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THE 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  MEDICINE 


OR, 


MEDICAL  EXTRACTS 


ON  THE 


NATURE  OF  HEALTH  AND  DISEASE, 


INCLUDING  THE 

\ 


LAWS  OF  THE  ANIMAL  (ECONOMY, 

AND  THE 

DOCTRINES  OF  PNEUMATIC  MEDICINE. 


BY 

A  FRIEND  TO  IMPROVEMENTS. 


There  are  three  things  which  almost  every  person  gives  himself  credit  for  under- 
standing, whether  he  has  taken  any  pains  to  make  himself  master  of  them  or  not.— 
Tlieseare:  \.  The  art  of  mendhig  a  dull  Jire  i  2.  Politics  s  and,  3.  PHYSIC. 

DR.  BEDDOES. 


M  VOL.  IV. 


i-H         •  ,     FOURTH  EDITION. 


o 


LONDON 


-     THIVTED  BY  C.  WnnTlNGllAM,  DEAN-STREET,  FETTER-LASE, 

TOR  T.  COX,  ST.  THOMAS'S-STREF.T,  BOROUGH,  AND  H.  D.  SYMONDS,  PATERNOSTER-ROW; 
SOLD  ALSO  BY  J.  JOHNSON,  ST.  VAUfS  CHURCH- YARD  ;  MURRAY  AND  HIGHLEY,  KLEET- 
STREET;  EVANS,  PAL[.-MALL;  RICHARDSON,  ROYAL  EXCHANGE;  CUTHELL,  MIDCLE- 
ROW,  HOLBOKN  ;  AND  BELL  AND  BRADFUTE,  ED1NBUR6H. 

1799. 


THE  CONTENTS 


VOLUME  IV. 


LAW  THIRD. 


ii  TOO  GREAT  EXCITEMENT  OF  THE  NERVES,  OR  MOV- 
ING FIBRES,  EXHAUSTS  THE  POlfERS  OF  THE  MIND, 
AND  ENFEEBLES  THE  BODY. 


SECTION  i  —OF  EXHAUSTION. 

Page 

THIS  is  either  temporary   1 

Or  irrfepcirable  ;,.  ib-; 

SECT.  II.— OF  TEMPORARY  EXHAUSTION. 

Experiments  which  prove  temporary  exhaiiftion    5 

Milton's  defcription  of  the  elfed:  of  exceffive  light  ib'. 

Other  experiments  given  to  prove  the  fame   6 

SECT.Iil.-OF  ASPHYXIA  FROM  MENTAL  AGI- 
TATION. 

The  effefts  of  fright  ......;...,.,;...>..•.   7 

TJie  nervous  fluid  fimiidr  to  the  e'lcdtrit    7,  8 

a                                     .  This 


iv 

This  is  fhewn,  in  a  note,  to  be  tlie  fuppofition  of  Sir  Ifaac 


Newton,  and  Burke    7,  » 

A  curious  remark  of  Mr.  Hunter  on  fear  rendering  tiie  ve- 
nal blood  of  the  arterial  charader    9 

The  rationale  of  this  fafl   0 

The  manner  in  which  fwooning  patients  ought  to  be 

treated   9,  !• 

SECT.  III.— OF  TEMPORARY  EXHAUSTION  FROM 
FATIGUE  OF  MIND. 

Lord  Chatham's  famous  fpeech  on  the  continuance  of  the 

American  war   11 — 16. 

His  animated  anfwer  to  Lord  Suffolk   .•   17 — 20 

The  exhauftionjie  felt  upon  this  occalion   20 

SECT.  IV.— OF  PERMANENT  EXHAUSTION  FROM 
iMENTAL  AGITATION. 

Exemplified,  by  the  death  of  Lord  Chatham  21 — 25 

SECT,  v.— Frequent  end  of  great  literary  talents   24,  25 

SECT.  VL— Story  of  Louifa,  Maid  of  the  Hay-Hack  ...  26—30 

SECT.  VII.— Hiftory  of  Mademoifelle  de  M    31—42 

SECT.  VIIL—Edwin  and  Emma'...;  43—46 

SECT.  IX.— Story  of  a  clergyman   „  47—50 

SECT.  X.— Story  of  Monimia  51—57 

SECT.  XI.— Caufe  of  tlie  death  of  Savage    58,  5* 

SECT.  XII.  Hogarth   60,  61 

SECT.  XIII.— Stoiy  of  a  widow-lady    62 

SECT.  XIV.— Matilda  63-65 

SECT. 


SECT.  XV.— METHOD  OF  CONSOLING  GRIEF  66 


We  ought,  inftead  of  upbraiding,  participate  in  the  for 


rows  of  others   ' 

An  eloquent  letter  of  Pliny  to  confirm  this  idea   66—69 

The  admirable  addrefs  of  the  chorus  iri  the  Eledra  of  So- 
phocles  1  69—79 

■i 

SECT.  XVI.— CONSOLATIONS  FROM  CHRISTIANITY. 

The  reafonings  of  a  Chriftian  80—83 

Immediate  upon  death  the  fo\il  liveth — In  a  note   82 

SECT.  XVII.— ADVICE  TO  PARENTS  AND  MEN 

OF  FORTUNE. 

Story  of  Harriet  84—88 

Gonclulion  from  this  ftory  83 — 90 

SECT.  XVIII.— OF  TEMPORARY  EXHAUSTION 
OF  THE  MUSCULAR  FIBRE. 

This  explains  feveral  phasnOmena  91 — 93 

SECT.  XIX.— It  is  proved  by  the  effeds  of  wine   94,  95 

A  note,  to  Ihew  that  Brown  might  have  caught  the  idea  of 

his  fyftem  from  Armftrong   95 

SECT.  XX.— On  drinking    96 

An  exhortation  againft  this  vice  97 — 99 

SECT.XXr.— Of  opium  and  hemlock   100—102 


SECT.  XXII.  The  danger  of  employing  opium  fliewn,  103,  104 


SECT. 


VI 


SECT.  XXIir— OF  IRREPARABLE  EXHAUSTION 
IN  THE  MUSCULAR  FIBRE. 

SECT.  XXIV.— Shewn  by  the  abufe  of  tonic  medicines ...  106 


Ap  account  of  the  Portland  powder   i       106,  107 

The  event  which  followed  its  long  ufe    107,  108 

SECT.  XXV. — ^The  ordinary  ftimuli   109 

The  progrefsfrom  infancy  to  old  age  exemplified    103— 111 

SECT.  XXVI. — ^Theartof  prolonging  life    112,  113 

A  note,  to  reprobate  the  unbluHiing  effrontery  of  fome 

medical  men   ib,  ib. 

SECT.  XXVII.— The  effeds  of  drunkennefs   i  n 


ANIMAL  JND  VEGETABLE  POISONS, 

SECT.  XXVIII.— OF  VEGETABLE  AND  ANMAL 

POISON   117 

SECT.  XXIX.— RATIONALE  OF  THE  OPERA- 
TION OF  OPIUM    lis— 127 

The  manner  of  obviating  it  by  oxygen    127 — 130 


SECT.  XXX.— POISONS  OF  THE  VIPER,  ASPIC, 
AND  POLYPUS. 

Their  effeds  fliewn   ,   131—135 

SECT.  XXXT.— OF  THE  BITE  OF  THE  VIPER, 
AND  METHOD  OF  CURE  BY  LUNAR 
.CAUSTIC  AND  TARTAR  EMETIC  136—140 

SECT.  XXXII.— POISON  OF  THE  TJCUNAS, 
AND  ITS  ANTIDOTE  THE  MINERAL  ACIDS    141,  14-2 

Their  effeds  /hewn  to  be  different  from  that  of  fluid  vo- 

'  latile  alkali   L-.,...   142 

The  reafon  of  this  fliewu    ib. 


SECT. 


Vll 


SECT.  XXXIII.— OF  THE  BITE  OF  VENOMOUS 
SERPENTS,  AND  THE  METHOD  OF 
CURE  BY  MERCURY  AND  ARSENIC  ...  143 

SECT.  XXXIV.— CANINE  MADNESS. 

Defcription  of  the  fymptoms   145 

Thefe  are  fliewn  not  to  arife  from  the  nerves,  nor  to  be 

removed  by  what  are  called  nervous  medicines    146 — 146 

Mercury  and  vinegar  fhewn  to  be  the  cure    148 — 151 

Some  new  remedies  for  this  difeafe  fuggelled    151,  152 

SECT.  XXXV.— THE  HOOPING  COUGH. 
The  effeft  of  arfenic  in  this  difeafe    153 


SECT.  XXXVI.— THE  SMALL-POX. 

The  peculiar  nature  of  this  difeafe    154 

Of  the  introdudlion  of  the  cow-pox   154,  155 

SECT.  XXXVII.— THE  ANTIQUITY  OF  INOCULATION. 

Of  the  cuftom  of  buying  the  fmall-pox  in  Wales   157-r-159 

 '  in  the  Highlands  of 

Scotland    159 

  in  many  other 

countries  ,         159 — 170 

SECT.  XXXVIII.— OF  THE  INTRODUCTION  OF 

INOCULATION  IN  ENGLAND   171 

Origin  of  inoculation  in  Turkey      ib. 

Defcription  of  the  Turkifh  mode  of  inoculating,  as  re- 

prefented  by  Lady  Mary  Worthley  Montague   171' — 173 

The  fon  of  this  lady  inoculated  by  Mr.  Maitland   174 

Her  daughter  is  afterwards  inoculated    175 

Thefe  examples  produce  very  little  effect  in  promoting 

the  introduction  of  this  art  ;   177,  178 

Six  culprits  are  taken  from  Newgate  to  have  the  expe- 
riment tried  upon  them    178,  179 

It  is  next  tried  upon  five  charity  children    179 

Two  of  the  royal  family  are  ilioculated  ,   ]  80 

An 


viii 


An  account  of  the  rapid  progrefs  of  inoculation  from  this 

time    181 

Thefuccefsfiatecl    181,  182 

(  - 

SECT.  XXX-DL— THE  OPPOSITION  INOCULATION 

MET  WITH. 

An  account  of  a  pamphlet  printed  againft  inoculation    18-1 

>j  Mr.  Maffey's  fermon    185 

Dr.  Wagftaff's  letter   J  8G 

The  replies  and  rejoinder    186,  187 

An  example  of  the  manner  in  which  this  controverfy  was 

carried  on  187,  188 


SECT.  XL.—THE  SUCCESSFUL  ESTABLISHMENT 


OFINOCULATION  IN  ENGLAND    189 

Of  tke  number  inoculated,  and  the  refult   190 

It  is  again  adopted  in  the  royal  family    191 

The  declaration  of  the  College  of  Phyficians  in  its  fa- 
vour   191,  193 

SECT.  XLI.-OF  THE  DISTINCT  AND  COxN'- 

FLUENT  SMALL-FOX  193,  194 

!^^:CT.  XLIL— THE  TREATMENT  OF  THE  NATU- 
RAL SMALL-POX. 

The  old  error  refpecting  the  treatment  of  this  difeafe    T95 

Firft  corrected  by  Sydenham    196 

The  danger  of  the  hot  regimen  fet  forth    198—202 

The  advantage  of  a  free  current  of  air  demonflrated  ...  202 — 210 

Of  the  employment  of  the  crottis  metallorum    211 

The  great  efQtracy  of  vitriolic  acid  fliewn   211 — 217 


SECT. 


ix 


SECT.  XLIIL— OF  THE  TREATMENT  OF  THE 
INOCULATED  SMALL-POX. 

Boerhaave's  conjefture   refpefting  the  prophylaftic 

power  of  antimony  and  mercury   218,219 

The  fuccefs  of  this  pradice  in  Penfylvania  219—221 

Dr.  Andrew,  of  Exeter,  recommends  this  pradice    221 

The  fuccefs  of  the  mercurial  preparations  fully  afcertained  222 
The  cooling  pradice  of  Sydenham  had  ceafed  to  be  follow- 
ed in  England  when  the  Suttons  appeared    ib. 

Of  the  fuccefs  of  Mr.  Robert  Sutton   223 

Some  account  of  his  two  fons    ib. 

The  prejudice  of  the  old  man    224> 

The  rapid  fuccefs  of  Mr.  Daniel  Sutton   224,  225 

Of  the  number  inoculated  by  him,  and  his  fuccefs   225 

Sir  George  Baker's  attempt  to  unfold  his  method  of  practice  228 
He  attributes  his  fuccefs  chiefly  to  his  freely  recommend- 
ing of  cold  air    229 

Dr.  Glafs  next  attempts  the  fame,  and  lays  his  fuccefs  to 

the  employment  of  an  acid  liquor    230 

The  invidious  perfecution  of  Mr.  D.  Sutton   231,  232 

Mr.  Chandler's  account  of  Mr.  Sutton's  pradtice   232 — 23S 

Baron  Dimfdale's  account    236 

Sutton  reveals  his  plan    ib. 

His  alterative  powder   237 

The  mode  of  exhibition   237,  238 


SECT.  XLV.— THE  MEASLES. 


Its  fymptoms   239 

The  reafoning  of  Dr.  Brown  refpedling  the  treatment  of 

this  and  all  other  contagious  diforders    240 

Mead  ftrongly  recommends  bleeding  in  this  difeafe    241 

The  Angular  efficacy  of  antimonial  wine    242 

The  fequel  of  meafles    ib. 


SECT.  XLVL— OF  THE  AGUE,  OR  INTERMITTENT 

FEVER. 

Of  the  corruption  of  the  air  in  marflies    243 

The  effect  of  flagnant  air  on  Dr.  Franklin    244 

Dr. 


Dr.  Lind's  obfervations  relative  to  an  eafterly  wind   544 

An  account  of  the  prevalence  of  the  ague  in  1765           248,  249 

The  ancient  methods  of  curing  agues    2j0 

The  prejudice  entertained  refpefting  the  Peruvian  bark  250 — 253 

The  rationale  of  its  operation    253 

Why  lleeJ  fo  greatly  improves  its  virtues    251- 

Cafes  in  which  oxygen  air  was  inhaled    255,  256 

A  cafe  in  which  the  mineral  and  vegetable  acids  were  em- 
ployed   256 

Of  calomel   ib. 

—  change  of  air    257 

—  the  oxyd  of  arfenic    ib. 

The  fequel  of  an  ague    25S  ■ 

Jts  treatment   258,  259 


SECT.  XLVII.— FIRST  CAUSE,  OR  SELF-GENERA- 
TION OF  PUTRID  FEVER. 

Burke's  account  of  Howard    268 

liis  opinion  relative  to  the  caufe  of  Jail-fever  -.  261 — 263 

yiiftory  of  tlie  Boulam-fever   263—273 


.SECT.  XLVni.— SECOND  CAUSE,  OR  PUTRID 
FEVER,  ARISING  FROM  ANIMAL  AND  VE- 
GETABLE MIASMITA  OF  PUTREFACTION, 


Of  the  vapour  arifing  from  putrid  bodies    277—284 

Putrid  fevers  produced  by  this  vapour   284— 2S6 

Of  vegetable  putrefaction   286. 

Putrid  fevers  from  this  caufe   287 

The  plague  at  Delph    ib. 

Different  degrees  obferved  by  Sir  John  Pringle,  and  related 

to  fituation    283 

The  fever  at  Copenhagen  in  1652    289 

.  Leyden  in  1669    289,  29Q 

 Rome   291,292 

.  Grand  Cairo   i-'93 

 on  the  c()allof  Guinea   294 

Reafon  of  the  unwholefomeuefi  of  Batavia    299 

Cruel 


Cruel  barbarity  of  the  Arabs  in  producing  a  putrid  fe- 


ver   301 

Defcription  of  the  Yellowy  fever    303  ' 

Confirmation  of  the  origin  of  Putrid  fever    303—305 

Defcription  of  the  Philadelphiau  fever   305 

Its  origin    ib. 

The  perfons  firft  attacked    306,  307 

Dr.  Eulh  founds  the  alarm   ^   307 

The  covrefpondence  of  Dr.  Hutchinfon,  and  Dr.  Rufli, 

on  the  fubjea  of  this  fever    308— 311. 

Defcription  of  the  diflrefs  of  the  Philadelphians   314 — 327 

A  table  of  deaths    327 

.Of  the  fufpenfion  of  the  fever   ,   328—330 

$ECT.  XLIX.— THIRD  CAUSE-^PUTRID  FEVER 
FROM  CONTAGION. 

Defcription  of  the  plague,  in  the  time  of  Juftinian,  as 

defcribed  by  Gibbon   331 — 335 

Its  progrefs    334,  333 

Its  duration  and  mortality  ;   .335 

The  plague  at  Marfeilles  traced  from  its  fource   ib. 

Its  uiortality  :   337 

Origin  and  account  of  the  plague  of  London   ib. 

An  account  of  the  wickednefs  of  nurfes  in  thofe>times   341 

A  defcription  of  modern  nurfes  341,  342 

Forty  thoufand  fervants  are  difmiffed  343 

Sir  John  Lawrence's  noble  condudl    ib. 

The  greataefs  of  the  calamity    345 

Story  of  the  frantic  mother   346 

The  difappearance  of  this  plague    348 

table  of  the  funerals  from  the  bills  of  mortality   349 

Of  the  plague  at  Mofcovy   ^   ib. 

Danger  to  us  of  a  fimilar  calamity  from  the  prefent  ftate 

,of  Europe   350 

Origin  of  the  plague  at  iVIofcow  ,   351 

The  fymptoms  of  this  difeafe  351,  352 

The  reafon  of  its  more  rapid  progrefs  352 — 354, 

Ceffation  of  this  calamity    355 

^ts  extent    355—357 


SECT. 


XII 


L.— OF  PEHSONS  MOST  LIABLE  TO  TAKE 
INFECTION. 

The  caiifes  which  predifpofe  the  body  to  take  infe(5tions  are : 


J.  Fatigue  of  body    358 

2.  Heat    35!> 

3.  Intemperance  in  eating  or  drinking    ib. 

4.  Fear   360 

5.  Grief    361 

7.  Cold   362 

8.  Sleep   364. 

Of  prophylactics,  or  prefervatives    365 — 368 

The  beft  prophyladic  is  temperance    368 

And  fortitude  ,  ,   369 


SECT.  LI.— OF  THE  LIMITED  SPHERE,  OR  ACTION, 
OF  PUTRID  MIASMS. 

.  Some  ci^ious  experiments  made  on  this  fubjed,  by  Dr. 

Ryan    370—372 

The  obfervatibns  on  this  fubject  by  Dr.  Carrie    372 

 Dr.  Haygarth   374 

Utility  of  thefe  obfervations    375,  37  6 


SECT.  LII.— THE  METHOD  OF  DESTROYING 
CONTAGION. 


On  the  nature  of  quarantine    377,  378 

Of  the  dilfereiit  vapours  recommended  by  Dr.  Lind  ...  37S — 381 

The  Italian  cbmpofitiort   '   -"8 1 

The  advantages  refulting  from  fumigation    382,  383 

Dr.  Mead's  prejudice  againft  fumigation  fliewn  to  be  er- 
roneous  •  

The  refult  of  fome  curious  experiments  made  with  a 

new  fumigating  poAvder  at  Mofcow   385 

Compolilion  of  this  powder    385,  386 

Tlie  trial  of  the  muriatic  aci<l,  by  De  Morveau   387 

5  Of 


XIU 

Of  the  trial  of  the  nitrous  acid,  by  Dr.  Carmichael 

Smith  ...,M....-— ;   387—396 

His  memorial   396",  397 

He  is  appointed  Phyfician  extraordinary  to  the  King    397 


SECT.  LIII.-THE  SAME  SUBJECT  CONTINUED. 

Of  the  utility  of  the  ventilator    398 

The  power  of  prejudice  in  oppofing  all  new  improvements  .ib. 

Of  infedion  arifing  from  prifoners   ,  ;   400 

A  remarkable  inftance  of  this  happened  in  the  year  1750.. .401,  402 
The  Rev.  Dr.  Hales,  with  Sir  John  Pringle,  occalions  the 

introduction  of  ventilators  into  Newgate    403 

The  effea  that  this  had  on  the  air    403—405 

Putting  up  the  tubes  produced  a  fever  in  the  carpenters, 

to  the  number  of  fev.en   405 — 413 

Itfpread  into  their  families   413,  il4> 

Ventilators  are  eftabliflied  at  the  county-hofpital  at  Win- 

chefter    415 

Ventilators  are  eflabliflied  at  St.  George's  Hofpital    417 

Airing  rooms  by  ventilators  preferable  to  the  opening^f 

windows    418 

The  introdu<5lion  of  ventilators  into  the  fmall-pox  hofpitals  419 

It  confiderably  lefl'ened  the  mortality  there   420 

Ventilators  are  introduced  into  the  Savoy    421 

How  much  it  decreafed  the  mortality    422 

The  benefits  derived,  and  likely  to  be  derived',  by  venti- 
lators   423 


SECT.. LI  v.— THE  SAME  SUBJECT  CONTINUED. 

