When I wrote to you in August I referred to the cholera epidemic of 1832 and how I would like to offer my suggestions based on what I witnessed, which might help support the laws concerning cholera.

The worst outbreaks of cholera took place in ports and towns built on marshy land, near rivers and canals. These places had impure water supplies. Those places in the nearby hills seemed to avoid the disease.
This was particularly true in France, which saw a high death rate in Calais, St Pierre, Guines and St. Omer, but the surrounding countryside avoided any deaths from the disease.

Those parts of the city of Bristol built on marshy ground and near the River Avon, had a large number of cases, yet those areas on higher ground and with a better water supply, remained free from cholera.

Doctors and scientists now generally agree that cholera is not contagious. Inhaling bad air does not result in the disease. In my opinion it results from stagnant water that has been infected by impure air. The poorer classes have the highest death rate because they drink this water.

Undoubtedly, the same places will be affected by cholera, as in 1832, if there is no improvement made to their water supply. Bad smells and impure air will cause typhoid and fever, but will not cause the spread of cholera.