Our Legal Heritage Part 117

In the 1760s the first cooking school was established by Mrs. Elizabeth Raffald, a servant.

As for health, there were many occupational hazards. These included paralysis by mercury of refiners of silver and gold, paralysis by mercurial fumes of molten lead by plumbers, palsy of glaziers working with melted lead and of watch gilders, lead poisoning of painters, blinding by sawdust of sawyers, and the affects of fumes on pewterers and letter founders. Particles of copper were breathed in by copper workers, whose hair and beards then turned green. Braziers became deaf.

Hairdressers, bakers, masons, bricklayers' laborers, coal heavers, chimney sweeps, flax and feather dressers, and workers in leather warehouses suffered pulmonary diseases. Chimney sweeps also had warty skin cancer from their bodies being habitually covered with soot and the lethal cancer of the s.c.r.o.t.u.m. Working with charcoal fires affected confectioners, chocolate makers, and sail-cloth makers. Tanners, catgut makers, and tallow-candle makers became nauseous. Heavy work weakened many bodies and caused hernias. Bending over work for long hours caused stooped posture and hump backs.

The a.s.sociation between dirt and disease was just beginning to be made.

The principles of infection and hygiene were not well understood.

Bathing every couple of months was not unusual. There was some theological feeling that cleanliness betokened pride and filthiness humility. Most houses had a bathtub that could be placed beside the fire in a bedroom. About 80% of the population had been getting smallpox, which blinded, maimed or disfigured many. Deaths from smallpox were only occasional in the country, but constant in London, where about 13% of every generation died from it. Making death commonplace, especially in the winter months when thick, dirty clothes were worn day and night, were typhus, which was carried by lice; typhoid, which was spread by flies from horse dung; tuberculosis; and influenza. Dysentery and diarrhea made death commonplace especially in the summer when flies transmitted bacteria from filth to food and the water was its most foul.

There was great meaning in the prayer "Now I lay me down to sleep; I pray the Lord my soul to keep; if I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take." Thyphus spread easily in hospitals and gaols where vermin could live in the beds made of wood. Colds and toothache were also common. Venereal disease was not uncommon among the well-to-do in London. Condoms were used to deter disease, but were still crude, coa.r.s.e, uncomfortable, and unreliable. London had almost double the mortality rate of the nation. The number of baptisms in London were about 80% of its burials. About 40% of the deaths in London were among children under two, due to infantile diseases fostered by malnutrition, maternal ignorance such as giving babies adult food, ill-health, bad water, dirty food, poor hygiene, and overcrowding. Many children died from diptheria, measles, scarlet fever, and smallpox. Ten or twelve children with three or four surviving was a common family pattern. Many well-to-do in London kept their children in the country for their better health. No matter what the ailment, physicians regularly bled patients and often gave them enemas with wooden funnels. Sometimes a blister or irritant was applied to the skin to draw out the evil humors. Cupping was used to provide suction to remove pressure from various parts of the body. Also used were poultices, ointments, and herbal treatments, notably quinine. Opium was given to deaden pain. There were about 70 drugs in use. Charms, spells, astrology, and folk remedies still played a major role in medicine. A physician attended surgeries to give advice.

Physicians could visit apothecary shops once a year and throw away any drugs falling below an arbitrary standard of excellence. In 1703 the House of Lords decided a jurisdictional contest between the College of Physicians and the Society of Apothecaries. It permitted the apothecaries to direct the remedies as well as to prepare them, although they could only charge for the drugs they provided. The poor sought advice from apothecaries.

There was progress in health. Scurvy virtually disappeared as a cause of death due to the eating of more vegetables. People were cleaner when wearing cotton, which had to be washed. In 1721, free inoculations for smallpox began in England, pioneered by Lady Mary Wortley Montague, also a poet and letter writer. She led the way by having herself and her son inoculated. Theologicians denounced this practice as a diabolical interference with disease sent by Providence for the punishment of sin.

Sarah Wallen Mapp was a famous bone-setter. In 1727 surgeon William Cheselden, whose master was specially licensed to perform the operation of removing stones in the hospital, reduced the death rate for removing stones due to hemorrhage, shock, and infection down to 17% by his invention of a lateral operation. He also published an anatomy book and treated certain kinds of blindness by forming an opening in the eye to serve as an artificial pupil. In 1736, Claudius Aymand conducted the first successful appendectomy.

