LIFE OF JOHN HEYSHAM, M.D /Cc^y/ £?^e<-^L^ THE LIFE OF JOHN HEYSHAM, M.D. AND HIS CORRESPONDENCE WITH MR. JOSHUA MILNE RELATIVE TO THE CARLISLE BILLS OF MORTALITY EDITED BY HENRY LONSDALE, M.D. o. e. [x. LONDON LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 1870 Neglecta reducit, sparsa colligit, utilia selegit, necessaria ostendit, sic utile. Baglivi. Non, me ut miratur turba, laboro, Contentus paucis lectoribus. John Graunt. u fotfi IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF LASTING FRIENDSHIPS I DEDICATE THIS VOLUME TO JAMES ADAMS, M.D., GLASGOW. ROBERT BROWN, F.R.C.S., CARLISLE. WILLIAM L. DICKINSON, L.R.C.R, WORKINGTON. JOHN GRAHAM, M.D., LONDON. DAVID R. LIETCH, M.D., KESWICK. ROBERT G. LORD, M.D., H.M.S., INDIA. THOMAS LOY, M.A. Cantab., STOKESLEY. WILLIAM A. LOY, M.R.C. S., GREAT AYTON. GEORGE A. MEIN, M.D., AUSTRALIA. JOHN NICHOLSON, M.D., HEXHAM. ANTHONY PEAT, M. R.C.S., WORKINGTON. ROBERT TIFFEN, M.D., WIGTON. Mm 787 CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGE The Heyshams of Lancaster — John Heysham — Medical Apprentice — Travelling to Edinburgh — His Studies and Graduation there — Settles in Carlisle ........ i CHAPTER II. The "Border City" — Its Historical Relations — Its Architecture and Salubrity — Its Hybrid Population — Its Trade — The Corporation — The Guilds — Habits and Pastimes of the Citizens about a Hundred Years ago . . . . . . . .14 ■ CHAPTER III. The Carlisle Bills of Mortality — Topography — Climate and Rainfall — Census of 1763 and 1780 — Notes on the Mortality from 1779 to 1787 29 CHAPTER IV. History of the Jail-Fever in Carlisle — The Foundation of the Carlisle Dispensary — Medical Cases — Human Monstrosity . . -57 CHAPTER V. One Decade of Heysham's Life — His Natural History Observations in Cumberland ........ 77 viii CONTENTS. CHAPTER VI. I AGE His Personality, Habits, and Character, Patriotic and Social — His Medi- cal Contemporaries and Clerical Friends — The Music of Nature — Medical Zeal — Magisterial Labours — His Death . . .94 CHAPTER VII. Review of Dr. Heysham's Labours ; their Application to Life Insurance — "The Carlisle Table" compared with "the English Tables" — Estimate formed of Dr. Heysham's Services at Home and Abroad . 119 Appendix . . . . . ... . -137 CHAPTER T. THE HEYSHAMS OF LANCASTER — JOHN HEYSHAM— MEDICAL APPRENTICE — TRAVELLING TO EDINBURGH— HIS STUDIES AND GRADUATION THERE- SETTLES IN CARLISLE. , 'THE name and family of Heysham are of ancient date and record in the county of Lancaster. The district bordering on Morecambe Bay, now constituting the manor and parish of Heysham, was at an early period taken possession of by a roving Saxon chieftain named Hessa, from whose occupation of it the name is derived. After the Norman Conquest it appears as " Hcssam" part of the possessions which Earl Tosti had held, and was then granted by the Conqueror to some one of his followers, who, according to the fashion of those times, assumed the name " de Hcssam? In the reign of Henry III. it was in the holding of Roger de Hesham, by the tenure of serjeanty, or service of Cornage ; which was to be in attendance on the border of the county with horn and white wand whensoever the King should come, to introduce him with sound of horn into the county, and in like B 2 THE HEYSHAMS OF LANCASTER. manner to attend him on his departure. From this conspicuous service of comage it is traditionally said that the Lords of the Manor of Heysham acquired the surname of Comet, eventually transformed into Gcrnet, in which name the manor long remained vested. Yet junior branches of the family retained the ancient name ; and in the town of Lancaster there were in the seven- teenth century more than one branch bearing it. Thus we are enabled to trace the descent of John Heysham, whose life is to occupy these pages, from a citizen of Lancaster, who flourished there in the early part of that century. This gentle- man had two sons, Gyles Heysham and John Heysham. They were merchants and shipowners. Gyles had several children, amongst whom were Robert and William, who both went to London in their youth, and became eminent merchants there ; so much so, that Robert, being an alderman of London and president of Christ's Hospital, was in 1698 elected member of Parliament for his native town Lancaster, and sat as such till 17 1 5, when he was elected for the City of London, and held that position till his death in 1722. William also, in 1705, became representative in Parliament of his native town, and enjoyed the honour as long as he lived. He left by will an estate at Greaves, near Lancaster (now of the yearly value of £200 or thereabouts), for the maintenance of eight poor freemen of the borough. JOHN HEYSHAM—HIS EDUCATION. The second son, John, had also several children — no less than nine of whom were sons. Some of these, following the commercial instinct of the family, emigrated to America, and there realised fortune and position. One son, Gyles, maintained the family name at home. As a shipowner, he shared in the prosperity that attended Lancaster in her extensive sugar trade and other commercial relations. He has been described as handsome in person, and a thorough-bred man of business ; yet, like other men of bold enterprise, he was not uniformly successful in his commercial undertakings. About the year 1750 he took to wife Anne Cumming, daughter of a well-to-do yeoman or " Statesman," at Holme, in Westmoreland, of which marriage came John Heysham, the subject of the present memoir, born at Lancaster on the 2 2d November 1753. John Heysham seems to have inherited a good deal of his father's handsome personality and habits of perseverance, and not a little of his mother's thrift ; and both qualifications were ser- viceable in the path he selected for himself in the world. Young Heysham had the benefit of a good classical and general education at the hands of the Messrs. Jenkinson, members of the " Society of Friends," and schoolmasters of considerable repute at Yealand, a small village near to Burton in Westmoreland. It is worthy of remark that the Quakers were the best schoolmasters of that period in the north of England ; for whilst they inculcated self-denial, 4 THE SURGEON'S APPRENTICE. industry, and order, they were not less vigilant in training the intel- lectual powers of their pupils. They unquestionably enjoyed a large share of confidence among the upper middle class. Along Morecambe Bay and the coast further north, in the dales of West- moreland and Cumberland, wherever George Fox's teaching took root, some worthy disciples of the " Friends"* located themselves as schoolmasters, and did infinite service to the cause of educa- tion in these northern counties. On the completion of his schooling, John Heysham was apprenticed for five years to Mr. Parkinson, a surgeon at Burton. There he had to undergo the usual drudgery of a village medical apprentice, under a master who rigidly exacted the performance of every duty, from the mixing of pills and potions even to the rubbing down of " master's horse." " The doctor's lad" — the term applied to a surgeon's apprentice — had to rise early, and often to sit late, to wait his master's return from distant profes- sional visits. The indentures set forth that he was to learn the " art and mystery" of an apothecary, or the preparation and com- pounding of drugs ; this included the collecting of plants, the making of decoctions, and all the paraphernalia from the working up of crude materials to the neatly-labelled draught for the * John Dalton, the great chemist, and his brother, at Kendal ; the Fletchers of Broughton and Brigham, near Cockermouth, in the last century ; Joseph Saul of Grecnrow, Holm Cultram, in Cumberland, are cited off-hand as prominent instances supporting the views expressed above. HIS ENDLESS ROUND OF DUTIES. 5 rector's spouse or the squire's daughter. Then bleeding, and tooth-drawing, and cupping, came under the art and mystery of surgery. The lad was also expected to keep up his classics, to make his initiative in anatomy and the elements of chemistry, and to have some notions of disease, so as to be able to act in cases of surgical emergency. The system was well calculated to sharpen a lad's wits, and to fit him to rough the world, and a rougher world than country practice was nowhere to be found in his Majesty's dominions ; but it was hardly consistent with the acquirement of a learned profession or the dignity of manners that should embellish the Healing Art. Attending to the stable one hour, and to aloes and rhubarb the next, savoured more of Veterinary than of Human Medicine. An endless round of menial as well as medical duties prevailed in these village surgeries, which the first three decades of the eighteenth century did not entirely sweep away* To-day all things are changed, and young Esculapius now dashes along the road in smart * The apprenticeship system, with all its faults, had some redeeming virtues : it trained lads up to the work of their lives, it familiarised them with the pro- fessional adjuvantia, as well as the forms of physiognomical indications of disease. Till very lately, the great majority of English medical practitioners were so educated, and it may be safely advanced that they have shown no inferiority in skill and discriminative judgment to the generation that has sprung up from the modern system of cramming and forced growth. Upon the roll of medical worthies are to be found a host of provincial men, from the days of Jenner, who have promoted the interests of medicine and surgery quite as much as the favoured metropolitan leaders. 6 ARCHERY AND ORNITHOLOGY. clothes, with light cane and kid gloves, deeming himself a suitor for the comeliest of company, even of the lavender sort. At an early age John Hey sham gave indications of a penchant for Natural History. His love of birds was specially manifested, and with the smattering of human anatomy derived in the surgery of his master, his interest for Ornithology became much enlarged. Like all country-educated lads, Heysham coveted field sports ; but as firearms were very cautiously placed in the hands of appren- tices, he was in some measure driven to the practice of the bow and arrow in the pursuit of his favourite study of birds. In the present day such a mode will appear puerile to a degree ; it was not so 1 1 o years ago ; nor was the practice of the bow and arrow one whit less successful in aim than the flint and steel musket known as " Old Brown Bess " to English soldiers. Being furthest removed from the pulsation of new thoughts, the " North Countrie " held long by the customs of the Tudors, be it the wild weapons of war or the enjoyment of the pastimes of peace. Archery might well linger among the descendants of those'" whose prowess had been so highly extolled on Flodden Field — " With him (Lord Dacres) the bows of Kendal stout, With milke-whitc coats and crosses red. " These arc the bows of Kendal bold, Who fierce will fight, and never flee." In the Border wars (1584) Cumberland and Westmoreland furnished 8350 nun. The 300 Kendal nun on Flodden Field proved "hardy men that went hop THE DOCTORS AND HERBALISTS. 7 Two centuries, it is true, had passed over since these days of chivalry ; but the remembrance of the glory of the past had not been effaced from the north-country dalesman : nay, the practice of archery had come down from sire to son to the Georgian era. Heysham, touched by the rivalry, the more intense that it was bucolic, prevailing among youths of his own age, became an adept at the ancient mode of shooting. Heysham was far from being an idle apprentice ; for, in addi- tion to his gallipot work, and the minor practice of physic and surgery, he studied classics and mathematics under the Rev. Dr. Hutton, vicar of Burton. In the course of time he finished his pupilage, and prepared for Edinburgh, a medical school of high repute, where he might finish his studies and become a licensed practitioner. He had seen enough of country practice to condemn it in toto, independently of its fearful drudgery. The regular practitioner had not the social status due to his professional rank, and much less of the confidence of the public than the itinerant quack. At all times he had to compete with the village black- smith, the barber, and the herbalist, whose " culling of simples " foote back." They were evidently of the same stamp as the archers of Sir 'Thomas Curwen of Workington, that were gathered from West Cumberland and by the mountain districts southwards as far as Furness in Lancashire. Both the men and their chief obtained special praise from " Old Bluff Harry," when visiting these parts of his kingdom, and making a clean sweep of the Monastic Abbeys ; ex. gr. Furness and others in the North. 8 TRA VELLING A CENTURY AGO. under lunar and saturnine auspices impressed the vulgar mind with uncommon faith. The only chance left the medical man of counteracting the prevailing quackery, was to prove, and oft to repeat the proof of, his professional skill and sagacity. Even this failed to carry conviction against the prejudice and ignorance besetting other walks than the strictly bucolic life. To travel from Lancaster to Edinburgh — 170 miles — was no easy matter in Heysham's day. There were no coaches or public conveyances — posting being usurped by the grandees of the nation, and seldom adopted even by them — so that walking and riding, like " Hobson's choice," were the only alternatives. In the very year (1774) that Heysham left home for the northern university, the proprietors of the Edinburgh " Fly " announced to the public, what was received as a startling fact, that their new conveyance would make the journey between the English and Scottish metropolis " in ten days, God willing." The " God will- ing" was a most significant clause in the agreement, for such speed as forty miles a-day with " the Edinburgh Fly," however much wished for, was seldom obtained. Moreover, this stage-coach, " the Fly," came by York over Stainmore, and then proceeded by Carlisle to Glasgow, and consequently was of no service to travellers from Lancaster. Some years elapsed before the Mail was put on the Sliap or Kendal road, namely in 1786. Heysham had to undertake his journey on horseback, a mode of travelling HEYSHAM'S ROUTE TO EDINBURGH. 9 which, amongst some drawbacks, in a pluviose district especially, had at least the advantage of giving the traveller time to survey the country through which he passed. With his love for natural history and mountain scenery, the journey could not fail to be exciting and agreeable ; as each hour revealed a varying landscape of hill and dale, so each stage or resting-place showed its quaint hostelry and quainter folk. Special mention is made of his travel to Edinburgh, as it exercised a marked influence on his future plans ; moreover, in starting from home he meant to find other quarters, so that he came to look at each town and district with the discrimination of a man in search of a new settlement. His route lay along the old Roman road, and his halting- places for the night were frequently the loci in g?io of the camps or stations by which the Northern Borders were held in subjection by the Roman legions. Thus he rode from Lancaster {Longovi- cuni) to Kendal (Concangium), then to Penrith, and so on to Carlisle (Liiguvallium). He met with little else on the roads than gangs of pack-horses transferring the merchandise of Kendal to the rest of England, no less than 354 horses being employed in the work. The " Kendal green " and " cottons " had lost part of their reputa- tion in 1 770; but knit-yarn and worsted stockings engrossed a vast district around, so that Heysham in his journeying would see here and there, in the hamlets by the fell-sides, and in the valleys — " The spinsters and the knitters in the sun." io CARLISLE FROM THE SOUTH. The population of Kendal was equal to Carlisle, and its commercial spirit somewhat higher than the Border City. Camden had characterised the town " lanificii gloria et industria prccellens" and the arms of the Corporation bore " Pannus miJii panis ;" yet Heysham could not be tempted to fix his tent under the " three teasels of wool-hooks," however rich they might be in yield of pants — the staff of life. Having crossed the high and barren moorlands of Shap Fells, and reached Hackthorpe, he came in view of the rich and expansive valley of the Eden, and the best features of the Crossfell range of hills, then, descending by the sylvan streams of Lowther and Eamont, he halted at Penrith. Though snugly ensconced under its own Beacon-hill, and in contiguity to the Lake district, and the fine mountains of Saddleback and Helvellyn, this spirited little town did not altogether meet his wishes. Pro- ceeding northwards, and surveying the Vale of the Peterill from the heights of Barrock-fell, or still better from Carlton Hill, having the richly-planted Woodside on his left, and the noted Corby Woods on his right, he got his first glimpse of Carlisle. On reaching Harraby Hill,* an eminence but one mile distant, he obtained the best view of the city, its surrounding walls, the * Harraby Hill is the Harrabee of Sir W. Scott's " Waverley," and locally known as " Gallows Hill," where so many Scotch rebels, the followers of "The Pretender," were hanged for high treason. The heads of the chiefs were spiked on the Scottish gates, with their faces pointed to their native land. STUDIES IN EDINBURGH. 1 1 towering citadel, the donjon-keep of its castle, and the stately cathedral. Situated at the confluence of three rivers, and surrounded by a plain of richly-green meadows, traversed by the smaller streams of the Cauda and Peterill, the broader vale of the Eden being bounded by gradually rising uplands terminating in the Scottish hills and East Cumberland " Fells," Carlisle charmed Heysham at first sight, and that charm continued through life. He knew nothing of the inhabitants of the place, and therefore had no local tie to bias his judgment ; it was the Availed city robbed of its mediaeval and warlike frown by rich pastoral sur- roundings, and a landscape of awakening interest, that allured his fancy, and eventually decided him to make Carlisle his future home. Heysham studied physic under Monro, Cullen, Black, and others of fame in Edinburgh, for three years, and obtained his doctor's degree in June 1777. His Thesis De Rabie Canina was inscribed to Henry, the son of Professor Cullen, a circumstance indicative of his being on very pleasant terms with the family of the great medical teacher. The subject selected by Heysham for his " Inaugural Dissertation " was by no means a happy one, inasmuch as rabies canina, or hydrophobia, on account of its rarity, was unsuited for original inquiry. The writer is informed that Heysham never saw a case in his fifty years' practice. His historical examination of the disease afforded no clue to its eluci- 12 GRADUATION THESIS. dation or proximate cause ; hundreds of doctors who have followed in his wake have done no better, and hydrophobia is still a problem in medicine, notwithstanding all the aids brought to bear upon its investigation by a new chemistry, and not less improved pathology and therapeutics. The thesis displays a great amount of reading, and a thorough acquaintance with the whole subject ; its Latinity, said to have been extolled by his medical teachers, may be judged of by the following quotation, taken at random from the 15th page: — " De symptomatis in cane rabido occurrentibus. Primo canis suum vigorem amittit, minus vividus fit, et, inter obsequium domino praestandum, solitudinem petit. Non latrat, sed murmurat, aliis minitatur ; auribus et cauda demissis, cibum aversatur, et vultus tristitiae omnia signa exhibet. Postquam haec symptomata unum, duos, vel tres dies permanserunt, dein canis cito difficulter- que respirat ; linguam ore exerit, atque salivam primo parcius movet."* Immediately after graduating in Edinburgh, Hcysham sailed from Leith to Rotterdam, and made a tour through Holland, with a view of improving his medical knowledge under the renowned 1 Hcysham could point to no Arkadian spring, or the Alysson mentioned by Polybius, the water of which was so famed for its cure of the bite of mad dogs as to be the pride of the Kynathians of old ; nor docs he in his Thesis note the history of the beautiful 1'nitides, of the handsome bestowals of their kingly father upon the lucky physician Melampus. HE YSHAM SE TTLES IN CARLISLE. 1 3 Dutch professors. On his return to England he stayed some time in London, and afterwards visited his family at Lancaster. In 1778 he settled in Carlisle as a physician, bringing with him excellent introductions to the best families in the city. With or without such credentials, however, he would soon have secured friends among the higher educated class, whilst his handsome bearing as a man could not fail to attract the notice of the gentler sex, to whom many a medical man has owed his first and greatest success in practice. He took lodgings in St. Cuthbert's Lane, near the centre of the city ; and such was his partiality for this narrow approach to St. Cuthbert's Church, that he afterwards took a house in it, which he continued to inhabit till his death in i834- . . . CHAPTER II. THE "BORDER CITY"— ITS HISTORICAL RELATIONS — ITS ARCHITECTURE AND SALUBRITY— ITS HYBRID POPULATION — ITS TRADE — THE COR- PORATION—THE GUILDS— HABITS AND PASTIMES OF THE CITIZENS ABOUT A HUNDRED YEARS AGO. ("CARLISLE, viewed in its Archaic, Roman, Mediaeval, and Modern attitudes, would seem to offer a large and interesting theme to the historian. Ripe scholarship and various attainments would be essential to the elucidation of the subject, and difficulties of no common kind would surround the threshold of the inquiry. Of the migratory tribes who, tempted by the good fishing and hunting ground, settled along the banks of the river Eden, and of their nomad habits, Taranis-worship, and sacrificial rites, there is but the common conjecture that attributes all the unknown of the prehistoric era to the Druids of our earthly Pantheon — con- stituting a kind of British mythology, that of late years has become highly acceptable to vulgar minds. What is wanted is a sketch of Carlisle as the seat of the kings of Cumbria ; its relations to the Picts and Scots ; its Roman indoctrination ; its Fctishisms, and the graftings thereon of Christianised formulas ; CARLISLE IN THE OLDEN TIME. 15 its Witenagemots ; its destruction by the Danes ; its restoration after a two-centuried dilapidation, and the fresh impetus it gained from Norman rule and architecture ; its monastic and baronial subjections ; and its final emergence from these and other crushing influences to constitutional government and civic rights. Placed between the fires of both sides of the Borders, Carlisle at times hardly knew to whom it owed its allegiance, and not- withstanding the oft-promised blessings of Christian bondship and legitimate rule, it realised neither peace nor repose for centuries. Even with the establishment of the Tudor dynasty, that brought about a more definitive line of action in every department of the realm, a feverish anxiety reigned along the " debateable land " of the Scottish Borders, near to which was Carlisle, a garrisoned town, coveted by both parties in the struggle for supremacy. Queen Elizabeth saw the policy of making Carlisle the residence of the " Lord Warden of the Western Marches," and of strengthening its holdings and defence against the inroads of the Scotch ; and this policy was maintained by her successors on the throne of England for two centuries subsequently. In Dr. Heysham's day a broad turreted wall encircled the city of Carlisle ; on the south stood the citadel with its frowning barbicans, and on the north the castle was still more prominent, with its battled towers and donjon-keep. The gates of the city — named, in accordance with the direction to which they pointed, 1 6 " THE SUN SHINES FAIR ON CARLISLE WA\ n English, Scottish, and Irish — were shut at sunset ; and armed sentinels kept watch and ward over them, as if still threatened by the Scottish foe. The military parade gave life and colouring to the otherwise passive character of the city, the denizens of which were roused from their slumbers by the call of the bugle- horn, and after the labours of the day were reminded of the hours of repose by the evening tattoo. To the traveller approach- ing from the south, as Heysham did a hundred years ago, what a pleasant picture of the rus in urbe type of a city, when " the sun" shone "fair on Carlisle wa' ;" and that wall had no other environs than the meadowed plain, the converging mountain streams, and the knolled and wooded eminences beyond ! With increasing population the character of the city became changed. Devoid of archaeological thought as well as architectural taste, persons, guided only by prospective pecuniary advantages, erected a lot of wretched buildings in close proximity to the gates, and thus marred not only the beauty of the Border City, but its well- known natural salubrity. Another generation had sprung up in Carlisle since the ill- fated '45, and a feeling of security was being restored along the Borders. The banner of St. George, floating over the highest tower of the castle, implied civic fealty to the Hanoverian cause. Whilst, however, hundreds of middle-aged persons could recount with freshness of narrative the march of " Bonnie Prince Charlie " DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE. 17 into the city with his kilted clans, and dwell on his chivalrous bearing and smiling courtesies, sympathy for the fallen house of the Stuarts still lingered by other hearths than the strictly Jaco^ bite residents of the Border City. A rude and quaint form of domestic architecture prevailed in Carlisle a hundred years ago. Houses with gabled fronts bounded the great thoroughfares ; their doorways, central or lateral, porched or projecting, were occasionally adorned with a kind of Gothic arch ; the windows were few and diminutive, and quite as irregu- lar as other parts of the tenement. The chief objects aimed at in building were warmth and security, and, above all other considera- tions, evasion of the odious window-tax. The doors of dwellings consisted of thick slabs of oak clumsily attached to cross oaken bars, and over their surface a series of projecting knobs in imitation of the iron rivets and studs on the gates of a mediaeval fortress. Occasionally the carpenter indulged his fancy by arranging these wooden pins in geometric or grotesque figures. The same style of workmanship is still to be seen in retired country districts in the North of England. The Town or Moot Hall occupied a central position ; and near to it were the butcher's shambles and fish-shops. An open well, much frequented by the inhabitants, was under the same roof, and liable to receive part of the liquid waste percolating the subsoil from both these nuisances in the market-place. The C 1 8 THE PEOPLE OF CARLISLE. streets were kept tolerably wide, and garden-plots and open spaces were to be found in various parts of the city. On the other hand, narrow confined lanes, wanting both light and air, were vastly too numerous along the north-eastern wall. Irre- gular buildings and deficient sanitary arrangements ruled every- where ; the city had no public lights, so each citizen had to carry his own lantern on moonless nights. Hard or drinking water was got from draw-wells in the open streets, or from pumps in dirty lanes ; soft water was brought from the river Eden by water-carriers, and sold at so much a pailful. The days of skin- washing and clean linen had scarcely dawned upon the Carlisle lieges, content with a summer's bath in the adjacent rivers, or an occasional dip in the Solway tide, five miles distant. The folk of Carlisle were not without a large share of hybridity in their veins. Upon the aboriginal stem, call it Kymric or British, or whatsoever you will, had been grafted from time to time shoots of the noble Roman, of the marauding Saxon, and hardy Danish sea-rover, till the parent Cumbrian stock had lost its primordial character in an amalgamation of race elements almost beyond ethnological distinction. If the blending of blood be the right thing for developing a vigorous race, the men of Carlisle had every chance of reaping its advantages to the full ; for, introduced to Cumberland from time to time, were people from the Italian Apennines, the plains of France, the banks of SAXON, CELT, OR BRITISH? 