Nature  apparently  defeftive  426 

Her  llupendous  produdions  ,  „  427 

The  world  is  contrived  for  the  abode  of  reafon    42^ 

The  connexion  of  foil  with  the  intermittent  fever,  firjft 

fliewn  by  LinnjEus   „   430 

A  curious  facl  of  this  kind  recorded  by  Donaldfon    43 1 

The  properties  of  lime   43 1 ^  4,32 

The  beneficial  etTeds  frpni  agriculture   432 


SECT. 

s 


SECT.  LV,— OF  THE  STAGES  OF  PUTRID  FEVER. 

An  apology  for  delaying-  fo  long  on  the  fiibjcft  of  fever  ....  423 

Charaders  of  the  dilferent  llages  of  fev^r    43't 

The  neceffity  of  a  due  confideration  of  thefe  ftages    4.35 

The  danger  of  medical  enipiricifni — In  a  note  


SECT.  LVI— OF  THE  ADVANTAGE  OF  GOOD 
AIR  IN  FEVER. 


The  manner  in  which  Captain  Ellis  afcertained  the 
goodnefs,  or  badnefs,  of  the  air  in  the  hold  of  his 
ihip   436,  437 

Experiments  made  by  Dr.  Hales,   on  the  different 

ftates  of  the  air  under  diiferent  circuniitances   438 — 143 

The  advantage  of  good  air  in  putrid  fever,  fliew-n  by 

Sir  John  Pringle    443— 44'6 

The  fame  is  particularly  ilkillraled  by  Dr.  Wind    446 — 447 

Obfervations  on  this  head  by  Dr.  Liud    448 — 451 

« 


SECT.  LVII.— THE  METHOD  OF  CURE  IN  THE 
FIRST  STAGE. 

Sir  John  Pringle's  pradice  of  bleeding,  vomiting,  and 

purging,  in  the  early  ftage   452,  453 

The  good  cftecls  of  vomits  obferved  during  the  Ameri- 
can war   •'•   453 

Mr.  Townfend's  obfervation   454 

The  fupcrior  advantage  of  calomel  noticed  by  Dr;  Wade  ...  455 
Its  greater  efficacy  wiien  combined  with  an  antimonial  ...  457 
Dr.  Rulh's  leftimony  in  favour  of  bleeding  and  purging  458—462 

The  dofe  adminiftered   ••••  468 

This  pradice  is  fuccefsfully  followed  by  others   463—465 

An  account  of  the  controverfy  of  Dr.  Rufh  and  Dr. 

Kuhn    467-474; 

Dr.  Rufc's  cafe,  as  drawn  up  by  himfelf    474 — 183 

The  benclits  refulting  from  this  pradice    488—492 

The  reafou  why  the  people  ftiould  be  infiructed  in  the 

•cure  of  infediour.  fever  •  *  4i.'2 — 494 

Dr. 


XV 


Dr.  Jackfon's  teftimony  in  favour  of  bleeding   495 

An  account  of  Sydenham's  pradlice,  and  his  reafoning,  495 — 504 

A  curious  critique  on  Sydenham,  by  his  tranflator   ,501,  502 

Of  fweating   505—508 

Of  the  employment  of  a  mild  purgative   508 

The  fuccefs  of  this  practice    ib. 

Of  the  cold  bath  in  putrid  fever    508—513 

Further  reafon  for  recommending  the  abftradion  of  fti- 

muli  in  the  early  ftage  of  fever  513,  5H' 


SECT.  LVIII.— THE  SECOND  STAGE  OF  PUTRID 

FEVER. 


Reafon  for  the  employment  of  bark   5 IS 

How  it  fliould  be  adminiflered   516 

Of  other  flimuli,  as  opium,  ether,  and  wine    ib. 

When  we  ftiould  encreafe  the  quantity  of  wine   517 

Of  the  conduct  of  the  patient  upon  the  ceffation  of  the 
fever  ,   517,,51» 


LAW  III. 


A  too  great  Excitement  of  the  Nerves, 
or  moving  Fibres,  exhaufts  the 
Powers  of  the  Mind,  and 
enfeebles  the  Body, 


Vol.  IV. 


B 


3 


INTRODUCTION, 


SECTION  I. 

OE"  EXHAUSTION. 

The  ftate  of  exhatijlion  in  the  nerves,  as  in  tli« 
irritable  fibre,  may  be  either, 

-     1.  TEMPORARY,  or 
2.  IRREPARABLE. 

In  the  ftate  of  temporary  exkanjiion,  the  mind  is 
tired,  and,  like  the  body,  recovers  its  due  tone 
only  by  reft : 

But  in  the  ftate  of  jiermanent  exhanjlion  this  re- 
covery is  flow,  and,  generally,  irreparable. 


I.  TEMPORARY  EXHAUSTION 

OF 

THE  NEBVES. 


5 


SECT.  IL 

OF  TEMPORARY  EXHAUSTION. 

Jufl  as  the  morning  fteals  upon  tlie  night, 
Melting  the  darknefs,  lb  tiieir  rifing  fenfes 
Begin  to  chafe  away  the  fumes  that  mantle. 
Their  clearer  reafon.   Their  underftanding 
Begins  to  fwcll,  and  the  approaching  tide 
Will y^ori/y  fill  the  reafonable  lliore 
That  now  lies  foul  and  muddy. 

SHAKESPEARE. 

To  fliew  the  diminution  of  jenjibility  from  in- 
creafed  a£lion,  if  one  hand  be  put  into  very  warm 
water,  and  then  immerfed  with  the  other  into 
fubtepid  water,  to  the  former  this  water  will  ap- 
pear extremely  cold,  while  to  the  other  hand  it 
will  impart  an  agreeable  warmth.  For  the  fame 
reafon  we  feel  a  chillnefs  on  coming  into  an  at- 
mofphere  of  a  temperate  warmth,  after  having 
been  for  fome  time  in  a  very  clofe  apartment. 
Hence  we  are  unable  clearly  to  diftinguifh  objefts, 
immediately  after  we  have  feen  a  bright  flafh  of 
lightning  pervade  the  gloom  of  night.  Thus 
Milton,  in  defcribing  the  light  and  glory  which 
flows  from  the  divine  prefence  and  the  majefty  of 
God,  fays. 

Dark  with  excejjive  light  thy  fkirts  appear. 

Here  is  an  idea  not  only  practical  in  an  high  de- 
gree, but  flriftly  and  philofophically  juft.  Extreme 

light. 


6 


Hght^  by  overcoming  the  organs  of  fight,  obliterate 
all  ohje6ts,  fo  as  in  its  effeSls  exactly  to  refemble 
darknefs.  Thus,  after  having  looked  at  the  fetting 
fun  for  a  Ihort  time,  if  we  turn  our  eyes  to  a  lefs 
fplendid  part  of  the  heaven,  a  dark  fpot  will  be 
perceived  exa6lly  refembling  the  fliape  of  that 
bright  luminary. 

That  thefe  pheenomena  depend  upon  the  ex~ 
haiijiion  of fenjibility,  rnay  be  proved  alfo  by  looking 
ftedfaftly  on  an  area  of  fcarlet  filk  of  about  an  inch 
diameter  fpread  on  white  paper,  the  fcarlet  colour 
will  gradually  become  fainter,  until  it  entirely 
vaniflies,  if  the  eye  be  kept  uniformly  upon  it. 
Or  if  yqu  look  at  a  furface  of  light  blue,  and  then 
place  upon  it  a  fmaller  furface  painted  of  the  ul- 
tramarine blue,  the  appearance  of  the  light  blue 
will  be  nearly  obliterated.  It  is  on  this  account 
that  painters  put  in  their  firft  fhades  darker  than  a 
bye-ftander  ignorant  of  this  law  would  imagine 
right;  and  produce  the  greatefl:  efTecl  by  the  con? 
traft  pf  fliades. 


SECT. 


7 


SECT.  III. 

OF  ASPHYXIA  FROM  MENTAL  AGITATION, 

 Ubi  vehementi  magis  eft  percufla  metu  mens, 

Concentire  animam  totam  per  membra  videmus ; 
Sudores  itaque,  et  pallorem  exiftere  toto 
Corpore,  et  infringi  linguam,  vocemque  aboriri, 
Caligare  oculos,  fonere  aures,  fuccidere  artus. 

LUCRETIUS. 

In  exceffive  fright  the  eyes  for  a  moment  flafh 
fire;  the  hair  becomes  ele6lric  and  ilands  ereft; 
the  heart  palpitates;  the  body  is  thrown  into  the 
attitude  for  efcaping;  but  the  danger  being  in- - 
evitable,  cold  fweats  fucceed ;  the  hair  of  the  body 
droops;  the  eyes  become  dim,  and  as  it  were 
femipellucid;  the  farface  flaccid,  cold,  and  pale; 
and  the  perfon  finks  down  inanimate.  . 

Admitting  the  analogy,  if  not  perfeft  identity 
betwixt  the  nervous  jiidd  and  that  of  ele5lricity^, 

we 

*  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  at  the  end  of  his  Principla^  has  the 
following  Query :  "  Is  not  all  fenfation  performed,  and  the 
"  limbs  of  animals  moved,  in  a  voluntary  manner  by  the  power 
"  of  a  certain  fubtle  fluids  refembling  electricity,  which 
"  we  will  call  cether^  i.  e.  by  the  vibratory  motion  of  this  fjiirit 
"  — propagated  along  the  nerves  from  the  external  organs  of 
"  the  fenfts  to  the  brain;  and  vrom  the  brain  into  the 
*'  mufcles."  "  If  a  man  in  the  dark,"  continues  Sir  Isaac 
Newton,  "  prefles  againft  the  corner  of  his  eye,  or  receives 
*'  a  blow,  as  he  turns  away  his  eye  haftily  from  the  injury,  he 
"  will  perceive  a  circle  of  colours,  or  a  Jlajli  of  light,  and  this 

appearance  will  continue  about  a  fecond  of  time."  Vide 
his  Optics,  Qu.  i6.   It  was  before  obferved,  that -if  a  plate 

of 


I 


8 


we  can  account  for  one  part  of  the  appearances. 
Upon  what  other  principle  can  we  explain  the 
power  that  can  make 

The  knotty  and  combined  locks  ftand  an  end. 
Like  quills  upon  the  fretful  porcupine  ? 

Whence  otherwife  fliall  we  account  for  thofe 
fiery  fcintillations  of  the  eye  firft  excited  upon  a 
fudden  alarm?  And  whence  that  fucceeding  dim- 
nefs,  when  the  hairs  of  the  body  fubfide,  and  the 
limbs  fink  down  powerlefs? 

The  phienomena  of  blood-letting  will  ferve  us 
to  explain  the  other  fymptoms.  I  bled,  fays  Mr. 
Hunter,  a  lady  whofe  blood  at  firft  was  of  a 
dark  colour but  fhe  fainted,  and  while  flie  conti- 
nued in  the  fit,  the  colour  of  .the  blood  that  came 
from  the  vein  was  of  a  bright  fcarlet.  Mr.  Hew- 
soN  obfefves  alfo  the  power  of  the  mind,  as  he 
terms  it,  of  altering  the  chara6ler  of  the  blood, 
and  of  three  fmall  cups,  the  firft  fliall  fometimes 

zinc  be  placed  between  the  gums  qncl  upper  lip,  and  a  plate 
of  gold  bp  brought  into  contaft  with  the  zinc,  a  fmilar  Jlajli  of 
fire  will  be  pefceived ;  and  if  this  experiment  be  tried  on  the 
tongue,  an  acid  tafte  will  be  experienced  fimilar  to  that  of  the 
eledric  aura.  Vide  Vol.  ]. ;  alfo  Vol.  ill.  the  Section  on  the 
Brain. 

When  we  are  in  the  dark,  fays  the  eloquent  Burke,  in  his 
Eifay  on  the  Sublime  and  Beautiful,  there  is  a  continual  endea- 
vour of  the  pupil  to  receive  light.  Hence  arifc  thofe  jlajlie^  and 
luminous  a/i/iearances,  which  often  feem  in  thefe  tircumftances 
to  play  before  it,  and  which  can-  be  nothing  but  the  effe<5l  pro- 
duced by  the  nervous  fibres  in  their  efforts  to  obtain  its  proper 
objeft  of  yifion. 

contaii) 


9 

contain  florid  blood,  the  fecond  venal,  and  the 
thh-d  florid  again;  but  in  animals  that  are  bled  to 
death,  I  always,  fays  this  accurate  experimen- 
talift,  found  that  the  venal  blood  became  brighter 
in  proportion  as  the  animals  became  faint  and  it 
coagulated  the  more  *.  Might  not  the  violent  pal- 
pitation of  the  heart;  the  hurry  of  the  circulation; 
the  retrogade  motion  of  the  abforbents ;  the  cold- 
nefs  and  palenefs  of  the  fkin;  the  inability  for 
mufcular  a6lion,  &c,  depend  upon  the  minute 
arteries  not  giving  out  their  oxygen,  as  is  manifeft 
from  thefe  experiments?  If  fo,  it  v^^ill  further  con- 
firm the  dodrines  contained  in  Vol.  I.  of  this 
workf. 

Hence  it  will  be  proper  to  allow  the  fwooning 
patient  to  remain  in  the  ftate  of  quiefcence:  for 
during  this  torpor  the  irritable  principle 
will  accumulate  in  the  fibres,  and  by  degrees  the 
juft  balance  will  be  reftored  betwixt  the  excitability 
and  the  natural  flimidi.  ■  To  accelerate  recovery, 
the  perfon  ought  however  to  be  expofed  to 

That  VITAL  BREEZE,  which  Nature  pours 
to  fave 

The  breathlefs  vI6lim  froii]  the  untimely  grave; 

*  From  pofleffing  more  oxygen,  /.  e.  the  principle  of  life, 
I — Dr.  Beddoes. 

t  The  Jinlfation  of  the  heart  and  arteries ;  the  powers  of  the 
ftomach;  the  colour  and  warmth  of  the  furface;  the  ability  for 
mufcular  aSlion;  was  (hewn  before  to  depend  on  oxygen. 
Vide  Vol.  I. 

?nd 


and  the  forehead  fliould  be  rubbed  with  vinegar^^ 
which  ought  alfo  to  be  fprinkled  all  around  the 
fwooning  patient;  or  the  real  oxygen  air  might  be 
placed  againft  the  mouth  and  noftrils,  while 
water  is  poured  into  the  bottle ;  and  the  hands 
and  face  fliould  be  rubbed  with  cold  water. 

*  Fermented  liquors,  when  expofed  to  heat  and  a/V,  abforb 
VITAL  AiK,  and  become  in  confequence  vinegar.  Being 
fprinkled  in  fine  fprays,  it  is  rendered  aeriform^  and  parts  with 
its  OXYGEN  when  it  comes  into  contaft  with  the  animal  fibre. 


SECT. 


SECT,  III. 


TEMPORARY  EXHAUSTION  FROM  FATIGUE 
OF  MINP. 

That  violent  exertions  of  the  mind  fatigue  the 
frame  as  much,  jf  not  more,  than  bodily  labour, 
every  day  furnifhes  abundant  proof. 

During  the  late  war  with  America,  when  it 
was  propofed  to  continue .  on  hoftilities.  Lord 
Chatham,  at  the  clofe  of  a  very  long  and 
animating  fpeech,  faid— My  Lords,  you  cannot 
conquer  America.  No  man  thinks  more  highly 
of  my  country  than  I  do.    I  love  and  honour  the 
Englifh  troops.    I  know  their  virtues  and  their 
valour,    I  know  they  can  achieve  aqy  thing,  ex- 
cept hnpoffibjlities,   As  to  the  conqueft  of  Ame- 
rica, I  repeat,  my  lords,  it  is  impoffible.  You 
may  fwell  every  expence  and  every  effort  ftill 
more  extravagantly  j  pile  and  accumulate  every 
mercenary  affiftance  you  can  beg  or  borrow j 
traffic  and  barter  with  every  little  pitiful  German 
prince  that  fells  his  fubje£ls  to  the  Ihambles  of  a 
foreign  power:  your  efforts  are  for  ever  vain  and 
impotent ;  doubly  fo  from  this  mercenary  aid  on 
which  you  rely:  for  it  irritates  to  an  incurable 
refentment  the  minds  of  your  enemies,   To  over- 
run them  with  the  mercenary  fons  of  rapine  and 
plunder,  devoting  them  and  their  pofTeiTions  to  the 
j-apacity  of  hireling  cruelty!  If  I  were  an  American 

a? 


12 


as  I  am 'an  Engli^iman,  while  a  foreign  troop  was 
landed  in  my  country,  I  would  never  lay  down 
my  arms?  NEVER— NEVER— NEVER. 

Your  army  is  infected  with  the  contagion  of 
thefe  illiberal  allies  :  the  fpirit'of  plunder  and  of 
rapine  is  gone  forth  among  them.  I  know  it,  I 
am  intormed  from  the  moft  experienced  officers 
that  our  difcipline  is  deeply  wounded.  Whilft 
this  is  Qotoriouily  our  finking  fituation,  America 
grows  and  flourirties;  whilft  our  ftrength  is  low- 
ered, their  s  rifes  and  improves. 

But,  my  lords,  ia  addition  to  thefe  difgraces 
and  mifchiefs  of  our  army,  the  minifters  have 
dared  to  authorize  and  alfociate  to  our  arms  the 
tomahawk  and  fcalping  knife  of  the  favage  I  have 
called  into  civilized  alliance  the. wild  and  inhu- 
man favage  of  the  wood  !  have  delegated  to  the 
inercilefs  Indian  the  defence  of  difputed  rights, 
and  to  wage  the  horrors  of  his  barbarous  war 
againft  even  brethren  ! 

My  lords,  this  enormity  cries  aloud  for  redrefs, 
and  unlefs  thoroughly  done  away,  it  will  be  a 
(lain  on  the  national  character ;  it  is  a  violation  of 
the  conftitution ;  I  believe  it  is  againft  the  law. 

It  is  not  amongft  the  leaft  of  -  our  national  misr 
fortunes,  that  our  army  is  infefted  with  the  mer- 
cenary fpirit  of  robbery  and  rapine,  for,  familia- 
rized to  the  horrid  fcenes  of  cruelty,  it  can  no 
longer  boaft  of  the  noble  and  generous  principles 
yvhich  dignify  a  foldier,  no  longer  fympathize  with 


13 

«  the  dignity  of  the  royal  banner  nor  feel  "  the  ■pride, 
"  pomp^  circimftance  of  glorious  war,"  that  make  am- 
bition virtue. — What  makes  ambition  virtue  P — A 
fenfe  of  honour : — but  is  a  fenfe  of  honour  confident 
with  a  fpirit  of  plunder,  and  the  praftice  of  mur- 
der? Can  it  flow  from  mercenary  motives?  Or 
can  it  prompt  to  cruel  deeds  ? 

My -lords,  the  time  demands  the  language  of 
truth :  we  muft  not  now  lay  the  flattering  unction 
of  fervile  compliment  or  blind  adulation.  In  a 
juft  or  necefl"ary  war,  to  maintain  the  rights  or 
the  honour  of  my  country,  I  would  flrip  the  fliirt 
from  my  back  to  fupport  it :  but  in  fuch  a  war 
as  this^  unjuft  in  all  its  principles,  impracticable 
in  its  means,  and  ruinous  in  its  confequences,  [ 
would  not  contribute  a  fingle  effort,  or  a  Angle 
fliilh'ng.  In  this  "complicated  crifis  of  danger, 
weaknefs  at  home,  and  calamity  abroad,  terrified 
and  intuited  by  the  neighbouring  powers  ;  unable 
to  aft  in  America,  or  afting  only  to  be  de- 
ftroyed,  where  is  the  man  with  the  forehead  to 
fay  our  affairs  are  in  a  hopeful  iituation  !  who 
has  the  forehead  to  promife  or  to  hope  fuccefs 
from  fuch  a  fituation,  or  from  perfeverance  in 
thofe  meafures  that  have  driven  us  to  it  ? 

