Part 94

About 1750, John Wilkinson, the son of a farmer who also oversaw an iron furnace, substituted mineral coal for wood charcoal in the smelting and puddling of iron ore. In 1766 he made it possible to transport coal out of mines on rail wagons drawn by horses. As father of the iron industry, he made iron chairs, vats for breweries and distilleries, and iron pipes of all sizes. He provided Watt with metal cylinders of perfectly accurate shape, which were necessary for the smooth working of Watt's steam engine. In 1775 he bought a pumping steam engine from Boulton and Watt's company for his ironworks. It pumped three times as fast as Newcomen's engine.

Watt's steam engine came to be used for power-loom weaving and then for all sorts of manufactures. It would put England ahead of every manufacturing country in the world. Millwrights built, installed, and later designed not only steam engines but the machinery that they drove. These men were essential in setting up the first factories. They were the most imaginative and resourceful craftsmen. They knew how to use a turner's, a carpenter's and a blacksmith's tools and had supervised or done smith work, brick-laying or stone-mason's work in erecting and maintaining windmills with their many gears and bearings. There was a good deal of variety in mills, as well as in the structure and workmanship of them, some being worked by horses, some by wind, and others by water. They had some knowledge of arithmetic and practical mechanics. They could draw out a plan and calculate the speed and power of a wheel. Although technically in a branch of carpentry, the millwrights learned to work with metal as well. Metal was superior to wood not only because of its strength but because wood parts were irregular in motion and wore out rapidly. So iron and brass parts came to replace wood and leather parts.

In 1728, J. Paine got a patent for rolling iron instead of hammering it. The iron bars, being heated in a long hot arch or cavern passed between two large metal rollers, which had certain notches or furrows on their surfaces.

Around 1740, clockmaker and Quaker Benjamin Huntsman was struck with the difficulty of finding finely tempered steel for the springs of his watches and pendulums of his clocks. He experimented for years to find a homogeneous and flawless metal, and finally invented cast steel, which was much harder than ordinary steel. He did this by remelting refined high quality wrought iron bars at very high temperatures in sealed fireclay crucibles, together with small quantities of charcoal and ground glass as reagents. This distributed the carbon evenly in the metal, which hammering could not do. He approached the Sheffield cutlers, who finally agreed to try his cast steel for fear of losing their business to some other manufacturers who were approaching Huntsman. Since Huntsman had no patent, he worked at night and employed only men who would keep his secret. His steel was made at night. His factory became prosperous about 1770 and the excellence of his steel manufacture was never equalled. Steel and wrought iron was scarce and expensive.

Around 1748, iron founder Samuel Walker, discovered Huntsman's secret by appearing at Huntsman's factory disguised as a shivering tramp who asked to warm himself by the furnace fire. He feigned sleep while watching the whole process. When he began to make cast steel, his annual output grew from 900 pounds in 1747 to 11,000 pounds in 1760 and he made a fortune.

Silver was plated over copper from 1751. White metal from tin and antimony was used from about 1770.

The brass industry was beginning to produce brass from copper and zinc that was as good as foreign brass. The secret of plate-glass manufacture came to England in the 1770s.

In 1773, a corporation was set up for the manufacture of plate glass. It could raise joint-stock because of the great risk and large expense of the undertaking.

In 1775, chemist William Cookworthy was given a fourteen year patent for the discovery of certain clay and stone in England from which he made England's first true porcelain, i.e. that which could sustain the most extreme degree of fire without melting, and also had grain as smooth and lustrous, and the transparency and beauty of color, equal in degree to the best Chinese or Dresden porcelain.

The import duties on diamonds, pearls, rubies, emeralds and other precious stones and jewels was dropped to increase the business of cutting and polishing them.

The world's first chocolate factory was set up in England in 1728.

The Fanmakers were incorporated in 1709.

A linen company to sell cambricks [a fine white linen] and lawns [a thin and fine linen] was incorporated in 1763.

