CLEANLINESS.

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may, indeed, be caught by infection, or brought on by poor living,unwholesome food, &c. ; but they will seldom continue long wherecleanliness prevails. To (he same cause must we impute the va-rious kinds of vermin which infest the human body, houses, &c.These may always be banished by cleanliness alone, and where-ever they abound, we have reason to believe it is neglected.

One common cause of putrid and malignant fevers is the want ofcleanliness. These fevers commonly begin among the inhabitantsof close, dirty houses, who breathe unwholesome air, take littleexercise, and wear dirty clothes. There the infection is general-ly hatched, which often spreads far and wide, to the destruction ofmany. Hence cleanliness may be considered as an object of pub-lic attention, it is not sufficient that I be clean myself, while thewant of it in my neighbour affects my health as well as his. Ifdirty people cannot be removed as a common nuisance, they oughtat least to be avoided as infectious. All who regard their healthshould keep at a distance even from their habitations.

In places where great numbers of people arc collected, cleanliness be-comes of the utmost importance. It is well known that infectious dis-eases are communicated by tainted air. Every thing, therefore,which tends to pollute the air, or spread the infection, ought withthe utmost care to be guarded against. For this reason, in greattowns, no filth, of any kind, should be permitted to lie upon thestreets. Nothing is more apt to convey infection than the excre-ments of the diseased.

In many great towns the streets are little better than dung-hills,being frequently covered with ashes, dung, and nastiness of every ,kind. Even slaughter-houses, or killing-shambles, are often to beseen in the very centre of great towns. The putrid blood, excre-ments, <fec. with which these places are generally covered, cannotfail to taint the air, and render it unwholesome. How easilymight this be prevented by active magistrates, who have it alwaysin their power to make proper laws relative to things of this na-ture, and to enforce the observance of them 1

Whatever pretensions people may make to learning, politeness,or civilization, we will venture to affirm, that while they neglectcleanliness, they are in a state of barbarity.*

The peasants ?'.*! most countries seem to hold cleanliness in a sort ofcontempt. Were it not for the open situation of their houses, they

This he attributes to neglect of cleanliness, and with great justice. I am convincedthat if that part of the body which is the seat of this cruel disease were kept clean byfrequent washing, it would never happen. The climbing-boys, as they are called, arecertainly the most miserable wretches on the face of the earth ; yet, for cleaningchimneys, no such persons are necessary.

According to the opinion of Mr. Earle, (see Medico Chirurgical Transactions, vol.xii.) it is invariably produced by the irritation of soot applied to the rugce or folds ofthe skin. It is not a common disease, and rarely attacks under the age of thirty, whichaccounts for its comparative unfrequency.

* In ancient Rome the greatest men did not think cleanliness an object unworthyof their attention. Pliny says, the Cloacœ, or common sewers for the conveyance offilth and nastiness from the city, were the greatest of all the public works ; and be-stows higher encomiums upon Tarquinius, Agrippa, and others who made and improv-ed them, than those who achieved the greatest conquests.

How truly great does the Emperor Trajan appear when giving directions to Plinyhis proconsul, concerning the making of a common sewer for the health and conven-ience of a conquered city!