopte in generat would be ascertained; in time likewise
That the increasse of vice or Viriue might also he traced, by observing What proportion the dis- eases proceeding from intemperance annuallybore to the rest; and likewise in What particular places this Was observabie.
That the firmest basis of political arithmeticinight be raised on this solandation: and that a
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work of extreme utility, on so many accounts, could not but redound to the benefit of those who had the conduct of it. The Company, on considering the assair, thought the propos at of so much consequence, as to apply to partiament for powers sufficient tocarry this design into exeCUtion. The basis of this plan was, that not Only the parisiaes within the bilis of mortality, but ali the
RI AGEs, instead os chrisenius and buriati ontrias the bilis are at present. And that frona theseverat parissi registers, an annual register mouidbe formed in each county, and transmitted tothe capital, early enough to be incorporaled into One generat bili.
In order to render that part of this account whicli related to diseases more adUantageOUS,sonae physicians os eminence mel together, and
attentively considered the present list os distem pers, rejected ali synonymo is and obsolete ternas, and proposed to give sucii an explanation ofiliose that were retained, as might en able those vitiose duty it might become to malle repori, todo it with much more precision than it has been done hitherio. The affair was brought into parti ament, and the bill was ordered to be printed, and seemed tobe in a Way to passi very favoUrably. Unfortunately, howeVer, the gentieman who. Tbe late Thomas Potier, Esq.
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IIo . some Remaris on theunderioch the conduet os this affair in the Holi se of Commons, insisted on a clatasse being inserted in the bill whicli totalty overthrew the design, and was the principat cause of iis being rejected by a great majority.
One motive that Was Urged by those who were
friends to the bili mas, that it would furnim themost perfeci basis yet extant for political calcia lations respecting insurances on lives, and other
circumstances Os apparent UtiIity. It was evident, that could the number of
tion at that time, laid hold of this clause; and nothing but the sin os David was heard os, tillthe bill was laid asside. All this, perhaps, you Will say, is litile to the purposse of medicat linowledge ; but indulge mea sew moments longer, and should you stili be of
I know of nothing that would more effectu allyconduce to state the different degre es of healthinesse or unhealthinesse in the different paris of this nation so clearly, as a proper bili os mortali ty ; nor suggest the necessity, nor perhaps themeans of securing the firit, or preventing the
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lalter. The records of the seasons, in respect tolleat and cold, dryness and moisture, made by ingenious men in different paris of the hingdom, compared with such annuat bilis, mouid afford
many useful reflections to the faculty, much benefit to the community in generat. I have, therei ore, thought it not improper torelate what steps have been talien in this affair, and by What means they were rendered in- effectu al. Another se ason may be more propitious ι and should yoti, gentiemen, approVe theplan, your opinion, and assistance, I am persuaded, Would insure successi. Perhaps it Will excite you the more readily to embarh in this affair, When you recollect, thatour country suffers much in the esteem os fo-
rei gners by a grieVous neglect in composing the present bilis of mortali ty. Is you Will pleast tocast an eye Upon the article os consumption in theyearly bill, you Will perceive, that in the presen year, no tesse thala 4, 379 are saidio have died of this dis easse. Frona whence
reigners concitide, that the climate is sio inuehdisposed to produce consumptiosas, that it may
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it in their repori as consumption. I need notin forna you, hoW many chronic as weli as long- continued acute diseases, in whicli the lungsare no ollier Wise affected than as suffering withali the other paris, Waste the whole frame, and bring it to the same state as those who died ta-b1d; but these ought not to be ranked under consumptions, but Under the severat heads to
It was intended, among other salutary attemptS, to rescite Otar coUntry from these Unjustimputations, and to Vindicate iis character fromthe emesis of ignorance and inattention. That
many die os consumptions is most certain; buthy no means in the proportion alledged by these
of those who die of the genuine phthisis pulmonalis, Would not amotant to a third part of thesum, opposite to the article os consumptions. I have been present Where the reporis of sonae of these common se archers have been produced,
and know, that persons Who have died of mereold age, have been reported consumptions. Chil dren, wasted by glandular diseases, without theleast sympioni os a pulmonary affection, have been placed in the fame catalogue, and other yet stili more remo te frona a genuine Consimp-tion, have been added to the list. These remariis, I acknowledge, do not di
refcly tend to the cure of any disease, your immediate
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IN THE CURE OF CONSUMPTIONS . To the Medicat Society in Ibondon.
SO much has atready been said by different
Authors on the subject os consumptions, and the history, progressi, and usual methods of treat ment, are so well known, that it may seem almost presumption to offer any remariis to youilpon this diseasse. And indeed sonae apologymay be necessary, When I ac quaint Joha, that Iliave no neW method of Ciare to Proposse, nothing, I fear, that Mili conduce more effectu allyto the relies of this distemper, than the reme- dies you are atready ac qualia ted with. My vlewin submitting these remarks to yOUr Considera tion, and, is not dis approved by you, to the pub-
Medicat Observations and Inquiries, vol. iv. P. 23 I. Read October I 6, I 769.
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lic, chlesy ainas at preventing inconvenien Cesthai may aris e to consumptive patients by the use of sonae medicines vulgarly applied to the cui Cof pulmonary diseases, and whicli, Under certain CircUmstances, are not only unsultabie, but frequently injuriOUs. An idea that ali balsams are healing, and that in ali Ulcers, not excepting those of the ltangs, they are indicated, has so greatly prevalled, thatto doubi os iis propriety, would seem to betraya want of physical knowledge. Yet I cannot.bUt suspeet, nay, more than suspeet, that this idea has been the means os precipitating too many of these unliappy invali is prematurely totheir graVC. The terna balsameto, I cmn, includes a vast varie ty of different substances. A solution o serma ceti, nay, sonae times Oil mixed with water by the means os a naucllage, is stiled by sonae abalsamic, as weli as a soliation of balsam of Peru, Copaioi, olibanum, and other heating resinotas bo , dies: but there is a vasto differen ce belweenthese. The former, is free from rancidity, areproperly emulsions, and antacrid. The lalter aret iteralty balsami cs, ali of whicli are more or tesspungent and acrimonious. Let Us jus t ce a view of the principat articles of this hi nil in the Materia Medica, as they are rangeli in the Pbar nracopria. They are chie sty the sollowing: L