But  if  in  an  obllinate  and  infatuated  perfeve- 
rance in  folly  we  meanly  echo  back  the  words  this 
day  offered  to  us,  we  fliail  madly  rufli  into  multi- 
plied miferies,  and  confufion  worfe  confounded.  Is 
it  pofTible  ?  Can  it  be  believed,  that  miniflers  are 

yet 


I 


• 

yet  blind  to  their  impending  dcftruaion  ?  I  did 
hope,  that  inftead  of  this  falfe  and  empty  vanity ; 
this  overweaning  pride  engendering  high  conceits, 
and  "  prefumptuous  imaginations,"  that  minifters 
would  have  humbled  themfelves  in  their  errors ; 
would  have  confefled  and  retracted  them ,  and  by 
an  a£tive,  though  late  repentance,  have  endea- 
voured to  redeem  them. 

But,  my  lords,  fince  they  had  neither  fagacity 
to  forefee,  nor  juftice  nor  humanity  to  fliun,  thefe 
oppreffive  calamities  :  fince  not  even  fevere  ex- 
perience can  make  them  feel,  nor  the  imminent 
ruin  of  their  country  awaken  them  from  their 
ftupefatlion  j  the  guardian  care  of  parliament  muji 
interpofe. 

The  Americans  contending  for  their  rights 
againft  our  arbitrary  exa£lions,  I  love  and  admire. 
It  is  the  ftruggle  of  free  and  virtuous  patriots. 
But  contending  for  a  iota/  difconnedion  from  Eng- 
land, as  an  Englifliman  I  cannot  wifli  them  fuc- 
cefs,  for  on  this  connection  depends  the  mutual 
happinefs  and  profperity  of  both  England  and 
America.  They  derived  encouragement,  af- 
fiftance,  and  proteftion  from  us,  and  we  reaped 
from  her  the  moft  important  advantages.  She 
was  indeed  the  foundation  of  our  wealth,  the 
nerve  of  our  ftrength,  the  nurfery  and  bafis  of  our 
naval  power.  It  is  our  duty,  my  lords,  moft  anxi- 
oufly  to  endeavour  the  recovery  of  thefe  inefti- 
mable,  thefe  moft  beneficial  advantages :  and  in 

this 


15 

this  perilous  crifis,  perhaps  the  prefent  moment 
may  be  the  only  one  in  which  we  can  hope  for 
fuccefs.     For  the  natural  difpofition  of  Ame- 
rica as  yet  leans  towards  England,  towards 
the  old  habit  of  connexion  and  mutual  intereft 
that  united  both  countries.    This  was  the  eftab- 
liflied  fentiment  of  all  the  continent:  and  ftill, 
my  lords,  in  the  great  and  principal  part,  the 
found  part  of  America,  the  middle  and  fouthern 
colonies,  this  wife  and  affedTtionate  difpofition 
prevails  :  and  there  is  a  very  important  and  con- 
fiderable  part  of  America  yet  found.  Some 
parts  may  be  blind  to  their  true  interefts ;  but  if 
we  exprefs  a  juft,  a  wife,  and  a  benevolent  difpo- 
fition to  participate  with  them  thofe  immutable 
rights  of  nature  and  conftitutional  liberties,  to 
which  they  are  equally  entitled  with  ourfelves : 
by  a  conduft  fo  juft  and  humane,  we  fliall  con- 
firm the  moft  favourable,  and  conciliate  the  moft 
adverfe.    I  fay,  my  lords,  the  rights  and  liberties 
to  which  they  are  equally  entitled  with  ourfelves; 
but  no  more.    I  would  participate  to  them  every 
enjoyment  and  every  freedom  which  the  coloniz- 
ing fubje6ls  of  a  free  ftate  can  poffefs,  or  wifli  to 
polfefs:  and  I  do  not  fee  why  they  fliould  not 
enjoy  every  fundamental  right  in  their  property, 
and  every  original  fubftantial  liberty  that  Devon- 
fliire  or  Surry,  or  the  county  I  live  in,  or  any 
county  in  England  can  claim.    I  iliall,  there- 
fore, 


i6 

fore,  my  lords,  propofe  to  you  an  amendment  to 
the  addrefs  to  his  Majedy  ;  "  to  recommend  (in- 
"  ftead  of  profecuting  further  this  calamitous  war) 
"  an  immediate  cejjation  of  hojlilities ;  and  the  com- 
"  tnencemeni  of  a  treaty  to  reflore  -peace  and  liberty  to 
"  America,  flrength  and  happinefs  to  England  ; 
^yfeciirity  and  permanent  prof  per  ity  to  both  countries 

This,  my  lords,  is  yet  in  our  power,  and  let 
not  the.wifdom  and  juftice  of  your  lordfhips  neg- 
]e6l  the  happy  and  perhaps  the  only  opportunity. 
By  the  eftablifliment  of  irrevocable  laws,  founded 
on  mutual .  rights,  and  afcertained  by  a  treaty^ 
thefe  glorious  enjoyments  may  be  firmly  perpe- 
tuated. The  found  parts  of  America  of  which 
I  have  fpoken,  muft  be  fenfible  of  thefe  great 
truths,  and  of  their  real  interefls:  America  is 
not  in  that  ftate  of  defperate  and  contemptible 
rebellion  which  this,  country  has  been  deluded  to 
believe.  It  is  not  a  wild  and  lawlefs  banditti, 
who  having  nothing  to  lofe  might  hope  to  fnatch 
fomething  from  public  convulf)ons;  many  of  their 
leaders  and  principal  men  have  a  great  ftake  in 
this  conteft ;  and  let  me  again  repeat  to  your 
lordfliips,  that  the  ftrong  bias  of  America,  at 
leaft  of  the  wifer  and  founder  part  of  it,  naturally 
inclines  to  this  happy  and  conftitutional  re-con- 
neftion  with  you. 

Lord  Chatham  was  fupported  in  his  propofed 
amendment  by  Lord  Abingdon,  Lord  Shel- 

BURNE, 


BtJRNE,  the  Duke  of  Grafton,  Lord  Camden, 
the  Duke  of  Richmond,  Lord  Effingham, 
and  the  Bifliop  of  Peterborough. 

Lord  Abingdon  was  fliort  and  fpirited.  Lord 
Shelburne,  as  ufual,  difcuffed  the  fubjedt  m  a 
very  ample  and  comprehenfive  manner.  The 
Duke  of  Grafton  fpoke  long,  and  with  much 
earneflnefs,  preferving  at  the  fame  time,  what 
generally  characterizes  this  nobleman's  fpeaking, 
a  decent  and  chaftifed  ftile  of  dignity.  Lord 
Camden  was  argumentative,  fluent,  fincere,  and 
animated.  The  Dbke  of  Richmond  was  a  pow- 
erful afliftant  to  the  noble  mover  of  the  amend- 
ment. And  the  Bifliop  of  Peterborough  pro- 
nounced a  fliort  and  pithy  opinion  on  the  quefl:ion; 
clothed  in  language  uniting  qualities  rarely  found 
together,  being  both  nervous  and  elegant. 

On  the  other  "fide  there  were  many  able  fpeak- 
ers  who  fupported  the  continuance  and  principle 
of  the  war.  With  refpeft  to  the  employment  of 
Indians t  Lord  Suffolk  faid,  it  was  a  meafure  ne- 
ceffary  in  fa6l,  and  allowable  in  principle :  for  it 
Was  perfectly  j ufl:ifiable  to  ufe  every  means  againft 
our  enemies,  that  GOD  and  NATURE  had  put 
into  our  hands. 

Lord  Chatham  rofe. 

I  am  aftoniflied— fliocked— to  hear  fuch  princi- 
ples confefled :— to  hear  them  avowed  in  this 
houfe,  or  in  this  country : — principles  equally  un- 

VoL.  IV.  C  conftitutional. 


i8 

conftitutlonal,  inhuman,  and  unchrlftian. — My 
lords,  I  did  not  intend  to  have  encroached  aijain 
on  your  attention : — but  I  cannot  reprefs  my  in- 
dignation : — I  feel  myfelf  impelled  by  every  duty. 
— My  lords,  we  are  called  upon  as  members  of 
this  houfe,  as  Chriftian  men,  to  proteft  againft 
fuch  notions  ftanding  near  the  throne,  polluting 
the  ear  of  majefty. — That  God  and  Nature  put 
into  our  hands!! — I  know  not  what  ideas  that 
lord  may  entertain  of  God  and  Nature  :  but  I 
know  that  fuch  abominable  principles  are  equally 
abhorrent  to  religion  and  humanity. — What 
- — to  attribute  the  facred  fan£lion  of  God  and 
Nature  to  the  maffacres  of  the  Indian  fcalping 
knife  ! — to  the  cannibal  favage  torturing,  murder- 
ing, roafting,  and  eating, — literally,  my  lords,  eat- 
ing the  mangled  vi£lims  of  his  barbarous  battles ! 
— Such  horrible  notions  fliock  every  precept  of 
religion,  divine  or  natural,  and  every  generous 
feeling  of  humanity :  and,  my  lords,  they  fliock 
every  fentiment  of  honour : — they  fliock  me,  as  a 
lover  of  honourable  war,  and  a  detefter  of  murder- 
ous barbarity. — Thefe  abominable  principles,  and 
this  more  abominable  and  fliameful  avow^al  ot 
them,  demand  the  moft  decifive  indignation. — I 
call  upon  that  right  reverend  bench,  thofe  holy 
minifters  of  the  gofpel  and  pious  pafl:ors  of  our 
church : — I  conjure  them  to  join  in  the  holy  work, 
and  vindicate  the  religion  of  their  God  ! — I  ap- 
peal to  the  wifdom  of  this  learned  bench  to  defend 

and 


19 

and  fupport  the  juftice  of  their  country : — I  call 
upon  the  bilhops  to  interpofe  the  unfullied  fanc- 
tity  of  then"  lawn: — upon  the  reverend  judges  to 
interpofe  the  purity  of  their  ermine,  to  fave  us 
from  this  pollution.^ — I  call  upon  the  honour  of 
your  lordfliips  to  reverence  the  dignity  of  your 
anceftors,  and  to  maintain  your  own : — I  call 
upon  the  fpirit  and  humanity  of  my  country  to 
vindicate  the  national  chara£l:er :— I  invoke  the 
genius  of  the  conftitution,  from  the  tapeftry  that 
adorns  thefe  walls,  the  immortal  anceftor  *  of  this 
noble  lord,  who  frowns  with  indignation  at  the 
difgraces  of  his  country. — In  vain  he  led  your 
vi£lorious  fleets  againft  the  boafted  Armadas  of 
Spain ;  in  vain  he  defended  arid  eftablifhed  the 
honour,  the  liberties,  the  religion,  the  Proteftant 
religion  of  this  country  againft  the  arbitrary  cruel- 
ties of  Popery  and  the  Inquifition  ^  if  thefe  more 
than  Popifli  cruelties  and  inquilitorial  practices 
are  let  loofe  among  us. — To  turn  forth  into  our 
fettlements,   among   our   ancient  conne£lions, 
friends,  and  relations,  the   mercilefs  cannibal 
thirfting  for  the  blood  of  man,  woman,  and  child  ! 
— To  fend  forth   the   infidel  favasre  —  ag-ainft 
whom  ? — Againft  your  Proteftant  brethren  ! — To 
lay  wafte  their  country ;  to  defolate  their  dwel- 
lings, and  extirpate  their  race  and  name,  with 
their  hell-hounds  of  favage  war ! — Hell-hounds  I  ^ 

*  Lord  Effingham  Howard,  Queen  Elizabeth's 
Lord  High  Admiral. 

C  2  fay 


20 


fay  of  favage  war.  Spain  armed  herfelf  with 
blood-hounds  to  extirpate  the  wretched  nations 
of  America: — and  we  improve  on  the  inhuman 
example  even  of  Spanifh  cruelty.  We  turn  loofe 
thefe  favage  hell-hounds  againft  our  brethren  and 
countrymen  in  America,  of  the  fame  language, 
laws,  liberties,  and  religion : — endeared  to  us  by 
every  tie  that  fliould  fanftify  humanity. 

My  lords,  this  awful  fubjeft,  fo  important  to 
our  honour,  our  conftitution,  and  our  religion,  de- 
mands the  moft  folemn  and  effeftual  enquiry  :  and 
I  again  call  upon  your  lordfliips,  and  the  united 
powers  of  the  ftate,  to  examine  it  thoroughly  and 
decifively,  and  to  ftamp  upon  it  an  indelible 
fligma  of  public  abhorrence  :  and  I  again  implore 
thofe  holy  prelates  of  our  religion  to  do  away 
thefe  iniquities  from  among  us.  Let  them  purify 
this  houfe,  and  this  country,  from  fo  great  a  fin. 

My  lords,  I  am  old,  and  weak ;  and  at  prejent 
UNABLE  *  to  jay  more  •.--—^yxi  my  feelings  and  my 
indignation  were  too  ftrong  to  have  faid  lefs.  1 
could  not  have  flept  this  night  in  my  bed,  nor 
repofed  my  head  upon  my  pillow^,  without  giving 
this  vent  to  my  eternal  abhorrence  of  fuch  pre- 
pofterous  and  enormous  principles. 

*  This  arofe  from  Exhaudioii,  recoverable. 


SECT. 


II.  PERMANENT  EXHAUSTION 


OP 

THE  NERVES, 


21 


SECT.  IV. 

OF  PERMANENT  EXHAUSTION. 

THE  DEATH  OF  LORD  CHATHAM. 

Curse  leves  loquunter,  ingentes  Jlupent. 

TACITUS. 

Notwithstanding  a  negative  had  been  put 
upon  every  propofition  and  motion  made  by  Lord 
Chatham  concerning  America^  yet  he  refolved 
to  perfevere  in  the  fame  line  of  condu6t.  To  his 
•zeal  in  this  caufe  he  facrificed  his  life.  He  had 
not  ftren^th  of  frame  fufficient  to  bear  the  exer- 
tions  he  made.  He  was  now  advanced  in  the 
feventieth  year  of  his  age,  and  fuffered  the  fe- 
vereft  attacks  of  gout  j  but  although  debilitated 
by  infirmity,  and  enervated  by  anguifli  of  body 
and  mind,  ftill  he  refufed  to  yield  to  the  calls  of 
his  diforder,  or  to  mitigate  his  pains  by  the  indul- 
gence of  a  bed — while  his  country  was  bleeding, 
he  felt  for  her  and  not  for  himfelf.  Her  honour 
and  fplendour  had  been  his  glory  and  his  pride-^ 
her  debafement  and  adverfity  were  now  the  only 
fubje£ls  of  his  concern  and  anxiety. 

On  the  7th  day  of  April,  1778,  the  Duke  of 
Richmond  having  moved  to  prefent  an  addrefs 
to  the  king  on  the  fubjeft  of  the  ftate  of  the 
nation,  in  which  the  neceffity  of  admitting  the/«// 
INDEPENDENCE  oi  America  was  hinted.  Lord 

Chatham, 


22 


Chatham,  for  the  laft  time,  rofe  to  fpeak  in  the 
Houfe  of  Lords. 

My  lords,  he  faid,  I  rejoice  that  the  grave  has 
not  clofed  upon  me;  that  I  am  ftill  alive  to  lift 
up  my  voice  againft  the  difmemberment  of  this 
ancient  and  moft  noble  monarchy  !  Preffed  down 
as  I  am  by  the  hand  of  infirmity,  I  am  little  able 
to  affift  my  country  in  this  moft  perilous  con- 
junfture;  but,  my  lords,  while  I  have  fenfe  and 
memory,  I  will  never  confent  to  deprive  the  royal 
offspring  of  the  Houfe  of  Brunswick  of  their 
faireft  inheritance.  Where  is  the  man  that  will 
dare  to  advife  fuch  ameafure?  My  lords,  his  Ma- 
jefty  fucceeded  to  an  empire  as  great  in  extent  as 
its  reputation  was  unfullicd.  Shall  we  tarnifli  the 
luftre  of  this  nation  by  an  ignominious  furrender 
of  its  rights  and  faireft  -pojjejfions?  Shall  this  great 
kingdom  truckle  to  the  Houfe  of  Bourbon? 
Shall  a  people,  that  feventeen  years  ago  was  the 
terror  of  the  world,  now  ftoop  fo  low  as  to  tell  its 
ancient  inveterate  enemy,  "  Take  all  we  have, 
"  only  allow  us  peace?"  Is  it  poflible! — I  wage 
war  with  no  man,  or  fet  of  men. — I  wifh  for  none 
of  their  employments; — nor  would  I  co-operate 
with  men  (alluding  to  the  Duke  of  Richmond) 
who  inftead  of  afting  on  a  firm  decifive  line  of 
conduft,  halt  between  two  opinions,  where  there 
is  no  middle  path.  In  God's  name,  if  it  is  ab- 
folutely  neceffary  to  declare  either  peace  or  war, 
?ind  the  former  cannot  be  prefervcd  with  honour, 

why 


23 

why  is  not  the  latter  adopted  without  hefitation  ? 
I  am  not,  I  confefs,  well  informed  of  the  refources 
of  this  kingdom  3  but,  my  lords,  any  ftate  is  better 
than  defpair,  and  I  truft  it  has  ftill  fufficient  to 
maintain  lisjiiji  rights.  Let  us  at  leaft  make  ano- 
ther effort  J  and  if  we  muft  fall,  let  us  fall  like 
men. 

The  Duke  of  Richmond  having  fpoken  rather 
harflily  to  fome  parts  of  Lord  Chatham's  fpeech, 
his  lordfhip,  greatly  moved,  attempted  to  rife  in 
reply ;  but  after  two  or  three  efforts  to  ftand,  he 
fainted  and  fell  down  on  his  feat  *.  The  Duke  of 
Cumberland,  Lord  Temple,  Lord  Stam- 
ford, and  other  lords,  caught  him  in  their  arms. 
The  houfe  was  immediately  cleared,  and  the 
windows  thrown  open.  This  venerable  patriot 
was  carried  to  an  adjoining  room,  and  the  houfe 
immediately  adjourned. — This  unhappy  event 
proved  the  melancholy  prelude  to  his  death.  He 
languiflied  at  Hayes  until  the  eleventh  day  of  May, 
1778,  when  he  died;  to  the  fincere  regret  of 
every  perfon  who  has  a  juft  fenfe  of  human  dig^ 
nity  and  virtue. 

*  There  is  a  fine  pifture  of  this  Event  by  Copley, 


SECT. 


SECT.  V. 

FREQUENT  END  OF  GREAT  LITERARY  TALENTS. 

Men  of  letters,  fays  Baron  Van  Swieten, 
who  lead  a  ftudious  life,  are  qn  this  account  much 
expofed  to  apoplexy.  At  firft  they  become  lan- 
guid] they  delight  in  eafe  and  indolence;  their 
underftanding  grows  dull ;  their  memory  decays 
and  fails  them;  they  then  grow  heavy,  fleepy, 
and  ftupid,  and  often  remain  long  in  this  wretch- 
ed fituation  before  they  die.  It  has  given  me,  he 
continues,  much  concern  to  fee  learned  men  of 
the  firft  clafs,  who  had  been  very  ferviceable  to 
literature,  live  more  than  a  twelvemonth  after  the 
lofs  of  their  faculties,  forget  every  thing ;  and  at 
Jaft  die  on  a  fudden. 

Sure  'tis  a  curfe  which  angry  fates  impofe 
To  mortify  man's  arrogance,  that  thofe 
Who  're  fafliion'd  of  fome  better  fort  of  clay. 
Much  fooner  than  the  common  herd  decay. 
O,  galling  circumftance  to  human  pride  ! 
Abafing  thought,  but  not  to  be  denied ! 
With  curious  art  the  brain,  too  finely  wrought, 
Preys  on  herfelf,  and  is  deftroy'd  by  thought. 
Conjlant  attention  wears  the  a5iive  mind, 
Blots  out  her p.ow'rSy  and  leaves  a  blank  behind. 

CHPRCHILL. 


It 


25 

It  was  thus  with  Dean  Swift,  who  was 
feized  in  1736  with  violent  giddinefs,  which  in 
a  few  years  gradually  deprived  him  of  his  reafon, 
and  he  funk  at  laft  into  a  fpeechlefs  idiot;  and  in 
the  latter  end  of  October  1745,  without  even 
giving  an  alarm  to  his  attendance,  he  expired. 
A  man  in  polTeffion  of  his  reafon  would  have 
wiflied  for  fuch  a  kind  diffolution,  but  the  Dean 
was  wholly  infenfible;  he  had  not  even  the  power 
or  exprefTion  of  a  child,  appearing,  for  fome  years 
before  his  death,  the  reverfe  of  that  fine  defcrip- 
tion  of  man  given  us  by  Milton  : 

— —  A  being,  who  not  prone 

And  brute  as  other  creatures,  but  endu'd 
-  With  fanftity  of  reafon,  might  ere6t 
His  ftature,  and  upright  with  front  ferene 
Govern  the  reft,  felf-knowing,  and  from  thence 
Magnanimous  to  correfpond  with  heaven. 
But  grateful  to  acknowledge  whence  his  good 
Defcends,  thither  with  heart,  and  voice,  and  eyes, 
Direfted  in  devotion,  to  adore 
And  worfliip  God  fupreme,  who  made  him  chief 
Of  all  his  works. 


