Garrow`s law

[Redheadthere]

Anyone watching Garrow`s law? What`s with the burning of incense in the court room before proceedings.

[firewatch]

to remove the smell and contagion of jail fever, hang let me go find you historical reference

[firewatch]

yes, they thought disease was spread through poisonous miasmas or bad air and using incense to cleanse it to deal with the miasmax

[VHG]

Right up until the mid 1800s (around 1840) it was thought that Cholera and so on were caused by the smell in the air (the miasma). Nobody knew about germs carrying the diseases.

In fact to try to cure the Cholera problem people like Joseph Bazalgette wanted to improive the London sewers to get rid of the smell / miasma which they thought would get rid of Cholera.

When the London sewers were improved the water supply improved so it DID get rid of Cholera, but not for the reason they thought.

Read more about Bazalgette and the "great stink" here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Bazalgette

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Stink

[Redheadthere]

Thanks Fire and VHG. I`ve never heard of gaol fever till I heard it mentioned in this programme

[ABerrant]

It should be noted that a current Bazalgette is still associated with sewerage - great-great-grandson Peter with his Endemol effluent such as Big Brother and Deal or No Deal.

[VHG]

It has been pointed out that the original Bazalgette took the sh*t away from the public, the current one brings it back again !