Umweltgeschichte SaarJul 12, 2024
[EN] 1810: The environmental historians among you will probably already know. The Napoleonic decree of 15 October 1810 was one of the very first pieces of legislation to regulate the construction of establishments that spread "an unhealthy or offensive odour". The establishments were divided into three categories depending on the degree of pollution and different government agencies were responsible for authorising them. The project had to be publicised in advance and local residents were able to comment on it and raise objections. A major point of criticism among historians: It was impossible to close down businesses once they had been authorised! But should the law be assessed as negatively as some researchers have done?
A thread on the Napoleonic Decree of 15 October 1810: Part 1 - What's the stink? [1/7]
#histodons #history #history #frenchhistory #saar #saarland #environmentalhistory #envhist #envhistsaar
Show threadUmweltgeschichte Saar
[5/7] Acid gases from chemical factories were therefore supposed to neutralise miasmas. What could be more obvious than to build these factories in cities where diseases were more common? Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy, also believed that inhaling acidic vapours was healthy. Of course, there were also dissenting voices. But what chance did they have of being heard when the French Minister of the Interior and the majority of the Académie des sciences considered acid gases to be the medical discovery of the century? The minister of the Interior Chaptal, himself a chemist, played a significant role in the genesis of the 1810 decree. He himself was the owner of chemical factories with acidic vapours. Honi soit qui mal y pense...
Jul 12, 2024 at 5:26pmWeb