SECT. 


1^ 


26 
SECT.  VI. 

STORY  OF  LOUISA,  MAID  OF  THE  HAY-STACK. 

History  affords  many  very  ftriking  inftances 
of  the  effe£l:  of  mental  agitation  in  difturbing  the 
powers  of  the  underftanding. 

A  German  lady  of  great  beauty  and  accom- 
plirtiments  having  married  a  Heifian  officer,  who 
was  ordered  to  America,  and  not  being  able  to 
acquire  any  tidings  of  him  in  her  own  country, 
came  over  to  England.  Here,  (he  could  only  learn 
the  deftiny  of  her  hufband  from  thofe  fliips  which 
had  either  tranfported  troops  to  the  continent,  or 
were  bringing  back  the  wounded.  Day  after  day 
{lie  wandered  on  the  beach  at  Portfmouth^  and 
hour  after  hour  flie  wearied  her  eyes  bedewed 
with  tears  in  the  vain  expectation  of  feeing  him. 
She  was  obferved,  at  the  fame  fpot,  ere  it  was 
liirht,  and  watched  each  motion  of  the  waves 
until  the  fetting  fun.  Then  her  haunted  imagina- 
tion prefented  him  mangled  with  wounds,  and 
the  fmaileft  guft  of  wind  feemed  to  threaten  her 
with  an  eternal  feparation.  Did  a  fliip  enter  into 
port,  her  eager  fteps  led  her  to  the  fpot,  and 
many  an  enquiry  was  repaid  with  an  infolent 
rebuff.  After  eight  months  fpent  in  this  anxious 
manner,  a  (hip  arrived,  bringing  her  the  melan- 
choly pleafure,  "  that  fome  Heffian  officers,  who 
«  were  wounded,  were  on  their  paffage."  Her 

impatience 


27 

impatience  increafed  daily.  A  veflel  at  length 
arrived,  reported  to  have  Heffian  troops  on  board. 
She  kept  at  fome  diftance  for  fear  of  giving  too 
o-reat  a  fliock  to  her  hufband's  feelings,  fliould  he 
be  among  them.  He  was  landed  with  others. 
She  fainted,  and  he  was  conveyed,  fhe  knew  not 
where.  Having  recovered,  and  going  to  the  dif- 
ferent inns,  fhe  found  at  laft  her  hufband.  The 
mafter  of  the  inn  informed  her,  "he  was  very 
"  bad,"  and  flie  begged  that  her  being  in  England 
might  be  gradually  broken  to  him.  When  fhe 
entered  the  room,  he  burft  into  a  flood  of  tears. 
A  lady  was  fupporting  him  in  her  arms.  What 
words,  or  painter,  could  reprefent  the  tragedy 
that  followed !  He  had  married  in  America,  and 
this  perfon  was  alfo  his  wife.  He  entreated 
"  pardon,"  was  pafl  reproach,  for  in  a  few  mi-^ 
nutes  after  he  funk  into  the  arms  of  death.  The  \ 
lady,  whofe  melancholy  hiflory  we  are  recording, 
ruflied  from  the  room,  and  leaving  her  clothes 
and  money  at  her  lodging,  flie  wandered  flie  knew 
not  whither,  vowing  "  that  fhe  would  never  enter 
*'  houfe  more,  or  truft  to  man."  She  flopped  at 
laft  near  Brijiol,  and  begged  the  refrefliment  of  a 
little  milk.  There  was  fomething  fo  attraftive  in 
her  whole  appearance  as  foon  produced  her 
whatever  flie  requefled.  She  was  young,  and 
extremely  beautiful : — her  manners  graceful  and 
elegant,  and  her  countenance  interefling  to  the 
lafl  degree. — She  was  alone— a  flranger — and  in 

extreme 


28 

extreme  diftrefs  fhe  alked  only  for  a  little  milk 
— but  uttered  no  complaint,  and  ufed  no  art  to 
excite  compaflion.  Her  drefs  and  accent  bore 
vifible  marks  that  flie  was  a  foreigner  of  fuperior 
birth.  All  the  day  flie  was  feen  wandering  in 
fearch  of  a  place  to  lay  her  wretched  head ;  fhe 
fcooped  towards  night  a  lodging  for  herfelf  in  an 
old  hay-ftack.  Multitudes  foon  flocked  around 
her  in  this  new  habitation,  attracted  by  the  no- 
velty of  the  circumftance,  her  fmgular  beauty,  but 
above  all  by  the  fuddennefs  of  her  arrival.  French 
and  Italian  were  fpoken  to  her,  but  (lie  appeared 
not  to  underlland  thefe  languages  ;  however  when 
ftie  was  accofled  in  German^  flie  evidently  ap- 
peared confufed ; — the  emotion  was  too  great  to 
be  fuppreffed,  flie  uttered  fome  faint  exclamation 
in  our  tongue,  and  then,  as  if  hurried  into  an  im- 
prudence, flie  attempted  to  be  alfo  without  know^ 
ledge  of  this  language.  Various  conjectures  were 
inftantly  formed,  but  what  feemed  pafling  fl:range 
was  her  acceptance  of  no  food,  except  bread  or 
milk,  and  that  only  from  the  hands  of  females ! 
On  the  men  flie  looked  with  anger  and  difdain, 
but  fweetly  fmiled  as  flie  accepted  any  prefent 
from  the  other  fex.  The  neighbouring  ladies  rcr 
monfl:rated  with  her  on  the  danger  of  fo  expofed 
a  fituation,  but  in  vain,  for  neither  prayers  nor 
menaces  could  induce  her  to  fleep  in  a  houfe. 

As  flie  difcovered  evident  marks  of  infanity, 
flie  was  at  length  confined  in  a  mad-houfcj  under 

the 


29 

the  care  of  Dr.  Renaudet,  pliyfician  at  the 
Hot  PVelh.  On  the  firft  opportunity  flie  efcaped, 
and  repaired  to  her  beloved  hay-ftack.  Her 
rapture  was  inexpreffible  on  finding  herfelf  at 
liberty,  and  once  more  fafe  beneath  this  miferable 
refuge. 

Beneath  a  hay-ftack  Louisa's  dwelling  rofe, 
Here  the  fair  maniac  bore  four  winters'  fnows. 
Here  long  flie  fliiver'd,  ftifFening  in  the  blaft. 
And  lightnings  round  her  head  their  horrors  caft. 
Difhevell'd,  lo !  her  beauteous  treffes  fly. 
And  the  wild  glance  now  fills  the  flaring  eye : 
The  balls  fierce  glaring  in  their  orbits  move ; 
Bright  fpheres,  where  beam'd  the  fparkling  fir.es 
of  love, 
'111-ftarr'd  Louisa! 

It  was  nearly  four  years  that  this  forlorn  crea- 
ture devoted  herfelf  to  this  defolate  life,  fince  fhe 
knew  the  comfort  of  a  bed,  or  the  protection  of 
a  roof.  Hardfhip,  ficknefs,  intenfe  cold,  and  ex- 
treme mifery,  have  gradually  impaired  her  beauty, 
but  fhe  ftill  is  a  moft  interefting  figure ;  and  there 
remains  uncommon  fweetnefs  and  delicacy  in  her 
air  and  manner  j  and  her  anfwers  are  always  per- 
tinent enough,  except  when  flie  fufpe£ts  the 
queftion  is  meant  either  to  affront  or  enfnare  her, 
when  flie  feems  fullen  or  angry.  Some  Quaker 
ladies  at  this  time  interpofed,  and  Louisa,  as 
flie  was  called,  was  conveyed  to  Giifs  Hofpital, 

where 


30 

where  flie  at  prefent  is,  and  fllll  maintains  her 
indignation  againft  the  men  *. 

The  perfon  with  whom  flie  lodged,  upon  her 
death-bed,  divulged  the  fecret  of  the  flight  of  this 
ftranger  from  Portfmotith,  which  correfponds  near- 
ly with  the  time  of  her  arrival  near  Brifiol,  and 
future  enquirers  have  difcovered,  that  flie  is  "  the 
*'  natural  daughter  of  Francis  Emperor  of  Ger- 
"  many\** 

*  When  any  gentleman  enters  the  room  where  flie  is  kept, 
ilie  always  turns  her  head  afide,  and  ftill  exprefles  a  fullcn 
difdain. 

j  Vide  the  Narrative  of  Fa£ls  refpeding  the  Briftol  Stran- 
ger, or  Maid  of  the  Hay-ftack. 


SECT. 


SECT.  VII. 


HISTORY  OF  MADEMOISELLE  D£  M  . 

The  page  of  hiftory  furniflies  us  alfo  with  ano- 
ther inftance  equally  terrible ;  when  that  fyftem  of 
government  was  eftabliflied  in  Franc£,  during; 
the  continuance  of  which,  to  ufe  the  words  of  an 
eloquent  member  of  the  Convention,  there  was 
under  every  footftep  a  fjiring-guny  under  every 
roof  a  fpy,  and  in  every  fan[iily  an  informer^  and  on 
every  bench  of  juftice  an  ajfajjin. 

A  fmall  tree  of  liberty  which  had  been  planted 
on  a  folitary  fpot  near  Bedouin,  was,  during  the 
night,  torn  from  the  ground  by  a  wretch,  who 
knew  that  this  incident  would  furnifh  a  pretext 
for  pillage  and  devaftation.  At  break  of  day  the 
very  perfon  who  was  the  perpetrator  of  this  aft, 
the  /irejident  of  one  of  thofe  focieties,  which  was 
the  terror  of  all  good  citizens,  being  the  combi- 
nation only  of  the  violent  and  worthlefs,  founded 
a  general  alarm,  and  accufed  the  guiltlefs  inhabi- 
tants of  Bedouin  of  the  facrilege  committed  againft 
the  hallowed  fymbol  of  freedom. 

Without  further  inquiry  a  municipal  commif- 
fion  was  immediately  organized  by  Maignet, 
which  prefented  itfelf  for  the  hope  of  fpoil.  Re- 
volutionary troops  were  inftantly  fummoned  to 
fpread  through  the  village  and  territory  of  Bedouin 
defolation  and  death.    Five  hundred  habitations 

were 


32 

were  delivered  to  the  flames;  the  fruits  of  the 
harveft  were  confumed;  and  the  mandate  of 
Maignet,  fatal  as  the  fabled  wand  of  an  evil 
magician,  ftruck  the  rich  and  luxuriant  foil  with 
fudden  fterility.  The  fiourifliing  filk  manufac- 
tures of  Bedouin  fliared  alfo  the  fate  of  its  defo- 
lated  fields.  The  inhabitants  being  unable  to 
name  the  guilty  perfons,  were  all  involved  in  one 
general  profcription.  Thofe  who  efcaped  the 
guillotine  fought  for  fhelter  in  the  depths  of  ca- 
verns, after  the  conflagration  of  their  habitations, 
on  the  ruins  of  which  bills  were  afiixed,  forbid- 
ding any  perfon  to  approach  the  fpot. 

Two  hundred  and  eighty  young  men  of  Be- 
douin, who  were  clothed  by  the  village,  and  had 
flown  to  the  frontier  even  before  the  requifition 
in  order  to  defend  their  country,  in  vain  difpatch 
fucceflive  letters  pleading  with  fond  folicitude 
for  their  parents.  Thofe  gallant  young  foldiers 
will  return  to  their  native  village,  their  brows 
bound  with  the  laurels  of  valour.  Alas!  they 
will  find  their  native  village  but  one  fad  heap  of 
ruins! — in  vain  they  will  call  upon  the  tender 
names  of  father,  of  mother,  of  filler:  a  melan- 
choly voice  will  feem  to  ifTue  from  the  earth  that 
covers  them,  and  figh,  they  are  no  more!  For 
thofe  victorious  warriors  no  car  of  triumph  is 
prepared;  no  mother's  tears  of  tranfport  fliall 
hail  the  blefi^ed  moment  of  their  return;  no  father 
fliall  clafp  them  to  his  bofom  with  exulting  joy, 

proud 


33 

proud  of  their  heroic  deeds.  Ah,  no!  their  toils, 
their  dangers,  and  their  generous  facrifices,  fliall 
find  no  recorapenfe  in  the  fweetnefs  of  domeftic 
affeftian,  in  the  foothing  blifs  which,  after  ab- 
fence,  belongs  to  home! — Alas!  their  homes  are 
levelled  with  the  ground;  they  will  find  no  fpot 
upon  which  to  repofe  their  wearied  limbs  but  the 
graves  of  their  murdered  parents.  

Amidfl:  the  groans  of  fo  general  a  calamity,  no 
doubt  many  a  figh  of  private  forrow  has  never 
reached  the  ear  of  fympathy,  and  many  a  vi£lim 
has  fallen  unpitied  and  unknown.  Some  ot  the 
martyrs  of  Maignet's  tyranny  have  however 
found  the  fad  recorder  of  the  penfive  tale,  and 

the  fate  of  Monlieur  de  M  's  family  is  not 

among  the  leaft  affefting  of  thofe  fcenes  which 
were  extended  over  the  diftri^t  of  Bedouin. 

Monf.  de  M  ,  after  wandering  as  far  as  his 

infirmities  would  permit,  for  he  was  old  and  fick, 
took  refuge  in  a  lonely  habitation,  a  few  leagues 
diftant  from  Avignon,  fituate  in  one  of  the  wildeft 
parts  of  that  romantic  country;  in  that  celebrated 
region,  for  ever  dear  to  the  lovers  of  the  elegant 
arts,  where  the  immortal  Petrarch  poured 
forth  his  impafTioned  flrains.  Divine  poet!  no 
more  fliall  the  unhappy  lover  feek  for  confolation 
in  fliedding  delicious  tears  on  the  brink  of  that 
fountain  where  thou  hail  wept  for  Laura! — no 
more  (hall  he  haunt  with  penfive  enthufiafm  that 
folitary  valley,  thofe  craggy  rocks,  thofe  hanging 

Vol.  IV.  D  woods, 


34 

woods,  and  torrent  ftreams,  where  thou  haft  wan- 
dered with  congenial  feelings,  and  to  which  thy 
tender  complaints  have  given  everlafting  renown ! 
— thofe  enchanting  dreams,  thofe  dear  illufions, 
have  for  ever  vaniflied — that  delicious  country, 
the  pride  of  France,  the  garden  of  Europe,  the 
clalllcal  haunt  of  Petrarch,  no  longer  prefents 
the  delightful  images  of  beauty,  of  poetry,  of  paf- 
lionj  the  magical  fpell  is  broken,  the  foothing 
charm  is  diftblved;  the  fairy  fcenes  have  been 
polluted;  the  wizard  bower  profaned;  the  orange- 
groves  are  defpoiled  of  their  aromatic  fvveetnefs; 
the  waters  are  tinged  with  blood;  the  hollow 
cliffs  re-echo  the  moans  of  the  wretched,  and  the 
fhriek  of  defpair  ;  the  guillotine  has  arifen  amidft 
thofe  confecrated  thades  where  love  alone  had 
reared  its  altars !  No  longer  with  the  name  of 
Vauclufe  is  affociated  the  idea  of  Petrarch^ 
that  of  Maignet  prefents  itfelf  to  the  ihudder- 
ing  imagination.  For  here  it  was  that  Monf. 
de  M-^ — -  ifought  for  refuge,  attempting  to  fliel- 
ter  himfelf  from  the  rage  of  his  ferocious  perfe- 
cutors. 

He  had  foon  after  the  anguidi  of  hearing  that 
his  brother  had  periflied  on  the  fcaffold. 

Monf.  de  M  fent  to  inform  his  fifter-in-law 

of  the  place  of  his  retreat,  to  which  he  conjured 
her  to  haften  with  her  only  daughter,  and  ftiare 
the  little  property  which  he  had  refcued  from  the 
general  wreck  of  his  ;fortune. 

His 


35 

His  old  and  faithful  fervant  Marianne,  who 
was  the  bearer  of  this  meffage,  returned,  accom- 
panied by  his  niece:  her  mother  was  no  more: 
flie  had  only  furvived  a  few  days  the  death  of  her 
hufband. 

The  interview  between  Mademoifelle  Adelaide  , 

de  M  and  her  uncle  produced  thofe  emotions 

of  overwhelming  forrow  that  arife  at  the  fight  of 
objefts  which  intereft  our  afifeftions  after  we  have 
fuftained  any  deep  calamity;  in  thpfe  moments 
the  paft  rulhes  on  the  mind  with  uncontrollable 
vehemence  j  and  Mademoifelle  de  M — ■ — ,  after 
having  long  embraced  her  uncle  with  agony,  at 
length  pronounced  in  the  accents  of  defpair  the 
names  of  father  and  of  mother. 

Monf.  de  M— —  endeavoured  to  fupply  to  his 
unfortunate  niece  the  place  of  the  parents  fhe 
had  loft,  and  forgot  his  own  evils  in  his  attempt 
to  footh  the  affliftion  of  this  interefting  moui'ner, 
who  at  nineteen  years  of  age,  in  all  the  bloom  of 
beauty,  was  the  prey  of  deep  and  fettled  melan- 
choly. 

She  had  too  much  fenfibility  not  to  feel  his 
tender  cares,  and  often  reftrained  her  tears  in  his 
prefence  becaufe  they  gave  him  pain. 

When  thofe  tears  could  no  longer  be  fup- 
prefTed,  (he  wandered  out  alone,  and  feating  her- 
felf  on  fome  fragments  of  rock,  foothed  by  the 
murmurs  of  the  hollow  winds  and  moaning 
waters,  indulged  her  grief  without  controul. 

Dz  In 


36 

In  one  of  thofe  lonely  rambles,  facrcd  to  her 
forrows,  fhe  was  awakened  from  melancholy 
mufing  by  the  fudden  appearance  of  her  coufm, 

the  fon  of  Monf.  de  M-  ,  who,  after  having 

repeatedly  expofed  his  life  during  a  long  and 
perilous  campaign  in  the  fervice  of  his  country, 
returned  to  find  his  uncle  facrificed,  his  aunt 
dead,  his  father  an  exile,  and  his  home  burnt. 
Such  were  the  rewards  which  the  gallant  defen- 
ders of  liberty  received  from  the  hands  of  tyrants. 

A  fevv^  months  before  he  had  beheld  his  lovely 
coufm  in  all  the  pride  of  youthful  beauty;  her 
cheek  fluflied  with  the  gay  fuffufion  of  health, 
and  her  eye  fparkling  with  pleafure.  That  cheek 
was  now  covered  with  fixed  palenefs,  and  that 
eye  was  dimmed  with  tears;  but  Mademoifelle 

de  M  had  never  appeared  to  him  fo  intereft- 

ing  as  in  this  moment. 

Two  young  perfons,  placed  together  in  fuch 
peculiar  circumftances,  muft  have  had  hearts  in- 
fenfible  indeed,  had  they  conceived  no  attachment 
for  each  other.  The  fcene  in  which  they  were 
placed  was  peculiarly  calculated  to  cherilh  the  il- 
lufions  of  paffion ;  not  merely  from  difplaying  thofe 
fimple  and  romantic  beauties  the  contemplation  of 
which  foftens  while  it  elevates  the  affections — it 
had  alfo  that  local  charm  which  endears  to  minds 
of  tafte  and  fentiment  fpots  which  have  been  cele- 
brated by  the  powers  of  genius.  Petrarch,  the 
tender,  the  immortal  Petrarch,  had  trod  thofe 

very 


37 

very  vallies,  had  climbed  thofe  very  rocks,  had 
wandered  in  thofe  very  woods — and  the  two 
young  perfons,  both  underftanding  Itahan,  when 
they  read  together  the  melodious  ftrains  of  that 
divine  poet,  found  themfelves  tranfported  into 
happier  times,  and  forgot  for  awhile  that  all  be- 
yond the  narrow  cleft  was  mifery  and  diforder. 

From  thofe  dreams,  thofe  delightful  illufions, 
they  were  awakened  by  a  letter,  privately  con- 
veyed to  him,  conjuring  him,  if  he  would  fhun 
being  claflfed  among  the  profcribed,  to  repair  im- 
mediately to  the  army. 

Young  de  M         confidered  the  defence  of 

his  country  againft  invaders,  as  a  facred  duty 
which  he  was  bound  to  fulfil.  He  alfo  thought 
it  prudent  to  depart.  He  bid  adieu  to  his  father 
and  Adelaide  with  tears  wrung  from  a  bleed- 
ing heart,  and  tore  himfelf  away  with  an  effort 
which  it  required  the  exertion  of  all  his  fortitude 
to  fuftain. 