19 the Danube, and the coasts of the North Sea. Verily a motley- breed ! which it pleases John Bull to designate " Anglo-Saxon " — a term that has done mighty service in penny literature and House of Commons grandiloquence, and now bids fair to find its lowest level at Cockney banquets and Fishmongers' feasts. It is a matter of regret that Dr. Heysham, in his survey of the population in 1780, showed no interest in the ethnological characters, and took no note of the general physique of the people.* Before the Scottish and Irish immigrations to the city became so marked, Carlisle should have offered a chance of investigating the Saxon and Celtic relations of the North Britisher; at any rate, helped to elucidate some of the more salient features of our mixed race. Heysham was content with a simple census, or " counting the noses" of the people, regardless of the Judaic, Celtic, or Roman forms exhibited by his fellow-citizens. Of the 6299 persons living in the city and suburbs of Carlisle in 1 780, and the adjacent outlying district that ranked with the urban parishes, Cumbrians and Lowland Scotch in part would constitute nine- tenths. A few Flemish,! and more Irish would make up the remain- * In 1775, Dr. John Hunter, an Edinburgh graduate, made the " Varieties of Man" the subject of his inaugural dissertation. Heysham was then study- ing in Edinburgh, but does not appear to have been struck with the novelty of Hunter's thesis. t The establishment of woollen factories in Carlisle in 1753 by a Flemish firm, accounted for the presence of these foreigners in the Border City. 20 CONSUMERS AND PRODUCERS. der. With, the growing manufactures of the city, the relative proportions became greatly altered ; there was a large influx of Irish, chiefly Ulster men, who found their way across the Channel in Whitehaven coal- vessels, and also a considerable accession of industrious Scotch from Dumfriesshire. This chapter, it should be observed, is introductory to the consideration of the Bills of Mortality, and should embrace the character of the people, their habits, pursuits, and modes of living, and not less the sanitary aspects of the city, so as to facilitate the comprehension of Dr. Heysham's great work — the tabulation of the births, marriages, and deaths, and all that pertained to the health and disease of the Carlisle population. Speaking broadly, there were only two distinct classes in Carlisle — the industrious poor, and the well-to-do or independent folk. The shopocratic element was much less significant in those days than now ; and happily there was not a single mart for the sale of drugs, where poison could be had for the stomachs, and no public print even of the ribald sort to disturb the minds of the un- sophisticated lieges. In taking the census, Dr. Heysham did not distinguish those engaged in the larger manufactories from those who laboured to supply the trade-wants of the city ; or these again from the higher class, who appeared to live for the purpose of having their wants supplied. The producers and consumers were ranked together. THE TRADE OF CARLISLE. 21 Heysham was a true advocate of the numerical method per se, and gave only the smallest possible recognition to the social potencies, such as property, character, and station ; hence he made no dis- tinction between the consumer and the producer. The export trade of Carlisle consisted of linen, cotton, and woollen goods, bleached and dyed yarns, but chiefly calico-prints : soap, hats, whips, and fish-hooks also had a place in its commercial transactions. None of these trades were particularly injurious to health. The hours of work might be long, and there were no half- holidays to relieve the burthens of the Carlisle operatives. Wages, however, were fairly remunerative for every kind of work, and the agriculture of the district was necessarily promoted with the view of supplying the weekly markets of a thriving population. The food of the working classes included a fair amount of beef and mutton, vegetables, cheese, milk, and beer. A coarse kind of bread was used of " seconds flour," of wheat with rye and barley- meal, also oatmeal for porridge and scones. Fish was got from the Solway and its tributaries, and sold cheaply : salmon at lid. and 2d. a pound ! Dried fish, bacon, and "hung mutton," formed part of the winter supply of animal provisions. The Irish helped to develop the growth of the potato, whilst the Scotch created a demand for oatmeal in the district. Butcher's meat seldom reached 4d. a pound ; potatoes, i^d. a gallon; new milk, id. or 1 2d. a quart; milk cheese, 2d. a pound; chickens and ducks, 6d. 22 WAGES AND FOOD. each ; and a Christmas goose could be had for 2s. Flour (wheat) was about 2s. a stone ; barley, oatmeal, and rye, rather more than half the price of wheat flour. Small beer was sold at 2d. a gallon, and formed a capital beverage ; whilst good home-brewed or public-house ale only cost is. a gallon, each pint of which was served in flowing measure. No wonder " John Barleycorn " had his votaries, when 3d. could obtain two pints of honestly brewed drink. On comparing the wages and food prices of that period (1780) with the present time (1870), the writer is of opinion that the working men of Carlisle were as well off then as now. With the exception of cereals, provisions were only two-fifths or one-half of the present prices, whilst wages were far from being proportionally less ; nay, in some instances quite as remunerative, and markedly superior in one instance, the weaving trade, once the most thriving occupation in Carlisle. The notable exceptions to this general statement are to be found in the wages of masons, joiners, painters, or the artisans whose services have risen so greatly in value to meet the growing luxuries of this age. In reference to wearing apparel, it ought to be stated, that the majority of people, whether high or low in station, spun the materials of their own clothing, so that there was but the preparation and making up of the fabric for other hands to do. The drinking habits of a people naturally affect the rate of " WILLIE BREVV'D A PECK 0" MAUT." 23 mortality. Now of the temperance or intemperance of the period under discussion, it is not easy to speak with either warranty or precision. As spirituous liquors were little used, it might be inferred that the working classes were not so fiery in their cups. On the other hand, breweries paid handsome profits, and publicans throve under the auspices of the "Jolly Butcher and foaming tankard," or "Willie brew'd a peck o' maut." In no age of English history have the people shown a dislike for good malt. Beef and beer are recognised features in the national character ; and as Carlisle was prosperous, and hospitality abundant, there would be heydays and hours of high jinks promoted by Bacchanalian fervour. There was some excuse for the circulation of the jovial cup, considering the few home comforts allotted to the labouring class, and the total absence of all public entertainments. If, as often happened, one room had to receive a whole family, wife and brats, and screaming babies, no wonder the artisan, after his long day's labour, sought the " Barley Mow," its clean sanded floor, its cosy fire, and cosier company, where he could have his ale served in bright pewter by a buxom landlady in smart cap and ribbons, and radiant in her glow of welcome to thirsty souls and good customers. Had the sanitary arrangements of the city and suburbs been cared for, the bills of mortality, though highly favourable upon the whole, would have shown a different and a happier result. The 24 THE JURISDICTION OF THE CITY. health due to the district was marred by government exactions in the shape of a window-tax, that naturally led the owners of property to shut out the light and air of heaven from the dwellings of the poor, where these life-giving elements were most needed. The narrow lanes and the confined spaces in which many of the industrial classes dwelt, seemed specially contrived to add fuel to the fire that generated fevers, and to spread the seeds of contagion through the city. The Britisher had no thought beyond his food and raiment and home-brewed. Godliness he might assume, but he seemed in profound ignorance of another cardinal virtue — cleanliness. There was also much huddling together of the Irish and Scottish people, in whom too frequently distempers originated or were greatly fostered. Civic, military, and ecclesiastical powers exercised jurisdiction within the walls. They constituted a triune, but not an unity one and indivisible, like that expressed in the Athanasian dogma. When the co-operation of their authority was most needed, as in the Scottish rebellion in 1745, the civil and military pulled different ways, and so the enemy passed triumphantly within the gates ; upon the whole, however, they worked amicably, and held strongly by the coercive method of promoting the cause of order and morals within their jurisdiction. The Mayor and Corporation were fully endowed with the municipal attributes, so dearly cherished by the provincial mind, THE MAYOR AND CORPORATION. 25 and that have come down in all their unsullied characters to an admiring posterity ; they were consequential and fussy to a degree — often meddling, but seldom wisely operative in any direction. The Mayor, oppressed with official dignity, never failed to be stately in order to do credit to the happy accident that raised him from the tallow and treacle cellarage to the highest seat in the city's council ; he would hardly condescend to approach the Moot- Hall stairs without the insignia of the sergeant-at-arms. The gentility of those days (100 years ago) consisted in cocked hats covering powdered wigs — corporate brains, it may be stated parenthetically, belong to the abstract — blue coats, shorts, and hose, and silver-buckled shoes ; but let the reader imagine the Mayor in additional and finer feathers, with white wand held aloft, and supported by tipstaffs in red facings and glaring buttons upon a blue fabric : how emphatically did the posse comitatus proclaim to the citizens — " Clear the way for your betters !" If this parade of the pomps and vanities did not suffice for obedience, there were the " Stocks " and " Pillory," in which incorrigibles were exposed on market-days for the edification of bucolic gazers, and the general improvement of the morals of the county. A puritanic discipline marked the outward rule of the city, but the inner life was probably that of cathedral cities in general, and not of a kind to save either men or women from the ills of the flesh. There were no playhouses, no singing saloons, and no 26 THE TRADE GUILDS. public diversion for the labouring classes in the city. The last decade of the century was entered upon before a theatre was established (1792). The wrestling ring for the display of the athletic Cumbrian, and so noted now as the arena of our English Olympian games, was not formed in Carlisle till the race-meeting of 1809. How was it that under such a regime the city obtained the designation of " Merrie Carlisle ?" Was it a lapsus of speech, or the irony of a witty historian, laughing in his sleeve at the Carlisle lieges ; or, if deserved and true, was it from the too free use of " home-brewed V — the only resource of enjoyment to minds wearied of an unvarying domestic life, and the only reviving influence to bodies exhausted by daily toil and routine. The people claimed their cakes and ale as part of their British rights, and as laudably perhaps as the Corporation would have its " Jeremiah Wherlings," or other Lowther sycophants ; the mili- tary its roystering cornets ; or the Church its dry and dog- matic formalists. The Trade-Guilds* exercised a large social * The incorporated companies of butchers, merchants, shoemakers, skinners, smiths, tanners, tailors, and weavers, used to assemble in the Guild Hall of the city for business and merry-making of the bacchanalian sort. None but those belonging to the Trade-Guild or Freemen could vote for the city Members of Parliament, so that when the practice of making " Honorary Freemen" of rich county proprietors came into vogue, the gentlemen so honoured had to enrol their names in the books of one of the trade fraternities. Some knights who had won "military glory" in the battle-fields of Flanders joined the banners of St. Crispin, and scions of the noble houses of Cumberland and Westmoreland 11 merrie Carlisle:' 27 and still larger political influence in the city and its environs. They constituted the enfranchised class, and were of course the most potential agents at the elections for parliamentary represent- atives of the city ; their gala-days were pronounced in character, and " Ascension Day," with the annual Kingmoor Races, were the noisiest and merriest of all. It is not improbable that the joviality of the Guilds, which included both rich and poor, and placed all parties very much upon an equal footing, gave rise to the title of " Merrie Carlisle." The writer can ascertain no more satisfactory explanation of the oft-quoted epithet applied to the Border City than the history of the Guild saturnalia. Basking in the sunshine of life and longevity, the Dean of Carlisle and other dignitaries of the Church, their man-servants and their maid-servants within the Abbey gates, scarcely, if at all, affected the bills of mortality. Moreover, the heads of the Cathe- dral body lent kind aid to Dr. Heysham in all his sanitary schemes for the benefit of the people. The Church was a great and respected power in the city ; the commonalty looked with a kind of awe upon the episcopate in full canonicals and on an exalted rostrum, preaching doctrines which no man would dare to deny, even if he felt himself struck on the right cheek by an evangelical Philistine. This kind of uncharitable conduct could hardly have were fain to be registered among the tanners and skinners, as if " there was nothing like leather " in the display of civil privileges. 28 THE CARLISLE EPISCOPATE. been met with in the pleasant circle of such divines as Bishop Law and Dr. Paley; indeed, it is gratifying to add, that the Carlisle epis- copate of that day was most ably represented. Neither talents, nor amiability, nor the art of good preaching were wanting in its leading men, who, in classic attainments, in literature, and theo- logy, ranked with the best of England. Dating from the advent of Bishop Law in 1767 to the active days of Dean Milner early in the present century, the Carlisle diocese numbered among its superior clergy men of high eminence and merit. CHAPTER III. THE CARLISLE BILLS OF MORTALITY — TOPOGRAPHY — CLIMATE AND RAIN- FALL — CENSUS OF 1763 AND 1780— NOTES ON THE MORTALITY FROM 1779 TO 1787. ~P\R. HEYSHAM had only been a few months in Carlisle when he meditated a census of the inhabitants, and the framing of bills of mortality. He prefaced his observations on the advan- tages to be derived from accurate registers of mortality by the following passages from Percival's Essays, vol. ii. — " The estab- lishment of a judicious and accurate register of the births and burials in every town and parish, would be attended with the most important advantages, medical, political, and moral. By such an institution the increase or decrease of certain diseases, the comparative healthiness of different situations, climates, and seasons; the influence of particular trades and manufactures on longevity ; with many other curious circumstances, not more interesting to physicians than beneficial to mankind, would be ascertained with tolerable precision. In a political point of view, exact registers of human mortality are of still greater conse- quence, as the number of people and progress of population in 30 CARLISLE AND ITS RIVERS. the kingdom, may, in the most easy and unexceptionable manner, be deduced from them. They are the foundation, likewise, of all calculations concerning the value of assurances on lives, reversion- ary payments, and of every scheme for providing annuities for widows, and persons in old age. In a moral light such Tables are of evident utility, as the increase of vice or virtue may be determined by observing the proportion which the diseases aris- ing from luxury, intemperance, and other similar causes, bear to the rest ; and in what particular places distempers of this class are found to be most fatal." Carlisle, in 54 53' N. lat, 2 55' W. long., is pleasantly situated on a slightly rising ground, on the south bank of the river Eden, and about five miles above the junction of that river with the tides of the Solway Firth. The Cauda, a mountainous stream, runs within 150 yards of the ancient city on its west side, and the more sluggish Peterill courses about a mile to the south and east ; both streams join the broader Eden, so that Carlisle is placed at the confluence of three rivers, and almost surrounded by them. The tidal Eden is noted for its Salmonidce, and the two tributaries for their special trout-fishing. Along the banks of each river are pleasant walks, from which the Carlisle citizen can obtain commanding views of richly cultivated lands, bounded by elevated mountain-heights, upon which the lights and shadows of a northern sky play with charming fitful beauty. ALLUVIAL AND METEOROLOGICAL. 31 The subsoil of Carlisle and its immediate vicinity varies a good deal ; sandy or gravelly loam, or these associated with clay, pre- dominate: they rest on the red sandstone. In some of the outlying townships there were tracts of moorish soils, somewhat barren, and in part only enclosed a hundred years ago ; but all this is changed to-day. The meadows around the city are still liable to floods after heavy rains, but there are no stagnant waters and no marshes within or even near the municipal boundary. From the pastoral amphitheatre in which Carlisle is placed, the land rises gradually here and there in undulating line and knolled eminence, but more or less elevating till it assumes a strictly hilly aspect, which culminates about twenty or more miles distant in the mountain ranges of Skiddaw on the south-west, and Crossfell on the east, 3000 feet above the level of the sea. The land-slopes, the river-courses, the varying winds, but chiefly from the south- west, the proximity to the Solway's estuary, and other local con- ditions, showed favourably for the salubriousness of Carlisle. Dr. Heysham described the air pure and dry. The designation " dry " may seem hardly compatible with the cloudy or pluviose condition of an atmosphere more or less contiguous to the Lake District, proved to be the wettest in England. Dr. Carlyle, the father of the Rev. Mr. Carlyle, the Arabic scholar, kept an account of the quantity of rain which fell at Carlisle during a period of twenty years — namely, from 1757 to 1776 32 THE RAINFALL OF CARLISLE. inclusive.* During this period the greatest quantity which fell in one year was 3 1.801 inches, the medium being 24.71 inches. Mr. Pitt made the mean quantity of rain fallen in Carlisle, from 1801 to 1824, 30.571 inches. The average rainfall of Carlisle is at pre- sent about 28 inches, thus approximating more to Pitt's observa- tions than those of Dr. Carlyle. Taking the local circumstances into account, Nature had been lavish in her gifts to the north-western extremity of the vale of Cumberland, in mountain, wood, and rivers ; here elevations to the clouds, there a gradual fall to the water's brink. Man, however, failed to appreciate the advantages of a site upon which his sons and daughters might have realised, to the full, the poesy of the Psalmist and the blessings of health. Table of the quantity of Rain which fell at Carlisle during a period of Twenty years : — Years. 1757 1758 1759 1760 1761 1762 1763 1764 1765 1766 '767 Inches. Years 20.026 1768 26.036 1769 22.946 1770 28.641 1771 26.443 1772 20.538 *773 28.353 1774 24.162 '775 19.709 1776 21.472 26.268 Total Inches. 31.801 21.803 25. 122 23.982 28.518 28.233 19-344 29.132 21.690 494.219 Showing the medium quantity of these twenty years to be 24.71 inches. THE CENSUS OF CARLISLE, 1763 AND 1780. 33 In July 1763, at the request of Dr. Littleton, Bishop of Car- lisle, the inhabitants were numbered with great care, and the city and suburbs contained 1059 families, and 4158 inhabitants. Early in 1779 Dr. Heysham commenced his statistical obser- vations, and set earnestly to work, from week to week and month to month, to record the births, marriages, the diseases, and deaths, of the inhabitants of Carlisle. The details and figures given by Heysham for each year would prove vastly too tedious for all but the dry-as-dust reader. A brief summary of the more prominent facts will, it is supposed, best illustrate the character of Hey- sham's mind, and the nature of his investigations, and, in all probability, satisfy the requirements of the statist. It ought to be premised that Carlisle contains two parishes, St. Mary's and St. Cuthbert's, and that these parishes include the city, its suburbs, and certain outlying districts, with villages, the relative population of which divisions is particularly specified in the following page. " In January 1780, a very careful and accurate survey was made by Mr. Stanger and Mr. Howard, under Dr. Heysham's own inspection, when there were found in the district before surveyed, 891 houses, 1605 families, and 6299 inhabitants. In addition to the city and suburbs, the villages contained 257 houses, 267 families, and 1378 inhabitants, as shown in the accompanying Table No. 1. D 34 POPULA HON OF CARLISLE IN 1780. W <; H o CO O (—1 H 00 w o < h) C to" G Pi m C/3 W CO Pi < o H <: & (X, o Ph ID fcO C o co *J t in CO r~ o ^Q W o CV t^ r^ » >^ £ C m r^. to vO CO M HI r^. rt a> U o in !>. M i— s i>. fO vo t^ ■4— » E CO !>. M j CO rt fa HI CV HI ^^ CO C W CN M ts. CO "3 rt 33 E- A O co ■S rt *rt oj *-» r-< O +3 •*-> CO HI W C CXI H v-> .„ X ^ c "V, o J! i-, h-i Tf r-» co CO M ro O PI M ro Tf M CO O Tf O Tf r^. "co e5| r-» O MM Tf Tf "+ O CN O r^. ro m O O00 iO h M t^ co f» M ro iO Tf CO VO N hi HI hi ro •-• HI vo i>. -O tfl n r-» Tf ^ O i-i NO CO M m r-~ CO in n Tf co O J--. vO "3 CO co ON O r^ co m io o in tj-vo inco lomMO o CO e t^ Tf hi co M Tf fOO HI HI u Tf fa o -f O O CO N IO t-~ M O HH VO VO NvO lOvO O r^ Hi u co m co N r-» m CO o o Tf co vo >n O Tf CO r-~ vo in Cv rt VO CO HI M HI ro ro VO HI HI in s CO C\ »-» N co i-i CO M l^-VO Ox O O CO Tf N HI Tf M t- M .-= H ^CC "t N O r^ m (-1 HI CO H, CO N M VO N M 1~- B co m HI HH m m ro CO ri HI A CO N CO >-> t~~ CO in m ui VO Cv O r^- M HI O CO N N CO O M mco t^ OCO vO M CO M CO M M VO N M Tf P) hi M HI X HI # t . *— « . v-_^ ( > , T3 i ^ o fl . . OJ , . a c . i . & . r..'- c c rt *-> c. ■£ »U -coo •s rt fa 4-» (U - 1) co -b £ £ c £ & coco rt ^ ^ .S2 rt X3 _C ■kJ o ■ — 1 O •- rt C o J3 rt • n « tj: c ^ iJ £^ y £ •- C._rt 3 u . -£ h-< co 4 - > ■_!! r^ rt fn U < H P5 P< U X lu? pq pq ^ PQ U S H HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 35 In Table No. II. he summarised the single and married persons thus : — TABLE II. Of the Number of Husbands, Wives, etc. Husbands. Wives. Widowers. Widows. Total. Within the Walls . . . Without the Walls . . . In the Villages .... 531 488 l88 569 522 191 46 45 17 248 l6o 68 1394 1215 464 1207 1282 108 476 3073 Total of persons who are or have been married Total of persons who are married Total of persons who never were married . Total of unmarried persons Widows exceed widowers .... Widowers to widows as 1 is to 4 and 3"7ths nearly. 3073 2489 4604 5188 368 The astonishing increase of 2 141 inhabitants, above half of the original number in the city and suburbs, in the small space of seventeen years (1763-80), Heysham attributed to the establish- ment of calico-printing manufactories. There were four com- panies, who daily employed about 800 industrious poor in this kind of work. " This increase of population," Heysham remarked, " had taken place during that very period in which Dr. Price asserts the depopulation of Great Britain to have been rapid and progressive. And what makes this increase more remarkable, Car- 36 THE SALUBRITY OF CARLISLE. lisle has, during the whole period alluded to, been constantly supplying the army, the navy, the metropolis, and even the distant regions of India, with her hardy, active, and enterprising sons." TABLE III. Of Deaths, Ages, and Conditions. Ages. V a a 6 2 5 2 10 21 17 10 6 7 4 2 92 •T. a £ 7 2 4 9 12 19 8 10 7 3 2 83 Ages. w J* V JZ a n 2 1 ir. T3 G a it 3 X yi V ■a or '3 > oi O < Under I month . . Between I & 2 months •>■> 2 (X 3 ii 3 & 6 ii ii 6 & 9 ,, 9 & 12 ,, „ I & 2 years old 2 & 3 ,, 3 & 4 ii 4 & 5 » 5 & IO ii „ io & 15 ,, 15 & 20 „ 20.30 30.40 40.50 50.60 60.70 70.80 80.90 90.IOO 3 3 4 4 1 1 3 1 2 1 3 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 n 3 2 2 4 1 1 I I 1 I 7 6 12 6 9 10 18 14 12 2 Total of Ages and Conditions 29 9 9 16 17 83' Total of ages ( Males 92 Total of the above ages un Tot ler 2 il of .0 yea all ag is ( es ant r em a 1 cone es«3 itions 175 258 • From Tables No. I IT. and No. IV., Heysham "could with pleasure demonstrate the extreme salubrity of Carlisle, even in a very unhealthy year (1779), in which no less than 129 persons were cut off by two epidemic disorders — smallpox and scarlet fever." lie proceeded to compare Carlisle with other towns in England as well as on the Continent, and stated that " in Vienna about 1 in 190 of the inhabitants die annually; in London, THE MORTALITY OF 1779 CLASSIFIED. 37 TABLE IV. Deaths and Diseases of Persons of Different Ages. T3 T3 T3 T3 ■a •a •a T2 T3 -0 -a C § a c ' c a C C c - m c 3 a rt . 3 a rt . « a a ■ 2 B in « t £ 8.2 ^ s 2 8.8 2 °° a O u j diseases. V") C ai c g. c si c f c Si flj Pi ' h u 4) j? 10 « U . u £ to ^ & H *. u u ■« V 4) V V Febrile Diseases — Inflammatory Fever £> M « « H P3 « H w n W m 3 3 Nervous Fever i • • ■ . . • 1 ... I I ... 1 ... ... ... 5 Pleurisy I 1 ... ... 2 Inflammation of the stomach from ) large dose of steel filings ) ... • •• •"" Rheumatism, chronic . 1 . . . I Gout . . . . • •-• . • . ... ... ... ... I ... 1 2 Smallpox 86 2 I ... I 90 Miliary Fever . ... ... . . • ... I 1 Scarlet Fever . ii 4 2 1 I 39 Thrush 2 2 Consumption . 3 2 1 1 5 ... 2 3 ... ... ... ... 17 Worm Fever . 2 4 6 Nervous Diseases — Palsy . . . 1 ... 1 ... ... - 2 Swoon, or Fainting ... ... ... ... . . . 1 ... ... 1 ... ... 2 Indigestion I ... ... ... 1 Convulsions 2 2 Epilepsy .... ' • •• • • ■ • •• ... 1 1 Asthma 1 2 ... ... ... 3 Looseness n J 1 ... * . . 4 Insanity ... ... ... ... I ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 Diseases of the Habit — Weakness of Infancy . 9 9 Decay of Age . 