Explain why John Snow’s discovery of the cause of cholera was limited. (12 marks) Flashcards
Housing Conditions
One cause was due to poor housing conditions. For example; Cess pits and water pumps were often built within three-four feet between them. This meant that it was incredibly easy for the bacteria from the faeces from the sewers to transfer into the drinking water because of how close they have been built together. Therefore, even if the water was brown and filthy, hundreds would still queue up daily to get water from the Broad Street pump because there was no where else to go. Conclusively, this then means that because of the poor housing conditions of the cess pits, it causes Snow’s discovery of the cause of cholera to be limited because of the limited understanding about why the uncleanliness had caused the spread of the disease.
Knowledge about Disease
Another cause was due to lack of understanding about the disease. For instance; though John Snow had realised the correlation between infected patients and the water pump for the Broad Street, he still could not identify why or how the water had caused Cholera. This meant that Snow was unable to prove his theory, despite being correct, about the cause of Cholera because the idea of germs had not been discovered, which had then caused many critics for the physician. For example; many scientists and doctors had laughed at Snow’s theory that Cholera was caused by infected water from the pump in Broad Street. Thus, this meant that his reputation had been damaged because many people were still convinced that diseases such as Cholera was being caused by miasma and not the bacteria in water.
Government Intervention
Finally, although Snow discovering the cause of Cholera, his research was limited due to the lack of Government intervention. This is demonstrated when the Government did not listen to Snow’s advice onto better sewage systems in London because they stated that it was too expensive to make changes. This meant that the Government were unwilling to make changes because not only did they believe that cleaner sewage systems would be too expensive, but also because they still believed in the theory of miasma. However, when the Great Stink had occurred in 1858, the Government had finally agreed to make a better, cleaner sewage system in London. For example; 1,300 miles of sewers were built in London by 1865. Therefore, this had meant that Snow’s discovery was limited because only when the Government had listened and carried out his theory was when people had realised he was correct.