After  having  paffed  the  cleft,  which  enclofed  the 
valley,  he  again  turned  back  to  gaze  once  more  on 
the  fpot  which  contained  all  his  treafure. 

Adelaide,  after  his  departure,  had  no  confo- 
lation  but  in  the  fad  yet  dear  indulgence  of  tender 
recolle£lions;  in  fhedding  tears  over  the  paths  they 
had  trod,  over  the  books  they  had  read  together. 

Alas,  this  unfortunate  young  lady  had  far  other 
pangs  to  fuffer  than  the  tender  repinings  of  ab- 
fence  from  a  beloved  objeft! 

Two 


38 


Two  profcribed  vi£lims  of  the  tyranny  of 

M  AiGNET,  who  were  friends  to  Monf.  de  M  , 

and  knew  of  the  place  of  his  retreat,  fought  for 
an  afylum  in  his  dwelling. 

Monf.  de  M  received  his  fugitive  friends 

with  affeftionate  kindnefs.  But  a  few  days  after 
their  arrival  their  retreat  was  difcovefed  by  the 
emilTaries  of  Maignet  ;  the  narrow  part  of  the 
valley  was  guarded  by  foldiers;  the  houfe  was 
felicompaffed  by  a  military  force  ;  and  Monf.  de 

M^  was  fummoned  to  depart  with  the  con- 

fpirators  whom  he  had  dared  to  harbour,  in  order 
to  appear  with  them  before  the  popular  com- 
miffion  at  Orange. 

This  lafl:  ftroke  his  unhappy  niece  had  no 
power  to  fuftain.  All  the  wounds  of  her  foul 
were  fuddenly  and  rudely  torn  open ;  and  alto- 
gether overwhelmed  by  this  unexpefted,  this 
terrible  calamity,  which  filled  up  the  meafure  of 
her  affliftions,  her  reafon  entirely  forfook  her. 

With  frantic  agony  ihe  knelt  at  the  feet  of  him 
who  commahded  the  troop  ;  fhe  implored,  fhe 
wept,  fhe  flirieked ;  then  ftarted  up  and  hung 
VLpoh  her  uncle's  neck,  prefling  him  wildly  in 
her  arms. 

Some  of  the  foldiefs  brutiflily  propofed  con- 
ducing her  alfo  to  the  tribunal ;  but  the  leader 
of  the  band,  whether  touched  by  her  diftrefs,  or 
fearful  that  her  defpair  would  be  troublefome  on 
the  way,  perfuaded  them  to  leave  her  behind. 

She 


39 

She  was  dragged  from  her  uncle,  and  locked 
in  a  chamber,  from  whence  her  flirieks  were  heard 
by  the  unfortunate  old  man  till  he  had  paffed  the 
narrow  cleft  of  the  valley,  which  he  was  deftined 
to  behold  no  more. 

His  fufferings  were  keen,  but  they  were  not 
of  long  duration.  The  day  of  his  arrival  at 
Orange,  he  was  conduced  before  the  popular 
comraiflion,  together  with  his  friends,  and  from 
thence  immediately  led  to  execution. 

In  the  meantime  Mademoifelle  de  M  ,  re- 
leafed  by  Marianne  from  the  apartment  where 
flie  had  been  confined  by  the  mercilefs  guards, 
wandered  from  morning  till  evening  amidfl:  the 
wildeft  receffes  of  the  valley,  and  along  the  moil 
rugged  paths  (lie  could  find. 

She  was  conftantly  followed  in  her  ramblings 
by  her  faithful  fervant,  who  never  loll  fight  of  her 
a  fingle  moment,  and  who  retains  in  her  memory 
many  a  mournful  complaint  of  her  difordered 
mind,  many  a  wild  expreflion  of  defpair. 

She  often  retired  to  a  fmall  nook  near  the  tor- 
rent, where  her  uncle  had  placed  a  feat,  and 
where  he  ufaally  paffed  fome  hours  of  the  day. 

Sometimes  (lie  feated  herfelf  on  the  bench ;  then 
ftarting  up,  and  throwing  herfelf  on  her  knees 
before  the  fpot  where  her  uncle  ufed  to  fit,  bathed 
it  with  floods  of  tears.  "  Dear  old  man,"  fhe 
would  cry,  "  your  aged  head!  Poor  Charles! 
"  — It  is  well  he's  gone. — I  fee  the  guillotine 

"  behind 


40 

"  behind  thofe  trees ! — now  they  drag  up  the 

weak  old  man  ! — they  tie  him  to  the  plank ! — 
^  oh,  heavens !" 

The  acute  affli£lion  with  which  young  De 

M  heard  of  the  murder  of  his  father,  was 

ftill  aggravated  by  the  tidings  he  received  from 
Marianne  of  the  fituation  of  his  beloved  Ade- 
laide. Her  image  was  for  ever  prefent  to  his 
mind  J  and,  unable  to  fupport  the  bitternefs  of 
thofe  pangs  which  her  idea  excited,  he  again 
found  means  to  obtain  leave  of  abfence  for  a  few 
weeks,  and  haftened  to  the  valley. 

He  found  the  habitation  deferted — all  was 
dark  and  filent :  he  £ew  through  the  apartments 
calling  upon  the  name  of  Adelaide,  but  no 
voice  anfwered  his  call. 

He  left  the  houfe,  and  walked  with  eager  fteps 
along  the  valley.  As  he  paffed  a  cavern  of  the 
rocks,  he  heard  the  moans  of  Adelaide. — He 
ruihed  into  the  cavern.  She  was  feated  upon  its 
flinty  floor,  and  Marianne  was  fitting  near. — 
Adelaide  caft  up  her  eyes  as  he  entered,  and 
looked  at  him  earneftly — he  knelt  by  her  fide, 
and  prefled  her  hand  to  his  bofom — "  If  you  are 

Charles,"  fays  fhe,  "  you  are  come  too  late 
«  — it  is  all  over ! — Poor  old  man  !"  Then  haftily 
rifing  from  the  ground,  and  clafping  her  hands 
together,  fhe  cried,  "  Don't  you  fee  his  blood  on 
f  my  clothes  ? — I  begged  very  hard  for  him — I 

told  them  I  had  no  father  or  mother,  but  him — 

«  If 


41 

"  If  you  are  really  Charles,  fly,  fly  !— they  are 
on  the  way — I  fee  them  on  the  rock  ! — there, 
"  there !" 

Such  were  the  ravings  of  the  difordered  imagi- 
nation of  this  unfortunate  young  lady,  and  which 
were  fometimes  interrupted  by  long  intervals  of 
filence,  and  fometimes  by  an  agony  of  tears.  Her 
lover  watched  over  her  with  the  moft  tender  and 
unwearied  affiduity ;  but  his  cares  were  ineffec- 
tual. The  life  of  Adelaide  was  near  its  clofe. 
The  convulfive  pangs  of  her  mind  had  reduced 
her  frame  to  a  ftate  of  incurable  weaknefs  and 
decay. 

A  fliort  time  before  flie  expired,  flie  recovered 
her  reafon,  and  employed  her  laft  remains  of 
ftrength  in  the.  attempt  to  confole  her  wretched 
lover.  She  fpoke  to  him  of  "  a  happier  world, 
"  where  they  fliould  meet  again,  and  where 
*'  tyrants  would  opprefs  no  more." — She  grafped 
his  hand — ffie  fixed  her  eyes  on  his — and  died. 

Young  De  M          pafled  the  night  at  the 

grave  of  Adelaide.  Marianne  followed  him 
thither,  and  humbly  entreated  him  to  return  to 
the  houfe.  He  pointed  to  the  new-laid  earth, 
and  waved  his  hand,  as  if  he  wifhed  her  to  de- 
part, and  leave  his  meditations  uninterrupted. 

The  next  morning,  at  break  of  day,  he  entered 
the  houfe,  and  called  for  Marianne.  He  thank- 
ed her  for  her  care  of  Adelaide,  and  prefented 
her  with  a  purfe  of  money  j  while  he  Was  fpeak- 


ing,  his  emotion  choaked  his  voice,  and  for  the 
lirft  time  his  opprefled  heart  found  the  relief  of 
tears. 

When  he  had  recovered  himfelf,  he  bad  Ma- 
rianne farewell,  and  haftened  out  of  the  houfe, 
muttering  fomething  in  a  low  tone.  He  told 
Marianne,  that  he  was  going  to  join  his  regi- 
ment 5 — but  he  has  never  fmce  been  heard  of. 


SECT. 


43 


SECT.  VIII. 

EDWIN  AND  EMMA. 

Far  in  the  windings  of  a  vale, 

Faft  by  a  fheltering  wood. 
The  fafe  retreat  of  health  and  peace, 

A  humble  cottage  flood. 

There  beauteous  Emma  flourifh'd  fair 

Beneath  a  mother's  eye, 
Whofe  only  wifh  on  earth  was  now 

To  fee  her  bleft,  and  die. 

The  fofteft  blufh  that  nature  fpreads. 

Gave  colour  to  her  cheek  j 
Such  orient  colour  fmiles  through  heav'n 

When  May's  fweet  mornings  break. 

Nor  let  the  pride  of  great  ones  fcorn 

The  charmer  of  the  plains  j 
That  fun  which  bids  their  diamond  blaze. 

To  deck  our  lily  deigns. 

Long  had  flie  fir'd  each  youth  with  love. 

Each  maiden  with  defpair ; 
And  though  by  all  a  wonder  own'd. 

Yet  knew  not  flie  was  fair. 


'Till 


44 

'Till  Edwin  came,  the  pride  of  fwaiiis, 

A  foul  that  knew  no  art, 
And  from  whofe  eyes  ferenely  mild. 

Shone  forth  the  feeling  heart. 

A  mutual  flame  was  quickly  caught. 

Was  quickly  too  reveai'dj 
Nor  neither  bofom  lodg'd  a  wifh 

Which  virtue  keeps  conceal'd. 

What  happy  hours  of  heart-felt  blifs 

Did  love  on  both  beftow  ! 
But  blifs  too  mighty  long  to  laft. 

Where  fortune  proves  a  foe. 

The  father  was  a  fordid  man. 

Who  love  nor  pity  knew. 
Was  all  unfeeling  as  the  rock 

Frdm  whence  his  riches  grew. 

Long  had  he  feen  their  mutual  flame. 

And  feen  it  long  unmov'd ; 
Then  with  a  father's  frown  at  laft. 

He  fternly  difapprov'd. 

In  Edwin's  gentle  heart  a  war 

Of  differing  paffions  drove ; 
His  heart,  which  durft  not  difobey. 

Yet  could  not  ceafe  to  love. 


D 


45 


Deny'd  her  fight,  he  oft  behind 
The  fpreading  hawthorn  crept. 

To  fnatch  a  glance,  to  mark  the  fpot 
Where  Emma  walk'd  and  wept. 

Oft  too  in  Stanemore's  wintry  wafte. 

Beneath  the  moonlight  fhade. 
In  fighs  to  pour  his  foften'd  foul. 

The  midnight  mourner  ftray'd. 

His  cheeks,  where  love  with  beauty  glow'd, 

A  deadly  pale  o'ercaft ; 
So  fades  the  frefli  rofe  in  its  prime. 

Before  the  northern  blaft. 

The  parents  now,  with  late  remorfe. 

Hung  o'er  his  dying  bed. 
And  weary'd  Heaven  with  fruitlefs  pray'rs. 

And  fruitlefs  forrows  fhed. 

"  'Tis  paft,"  he  cried,  "  but  if  your  fouls 

"  Sweet  mercy  yet  can  move, 
"  Let  thefe  dims  eyes  once  more  behold 

"  What  they  muft  ever  love." 

She  came ;  his  cold  hand  foftly  touch'd. 
And  bath'd  with  many  a  tear ; 

Firft  falling  o'er  the  primrofe  pale 
So  morning  dews  appear. 


Now 


46 

Now  homeward  as  flie  hopelefs  went. 

The  church-yard  path  along, 
The  blaft  blew  cold,  the  dark  owl  fcream'd 

Her  lover's  fun'ral  fong. 

Amid  the  falling  gloom  of  night. 

Her  ftartling  fancy  found 
In  ev'ry  bufti  his  hovering  fhade. 

His  groan  in  every  found. 

Alone,  appaird,  thus  had  flie  pafs'd 

The  vifionary  vale» 
When  lo !  the  death-bell  fmote  her  ear. 

Sad  founding  in  the  gale. 

Juft  then  fhe  reach'd,  with  trembling  fteps. 

Her  aged  mother's  door ! 
"  He's  gone,"  fhe  cried,  "  and  I  muft  fee 

"  That  angel  face  no  more ! 

"  I  feel,  I  feel  this  breaking  heart 

"  Beat  high  againft  my  fide :" 
From  her  white  arm  down  funk  her  head. 

She  fliiver'd,  figh'd,  and  died. 


47 


SECT.  IX. 

STORY  OF  A  CLERGYMAN. 

A  CERTAIN  Englifli  clergyman,  eminent  for 
his  accomplifliments,  who  had  fpent  many  years 
in  travelling  with  a  young  nobleman,  took  up, 
at  length,  his  refidence  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
a  great  town,  at  the  feat  of  his  young  pupil.  He 
then  entertained  the  firm  perfualion,  "  that  true 
"  felicity  and  virtue  confift  in  uniformly  fubject- 
"  ing  all  the  palTions  to  the  dictates  of  the  under- 
"  ftanding."    His  ardour  for  knowledge,  and  the 
conftant  fucceflion  of  new  objefts,  which  natu- 
rally refulted  from  his  ambulatory  mode  of  ex- 
iftence,  had  hitherto  rendered  it  no  very  difficult 
matter  to  realize  this  truth.    But  the  moment  he 
was  fettled,  his  mind  began  to  vary  with  the 
fcene.    Where  fo  many  objefts  folicited  his  at- 
tention at  the  fame  time,  fome  were  unavoidably 
preferred.    A  fine  garden,  delightful  arbours,  a 
beautiful  flieet  of  water,  ftreams,  cafcades,  grottos, 
wildernelfes,  large  fields,  delicious  woods,  and  ex- 
tenfive  plains,  engroffed  at  firft  his  whole  atten- 
tion.   The  united  charms  of  fuch  rural  and  en- 
chanting fcenes  were  his  evening  and  morning 
amufement.    Wherever  he  went  on  bufinefs  or 
pleafure,  he  ftlll  felt  a  fecret  impulfe  recalling  his 
affeftions  to  the  fpot  where  all  his  happinefs 
naturally  centered.    Even  here,  however,  like 

the. 


48  ; 

1 

the  firft  man  in  the  bofom  of  paradife,  he  was  ; 

foon  far  from  being  completely  blefTed.     Na  | 

longer  abforbed  in  other  purfuits,  he  fighed  in-  ! 

fenfibly  for  a  companion  to  fliare  his  enjoyments.  : 

Now,  if  a  fpotlefs  maiden  ihould  appear;  all  j 

innocence,  and  all  foul ;  all  love,  and  of  love  all  i 

worthy ;  if  in  her  large  arched  forehead  all  the  ] 

capacity  of  immeafurable  intelligence,  which  wif-  i 

dom  can  communicate,  be  vifible ;  if  her  com-  •" 

preffed,  but  not  frowning  eyebrows,  fpeak  an  ; 

unexplored  mine  of  underftanding,  or  her  dimpled  | 

cheek  fympathetic  goodnefs  of  heart,  which  flows  ' 

through  the  clear  teeth  over  her  pure  and  effi-  j 

cient  lips ;  if  flie  breathe  humility  and  compla-  | 

cencyj  if  dignified  wifdom  be  in  each  tone  of  j 

her  voice ;  if  her  eyes,  neither  too  open  nor  too  : 

clofe,  often  gently  turned,  fpeak  the  foul  that  ^ 

feeks  a  fifterly  embrace;  if  flie  be  fuperior  to  the  , 
powers  of  defcription  j  if  all  the  glories  of  her 

angelic  form  be  imbibed  like  the  mild  and  golden  j 
rays  of  an  autumnal  evening  fun ;  what  do  you 
think  would  become  of  our  philofopher,  and  of 
his  fublime  theory  ? — Near  this  retirement,  there 

chanced  to  refide  a  lady  of  moft  exquifite  beauty;  , 

but,  alas  1  fhe  had  not  that  fanftity  of  innocence,  | 

that  divinity  of  maiden  purity  before  defcribed,  | 

but  wiles  afFe£ting  every  look  of  modefty.    She  i 

pofTeflfed  the  wretched  pride  of  filence,  a  mea-  ] 

fured  affeftation  of  fpeech,  eyes  arrogantly  over-  J 

looking  mifery  and  poverty,  an  authoritative  nofe,  i 

and  ! 


49 

and  lips  blue  with  envy,  or  half  bitten  through 
from  artifice  or  malice.  The  elegance  of  her 
perfon  foon,  however,  attra£led  the  attention  of 
the  philofopher,  and  fancying  the  mind  mull  cor- 
refpond,  through  the  medium  of  a  friend  he  ob- 
tained an  interview.  This  lady,  who  was  fo  well 
able  to  put  on  the  mafk,  lifteiled  with  attention 
to  his  difcourfe,  and  leemed  eager  to  cultivate  his 
acquaintance.  Not  infenfible  of  the  conqueft 
flie  had  made,  flie  diverted  her  female  friends 
with  the  tender  fenfibility  of  the  poor  fool,  her 
lover,  as  flie  ufed  to  ftyle  him.  This  coquetry 
being  managed  with  addrefs',  was;  nicely  calcu- 
lated to  operate  on  an  eafy  and  unfufpefting 
mind.  Imagine  now  the  fenfibility  of  the  philo- 
fopher, who  had  fingled  out  the  fair  by  the  kindeft 
partiality,  when  affured  flie  had  all  along  regarded 
him  with  a  fimilar  emotion.  His  happinefs  be- 
came infeparable  from  her's.  He  foon,  however, 
experienced  all  thofe  teafing  perplexities  which 
the  artifice  of  a  cunning  woman  was  able  to  con- 
trive. The  triumph  of  conqueft  was  her  only 
aim.  So  capricious  and  evanefcent  appeared  the 
attachment  of  an  iticonfiderate  and  giddy  mind. 
The  impreflion  on  fuch,  like  thofe  made  on  a 
ftream  by  the  gentleft  breeze,  exift  but  for  a 
moment :  far  otherwife  the  attachment  of  the 
feeling,  the  fufceptible,  and  the  penfive.  How 
infinitely  more  durable  the  tender  fenfibilities  he 
indulged  !  He  pofTelfed;,  however,  too  much  good 
Vol.  IV.  E  fenf« 


50 

fcnfe  not  to  fee  through  her  duplicity;  and  to 
difcover  that  flie  was  trifling  with  the  fcnfibilitic& 
ot  a  heart,  which  thoufands  would  have  foothed 
and  chcrillied  with  jc^y  j  yet  to- tear  from  his  bofom 
all  at  once  its  deareft  objeft  on  earth,  occafioned 
the  moft  ferious  and  inexpreffible  concern.  The 
ftruggle  was  indifpenfable,  and  competent  to  all 
his  philofophy.  It  was  reafon  alferting  her  fupre- 
macy  over  paffion,  and  heaven  ftriving  for  the 
jnaftery  over  man.    At  this  interval,  the  lady 
removed  the  malk,  and  marri'ed  a  wi-ld  fortune- 
hunter,  who  foon  brought  her  into  contempt  and 
•wretchednefs.    Happy  would  it  have  been  for 
our  philofopher,  could  his  wounded  mind  have 
been  reflored  to  its  former  health  and  tranquillity. 
But  his  heart  was  gone,  and  with  it  all  relilli  for 
life.    It  was  not  henceforward  in  the  power  of 
medicine,  variety,  or  expedient,  to  afford  him  the 
leaft  interval  of  ferenity.  His-  nights  and  his  days 
were  alike  dreary  and  joylefs.  The  fcenes,  whicb 
had  been  the  witneffes  of  his  happier  hours,  now 
became  the  conftant  and  folitary  companions  of 
his  wretchednefs.     At  lafi:,  averwhelmed  with 
the  monotony  of  the  fame  thoughts,  the  brain 
funk  lethargic,  and  the  philofopher  was  converted 
into  the  happier  idiot,  until  death  foon,  fortunate- 
ly, clofed  the  melancholy  and  degrading  fcene. 


SECT- 


5^ 


SECT.  X 

STORY  OF  MONIMIA. 

,  She  flourilh'd, 

Grew  fweet  to  fenfe,  and  lovely  fo'  the  eye  - 
Till  at  lafl  the  efuel  fpoiler  came, 
Cropt  this  fair  rofe,  and  rifled  all  its  fweetnefs. 
Then  threw  it,  like  a  loathfome  weed,  away. 