4 6 II 2 23 Dropsy . . . ... ... ... • • ■ ... I ... 2 ... ... ... 3 Dropsy of the head • • ■ ... 1 1 Dropsy of the belly ... 1 • * . ... • •• I 2 King's Evil ... 1 1 Local Diseases — Discharge of blood • ■ • • » • 1 . » • ... • • • I ... • •■ ... ... 1 Costiveness i 1 Tumour of the stomach 1 . . • 1 Ulcer . . ■ • . I ... • • • 1 Difficult delivery ■ • • • • ■ • • ■ 1 I ... • • • • • . . * . . .. 2 Unknown diseases 6 1 2 2 2 7 3 I • ■ • 24 Accidents - . Total . I ... 1 7 4 2 '4 12 J 2 4 258 150 14 12 6 9 IO 18 He classified the diseases under Cullen's Genera Morborum. 38 WOMEN LIVE LONGER THAN MEN. I in 20f; in Edinburgh, i in 204; in Leeds, I in 213.; in Dublin, I in 22 ; in Rome, I in 23 ; in Amsterdam, 1 in 24 ; in Breslau, 1 in 25 ; in Berlin, 1 in 261 ; in Northampton and Shrewsbury, I in 26| ; in Liverpool, 1 in 2"]\ ; in Manchester, 1 in 28; in Chester, 1 in 40 ; but in the year 1774, when the smallpox was very general and fatal, 1 in 27 ; whilst in Carlisle the mortality was in 1779, 1 in 3of." Heysham looked upon Tables Nos. III. and IV. as " of the utmost importance to the physician, the politician, and the cal- culator of annuities ; and to every one who has the health and happiness of himself and family at heart. They clearly demon- strate, as far as one year's observation can have weight, what periods of life are the most healthy, what are the most obnoxious to disease. His tables show that women live longer than men. During 1779, twelve persons died between 80 and 90 years old, eight of these were females ; and the two persons who lived between 90 and 100 years were both females. There were four widows to one widower, an astonishing disproportion, which he endeavoured to account for on the following grounds : — 1st, Men are in general more intemperate than women ; 2d, They are exposed to greater hardships and dangers; 3d, Widowers perhaps in general have greater opportunities of getting wives, than widows have of getting husbands ; 4th, Widows have a greater propensity to live in towns than widowers ; 5th, Women in general, and more especially INOCULA TION AND ITS A D VANTA GES. 39 among the middle ranks of life, marry earlier than men ; 6th, That as men have " firmer and more robust " constitutions than women, their "muscular and nervous fibres" sooner become stiff and rigid, and less able to meet the " functions necessary to health and life." " But from whatever causes the difference of longevity betwixt males and females may arise, the fact itself is sufficiently ascertained by Table III., where we find that between the ages of 60 and 70, although there are a greater number of wives than husbands, yet eleven husbands and only four wives have died ; and of all different ages, 29 husbands and 16 wives." The mortality from smallpox is worth noting. In the last six months of 1779, 300 persons were seized with smallpox in the natural way, and of these, 90, or nearly 1 in 3, died ! During the same period several hundreds were inoculated in the neighbour- hood of Carlisle, and not one of them died — assuredly a pleasing truth, which led Heysham to say, that had the 300 been inoculated, instead of 90 succumbing to the disease, not above 6 persons would have died ; and 84 persons might have been saved to their parents and the public. Heysham justly complained of the prejudice against the salutary practice of inoculation amongst the vulgar, and that few, very few, could be prevailed upon, either by promises, rewards, or entreaties, to submit to the operation. " No wonder, that in rude, ignorant, and barbarous times, superstition hurried men into the grossest absurdities ; when in a polished and 4 o JOB'S DISTEMPER AND THE DEVIL. enlightened age, in an age too, when the experience of full twenty years* had clearly demonstrated the utility of inoculation, we see the bulk of mankind ready to sacrifice their children, and all that is dear to them, to a foolish prejudice." The following Table V. shows the total of deaths in each season : — TABLE V. Deaths in January February March April May June July August September October November December Total Christenings. Males. Females. Total. 4 7 1 1 6 4 IO 6 6 12 6 3 9 7 IO 17 5 3 8 7 7 14 14 5 19 20 22 42 3° 23 53 18 20 3^ IO 15 25 *33 125 258 Males. Females. Total. I02 109 211 Total of Deaths in each Season. i 33 Winter. 34 Spring. 75 Summer. 116 Autumn. N.B.— TBe christen- ings are by no means accurate, many of the Dissenters not being registered. * Lady Mary Wortlcy Montagu introduced " the engrafting of the small- pox " into England in 1722. It met with virulent opposition at the hands of both doctors and clergy. The Rev. Edward Messcy preached a sermon against it, and asserted that "Job's distemper was confluent smallpox, and that he had POLITICAL ECONOMISTS IN ERROR. 41 These five tables were compiled by Dr. Heysham to illustrate the bills of mortality for 1 779. He adopted the same forms in subsequent years, up to the end of December 1787; it is not necessary to repeat each year, as the general results of his nine years' observations are recorded in another page. Dr. Heysham's placing the months of February and March as winter months is not so inconsistent as it appears. March is the most trying month of the year, with cold, north-east winds, and frost. For the Year 1780. — A feeling had got abroad, especially among the political economists, that the population and resources of Great Britain were depreciating very fast, and that we would become an easy prey to our enemies, particularly the French. The data from which these untoward inferences had been drawn were the returns of the window-surveyors, and the books of the custom and excise.* Heysham had the opportunity of showing been inoculated by the devil ! " The Smallpox Hospital in London was founded in 1746. The College of Physicians gave their unanimous sanction to the practice of inoculation in 1754 ; prior to this date, however, Lady Montagu's noble example had been largely followed among the upper ranks. * The Government, rightly or wrongly, believed in the depopulation of the country, but, instead of trying to remedy such a state of things by sanitary legislation, continued their odious window-tax to make matters worse. In a future page of this volume it will be seen how dreadfully this tax operated on the citizens of Carlisle in 1781 and subsequently. In the history of legislation 42 SURVEY OF CARLISLE IN 1780. the fallacy of these calculations as far as Carlisle was concerned, and thereby helped to cast a doubt on the general data furnished from the country at large by Government officials. "In the beginning of the year 1780," writes Heysham, " I made an actual, and, I believe, an accurate survey of the two parishes, St. Mary's and St. Cuthbert's,* and found they contained 1 148 houses, 1872 families, and 7677 inhabitants." A few months afterwards another survey was made by surveyors for the window-tax, who only returned 8 1 5 houses, the difference there- fore between the real number of houses and the number returned to the window-tax was 333. Heysham supposed that if, in ignorance of the real facts, he had taken the 8 1 5 houses of the surveyor's report, and multiplied this number by six and two- thirds,f which he looked upon as nearly the number of people in no more absurd enactment could be found than imposing a tax on the air and light of heaven. * In this survey the outlying townships are included with the city and suburbs. Vide Table I. t As a rule, Heysham gave six persons to a family household. The as- signing four children to each parentage will appear to many readers a somewhat high proportion. On considering the prolificacy of the district, there is no reason, however, for doubting his opinions on this head. The native Cumbrians did well ; and, with their early connubialitics, the Irish and Scotch were not far behind in the race, so that all parties contributed their quota to the Carlisle census. The large number of children, so many of whom die in infancy, or under five years of age, greatly tended to increase the tables of mortality. This fact will be noted in another place. BILLS OF MORTALITY FOR 1780 AND 1781. 43 each house, the product would have been 5433 nearly, or 2244 less than the real number, or two-sevenths of the whole. Only 1 in 34I nearly of all the inhabitants of Carlisle died this year (1780) in consequence of diseases. Last year's Bills were confirmed as to women living longer than men, "for between 100 and 103 years old two persons died who were both females; 26 husbands and only 15 wives died, although there are a greater number of wives than husbands in Carlisle." The greatest number of consumptive cases died be- tween 20 and 30 years of age than during any other period of ten years. FOR THE YEAR i 78 1. — " People of all ranks, ages, and con- ditions of life enjoyed an uncommon degree of health during the first three months of this year, for within that period no more than 2 3 persons died, and of these 1 5 were either very young children or old and infirm. But about the beginning of April, a very epidemic fever, evidently the Typhus carccrum, began to make its appearance." * The smallpox were constantly in town all this year, but 19 only died. Great numbers were inoculated both in the town and country villages. The difference of the number of deaths of husbands and wives was not near so great as in 1799 and 1780, yet still the deaths This jail-fever, as described by Dr. Heysham, will be treated in a separate chapter. 44 THE INFLUENZA AND MORTALITY OF 1782. of the former exceed those of the latter by two ; for 33 husbands and only 3 I wives have died. Between 80 and 90 years of age, 5 males and 4 females ; and between 90 and 100, three females died. During this year 1 in 38! of the inhabitants died of disease. FOR the Year 1782. — The Typhus carcevum, or jail-fever, which raged with so much violence last year, gradually declined, and was scarcely to be met with after May. Sixteen persons died of it. Thirty people died of smallpox. In June of this year the Catarrhus contagiosus, or Influenza, became so general in Carlisle that very few families escaped its influence ; but only one death occurred. Heysham entered into the history of the epidemic, and of its frequent occurrence in Europe in the eighteenth century. It seems to have been a very mild disease in Carlisle, differing little from the common catarrh or cold, ex- cept that the febrile symptoms were more constant and rather more severe. The mortality of 1782 was only a fraction less than 17S1 — namely 1 in 38. For the first time, the number of deaths of wives exceeded those of husbands — 22 wives against 20 husbands. The longevity of the people is again marked. Between 80 and 90 years of age, 5 males and 9 females, and between 90 and 100, 1 male and 2 females, died. A widow died in her I02d year. SMALLPOX AND MORTALITY OF 1783-84. 45 For the Year 1783. : — The weather during summer and autumn was "extremely hot and sultry, and there was more thunder and lightning than ever was remembered, even by the oldest person." The prevalence of smallpox led to a general inoculation. By this salutary measure, Carlisle was, in the space of two months, totally freed from a most fatal disorder, then raging in different parts of the county, and destroying 1 in 3 attacked at Whitehaven. The health of Carlisle was otherwise good, and only 1 in 43 of the inhabitants died. Twenty-nine husbands and 23 wives died this year. Between So and 90 years of age, 4 males and 7 females, 6 of whom were widows; and between 90 and IOO, 1 male and 1 female died. Nineteen only fell victims to the smallpox, and 17 of these were children under five years of age. Apoplexies were remarkably frequent this year, and no less than 9 persons died from them. The numbers of deaths from all diseases were remarkably equal during all the seasons ; 47 died in winter, 42 in spring, 45 in summer, and 47 in autumn. For THE Year 1784. — In reporting the extreme salubrity of this year, and that only 154 persons died, he calls attention to the fact that in 1779 the number swept off by two diseases only — namely, the smallpox and scarlet fever — was nearly equal to the whole number of deaths in the year, whether occasioned by diseases or accidents. 46 THE FROST AtiD SALUBRITY OF 1784. The present year commenced and ended with the severest and longest-continued frosts ever remembered since the year 1740. The summer, too, was uncommonly cold and wet, and yet was the healthiest season ; only 1 in 50^, nearly, died. In the midst of this healthiness an obstinate skin-disease, Herpes, prevailed, and taxed the skill of the physician and the patience of the lieges affected. Twenty-nine husbands, but only 20 wives, died this year; 4 widowers and 24 widows. Between 80 and 90 years of age, 4 males and 9 females, 8 of whom were widows; and between 90 and 100, 1 male and 3 females died. Hitherto the number of males born has exceeded the number of females ; but this year it is the reverse, for 121 males and 153 females have been christened. For THE Year 1785. — This year was ushered in by frost of long continuance, and the drought of the spring, and far on to summer, was beyond anything ever remembered. There was no rain — a very few slight showers excepted — from the month of October 1784 till the 29th July 1785. Jail-fever, originating among the felons confined in the jail, spread over the town, and 97 persons were affected by it. The fever was in a milder form than four years previously, and was occasionally attended with relapses. Only 4 out of the 97 died, and two of these NOTABLE FACTS IN THE MORTALITY OF 1785. 47 were not seen till remedies were unavailable. As these people lived in nasty lanes, and were huddled together, the small mor- tality is astonishing ; and the curiosity of the medical reader is excited to know the " reason why," and this the next paragraph in the report explains — " The Dispensary expended upwards of ^■30 for wine, all of which was consumed by persons affected with the fever." The Dispensary Committee, of which Dr. Heysham was the ruling mind, had again to adopt strict measures with reference to the smallpox. About 200 persons were inoculated, every one of whom not only recovered, but had the disease in a very favourable manner. Fifty lives, Heysham conjectured, were saved by this general inoculation. 39 died of smallpox this year, who were all under 5 years of age. As usual, the husbands fared worse than wives. 29 husbands and only 25 wives, 9 widowers and 21 widows, died during the year. The mortality of all the inhabitants was 1 in 37} nearly. Heysham noted an interesting fact as to age affecting mortality — that in 1 450 persons from 10 to 20 years old only 2 died. This comparative immunity from death in young folk (that is, after the infantile period) has been frequently witnessed since Heysham's day. The longevity of the Carlisle folk is strik- ingly seen this year, 14 persons dying between 80 and 90 years of age, and 6 between 90 and 100 years of age. The births were 148 males and 119 females. 48 THE HOTTEST THE HEALTHIEST MONTHS OF 17 8G. FOR THE Year 1786. — This year showed the same mortality as 1785 ; and the hottest months were the healthiest. At two o'clock on the morning of August 1 1, the shock of an earthquake was felt by many persons in Carlisle and the neighbourhood. The concussion seemed to have extended across the island from Newcastle to Whitehaven, and from the south to the north, in- cluding Glasgow and the northern parts of Lancashire. Measles, in a mild form, was very common, but of the 600 or 700 attacked, only 28 died, the greater part of whom were the children of the poorest class ; 26 were under 5 years of age; 2 were between 5 and 10 years old. An old soldier, who had been subject to many vicissitudes of life, died at the advanced age of 105 years. 24 husbands and only 21 wives died this year.- The widows again figure largely in the deaths between 80 and IOO years. FOR THE Year 1787. — An order was issued from the Court of Quarter Sessions this year to the different constables in the county of Cumberland to make an actual survey of all the inhabitants of the county. Dr. Heysham showed the lists delivered to the Quarter Sessions to be erroneous as far as Car- lisle was concerned. The survey of the city was made in the latter end of December 1787, so that it may be presumed that his corrections were made early in 1788. He found the popula- tion of the city, suburbs, and outlying townships of St. Mary's and POPULA TION OF CARLISLE IN 1787. 49 St. Cuthbert's to be 3864 males, 4813 females ; or 86 fj inhabit- ants — showing an increase in the population in the space of eight years of exactly 1 000 persons. — Vide Table VI. TABLE VI. Survey of the two Parishes of Carlisle made by the The Survey corrected by Constables in December 1787. Dr. Heysham. Males. Females. Total. Males. Females. Total. English Street Quarter 730 I020 I750 8oi I050 1851 Scotch Street „ 423 512 935 423 530 953 Fisher Street „ 143 222 365 . 143 222 365 Castle Street „ 289 368 657 320 411 73 1 Abbey Street „ 319 474 793 34° 521 861 The Abbey „ ... . . . • • • 20 24 44 Botchergate „ 259 329 588 259 329 588 Rickergate „ 319 367 686 319 367 686 Caldewgate „ 576 7°5 1281 576 7°5 1281 Harraby „ 26 26 52 26 26 52 Carleton „ 91 81 172 91 8l 172 Wreay „ • • • • ■ • • . . 60 54 114 Brisco „ 88 82 170 95 89 184 Botcherby „ 43 46 89 43 46 89 Upperby „ 44 48 92 44 48 92 Blackhall ,, 169 151 320 169 151 320 Cummersdale „ 105 123 228 i°5 123 228 Persons omitted in^ various parts of the >• ... . . . ... 30 36 66 Town . . ) Total . 3624 4554 8178 3864 4813 8677 E 5o THE AGES OF THE PEOPLE, 1780 AND 1788. TABLE VII. Of the Number of Inhabitants of Different Ages. Within the City ) and Suburbs ) In the Villages . Total in 1780 . Total in 1788* . Increase a tt >. u V C 859 -a c rt A c - u W T3 C m "0 c rt . m rt g * •0 c >- w rt **• u -a 5 . E m rt = 2. •*> > v pa T3 C « *° rt c u > pa T3 C « . t-- rt S ■d c d . S 00 « c u |8. u pa ■0 c rt . t> rt S £2 V pa ■d 3 ui O t- 1- rt c >. « m 2 2 V pa Total. 731 587 543 1030 733 729 498 375 164 44 5 1 6299 I70 177 128 132 298 144 129 90 63 27 14 5 1 1378 I029 I I 64 908 715 675 1328 877 858 588 438 191 58 10 2 7677 IO26 808 763 1501 991 970 665 494 216 66 11 2 8677 135 Il8 93 88 173 114 112 77 56 25 8 1 ... IOOO He attributed this rapid increase to two general causes : the salubrity of the place, and the increase of trade and manufactures. The former statement he proved by the births exceeding the deaths to the extent of 489 ; and the latter by an ingress of inhabitants into Carlisle exceeding the emigration out of it during the same period, 5 1 1 ; which numbers together make up the increase of 1000. Inoculation, Heysham was persuaded, had greatly contributed * The Census of 1780 was taken in January ; the Census marked above as 1788 was taken in December 1787 by the Constables, and corrected by Hey- sham early in 178S. It simplifies matters to look upon the respective enumera- tions of the inhabitants of Carlisle as being made in January 17S0 and January 1788, and corresponds with Dr. Heysham's own declaration in the text of " the space of 1 ighl yt ai »" marked by an increase of exactly 1000 persons in the population of Carli ! THE A D VANTA GES OF INOCULA TION. 5 1 to the increase of population, not only in Carlisle, but in the whole county of Cumberland. In the year 1779, when the lower class of inhabitants were extremely averse to the salutary dis- covery, no fewer than 90 persons died of the natural smallpox ; whereas, when the prejudices of the vulgar greatly diminished, and inoculation got a better chance, only 151 died during the eight succeeding years — an average of not quite 19 in each year. After the institution of the Dispensary, the poor enjoyed the privilege of having their children inoculated gratis — an ad- vantage which they readily embraced. The mildness of the winter and early spring was remarkable. The common daisy was in flower on New Year's Day, and continued in blossom almost the whole year. The primrose began to blow on the first of February, and the eolfs-foot and barren straw- berry very early in the same month. As the season advanced, the weather was cold, gloomy, and wet, and the rainfall was something extraordinary, yet the year was a healthy one, and the last six months remarkably so. Seventy-three persons only died during that period. With the appearance of smallpox, inoculation became general, and with good effect. Of eighty-four persons inoculated at the Dis- pensary, all not only survived, but had the disease very favourably. The jail-fever prevailed this year, and 14 persons fell victims to it. 34 husbands and only 22 wives died. The mortality for the year was 1 in 44 nearly. 52 TABLE OF DISEASES WHICH CA USED ALL ,55 1^ 00 X *--. H < W C P rt » l-H ed U **• |H CO t-^. HH f) co CO w w to •< w •» c/> 01 t^H 00 p r^ l-H 0> *•> *H C» CO O r^ l-c w J ON < 1-1 t/3 c/T >- *5 ni << - 1/1 >• 4-> w ffi ho u <» p •M[lIOp OOO *OI jo uoijjodojg •saSyiPJO ■SpjBM -dn pire 06 psSy ►* voo r~» On ONOO vO Mn^N 1-1 N v^n o CM" COO O CO »" w »- ir>tON N Oi 't O N >0 »* <-> co CO N >i *» N ttO" 00 r-> t-. O n ""> r-«co •- » o\co CO coo N vO - « n un CT> ro i - ro fO Cv ffi>0 ^"CO « On 10 ^- l~- CO ir> Tt im m ro n COO "" CJ N CN N Ti-vo x O -■ CM 11 Tj- "-, — — ■<*• : cm — 'SJEsX oZ pire 09 u.33Asj3g uov£> co >-i ■* : 00 •SJE3.( 09 pire o£ ussAUsg •SJE3.4 oS PUB Of U33AVJ3g ■sjesA of pire o£ u33A\jag •s-resA o£ piTE OZ U33AV)3g 'SJBsA OZ pire £1 u33A\}3g « co ■*■ : « ciunm un ; — c\ : n VO00 CO CO 10 - n \o : ; n ; n 0} • 1-H NN • M ►H COCO 10 rj- M M ■sxeoK Si pUB OI U33AV]3g CM « CM •SJB3X OI ptlB S U33A\J3g : j-« lOCO •SJB3X S JSpUfl on m't : co co u-)00 cs — co COO Tt- ON CO -* >H CO t^ ►J ea w > >^ o S iS 3 r C r— — w ►S2; cu d o u > rt u o _ i_ 1> 3 ^ CO Oh 1 i w a 3 « c ^ 3 rt cj h £ -c x &< O X <-. X c >- o « rt HU e c Ilia Q " 01 O to w 00 if, r: m t£> «i u >n hB .2 -5, $ Q g £ ^-SJ2 ^rt § ^ v. g—; .3 O 3 C p P. S 4) > 2-^J .£ -h sss.S o -s ctfC-rtrtc oa ''"' c THE DEATHS IN CARLISLE DURING EIGHT YEARS. 53 roarOM Ov N O vO On O CJ m MtO O N ^1- M N tN ui ON in cn Cv pa < « o CU fcfl < CU rt 1) ^Q W-3 rt a. o* to v SJ 2 2 .S g PQQW> >\ m cu cu ii- Q rt u 3 Q < o o h-I o a u £ ^ •£ :3 C O XI a 2 Q^ cu ;g '•J cu : vo C\l M : : : CM : 00 : - : : • • * On 00 : O t^ : ' : CM CM : *» : : • • • 1 * 1 2 '• : • : : CM • CO CM • : t^- : NH : IN N-t ; Oim h On : ! >o : : M to : »» ON CM CM 00 O — ! : U1 : : : : : r}-00 M rf oo : : "1 : : HH h* • «t n ; ro On : : <*> : : : : : : : * t oo CO • : N — < : | : : : "■> : cm O CO ' : : M N N : • : o tN : >h M ■ • CO \ ON o < H O H Q Z < O en ►3 u o < & fa o Pi en a fa < fa Q 2; o o fa o rt CU ^3 io|tO o <* .5 On O £3 o X cu rt o| T3 -O N g C CD cS > O ON li", CO _ 00 N ^3 — ' n 00 in _> cu *n "3 ^= 2. a, ^ "u ^° ° K|cn rifcn cc|-# H^ h|co lH|t- iOlcO O * 00 M roO r^r^'* coror> IT) 1* c d c C v >, £ ° D d e a . j- g >> 1) IT, pq ■a 9 . - - c v 4J *** OJ PQ c a . j- N B g * 0) S " 4) pa -3 C rt . h ") rt g^ QJ O S "* pq Between 40 and 50 years. Between 50 and 60 years. 13 C a . u n g * - g* OJ s °° PQ ■a c rt . >- 00 a! C £ £ o\ pq a Ml tn OJ be oub tfui I I I I I I 1 1 1 1 I I 2 I I I I I I 2 I I I I I I I I I 3 I I ... ... 1 1 1 1 1 5 1 1 1 2 5 2 1 9 6.2 6.2 6.2 6.2 6.2 3i- 6.2 6.2 6.2 12.4 31. 6.2 6.2 6.2 6.2 6.2 6.2 12.4 6 2 |* 1779 - 1780 - 1781 - 1782 - 1783 - 1784 TYPHUS. 5 1785 3 1786 48 1787 16 6 8 Per Annum 9 10 14 9 ) "" '3 TABLE of Deaths from SMALLPOX in Carlisle, from a paper enclosed in a letter to Mr. Joshua Milne, Nov. 1, 1812. - 39 '779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1 7 •• 1 90 1785 3 1786 •9 1787 3° 10 10 I ;o 9 ) 241 26.7 THE MORTALITY LESS THAN IT APPEARS. 55 Dr. Heysham summed up the average of the nine years from 1779 to 1787 inclusive, and found that 1 in 39! of the inhabitants of Carlisle died annually. " It must be remarked, in the first place, that every infectious and epidemic disease, to which the human body is subject (the plague excepted), prevailed during this period at Carlisle ; and in the second place, that the calcula- tions were made for the first eight years from the number of inhabitants which existed in the beginning of the year 1780; the great increase of 1 000 not being ascertained till December 1787. Therefore, although the deaths from accidents were not taken into the account for several of the first years, yet, upon the whole, the mortality is stated to be greater than it actually is." — See Table IX. TABLE IX. Of the Proportion of the Deaths to the Living under Different Ages. From January 1779 to the end of the Year 1787. Under 5 years 5 ... 10 » 10 15 11 15 ... 20 » 20 ... 3° >i 3° • • • 40 11 40 ... 5° 11 50 * • • 60 11 60 ... 70 11 70 • • • 80 11 80 • • • 90 11 90 • • • 100 11 Average of Nine Years. i in 12 and 9-nths nearly. 1 in 115 and 2-9ths 11 1 in 284 and 1-7 th 11 1 in 119 and 3-ioths 11 1 in 145 and 9-ioths 11 1 in 100 and 3-5ths 11 1 in 73 and 5-6ths .-> 1 in 57 nearly. 1 in 23 and 9-ioths i> 1 in 10 and 7-8ths 11 1 in 5 and n-i4ths 11 1 in 3 and i3-i8ths 11 56 IMPORTANT GENERAL RESULTS. Of all the inhabitants in 1779, 1 in 30! died annually; in 1780, 1 in 34! ; in 1781, 1 in 38! ; in 1782, 1 in 38 ; in 1783, 1 in 43!; in 1784, 1 in 50^-; in 1785, 1 in zy\\ in 1786, 1 in 37f ; in 1787, 1 in 44. The average of the nine years being 1 in 39I nearly. N.B. — This Table makes the mortality greater than it actually is, as the calculations from 1779 to 1787 inclusive were made from the number of inhabitants which existed in January 1780 ; whereas there was an increase of 1000 in that period. " The deaths which occurred from accidents were, in 1779, 4; in 1780, 3; in 1781, 5; in 1782, 4; in 1783, 3; in 1784, 5 ; in 1785, 4; in 1786, 2 ; and in 1787, 2." From Table IX. it appears that the most healthy period of human life is from 10 to 15 years of age ; and that health declines in the following order — namely, between 20 and 30, 15 and 20, 5 and 10, 30 and 40, 40 and 50, 50 and 60, 60 and 70, under 5, 70 and 80, 80 and 90, 90 and 100. In the month of April 1796 a survey was made of Carlisle by Mr. Johnston, under the direction of the editors of Hutchinson's History of Cumberland ; and the two parishes of St. Mary and St. Cuthbert were found to contain 1587 houses, 2616 families, and 10,289 inhabitants. It therefore appears that the increase in the population of Carlisle from 1780 to 1796 was 2612, and from 1788 to 1796 of 161 2 persons. CHAPTER IV. HISTORY OF THE JAIL-FEVER IN CARLISLE — THE FOUNDATION OF THE CARLISLE DISPENSARY— MEDICAL CASES — HUMAN MONSTROSITY. TN the beginning of April 178 1, there was an outbreak of typhus fever in Carlisle, resembling in character the jail-fever or Typhus carcerum of authors. This fever made its appearance in Ricker- gate, a suburban district on the north side, in a house which contained about half-a-dozen very poor families ; the rooms were exceedingly small, and in order to diminish the window-tax, every window that even poverty could dispense with, was shut up : hence stagnation of air, which was rendered still more noxious by the filth and uncleanliness of the people. " One of the persons affected with fever in this house was a weaver, who, on his recovery, went to his usual employment at a large workshop, where he communicated the disease to his fellow-weavers, and from thence the fever spread all over the town." The disease prevailed "amongst the common and lower ranks of people, and more especially those who lived in narrow, close, confined lanes, and in small crowded apartments. It continued for twelve months, and affected adults more frequently than children ; the infirm 5 8 JAIL-FEVER IN CARLISLE IN 1781. than the robust ; women than men ; and the married were more subject to it than the single. It often seized a whole family, and was worse in the suburbs than within the walls of the city." About 6oo persons took the disease — that is, about I in 1 1 or 12 of all the inhabitants of Carlisle,* and I in io nearly of all who were attacked, died. Of the 5 2 deaths there were 3 boys, 3 bachelors, 1 5 husbands, 3 girls, 2 maids, 2 1 wives, and 5 widows ; so that two-thirds of those who succumbed to the fever were married people. As there was no evidence to show that the fever was imported into the house in Rickergate, the fever was believed to have its origin in this nest of filth and contamination. The same view had been entertained of the disease as observed in jails, or very crowded hospitals, in the two preceding centuries ; hence Dr. Heysham's definition of the epidemic in Carlisle — Typhus carcerum. Dr. Heysham, in 1782, published an essay on the subject — " An account of Jail-Fever or Typhus carcerum, as it appeared at Carlisle in the year 1781," in which he states that, as this form of fever was already well known, he would not have obtruded his opinions upon public attention, had not the treatment of the disease which he adopted and successfully pursued appeared to * Dr. Heysham had ascertained that " in January 1780, there were 6299 inhabitants in Carlisle ; of these 1019 were husbands, 1091 were wives ; 91 were widowers ; 408 were widows ; and the remainder were cither children, bachelors, or maids." SYMPTOMS OF JAIL-FEVER. 