London, City of Smog
Gustave Doré's engraving of London encapsulated the smoke and grime of the city. Note the all smog coming from the factories.
London itself was thought to be the cause of many diseases. Nineteenth-century London was a dirty place, as seen in the image above. Industrialization and factories polluted the air, and the lack of a central sewage system created a stench that pervaded the city, particularly the poorer half where Lyon lived. The city became a cesspool for disease, and the air was thick with soot making it difficult to breathe (Jackson). All the harmful particles in the air were thought to “become concentrated in the atmosphere of cities and valleys,” and it was widely accepted at the time that the sick needed to travel to mountains, coasts, and the countryside to recover in fresher air (Med. 94).
The East End where Lyon lived was especially dirty thanks to the pollution of the River Thames, which flows west to east. As shown in the cartoon, it was the cause of many diseases, such as cholera.
Lyon lived in a district of London where he was constantly surrounded by disease, and he would have traveled frequently to recover. On Lyon’s first trip to Scotland, he notes immediately how quickly he escaped “out of the smoke of London” (3). Although Lyon visits the bank and handles his accounts on this trip, he also mentions his health multiple times. He goes into detail recounting his visit to the Infirmary and how he was humbled to be in good health compared to the other patients, making it quite probable that this trip was also for the benefit of his health (4).
His ailments here seem to be mostly physical, and he remarks multiple times about the cold weather. While his winter trip to Scotland may have been part of the reason for his sickness, he clearly also believed that traveling outside of London would improve his health in the long run.