OTWAV. 

MoNiMiA  was  the  lovely  and  aecompliflied 
daughter  of  an  aged  and  worthy  country  fquire. 
A  young  officer^  a  man  of  birth  and  fafhion,  who 
lived  in  the  neighbourhood,  took  advantage  of 
the  unwary  difpofition  of  this  innocent  girl,  and 
afterwards  cruelly  def^rted  her. — She  thus  ad- 
drefles  him : 

Since  language  never  can  exprefs  my  pain, 
How  can  I  hope  to  move  when  I  complain  ? 
Yet  fuch  is  woman's  frenzy  in  diftrefs. 
We  love  to  plead,  tho*  hopelefs  of  redrefs. 
Perhaps,  afFefting  ignorance,  thou'It  fay, 
*  From  whence  thefe  lines  ?  whofe  meffage  to 
*  convey  ?' 

Mock  not  my  grief  with  that  feign'd  cold  demand. 
Too  well  you  know  the  haplefs  writer's  hand : 
But  if  you  force  me  to  avow  my  fhame, 
Behold  them  prefac'd  with  MaNiMiA's  name. 

E  2  Loft 


52 

Loft  to  the  world,  abandon'd  and  forlorn, 
Expos'd  to  infamy,  reproach,  and  fcorn. 
To  joy  and  comfort  loft,  and  all  for  you. 
And  loft,  perhaps,  to  your  remembrance  too  , 
How  hard  my  lot  \  what  refuge  can  I  try. 
Weary  of  lifcy  and  yet  afraid  to  die  ! 
Of  hope,  the  wretch's  laft  refort,  bereft. 
By  friends,  by  kindred,  by  my  lover,  left. 
Oh  !  frail  dependance  of  confiding  fools, 
On  lovers  oaths,  or  friendfhip's  facred  rules ! 
Too  late  in  modern  hearts,  alas !  I  find, 
MoNiMTA'a  fall'n,  and  thou  too  art  unkind  ! 
To  thef6  refledions,  each  flow-wearing  day. 
And  each  revolving  night,  a  conftant  prey. 
Think  what  I  fuffer,  nor  ungentle  hear 
What  madnefs  dictates  in  my  fond  defpair ; 
Grudge  not  this  fliort  relief— too  faft  it  flies  I 
Nor  chide  that  weaknefs  I  myfelf  defpife. 
For  fure  one  moment  is  at  leaft  her  due, 
Who  facrific'd  her  all  of  life  for  you. 
Without  a  frown  this  farewell  then,  receive. 
For  'tis  the  laft  my  fatal  love  fliall  give ; 
Nor  this  I  would,  if  reafon  could  command, 
But  what  reftri£tion  reins  a  lover's  hand  ? 
Nor  prudence,  fliame,  nor  pride,  nor  int'reft  fwaysv 
The  hand  implicitly  the  heart  obeys: 
Too  well  this  maxim  has  my  condu6^  fliown, 
Too  well  that  conduct  to  the  world  is  known. 

Oft  have  I  writ,  as  often  to  the  flame 
Ccndemn'd  the  after-witnefs  of  my  fliame  j 

Oft 


53 

oft  in  my  cooler,  recollefted  thought. 
Thy  beauties  and  my  fondnefs  half  forgot ; 
(Hovv  fliort  thofe  intervals  for  reafon's  aid  !) 
Thus  to  myfelf  in  anguifli  have  I  faid : 

'  Thy  vain  remonilrance,  foolifli  maid,  give  o'er; 
'  Who  a£t  the  wrong,  can  ne'er  that  wrong  de- 
'  plore.' 

Then  fanguine  hopes  again_delufive  reign, 
I  form  thee  melting  as  I  tell  my  pain. 
If  not  of  rock  thy  flinty  heart  is  made. 
Or  tigers  nur^'d  thee  in  the  defert  fliade, 
This  would  at  leaft  thy  cold  compaffion  prove, 
That  flender  fuften-ance  of  greedy  love  : 
Tho*  no  return  my  warmer  wiflies  find. 
Be  to  the  wretch,  tho'  not  the  miftrefs,  kind ; 
Nor  whiljfi:  I  court  my  melancholy  ftate. 
Forget  'twas  love,  and  thee,  that  wrought  my 
fate. 

Without  reftraint,  habituate  to  range 
The  paths  of  pleafure,  can  I  bear  the  change  ? 
Doom'd  from  the  world  unv/illing  to  retire. 
In  bloom  of  life,  and  warm  with  young  defire. 
In  lieu  of  roofs,  with  proper  fplendor  gay, 
Condemn'd  in  diftant  wilds  to  drag  the  day ; 
Where  beafts  of  prey  maintain  their  favage  court. 
Or  human  brutes  (the  worft  of  brutes  !)  refort. 
Yes,  yes,  this  change  I  could  unfighing  fee. 
For  none  I  mourn,  but  what  I  find  in  thee : 
There  centre  all  my  woes  j  thy  heart  eftrang'd, 
I  weep  my  lover,  not  my  fortune,  chang'd. 

•  Bleft 


54 

Biefl:  with  thy  pre  fence,  I  could  all  forget, 
Nor  gilded  palaces  in  huts  regret ; 
But  exil'd  thence,  fuperfluous  is  the  reft. 
Each  place  the  fame,  my  hell  is  in  my  breaft ; 
To  pleafure  dead,  and  living  but  to  pain. 
My  only  fenfe,  to  fuffer  and  complain. 

As  all  my  wrongs  diftrefsful  I  repeat, 
3ay,  can  thy  pulfe  with  equal  cadence  beat? 
Canft  thou  know  peace  ?  is  confcience  mute  with-» 
in? 

That  upright  delegate  for  fecret  fin  ; 
Is  nature  fo  extinguifli'd  in  thy  heart, 
That  not  'one  fpark  remains  to  take  my  part  ? 
Not  one  repentant  throb,  one  grateful  figh  ? 
Thy  breaft  unruffled,  and  unwet  thine  eye? 
Thou  cool  betrayer,  temperate  in  ill ! 
Thou,  nor  remorfe,  nor  thought  humane,  canft 
feel : 

Nature  has  form'd  thee  of  the  rougher  kind. 

And  education  more  debas'd  thy  mind. 

Born  in  an  age  when  Guilt  and  Fraud  prevail. 

When  Juftice  fleeps,  and  Int'reft  holds  the  fcale ; 

Thy  loofe  companions,  a  licentious  crew, 

Moft  to  each  other,  all  to  us  untrue ; 

Whom  chance,  or  habit  mix,  but  rarely  choice. 

Not  leagu'd  in  friendfliip,  but  in  focial  vice  i 

W^ho,  indigent  of  honour,  as  of  fliame. 

Glory  in  crimes  which  others  blufli  to  name. 

Thefe  are  the  leaders  of  thy  blinded  youth, 
Thefe  vile  feducers  la\jgh'd  thee  out  of  truth  ; 

Whofe 


Whofe  fcuml  jefls  all  folemn  ties  profane, 

Or  Friendfliip's  band,  or  Hymen's  facred  chain. 

With  fuch  you  lofe  the  day  in  falfe  delight. 
In  lewd  debauch  you  revej  out  the  night. 
(O  fatal  commerce  to  Monimia's  peace!) 
.Their  arguments  convince  becauCe  they  pleafe; 
Whilft  fophiftry  for  reafon  they  admit. 
And  lyander  dazzled  in  the  glare  of  wit. 
So  in  the  prifm,  to  the  deluded  eye. 
Each  pi£lur'd  trifle  takes  a  rainbow  dye  ; 
With  borrow'd  charms  the  gaudy  profpe61:  glows. 
But  truth  revers'd  the  faithlefs  mirror  fliows. 

Oft  I  revolve,  in  this  diftrafted  mind. 
Each  word,  each  look,  that  fpoke  my  charmer 
kind ; 

But  oh  j  how  d^ar  their  memory  I  pay  ! 
What  pleafures  pad  can  prefent  cares  allay  ? 
Of  all  I  love  for  ever  difpolfefs'd  : 
Ah  !  what  avails,  to  think  I  once  was  blefs'd! 

Thy  fatal  letters,  O  immoral  youth, 
Thofe  perjur'd  pledges  of  fi6litious  truth. 
Dear  as  they  were,  no  fecond  joy  afford, 
.  My  cred'lous  heart  once  leap'd  at  ev'ry  word. 
My  glowing  bofom  throbb'd  with  thick-heav'd 
fighs. 

And  floods  of  rapture  rufli'd  into  mine  eyes : 
When  now  repeated  (for  the  theft  was  vain, 
Each  treafur'd  fyllable  my  thoughts  retain) 
Far  other  palTions  rule,  and  diflf'rent  care. 
My  joys  are  ^rief,  my  tranfports  are  defpair. 

Why 


56 

Why  doft  thou  mock  the  ties  of  conftant  love  ? 
jBqt  half  its  joys  the  faithlefs  ever  prove  ; 
They  only  tafte  the  plcafures  they  receive, 
When,  fure,  the  nob) eft  is  in  thofe  we  give. 
Acceptance  is  the  heav'n  which  n^ortals  know. 
But  'tis  the  blifs  of  angels  to  bcftow. 
Oh  !  emulate,  my  loye,  that  talk  divine. 
Be  thou  that  angel,  and  that Jieav'n  be  mine. 
Yes,  yet  relent,  yet  intercept  my  fate : 
Alas !  I  rave,  and  fue  for  new  deceit. 
Firft  vital  warmth  fliall  from  the  grave  return. 
Ere  love,  extinguifli'd,  with  frefli  ardour  burn. 
Oh  !  that  I  dar'd  to  aGt  a  Roman  part. 
And  ftab  thy  image  in  this  faithful  heart; 
There  riveted  to  life  fepure  you  reign. 
Ah  !  cruel  inmate  !  fliarp'ning  ev'ry  pain  ; 
While,  coward-like,  irrefoliite  I  wait 
Time's  tardy  aid,  nor  dare  to  rufli  on  fate  j 
perhaps  may  linger  on  life's  lateft  ftage. 
Survive  thy  cruelties,  and  fall  by  age  : 
No — gr/ef  Piall  fpread  my  fails^  andfpeed  me  o'er 
I Defpah-  my  pilot )  to  that  quiet  JJiorey 
IVhere  I  can  trujl,  and  thou  betray  no  more. 

Might  I  but  once  again  behold  thy  charms. 
Might  I  but  breathe  rny  laft  in  thofe  dear  arms, 
Qn  that  lov'd  face  but  fix  my  doling  eye. 
Permitted  where  I  might  not  live  to  die, 
My  foften'd  fate  I  wou'd  accufe  no  more ! 
But  fat^  has  no  fuch  happinefs  in  ftore. 


57 

'Tis  pafl-,  'tis  done — what  gleam  of  hope  behind. 
When  I  can  ne'er  be  falfe,  nor  thou  be  kind  ? 
Why,  then,  this  care— 'tis  w,eak — 'tis  yain — • 

farezvel-  

At  that  laft  word  what  agonies  I  feel ! 

I  faint— — /  die  remember,  I  was  true-  * 

''Tis  all  I  afkt — — eternally  adieu  />- — — 


SECT. 


58 


SECT.  XI.  I 

I 
1 

CAUSE  OF  THE  DEATH  OF  SAVAGE.  \ 

\ 

Savage,  that  unfortunate  genius,  born,  as  he  < 
fays,  I 

"  Of  a  mother,  and  yet  no  mother !"  j 

who,  after  he  had  been  allowed  j£.  200  per  amntm,  ' 
by  Lord  Tyrconnel,  which  was  taken  unjuftly  j 
from  him ;  after  he  was  penfioned  by  the  Queen,  ; 
on  whom  he  had  written  verfes,  and  the  penfion  j 
ceafed  at  her  demife ;  after  having  tired  his  ' 
friends,  who  feared  to  acknowledge  him,  on  ac-  i 
count  of  his  fliabby  drefs,  fo  cxpreflive  of  his  1 
cireumflances,  being  at  length  arrefted  and  thrown  ! 
into  Newgate,  for  the  fmali  fum  of  eight  guineas, 
he  bore  this  laft  misfortune  with  uncommon  for- 
titude.   Six  months  elapfcd  in  prifon,  when  he 
received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Pope,  on  whofe  kind- 
nefs  he  had  the  greateft  confidence,  and  to  whom 
he  applied,  charging  him  with  ingratitude,  drawn 
up  in  fuch  terms  as  refentment  dictated.  Mr. 
Savage  returned  an  anfwer,  proving  his  inno- 
cence from  the  charge.    The  accufation,  how- 
ever, ftrongly  affected  his  mind:  he  became  im- 
mediately melancholy,  and  in  a  few  days  afterwards 
was  feized  with  pains  in  his  back  and  loins, 
which  not  being  violent,  he  was  not  fufpe6ted  to 

be  i 


59 

be  in  danger^;  but  daily  growing  more  languid 
and  deje^ed,  on  the  20th  of  July  a  fever  feized 
upon  his  fpirits.    The  laft  time  the  keeper  faw 
him  was  on  July  the  31ft:,  when  Savage,  feeing 
him  at  his  bed-fide,  faid,  with  uncommon  earnefl;- 
ijefs,  "  I  have  fomething  to  fay  to  you.  Sir but 
i  after  a  paufe,  moved  his  hand  in  a  melancholy 
1  manner,  and  finding  himfelf  unable  to  recolle£i 
•  ■jvhat  he  was  going  to  compiunicate,  added,  "  It 
'  "  is  over."  The  keeper  foon  after  left  him ;  ancj 
;  the  next  morning  he  was  found  dead. 


SECT. 


SECT.  XIL 

HOGARTH. 

Churchill  is  faid  to  have  killed  Hogarth 
by  the  ftroke  of  his  pen.  The  painter  made  a 
caricature  of  Churchill,  and  he  in  return 
wrote  a  fatire  on  Hogarth.  He  thus  defcribcs 
him : 

Pale  quiv'ring  lips,  lank  checks,  and  fault'ring 
tongue. 

The  fpirits  out  of  tune,  the  nerves  unftrung. 
Thy  body  flirivell'd  up,  thy  dim  eyes  funk 
Within  their  fockets  deep,  thy  weak  hams  flirunkj 
The  body's  w^eight  unable  to  fuftain. 
The  ftream  of  life  fcarce  trembling  through  the 
vein. 

More  than  half-kiird  by  honeft  truths,  which  fell. 
Through  thy  own  fault,  from  men  who  wifli'd 
thee  well ; 

Canft  thou,  e'en  thus,  thy  thoughts  to  vengeance 
give. 

And,  dead  to  all  things  elfe,  to  malice  live  ? 
Hence,  dotard,  to  thy  clofet,  fliut  thee  in. 
By  deep  repentance  wafli  away  thy  fm ; 
From  haunts  of  men  to  fhame  and  forrow  fly. 
And,  in  the  verge  of  death,  learn  how  to  die. 

Vain 


6i 

Vain  exhortation  I  Wafti  the  Ethiop  white, 
Difcharge  the  leopard's  fpots,  turn  day  to  nighty 
Controul  the  courfe  of  nature,  &c. — 
Thou  wretched  being,  whom,  on  Reafoii^s  plan. 
So  chang'd,  fo  loft,  I  cannot" call  a  man. 
What  could  perfuade  thee,  at  this  time  of  life. 
To  launch  afrefli  into  the  fea  of  ftrife  ? 
Better  for  thee,  fcarce  crawling  on  the  earth, 
Almoft  as  much  a  child  as  at  thy  birth, 
To  have  refign'd  in  peace  thy  parting  breath. 
And  funk  unnoticed  in  the  arms  of  death,  • 
Now,  by  my  foul,  it  makes  me  blufh  to  know 
My  fpirits  could  defcend  to  fuch  a  foe, 
&c.  &c. 

Hogarth  did  not  lon^  furvive  tbls  fatirev 


SECT. 


62 


SECT.  XIIL 

STORY  OF  A  WIDOW  LABY. 

A  WIDOW  lady,  who  loft  an  afFeQionate  huf- 
band,  an  officer,  was  left  in  narrow  circumftances, 
with  a  boy  and  girl,  two  beautiful  and  lively 
children,  the  one  five  and  the  other  feven  years 
of  age  ;  as  her  circumftances  allowed  her  to  keep 
but  one  maid  fervant,  the  two  children  were  the 
fole  attention,  employment,  and  confolation  of 
her  life ;  flie  fed  them,  drefted  them,  flept  with 
them,  and  taught  them  herfelf.  They  were  both 
fnatched  trom  her  by  a  putrid  fore  throat  in  one 
week  -y  fo  that  the  poor  woman  loft,  at  once,  all 
that  employed  her,  as  well  as  all  that  was  dear 
to  her.  For  the  firft  three  or  four  days  after  their 
death,  when  any  friend  vifited  her,  fhe  fat  up- 
right, with  her  eyes  wide  open,  without  (bedding 
tears,  and  without  utterance.  Afterwards  flie 
began  to  weep  much,  and  foon  inceflantly  talked 
of  nothing  but  of  her  dear  children.  Bereaved 
of  all  that  made  exiftence  pleafant,  a  heavy  gloom 
fettled  upon  her  mind,  and  her  body  became  in 
confequence  daily  more  emaciated  and  weak. 
Thefe,  indeed,  are  evils  too  terrible  for  the  vvcak- 
iiefs  of  humanity  to  bear,  and  which  admit  of  no 
remedy  but  the  grave  ' 


SECT. 


^3 


SECT.  XIV. 

MATILDA. 

Outrageous  did  the  loud  winds  blow 

Acrofs  the  founding  main : 
The  velfel,  toffing  to  and  fro, 

Could  fcarce  the  ftorm  fuftain. 

Matilda  to  her  fearful  breafl: 

Held  clofe  her  infant  dear : 
His  prefence  all  her  fears  increas'd. 

And  wak'd  the  tender  tear. 

Now  nearer  to  the  grateful  fliore 

The  moving  veffel  drew : 
The  daring  waves  now  ceas'd  to  roar>. 

Now  Iliout  th'  exulting  crew. 

Matilda,  with  a  mother's  joy. 
Gave  thanks  to  Heaven's  pow'r : 

How  fervent  flie  erabrac'd  her  boy ! 
How  blefl:  the  faving  hour ! 

Oh  !  much  deceiv'd  and  haplefs  fair. 
Though  ceas'd  the  waves  to  roar. 

Thou,  from  that  fatal  moment,  ne'er 
Can'fl  talle  of  pleafure  more. 


64 

Tdr,  ftepping  forth  from  off  the  deck. 
To  reach  the  welcome  ground, 

The  babe,  unclafping  from  her  neck,. 
Plung'd  in  the  gulph  profound. 

Amazement  chain'd  [  her  haggard  eye 

Gave  not  a  tear  to  flow. 
Her  bofom  heav'd  no  confcious  figh. 

She  ftood  a  fculptur'd  woe  *, 

To  fnatch  the  child  from  inftant  death. 
Some  brav'd  the  threatening  main. 

And  to  recal  his  fleeting  breath 
Try'd  ev'ry  art  in  vain. 

But  when  the  corfe  firft  met  her  vie\^, 
Stretch'd  on  the  pebbly  ftrand, 

Rous'd  from  her  ecftafy  fhe  flew. 
And  pierc'd  th'  oppofing  band. 

With 

*  This,  though  exprelfed  in  pottry,  is  a  true  picture  of  na- 
ture. Cambyses,  when  he  conquered  Egypt,  made  Psam- 
n^ETicus,  the  king,  prifoner;  and,  to  try  his  conftancy,  ordered 
his  daughter  to  be  dreffed  in  the  habit  of  a  flave,  and  to  be  em- 
ployed in  the  meaneft  drudgery ;  his  fon  was  alfo  led  to  exe- 
cution with  a  halter  about  his  neck.  The  friends  of  the  king 
Vented  their  forrow  in  tears  and  lamentations :  Psammeticus 
only,  with  a  downcaft  eye,  remained  filent.  Som'e  time  after 
<his  meeting  one  of  his  countrymen,  a  man  advanced  in  years, 
who,  being  plundered  of  all,  was  begging  alms,  he  wept  bitterly, 
calling  him  by  his  name.  Cambyses  was  ftruck  with  wonder, 

and 


6g 

With  trefles  difcompos'd  and  rude. 

Fell  proftrate  on  the  ground  ; 
To  th'  infant's  lips  her  lips  flie  glew'd. 

And  forrovv  burft  its  bound. 

Now  throwing  round  a  troubled  glance. 

With  madnefs'  ray  inflam'd, 
And,  breaking  from  her  filent  trance. 

