Other agencies for improving the phy sical condition of the labouring classes and of the poor are also at work. Among these is the " Health of Towns' Associa tion," of which the Committee includes noblemen, dignitaries of the church, members of parliament, and other gentle men. They have published a Lecture on the Unhealthiness of Towns, its Causes and Remedies, delivered at Cros by-Hall, London, by William Augustus Guy, M.B., Physician to King's College Hospital ;'re ' Lecture on the Unhealthi ness of Towns, its Causes and Remedies, delivered Dec. 10, 1845, at the Me *inks' fnstitute at Plymouth, by Via count Ebrington, M. P. ;' and a Report of the Committee to the Members of the Association, on Lord Lincoln's Bill,' which was introduced into Parliament at the close of the session of 1845.
These important inquiries have proved by undeniable evidence, that the districts inhabited by the labouring classes, and often by tradesmen, in large towns, in many small towns, and in several parts of the country, are in a very noxious state from want of drainage, want of cleanliness, imperfect ventilation, defi ciency of water, and density of popula tion ; the consequences of which are great frequency of sickness, and excessive de struction of human life. Typhus fever, cholera, consumption, scrofulous and other chronic complaints, mostly arising from causes which might have been prevented, are found to exist to an extent which it is painful to contemplate. The causes of sickness are generally most numerous and most intense in the crowded dis tricts, and the mortality is found to be, with few exceptions, in proportion to the density of population. In the metropolis, for instance, the annual mortality is 3 per cent. in Whitechapel, but only 2 per cent. in St. George's, Hanover-Square. In the district of Bethnal-Green, 57 houses, on an average, contain 580 persons ; and in some cases there are 30 persons in a single house.
Of fifty towns which were visited by direction of the Commissioners, only eight were found to be in a tolerable state as to drainage and cleansing ; and as to the supply of water the reports were still more unfavourable.
The annual average mortality in Eng land is 2.207 per cent, or 1 in 45. In healthy districts it is 2 per cent., or 1 in 50. In the metropolis the deaths are 1 in 39 ; in Birmingham and Leeds 1 in 37 ; in Sheffield, 1 in 33 ; in Bristol, 1 in 32 ; in Manchester, 1 in 30 ; in Liverpool, 1 in 29. In Brussels they have been found to be 1 in 24. The mortality is greater
in Liverpool than in any other town in England. By the return made to the Town Council of Liverpool in 1841, by their surveyors, it appears that there were then 2398 courts, which contained a popu lation of 68,345 persons. In these courts 1272 cellars were occupied by 6290 per sons ; of the number of cellars occupied in streets, 2848 were described as damp, and 240 as wet. The gentry in Liverpool live 35 years ; the tradesmen 22; the working-class 15. The average of the whole town is only 17 years. By extract ing from the mortuary registers of the metropolis for 1834, the ages at death of the gentry, the tradesmen, and the work ing classes, who died at the age of 15 and upwards, Mr. Guy ascertained that the gentry lived 59 years, the tradesmen 49, and the working-classes 48. In 1844 the deaths in the metropolis were 50,423. If the rate of mortality had been 1 in 50 instead of 1 in 39, the deaths would have been only 40,145, thus giving a saving of L0,278 lives in one year. From a Report of the Registrar-General it appears that out of every 'pillion of inhabitants 27,000 die every year in the large towns, and only 19,300 in the rural districts.
The large towns have already begun to make improvements. The improved drainage in twenty streets of Manchester has been found to diminish the annual number of deaths by more than 20 in every 110; and similar results of struc tural improvement have followed in other instances.
The loss of life, and the pecuniary eharges consequent upon it to individuals and the community, are not the only con siderations to be attended to. Not only the sickness which precedes death, but the sickness which is cured, render the sufferers incapable of following their usual occupations, and oblige them and their families to seek relief from the parish, and from public and private charity. It has been shown that pecuni ary saving would result from sanitary improvements to such an amount as to .ustify the interference of the legislature, if it were only from motives of public economy.
The power vested in courts-leet by ancient usage is resorted to in a few towns for the abatement of minor nuisances. Mr. Coulthart gives a detailed description of the various matters which have been taken cognizance of by the leet-juries at Ashton-under-Lyne with beneficial affect. In most places, however, the ex ercise of these powers has fallen into desuetude, even where the courts still continue to be held.