ABSTRACT
Scott Alison announces at the outset that Tranent’s disease history does not conform to Chadwick’s physical causes model. The parish of Tranent is situated in the county of Haddington, bounded on the north by the Frith of Forth; on the east by the parishes of Gladsmuir and Pentcaitland; on the south by Ormiston and Cranstoun; and on the west by Inveresk and Prestonpans. The town of Tranent stands upon the edge of a ravine. The ground has a rapid descent to the north. The soil in some places is loamy, in others clayey, and is retentive. There is little or no wood in, or around, the town. The population of the parish of Tranent was, in 1831, 3620, and is composed chiefly of colliers, fishermen, farm servants, and labourers. The various forms of continued fever prevailed to a very great extent for several months in each of the seven years the author was in practice in Tranent.