59 differ from what had hitherto obtained in general practice. This difference consisted in the more early application, and in the much freer use, of bark and port wine. He described the symptoms* — headache, nausea, lassitude, weakness and weariness, dejection of spirits, thirst, disturbed sleep, followed by incoherent talk ; pulse frequent and feeble, tongue dry and brown, and, when thrust out of the mouth for examina- tion, unsteady and tremulous. In the worst cases, those which proved fatal, the pain of the head increased, a putrid colliquative looseness, etc., comes on. "Sometimes petecJiice appear in different parts of the body, and in some cases the whole surface of the body is covered with a scarlet efflorescence, which, however, soon disappears. The pulse becomes weaker and quicker, from 130 to 150 strokes in a minute; the patient is now altogether insensible ; the excretions are voided without consciousness ; he knows not the bystanders ; the delirium is, however, of the low, not of the furious or outrageous kind ; his muscles become flaccid, he gathers his bedclothes, and is affected with subsultus tendinam, convulsive startings and twitchings of the whole body, cold extre- mities ; then the livid and cadaverous appearance, ending in death." * Heysham gave Cullen's nosological character of typhus— " Morbus con- tagiosus; calor parum auctus; pulsus parvus, debilis, plerumque fi-equens; urina parum mutata j sensorii fuuctioiies plurimutn turbatce, vires m 11 Hum immiiiutce." 60 HUMAN EFFLUVIA POISONOUS. There was a diarrhoea or cough occasionally in the course of the fever, but no relapse. " Patients died from the 5 th or 6th day to the 1 6th or 17th days. The salutary terminations occurred as frequently on the non-critical as on the critical days. In one case no visible change for the better took place till the 1 8th day." Thus the doctrine of critical days could not be applied to this form of fever. The salutary termination of the disease depended on the con- stitution of the patient, and the early administration of wine. The petechia did not portend imminent danger, nor did a bleeding of the nose ; moreover, Heysham never observed either petechia or scarlet efflorescence, or a bleeding of the nose, in patients who began to take the bark and wine early in the disease. He believed in the extreme contagiousness of the fever, and " that it was the offspring of filth, nastiness, and confined air in rooms crowded with many inhabitants." He maintained that the Human Effluvia, subtle, active, and virulently poisonous, often originated in ships, hospitals, and jails ; in proof of which he instanced the Assizes held at Oxford in the year 1577, when putrid effluvia arising from the prisoners at the bar infected a great part of the Court with a pestilential fever, of which upwards of 300 persons died. Also the more melancholy instance at the Sessions of the Old Bailey in 1750, where 100 prisoners were tried, "who were all, during the sitting of the Court, cither placed OXFORD ASSIZES— OLD BAILEY SESSIONS. 61 at the bar or confined in two small rooms which opened into the Court. Great numbers present in the Court were almost instantly seized with the jail-fever, and above 40 died of it ; but the most remarkable circumstance was, that those only were affected who were on the left-hand side of the Lord Mayor,* a stream of air being directed to that side of the room, in conse- quence of a window being opened on the other. All on the right-hand side escaped, the putrid effluvia being wafted from them to the opposite side." " In both these instances, it does not appear that the prisoners, either before or after their trial, were particularly affected with any distemper, resembling that which seized so many, and of which they were supposed to have communicated the contagion." To account for the curious fact of the prisoners escaping from the dangers of their own effluvia, whilst the fact of their coming into court endangered so many healthy lives, Heysham observed that many of the prisoners had been long confined, and were accustomed to filth and uncleanliness, in conse- * " The persons of chief note who were in Court and died of the fever were Sir Samuel Pennant, Lord Mayor for that year ; Sir Thomas Abney, one of the Justices of the Common Pleas ; Charles Clarke, Esq., one of the Barons of the Exchequer ; and Sir Daniel Lambert, a London Alderman. Of less note, a gentleman at the bar, two students, one of the under-sheriffs, an officer of Lord Chief-Justice Lee," 1 several of the jury, and about forty other persons whom business or curiosity had brought thither." 62 REPETITION HARDENS THE SENSES. quence of which the putrid effluvia would be generated gradually, and for a long time be constantly applied to their bodies in small quantities, till it at length became, as it were, their natural atmosphere, when they would no more feel its influence than the tanner perceives the smell of his tanyard, or the chandler the smell of his putrid tallow." He then went on to show that the human body is possessed of the power of accommodating itself, or resisting the effects of many active and noxious agencies, when they are constantly and gradually applied in small quan- tities, which would injure many of the functions of life, nay, even in some cases, bring on death, were they given in large doses at first. He illustrated this hypothesis by the effects of opium, hemlock, and tobacco, on the human body, and showed that a person will in time acquire the habit of taking without danger a quantity at one dose which would either injure the health, or even destroy the life, of another person. The TREATMENT of the fever. — Dr. Hcysham relied on port-wine and cinchona or bark given in large quantities. If not the first * to advocate stimulants, Hcysham prescribed much * Dr. Hcysham, though not original in his views of treating typhus by stimuli, deserved much credit for setting this example in these northern parts of the island. At the beginning of the century (1700), F. Hoffman, the famous professor at Halle, had recommended nourishing food and good wines for typhus. Among British practitioners, Strother of London (1729), Rogers of Cork (1734), and the better known Huxham of London (1739 and 1757), had all TREATMENT OF JAIL-FEVER. 63 larger doses than any physician who preceded him in the century. Sir John Pringle, the boldest advocate for wine, seldom gave a bottle in the day, but Heysham ordered from one to two bottles and a half of port in the same period of time, and always with advantage. The doses of bark prescribed by Heysham were also nearly double those which Pringle usually exhibited. In no case did Heysham see any bad effects from the administra- tion of the fullest dose of wine and cinchona. He gave the wine pure, or mixed with cold water for thirst. " By a copious and liberal use of tonics, cordials, stimulants, or say the wine and bark, the pulse became slower and stronger, the thirst and pain of head abated, the delirium was removed, and the patient got refreshing sleep." He gave fruit throughout the whole course of the disease, except when contra-indicated by diarrhoea ; and this symptom was checked by opiates and astringents. Ranking or predisposing causes were poor diet, uncleanliness, advocated the use, more or less, of stimulants ; Sir John Pringle, a high authority, gave bark and serpentaria, and half-a-pint of wine daily ; and Dr. James Lind of Haslar Hospital (1763), and Dr. James Sims of Tyrone (1771-3), shared nearly similar opinions with the President of the Royal Society of London. One year previous to Heysham's detection of the jail-fever at Carlisle, an outbreak of the disease occurred among the Spanish prisoners confined at Winchester, of whom 268 died in three and a half months. Dr. J. Carmichael Smyth, the physician in attendance, condemned bleeding, and gave large quantities of port and Madeira ; in one case two bottles in twelve hours ; and the patient recovered. 64 FUNERAL CUSTOMS CONDEMNED. intemperance, mental depression ; and these he endeavoured to counteract. As a preventive of contagion, he recommended a generous diet, and his favourite stimulus, wine, also bark, along with other sanitary- measures. He insisted upon clean linen, fresh air directed upon the sick-bed, and through the apartment; in short, thorough cleanliness, as essential to the comfort and cure of the patient. He dwelt upon the advantage of inspiring his patients with hope, and of avoiding every depressing influence, physical or mental. He condemned the customs prevalent in Carlisle upon the death of any inhabitant : — 1st, The tolling of the death-bell, announcing to the world the dissolution ; 2d, The "public cryer," who used to ring his bell and proclaim in every street in a loud, distinct, and melancholy tone of voice, the hour of the deceased's funeral, inviting " all friends and neighbours to attend ;" 3d, Funeral psalms sung by the attendants as they were conducting the corpse through the public streets to the churchyard for inter- ment. " In ages of popish ignorance and superstition," Heysham remarked, " such ceremonies might perhaps be thought conducive to the future happiness and repose of the dead." Knowing the objectionable nature of such lamentations, he sought the aid of Dr. Percy, then Dean of Carlisle, and the Mayor and Corporation, to get them abolished ; and for a time they were, but superstition was too hydra-headed to be crushed in toto. WINE AND STIMULANTS CURE THE FEVER. 65 Though the weather was held to be inoperative as a cause of the fever of 1781, it should be stated that the spring of the year was mild and temperate ; the summer " warm, dry, and serene ;" the autumn warm, and the winter tolerably mild, or Heysham could not have gathered the common wild daisy (Bellis perennis) on Christmas day. Nowhere, as a physician, did Dr. Heysham display more character and firmness of purpose than in his advocacy of wine and stimulants in the treatment of typhus. The disease, nay, the very name of fever, was associated with high action, furious pulse, and hot burning skin ; and everybody looked upon such a condi- tion as only to be mastered by bleeding and depletive measures. His acting so contrary to the recognised doctrines of the medical schools of his epoch, as well as the popular beliefs, showed that he had made observation, and not empirical views, his principles of guidance in the treatment of fever. Happily for himself, as well as his patients, the practice he recommended on truly rational grounds was highly successful. So long and persistent had " the starving system " prevailed, along with bleeding, that any other plan was looked upon as highly culpable, if not heinous to a degree. Nearly fifty years had passed over after Heysham's pamphlet was issued — say 1830 or later — before physicians would venture upon the use of wine in fevers ; and then it was no easy matter to indoctrinate the great majority of practitioners with the F 66 HEYSHAM IN ADVANCE OF HIS TIMES. new views of treatment. Though not the first in Britain, Heysham was assuredly foremost in the North of England to introduce the stimulating mode, and may be said to have been halfa-century in advance of his own times. He deserved more credit than he ever got for making so bold a stand against popular prejudices, and the medical experience that would admit of no exception to bloodletting as a sheet-anchor in the treatment of fevers. It required the philosophical acumen of Alison of Edinburgh, and the practical mind of Graves in Dublin, to shake off the shackles of dogmatic medicine, and to lay down a more rational recognition of the forms of febrile diseases quoad treat- ment. The best proof of the rarity of the stimulating treatment urged by Heysham in 1781, may be found in the words addressed to his Practice of Physic class by Dr. Graves some years ago : " If," said he, " you are at a loss for an epitaph to be placed on my tomb, here is one for you : He fed fevers." Foundation of the Carlisle Dispensary. The increasing numbers of the sick poor who sought the gratuitous medical services of Dr. Heysham made it imperative upon him to have a larger room than the one attached to his lodgings in St. Cuthbert's Lane, and this led him to think ot a public medical institution for the destitute poor of the city. He mentioned his views to Dean Percy of Carlisle, and some of the THE CARLISLE DISPENSARY. 67 wealthier classes. The former provided Dr. Heysham with a room attached to one of the prebendal residences, then approached from Castle Street by a narrow lane. Subscriptions were got up, and the Public Dispensary was fairly established on July 1, 1782. To Dr. Heysham is due the entire honour of founding this excel- lent institution. He was also its first physician. The friends who helped him most in this good work were the Earl of Surrey, then member of Parliament for the city, and afterwards Duke of Norfolk ; the bishops of Carlisle, Clonfert, and Dromore ; and Messrs. Dacre, Losh, and Liddell. The Dean and Chapter were liberal supporters ; and each year, through Heysham's active exertions, the subscriptions of the county families and wealthier manufacturers of the city greatly increased. In the first year 390 patients appeared on the books of the Dispensary, and during the first fourteen years of its operations no less than 1 1,382 persons shared in the benefits of the charity. Dr. Heysham con- tinued to take deep interest in the welfare of this institution, and is said to have written all the annual reports that were published till the year 18 18. In setting forth the advantages of the Dispensary, he held that ^100 a-year might be so managed as to communicate relief to thousands, and that in no other way could money go so far, or charity impart happiness with equal efficacy, or to the like extent. According to his calculation, there were upwards of 4000 inhabit- 68 JAIL-FEVER AND OPIATES. ants supported by daily wages, from which little was ever laid up, so that sickness always found these unprovided for any extraordinary expense. In the first report of the Carlisle Dispensary, and written by Dr. Heysham, embracing the period from July I, 1782, to July 1, 1783, it is said that 26 cases of jail-fever were admitted to the benefits of the institution. All were treated with bark (cinchona) wine, and considerable doses of opium, and all recovered. In the Dispensary, year 1783-84, there were 37 cases of jail-fever, and in 1784-85, 43 cases of the same fever. Very early in January of the year 1785 the jail-fever originated among the felons of the jail, and then traversed the city, and continued to rage almost the whole of the year. In January, February, and March, there were 4 cases each month. April had 3 ; May and June each showed 8 cases ; in July there were 10, in August 15, in Sep- tember 19, and in October and November there were 11 cases each month. The disease was not so virulent as in 1782. Petechia? and hemorrhagies were seldom observed. A greater portion of children were affected. Relapses were much more frequent. lie gave opium early in the disease (1 785), and in large quantities the moment he felt sure of the disease being " putrid fever." There were 9 deaths in all in the city out of the 97 cases affected in the 11 months of 1785. In further Dis- pensary reports, up to the year 1793, jail-fever occupies a MEDICAL CASES AND CURES. 69 prominent place ; but the disease had evidently become a much milder disease, and still more amenable to treatment. Thus, in the report 17S6-87, there were 59 cases of jail-fever ; in 1787-88 no less than 252 cases, of which 14 died ; in 1788-89, 69 cases ; in 1790-91, 123 cases; in 1791-92, 158 cases; in 1 792-93, there were 123 cases. Dr. Heysham published, in the Medical Commentaries for 1780, vol. vii. p. 349, a " Remarkable Cure of Epilepsy and Dys- phagia Spasmodica ;" and in the same volume, p. 359, a case of Epilepsy cured by Cuprum ammoniacum, in half-grain doses twice a-day. This preparation of copper seems to have been a favourite remedy in Heysham's hands for all nervous complaints, ex. gr. St. Vitus' dance. In his Bills of Mortality for 1782 he gave " an account of a peculiar and painful affection of the Antrum maxillare, which, upon being opened, contained three insects." This case led to a great war of words between the Doctor and a Carlisle surgeon, but added nothing to what had been observed by Dr. Fothergill {Medical Observations and Inquiries, vols. iii. and v.) Other isolated medical or surgical cases recorded by Dr. Heysham hardly deserve to be noticed in this memoir. History of a Human Monstrosity. On the 26th May 1788, Mary Clarke, aged 26 years, and the mother of six children, some of whom were healthy and 70 A FULL-GROWN CHILD WITHOUT A BRAIN : others unhealthy, was delivered of a living female child,* the strange appearance of whose head alarmed the midwife, who called in Dr. Heysham within an hour after delivery. The doctor found the bones of the upper part of the skull wanting, and, instead of a brain, a large reddish-brown excrescence projecting a little over the integuments towards the forehead, and extending over the root of the nose. He thought he could perceive the division of the two hemispheres of the brain, and likewise the division of the cerebrum from the cerebellum. On raising this substance, the child began to cry, and started as if influenced by an electric shock. The infant was full-grown, and seemed in perfect health ; her limbs were plump, firm, and well-proportioned, and she moved them with apparent agility. The external organs of sense were also perfect. The eyes were full and lively, and the vision seemed perfect. She swallowed well, and took sufficient food, but sometimes during the act of swallowing started a little. She lived from 8 A.M. on Monday, May 26th, till 5 A.M. on the Sunday (June 1st) following, five days and twenty-one hours, and then expired. After the second day she had convulsions occa- sionally. During the greater part of her brief existence a thin * The case is narrated in Hutchinson's History 0/ Cumberland, vol. ii. p. 676. The medical reader will find it described in the Memoirs of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, vol. v. Part ii. p. 496. Dr. John Hull, in a p.iper read to the said society (Nov. 28, 1800), " On the Nervous System of Different Animals," discussed the physiological bearings of Dr. Heysham's case. ITS LIFE OF SIX DAYS' DURATION. 71 watery fluid, slightly tinged with blood, escaped from the excrescence, which greatly diminished its bulk, and reduced it one-half before death, whilst the surface of the said excrescence was beginning to put on an appearance of mortification. Such were the conditions observed during the child's life ; but an examination after death revealed more extraordinary facts than the mere external appearances indicated. Dr. Blamire and Mr. Charles Farish aided Dr. Heysham in the post-mortem inquiry. The bones which constitute the upper and lateral regions of the head were wanting, and the substance, or excrescence, was found to consist only of membranes, blood-vessels, and several bags, one of which was as large as a nutmeg, the rest of different sizes, and smaller. These bags, or cysts, were filled with a brownish-coloured fluid, that escaped with force on the cysts being punctured. There was not the least appearance of cere- brum, cerebellum, or any medullary substance whatever ; in less technical language, neither the great nor the small brain, nor any brain-substance. The spinal cord, or marrow, had a natural appearance, but did not seem to have been connected with the parts above described. Dr. Heysham was led to infer — 1st. That the fluid discharged from the excrescence during the life of the infant," and which produced the great diminution of its bulk, was occasioned by the 72 THE MONSTROSITY OF RARE INTEREST. rupture or erosion of cysts, similar to those which remained sound and full after death. 2d. That the living principle, the nerves of the trunk and extremities, sensation, and motion, may exist independent of, and that the natural, vital, and animal functions may be performed with- out, the brain. And as the external organs of sense — namely, the eyes, the nose, the tongue, and the ears — all seemed perfect, may we not, therefore, suppose that the optic, the olfactory, the gustatory, and the auditory nerves (belonging to the senses), may exist inde- pendent of, and unconnected with, either the brain or spinal marrow ? The Doctor was content with describing this extraordinary case, leaving others to deduce from it such conclusions as the appearances observed might be thought to warrant. A fat, plump, and vigorous child living very nearly six days, and correctly performing all the ordinary functions pertaining to infantile life without a brain, or even particle of brain matter, was a phenomenon well calculated to excite surprise amongst the uneducated, and not less to puzzle the best informed in science. No more uncommon instance of fcetal development passing into extra-uterine life, and for six days manifesting active organic functions, is to be found in the records of medical history from that day to the present time. No wonder it is cited both on account of its rarity and the many physiological considerations involved in its study. PHYSIOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS. 73 The anatomy of the brain, and the spinal cord connected above with the brain, and occupying the channel formed by the bones of the spine as low as the loins, was only broadly indicated, whilst the functions of these nervous centres were but little un- derstood in 1788 ; so far, however, as was known, Dr. Heysham reasoned correctly as to the facts observed by him in the case of Mary Clarke's child. It is to be regretted that he did no more than note the conditions of the child, when the case itself afforded a great opportunity for physiological inquiry. The nervous system was a great puzzle till Sir C. Bell dis- covered the functions of the roots of the nerves in 181 1. Nearly fifty years after Heysham saw the brainless child, Dr. Marshall Hall opened out a new mine of physiological doctrine by experi- menting on animals previously reduced to a condition of life resembling that of the child Clarke — namely, by suspending the action of the brain, whilst the functions of the spinal cord were allowed to continue in force. Had Heysham worked the ground lying at his feet, and been possessed of a microscope, he might have demonstrated the fibrillae or minutest elements of the nerves, and their mode of termination in the encephalon, and helped to unravel some of the intricate problems in biological science.* To trace the mode in which the will conveys its dicta * That which Dr. Heysham overlooked in 1788 the writer of these pages had the good fortune to discover in 1841 in a child of monstrous formation. - Vide Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. lx. p. 330. 74 NORMAL AND ANORMAL GROWTH. to the muscles, and is responded to with the quickness of thought ; to ascertain how the instinctive or involuntary acts are manifested independently of the will ; and to note those intimate relations between the nervous centres and the nutritive functions of the body, were of deep interest to the professional mind. A full and eliminative inquiry into the anatomical and physiological history of the brainless infant would also have helped the cause of psychology, and prepared the English mind for the newer doctrines of an age in which philosophical thought has come to supersede the crude speculations of the past, and sound deduc- tions to take the place of theological supposition and dogma. Heysham's case,'* of such interest in the history of human genesis, let insight into Nature's operations, and showed what odd formations might arise if the threads of life were not correctly woven together in the web that constitutes the entity — normal and symmetrical man. It proved that there were starting points or nuclei of development, from which the formation of organic * It is curious to note that Carlisle in 1788 yielded a monstrosity in the shape of a brainless child, who lived nearly six days ; and that a child was born about ten miles distant in 1841, in possession of a brain, but without a spinal cord, whose respiration could not be sustained for a moment : both cases stand unparalleled in teratology. As if Cumberland had not done enough in this way, a child was born near Dalston, five miles west of Carlisle, about 1859, w ' tn tnc smallest possible amount of brain ; it lived three months, and died of internal disease. The brain of this child, and also its facial features, bore the closest resemblance to the simian class of animals. FUNCTIONS OF BRAIN AND NERVOUS CENTRES. 