A free market for fish was established in Westminster to supplement the free fish market in London to prevent forestalling and monopolizing of the fish industry and to increase the number of fishermen. Duties for its maintenance were paid by the fishermen. Certain men were given the right to incorporate fisheries of white herring for twenty one years to improve the fisheries and give employment to the poor. They were authorized to sell subscriptions and to build ships provided the fishery employ 100,000 in such fishery. There were restrictions on taking fish from rivers during their breeding season. Herring fishermen were allowed to land and dry their nets and erect tents and pickle, cure, and reload fish on uncultivated land up to 100 yards beyond the high water mark all any shore, forelands, harbors, and ports, without paying the landholder. Later, a bounty of 30s. per ton was authorized to be given for vessels that were fitted out and used for white herring fishery.

Anyone wishing to be admitted to the Levant (Turkey) trading company was to be made free of such on paying 20 pounds, so that this trade may be increased.

In the 1760s the first cooking school was established by Mrs. Elizabeth Raffald, a servant.

As for health, there were many occupational hazards. These included paralysis by mercury of refiners of silver and gold, paralysis by mercurial fumes of molten lead by plumbers, palsy of glaziers working with melted lead and of watch gilders, lead poisoning of painters, blinding by sawdust of sawyers, and the affects of fumes on pewterers and letter founders. Particles of copper were breathed in by copper workers, whose hair and beards then turned green. Braziers became deaf. Hairdressers, bakers, masons, bricklayers' laborers, coal heavers, chimney sweeps, flax and feather dressers, and workers in leather warehouses suffered pulmonary diseases. Chimney sweeps also had warty skin cancer from their bodies being habitually covered with soot and the lethal cancer of the scrotum. Working with charcoal fires affected confectioners, chocolate makers, and sail-cloth makers. Tanners, catgut makers, and tallow-candle makers became nauseous. Heavy work weakened many bodies and caused hernias. Bending over work for long hours caused stooped posture and hump backs.

The association between dirt and disease was just beginning to be made. The principles of infection and hygiene were not well understood. Bathing every couple of months was not unusual. There was some theological feeling that cleanliness betokened pride and filthiness humility. Most houses had a bathtub that could be placed beside the fire in a bedroom. About 80% of the population had been getting smallpox, which blinded, maimed or disfigured many. Deaths from smallpox were only occasional in the country, but constant in London, where about 13% of every generation died from it. Making death commonplace, especially in the winter months when thick, dirty clothes were worn day and night, were typhus, which was carried by lice; typhoid, which was spread by flies from horse dung; tuberculosis; and influenza. Dysentery and diarrhea made death commonplace especially in the summer when flies transmitted bacteria from filth to food and the water was its most foul. There was great meaning in the prayer "Now I lay me down to sleep; I pray the Lord my soul to keep; if I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take." Thyphus spread easily in hospitals and gaols where vermin could live in the beds made of wood. Colds and toothache were also common. Venereal disease was not uncommon among the well-to-do in London. Condoms were used to deter disease, but were still crude, coarse, uncomfortable, and unreliable. London had almost double the mortality rate of the nation. The number of baptisms in London were about 80% of its burials. About 40% of the deaths in London were among children under two, due to infantile diseases fostered by malnutrition, maternal ignorance such as giving babies adult food, ill-health, bad water, dirty food, poor hygiene, and overcrowding. Many children died from diptheria, measles, scarlet fever, and smallpox. Ten or twelve children with three or four surviving was a common family pattern. Many well-to-do in London kept their children in the country for their better health. No matter what the ailment, physicians regularly bled patients and often gave them enemas with wooden funnels. Sometimes a blister or irritant was applied to the skin to draw out the evil humors. Cupping was used to provide suction to remove pressure from various parts of the body. Also used were poultices, ointments, and herbal treatments, notably quinine. Opium was given to deaden pain. There were about 70 drugs in use. Charms, spells, astrology, and folk remedies still played a major role in medicine. A physician attended surgeries to give advice. Physicians could visit apothecary shops once a year and throw away any drugs falling below an arbitrary standard of excellence. In 1703 the House of Lords decided a jurisdictional contest between the College of Physicians and the Society of Apothecaries. It permitted the apothecaries to direct the remedies as well as to prepare them, although they could only charge for the drugs they provided. The poor sought advice from apothecaries.