Nutritional deficiency diseases were beginning to be understood. In 1753, James Lind, a surgeon in the navy who noted that more men died of scurvy than in battle, published his work on his dietary controlled experiment on seamen showing that oranges, lemons, limes, green food, and onions cured scurvy. He published his methods of prevention and cure of malarial fevers and his method of disinfecting s.h.i.+ps with the smoke of wood and gunpowder. In 1761, he discovered that steam from salt water was fresh, and proposed a method of distillation to supply s.h.i.+ps with fresh water. In 1761 Giovanni Morgagni from Italy opined that disease resulted from a breakdown of organs and tissues that was viewable on autopsy. He wrote an extensive book showing the anatomy of diseases, e.g. affections of pericardium and aorta, (e.g. aneurysm), valve diseases, ulceration, rupture, dilation, and hypertrophy. He a.s.sociated clinical observation with anatomy of disease. For example, pain on the left upper chest, numbness of the left arm, and difficulty breathing occurring together with exertion were a.s.sociated with dilation of the aorta and hardening of arteries, which caused delay of blood in the aorta, in the heart, and in the lung vessels. Bernoulli showed that the living human body constantly changes so that all its particles are renewed in a certain number of years. Stephen Hale described the first quant.i.tative estimate of blood pressure and fundamental characteristics of blood circulation. In 1728, Frenchman Dr. Pierre Fauchard, the father of dentistry, recommended rubbing one's teeth and gums with a piece of sponge.

Since three out of four babies died shortly after birth, beds in hospitals for pregnant women were established starting in 1739. The next year physicians began to replace midwives. A hospital was established for abandoned foundling children in 1739 so they wouldn't die, as they usually did, in the care of parishes or workhouses or be exposed in the streets or left on door steps of the wealthy. It was besieged by women with babies in their arms. In 1762 a statute made the principles of the foundling hospital obligatory for all London parish children under six; they were to be sent to nurses outside London who were to be paid at least 2s. a week by the parish. In 1766, this was extended to all parishes, and nurses who cared for a child well for a year was given a reward of at least 10s. Also, parish children were not allowed to be apprenticed for more than seven years or until age 21 and an apprentice fee of at least 4 pounds, 2s. was to be paid to the master or mistress by the parish.

After 1740, there was a steady growth of population due to improved midwifery. William Smellie taught scientific midwifery in London from 1741 and wrote a "Treatise on Midwifery" in 1752, which had a clear explanation of the mechanism of labor. At this time there were several maternity hospitals. Forceps existed for difficult deliveries. In 1750, Dr. Cadogan wrote his book: "An Essay on the Nursing and Management of Children, which made a great improvement in the care of young children.

For instance, it recommended loose clothing, no tight swaddling clothes, and a simple diet. Swaddling clothes were used to retain a baby's evacuations but produced discomfort and serious skin conditions. A hospital was founded for venereal diseases in 1746, another as an asylum for the penitent and orphaned girls who might otherwise be inclined to prost.i.tution, and yet another for prost.i.tutes in 1758. Coitus interruptus was widely used for birth control. There were also clandestine abortions and intentional neglect of newborns.

Melancholy was widespread. Suicides were frequent and drugs were sold for this purpose. In 1725, the mentally ill were cla.s.sified as curable or incurable. There were many private asylums. A lunatic who was furiously mad and dangerous was required to be safely locked up or chained in his place of settlement. There were frequent and dangerous abuses in madhouses, so in 1774, no one was to keep or confine more than one lunatic without a license granted by the Royal College of Physicians or else forfeit 500 pounds. A Justice of the Peace and a physician inspected all madhouses to observe conditions and care of patients there. If refused admittance, the license was forfeited.

In 1712 was the last time a monarch touched a person to cure him of a malady such as scrofula.

In 1743 surgery students began to dissect corpses with their own hands to better learn anatomy. In 1744 the Company of Surgeons was separated out of the Company of Barber-Surgeons. The barbers were proscribed from performing surgery and had to have a separate corporation from the surgeons because of the ignorance and unskillfulness of barbers healing wounds, blows, and hurts e.g. by blood letting and drawing of teeth.

There was a Surgeon's Hall, officers chosen by the surgeons, and bylaws.