75 structures proceed, and that if a hitch or hiatus occurs, as in the child Clarke, the brain and its suitable bony covering may be replaced by a lot of small bags containing fluid — a miserable substitute for nervous matter, or rather no substitute at all. The unprofessional reader will gather from the case under dis- cussion, that the ordinary nutritive functions and locomotion of the body do not rest with the brain proper, but with the spinal cord or the nervous substance that is attached to the brain above and extends downwards to the loins, giving forth nerves in every direc- tion, that become interlaced with another portion of the nervous system called the Sympathetic, distributed among the viscera of the body. The functions of the brain are of a higher order, marking the sentient and intellectual being, guiding the actions of life, and affording what claims man can be said to possess to immortality. Considering the progress that philosophic thought had made, and that Locke and Hartley, both of whom were physicians, had brought their professional knowledge to bear upon metaphysics, it is remarkable that Heysham had so little to say on the relations of the brainless infant to psychology. Hartley's theory of vibra- tions in the white substance of the brain being the immediate cause of sensation, was an attempt to explain, on strictly anatomico- physiological grounds, the modus operandi of thought — the sphinx or riddle of philosophers in all ages. This opinion of Hartley's 76 HARTLEY AND THE MATERIALISTS. was well calculated to claim the attention of his medical brethren, and seemed particularly relevant to the case sub judice ; but Hey- s-ham had either been unacquainted with the writings of Hartley, and the doctrines of Bonnet, the Genevese naturalist, or he had deemed it prudent to abstain from any expression that would link his medical reasonings with the materialistic views of Hobbes and Hume, then held to be so dangerous and heterodox. Though Hartley was classified with the materialists, as all innovators on established forms of thought are apt to be, he was a believer, and a highly religious person, whom Coleridge describes as — " He of mortal kind Wisest ; the first who marked the ideal tribes Up the fine fibres to the sentient brain." CHAPTER V. ONE DECADE OF HEYSHAM'S LIFE — HIS NATURAL HISTORY OBSERVATIONS IN CUMBERLAND. TN the first ten years of his residence in Carlisle (1778 to 1788), Dr. Heysham had done more perhaps than any one of his medical predecessors in the place, to advance its strictly medical interests, and to promote its sanitary welfare. He had made two surveys of the city and its suburbs and village-parochial districts, and numbered the houses, the families, and the population therein. Along with the census he had collected the numbers of births and deaths, the ages and conditions of the people ; and by classifying the causes of and circumstances attendant on the death-rate, had framed bills of mortality for each year. He had founded a public Dispensary, and laid down good rules for its guidance and future success, and hesitated not for many years to take upon himself a large share of its medical responsi- bility. In his wish to extend the area of medical knowledge, and to make his study and observation of disease of historical utility, he 78 HEYSHAM' S MARRIAGE, AND RESULTS. had published a valuable essay on jail-fever, and described a deeply-interesting case of human monstrosity. Professional work, though daily urgent, was not the sole occu- pation of his mind ; in the midst of numerous private and public engagements he found leisure to study the natural history of Cumberland. Dr. Heysham ceased to tabulate his observations on the bills of mortality after 1788. No reason has ever been assigned for this ; it may have been owing to his increasing practice, or greater partiality for natural history ; probably he was influenced by a more potent charm than scientific inquiries in the person of Miss Coulthard, only daughter and heiress of Alderman Thomas Coulthard, a rich tanner, who had twice occupied the mayoralty of Carlisle. He was married to Elizabeth Mary Coulthard in London on 4th May 1789. He was in his thirty-sixth year, his wife was in her twenty-fourth year. Mrs. Heysham bore a family of four sons and three daughters to her husband. She died on 30th May 1803. Of her sons, John Coulthard Heysham died in infancy; William, lieutenant and adjutant of the 53d Bengal Native Infantry, died 13th October 1825, aged twenty-nine years ; Thomas Coulthard Heysham, a distinguished naturalist, died in Carlisle, 6th April 1857, aged sixty-six years; James Heysham, lieutenant of the navy, died at Borren's Hill, Carlisle, 10th May 1870. Of his daughters, Mary Heysham died 28th May 1808, A NATURALIST IN EARLY LIFE. 79 aged fourteen years ; Isabella, who became the wife of Mr. G. G. Mounsey, of Castletown, Carlisle, died 14th May 1848, leaving numerous issue. The only survivors are the Rev. John Heysham, M.A., Vicar of Lazonby, Cumberland, and Miss Anna Heysham of Carlisle. Dr. Heysham, on his marriage, took a three-storey house im- mediately opposite his old lodgings in St. Cuthbert's Lane : there he and his wife lived happily, and brought up their family in a manner commensurate with their good position in society. He was affectionately attached to his children. Dr. Heysham was a naturalist in the true acceptation of the term, and did more than any other person to make the natural history of Cumberland generally known. His penchant for the study of animated nature arose in early life amidst the woods and dales of Westmoreland, and along the pleasant shores of More- cambe Bay, where he loved to wander and enjoy the picturesque scenery around. Being skilled in the use of the bow and arrow, his rural walks were made subservient to his ornithological pur- suits, and these of all others were the most favoured in his natural- history career. If his first steps were juvenile and amateur-like, the knowledge gained of anatomical forms, by his medical studies, gave a fresh colouring and precision to his observations. He soon made himself known as a naturalist, and far beyond the Carlisle district. He was elected an Associate of the Linnnean Society, So HONOURS OF THE LINNMAN SOCIETY. London, at the second meeting of the said society held at the Marlborough Coffee-House in March 1788. The writer is not aware if Heysham contributed any papers to the "Linnsean;" there is no record of such in the Society's "Transactions;" and as he died before the publication of the monthly " Proceedings," there is no obituary notice of him by the Society. Persons residing in Cumberland and Westmoreland, who met with birds of doubtful plumage, or rare specimens, or who had marked any deviation from the usual habits and manifestations of animals, used to consult Heysham. In this way he enjoyed the double advantage of his own observations and the experience of others. He compared notes with fellow-workers over a wide area of country, so that every division of the northern district came to be explored — the high peaks of the fells, the green dale-land, the marshes, rivers, seabord, and, in fact, the sea itself, from Burgh- on-Sands and the Scottish shore to Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire. As books were scarce and dear, a local and scientifically educated authority of Heysham's stamp was sought for and highly prized by less favoured promoters of natural history. Distance of locality counted nothing with enthusiastic minds ; and if Hey- sham would walk twenty miles to see a nest, others would travel twice the distance to take counsel of a proved leader in the science they loved so well. Though ready to investigate both land and marine animals by HIS PURSUITS ENCOURAGED. 81 the more or less imperfect lights of Linnaeus and Buffon, the autho- rities of one hundred years ago, his special study was ornithology and some divisions of entomology. He collected great numbers of birds, also their eggs and nests, and preserved the best generic specimens, with which to compare any additional examples that might come in his way. He adopted the same practice in other departments of the animal kingdom ; and being favoured with the friendship of such gentlemen as Sir James Graham, the first Baronet of Netherby, and Mr. John Losh of Woodside, who took interest in his pursuits, he was enabled to gather a rich harvest of facts in natural history. These facts became of import at an earlier date than was expected, owing to an application being made to Heysham by Mr. William Hutchinson, about to under- take a History of Cumberland,* to furnish " a Catalogue of Cum- berland Animals" for the proposed work. Heysham was the only man in the county acquainted with the animal tribes, so that his co-operation in the work was not only of import, but essential and imperative, seeing that a history of Cumberland devoid of infor- 1 Heysham, though he possessed the records of fifteen years' observation, would hardly have gone to press on his own account, knowing, as he would do, that Cumberland folk were not much given to any form of reading, and that they would rather borrow than buy a volume. As very few people cared a straw for natural history, it would have been unwise to incur so great an expense as that of publishing an essay on the Fauna of Cumberland. His observations filled 53 pages of double-lined quarto in Hutchinson's History. G 82 HIS GUIDES TO CLASSIFICATION. mation on the natural products and fauna of the county would have been manifestly imperfect Heysham entered with spirit upon the work assigned him by the editor, and the result of his labours up to 1793 or 1794 is to be found recorded in the first pages of Hutchinson's History of Cumberland. In glancing at Heysham's public contributions, the writer must content himself with a few general notes, exemplifying the originality of his observations, or the more instructive generic data of his work. In his classification of the Cumbrian fauna, Heysham relied mainly upon the Systcma Natures of Carl Linnaeus ; Thomas Pennant's British Zoology (1761-77) ; and John Latham's General Synopsis of Birds (1781). Along with the technical description he gave the local nomenclature for each species, so that, whilst his catalogue was scientific in character, it was no less accessible to the meanest capacity. It is worthy of special note that Heysham only recorded what he had himself seen and investigated : his observations necessarily bear a high value, compared with those of the mere compiler and copier of other men's labours. He went carefully through the whole animal kingdom ; beginning with the quadrupeds, and passing down the zoological scale, he catalogued every species known to exist in Cumberland. His notes appended to each description rendered the whole compendium readable, instructive, and locally interest- HABITATS OF ANIMALS CHANGED. 83 ing. His work bespeaks labour, research, and a painstaking accuracy, all the more creditable that it was undertaken on behalf of the interests of science. The narrative of his natural history experiences, as found in Hutchinson's History of Cumberland, comes down to 1 794 or thereabouts ; since which time, it is hardly needful to say, changes have taken place in the county greatly affecting the condition of the people, and correlatively the natural habits of the zoologi- cal genera — be they the casual bird visitors or indigenous tribes observed within its area eighty years ago. Significant as is the contrast between the primitive living and bucolic pastimes of Cumbrians at the close of the last century, and the reigning fashion of to-day ; more widely apart, however, may be said to stand the relations of the winged tribes to their former rendezvous and habitations. To avoid the haunts of men and the wanton savagery of indiscriminate shooters, abandonment of the old grounds, or dispersion, has become an instinctive necessity with the rarer species, failing which, nothing less than annihilation awaits them in England. Nowhere, perhaps, in the whole range of English ornithology, could a more striking example of this opinion be found than on Newtown Common, within a mile and a half of Carlisle. Suburban extension, the inroads of the factory system upon rural life, and the depredations of poachers, have rendered a locality that was unusually rich in ornithology in Hcysham's day, 84 THE DEER AND THE RA TS. a complete waste to all but the sparrow and common hedgerow birds. Class I. Quadrupeds. — In treating of the genus Deer, Heysham states, " The stag or red deer {Cervus claphus* Linn.) may be said to range, almost in a state of nature, in the forests and hills of Martindale, in the neighbourhood of Ullswater." In the same locality were to be seen a few examples of the wild cat, then rapidly disappearing, and now unheard of. The black rat was becoming rare, having been expelled from the county by the brown rat. Oddly enough, Heysham had a specimen of the black rat " perfectly white" in colour. However incongruous this statement may appear of a specific black animal showing entirely white, it is quite reconcileable with well-ascertained facts in zoology. Man himself presents as great a variety of colour, and what can be more antipodal in external character than the black negro, and the albino — the latter exemplar of the human race being by no means so rare as the white coloured specimen of the black rat. In connection with colour, it may be noted that Heysham had a mole presented to him by William Dacre of Kirklinton of a fine cream colour. * Claphus is likely to be an error of spelling for Elaphus, the designation of the red deer by modern writers being Cervus elaphus, in honour, it may be supposed, of Aristotle's 'E\aCOOOhC1Mt|(10«ONCOOOh(MM^ iQ10 10l0100 10 000(0(DtOOOOONt»l>Nt» W pq < h w CO I— I Pi < u w ►J <: S w Q Z < w ►J 2 •JT33X }X3U 3l[} Suunp paip oqA\. aaquin^j 00 co o n co o no NW)int«tifH , i'i , ooo ONNN00Cn0NNNNNNNNNC1NC0'<3-u")O UBaX }Eqj 3}3jdinoD oi[A\ aaquin^j M COO O "3-N Oi ^ h 10 OO co 00 >C0OO'— 1 THE " CARLISLE " AND " ENGLISH TABLES." 125 ^ h vo O ^)" VO r^COCO l>.t^t-»t^l^»00 m Tt-CO CO ON vO rf- CM in in ^l" ^ to cm w on 00 i>. vo m ^- fO to N m m 1— ■»— II— 11— It— II— 11— II— 1 HI VO CM O 't CO On to VO CO O CM rj- t^ O CM "t N M O r-^ r^ hi VO VO h \Q w N fO m On CO ON O CM in O in m 00 in -^ CM hi m vo m cj n cnco no in ^ 't to n cm « m HI HI HI HI HI Tj- CM Hi M lOONCOOOHt-lCO^lOONCOQOHIMnTflOtON NNt>NNCOQ0Q00000CO00O00000C5QO5O5©a)CSC3 C0C5OHNC0'* Ci OS O O O O O 1— 1 1— 1 1 — 1 1— 1 1— 1 O VO nO N 00 nO CM CM Tf-TfCO m tJ- m Ot^O hi rtO N lO -t vo in ■* to n w m on 00 f^-f^-vo in w toto n m h CO CM CM CM CM CM HI in m to hi to n m to Ovin nvo cm m cm m 10 -t O toco *-«. m innico vntoM cm cm "4- vo on to 00 ^- n m t to « hi vo in to cm C\oc nvo m 't to n cm m m >h HI HI HI M. Hi rj- HI Ov N m to H HI HI lf5tONCOOiCHNCOTt*lotONCOOOH(MtO'*iO©N NNNNNOOQOMOOQOQOajMOOQOOOOOJOQO© CO O O 1— 1 CM CO tH OS OS 1— 1 1— 1 1 — 1 1 — 1 1 — 1 lOVO vo r~» CO CvOOHiNtOfO'+ iovO VO r^ CO ON O O hi hi ininininininvovovovovovovovovovovovovovo t~-.r-»t-» CM to to ^ ^t 10 lOVO r— CM VO ON m to t)- ^t fO h CN m N t^M moo hi cm to to to n On tJ- 00 cm i^hi m Oi to n O •^■00 hi inco m inco hi ^ r^» rf "t to to n cm hi O On On CO r^t^.vo m m 't to to n m hi O ts >t H VO CMVO M tomco hi tovoco hi cncoco t^.vo m in vovovovdvovovovovo inmininininininminininmm mrt-rj-t^.Tj-rJ-^ (MM'<*IOtDN«)C)OH(MW'*lO(ONOOOOH(MCi)'* (MIM(M(MlM(MO''!NCOCOCOCOeOCOMnti5C'5T|(^r)(ii'>* lOONWOOr- 1 CM 't^-^TllTtlLOinilQ cm cm cm to to m O vo r-^r^-vo in m mvo t^co h vo C\ h m m 't't'tvt't^ioininminminmmininvovovo t^>t^t^ O CA N CO h On CM in t-^ vo vO vo vo in vO vo in to h on vo toco 00 cm inco cm t-^. cm r-~ hi tJ-vo in On O on 00 vo cm n to ov 'i - o\ 'too cm t^ h vo m ov tot> ^ vo on on 00 00 n i^vo vo m m 't * to to n m m ovco r-« vo inininininininininininvnininininininin'^} - ^-'^ r^ r-» CO moo r^OO VO cm inco cm mov tot- r— vo in in ^t to to n iMW'i'lOtONOOQOHlMM^lQWNaOCiOHPICO^ . NO <*■ VO vo •S31BH 00 n rt On vooO Nvt"i ^N vn OO OO ONNO O oo no - io too M in NO O pi NO On On O t^.00 "t n N m to i- OnnO On PO 't On ii t^ CO On PO <*■ 1 "*- •saijiuitjj pi o m O •'tOO OO On NnO N ^t PI M n ON CO PI 1 O "t -i MO * CO N vn O M CO00 't n m On P) POnO h N POPlPOiiPlt^POPO PI O co NO NO •sgsnojj roO N N OO 00 — --POPO ON PI OO vo CO CO >■§ £Q O « CO ■3SB3J03Q : : : : : * • ■ : : : : « : : n CO OO M Te*>i N MlflH H * vn vonO WO *r 00 Cn CONGO H VO o 00 00 no t- 00 OO OO vnNO P) »-l lO xo m P) PJP)rt-3-ONP)000 1 ""O ; UNhoooo 0\M N • uonO i-i n ii po pj : n NO 00 •sareuiaj O O N w N- Tt MflN "- N M 00 vn N P4 CN Nirt PI no O O NO n Tt OnnO OO n ro ; N 00 lOOO 't Tt vo p) ; OO NO CO W CO M NO 00 1 ■* •sarej\T Mt^roO O O ON *N i- t^ fl rom lO HI NO n O vorO'tONVo ; N OnnO On 't -^-no O CO O Tt CO CO NO NO 00 1 pr> d OO H •I«JOx m h tJ-n rooo M>N PI -t Tt" H ■"t o vn PO pi <~n o TtNO ON OO NO P) lO ON PI PI P) PO'tPlOO ONTtO Tt On r-*. PO 1 On OnOO vo h P) n- ii n CO 1 *^ OO . t-~ . CO • n NO •ssreuiaj P> N ■+ N O « co ro On O N CO N't m ON N On H4 t^NO OO uimON ■* POO tn pi n r^co vo pi Ttoo O i-» vo ^tvO vooo union vonO n NO OO 5- •sarej^ On tJ- O O fON PO ir.r^M N n NO CO « PI W CO PO VO H u->t^ ri OO O ON foroin oo p< t-t O i NO NO NnO vonO O N ■^t conO vo O rt co r-^NO vo NO • On vo PO 'S3i|imCjj On N PI «)hCO i- CnOO *t P< CO ** H U o N OO pi r^NO O i~» in ro OlOOOO'tM-'tNN _>-ro— COP1PINOPJN N. no : pi • p» 00 n 'G3SnO{j M 1 "1" NOO O PI ""'OO N P) n ON -t vn ONOO NO »1 PO VO »ONN m O fON N n co n co pi pi vo pi n vo ! pi • CO 10 OS H (- < O" h O English Street . Scotch Street Fisher Street Castle Street Abbey St. and Annetwell St. The Abbey Total within the walls . Botchergate Rickergate Caldewgate Total Suburbs Newtown .... Harraby . Carlton .... Wreay Chapelry Brisco .... Botcherby Upperbv .... Blackhal] .... Cummersdale Morton Head and Newby . Total in Country District Omitted in parts of the City Grand Total . in 1) s s u 1) to ,o o OO 00 ■p- C a tf o -4—1 u o I— 1 o — ' 3 o V H r < CHRISTENINGS AND DEA THS. 127 XI t/3 (U o « H , 0> O aj JC3 X! *-> H CO M CO O O II 4 • • ^ § • " •5 m ^ ^S • 13 • • • Q .S 0) n S 1 — ■ 2^ j m rt . m m m m +j TOTA Males & a C/3 a Male Fern S ^ CO •2 1 1— 1 H -4-» O are colu ■3SE3.I03Q *t O CO M CO IN IN r-» n h- 1 h-t O co w CO lO r-» . . On "=t O . CO in W H < '3SB3JDUJ • CM NO 10 CO iH VO CM VO t>. H C4 • • IO NO N • CI • CO in ^j- no t-H CO *t m Ov f-» CO tO "-i ON O O CO t^. M O CO to CO w M M H M M HH H-t t-t M M M M M M CO CO co Th in CO ^t O h- 1 1— 1 f-» IO M ON r-- CN 1—1 1—1 •S3[BJ\[ co O O SO CO N CN O O CO O O t^ O O M CO *t •S.I31U3SSIQ <^' ^j. <^j. 00 CO mvo co co CO CO CM '^t IO Tf fO CN N i"CO in rf no to "t CN O CN CO CO CO t-f cm vo t^ CM "*t r-» J>. N O to no to O CNNO O •Fqox w to O 10 r-«. no in O ^- M to CO CO r— NO On in O Z a H 2 U N CM CM CM CM CM CM CI vN O N M M M M IN CI O O O O CN CO co On co IN CO ON CO r^ *>» CN Tf N CN •sapuiaj O CM CO CO M to M O N l-H O M M CO CO CO IN tJ- CM CM NO CO CN 1-1 CO CO U-) "+ 1-1 r^ on co w to t1- r^ ■S3[BJM O CO CO IH CO N Tj- M «*- ^t- CO O N 't "t 't rj- Tf CN O w CM CO it tONO r-co ON O >-> N CO "t toO •s.iua \ 1^00 00 CO CO CO CO CO XI CO X) CN ON ON ON Cn Cn On l^. r-» f-» r^ t~~ t-» r-» r~» t~» t->. r-^ r-. t~» *» t^ t^. r» i^» I2S ANNUAL AVERAGE MORTALITY. TABLE XII. View of the Annual Average Mortality at different Periods in Carlisle. Term. Commencing with the Year Ending with the Year Mean Population. Died Yearly on an Average. Persons. One of 9 Years. 8 Years. 5 Years. 22 Years, io Years. 1779 1788 1796 1779 1801 1787 1795 1800 1800 1810 8,177 9,45 s 10,667 9,209 I2,66o 204 • 246 249.2 229.73 285.8 40.00 38.45 42.80 40.09 44-3° The author of the article "Human Mortality" {Encyclop. Britan., 8th ed., vol. xv. p. 638), after specifying the observations hitherto published from which the laws of mortality may be correctly de- termined — namely, those of M. Deparcieux in France, the Swedish, Dr. Heysham's at Carlisle, Dr. Cleland's at Glasgow, Mr. Finlai- son's on the nominees of life annuities granted by Government in this country, and Mr. Morgan's on the lives insured in the Equit- able Assurance Society — goes on to say : — " Those of Deparcieux, Finlaison, and Morgan, were made only on select classes of people ; the Swedish are incomparably the most numerous and extensive ; and whilst Dr. Cleland's exhibit the mortality in a large manu- facturing town, Dr. Heysham's will, we believe, be found to be the best authenticated and most correct." POPULATION AND MORTALITY. 129 X w to 00 ■5 00 _£ - ed 0> in to S-i w 1— < .J t—t as k— t H N CM <4_ O to to OS CO 10 CO H O VO t^. vo N OS Tt- CSO 10 lOOO to to vo M OS Cs J>. OS Tf CO CM O a VO Tl- H 't t^ «^ OS CM O CM t-^ M CM w t»» to voO to '*• -* ■"fr rt vo **■ CO rf to 't VO "*■ to u5 rj- 10 vjD 00 O 10 M r-. CO 00 VO M T)- CO OS CO f-» ci CO Cs I~~ w to -<+ ■+ CO O Cs «t CM t^ vo to «>■ Q CM M M tO CM CM CM CM CM CM tO CO CO to M CO to . t^OO Cs O O O O O O O t^ t^. 00 vo CM O O O O O O O co vo vo t}- O CO O tOO Cs CM loco t— I Tf CO O OS CM a, Ph O O O HI w IH M CM CM CM CO to CO "*■ to to *t CIS r~~ CO Os O m CM to "«*" VOVO t-^00 Os O M CM CO O OS Os O O O O O -H M M M < " CM to <* VOO x^oo Cs M CM to Tt- VOO ci r^ 00 00 co 00 co 00 CO co co 00 Cs Cs O Cs OS Cs CS t--. r^ r^ t^ r^ r^. r^. t^ r-» t^ t^. r^ t^ f^ r^ t>. f^ l^. K- 1 >-l tvt vo 00 *-> w a <-\ > >. 1) *-> r~ < 1> H T3 > S C/5 ri 'O ^ to a O O i4 CO O rt 1 4-t >-l rrt O S Ih it! O 4-1 -C c ■4-» ■ rt T3 (I) Bi <3J >- to H K 130 AUTHORITATIVE OPINIONS. Before Dr. Farr constructed the English Life Tables, Professor De Morgan pronounced the " Carlisle Table " to be " the best exist- ing table of healthy life in England." The life assurance offices in the United States of America seem to have endorsed this opinion, and made the same table applicable to their interests. And the magnitude of these interests at home and across the Atlantic, resting entirely on Dr. Heysham's operations, is far beyond ordinary computation. Dr. Peacock, Dean of Ely, in his life of the famous Dr. Thomas Young, F.R.S., writes — "The experience of the London life offices, of which seventeen had been established a sufficient length of time, in 1843, to afford materials for discussion, has afforded a table of the expectation of life from the age of 20 upwards, so nearly in accordance with the results of the Carlisle Tables, as to leave no doubt of its correctly representing the rate of mortality, for the middle of life, of a past generation, amongst that class of persons who are concerned with insurances on lives ; but the question may reasonably be asked, whether it is equally competent to furnish the value of the expectation for future gene- rations as well as the past "(vol. i. p. 403). The Dean's question- ing of the future of the Carlisle Tables was reasonably based on the improvements in the practice of medicine, the increasing tem- perance and better social habits of the people, and the general adoption of better sanitary arrangements by the country at large. CARLISLE AND THE KINGDOM AT LARGE. 131 When the reader reflects on the size of Carlisle, and its suburbs and outlying district, so limited a range for the construc- tion of a mortality Table, and compares it with the basis of the English Life Table, drawn from the mortality of the entire king- dom, he cannot fail to recognise Dr. Heysham's marvellous aptitude and attention. If the records of nine years, extend- ing over a population that did not quite reach 9000, can be shown to vie with the data obtained from the whole commu- nity of England and Wales, and over a period of 30 years, not a word more need be said of the care and thorough knowledge Heysham displayed of his subject. Carlisle, it may be supposed, offered a sanitary condition reflective of England at large. As a city of middle size — the population of its two parishes being five-sixths urban and one-sixth rural — its trading interests demanding a large proportion of operatives ; its crowded lanes, like larger towns, favouring the spread of epidemics, small-pox, fever ; and lastly, but probably first in significance, its large infantile population. These circum- stances conspired to make Carlisle a fair epitome of the borough and landed interest, quoad the general health of the kingdom. Though Dr. Heysham ceased to register all the details of the mortality in the way that had engaged him from 1779 to the end of 1787, he still watched the general results in the annual increase of the population, and the annual mortality of Carlisle. M2 RESULTS AND MEMORANDA. Thus Table X. shows the population of St. Mary's and St. Cuth- bert's in 1780, 1788/" and 1796; and Table XI. records the number of christenings and deaths in both parishes. Wishing to show the annual average mortality at different periods in Carlisle, commencing with the year 1779 and ending with 1 8 10, Table XII. was constructed. Thirty-five years are summed up in Table XIII. The many questions arising out of Dr. Heysham's Bills of Mortality, and subsequently his correspondence with Mr. Joshua Milne, are freely discussed in Mr. Milne's able treatise on Life Annuities. A few more memoranda may not be altogether unacceptable to the reader, seeing that they tend to illustrate Dr. Heysham's painstaking exertions, and characterise the circumstances that affected the rate of mortality towards the close of the last cen- tury, also the changes brought about by the discovery of Jenner, and the adoption of hygienic measures, and not less the applica- tion of more scientific methods in the treatment of disease. The accuracy of Dr. Heysham's observations compared with the Government returns is strikingly seen in the following Table, constructed from the seventeen years ending with 1796 : — * As before stated, the census was taken in December 1787 ; but as that of 1780 was taken in January of that year, it seemed the best approximation to make the census appear as taken in 1788. THE TRIUMPHS OF VACCINATION. 133 Baptisms. Burials. Males. Females. Both. Males. Females. Both. According to Dr. Hey- sham According to the Go- vernment Returns . 2298 1864 2l62 1772 4460 3 6 3 6 1829 1798 1994 I946 3823 3744 Omissions in the latter 434 39° 824 31 48 79 And in the thirty -one years ending with 18 10, the total number of burials in the two parishes of St. Mary's and St Cuth- bert's was — According to Dr. Heysham „ „ the Returns to Parliament Amount of deficiencies in the latter . 7654 7457 197 During Dr. Heysham's nine years' observations (1 779-1787), when inoculation prevailed, 241 persons died of smallpox ; and of these, 228 died under five years of age, eight persons between five and ten years, and only five persons above ten years of age. Vaccination was introduced in 1800, and twelve years elapsed before a single death occurred in Carlisle from smallpox. It may interest local readers to know that the population of Carlisle, its suburbs, and villages (St. Mary's and St. Cuthbert's parishes) was 1 1,094 m 1801, and that it increased up to 13,496 in 181 1. At the time of the survey in 18 11, the number of 134 RELATIVE PROPORTIONS OF FAMILIES. families engaged in agriculture was found to be 236, or in the proportion of 78 to 1000 ; the families employed in trade, manu- factures, or handicraft, were 2377, or 787 to 1000 ; "all others" not classified in the foregoing divisions, 409, or in the proportion of 135 to 1000 families. The annual average number of deaths occurring in Carlisle during the first ten years of the present century was 10 out of every 443 of the population ; and, if the deaths from smallpox be excepted, the mortality was exactly the same during the nine years ending with 1787. Owing to a great excess in the number of deaths in 1809, the average was raised. According to Mr. Milne, when smallpox and typhus fever pre- vailed, as in the nine years ending with 1787, there would die annually 1 in 40 of the population of Carlisle ; after the intro- duction of vaccination, 1 in 44 ; and, other circumstances being the same, with " little or no mortality from typhus fever, as in the first ten years of the nineteenth century," 1 in 46 of the population. Dr. Ilcysham's observations on the comparative mortality of different diseases were all the more valuable that, in the capacity of physician, he could correctly represent the facts, both from his own knowledge and from the reports of his medical friends. The sphere of his survey was so far limited, but this was more than counterbalanced by his perfect knowledge of the district and the MR. MILNE'S HIGH OPINION OF HEYSHAM. 