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limited by its financial resources ;
whilst the Public, ensconced in its
m.;n apathetic, dirty habits , was inclined to regard Hall as a figure of
excitement, a "stirrer•• , a "compulsive scribbler" to the columns of the
press , an exhib itionist whose antics must be tolerated.
A lesser man
than Hall would probably have given up the struggle at this point and
turned his attention elsewhere, but he was not of this calibre;
a man of stro.ng convictions , high principles and a we ll-developed
conscience;
he was
moreover, he was deeply involved with Ab bott in scientific
experiments on the relationship between climate and health, whilst at the
same time deriving ,
considerab le pleasure and satisfaction from his t:ontact
. .
with overseas societies both medical and statistical.
For mora 1 and
scientific reasons , therefore, he persisted in the battle for reform,
utilizing every possible opportunity, both in the press and on the lecture
platform, to extol the doctrine of Pub lic Health .
On January 13 Hall and Abbott collaborated in reading before the
Royal Society a half-yearly summary of meteorological phenomena for the
second half of 1856, together with the mortality returns for the same
period.
On this occasion Hall commented that natives of the co lony
appeared to possess a certain amount of immunity to tuberculosis , as
compared with immigrants from Europe.
Already his mind was turning over
facts and figures concerned with epidemic diseases in the colony, an
indication of the new scientific trend in all his thinking .
In January, too , he debated the salubrity of the climates of
Bothwell and Hami lton with a loca l "statist" through the co lumns of the
Courier, at the same time taking the opportunity to comment :
what a disgraceful reflection it is upon colonial management
to know that the deaths in our northern and southern capitals
are so great as to raise the total mortality of the colony to a
proportion considerably greater than even that of the city of
London.
Again, the arrival of "The Great Tasmania" , after a voyage of seventy-four
days from Liverpoo l, enab led him to point out the beneficial measures
adopted by the company and crew to preserve the health of the passengers .
As I was an utter stranger to all on board until I visited on
the 27th instant , my testimony is unbiassed and I feel that I
should not be doing as I would be done unto if I did not give
it pub lic expres sion. 3
On February 3, in a review of an article in the Australian Medical Journal
3 Daily News, February 2, 1857.