The surgeons were required to examine candidates for the position of surgeon in the king's army and navy. They were exempted from parish, ward, and leet offices, and juries. In 1752, a statute provided that the corpses of murderers were to be sent to the Surgeon's Hall to be anatomized, for the purpose of deterring murders. The penalty for rescuing the corpse of a murderer was to suffer death.

The first dispensary for the poor was established in 1769 to give free medicine and treatment to the infant poor, and then to the infants of the industrious poor.

The progress of science was seen to threaten the authority of the church. There was a general belief in G.o.d, but not much attention to Jesus. Feared to come were free thought, rationalism, and atheism. There was still a big gap between local parsons and bishops, who were educated, well-off, and related to the aristocracy. On the whole, preachers talked about morality and Christian belief. They stressed good works and benevolence. But many Protestant clergy were more concerned with their own livings than with their paris.h.i.+oners. They were indolent and did not set a good example of moral living.

From 1715, Freemasonry spread and swiftly provided a spiritual haven for those who believed in G.o.d and desired ritual and mysticism.

About 1744, John Wesley, the son of an Anglican clergyman, became a religious leader for mining and industrial laborers, who were crowded into the slums of industrializing cities, and largely ignored by the Church of England. He had been led to this by a profound religious experience. He led an evangelical revival with a promise of individual salvation. He lead an aesthetic life, eating bread, and sleeping on boards. The person to be saved from the horrors of eternal d.a.m.nation in h.e.l.l was to discipline himself to regular prayer, self-criticism, and hard work and to forsake worldly pleasures such as drinking, overeating, and even frivolous talk. This methodical regularity of living led to the movement being called Methodist. Wesley believed in witchcraft and magic. He opined that bodily diseases and insanity could be caused by devils and that some dreams are caused by occult powers of evil. The Methodists engaged increasingly in philanthropic activities. They gave to the poor, and visited the sick and the imprisoned. Wesley preached in the open air where all who wanted to attend could attend and also wear whatever clothes they had. Large crowds of poor people gathered for these meetings. Crowds of poor people were generally feared because of their mob potential. These Methodist meetings were stormed as were Quaker meetings, with shouts of "the church in danger". The Methodists'

homes were invaded and their belongings destroyed or taken or their persons beaten with tacit permission of authorities. Some Justices of the Peace drafted preachers into the army or navy as vagabonds.

Eventually, however, the Methodist revival imbued energy and piety into the lethargic clergy of the established church. A new moral enthusiasm and philanthropic energy grabbed the nation. Prisons were reformed, penal laws made more wise, slave trade abolished, and popular education given momentum. In the established church, charity gained precedence over theology and comfort over self-examination and guilt. Evangelist George Whitfield preached Calvinism and it split off from Methodism.

Then Calvinism went into full decline. Presbyterianism collapsed into Unitarianism and a general tendency towards deism developed.

Church sanctuary was abolished for those accused of civil offenses.

There was much travel by scheduled coaches, which usually carried several pa.s.sengers and were drawn by four horses. Regular service of public vehicles to and from London went four miles an hour; it took two days to go from London to Oxford. It was not unusual for a coach to bog down or overturn. Sometimes it had to detour around an impa.s.sable stretch of road or borrow a couple of oxen from a nearby farm to get out of a quagmire. Men and horses drowned in some of the potholes. Robbery was endemic and some of the roads were so unsafe from highwaymen that bands of armed hors.e.m.e.n were hired to accompany the coaches. It was not unusual to come across gibbets for hanging at crossroads. In London inns at coach stops, there were casual workers who were a.s.sociated with gangs of thieves specializing in pa.s.sengers' goods. These workers would inform their a.s.sociate thieves of specific goods that had been loaded onto certain coaches, which were then robbed selectively. Traveling merchants preferred packhorses to carts because they could cross overland or through watercourses more easily. These pack horses traveled in regular caravans in single file. The leader had a bell around his neck to warn, from a distance, riders or carts coming in the opposite direction. Carts traveled about two miles an hour. In 1711 the trustee system superseded administration by the Justices of the Peace of the turnpike system, including tolls and toll booths. The toll booths were frequently attacked by riotous mobs. So anyone pulling down or destroying turnpike gates at which tolls were to be paid went to prison or was put to hard labor in a House of Correction for three months without bail. He was also whipped in the market place between 11:00 and 2:00. If he offended a second time, he was transported for seven years. Later the penalty of prison up to three years was added as an alternative. The hundred had to pay the damages up to 20 pounds. The penalty for threatening the toll collector or forcibly pa.s.sing through was 5 pounds for the first offense, and 10 pounds for the second offense with imprisonment for one year for those who couldn't pay.