135 people, their callings, and all other circumstances bearing upon the investigation. In his tabulation of the diseases, or specification of the causes of mortality, in noting the different seasons of the year of their occurrence, and in recording the respective numbers of the two sexes, Dr. Heysham shone above all his predecessors, and there- by rendered his work most acceptable and trustworthy. Mr. Milne remarked upon the high value of Dr. Heysham's statements, and their accuracy and minuteness, in part derivable from the moderate size of Carlisle, but mainly owing to the Doctor's zeal and per- sonal acquaintance with all the data, numerical and medical. Except the Swedish returns, Mr. Milne was of opinion that the documents from which the Carlisle Table of Mortality had been formed were " the only data derived from a fluctuating population that have yet been published (18 1 5), which furnish the means of forming an accurate table of mortality." APPENDIX. The Correspondence between Dr. Heysham and Mr. Joshua Milne, Actuary to the Sun Life Assurance Office, on the Car- lisle Bills of Mortality. Sun Life Assurance Office, London, \ith September 1812. To Dr. Heysham, Carlisle. Sir — Being engaged in inquiries relative to Human Mortality, and having met with your valuable Observations thereon, that were published at Carlisle in 1797, 1 have constructed a Table of Mortality from them, whereby it appears that the inhabitants of your city surpass in longevity those of any other place (so far as I am informed) for which a similar table has yet been constructed. There are, however, several desiderata, that you may possibly have it in your power to furnish me with, which would enable me to render that Table much more worthy of confidence than I have at present the means of making it. Under these circumstances, although I have not the honour of your acquaint- ance, your zeal in the cause of science and humanity, and the liberal and extended views that are unfolded in the little tract above referred to, have emboldened me to take this liberty, in availing myself of my brother's going to Carlisle, to request the favour of your furnishing me with such further informa- tion on the subject as it may be agreeable or convenient for you to communicate. As my brother neither understands the subject, nor takes much interest in it, it is necessary that I should write all I have to say ; I must therefore beg your indulgence while I make a few remarks upon the documents I am possessed of, and state some of the difficulties which I hope to overcome through your assist- ance. As the pamphlet above mentioned is stated to be an abridgment of your '38 APPENDIX. observations, I hope you may be able to refer my brother to printed information at greater length on the subject, which he will forward me, as I cannot expect you to take the trouble of writing at any great length : but that I may enable you to furnish me with such information as you may not have printed, with as little trouble as possible, I have kept my remarks and queries distinct, and having numbered each of them, have reserved a copy, so that answering them by their numbers you may not have occasion to repeat them. I can neither expect nor desire that you should go farther into the subject than your taste or your zeal may render agreeable to you ; but any information you may give, should it be ever so little, will be very thankfully received by, Sir, Your most obedient servant, Joshua Milne, Actuary to the Sun Life Office. Expectation of Life at Carlisle by the Table mentioned within. By the same Table it appears that out of the whole number born Age. Expectation. o 39.86 5 5I-23 10 48.68 15 44-73 20 41.23 25 37.60 30 34-03 35 30.84 40 27.44 45 24.18 50 21.03 55 17-63 60 14.29 65 11.66 70 9.05 75 6.90 80 5-42 85 4-43 90 3-i5 95 1-94 100 •5o One of, 2 3 4 10 5000 Attains the Age of 43 y^rs. 63 >. 69 >. 79 » 100 ,, The Table was constructed from the enumerations of 17S0 and 1787, given in Dr. Ileysham's 3d Table, and from the Mortality given in the Doctor's 5th and 6th Tables, that took plaee from the commencement of 17S0 to the end of 1787, that of 1779 not being included. P.S. — 1 should also be much obliged to Dr. II. for his permission to publish such parts of his Tables, or otli' 1 information he maj be pleased to afford mc, APPENDIX. rjg as may give the proper degree of authenticity to such documents, and without which no deductions from them could have any just title to the confidence of the public. REMARKS. i. The statements of the number of annual deaths at every age under 20 years are as satisfactory as I could desire ; but the number of the still-born is not mentioned. 2. The number of annual christenings brought to account must always be expected to fall short, more or less, of the real number of annual births. The christenings of Dissenters are expressly stated to be included ; but Quakers do not baptize, and there are probably few years or none, in which some children do not die before baptism. I am informed that many poor Irish have settled in Carlisle of late years, much the greater part of whom are, I suppose, Roman Catholics : and it is said that some amongst the indigent classes neglect the rite of baptism altogether, to save the fees. 3. Calculating from the given number of annual christenings, and that of the annual deaths at every age under 5 years, I make the number of the living under that age, about one-tenth part less than it was found to be, by the enumerations of 1780 and 1787. 4. The whole number of the living under 5 years is given, without any specification of the number living in each particular year of age included in that interval. 5. The numbers, as well of the living, as of the annual deaths after 20 years of age, are only given for each interval of ten years, although it is very desir- able that they could be obtained for each interval of five. 6. There is also given a statement of the number of the inhabitants in 1796, but the ages are not attended to, neither were they in the Surveys of 1801 and 181 1 by order of Government ; but, on some one or more of these occasions, probably Dr. Heysham, or some other gentleman distinguished by the same curiosity and intelligence, may have taken care that the numbers of the living at the different ages should be ascertained, as in the Surveys of 1780 and 1787, or still more minutely ; and the information so obtained would not only be applicable to the most important purposes, but would very much enhance the value of what had been previously published. 140 APPENDIX. QUERIES. i. May there not have been births of Quakers, Roman Catholics, or others, which are not entered amongst the christenings in Table 8, although the deaths of some of them (under 5) may be entered in Table 5 ; and if so, what may probably be the proportion of these to the whole number of births ? 2. May not some of those who migrate into the place in quest of employ- ment, bring children with them under 5, whereby both the number of the deaths, and of the living under that age, may be increased without a corre- sponding increase of the births ; and what proportion may the number of children so brought in, probably bear to the whole number in the place of that age? If this and the last Query could be answered with tolerable precision, the difference noticed in the 3d remark might be accounted for, and reduced to little or nothing ; then the remarkably small mortality amongst infants in Carlisle might be firmly established. 3. In Table 3, of the number of inhabitants of different ages, the sexes are not distinguished, which is much to be regretted, as we are thereby deprived of the very interesting and curious truths which might otherwise have been deduced from that distinction in the tables of the number dying annually at each age, and of each sex. Can I be favoured with the numbers of the living thus distributed? 4. In the 10th page of the pamphlet we are informed that Dr. Heysham's tables of the numbers dying of different diseases at each age, are omitted, as wholly appertaining to medical subjects ; but I should set great value upon them. Could I be favoured with a copy ? Possibly, too, the number of the still-born may there be noticed. 5. If the living at each age were determined according to the 6th Remark, the deaths at all ages from 1787 till the time of such enumeration would be wanted. Can they be procured ? Carlisle, Nov. i, 181 2. Dear Sir — Your brother delivered to me your obliging favour on the 26th of September, and as I presume he will have by this time arrived in London, and put into your hands the volume of observations on the Bills of Mortality, etc, I take the liberty of informing you, you have my full permission to make what use of them you may think proper, and I shall now with pleasure com- APPENDIX. 141 municate to you all the information in my power with reference to your remarks and queries. Remark 1st. As the still-born were never entered in the register of deaths, I did not deem it necessary to notice them, and indeed, it would have been difficult to have obtained an accurate account of them. 2d. After the three first years (1 779-1 782) I think the number of christenings will be nearly correct, and will fall very little short of the number of living births, as I made it my business to gain the best information on the subject from every species of Dissenters. Although the Quakers do not baptize, they keep a regular register of births, which is annually transmitted from the different preaching houses in the country to the general meeting in London. With respect to the Established Church, I prevailed on our clergy to register all the private baptisms, which had not been the case before, and at that period we had scarcely one Roman Catholic family in the place. It is since that period that the great influx of the lower ranks of Irish Catholics has taken place. 4th and 5th. The information required in these remarks cannot, I am sorry, be obtained. 6th. The same difficulty occurs here. The Survey of 1796 was made by the editors of the History of Cumberland, and was, I believe, partly correct as to numbers, but no notice was taken of ages. The Survey of 1801, I have reason to think, was made in a slovenly manner ; that of 181 1 is tolerably accurate ; you will find it pasted on the inside of the back of the observations. Query 1. This is answered in a great measure by what I have observed on remark 2d. 2. There can be no doubt that, between 1779 and 1787, some few parents would bring with them into Carlisle children under 5 years of age ; and, on the contrary, others would take children of the same age away with them, but what were the exact respective numbers of each at this distance of time cannot be ascertained ; it may, however, be observed that the migration into, and emigra- tion, was not very considerable during this period. 3. I am sorry I neglected to distinguish the ages of the different sexes. 4. You will find the Table of deaths and diseases of persons of different ages in the book I sent by your Brother, for every year except 1780, which, on examination, I found is wanting, and for that table I have made the most diligent search, but in vain. 5. The information required cannot be procured. You will observe, by examining the Table of deaths and diseases of persons of different ages, that, in 8 years, 238 children, chiefly under 5 years of age, 1 42 APPENDIX. fell victims to the smallpox ; whether any died of that complaint in 1780 I can- not tell from the want of the table of that year,* but I am of opinion there would be few, if any, as the smallpox had raged so generally and dreadfully the year before. It may, therefore, be of importance to you to be informed that, since 1800, when the practice of vaccination was introduced into Carlisle, I have reason to believe not one person has died of the smallpox. The mor- tality, therefore, of infants for the last 11 or 12 years, will be much less than it was during the period of 9 years — namely, from 1779 to 1787. As I have no copy of what I sent you, I beg you will send it by some convenient opportunity, and I remain, dear Sir, Your much obliged humble servant, John Heysham. Sun Life Office, London, \Uh November 18 12. Dear Sir — I received in due course your very obliging favour of the 1st inst, and have been much gratified by the kind and handsome manner in which you received my application, and by the particular attention you paid to each of the inquiries 1 troubled you with. I also received (through my brother) your valuable volume of observations ; after all the pains you had taken in collecting those for 1780, it is much to be regretted that the Table for that year should have been lost ; those, however, that have been preserved are much more complete and valuable than anything of the kind that I am acquainted with. I have composed a Tabic from them, exhibiting the aggregate results at one view, and beg leave to hand it you herewith ; in order to bring it into a con- venient size, you will observe that I have added a supplemental Table of the diseases whereof not more than one died. I have taken the numbers of the genera from the edition of the Synopsis Nosologies Methodica of Dr. Cullen, that was published at Edinburgh in 1S03, being, I believe, the last, and have included the pleuritic cases with the three of Peripneumony that occurred in 1782, all under the same genus Pneumonias these, I think, are the only liberties that I have taken, and I beg you would have the goodness to correct any error I may have fallen into in so doing, ami * The Table of 17S0 was afterwards found, and showed only ;> deaths from smallpox. APPENDIX. 143 inform me of it, if you do not intend to publish the Table yourself, as in that case I would rather avail myself of your permission to do so, than suffer it to be lost to the public. I have the " Abstracts of the Answers and Returns made pursuant to the Population Acts of 1801 and 181 1 " that were printed by order of the House of Commons, but unfortunately the ages were not taken. I am happy to hear of the complete success that has attended the practice of vaccination at Carlisle. It is quite obvious that the mortality amongst children must have been entirely changed since the introduction of that practice. You will also receive herewith the volume of observations, which I hope you will not find injured by the use I have made of it, and I shall be happy to hear of its arrival in a state that was satisfactory to you. As soon as the work I am engaged upon is printed, I shall have the pleasure of sending you a copy, which, however, will not, I fear, be for many months yet. — I am, yours, etc. Joshua Milne. The letter from Dr. Heysham of January 7, 18 13, to Mr. Milne has been lost. Sun Life Office, London, l$th January 18 13. To Dr. Heysham. Dear Sir — I duly received your esteemed favour of the 7th instant. Al- though, after the trouble that the Table of Diseases for 1780 must have cost you, it certainly is a pity it should be lost, I do not consider that that cir- cumstance lessens in any material degree the value of those that remain ; as the general mortality of that year appears from your other statements to have been almost exactly the common average. What in my opinion renders your Tables of Diseases peculiarly valuable, is their being continued for so many years, and the diseases having been ascer- tained by yourself, and those medical friends whom you induced to furnish you with the requisite information. I beg you would accept my best thanks for the trouble you have taken in examining the Table I compiled from yours, and for your authority to publish it. I have been rather surprised at your expression of astonishment at finding how few there are now living of the gentlemen to whom you had presented these Tables annually, as they were published, about 30 years ago ; since your 144 APPENDIX. tables of the number of annual deaths at every age afford the most indubitable proofs of a singularly small mortality amongst the general mass of the inhabit- ants of Carlisle. You may perhaps indeed only mean that, as you have not been in the habit of keeping any register of the number of your departed friends, you had no idea before how much you had been favoured yourself in surviving so many of them. But, to facilitate to you the determination of the question whether or no the mortality has been greater amongst your friends than the general mass of the population of the same ages in and about your city are subject to, I insert this little Table : Out of ioo living in Carlisle at the age of The number that survive 30 years is . Being then aged respectively 30 35 40 45 5o 55 60 65 64 56 47 35 21 1 1 4 1 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 If the respectable gentlemen you mention have gone more quickly off the stage, you will probably think with me, that inactivity and repletion may have accelerated their course in comparison with that of their poor neighbours. I acknowledge that it is altogether unreasonable in me to give you further trouble after what you have already had. But if you should take sufficient interest in the question yourself, you would oblige me by informing me at your leisure, how you consider the industrious classes of the people in and about Carlisle, and especially the labouring poor, to have been circumstanced, as to the facility of obtaining a subsistence, during the nine years in which your observations were made, in comparison with their general circumstances for the whole time within your memory or knowledge. The general rate of mortality that results from your observations, corre- sponds very exactly with that which, in my opinion, maybe legitimately deduced from the enumeration of the people, and the extracts from the parish registers throughout England and Wales, that were printed by order of Parliament in 1802 and 181 2 ; but it is considerably less than that of any town in Britain wherein such observations have hitherto been made, or than the general mortality of any foreign country except North America, where the incessantly increasing demand for labour has greatly meliorated the condition of the people. As the number of persons in the class above referred to is incomparably greater than in those above them, the general results of such tables must always depend principally upon them, and therefore a continually increasing demand for labour for a certain period, might keep the rate of mortality during its continuance APPENDIX. 145 materially below the level at which it might have stood, both before that encouragement had been held out, and after it was withdrawn. Thus it is obvious that, if the period intervening between the years 1778 and 1788 should have accidentally been one of great prosperity and increasing opu- lence in Carlisle, it might be very unsafe to draw any conclusions as to future events from Tables depending upon such accidental data. I have not the least reason to # think that has been the case, but both on account of your judgment and your accurate local knowledge, your sentiments on the subject would be highly esteemed by, dear Sir, yours, etc. Joshua Milne. Carlisle, February 6, 1813. My dear Sir — You will recollect that my Observations were published during a period of war, and in that respect similar to the present times ; but perhaps you may not recollect that during the American war the price of all the necessaries of life was extremely different from what it has generally been during the present war. But if at that time food was cheap, wages were also low, and I think that the labouring classes have lived better during the last fifteen years (the years of scarcity excepted) than from 1778 to 1788, and I am also of opinion that the mortality of late has been diminished. In my former communication I have stated the difference with respect to the smallpox among children, and I have now to inform you that, for the last fifteen years, we have had, notwithstanding the great increase of population, very few cases of typhus, a disease, as you will see by examining the Tables, in a great measure fatal to adults. No less than 119 died of that disease during the nine years. This number I have been able to ascertain, though the Table for 1780 is lost, having noticed in the body of the Observations that three died of that disease in that year. There- fore, taking it for granted that the mortality from all the other disorders remains nearly the same, it is evident the general mortality must be diminished from the absence of these two fatal complaints, the first chiefly to children and the second to adults. In order, however, to enable you to judge of our present situation, it occurred to me, upon the receipt of your last favour, that you might derive benefit from a statement of the Bills of Mortality for the year 1812. I have selected 1812 in preference to 181 1, when the last survey took place, because that year was peculiarly healthy, no epidemic of any kind having appeared ; whereas, I apprehend 1812 may be esteemed a pretty fair average year (notwithstanding the very high price of provisions), two epidemic diseases having prevailed — namely, the measles and the hooping-cough. The measles commenced in the latter end of June or beginning of July, and as that disorder L 146 APPENDIX. had not visited Carlisle for several years, there were a large number of children liable to infection. The disease was consequently very general ; I conceive upwards of iooo were affected. The epidemic, however, was extremely mild, and considering the number affected few died. Before I offer any observations on the christenings and burials, I will give you a comparative statement of the deaths in the parish of St. Cuthbert in the last two years. In 1811 the deaths were only 97 ; in 1812 they amounted to 151. Before the returns of the survey of 181 1 were transmitted to the proper office in London, I examined them with great care, and found the population of the two parishes of St. Cuthbert and St. Mary, Carlisle, to be 13,495. I deemed it, however, prudent to delay writing to you till I had an opportunity of com- paring my account with the account published by Government ; and as our clerk of the peace, to whom the work was transmitted, does not reside in Carlisle, I did not receive it till within these few days. On examination, I found a differ- ence of one, which difference occurs at Harraby, where I make the inhabitants 57, the printed work makes them 58 ; this error has either arose from the enumeration or the press. As you are no doubt in possession of the work, by referring to page 49, letters (1) and (m), and to page 54 summary, city of Carlisle, you will find the population to be 13,496, I shall therefore take them at that number. In 181 2, the 55th Regiment of Foot and a troop of the 2d Dragoon Guards were stationed at Carlisle, amounting to 300 men, and some of these men had wives and families ; but as both regiments have lately been removed, it is impossible to ascertain the exact number of wives and children, and as it will be perhaps best to err on the safe side, I shall consider the population at j 3j796- The burials are accurate, but I apprehend the christenings will fall considerably short of the births. The minister of one of the Dissenting congre- gations was taken ill early on and died before the conclusion of the year, and no successor has yet been appointed. We have also a small number of Ana- baptists, who, I understand, do not baptize children. With respect to the Established Church, although there are no fees paid for christening, yet here, as in most other places, the parents give an entertainment to their friends on the occasion ; many, I understand, delayed the ceremony last year on account of the distressed state of the times. - Of the number of christenings 3 were Quakers,* 15 were Presbyterians, and I were Catholics — total 66. hi. Hey ham musl have meant three births among the Quaker body, as Ouakers do not baptize. APPENDIX. i47 The following statements regarding the Births and Burials in Carlisle were sent to Mr. Milne on the 6th February 1813 : — Males Females. Total. Baptisms — Saint Mary's 123 I05 228 Saint Cuthbert's 89 99 I°S Wreay Chapel . 5 5 IO Births among Quakers 2 1 3 Baptisms — Roman Catholics 25 23 48 Presbyterians and others 8 7 l S 2C2 240 492 Burials — Saint Mary's 8l 101 1S2 Saint Cuthbert's . . 76 75 151 Wreay Chapel . I 1 Quakers • 2 2 4 160 178 338 Excess of Births over Burials - • 154 ] Vtales. Females Total. Deaths in 1812 160 1 7S 333 Christenings in 1812 . 252 24O 492 Deaths in St. Cuthbert's . . 151 Deaths in St. Mary's • • • 187 333 Should you require any further explanation you may command my services. — I remain, dear Sir, yours, etc. J. Heysham. Sun Life Office, 13^ Feb. 18 13. Dear Sir — I received in due course your obliging favour of the 6th inst., and beg leave to thank you in the kindest manner for the great and successful pains you have taken to satisfy the inquiries I troubled you with. I shall always consider myself to have been peculiarly fortunate in having procured the assistance of a gentleman whose zeal disposes him, no less than his abilities qualify him, to render it of the most effectual kind. I am in posses- sion of all that has been printed by order of Parliament on the population of the kingdom, and the numbers of annual baptisms, burials, etc., for the last century. i 4 8 APPENDIX. I did not fail to compare those for Carlisle with your valuable Tables, and had the satisfaction to find that your numbers were always the greatest, consequently your omissions (if any) the least ; in the number of burials the difference is generally small, but in the baptisms almost always considerable. I have also compared the statement of the population in your last favour with the parts of the last published " Abstract, etc.," which you referred me to, and find it perfectly correct. I am particularly obliged to you for the baptisms and burials of the last year, and am much gratified to find the mortality so small, even in a year of hardship and scarcity that succeeded several of prosperity and plenty. Drs. Haygarth and Percival, many years ago, began to remark a gradual diminution in the general mortality, as may be seen in their excellent papers in the Philosophical Transactions j Dr. W. Heberden, in his tract on the Increase and Decrease of Diseases, showed that it still continued to decrease, not only here, but in the principal cities of Europe, though more slowly ; and there is, I think, every reason to expect that, as the arts and manufactures approach per- fection, and a taste for their productions diffuses itself lower and lower amongst the industrious classes, the ravages of putrid and pestilential diseases will diminish. But while such nests of poverty, wretchedness, and pestilence, still exist in crowded cities, as that wherein you state the jail-fever of Carlisle to have been engendered, in your valuable and interesting tract on that subject, and which the late and much to be lamented Dr. Willan, in his work on the Diseases of London, shows to be still but too common in this metropolis, the general mor- tality in great towns must, I fear, continue to be much higher than in your favoured city. 1 beg pardon both for the haste and carelessness wherewith I write to you, and for the digression I have insensibly wandered into. It remains only that I thank you for your obliging offer to continue your valuable communications in case I find myself under the necessity of troubling you again ; and I remain, dear Sir, Your much obliged, etc., Jos. iMlLNE. Sun Life Office, 3 \st December 1813. Dear Sir — In consequence of your obliging offer to give me any further in- formation I might want, I trouble you once more. You no doubt think me slow ; but I have not been idle. I have experienced considerable difficulty in getting the algebraical part of the work 1 have in hand APPENDIX. i j«i printed to my mind ; it is now, however, about half finished, and I hope to publish early in the spring. I am just now entering upon the popular part, where I have occasion to show upon what authorities the Tables depend, and to compare the mortality at Carlisle with that which the late returns to Government from all parts of England and Wales exhibit. It will be useful, too, to compare the present mortality at Carlisle with that which prevailed during the time of your observations. This, I think, will be best done by taking the annual average number of deaths during the five years, whereof 1811 was the middle one, and comparing that with the number 13,796, which (including the military, with their wives and children) you consider to have been the actual population in 181 1. No safe inference can be drawn from the mortality of a single year ; but if you consider the addition of 300 for the military to raise the population too high, for the average of these Jive years, I have to beg you would be kind enough to say what number you consider to approach nearer the truth. The part of the requisite information which I already have I insert here, that you may correct it if you find it necessary ; and hope you will be able, without much trouble, to supply the number of deaths in 181 1 and 1813. Deaths of Births. Authorities. 