W. H. Gall, M. D., thought that the extent to which malaria affected the health of London, must of course be very much a theoretical question; "but it is very remarkable that diseases which are not distinctly miasmatic, do become much more severe in a miasmatic district. Influenzas, which prevailed in England in 1847, were very much more fatal in London and the surrounding parts than they were in the country generally, and influenza and ague poisons are very nearly allied in their effects. Marsh miasms are conveyed, no doubt, a considerable distance. Sufficiently authentic cases are recorded to show that the influence of marsh miasm extends several miles." Other physicians testify to the fact, that near the Thames marshes, the prevalent diseases are all of them of an aguish type, intermittent and remittent, and that they are accompanied with much dysentery. Dr. John Manly said that, when he first went to Barking, he found a great deal of ague, but since the draining, in a population of ten thousand, there are not half-a-dozen cases annually and but very little remittent. The following Extract is taken from the testimony of Sir Culling Eardly, Bart.: "Chairman:—I believe you reside at Belvidere, in the parish of Erith?—Yes.—Ch.: Close to these marshes?—Yes.—Ch.: Can you speak from your own knowledge, of the state of these marshes, with regard to public health?—Sir C.: I can speak of some of the results which have been produced in the neighborhood, from the condition of the marshes; the neighborhood is in one continual state of ague. My own house is protected, from the height of its position, and a gentleman’s house is less liable to the influence of malaria than the houses of the lower classes. But even in my house we are liable to ague; and to show the extraordinary manner in which the ague operates, in the basement story of this house where my men-servants sleep, we have more than once had bad ague. In the attics of my house, where my maid-servants sleep, we have never had it. Persons are deterred from settling in the neighborhood by the aguish character of the country. Many persons, attracted by the beauty of the locality, wish to come down and settle; but when they find the liability to ague, they are compelled to give up their intention. I may mention that the village of Erith itself, bears marks of the influence of malaria. It is more like one of the desolate towns of Italy, Ferrara, for instance, than a healthy, happy, English village. I do not know whether it is known to the committee, that Erith is the village described in Dickens’ _Household Words_, as Dumble-down-deary, and that it is a most graphic and correct description of the state of the place, attributable to the unhealthy character of the locality." He also stated that the ague is not confined to the marshes, but extends to the high lands near them.