He was already a groundbreaking anesthesiologist who had been compiling information about cholera since an outbreak in 1848. John Snow, meanwhile, had made his way from a simple working-class existence to the cream of the crop of London’s medical world. He adopts and becomes the leading proponent of the miasma theory which assumes transmission through airborne contamination resulting from the Whitehead is known and respected within the community because of his religious position, but also because of his interest and work in trying to nail down the cause and effect which results in the spread of cholera. One is a priest living near the Soho neighborhood of Lewis. The 1854 cholera outbreak in London had begun.įrom that point on, the story essentially becomes a tale of two men and a conflict between two opposing theories: miasma versus contagion.

She took one of the soiled diapers, walked down to her cellar and casually turned the clothe into a disposable diaper by tossing it into the cesspool there. On August 28, Sarah Lewis called for a doctor for help with her infant baby who was terribly ill with noxious emissions existing from both ends. Scavengers picking through the transported sewer clogs can also get in on the revenue of waste disposal by selling whatever they find of worth. Unfortunately, their means of disposal involves merely transporting that material to the farthest reaches of the city. So bad is the waste disposal system that “night-soil men” are paid to unclog the unmentionably horrific material causing backup in the city’s sewers. The most populous city in Europe is almost literally an open sewer. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community.

Ghost map by steven johnson