1809 Males. Females. 155 2IO 365 ) Returns to Go- 1810 147 I48 295 j vernment. 1S11 127 132 259 * 1812 160 178 33* Your favour of 6th Feb. last. 1813 188 189 3 77 * If the distinction of the sexes be attended with any trouble whatever, pray omit it, and I am not much concerned about the christenings. To a work just published by Dr. Watt of Glasgow, on " The History of Nature and Treatment of Chincough," there is subjoined, "An Inquiry into the * The information asked for by Mr. Milne for the years 181 1 and 1813, I have taken the liberty of inserting along with the other returns ; it is contained in Dr. Heysham's letter of January 23, 1814. ISO APPENDIX. Relative Mortality of the principal Diseases of Children, and the number who have died under ten years of age in Glasgow during the last thirty years," by which it appears that smallpox still occasions some mortality there, and that the mortality from measles has increased almost as much as that from smallpox has diminished. The work, I think, cannot fail to interest you, and lest you should not at present possess it, I beg leave to hand you an extract which contains what is most material with regard to the changes that have taken place in the relative mortality of the diseases of children. Pray favour me with your senti- ments on the prevalence and the fatality of measles, or any other diseases which may have appeared to increase, either in the degree of their mortality, or the frequency of their occurrence, since the introduction of vaccination. I hope, too, to hear none have died of the smallpox in 1813. From your information respecting hooping-cough and measles in your favour of February last, I have little doubt but that your case in Carlisle has not been similar to theirs in Glasgow. In the work I am employed upon I shall have occasion to notice some of the results of inquiries which have been made, in Sweden, into the relative mortality of different diseases, where registers have been kept of the numbers that have died of each disease throughout the whole kingdom (consisting of a population of three millions) for more than 20 years. I find that the remittent Fever of Infants, which they express by the single word Alta, makes a conspicuous figure. You have probably seen a pamphlet published by the late Dr. Putter, on this disease, in 1782 (2d edition in 1806) ; and Mr.Coley, a surgeon at Bridgenorth, has just published a work on the same subject. Pray inform me if what you have called, and has been generally called, worm-fever, be not the same, and whether you would wish me to call it the znfanti'/e remittent fever in what you have authorised me to print. Uniformity of nomenclature and classification, certainly, is very desirable in such Tables, which otherwise lose half their value, from the difficulty of comparing them with each other. By forwarding such information as it may be convenient for you to collect, or to communicate at the earliest opportunity, will yet further oblige, Dear Sir, yours already obliged, etc., Jos. Milne. 23d January 18 14. Dear Sir 1 re< eivi d your favour of the 31st of December, and, with pleasure, APPENDIX. 151 communicate every information in my power, and am glad to find your work will be published in the course of this season. With respect to any increase in the mortality of measles, I have not observed it here any further than, in consequence of no deaths from smallpox, a greater number of children will be liable to be infected with that disease when it prevails, than would have been the case had a considerable number of them been carried off by smallpox. So far with respect to the facts, and in what manner vaccina- tion can predispose the bodies of children to be more severely affected by measles I do not pretend to know. From the extract you have enclosed, I find the measles have been epidemic every year from 1807 to 181 2 in Glasgow — namely, 6 years. Such is not the case either in Carlisle or in the county of Cumberland, the disorder generally only appearing about every 4, 5, or 6 years. The scarlet fever, certainly, occurs more frequently of late than was formerly the case, but then it does not spread so extensively, and, I apprehend, taking into consideration the difference of population, it is not more fatal than it was during the period I published the Observations. I have not had an opportunity of seeing the works you allude to on the subject of infantile diseases, but am disposed to believe that worms (the tape excepted) are not attended with very fatal consequences ; when, however, they exist in the intestines, some are generally expelled in almost all febrile diseases, and hence they have, by the vulgar, been considered as the cause. I therefore see no objection to your altering the designation. In the beginning of September last a poor woman from Scotland, with her child just recovered from the smallpox, came to a lodging-house in one of our suburbs, and communicated the infection to some children residing under the same roof ; from these, others in the neighbourhood caught the disorder, to the number of 12 or 14— of them two died. By having recourse to vaccination, the progress of the disease was soon checked — no one case having occurred since the beginning of December. These two are the only deaths from smallpox in Carlisle since vaccination was introduced. Subjoined you will find an accurate account of the deaths in 1809, 1810, 181 1, and 1813 ; the numbers do not agree with the Government returns, which, I apprehend, you will seldom find correct, even with respect to burials, and still seldomer with respect to christen- ings. The difference here, I apprehend, arises from the burials of Quakers having been omitted. It is somewhat unfortunate that during this period, con- siderable fluctuations have taken place in the population of Carlisle. I am perfectly satisfied our population was the greatest in the year 1809, and until the month of September 18 10. During that month a sudden and almost total 152 APPENDIX. suppression of the manufactures of this city took place ; in consequence a very- great number of families were thrown out of employment, which occasioned a considerable emigration. I am of opinion no less than iooo inhabitants left Carlisle between the ist of October 1809 and the latter end of March 181 1 ; however, to be on the safe side, I would advise you to take them at 600. The survey ordered by Government was made in April 181 1, when the emigration had ceased, and I conceived the population remained nearly stationary from that period to the latter end of 1812, when, from the patriotism and valour of the Russians, trade and manufactures began to move, and are now in full vigour ; and I think you may safely take the increase in 1813 at 500. In 1809, 1810, and 181 1 we had full 100 soldiers, which will make 700 in the two first years to be added to the population of 181 1, and 100 to that year. The 74th Regiment succeeded the 55th Regiment, which, with detachments and recruiting parties, made the Garrison full 300, independent of soldiers' wives and families, during the last year. I therefore consider the population of Carlisle for the last five years to be as follows, — namely, in 1809. Resident Inhabitants 14,096 Soldiers •> 100 14,196 1 8 10. Resident Inhabitants 14,096 Soldiers 100 14,196 181 1. Resident Inhabitants - ... 13,496 Soldiers 100 13,596 18 1 2. Resident Inhabitants - - - 13,496 Soldiers 300 '3,796 APPENDIX. iS3 1 8 13. Resident Inhabitants - - - I 3>996 Soldiers ... - 300 14,296 Now, as the emigration took place in the last three months of 18 10 and the first three months of 181 1, some calculation will be required, and, as you are a much better calculator than I am, I leave that point for you to settle. I also think it proper to remark that in burials three were the consequence of execu- tions, — namely, two in 1809, and one in 1813. BURIALS. Males. Females. Total. 1809 - 158 - 2l6 - 374 1810 - 148 - 155 - 303 1811 - 127 - I32 - 259 1812 - 160 - 178 - 338 1813 - 188 - 189 - 377 165 1 With kind wishes for the success of your work, I remain, dear Sir, yours, etc., John Heysham. Sun Life Office, 14th February 1814. Dear Sir — I beg leave to trespass once more upon your patience, in con- sequence of having (in Dr. Willan's work on Vaccination) met with an extract of a letter from you, dated 14th May 1806, wherein there is this passage : — " Since the introduction of vaccination into this city, the smallpox has occa- sionally occurred, but has never raged as an epidemic, and the mortality from that disease has been very inconsiderable, compared with what it used to be before the introduction of vaccination," which does not appear to agree exactly with the information you were so kind as to favour me with on the 1st Novem- ber 1 8 12 ; that, " since the introduction of vaccination in 1800, you had reason to' believe that not one person had died of the smallpox in Carlisle.'' Pro- bably you were led to this belief by inquiries subsequent to the date of the above extract from Dr. Willan ; I think it fortunate, however, that I have met with that extract, as, had I published the other statement without being aware of it, the apparent contradiction might have shaken the confidence of some persons in the other valuable documents which I owe to your zeal and intelligence. 1 54 APPENDIX. Although the sexes are not distinguished in your Tables of the Mortality from different diseases, yet that produced by such as are peculiar to females, may, I suppose, be extracted, and would be useful to me ; but I am under some un- certainty with regard to two of these. One person is reported to have died between 40 and 50, " of a discharge of blood ;" was that uterine haemorrhagy ? And five of cancer, between 70 and 80 ; can you inform me if any of these 5 cases were cancer of the breasts, or of the uterus ? . I have the satisfaction to inform you that, upon consulting the London bills for the last 14 years, I find that there is no such increase of the mortality from measles as that which Dr. Watt has found in the Glasgow bills. By favouring me, when convenient, with the desired information on these subjects, you will again do a grateful service to, dear Sir, yours, etc. Jos. Milne. [Dr. Heysham's reply dated 18th February, has been lost.] Sun Life Office, i\th February 1814. Dear Sir — I have now to acknowledge the receipt of your esteemed favour of the 1 8th instant, with information that is perfectly satisfactory as to the chief object of inquiry in my last ; the others (which indeed I knew it was not likely that you should be able to satisfy) are of very little importance to me. I am only sorry that you should have taken so much trouble, as Dr. Willan appears to have printed the whole of your letter, although in his work it' is only stated to be an extract from it. — I remain, dear Sir, yours, etc. Jos. Milne. Sun Life Office, March 22d, 1814. Dear Sir — In endeavouring to determine the rate of mortality at Carlisle, with the degree of accuracy which I doubt not but that you are desirous of as well as me, I find that there are still a few points on which my information is defective ; and, after the zeal you have already manifested in promoting the inquiry, I am satisfied that no apology is necessary for troubling you again. You know that according to the Act (51 G. III. cap. 6) directing the survey of 181 1, an answer to the following question was to be returned to government : " How many persons (etc.) arc there actually found in your parish or place, etc. exclusive of men actually serving in His Majesty s Regular Forces, in the Old Militia, or in any embodied Militia, and exclusive 0/ Seamen either in His Majesty's service, or belonging t<< Registered Vessels?" And the same de- APPENDIX. 155 scriptions of persons were directed to be excluded from the returns of 1S01. In the Population abstract, 30th is estimated to be the proper addition to the returned numbers, in order to obtain the whole population for England and Wales ; and for the Metropolis, they increased the returned number in each case by its twenty-fifth part. The returned population of your two parishes (omitting Middlesceugh and Braythwaite) was — in 1S01 . 11,060 ; and in 181 1 . 13,496.* The mean population (returnable according to the Act) was therefore, during these 10 years, 12,278 ; and if we increase this by s^th, namely 409, the true mean population will appear to have been 12,687. But I should think 30th too great an addition for Carlisle, and your accurate information will no doubt enable you to estimate the proper addition much more nearly. The great fluctuation in your population since October 18 10, prevents me from determining the rate of mortality by means of the annual deaths you favoured me with on the 23d January last, as I could have done had the number of the people either remained stationary or varied uniformly. I must therefore have recourse to the two enumerations in 1801 and 181 1, thence deter- mine the mean number of the living during the intervening 10 years, and divide it by the annual average number of deaths in the same period. Those for 1 809 and 1 8 10, you have already favoured me with, and it is very desirable that I should obtain the exact numbers for the first eight years of the ten ; for I find that the returns to government are not sufficiently accurate to answer my pur- pose ; the number of deaths in your two parishes in the 17 years ending with 1796, were, according to the Population Abstract — Males. 1798 but according to your tables they were . 1829 But as I do not know what trouble it might cost you to furnish me the numbers of deaths in 1801, 1802, 1803, 1804, 1805, 1806, 1807, and 1808, with the same accuracy as the information you have already favoured me with, I do not think it reasonable to ask it, but will leave it to your own determination, and shall be perfectly well satisfied with what you have already done, should you decline it. * " I will take care to increase this number by 600, according to your advice in your favour of the 23d January last." 1946 3744 1994 3823 156 APPENDIX. Although I know that no one else would perform the task so well as yourself, yet if you know any one that you can depend upon, and who will accept of a compensation for their trouble in furnishing this, or any other information of the kind, that you conceive may be useful to me, I shall be very happy to pay them on their own terms ; and shall be much obliged by your employing them accordingly. I believe that the mortality in moderate-sized towns like Carlisle, with flourishing manufactures, is much less in comparison with that of country parishes and villages than has generally been supposed ; and I have reason to believe that the law of mortality in your two parishes has, for the last thirty years, been very nearly the same as the average of the kingdom. But it is very desirable to determine this as nearly as possible. There are no adequate data for instituting a comparison at the time your Observations were madej but the late surveys afford the means of doing so, for the term of ten years that intervened between them : Provided only that, by means of the data I now trouble you about, we could determine what the rate of mortality really was in your two parishes during the same period. Then, by means of your Tables of the ravages of diseases, and your more recent information respecting vaccination and typhus fever ; it might be shown that, from 1779 to 1787, the mortality was the same, excepting so far as smallpox and typhus increased it. This would not only afford useful information to the public, but would establish the reputation of your valuable Observations, and contribute to that of the many Tables I have derived from them and am about to print. You inform me that, within the last fifteen years, very few cases of typhus have occurred ; can you form any estimate of the deaths it has produced in the same time or their annual average number ? Can you assign the reason of the disease having become less frequent ? By Sir F. M. Eden's " State of the Poor," I find you used to exclude all infectious diseases from the poor-house. Have you any separate fever wards or house of recovery, as they have at Chester, Manchester, Liverpool, London, etc. ? Your own tract on the Jail Fever, the writings of Dr. Haygarth, the collec- tion of papers published by Dr. Clark at Newcastle in 1802 (who, I see, con- sulted you), and the labours of many other eminent physicians, must, no doubt, have contributed greatly to improve the methods both of prevention and cure in such cases, and must thereby have sensibly reduced the general mortality of the kingdom. Dr. Jcnncr's first work on Vaccination was, you know, published in 1798, APPENDIX. '57 and the House of Recovery, in the metropolis, for the prevention and cure of infectious fevers, was opened in 1802. According to the Bills of Mortality, there died in the ten years ending with 1800, of In the ten years ending with 1813 Difference of the two equal periods ". Smallpox. Fevers of all kinds. Sum. 15,961 18,477 11,228 19,884 11,172 7>249 8,712 Before I close this long letter, allow me to state distinctly the queries I now trouble you with, and number them ; then, by answering me according to the numbers, you will be spared the trouble of transcribing the queries, as on a for- mer occasion. 1. At what number do you estimate the amount of omissions (according to the Act), in the return of the population of your two parishes in 1801 ? 2. And at what number in 181 1 ? 3. At what time of the year was the enumeration of 1801 made? 4. What was the true number of deaths in each of the eight years 1801 — 1808? 5. Probable number of deaths by typhus fever during the last sixteen years? 6. Reason of that disease having become less frequent ? 7. The population of your villages appears to have been 400 less in 181 1 than in 1780: has not this been occasioned by some of them having in the intermediate time been included in the suburbs, and so been returned as part of the city ? 8. Towards the end of your Observations you say the deaths by accidents were omitted in a few of the first years. Were not these omissions in the Tables of diseases only? Were not all the burials that took place in these years included in the other Tables of the deaths at different ages ? — I remain, dear Sir, yours, etc. Jos. MlLNE. P.S.— You will be pleased to observe, Sir, that according to the present method of instituting the inquiry, we shall have nothing to do with the soldiers (or others) who might be resident in Carlisle after the enumeration in April 181 1 ; and if the 100 military who were there in 1809 and 18 10, w^erc the only persons of that description who were there during the ten years, then we must add but twenty to the mean permanent population for them, as they were but 158 APPENDIX. one-fifth of the time in the place. The increase of deaths from them could there- fore be only one-fifth of what they would have been had they remained there till the ten years had expired. [Here a portion of the manuscript is destroyed ; then come the words " regular forces ;" two more words are wanting ; then fol- low " ten years, I must request you would have the goodness to give the duration of their continuance as near as you can."] The other persons omitted, according to the Act, would, I suppose, shift about much less. From the reluctance I felt at troubling you any further, I had prepared this part of my work for the press ; but having at last resolved upon this step, I shall suspend it until I am favoured with your answer, and then do that part of it over again. [Dr. Heysham's letter of 29th March is wanting.] Carlisle, April 1, 18 14. Dear Sir — Having half-an-hour's time to spare, I inform you that I have consulted my medical friends respecting Query 5, and we agree in opinion that the average number of deaths from typhus during that period will scarcely amount to one each year. Q. 6. On this subject I cannot satisfy my own mind ; we must therefore rest satisfied with the fact. The people in general certainly pay more attention to cleanliness, and upon the whole live better than they did ; yet during the period of sixteen or seventeen years we have had several years of scarcity, and some of great distress from want of employment. Q. 7. You have here, I apprehend, made a complete mistake. In 1780 there were in the villages only 1378 persons, whereas, in 181 1 there were 1850 ; though Newtown, the population of which was in 17S0, 92, was, in the Survey of 181 1, united with Caklcw-gatc, one of the suburbs. When on this subject, it may be necessary to state that, in my Survey, the population of Newtown and Morton Head, comprehending Newby, was distinct, but the two Blackhills, or /Hack Halls — namely, high and low — were united. Whereas, in the Survey 181 1, New Town was united with Caklcw-gatc ; Morton //cat/, comprehending Newby, was united with Cummcrsdalc, and the two Blackhills, or Black Halls, were separated. 8. The deaths from accidents were always included in the number of burials, and were inserted in the Tables, but were excluded in my calculations to asccr- 1 : 1 i 1 1 Up' comparative mortality of different ages, etc., till 1785. In 1780, for APPENDIX. 159 instance, I have stated that 1 in 34^ nearly, of all the inhabitants have died this year in consequence of diseases, and under 5 years old, 1 in 9 and 9-uths nearly ; between 5 and 10, 1 in 565, etc. 1785. — During this year 1 in 37 and i-7th, nearly, of all the inhabitants', 'have died* and under 5 years old 1 in 10 and 2-3ds nearly ; between 5 and 10, 1 in 151 and i-3d. Almost immediately after I wrote to you in January, a woman with a child in the smallpox, after begging in various parts of Carlisle, came to my house to get a pass. I ordered her to leave the town without delay. She had, however, com- municated the infection, and the smallpox soon after reappeared ; many, how- ever, have not been affected, and none have yet died ; but unfortunately a boy, aged 9 years, who was vaccinated in October 1805 by one of our most intelligent and attentive surgeons, is now labouring under the confluent smallpox. You are no doubt acquainted with several members of Parliament ; I therefore request you will authorise me to enclose my future letters to some one or more of them ; till then I remain, dear Sir, yours, etc., J. HEYSHAM. Sun Life Office, id April 1S14. Dear Sir — I feel much obliged by your kind note of the 29th ult., the more especially as it shows that you sympathise with me in the solicitude with which I look for your aid ; I have myself to blame for not looking more minutely into those parts of the subject before I came actually to reduce the materials into order, and apply them to use : however, I cannot but acquiesce, both cheerfully and thankfully, in the very reasonable delay which your much more important avocations render necessary ; and the great object is to have the thing done well rather than hastily. When I troubled you on the 22d March, I had not your Observations at hand, but I recollected that the doubt expressed in my 8th query had some time before occurred to me, and I had deferred inquiring particularly into it ; how- ever, in a few hours after I had despatched that letter I satisfied myself that the omission of the deaths by accidents, mentioned at the head of the 10th page of the abridgment of your observations, took place only in calculating the number for your 7 th Table. Upon referring to my own papers, indeed, I find that in reducing all your valuable Tables of diseases into one, I had compared the totals of the deaths in * Deaths by accidents are included in the calculation this year, which have hitherto been omitted. 160 APPENDIX. every interval of age with those in your 5th and 6th Tables, after deducting the deaths in 1780, and find them to agree exactly. The 4th question put to the Clergymen of England, under the Act 41 G. III. cap. 15, demanded the number of baptisms and burials, both of males and females, for each year, only from 1780, inclusive, downwards. You have already printed the numbers, according to your accurate researches, to 1796 ; those I particularly want, and which I troubled you about in my last letter, would carry these down to the end of the year 18 10, that is as far as the Government returns yet go, provided that those for the years 1797, 1798, 1799, and 1800 were also supplied. Those four years, however, are not essential to my purpose, and I leave it entirely to you to do what you think best ; after observing that it is my intention to print your numbers along with those returned to Government, by which the greater accuracy of yours will be made manifest, and the means will be afforded of estimating the probable amount of the omissions in the Govern- ment returns generally, so far as two parishes only can furnish these means. We should then be enabled to determine the rate of mortality in each of the four intervals, 1780-1787, 1787-96, 1796-1801, and 1801-1810; between the five enumerations, from the beginning of 1780 down to the end of 1810. I also purpose reprinting most of your observations very nearly as they stand in the abridgment, in order to give the fullest and clearest information I can, respecting the population of Carlisle, during the time in which your observations were made, and shall therefore be happy to receive any instruc- tions you may favour me with, either as to alterations or additions, and remain, Sir, yours, etc. Jos. Milne. Sun Life Office, \th April 1814. Dear Sir — As I could not find a member in town on Saturday, 1 had de- layed the enclosed for a " frank," which indeed I am not yet certain that I shall obtain to-day, but they shall both go with the first I can get. This morning I am favoured with yours of the 1st instant, still I had rather let mine of the 2d go, as it will explain how I came to give you unnecessary trouble. I beg you to accept of my best thanks for your last information respecting smallpox and vaccination, as well as your answers to my 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th queries. On the subject of smallpox, I have the pleasure to remark to you, that by having menti <1 in your Observations (Abridgment, p. 9) that 90 died of that APPENDIX. 