is, that they should not long ago have been enacted.

But the truth is, we are quite callous to nuisances. A public prosecutor
of nuisances is more wanted than a public prosecutor of crime. And this
is one of the things that would naturally come under the supervision of a
Department of Health. I find, from the Health of Towns Report, that it
is proposed to permit the continuance of sundry noxious trades in London
for thirty years, and then they are to be carried on under certain
restrictions. It cannot be said that this is selfish legislation: the
present generation may inhale its fill of gas and vitriol; but our
grandchildren will imbibe "under certain restrictions" only that quantity
which is requisite to balance the pleasures of a city life. At Lyons
there is a long line of huge stumps of trees bordering on the river. The
traveller, naturally enough, supposes that this is the record of some
civil commotion; but, on inquiry, he finds that the fumes of an adjacent
vitriol manufactory have in their silent way levelled these magnificent
trees as completely as if it had been done by the most effective
cannonade. If we could but see in some such palpable manner how many
human beings are stunted by these nuisances, we should proceed in their
expulsion with somewhat of the vigour which it deserves. Imagine, if
only for one day, we could enjoy a more than lynx-like faculty, and could
see, not merely through rocks, but into air, what an impressive sight it
would be in this Metropolis. Here, a heavy layer of carbonic acid gas
from our chimnies--there, an uprising of sulphuretted hydrogen from our
drains--and the noxious breath of many factories visible in all its
varieties of emanation. After one such insight, we should need no more
Sanitary Reports to stimulate our exertions. But it is only our want of
imagination that prevents us from apprehending now the state of the
atmosphere. Science demonstrates the presence of all that I have
pictured, and far more.

Great resistance might, perhaps, be made, if large measures were to be
taken for the removal of noxious trades from great towns. In many cases,
where rapid measures would be harsh and unjust, it would be well worth
while for the community to buy the absence of these unpleasant
neighbours, resolutely shutting the gates against the incoming of any
similar nuisances for the future. On the other hand, mere clamour about
the rights of property and the injustice of