There was progress in health. Scurvy virtually disappeared as a cause of death due to the eating of more vegetables. And people were cleaner when wearing cotton, which had to be washed. In 1721, free inoculations for smallpox began in England, pioneered by Lady Mary Wortley Montague, also a poet and letter writer. She led the way by having herself and her son inoculated. Theologicians denounced this practice as a diabolical interference with disease sent by Providence for the punishment of sin. In 1727 surgeon William Cheselden, whose master was specially licensed to perform the operation of removing stones in the hospital, reduced the death rate for removing stones due to hemorrhage, shock, and infection down to 17% by his invention of a lateral operation. He also published an anatomy book and treated certain kinds of blindness by forming an opening in the eye to serve as an artificial pupil. Sarah Wallen Mapp was a famous bone-setter. Nutritional deficiency diseases were beginning to be understood. In 1753, James Lind, a surgeon in the navy who noted that more men died of scurvy than in battle, published his work on his controlled experiment on seamen showing that oranges, lemons, limes, green food, and onions cured scurvy. He published his methods of prevention and cure of malarial fevers and his method of disinfecting ships with the smoke of wood and gunpowder. In 1761, he discovered that steam from salt water was fresh, and proposed a method of distillation to supply ships with fresh water. In 1761 Giovanni Morgagni from Italy opined that disease resulted from a breakdown of organs and tissues that was viewable on autopsy. He wrote an extensive book showing the anatomy of diseases, e.g. affections of pericardium and aorta, (e.g. aneurysm), valve diseases, ulceration, rupture, dilation, and hypertrophy. He associated clinical observation with anatomy of disease, e.g. attacks on upper part of chest on left side and difficulty breathing and numbness of left arm all ceasing with exertion with dilation of aorta and hardening of arteries, causing delay of blood in the aorta, in the heart, and in the lung vessels. Bernoulli showed that the living human body constantly changes so that all its particles are renewed in a certain number of years. Frenchman Dr. Pierre Fauchard, the father of dentistry, recommended rubbing one's teeth and gums with a piece of sponge. His book of 1728 described methods and instruments.

Since three out of four babies died shortly after birth, beds in hospitals for pregnant women were established starting in 1739. The next year physicians began to replace midwives. A hospital was established for abandoned foundling children in 1739 so they wouldn't die, as they usually did, in the care of parishes or workhouses or be exposed in the streets or left on door steps of the wealthy. It was besieged by women with babies in their arms. In 1762 a statute made the principles of the foundling hospital obligatory for all London parish children under six; they were to be sent to nurses outside London who were to be paid at least 2s. a week by the parish. In 1766, this was extended to all parishes, and nurses who cared for a child well for a year was given a reward of at least 10s. Also, parish children were not allowed to be apprenticed for more than seven years or until age 21 and an apprentice fee of at least 4 pounds, 2s. was to be paid to the master or mistress by the parish.

After 1740, there was a steady growth of population due to improved midwifery. William Smellie taught scientific midwifery in London from 1741 and wrote a "Treatise on Midwifery" in 1752, which had a clear explanation of the mechanism of labor. At this time there were several maternity hospitals. Forceps existed for difficult deliveries. In 1750, Dr. Cadogan wrote his book: "An Essay on the Nursing and Management of Children, which made a great improvement in the care of young children. For instance, it recommended loose clothing, no tight swaddling clothes, and a simple diet. Swaddling clothes were used to retain a baby's evacuations but produced discomfort and serious skin conditions. A hospital was founded for venereal diseases in 1746, another as an asylum for the penitent and orphaned girls who might otherwise be inclined to prostitution, and yet another for prostitutes in 1758. Coitus interruptus was widely used for birth control. There were also clandestine abortions and intentional neglect of newborns.

