XI. Of the Influence of cold upon the health of the inhabitants of London

Abstract

The extraordinary mildness of last January, compared with the unusual severity of the January preceding, affords a peculiarly favourable opportunity of observing the effect of each of these seasons contrasted with each other. For of these two successive winters, one has been the coldest, and the other the warmest, of which any regular account has ever been kept in this country. Nor is this by any means an idle speculation, or matter of mere curiosity; for one of the first steps towards preserving the health of our fellow-creatures, is to point out the sources from which diseases are to be apprehended. And what may make the present inquiry more particularly useful, is that the result, as I hope clearly to make appear by the following statements, is entirely contrary to the prejudices usually entertained upon this subject. During last January, nothing was more common than to hear expressions of the unseasonableness of the weather; and fears lest the want of the usual degree of cold, should be productive of putrid diseases, and I know not what other causes of mortality. On the other hand, “a bracing cold," and "a clear frost," are familiar in the mouth of every Englishman; and what he is taught to wish for, as among the greatest promoters of health and vigour.