Page:The Effects of Civilisation on the People in European States.djvu/38

16

employments of manufacturers are all injurious to the health, of the body, and the improvement of the mind. These pernicious effects arise from—

1st. The sedentary nature of them, by which the necessary action and exercise of the body are prevented.

2dly. From the forced and unnatural postures of the body required in many trades, by which the functions of the body necessary to life and health are impeded.

3dly. From these being carried on in confined, unwholesome atmospheres, rendered nauseous and putrid from the filth of the rooms, and from the exhalations of their own bodies; as well as from the effluvia of the substances they work on, as oils, sizes, mercury, lead, paint; damps and noxious air in mines, &c., all add hurtful qualities to the air. Under the same head may be placed the excessive heat in glass-houses, smelting-houses, foundries, &c.

From one or other of these disadvantages there