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23
not alone in Rotherliithe and Newington—not
alone along the EfFra or the Fleet—are traced the
evils of this great miasm. The deepest shadows of
the cloud lie here; but its outskirts darken the
distance. A fever hardly to be accounted for, an
infantile sickness of undue malignity, a doctor's
injunction for change of air, may at times suggest
to the dweller in our healthiest suburbs, that, while
draining his refuse into the Thames, he receives for
requital some partial workings of the gigantic
poison.bed which he has contributed to maintain."
This, and perhaps more, is what we may continue
to expect, as long as with perverse ingenuity we
labour to construct huge nurseries for the development
of disease. By nature we are excellently well
situated for the maintenance of health, and the
river which winds through the city should be the
channel for pure water and a free current of air,
the source of life to us and not of death. How
jealously therefore should we watch over its purity,
and permit no motives, economical or expedient, to
futilise the favors of nature.
I have the honor to remain,
Gentlemen,
Your obedient servant,
HENRY LETHEBY, M.B.