She  wildly  thus  exclaim'd  : 

«  Oh  !  Oh  !  his  little  life  is  fled, 

"  His  heavelefs  breaft  is  cold  j 
"  What  tears  will  not  the  mother  flied, 

"  When  thy  fad  tale  is  told  ! 

"  Ah  me !  that  cheek  of  livid  hue —  . 

"  That  brow— that  auburn  hair— 
"  Thofe  lips  where  late  the  rofes  blew, . 

"  All,  all  my  fon  declare." 

She  added  not — but  funk  opprefs'd — 

Death  on  her  eye-lids  ftole. 
While  from  her  grief-diftrafted  breaft 

She  figh'd  her  tortur'd  foul. 

JERNINGHAM. 

nd  enquired  the  reafon  of  this  difference.  "  O,  fdn  of  Cv- 
Rus,"  returned  Psammeticus,  "the  calamities  of  my  family 
are  too  great  to  leave  me  the  power  of  weeping;  but  the 
misfortunes  of  a  fubjeft,  reduced  in  his  old  age  to  want  of 
bread,  is  a  fit  fubjedl  for  lamentation." 

Vol.  IV.  F  PRACTICAL 


66 


PRACTICAL  OBSERVATIONS, 


SECT.  XV. 

.  METHOD  OF  CONSOLING  GRIEF. 

O  !  caa'ft  thou  minifier  to  a  mind  difeas'd. 
Pluck  from  the  memory  a  rooted  forrow, 
Raze  out  the  written  troubles  of  the  brain  ; 
And,  with  fome  fweet  oblivious  antidote, 
Cleanfe  the  fluff'd  bofom  of  that  perilous  fluff 
Which  weiglis  upon  the  heart  ? 

SHAKESPEARE. 

There  is  nothing  fo  difficult  as  the  cure  of 
paflions  of  the  mind,  becaufe  application  muft 
be  made  to  the  .mind  itfelf,  which  is  a  difeafed 
part,  and  which  in  return  muft  apply  its  own 
remedy.  This  Yubjeft,  however,  merits  fome 
attention  from  every  one,  and  requires  great 
addrefs.  Perfons  unacquainted  with  human  na- 
ture, are  very  apt  to  reafon  with  people  under 
their  heavieft  affli£lions,  inftead  of  participating 
in  their  forrow.  We  have  a  precept  againft 
this  manner  of  confoling  from  the  eloquent  pen 
of  Pliny,  who  addreffing  Marcellinus,  fays : 

"  I  write  to  you,  imprelTcd  with  the  deepeft 
forrow :  the  youngeft  daughter  of  my  intimate 
friend  Fundanus  is  dead  !  Never  furely  was  there 
a,  more  agreeable  and  more  amiable  young  per- 

fon. 


6/ 

fbn,  or  one  who  better  deferved  to  have  enjoyed 
a  long,  I  had  almoft  faid,  an  immortal  life !  She 
was  fcarcely  fixteen,  and  yet  united  the  wifdom 
of  age  and  difcretion  of  a  matron,  with  the 
fprightlinefs  of  youth,  and  fweetnefs  of  virgin 
modefty.    With  what  an  endearing  fondnefs  did 
flie  hang  on  her  father's  neck !  How  kindly  and 
refpe6tfully  behave  to  us  his  friends  !  How  affec- 
tionately treat  all  thofe  who,  in  their  refpeBive 
offices,  had  the  care  of  her  education!  She  em- 
ployed much  of  her  time  in  ftudy  and  reading ; 
indulged  herfelf ,  in  few  diverfions,  and  entered 
even  into  thofe  with  lingular  caution  and  referve. 
With  what  forbearance,  with  what  patience,  with 
what  fortitude,  did  flie  endure  her  laft  illnefs  !  She 
complied  with  all  the  dire6tions  of  her  phyficians ; 
encouraged  the  hopes  of  her  fifter  and  her  father ; 
and  when  her  ftrength  was  totally  exhaufted,  fup- 
ported  her  fpirits  by  the  fole  force  of  her  own 
mind.  The  vigour  of  her  mind  indeed  continued, 
even  to  her  laft  moments,  unbroken  by  the  pain 
of  a  long  illnefs,  or  the  terrors  of  approaching 
death :  a  refle£lion  which  renders  the  lofs  of  her 
fo  much  the  more  fenfibly  to  be  lamented  by  us. 
It  is  a  lofs  infinitely  indeed  fevere  !  and  aggra- 
vated by  the  particular  conjuncture  in  which  it 
happened  !  She  was  contracted  to  a  moft  worthy 
youth  J  the  wedding-day  was  fixed,  and  we  were 
all  invited.    How  fad  a  change  from  the  higheft 
joy  to  the  deepcft  forrow  !  How  (hall  I  exprefs 

F  2  the 


68 

the  wound  that  pierces  my  heart,  when  I  heard 
Fundanus  himfelf  (as  grief  is  ever  fond  of  dwelling 
Upon  every  circumftancc  to  incrcafe  the  affli6tion) 
ordering  the  money  he  had  dcfigned  to  lay  out 
upon  clothes  and  jewels  for  her  marriage,  to  be 
employed  in  myrrh  and  fpices  for  her  funeral ! 
He  is  a  man  of  great  good  fenfc  and  accompliflv 
ments,  having  applied  himfelf,  from  his  earlieft 
youth,  to  the  noblefl:  arts  and  feiences  >  but  all 
the  maxims  of  fortitude  and  philofophy  v/hich  he 
has  derived  from  books,  or  delivered  by  his  own 
precepts,  he  now  abfolutely  reje61:s  >  and  every 
firmer  virtue  of  his  heart  gives  place  to  paternal 
tendernefs.    You  will  excufe,  you  will  even  ap- 
prove his  grief,  when  you  confider  what  a  lofs 
he  has  fuftaincd !   He  has  lofl"  a  daughter  who 
refembled  him  in  his  manners,  as  well  as  his  per- 
fon,  and  exadly  copied  out  all  her  father.  If 
you  fhould  think  proper  to  write  to  him  upon  the 
fubjed  of  a  calamity  fo  juftly  to  be  deplored,  let 
me  remind  you  not  to  urge  feverer  arguments  of 
confolation,  which  feem  to  carry  a  fort  of  reproof 
with  them,  but  to  ufe  thofe  only  of  a  gentle  and 
fympathizing  humanity.    Time  will  render  him 
more  open  to  the  dictates  of  reafon:  for,  as  a 
recent  wound  fln-ink.s  from  the  hand  of  the  fur- 
geon,  but  gradually  fubmits  to,  and  even  requires 
the  means  of  cure  ;  fo  a  mind  under  the  firft 
imprefiion  of  a  misfortune  ihuns  and  reje£ls  all 
the  perfuafions  of  reafon,  but  at  length,  if  ap- 


^9 

plied  with  tendernefs,  calmly  and  willingly  rcfigns 
itfelf  to  confolation.  Farewel." 

In  the  play  of  Eleftra,  by  Sophocles,  we  have 
an  example  of  the  different  methods  of  confoling, 
with  their  effefts,  extremely  well  pointed  out. 
The  fcene  lies  juft  before  the  gates  of  the  palace 
of  yEgifthus  J  on  the  back  part  of  it  is  reprefented 
a  view  of  the  two  cities  of  Argos  and  Mycenae, 
the  temple  of  Juno,  and  the  grove  of  lo,  which 
muft,  altogether,  have  made  a  noble  and  magni- 
ficent appearance,  as  the  Greeks  fpared  no  ex- 
pence  in  the  decorations  of  their  theatre. 

Electra  appears  before  the  palace  of  tEgist- 
Hus,  thus  complaining; 

O  !  facred  light,  and  O !  thou  ambient  air ! 
Oft  have  ye  heard  Electra's  loud  laments, 
Her  fighs,  and  groans,  and  witneffed  to  her  woes. 
Which  ever  as  each  hateful  morn  appeared 
I  poured  before  you  ;  what  at  eve  retired   .  , 
I  felt  of  anguifli  my  fad  couch  alone 
Can  tell,  which  watered  nightly  with  my  tears 
Received  me  forrowing ;  that  beft  can  tell 
"What  pangs  I  fuffered  for  a  haplefs  father. 
Whom  not  the  god  of  war  with  ruthlefs  hand 
Struck  nobly  fighting  in  a  diftant  foil. 
But  my  fell  mother  and  the  curfed  yEcisxHUs, 
The  partner  of  her  bed,  remorfelefs  flew. 
Untimely  didfl:  thou  fall,  lamented  fliade. 
And  none  but  poor  Electra  mourns  thy  fate; 

Nor 


70 

Nor  fliall  (lie  ceafe  to  mourn  thee,  while  thcfe  eyes 
View  the  fair  heavens,  or  behold  the  fun  ^ 
Never,  O !  never !  like  the  nightingale 
W'hofe  plaintive  fong  bewails  her  ravillied  brood  j 
Here  will  I  ftill  lament  my  father's  wrongs, 
And  teach  the  echo  to  repeat  my  moan, 
Ol  ye  infernal  deities,  and  thou, 
'Terrcftrial  Hermes,  and  thou,  Nemefis, 
Replete  with  curfes,  and  ye  vengeful  furies. 
Offspring  of  gods,  the  minifters  of  wrath 
To  vile  adulterers,  who  with  pity  view 
The  flaughtered  innocent,  behold  this  deed! 
O !  come,  alllft,  revenge  my  father's  murder ; 
Quickly,  O!  quickly  brin^  me  my  Orestes*; 

For 

*  Okestes  was  faved  in  his  cradle  from  his  mother,  and 
concealed  by  Electra,  He  is  reported  to  be  dead,  and  his 
urn  is  brought  to  the  palace  of  ^Egisthus,  king  of  Mycenae, 
by  Phocians,  but  inftead  of  bearing  tlie  aflies  of  Orestes, 
he  himfelf  comes  to  revenge  his  father's  murder — and  being 
admitted  into  the  palace,  CLyXiEMNEsxR  a  is  murdered.  By 
this  time  jiEgisthus  returns  to  the  palace. 

JEgi.  Which  of  you  knows  aught  of  thefe  Phocian  guefls 
Who  come  to  tell  us  of  Orestes'  death  ? 
You  firft  I  afli,  Electra,  once  fo  proud 
And  fierce  of  foul;  it  doth  concern  you  moft; 
And  therefore  you,  I  think,  can  beft  inform  me  ? 

Ele.  Yes,  I  can  tell  thee ;  is  it  poffible 
I  fliould  not  know  it?  that  were  not  to  know 
A  cirjcumftance  of  deareft  import  to  me. 

JE.G1.  Where  are  they,  then? 

Ele.  Within. 

4^01,  And  fpake  they  truth? 


■  71 

For  lo  I  fink  beneath  oppreffive  woe. 
And  can  no  longer  bear  the  weight  alone. 

THE 

Ele.  They  did;  a  truth  not  proved  by  words  alone, 
But  fadls  undoubted. 

JEgj.  Shall  we  fee  him  then? 

EtE.  Aye,  and  a  dreadful  fight  it  is  to  fee. 

^Gi.  Thou  art  not  wont  to  give  me  fo  uiiuch  joy; 
'Now  I  am  glad  indeed. 

Ele.  Glad  may 'ft  thou  be, 
If  aught  there  is  in  that  which  can  give  thee  joy. 

^Gi.  Silence  within,  and  let  my  palace  gates 
Be  opened  all ;  that  Argos  and  Mycenae 
May  fend  her  millions  forth  to  view  the  fight ; 
And  if  there  are  who  nourifli  idle  hopes 
That  ftill  Orestes  lives,  behold  him  here. 
And  learn  fubmiffion,  nor  inflame  the  crowd 
Againft  their  lawful  fovereign,  left  they  feel 
An  angry  monarch's  heavieft  vengeance  on  them. 

Ele.  Already  I  have  learned  the  talk,  and  yield 
To  power  fuperior. 

Scene  opens,  and  difcovers  the  body  of  CtYXiEMNESTR a 
extended  on  a  biei*,  and  covered  with  a  veil. 

Orestes,  Pylades,  Governor  of  Orestes,  ^gisthus, 
Electra,  Chorus,  an^l  a  crowd  of  Spectators  from 
the  city. 

^Gi.  What  a  fight  is  here! 
O  !  Deity  fupreme !  this  could  not  be 
But  by  thy  will;  and  whether  Nemesis 
Shall  ftill  o'ertake  me  for  my  crimes,  I  know  not. 
Take  off  the  veil,  that  I  may  view  him  well ; 
He  was  by  blood  allied,  and  therefore  claims 
Our  decent  forrows. 

Ore.  Take  it  off  thyfelf; 
'Tis  not  my  office ;  thee  it  beft  befits 
To  fee  and  tp  lament. 

JEgi. 


72 


THE  CHORUS  ENTERS. 

Cho.  O  !  wretched  daughter  of  an  impious 
mother! 

Wilt  thou  for  ever  ipourn,  for  ever  thus 
With  unavailing  tears,  and  endlefs  forrow, 
Lament  the  royal  Agamemnon's  fate. 
By  a  viJp  woman's  wi.cked  arts  betrayed  ? 

Ele. 

^Gi.  And  fo  it  does ; 
And  I  will  dp  it;  fend  CLYXiEMNEsTR a  hither. 

[Taking  off  the  veil. 

Ore.  She  is  before  thee. 
^Gi.  Ha!  What  do  I  fee? 

Ore.  Why,  what's  the  matter  ?  what  affrights  thee  fo  J 
Po  you  not  fee  him  ? 

^Gi.  In  what  dreadful  fnare 
Am  I  then  fallen  > 

Ore.  Doft  thou  not  now  behold 
That  thou  art  talking  with  the  dead? 

^Gi.  Alas! 
Too  well  I  fee  it,  and  thou  art— Orestes. 

Of  all  the  cataftrophes,  ancient  or  modern,  which  I  remem? 
bcr  to  have  met  with,  this  of  Electra  appears  to  me  infir 
nitely  the  moft  interefting,  natural,  and  truly  dramalic. — There 
cannot  poffibly  be  a  fpe<ftacle  more  affefting  than  the  fcene 
before  us ;  a  tyrant,  murderer,  and  adulterer,  is  reprefented  as 
cxuhing  on  the  death  of  the  only  perfon  in  the  world  whom 
he  had  to  fear,  and  whofe  dead  body  he  expefts  to  fee  before 
him;  inftead  of  this,  on  liftipg  up  the  veil,  he  is  fliocked,  not 
with  the  corpfe  of  Orestes,  but  that  of  his  own  wife;  he 
perceives  at  once  that  Clyt/Emnestr a  is  murdei-ed,  that 
Orestes  is  aliv?  ^nd  clofe  to  him,  and  that  he  has  nothing  to 
expeft  himfelf  but  immediate  death :  the  fudden  change  pf 
fortune  to  all  the  perfons,  concerned,  the  furprife  and  delpair 
of  ^gisthus,  the  joy  and  triumph  in  the  countenances  of 
Prestes  and  Electra,  muft  altogether  have  exhibited  a 

pifturc 


73: 

Ele.  Ye  come  to  comfort  me,  I  know  ye  do, 
I  know  my  tears  are  fruitlefs  all  and  vain ; 
3ut  01  permit  me  to  indulge  my  griefs. 
For  I  muji  zveep. 

Cho.  Thy  tears  can  ne'er  recal  him 
From  the  dark  manfions  of  the  common  grave, 
No,  nor  thy  prayers;  tliey  can  but  make  thee, 

wretched, 
And  fink  thee  deeper  in  calamity ; 
Why  art  thou  then  fo  fond  of  mifery  ? 

Ele.  Devoid  of  fenfe  and  feeling  is  the  heart 
That  can  forget  an  injured  parent's  wrongs. 
I  love  the  airy  meffenger  of  Jove, 
The  mournful  bird  that  weeps  her  Ity's  fate. 
And  every  night;  repeats  the  tender  tale: 
Thee  too  I  reverence  as  a  goddefs,  thee. 
Unhappy  Niobe  !  for  ftill  thou  weep'ft. 
And  from  the  marble,  tears  eternal  flow. 

Cho.  But  O !  reflect  that  not  to  thee  alone 
Misfortune  comes,  that  comes  to  all  * :  behold 

Iphianafla, 

pidure  worthy  the  pencil  of  a  Raphael  to  execute:  how  it 
was  acled  on  the  Greek  ftage,  we  cannot  pretend  to  determine; 
moft  probably  with  tafte  and  judgment.  Let  the  Englifii 
reader  conceive  thofe  inimitable  aftors,  Palmer,  Kemble, 
and  Mrs.  Siddons,  in  the  parts  of  TEgisthus,  Orestes, 
and  Electra,  and  from  thence  form  to  himfelf  fome  idea  of 
the  efFeft  which  fuch  a  cataftrophe  would  have  on  a  Britilli 
audience. 

The  Chorus  here  employ  reafoning. — ^'  I  will  reftore  your 
daughter  again  to  life,"  faid  the  Eaftern  fage,  to  a  prince 
who  grieved  immoderately  for  the  lofs  of  a  beloved  child, 
*'  provided  you  are  able  to  engrave  on  her  tomb  the  names 

"  of- 


74 

Iphlanafifaj  and  Chryfothemis  *, 

And  him  who  hides  his  grief,  illuftrious  youth. 

The  loved  Orestes,  thefe  have  fuft'ered  too. 

Ele.  Orestes!  yes,  Mycense  fliall  receive 
In  happy  hour  the  great  avenger;  Jove 
With  fmiles  aufpicious  fliall  conduft  him  to  me ; 
For  him  alone  1  wait,  for  him,  a  wretch 
Defpifed,  of  children  and  of  nuptial  rites 
Hopelefs  I  wander ;  he  remembers  not 
What  I  have  done  for  him,  what  fuffered,  ftill 
With  airy  promifes  he  mocks  my  hopes. 
And  yet  he  comes  not  ta  me. 

Cho.  But  he  will. 
Defpair  not,  daughter;  Jove  is  yet  in  Heaven, 
The  god  who  fees,  and  knows,  and  governs,  all : 
Patient  to  him  fubmit  f ,  nor  let  thy  rage 
Too  far  tranfport  thee,  nor  oblivion  drown 
The  juft  remembrance  of  thy  matchlefs  woes ; 
Time  is  a  kind,  indulgent  deity. 
And  he  fliall  give  thee  fuccour,  he  flnall  fend 

"  of  three  perfons  who  have  never  mourned."  The  prince 
made  inquiry  after  fuch  perfons ;  but  found  the  inquiry  vain, 
and  was  filent. 

*  Ijihianaffa  and  Chryfotkcinls.  Homer  II.  (Book  IX.)  men- 
tions three  daughters  of  Agamemnon,  Chryfothemis,  Laodice, 
and  Iphianafla.  Euripides  takes  no  notice  of  any  but  Iphigenia, 
(who  was  facrificed)  and  Electra.  Poffibly  the  Laodice  of 
Homer  is  the  Electra  of  Sophocles.  The  poets  took  the 
Hberty  of  changing  circumftances  of  this  nature,  not  eflential 
to  the  fubjeft,  as  they  thought  proper. 

f  The  Chorus  next  employ  religion. 

The 


75 

The  god  of  Acheron,  from  Chryfa's  fhorcs 
To  bring  Oreftes,  and  avenge  thy  wrongs. 

Ele.  Ol  but  the  while  how  much  of  life  is 
gone  1 

And  I  a  hopelefs,  wretched  orphan  ftlll. 
Without  a  friend  to  guard,  or  to  prote£l:  me; 
Difgraced,  diflionoured,  like  a  ftranger  clad 
In  bafe  attire,  and  fed  with  homelieft  fare. 

Cho.  Sad  news*  indeed  the  haplefs  meffenger 
To  Argos  brought,  that  fpoke  the  wiflied  return 
Of  thy  loved  father  to  his  native  foil ; 
Fatal  the  night  when  Agamemnon  fell 
Or  by  a  mortal  or  immortal  hand ; 
The  work  of  fraud  and  luft  f ,  a  horrid  deed ! 
Whoe'er  performed  it  f . 

Ele.  O!  detefted  feaft! 
O  !  day,  the  bittereft  fure  that  ever  rofe  ! 
With  him  I  periflied  then  ;  but  may  the  gods 
Repay  the  murderers  ;  never  may  they  hear 
The  voice  of  joy,  or  tafte  of  comfort  more  1 

*  Finding  thefe  not  avail,  the  Chorus  now particijiate  in  the 
forrows  of  Electra. 

f  The  work  of  fraud  and  hijl.\  ^Egifthvis  and  Clytaemneflra 
are  faid  to  have  watched  Agamemnon  as  he  came  out  of  the 
bath,  when  they  threw  over  his  head  a  fliirt  without  any  open- 
ing at  the  neck ;  entangled  in  this  they  murdered  him ;  thus 
was  the  fcheme  laid  by  fraud  and  treachery,  and  executed  by 
luft. 