By 1750, about 60 miles could be made in a day. The turnpike trusts took over most of London's major highways during the 1700s. There was no travel on Sundays until 1750.

In 1745, shocked by the difficulty caused by bad roads in concentrating the royal army to stop the Scottish invasion, the king began systematically to improve all the roads. There was much road and highway widening and repair, and also river bank and pier repair, going on all over the country. Marsh lands were drained. Harbors were deepened. There were numerous statutes trying to adjust the needs of travel with the condition of the roads. For instance, there had to be a pole between wheel horses or double shafts. Carriages, wagons, or carts drawn by more horses, oxen, or animals, or with very heavy loads, or with wheels bound with iron tires were observed to cause more damage, so they were restricted or had to pay higher tolls. Then broad and smooth iron tires were observed to not cause the amount of damage as did narrow or irregular iron tires and their use was encouraged. From 1741, weighing machines were kept at toll gates. By 1766, turnpike roads had to be at least 30 feet wide, and hedges and fences thereon had to be taken down by their owners. Cartways to markets had to be at least 20 feet wide, and horseways 3 (later 8) feet wide. There were ditches, drains, and gutters to carry off water. Names and abodes of owners were to be put on carriages, wagons, and carts or forfeit 2-5 pounds, except for carriages or coaches of a n.o.bleman or gentleman for his private use or those drawn by only one horse or two oxen, or those with wide wheels and a light load. There were town name signs, direction posts, and milestones. In 1773, the Surveyors and the Commissioners of Turnpikes were given authority to requisition local men, carts and draught animals for compulsory labor, or money instead, in maintaining the roads and making new ditches and drains. They could take any local sand, gravel, chalk, or stone from waste or common land or, if not needed by and satisfaction was made to the owner, from enclosed land. The surveyor was to be chosen locally for a year and could be given an allowance. New roads required the consent of the landowners and a negotiated price.

A driver of a carriage, wagon, or cart on the public highway who by negligence or misbehavior caused any hurt or damage to a person or any other carriage or hindered free pa.s.sage of any other carriage was to forfeit up to 20s. Anyone leaving an empty cart or other obstruction on a public highway was to forfeit up to 20s. Any cart, wagon, or carriage driven without a person on foot or on horseback leading it had a forfeiture up to 20s. Any driver of an empty cart, wagon, or carriage who refused or neglected to make way for any coach or loaded cart, wagon, or carriage was to forfeit up to 20. Any offender could be apprehended without warrant by anyone who saw his offense, and who was then to deliver him to a constable or other peace officer.

By 1719, the mail service was well-regulated. Letter rates within 80 miles of London were 3d. per piece of paper, then 12d. per ounce. Within 60 miles of New York City in America there were 4d. per piece of paper, then 1s.4d. per ounce. Letters were still carried by post horses. From London to New York, they were 1s. per piece of paper for the first three pieces, then 4s. per ounce. In 1765, this rate was extended to all colonial ports.

In 1754, ca.n.a.ls began to be constructed linking the main rivers. The barges were hauled by horses or men from the land near the river's edge.

Now goods of many inland towns cheapened and reached a national instead of just a local market. In 1761 an almost illiterate man called James Brindley cut the first real ca.n.a.l at Worsley for the Duke of Bridgewater, who owned the coal deposits there. He kept the line of the ca.n.a.l at one level to avoid having to make locks. It crossed one river as a forty foot high aqueduct. He refused to use the beds of small rivers, whose sluggish flow gave no adequate security against silting.

Coal at the destination point of Manchester fell to half its former price. After Wedgwood headed a campaign to persuade Parliament to construct a certain ca.n.a.l, he bought adjacent land on which he built his great factory.

In 1713, the maximum interest rate that could be charged was reduced to 5% for the advancement of trade and improvement of lands because that rate was the norm in foreign lands. Thus the maximum interest rate fell from 10 to 8 to 6 and then to 5%. When Issac Newton was Master of the Mint, he noted that too restricted a currency caused a high interest rate to prevail, which was bad for commerce and the plans to set the poor to work, but that too large a quant.i.ty of money in circulation caused interest rates to fall, which encouraged luxury imports and the export of bullion.