hydrothorax, published in 1823, James Braid commented that, given all of the theoretically possible causes, with his numerous Leadhills hydrothorax patients, "[those who] have been exposed to breathe noxious or confined air" were by far the majority: [At Leadhills] the miners must sometimes work in places where there is so little circulation of air, that their candles can scarcely burn; and I have almost invariably observed, that a continuance for any considerable length of time, (although in such situations they may only work three or four hours daily), brings on pneumonia in the young and plethoric, and hydrothorax in the old, if rather of spare habit of body; and if there should happen to be any healthy middle-aged men working as hand-neighbours to these others, although of course both must breath[e] the same impure air, these middle-aged men will remain free from any urgent complaint, till both their young and their aged neighbours are laid aside, perhaps never more to return. I became so fully convinced of this fact, as long ago to have induced me to recommend to the agents and overseers of this place, to avoid, as much as possible, putting thither very young or very old men into such situations. "Partnerships" Like many metalliferous miners in other parts of the British Isles in the early 1800s, Leadhills miners did not work for daily wages; in fact, Leadhills miners lived rent-free, working no more than six hours in any one day and, significantly, had no fixed working hours. At Leadhills, each miner belonged to an autonomous group of up to 12 (a "partnership"), who were paid collectively: on the basis of a contract (a "bargain") struck between one partner (the "taker") and the mining company, to perform a specific task for an agreed payment — in other words, the miners were paid for their results; not for the time they spent underground. There were two types of bargain: "tut-" or "fathom work": work with no immediate return — such as sinking shafts, driving levels, making excavations, etc. — for a specified "length", usually 12, 15, or 20 fathoms, for a fixed amount. "tribute work": raising the ore to the surface — where the miners took all the ore from a specific location and were paid according to the total weight of the ore, at (a) a set rate per bing (thus, a "bingtale"), or (b) according to the