Changes in medicine 1860-75

Question 1

When did Louis Pasteur discover microorganisms in beer?

Answer 1

1854

Question 2

When did Louis Pasteur experiment to develop germ theory?

Answer 2

1860

Question 3

When was Pasteur’s germ theory

Answer 3

1861

Question 4

When did Pasteur prove the link between microorganisms and disease using silkworms?

Answer 4

1865

Question 5

Why did Pasteur’s germ theory make lots of progress?

Answer 5

• Disproved the theory of spontaneous generation
• Identified that microorganisms in the air led to decay
• Helped demonstrate the link between hygiene and health
• Helped explain how infections developed after surgery

Question 6

Why did Pasteur’s germ theory make limited progress?

Answer 6

• It was a general theory, not related to medicine directly, Pasteur did not publish any link to medicine until 1878
• It took many years for the scientific community to and the public to accept it
• It was unclear how it could be used to treat ill people
• Whilst microorganisms could now be seen with better microscopes, there was no knowledge of which ones caused decay/illness - microorganisms could be found in the blood of healthy people too

Question 7

Who developed carbolic spray in surgery to prevent infection of wounds?

Answer 7

Joseph Lister

Question 8

When was carbolic spray developed and the start of antiseptic surgery (killing germs on a wound)?

Answer 8

1867

Question 9

What did the 1875 Public Health Act require local authorities to do?

Answer 9

• Provide an adequate supply of clean water to houses
• Take responsibility for preventing sewage from polluting the water used for drinking and washing
• Build public toilets
• Ensure good standards in any new housing built, to avoid problems of damp and overcrowding
• Inspect conditions in lodging houses
• Provide street lighting and paving and keep the streets clean
• Check the quality of food on sale
• Employ Health and Sanitary Inspectors to make sure all the new regulations were obeyed
• It was made illegal for factories to dump their waste into rivers

Question 10

Why was new voters a reason for the 1875 Public Health Act?

Answer 10

In 1867 a Reform Act was passed that doubled the electorate and meant that the government had to pay more attention to the needs of poorer people

Question 11

Why was education a reason for the 1875 Public Health Act?

Answer 11

The 1870 Education Act made every local authority set up schools for children aged between 5 and 10. This showed that the government was prepared to intervene in some aspects of people’s lives. Improved literacy meant that people could read pamphlets giving health advice and led to more people putting pressure on the government through writing letters and petitions.

Question 12

Why were changing attitudes to the role of government a reason for the 1875 Public Health Act?

Answer 12

In the early 1800s the government had a laissez-faire attitude. By 1860 this began to change - people expected the government to do more and began to demand that they provide services to help the poor and sick

Question 13

Why was Pasteur’s germ theory a reason for the 1875 Public Health Act?

Answer 13

It proved the link between dirt and disease

Question 14

Why were statistics a reason for the 1875 Public Health Act?

Answer 14

From 1837 the government’s general register office collected statistics on births, marriages and deaths. William Farr used these to prove the link between poor living and high death rates

Question 15

Why was cholera a reason for the 1875 Public Health Act?

Answer 15

Repeated attacks put pressure on the government

Question 16

Why was the Great Stink a reason for the 1875 Public Health Act?

Answer 16

The very hot summer of 1858 caused banks of the river Thames to smell increasingly foul. This directly affected the House of Parliament and forced the government to pass an act in 18 days, spending £3 million for Joseph Bazalgette to design an impressive new sewer system. The Great Stink added to the evidence that change was needed

Question 17

Why were local authorities leading the way a reason for the 1875 Public Health Act?

Answer 17

Leeds was one of the poorest industrial cities with filthy living conditions. In 1866 they appointed a Medical Officer for Health and took measures to improve the sewage and water quality. Other towns and cities e.g. Birmingham under Joseph Chamberlain began to compete to be the cleanest. This put pressure on the national government to take action

Question 18

Why were John Snow’s recommendations a reason for the 1875 Public Health Act?

Answer 18

In 1855 Dr John Snow suggested that the government invested in new sewers for London, following his discovery in 1854 that dirty water caused cholera. He presented detailed evidence and claimed that better sewer systems would prevent further attacks

Question 19

When did Nightingale found the Nightingale School and Home for Nurses at St Thomas’ Hospital in London?

Answer 19

1860

Question 20

When did Nightingale found a training school for midwives at King’s College Hospital?

Answer 20

1861

Question 21

What else did Nightingale do during the period after her return to Britain?

Answer 21

She wrote over 200 books on hospital design and nursing, gave evidence to parliament and generally inspired many others such as Miss Louise Pringle who trained as a “Nightingale nurse” and founded a nursing school in Edinburgh in 1872. Nightingale made it respectable for women to train as nurse as this fitted the traditional view of women caring for the sick.

Question 22

What evidence is there that Nightingale was seen as a national hero to many?

Answer 22

She was on £10 banknotes from 1975-94