Transcriber’s Note:
The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
On the 14th May, 1838, the Poor Law Commissionerspresented to Lord John Russell a report “relative to certaincharges which have been disallowed by the auditors of unionsin England and Wales;” together with two supplementaryreports; one a “Report on the prevalence of certain PhysicalCauses of Fever in the Metropolis, which might be removed byproper sanitary measures, by Neil Arnott, M.D., and JamesPhillips Kay, M.D.;” the other a “Report on some of the PhysicalCauses of Sickness and Mortality to which the Poor arepeculiarly exposed, and which are capable of removal by SanitaryRegulations exemplified in the present condition of the BethnalGreen and Whitechapel Districts, as ascertained on a personalinspection by Southwood Smith, M.D., Physician to the LondonFever Hospital.” (See Fourth Annual Report, App. A, No. 1.)
On the 29th April, 1839, the Commissioners received from Dr.Southwood Smith a “Report on the prevalence of Fever inTwenty Metropolitan Unions or Parishes during the year endedthe 20th March, 1838,” which they appended to their FifthAnnual Report. (App. C, No. 2.)
ivIn August, 1839, Lord John Russell addressed the followingletter to the Commissioners:—
“The Queen having been pleased to comply with theprayer of an humble address presented to her Majesty, in pursuanceof an order of the House of Lords, dated 19th August,1839, that ‘Her Majesty will be pleased to cause inquiry to bemade as to the extent to which the causes of disease stated in theAppendix A, No. 1, of the Poor Law Co