Melancholy was widespread. Suicides were frequent and drugs were sold for this purpose. In 1725, the mentally ill were classified as curable or incurable. There were many private lunatic asylums. A lunatic who was furiously mad and dangerous was required to be safely locked up or chained in his place of settlement. There were frequent and dangerous abuses in madhouses, so in 1774, no one may keep or confine more than one lunatic without a license granted by the Royal College of Physicians or forfeit 500 pounds. A Justice of the Peace and a physician inspected all madhouses to observe conditions and care of patients there. If refused admittance, the license was forfeited.

In 1712 was the last time a monarch touched a person to cure him of a malady such as scrofula.

In 1743 surgery students began to dissect corpses with their own hands to better learn anatomy. In 1744 the Company of Surgeons was separated out of the Company of Barber-Surgeons. The barbers were proscribed from performing surgery and had to have a separate corporation from the surgeons because of the ignorance and unskillfulness of barbers healing wounds, blows, and hurts e.g. by blood letting and drawing of teeth. There was a Surgeon's Hall, officers chosen by the surgeons, and bylaws. The surgeons were required to examine candidates for the position of surgeon in the king's army and navy. They were exempted from parish, ward, and leet offices, and juries. In 1752, a statute provided that the corpses of murderers were to be sent to the Surgeon's Hall to be anatomized, for the purpose of deterring murders. The penalty for rescuing the corpse of a murderer was to suffer death.

The first dispensary for the poor was established in 1769 to give free medicine and treatment to the infant poor, and then to the infants of the industrious poor.

The progress of science was seen to threaten the authority of the church. There was a general belief in God, but not much attention to Jesus. Feared to come were free thought, rationalism, and atheism. There was still a big gap between local parsons and bishops, who were educated, well-off, and related to the aristocracy. On the whole, preachers talked about morality and Christian belief. They stressed good works and benevolence. But many Protestant clergy were more concerned with their own livings than with their parishioners. They were indolent and did not set a good example of moral living.

From 1715, Freemasonry spread and swiftly provided a spiritual haven for those who believed in God and desired ritual and mysticism.

About 1744, John Wesley became the leader of the Methodist religious movement for the mining and industrial laborers. He lead an aesthetic life, eating bread and sleeping on boards. The movement was called Methodist because of its methodical regularity of living. It was characterized by an evangelical revival and a promise of individual salvation. The person to be saved from the horrors of eternal damnation in hell was to discipline himself to regular prayer, self-criticism, and hard work and to forsake worldly pleasures such as drinking, overeating, and even frivolous talk. Wesley believed in witchcraft and in magic. He opined that bodily diseases and insanity could be caused by devils and some dreams are caused by occult powers of evil. With the Methodist movement, there was a concomitant growth of philanthropic activities by the Methodists. They gave to the poor, and visited the sick and the imprisoned. Wesley preached in the open air where all who wanted to attend could and also could wear whatever clothes they had. Though large crowds of poor people were feared because of their mob potential, their meetings were stormed as has been Quaker meetings, with the shouts of "the church in danger". The Methodists' homes were invaded and their belongings destroyed or taken or their persons beaten with tacit permission of authorities. Some Justices of the Peace drafted preachers into the army or navy as vagabonds. Eventually, however, the Methodist revival imbued energy and piety into the lethargic clergy of the established church. A new moral enthusiasm and philanthropic energy grabbed the nation. Prisons were reformed, penal laws made more wise, slave trade abolished, and popular education given momentum. In the established church, charity gained precedence over theology and comfort over self-examination and guilt. Evangelist George Whitfield preached Calvinism and it split off from Methodism. Calvinism went into full decline. Presbyterianism collapsed into unitarianism and there was a general tendency towards deism.