161 disease in 1779, and only 151 in the eight succeeding years, it follows that 241 died of it in the whole period of nine years, but in the eight for which your Tables of diseases are preserved, its victims were 238 ; therefore in the year 1780, for which the table is lost, only 3 must have died of it. [This surmise of Mr. Milne's was correct. — H. L.] In consulting the Population Abstracts of 1801 and 181 1, I was a little puzzled, not only by the differences you have been kind enough to explain, but by some of what were termed villages, in your survey of 1780, and kept separate both from the city and suburbs, being included in the city of Carlisle in the returns to government (as printed). Thus, Botcherby, Cummersdale, and Brisco, with others, are all enumerated under the head City of Carlisle j they are indeed called townships, but so are Castle Street, English Street, Fisher Street, etc. called, and it does not appear by these printed statements whether these streets, or the places above mentioned, are the most centrical with regard to the city. To explain myself fully, I beg leave to state the population of your two parishes (excepting Middlesceugh and Braithwaite) ; the sexes need not be dis- tinguished. ISII. tflackwell, High 253 Blackwell, Low 149 Carleton .... 173 Harraby .... . . . 58 Upperby .... 228 Wreay 104 Thus there would appear to be only ...... 965 In the villages, and in the city of Carlisle, there are stated to be . 12,531 i3>496 I beg that you would take no further trouble about this part of the subject ; my principal reason for putting the query was with a view to the difference between the proportion of males to females, in the city and suburbs, and in the neighbouring villages. I should value your communications low indeed if I could consider them expensive, whatever weight you might send me by post under one cover, without any privilege ; but if you will have the goodness to address them to John Irving, Esq., M.P., London, with J. M. under the seal, they will reach me in safety. — I remain, dear Sir, yours, etc. JOS. Milne. M 1 62 APPENDIX. Carlisle, April ioth, 1814. Dear Sir — I was favoured with yours of the 2d and 4th instant, the day before yesterday, and now enclose the register of the burials for the year 1801 to 1 80S, which you may depend on being perfectly correct, and which will answer your 4th query. The enclosed surveys of 1780 and 181 1 will throw light upon the observations I made in my last letter on your 8th query, as they will give you a clear view of that subject. In a former letter I stated that the survey of 18 11 was made in April of that year, which was only partly the case, as a considerable part of St. Cuthbert's was not finished till 27th of May, when the emigration had nearly ceased, and when the population was about the least. I am happy to inform you that Master Hodgson, who was affected with conflu- ent smallpox, after being vaccinated, is perfectly recovered ; and it is somewhat remarkable that I was called on the 2d of this month, the day after I wrote to you, to visit a patient, the son of one of my own tenants, John Hewson, who was 16 years old on the 26th of February last, and who was in the smallpox, and was at the height on Thursday the 7th. The pustules were large and numerous, though not confluent. This boy was inoculated at Wigton (by Mr. Bell, who is now dead, but who was a very good and attentive surgeon, whom I was well ac- quainted with, as he was a considerable time under me as surgeon and apothe- cary to our Dispensary) when he was a month old, which, however, did not succeed. The inoculation was repeated exactly a month after, and at the usual time both arms inflamed, and he was affected with the usual symptoms attend- ing the eruptive fever, afterwards with eruptions, which, though not very numerous, were defined all over his body and limbs, and the pustules were full as long as those he is now affected with, and from which Mr. Bell took matter to inoculate other patients. Thus at the same time we have had two patients in the natural smallpox, one after vaccination, and the other after inoculation. I will endeavour to procure the burials for the years 1797, 1798, 1799, and 1800, as soon as possible, and will also transmit you the best information in my power respecting queries 1, 2, and 3. — Yours, etc. J. Heysham. APPENDIX. 163 AN ACCOUNT OF THE BURIALS IN THE PARISHES OF (Years. ) St. Mary. St. Cuthbert. Chapel. ! Q-k«M Total. 1797 1798 1799 1800 176 107 102 180 103 85 68 136 3 1 1 2 2 5 2 284 195 176 318 4 years 565 392 5 11 973 1801 1802 1803 1804 134 142 139 170 94 101 97 109 i 1 1 2 7 1 4 6 236 245 241 287 4 years 585 401 5 18 1009 1S05 1806 1807 1S08 137 173 191 196 68 1 12 145 116 5 4 3 8 6 5 208 298 345 321 4 years 697 441 12 22 1172 First 8 years 115° 793 10 29 1982 Second 8 years 1282 842 17 40 2181 [In a future part of the correspondence, apparently, the following memo- randa had been sent to Mr. Milne by Dr. Heysham. They will appear appropriately here.— H. L.] 1809. Bt'RIALS. Males. Females. Total St. Cuthbert 66 93 159 St. Mary . • 87 118 205 Wreay 2 3 5 Quakers 3 2 5 158 216 374 * Wreay Chapelry is in the parish of St. Mary, but is separated from it by a portion of St. Cuthbert's intervening. Most of the burials at Wreay are from St. Cuthbert's. t Only one burial-place for Quakers in the two parishes; it is situated in Fi hi Street, St. Mary's, Carlisle. 164 i8io. 1811. 1812. 1813. . / PPENDIX. Burials. Males. Females. Total. St. Cuthbert 64 63 127 St. Mary . 8l 88 169 Wreay 2 1 3 Quakers I 3 4 I48 UL 3^3 St. Cuthbert 54 43 97 St. Mary . 66 84 150 Wreay 3 3 6 Quakers 4 2 6 127 132 2J£ St. Cuthbert . . 76 75 iSi St. Mary . 81 101 182 Wreay 1 ... 1 Quakers 2 2 4 160 ITS 3J| St. Cuthbert 105 33 188 St. Mary . 79 98 177 Wreay 3 5 8 Quakers 1 3 4 188 189 377 Sun Life Office, 16/// April 1814. Dear SIR — I received in due course your esteemed favour of the 10th instant, with the valuable documents it enclosed. Your having separated the burials of the Quakers, and those in thcChapelry of Wreay, from the rest, is highly satisfactory, for it thereby plainly appears that all these have been omitted in the returns to Government ; there must also have been other omissions in the returns, but in some years these are the only deficiencies in the account laid before Parliament. Yum statement of the surveys of 1780 and 181 1, distinguishing each of the APPENDIX. 165 places mentioned as forming part of the city, suburbs, or villages, is also very valuable to me, and completely satisfies my seventh query, as it furnishes a key to the statements printed by Government, which, with regard to the object of that query, would otherwise have been unintelligible. Accept my best thanks for your information of the two anomalous cases of natural smallpox, after both the kinds of inoculation ; the subject is extremely curious as well as important. In expectation of your further information, when it may be perfectly con- venient to you, I remain, under the most grateful impressions from your past favours, yours, etc. Jos. MlLNE. Sun Life Office, 20th April 1814. Dear Sir — I was yesterday favoured with yours of the 16th, together with the burials for the four years ending with 1800, and the enumeration in 1801. It appears singular that, although your numbers always exceed the returns to Government (of the numbers buried) except in the year 1800, for that year they fall 73 short of them — yours being 245, the others 318. It is also worthy of remark, that although the burials in St. Mary's in that year are nearly double what they were in the two preceding years, and about \ as much more than they were in the two following years ; yet those in St. Cuthbert's in 1800 were less by about \ than in the preceding or the following years. I thank you for your useful information respecting the number of prisoners in Carlisle Jail. I had not overlooked them in the Population Abstract for 1 801, but purposely omitted them, because I thought it probable they had been omitted in 181 1, and because their number is so small, and the persons gener- ally in such periods of life, that, if the jail be well regulated, as I doubt not but that it is (where the magistrates are so intelligent), the mortality in it must be considerably under the general average of the two parishes (including all ages) ; and on these accounts the omission could hardly have had any sensible effect upon the result I was in quest of. But nothing certainly should be neglected that can contribute anything to accuracy ; and now that you have enabled me to do better than guess at the numbers in 181 1, I will not fail to include those for 1 801. You add greatly to the value of the documents you favour me with, by the attention you show in transmitting them as quick as you can, that you may delay me the less. It happens, however, that I can make but little use of those 1 66 APPENDIX. I now have until I obtain the others, which must be combined with them. I therefore wait anxiously, but not impatiently ; and remain, dear Sir, yours, etc. Jos. Milne. Carlisle, April 24, 1814. DEAR Sir— Queries 1 and 2. The Cumberland Militia consists of 615 rank and file, which have never been stationed in the county since the war. Several of them have wives and families, and a few of the wives and families attend the regiment, but how many is uncertain. A considerable number of Carlisle men have, during the whole course of the war, enlisted in the army and marines, but the exact number cannot be ascertained. We have few or no sailors, scarcely any of the inhabitants having gone into the navy since Mr. Pitt's Navy Quota Act - carried into execution : and even before that time we procured some of our men from London. I have therefore no hesitation in giving my opinion that 1 -30th is by far too great a proportion for our two parishes. You must, however, take into consideration, that as the overseers of the poor took little or no interest in the two surveys of 1801 and 1S11, and instead of entering into them with zeal, considered them an additional task imposed on them by Government, there can be no doubt but several omissions took place in both the surveys in the most populous parts of the city and suburbs. The returns from the few villa I think, we may consider as nearly correct. What, however, was the amount of these omissions will ever remain unknown. ( hiery 3. Though I consider this query not of much importance, yet it has given me a great deal of trouble. I have made numerous inquiries without having gained any information ; but I have strong reason to believe, from my own recollections, that the survey of 1S01 was made either in the month of January or February, or perhaps in both. When Sir F. Eden published [his work], the workhouse of that part of the pari>h of St. Mary's which lies within the liberties of the city of Carlisle, ami which comprehends Scotch Street. Fisher Street. Castle Street, and Abbey Sir pendent of its situation, which is far from good, was, upon the whole, well regulated and conducted. But at that period the workhouse of the parish of St. Cuthbert's and that of Caldew-gate, including Cummersdale, were most miserable receptacl The parish of St. Cuthbert has since built one on a healthy elevated situa- tion, about a quarter of a mile from the town, which was finished in 1809, and '11 managed In one of the wings apartments are intended tor fevei APPENDIX. 167 none of which, however, have yet occurred. Within these two years Caldew- gate has taken a new house, and considerable improvement has taken place in the management of it. Taupe rs. On the 2d of this month St. Cuthbcrt's contained . . 48 St. Mary's . 3] Caldew-gatr . . . . . 16 95 This will appear to you a very small number for the population of the pi. but considerable sums are paid weekly to paupers in their own houses. The mortality of the country parishes in the county of Cumberland is cer- tainly considerably less than the mortality of Carlisle. In the years 1780 and 1 78 1 I collected a great deal of information on this subject for the late Mr. Wales of the Charter House, who then had it in contemplation to publish on the population of this island, in answer to Dr. Price's pamphlet on the same subject. If you could possibly procure an inspection of his'papcrs, I am certain they would prove highly interesting and useful. On an average often years, from 1771 to 1780, of a great number of country parishes. In Leath-ward, one person in 56 and 2-3ds died. In Eskdale-ward one in 54 and \ died, and the country parishes in Cumberland-ward, as far as my recollection goes, were even more healthy than Leath-ward. See Hutchinson's History of Cumberland, vol. i. p. 522. Independent of the military regularly stationed here since 1809, we have always had, since the commencement of the war, several recruiting parties both for the army and the marines. The constant average number of them, I think, may probably amount to forty or fifty- I consider it as a most fortunate circumstance that you adverted to the very great difference of the mortality in the two parishes in the year 1800, although, after I received your favour of the 20th, I thought myself almost certain that I was correct ; yet, knowing how liable we all arc to error, I immediately re-examined the register of St. Cuthbert's, and to my surprise discovered two leaves of the book adhering, which I must, on my first inspection, have turned over together, and I found the burials for that year, instead of 63, to be 136. Having the book in my possession, I deemed it necessary to re-examine all the four years, and discovered another mistake in 1797 of seven burials, which were entered at the 1 68 APPENDIX. bottom of the page of the burials of 1 796, the year being written in pale ink ; therefore, in that year, instead of 96 there were 103 burials. Burials in both parishes, including [the chapelry of] Wreay and [the] Quakers, in . . . . 1797 were 284 in 1798 „ 195 in 1799 „ 176 in 1800 „ 318 Total . . 973 I think I have now furnished you with all the information in my power, but should you, in the progress of your work, discover any circumstances wanting which I can supply, you may command my services, and you have my full per- mission to make use of my Observations in the manner you may think proper, taking care to correct any grammatical errors, etc. — I remain, dear Sir, yours, etc. John Heysham. P.S. — We have now very few cases of natural smallpox, and only one child has died of that disease since 1st of January. Sun Life Office, 30//* April 1814. Dear Sir — I received on the 27th your esteemed favour of the 24th instant, wherein you have completed the answers to my queries, which have given you so much trouble. It was not without great reluctance that I troubled you with these last, being well aware that the answers could not add very materially to the mass of valuable information I had previously derived from you. I had, indeed, made assumptions, which led to almost exactly the same results as the authentic documents you have lately favoured me with, but these miglit have beeti much wider from the truth : and you have enabled me to give that authen- ticity to my materials, which removes all ground for doubt or suspicion. I particularly regret that you should have taken so much trouble to deter- mine in what part of the year 1801 the survey was made. I did not think it likely that it would be attended with any difficulty, or I should have requested you to take no trouble about it. The only use 1 meant to make of it was to de- termine what the number of the people was on the 1st January 1801, and on the 1st January 181 1, as it was in the intervening period that the deaths took place which I was to determine the rate of mortality from ; and it is obvious APPENDIX. 169 that, if the increase of the people was uniform, the number of the living in the beginning of May in each of those two years would be rather greater than in the beginning of January ; consequently the mean number of the living from the one May to the other would be rather greater than from the one January to the other, which last is that with which the registered burials in the intervening period should be compared. The late Mr. Wales, master of the mathematical school at Christ's Hospital, did (as well as Mr. Howlett and others) publish a pamphlet on the population of England, in answer to Dr. Price, which I some time ago took great pains to procure, but without success. His books and, I believe, his manuscript papers too, were sold by auction soon after his death, and were, I understood at the time, very productive to his heirs. I have taken care to make the corrections you were so kind as to direct in your last. I now see that the autumn will be well advanced before my work will be ready for publication. I cannot close this letter without acknowledging again the grateful sense I entertain of your polite and kind attentions throughout all the trouble I have given you. Nothing, I am sure, but the most ardent zeal for the promotion of this useful and interesting branch of knowledge, could have carried you through all the drudgery you have undertaken, and executed in the ablest and most satis- factory manner, for, dear Sir, yours, etc. Jos. Milne. P.S. — Men of speculative habits, like me, have, you know, but little power of conferring benefits ; but if I can be of any service to you, upon any occasion, I shall be much gratified by your commands, as I should have told you before, had I not expected you to take it for granted. Sun Life Office, 20th May 18 14. Dear Sir — I now beg leave to hand you an estimate of the population and mortality in your two parishes from the commencement of your Observations to the end of last year. It is not my intention to impose any more tasks upon you. In the Appendix to the work I have in hand I purpose to insert an abstract of your Observations, but (except the information you give respecting the enumeration of 1796) these only extend to the first nine years. It will probably be two or three months or more before that Appendix can be printed, and if, in the meantime, it should 170 APPENDIX. afford you an agreeable amusement at any intervals of leisure, to compare the variations in the rate of mortality as exhibited in the enclosed Table, at different times, with the corresponding variations in the circumstances of the people, especially with regard to the proportion of the wages of labour to the prices of the necessaries of life, and the presence or absence of epidemical diseases ; then, by making notes of what might appear to you most worthy of remark, you would enable me to extend your observations, and would render what is here attempted much more interesting and instructive. In constructing the enclosed I have assumed that the population increased continually and equally in the interval between each of the enumerations of 1780, 1787, 1796, 1801, and until the emigration commenced in 1810 ; 45 are added to the returned numbers of 1801 and 181 1 for the recruiting parties ; 100 for the regular forces in 1809, 1810, and 1811 ; and 300 in 1812 and 1813. I have con- sidered the population to have increased in 1812, the emigration having then ceased, and the baptisms having exceeded the burials by 154. The mortality in 1807, you will observe, was considerably greater than in any other 'of the ten years from 1801 to 181 1, except in 1809; and in this last it was so great as materially to affect the average of the ten. I should be very sorry if, in consequence of this letter, you took any step that was irksome to you. If after a short time, when you shall have had leisure to turn the subject in your mind, you should think it probable that you would ulti- mately forward me any further observations, I should be obliged by your signi- fying such expectation to me. The actual mortality since the introduction of vaccination has not been reduced quite so much in comparison with what it was from 1779 to 1787, as I should calculate upon from that cause and the decrease of typhus fever ; probably the operation of some adventitious causes in 1S07 and 1809, which you may have it in your power to point out, may account for the apparent anomaly. — I remain, dear Sir, yours, etc. Jos. Milne. P.S. — The rise or great increase of manufactures in Carlisle, by increasing the demand for labour, and consequently its recompense, will, I expect, be found to have had a sensible effect in reducing the rate of mortality ; but I do not know at what times these took place. Sun Life Office, 23^ March 1S15. Dear Sir — I have now the pleasure of transmitting you the work you know I have been some time engaged upon, and to which you have contributed some of the most valuable materials. APPENDIX. 171 The expectations of life in Table III. are not exactly the same as those sent you in September 181 2, because the Table of Mortality these last were derived from differed a little from the second in the present work, having been deduced only from the deaths in the eight years that intervened between the enumerations in January 1780 and December 1787, and upon the supposition, too, that none died above the age of 100 years. — I remain, yours, etc. Jos. Milne. London, May 2, 181 5. My dear Sir — I duly received your kind letter of the 23d April,* and am much gratified by the flattering manner in which you mention my work ; also to learn that so eminent a judge as Dr. Milner [Dean of Carlisle] thinks favourably of it. If it meet with the reception of the public, which these and the opinions of some other distinguished judges would lead me to hope for, it must be obvious to every reader that it will be owing in a great measure to your own valuable observations. I beg you to accept of my grateful acknowledgments, both for the services you have rendered in prosecuting the work, and your kind wishes for its success, and remain, dear Sir, yours most faithfully, JOS. MlLNE. Carlisle, 14//1 June 1814. Dear Sir — I received your favour of the 20th ult., with the enclosed Table of the estimate of the population and mortality of our two parishes, which I have every reason to believe as correct as the subject will admit of. I think, with very few exceptions, the population has been continually and uniformly increas- ing since I came to Carlisle until the autumn of 18 10. As, upon research, I can find no memoranda respecting those years in which the mortality was greatest, I dare not venture to suggest any observations from memory. As you were kind enough, in a former letter, to offer your services, I avail myself of this opportunity to request you will, at your complete leisure, favour me with your opinion on the following subject, which may possibly at some future period prove of advantage to me or my family. I hold an estate by lease for three lives, of the Corporation of Carlisle, renewable for ever on the payment of a certain fine of twenty shillings on each life, or rather on the renewal of a new life, for I am not bound to renew immediately on the death of the first, or even of the second ; the three lives now being are three of my sons, who are all in perfect health, and have had all the specific epidemic contagious diseases incident to this country, and are of the following ages, — 22 years, 21 years, and, The copy of Dr. Heysham's letter of the 23d April is lost. 172 APPENDIX. 17 years. Query— Should the Corporation be willing to dispose of their interest in this estate to me, what is the exact sum I ought to pay?— Yours, etc. John Heysham. London, i7.djtine 1814. Dear Sir — In answer to your favour of the 14th inst., I have to inform you that, if you have the lease of an estate dependent on three lives, now aged 22, 21, and 17 years respectively, with the condition that you and your successors may renew it continually whenever any life may fail, by putting in such another as you may think most for your own advantage, upon paying a fine of 20 shillings, then the present value of all the fines that may be paid for such renewals for ever will be 14 shillings and one penny ; upon the supposition that the life renewed with will always be the best that can be found, that is, a healthy one of 7 years of age, the rate of interest being 5 per cent per annum, and the law of mortality such as your observations show to have prevailed in Carlisle during the nine years in which they were made. But (the rest being the same) if we use the Northampton Table of Mortality, constructed by Dr. Price, which has generally hitherto been taken for the basis of such calculations, we shall find the value to be one guinea and tenpence halfpenny (,£1:1: 10J). And generally, whatever the fine certain may be, if you multiply it by 704.067, and divide the product by 100.000, the quotient will be the present value of all that may from henceforth be paid for renewals, according to the Carlisle Table. But to obtain the value according to the Northampton Table, this fine must be multiplied by 109.428, and the product divided by 100.000, interest being still reckoned at 5 per cent. I have given the general theorem for the solution of such questions in the 450th article of the work I have in hand, and have shown its application by a numerical example, 645. This is one of the cases wherein the difference in the law of mortality makes a greater difference in the value sought than perhaps any other. The Expectations of Life, according to the Law of Mortality At the Age of Carlisle. Northampton. According to Dr. Price's Table, one person out of 25.18 died annually at Northampton. '7 21 22 7 43-57 40.75 40.04 50.80 35-2o 32.90 32-39 41.03 APPENDIX. 173 Hence you will see it is of some importance that I should clearly set forth the authority on which the Carlisle Table depends, and show its agreement with the general law of mortality throughout England ; this has been the occasion of most of the trouble I have given you for many months past. You have enabled me to do it to my own satisfaction, and, may I presume to hope, to the satisfaction of the public. Jos. Milne. To prove to the reader of these pages the great difference between the Car- lisle Tables of Mortality, which guided Mr. Milne's reply to Heysham's query, and those of Northampton or some other equally erroneous Tables, which guided the Equitable Assurance Office in 18 10, the following reply should be perused. It ought to be stated that Heysham's case, as given above, was put to the Equitable, and here is the reply : "The present value of £1, to be paid on the extinction of each life for ever in the above lease [the lease between the Cor- poration of Carlisle and Heysham's lives] is two pounds four shillings." (Signed) William Morgan. Equitable Assurance Office, 3d April 18 10. Printed by R. Clark, Edinburgh. --> RETURN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT TO— +> 202 Main Library LOAN PERIOD 1 HOME USE 2 3 4 5 6 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 1 -month loans may be renewed by calling 642-3405 6 month loans may be recharged by bringing books to Circulation Desk Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days prior to due date DUE AS STAMPED BELOW fJUN c , ttc ciR. JUN 9 t 62 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY FORM NO. DD6, 60m, 12/80 BERKELEY CA 94720 PS