Genre:

Introduction; Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Disease, Sanitation, Government, Cultural Geography, Pollution

    Identifying 'a Briton's prejudices in favour of "vested rights"' as one of the most 'stubborn' of all facts, explains how a willingness to do what one wants in one's house can 'obstruct the efforts of the Local Board or Nuisance Removal Committee'. Presents a report of a 'Visiting Committee lately appointed to inspect a little seaside village, where Cholera has been observed to be hanging about' and where there was a ready supply of its breeding grounds—'foul air and filthy water'. Name the village 'Mudfog'—a 'model village' whose openness to disease can be found in most English villages. The 'report' of the medical officer consists of shorter reports on various houses, vessels, and cottages, which suffer from such evils as foul air and dirty water, and whose residents show a casual and fearless attitude to cholera, and who are either ignorant or fearful of disinfectant methods.