Tux Medical Press has recently drawn attention to the extraordinary healthiness of London as compared with other cities in the world, A death-rate of 18 per 1,000 of the population in week was officially returned a short time ago, amd this, the Press is officially informed, is the most favourable rate of mortality ever attained since statistics Gonder the siermous grea and popula= were compiled and issued, - " When we
tion of this modern Babylon," adds our with the average addi-ite radius weekly, it is the more astounding, and points unmistakerbly to the salubrity of its situation, the thoroughness of ite drainage, its exoollont water-supply, and lastly, though a the least important factor, its oom~ auitary supervision and control." The last tree tuflacnoes are beyond doubt: the first comes as rather a die-concerting if encouraging surprise, It shows, at any rate, that for situation to be healthy it la not necessary for it to be agreeable. In spite of its undue Jntions, the ground on which London is built is generally spon very slow, flanked by the Surrey hills to the south and the heights of Highgate to the north, A large portion of it, again, is composed of soft, thick, viscous clay, which, aided by a river which receives daily contributions of town sewage, gives rise to those foul and horrible yellow fogs which during the winter season turn London toa Oily of Dreadful Night. Now climate must be reckoned' among the concomitants of situation, and when we are told that the situation of London is salubrious we are justified in conclading that the climate which results from that situation is considered salubrious too, This sounds almost like a paradox.
The climate of London, excepting perfor a very few months in the late in; the sou esulks behind heavy clouds, looking ess like an honest luminary than like an ill-burnished copper stewpan; the roads lio thick in mud, and the number of rainy days is out of all proportion to tite fine ones, The general effect is utterly depressing, and we do not wonder when Italiane, fresh from their own sunny plaive, exclaim, "Ab, uow we know why you Huglishméu are so fond of committing suicide." And now we are told that this cheerless, dingy, muggy, smoke-begrimed, and tery capital is the healthiest city in the whole world. Evidently, fine weather and invigorating breezes are not suited to the English oonstituti Werfutteu rapidly on fog, and the promotes our growth. It may. make us melancholy, bat we are quite. pre—pared to be told that: melaucholy is good for the digestion;; The proposition is doubt a startling one; still, we can always fall back apon the: motto Credo quia paradowim, the strength and amplitude of which la already proved in so many ways, And it receives additional force from the stubborn fact that while the ational death-rate in London is only thirteen out of a thousand, in Shangls it is near double? that is, London, out of five million inhabitants, loses sixty-five. thousand a year, while we, with only three thousand handred and lose rather probably to be found in. the direction that we have indicated: "There: is always.an amount of malaria fonting about, and: to this is to be ascribed the prevalence, at all times of year, of cases of low fever. The choleraic attacks whioh of Into years lave suddenly care tied off uniformly healthy people have generally been the result of. some special nob of impridenoe, and' need not, we think, be considered, The faoty ally admitted, that the Setover eighty in the same period. Now the climate of Shanghai, excepting in the months of July, August, and Sep.
uniformly bright and pleni here are usually some disngreeable weeks of rs during the early part of the yenr, but in how many places in the world shall we fi continuance of bracing and brilliant weather as we have now been enj: for 80 long? And where, we may ask, shall we find men who age so slowly in Shanghai? It is true that some become prematurely gray, and others prematurely bald; but we do not hi to say that the average man of forty Shanghni is far younger-looking and far younger-feeling thun the man of forty in London, Ba ters are not taken so seriously cut here holidays are longer and more freqnen there is, all round, more animal enjoy. ment of life than is to be teand in the daily routine of a City man's career in England, And yet, going by the death. rate, London is a healthier place than Shanghai. The lear that climate cannot have flacuces of a Shanghai summer and the dangers of a Shanghai September. The healthiness of London is attributed not only to ite situation but also to its perfect drainage, good water-supply, and excellent sanitary eupervisio Now whatever may be said fur our water-supply, which is about as good as we can expect, if not a great deal better, it is andeninbie that we are open to improvement in other respects which uro at least equally im. portant. Our drainage la very far from being perfect, and our sanitary supervision has frequently been denounced ug exceedingly perfunctory. Epidemics among foreigners are ever and anon predicted, aa though the predictions ha: not been fulfilled hitherto they are probably not made without the existence of some cause for Tt says won deed, for the general health and strength of foreigners living in these Settlements that. when an epidemic does break out among the Chinese, as was the cage last autumn, they enjoy an almost entire immunity from disease. At the same time it is imprudent to trast too implicitly to these hopeful precedents. The fact remaitis that while we have a better climate than London has, our death-rate is. proportion ately mach higher: for this there must be some reason, and-the reason is the country, is no doubt due to its municipal improvements: while the fact that a slight form of malarial fever is usually more or lout is proof that farther improvements are still both possible and necessary, Lhe present healthful cold and dryness will no doubt usher in a comparatively healthful-sammer, and we trast that advantage will be taken of it, mean. while, to effect a thorough and. per= mauent.cleansing of the streets. and slums.
CHINESE BOOKS AND BOOKMAKERS, Tae Caliph Omar in burning the Alex. adrian rary inflicted on posterity a loss that oun never be repaired. The volumes contained in that library would uatarally embrace. many works copies of which would never afterwards be found. Books that Cicero and Pliny rond and mentioned in their w: many of them hopelessly to for Omar we should. have had a good portion of these relics of ancient learns ing, and should then have been able to form to on 6 & mere complete and accurate picture of the ancient world of the Greeks and Roman Tu China the destruction of books by the order of the Emperor Elm Shih Huang placed modern schulnra in a similar position, Many boos wore destroyed which have tot since been recovered; ® madman's freak deprived tons of thousands of the pleasure and struction they might have found in reading books then pat out of existence for ever. Yot many bouks remained, In the time of Liu Hein, B.O, 9, there were found to be 33,090 sections or chapters of works, Che Han dynasty encouraged literature, and restored books to their right place after the brief reign of a fanatical persecutor, who disliked all writings not devoted to divination, medicine, and agrioultare, The persecution of literature was undertaken with the object of patting down political discussions, the teaching of history, and popular ballads, The fanatical book-burner hoped that. all memory of past dynasties would die out with their chronicles. Is it wonderful that he himself la remembered only to be execrated? 'I'he glory of the Hau dynasty shows the more brightly in' proportion to the thick. nes of the shade of ignominy that covers -his name, The encouragement of literature was carried on by the search for old pooka feud the preparation of uew. copies
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.