THE RESIDENT SURGEON'S REPORT.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 414, 5 December 1874, Page 3

THE RESIDENT SURGEON'S REPORT.

{To the Editor.)

Sib, — For a specimen of bad grammar, impure English, and crude ideas illogically expressed, commend me to the report of the Resident Surgeon on the sanitary condition of the town — or " your town, aa he calls it. . How any man in his sober senses could have deliberately Bat down and written the article in question, passes my comprehension. I think the original manuscript of this extraordinary production ought to be "framed and glazed," and deposited in our museum, as a specimen of what can be achived by a professional man in the nineteenth century. In the opening sentence the writer states that "during his experience of nearly twelve years, no cases of sickness of an epidemic iyp© have occurred that could be traced to any agency otherwise than natural." Without further alluding to the improper use of the word " otherwise" in this sentence, I may he allowed to express an opinion that, had the Doctor's experience extended over twelve hundred years, instead of twelve years, I very much doubt if he could have traced any epidemic disease to any agency other than "natural." In the days of Moses and Aaron, we are told that the Egyptians were plagued with various, plagues, specially inflicted on them by the Divine Power ; but the age of miracles is past, and I really do not think that cesspool fever ever breaks out now-a-days without a natural cause. «■ What does this sentence mean : "The health of your town, in so far as it can be related with sanitary efforts to keep it flo," &c. ? "Keep it so." What? Here is another elegant specimen of < composition : uln the former, from the highest part from which anything is discharged, no matter of what nature " (does he mean firearmß ?) " there are no proper means of their not offending the smell and sight of those resident below them in' altitude." '' No proper means of their not offending" : is this English 1 or is it some foreign language? What does "their" refer to? and what does '"them" refer to, near the end of the sentence? and what does he mean by *' below them in altitude " ? I might just as well say that the Doctor's "corporation " measures so many feet round mi circumference ! In the next paragraph but one he uses the adjective " effete " in a wrong sense. In the next paragraph he says : " This channel winds through a large part of the township, the contents of which" (? the township?) percolate through the soil." A little further on he uses the word "aroma" in a wrong sense. He does not appear to know that an odour may be either good or bad, but "aroma" always means a sweet smell. This sentence begins : "At its source." At what source ? The preceding sentence refers to some that have been dug ;-does he refer to the source of the wells ? And what is the "race" he refers to in the same sentence ? Is it the human race ? In the next sentence, what is meant by ihe "engineering exit"? I always thought exits were quiet things, but if the Town Council allow the exits to go about engineering, I think it is high time such an improper practice was put a stop to. I have not time to wade through the rest of thi3 essay. I can only- refer to one more paragraph. The Doctor says : " When water cannot be brought to bear, hy far the best system is dry earth closets, which are easily attended to, and free from the obnoxious effluvia that often pertains in connection with these places." Passing over the grammatical errors in the last part of this sentence, where " effluvia " is treated as a singular noun, I would ask, Why does not. the Doctor carry out this system at the hospital, instead of allowing the earth closets to be neglected as they have been ? With acres of ground at his disposal, how is it that a proper supply of sifted earth is not always kept at hand ? Under the present sanitary (?) arrangements at the hospital, I think, by the Doctor's own showing, it is the most likely place for an epidemic or fever to break out. In conclusion, 1 would recommend the Doctor, the next _time he puts pen to paper, to hand the manuscript to one of the boys attending the District School, so that it may be " licked into shape " appearing in print. — I am, &c, Plain English.