Observations on the early public health movement in Scotland

Abstract

The observations which follow represent a.n attempt to arrive at an understanding of certain aspects of the background to the early public health movement which seemed obscure. By all accounts the 18th century in Scotland represented a period of material progress and increasing prosperity. The economic advance continued in the early 19th century, yet the rise in the prosperity of the people did not seem to keep pace with it. The investigations into the conditions of the people in the 1830's, which played such an important part in the sanitary reform movement, indicated an actual deterioration in welfare for many of the common folk. This association of increasing economic power and diminishing prosperity seemed anomalous at first glance: and the fact of a break in the upward trend of general prosperity was difficult to accept without further study.

in attempting to understand these difficulties, the first step was to examine events during the 18th century to find out whether the supposed improvement in the welfare of the people during that period was genuine. for this purpose the increase in population which took place during that century was selected for special study, and an attempt was made to discover the causes of this increase. The next step was to look into conditions in the early 19th century to find out whether or not a deterioration actually did take place at that time. Ioor this purpose certain trends of the death rates and the incidence of disease were examined: and the environment and financial condition of parts of the population were investigated. ï+finally an attempt was made to arrive at an understanding of the history of some of the early developments in public health reform in Scotland in the light of such facts as had been elucidated.