%  IVhoe^er performed  it.  The  Chorus  feem  fearful  of  attribut- 
ing fo  great  a  crime  to  ClytJEmneftra  and  j^lgifthus,  which  they 
knew  them  however  guilty  of. 

Cho. 


76 

Cho.  Ceafc  thy  complaints,  already  hafl  thou 
fuffered 

For  thy  loud  difcontents,and  threatened  vengeance. 
'Tis  folly  to  contend  with  power  fuperior*. 

Ele.  Folly  indeed,  and  madnefs  !  but  my  grief s 
Will  force  their  way,  and  whil/i  -^.-lt-ctra  breathes 
She  mvfi  lament ;  for  who  will  bring  me  comfort, 
Or  footh  my  forrows  ?  let  me,  let  me  go. 
And  weep  for  ever. 

Cho.  'Tis  our  love  intreats; 
Truft  me,  we  feel  a  mother's  fondnefs  for  thee. 
And  fain  would  fave  thee  from  redoubled  w^ocs. 

Ele.  And  would  ve  have  me  then  neq-lect 
the  dead? 

Forget  my  father  ?  Can  there  be  fuch  guilt  ? 
When  I  do  fo,  may  infamy  purfue  me  ! 
And  if  I  wed,  may  all  the  joys  of  love 
Be  far  removed  !  if  vengeance  doth  not  fall 
On  crimes  like  thefe,  for  ever  farewell  juftice. 
Shame,  honour,  truth  and  piety,  farewell ! 

Cho.  Pardon  me,  daughter;  if  my  warmth 
offend. 

Glad  I  fubmit  \  vi'c'll  follow,  and  obey  thee  f . 

Ele.  I  am  myfelf  to  blame,  and  blufli  to  think 
Hovv-  much  unfit  I  feem  to  bear  the  weight 
Impofcd  upon  me ;  but  indeed  'tis  great : 
Forgive  me,  friends,  a  woman  born  as  I  am, 
Mull  flic  not  grieve  to  fee  each  added  minute 

*  They  recur  again  to  renfon'mg. 

•(•  They  change  their  mode  and  fee  the  efFe£l. 

Fraught 


77 

Fraught  with  new  miferies  ?  thus  to  be  a  Have  • 

E'en  in  my  father's  houfe,  and  from  thofe  hands 

Which  flied  his  blood,  to  a{k  the  means  of  Hfe ! 

Think  what  my  foul  muft  fuffer  to  behold 

The  curfed  yEcisxHus  feated  on  the  throne 

Of  Agamemnon,  in  the  very  robes 

Which  once  were  his  !  to  fee  the  tyrant  pour 

Libations  forth  e'en  on  the  fatal  fpot 

Where  the  fad  deed  was  done  !  but,  worft  of  all, 

To  fee  the  murderer  ufurp  his  bed. 

Embrace  ray  mother  (by  that  honoured  name 

If  .1  may  call  a  guilty  wretch  like  her,) 

Who,  pleafed,  returns  his  love,  and,  of  her  crimes 

Unconfcious,  fmiles,  nor  fears  th'  avenging  furies ; 

But  ever  as  the  bloody  day  returns 

WHiich  gave  the  royal  viftim  to  her  wiles. 

Annual  the  dance  and  choral  fong  proclaim 

A  folemn  feaft  *,  nor  impious  facrifice 

Forgets  flie  then  to  her  prote6ling  gods, 

Sho,cked  at  the  cruel  banquet,  I  retire. 

And  in  fome  corner  hide  my  griefs,  denied 

E'en  the  fad  comfort  to  indulge  my  forrows ; 

For  Clyt^mnestra  in  opprobrious  terms 

Reviles  me  oft,  "  To  thee  alone,  flie  cries, 

"  Is  Agamemnon  loft,  detefted  maid  ! 

"  Think'ft  thou  Electra  only  weeps  his  fate? 

*  Proclai?n  a  folernn  fenjl.  Nothing  could  add  more  to  the 
horror  of  the  crime  than  luch  a  circumftance.  Ci.yt^emnes- 
TRA,  not  content  with  murdering  Jier  hufband,  inftitutes  a 
folemn  feaft  in  commemoration  of  the  happy  event,  and  calls 
it,  with  ci:uel  raillery,  the  fupper  of  Agamemnon. 

"  Perdition 


78 

"  Perdition  on  thee  !  may  th'  infernal  gods 
"  Refufe  thee  fuccour,  and  protract  thy  pains  !" 
Thus  rails  llie  bitter,  and  if  chance  flie  hear 
Orestes  is  approaching,  ftung  with  rage. 
Wild  flie  exclaims,  "  Thou  art  th'  accurfed  caufe, 
*'  This  is  thy  deed,  who  ftole  Orestes  from  me, 
"  And  hid  him  from  my  rage  ;  but  be  affured, 
"  E'er  long  my  vengeance  fliall  o'ertake  thee  for  it !" 
Thefe  threats  her  noble  lord  ftill  urges  on  ; 
That  vile  adulterer,  that  abandoned  coward, 
Whofe  fearful  foul  called  in  a  woman's  aid 
To  execute  his  bloody  porpofes. 
Meantime,  Electra  fighs  for  her  Orestes, 
Her  wiQied  avenger;  his  unkind  delay 
Deftroys  my  hopes ;  alas  !  my  gentle  friends. 
Who  can  bear  this,  and  keep  an  equal  mind? 
To  fufFer  ills  like  mine,  and  not  to  err 
From  zvild  diJlraEiion^  would  he  Jlrange  indeed. 

Ci-io.  But  fay,  Electra,  is  the  tyrant  near  ? 
Or  may  we  fpeak  our  thoughts  unblamed  ? 

Ele-  Thou  mayft ; 
I  had  not  elfe  beyond  the  palace  dared 
To  wander  hither. 

Cho.  I  w^ould  fain  have  afked  thee  ' 

Ele.  Afkwhat  thou  wilt,  ^Egisthus  is  far  off. 

Cho.  Touching  thy  brother  then,  inform  me 
quick 

If  aught  thou  knovv'll:  that  merits  firm  belief*. 

*  The  Chorus  finding  Electra  fornewhat  appeafed  by 
giving  vent  to  grief,  m-w  turn  the  fuljed  of  dljcourfe. 

Ele. 


79 

Ele.  He  promifes,  but  comes  not. 

Cho.  Things  of  moment 
Require  deliberation  and  delay. 

Ele.  O  !  but  did  I  delay  to  fave  Orestes  ? 

Cho.  He  boafts  a  noble  nature,  and  will  ne'er 
•  Forget  his  friends :  be  confident. 

Ele.  I  am ; 
Were  I  not  fo,  I  had  not  lived  till  now.  

fThe  buftle  of  the  Play  now  commences.] 


SECT. 


,8o 


SECT.  XV. 

CONSOLATIONS  FROM  CHRISTIANITY. 

As  Chrijlians^  we  are  able  to  employ  moi^e 
powerful  perfuafives  againft  excefs  of  forrow. 

Many  are  the  fayings  of  the  wife 
In  ancient  and  in  modern  books  inroll'd. 
Extolling  pAriENCE  as  the  frueft  fortitude  r 
And  to  the  bearing  well  of  all  calamities. 
All  chances  incident  to  man's  frail  life. — 
Many  are  the  confolatory  writs,  form'd 
Vv^ith  ftudied  argument,  and  much  perfuafion. 
But  with  th'  afflicted  in  his  pangs  fuch  founds 
Little  prevail,  or  rather  feem  a  tune 
Harfli,  and  of  diflbnant  mood  from  his  complaint, 
Unlefs  he  feel  within 

Some  fource  of  consolation  from  above. 
Secret  refrefliings,  that  repair  his  ftrength. 
And  fainting  fpirits  uphold. 

MI LTON. 

Wlien  a  feeling  heart  is  oppreffed  with  fome 
painful  difeafe  in  his  body,  or  wrung  with  fome 
fore  diftrefs  of  mind,  every  former  comfort,  at  that 
moment,  ufually  goes  for  nothing.  Life  is  beheld 
in  all  its  gloom.  A  dark  cloud  feems  to  hang  over 
X;  and  it  is  too  often  reviled,  as  no  other  than  a 
fcene  of  wretchcdnefs  and  forrow.  But  this  is  to 
be  unjuft  to  human  lite^  as  well  as  ungrateful  to 


8i 


its  Author. — Let  me  only  defire  you  to  think  how 
many  days,  how  many  months,  how  many  years, 
you  have  paffed  in  health,  and  eafe,  and  comfort ; 
how  many  pleafurable  feelings  you  have  had;  how 
many  friends  you  have  enjoyed  ;  how  many  blef- 
lings,  in  fliort,  of  different  kinds  you  have  tafted ; 
and  you  will  be  forced  to  acknowledge,  that  more 
materials  of  thankfgiving  prefent  themfelves  than 
of  lamentation  and  complaint. — Thefe  bleffings, 
you  will  fay,  are  paft.    But  though  paft,  ought 
they  to  be  gone  from  your  remembrance  ?  Do 
they  merit  no  place  in  the  comparative  eftimate 
of  the  goods  and  evils  of  your  ftate  ?  Did  you, 
could  you,  expeQ:,  that  in  this  mutable  world,  any 
temporal  joy  was  to  laft  for  ever  ?  Has  gratitude 
no  influence  to  form  your  minds  to  a  calm  acqui- 
efcence  in  your  BENEFACTOR'S  appointments? 
What  can  be  more  reafonable  than  to  fay,  "  Hav- 
"  ing  in  former  times  received  fo  many  good 
"  things  from  the  hand  of  GOD,  fliall  I  not  now, 
"  without  defpondence,  receive  the  few  evils 
"  which  it  hath  pleafed  him  to  fend  ?" — If  we 
are  deprived  of  friends  whom  we  tenderly  loved, 
are  there  not  ftill  fome  remaining  from  whom 
we  may  expedl  much  comfort  ?  If  our  bodies  are 
affli£led  with  fore  difeafe,  have  we  not  reafon  to 
be  thankful  that  our  mind  continues  vigorous 
and  entire;  that  we  are  in  a  fituation  to  look 
around  us  for  whatever  can  afford  us  eafe;  and 
that  after  the  decay  of  this  frail  and  mouldering 
Vol.  IV.  G  tabernacle. 


82 


tabernacle,  we  can  look  forward  to  a  houfe  not 
made  zvilh  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens  ? — \w  the 
midft  of  all  diftrefles  there  remains  to  every  fin- 
cere  Chriftian,  that  mixture  of  pure  and  genuine 
confolation  which  fprings  from  the  promifes  and 
hopes  of  a  future  life.    Confider,  I  befeech  you, 
what  a  fingular  diftinclion  this  makes  in  your 
fituation,  beyond  the  ftatC  of  thofe  who,  under 
the  various  troubles  of  life,  are  left  without  hope; 
without  any  thing  to  look  up  to,  but  a  train  of 
unknown  caufes  and  accidents,  in  which  they  fee 
no  light  nor  comfort. — Thank  the  FATHER 
OF  MERCIES,  that  into  all  the  evils  he  fends, 
he  infufes  joyful  hope,  that  the  fufferings  of  the 
pyefent  time  are  not  worthy  to  he  compared  with  the 
glory  that  fJiall  be  revealed  in  the  end  to  the  virtuom 
and  good. 

.  Have  we  fuftained  the  greateft  of  all  lofles,  that 
of  a  child,  refle6t,  that  if  it  is  our  lofs,  it  is  his  gain 
that  he  yet  liveth  *,  that  this  life  is  but  the  threlli- 
old,  the  portal,  the  entrance  to  a  palace,  the  pre- 
lude to  a  better  play,  and  that  his  happinefs  is  as 
complete,  as  our  mifery  is  great.    Let  us  turn 

*  Tlie  Chriftian  reHgion  teaches  us,  that  the  moment  of  the 
reparation  of  the  foul  from  the  body,  that  the  foul  is  inftantly 
embodied  and  received  up  into  Paradife.  Hence  the  appearanct 
of  Mofes  and  Elias  in  an  embodied  form.  Hence  the  expref- 
fion  of  our  Saviour,  "  this  day  flialt  thou  be  with  me  in  Para- 
"  dife."  Hence  the  vifion  of  St.  Paul,  "  I  was  caught  up  into 
"  the  third  heaven,  whether  in  tiie  body,  or  out  of  the  body,  I 
"  cannot  tell,  God  knoweth." 

our 


83 

our  eyes  from  earth  to  heaven,  from  the  perifli- 
able  body  to  that  which  endureth  for  ever;  and 
even  whilft  we  are  heavy  with  affliftion,  let  us 
fmile,  with  our  eyes  turned  upwards,  and  fay, 
"  It  is  thy  will,  I  fubmit. — He  is  happy. — I  would 
"  not  wifli  him  back  to  a  troublefome  world. — 
"  I  foon  fhall  follow  after  him. — The  mortal 
"  hath  put  on  immortality. — We  fhall  then  meet, 
"  never,  never,  to  be  feparated  more." 


vSECT. 


84 


SECT.  XVII. 

ADVICE  TO  PARENTS  AND  MEN  OF  FORTUNE. 

Marriage  is  fure  a  matter  of  more  wortii 
Than  to  be.fubjeft  for  attorneyfliip. 
'  For  what  is  wedlock  forced  but  a  hell, 

An  age  of  difcord  and  continual  ftrife  ? 
Whereas  the  contrary  bringeth  forth  blifs. 
And  is  a  pattern  of  celeftial  peace. 

.  SHAKESPEARE. 

In  W  ,  a  fmall  village  of  Saxony,  there 

lived  a  poor  but  honeft  and  upright  Curate,  who 
for  many  years  had  enjoyed,  without  alloy,  the 
tranquil  pleafures  of  domeftic  happinefs.  He 
had  a  wife  and  an  only  daughter.  Content  with- 
in the  fphere  in  which  they  were  placed,  and 
unacquainted  with  the  turbulent  paflions  of  the 
fafliionable  world,  their  days  flowed  quietly  on 
in  an  uniform  courfe  of  undifturbed  felicity.  The 
mother  and  daughter  took  a  joint  care  of  all  the 
domeftic  concerns,  and  ftrove,  by  every  confi- 
derate  aft  of  attention  and  love,  to  diminifh  the 
burthen  which  the  duties  of  the  good  old  man 
impofed  on  him.  Harriot  (this  was  the  name 
of  his  daughter)  was,  in  the  ftrifteft  fenfe  of  the 
words,  the  child  after  his  own  heart.  He  was 
unhappy  if  flie  was  abfent  even  for  a  few  hours, 
and  flie  was  therefore  his  conftant  attendant, 
y  She 


85 


She  was  about  eighteen  years  old,  but  had  not 
yet  experienced  the  inquietudes  of  that  paffion 
which  often  exhibits  itfelf  in  very  early  life  in  the 
great  world,  and  her  principles  and  mode  of 
thinking  were  too  noble  and  good  to  infpire  her 
parents  with  even  the  flighteft  apprehenfions  as 
to  the  wanderings  of  her  heart — But  hear  her 
hiftory. 

It  is  the  cuftom,  in  that  country,  for  the  cavalry 
to  be  quartered,  during  the  time  of  peace,  in 
different  villages,  where  it  is  maintained  at  the 
expence  of  the  peafantry.  Many  of  thefe  fol- 
diers  are  riotous  young  men,  who,  by  virtue  of 
their  profeflion  and  uniform,  have  an  entrance 
into  the  houfes  of  all  the  peafantry,  arid  even  of 
the  curates.  One  of  them,  a  handfome  but  giddy 

young  man,  was  quartered  at  W  ,  where  he 

foon  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  good  old 
parfon. 

The  young  foldier  had  more  culture  of  mind 
than  is  commonly  met  with  in  fuch  a  clafs  of 
men.  He  pleafed  the  curate;  they  met  fre- 
quently, and  often  fat  up  till  paft  midnight,  enter- 
taining themfelves  with  the  hiftories  of  battles 
and  warlike  atchievements,  of  which  each  qf 
them  knew  an  abundance  of  anecdotes. 

Harriot  found  great  entertainment  in  the 
company  of  the  warrior,  and  like  Othello's 
miftrefs,  the  ftory  of  his  life,  the  battles,  fiegcs, 
fortunes  that  he  had  paft,  the  hair-breadth  'fcapes, 

thQ 


86 


the  moving  accidents  by  flood  and  field,  o'ercame 
her  heart.    Love  had  taken  poflelTion  of  her 
bofom  before  flie  was  aware  of  its  approach. 
The  progrefs  of  this  paflion,  when  once  admitted 
into  the  human  breaft,  is  certain  as  fate.  She 
bluftied  when  he  look  her  by  the  hand,  and 
was  unhappy  when  he  left  her.    The  foldier 
qould  not  refifl  the  beautiful  girl,  his  heart  was 
formed  for  love  ;  they  therefore  foon  came  to  an 
explanation,  but  carefully  concealed  their  mutual 
attachment  from  her  parents  ;  for  they  were  juftly 
afraid  that  prudential  motives  would  caufe  them 
to  oppofe  it.    They  bound  themfelves  to  each 
other,  however,  by  an  oath,  which  at  the  fame 
time  that  it  (hewed  the  ftrength  of  their  affe£tion, 
exhibited  the  moft  romantic  turn  of  mind.  They 
promifed  to  marry  each  other  as  foon  as  he  fhould 
attain  the  rank  of  Serjeant-major,  and  agreed  that 
the  one  Jlioidd  dejiroy  the  other  who  firjl  failed  in  the 
engagement. 

Thus  matters  flood  when,  contrary  to  the 
hopes  of  the  lovers,  a  lawyer  from  a  neighbour- 
ing town  applied  to  the  father  of  Harriot  for 
the  hand  of  his  daughter.  He  was  well  received, 
and  his  views  promoted  by  the  old  people ;  but 
when  his  intention  was  declared  to  the  unfortu- 
nate girl,  flie  fell  into  the  arms  of  her  father  as 
if  ftruck  with  lightning,  and  upon  her  recovery 
llie  wept  bitterly,  and  intreated  him  not  to  en- 
courage the  addrelJes  of  this  new  lover. 

Her 


87 

Her  parents^  being  ignorant  of  the  true  caufe 
of  her  averfion,  thought  that  time  alone  would 
overcome  it,  and  they  therefore  gave  their  folemn 
promife  to  the  lawyer,  and  refolved  to  employ 
every  means  in  their  power  to  fecond  his  wiflies. 
Harriot,  however,  refifted  every  argument,  and 
remained  true  to  her  promife ;  but  her  parents  at 
laft,  growing  tired  ofher  oppohtion,  determined  to 
employ  their  authority.  The  arguments  that  were 
made  ufe  of  are  needlefs  to  mention,  and  they 
were  attended  with  fuccefs.  I'he  young  foldier 
foon  received  the  intelligence,  and  from  that 
moment  defifted  from  vifiting  the  parfonage.  His 
refolution  was  taken — for  without  the  girl  he 
could  not  live. 

A  fliort  time  before  the  marriage-day,  a  dance 
was  given  in  W—  in  honour  of  the  pair.  To  this 
he  reforted,  unable  any  longer  to  refift  the  defire 
of  feeing  his  once  beloved.  He  concealed  himfelf 
among  the  fpeftators  until  he  faw  her  dance  ;  this 
roufed  him  to  a  (late  of  fury  •  he  ran  home,  took 
a  pair  of  piftols  which  were  loaded,  and  waited 
until  the  party  broke  up.  It  was  a  dark  night, 
but  he  difcerned  the  unhappy  bride  and  her  bride- 
groom, walking  hand  in  hand.  He  ftept  up  to 
her,  and  in  a  low  voice  requefted  that  flie  would 
indulge  him  with  a  moment's  converfation.  She 
difengaged  her  arm  from  that  of  the  lawyer,  in- 
treated  him  to  walk  on,  aflTuring  him  flie  would 
immediately  return ;  but  alas )  it  was  the  laft 

minute 


88 

minute  of  her  cxiftence:  a  piflol  fliot  was  heard, 
find  when  her  friends  reached  the  place,  fhe  was 
feen  lying  weltering  in  blood  at  the  feet  of  her 
murderer.  "  Now  art  thou  mine  again !"  cried  the 
foldier,  "  our  oaths  are  fulfilled  and  with  thefe 
words  he  disappeared,  favoured  by  the  obfcurity 
of  the  night :  but  he  did  not  fly  to  efcape.  He 
delivered  himfelf  to  the  officers  of  juftice  who 
were  neareft  the  place,  and  defired  to  be  inflantly 
executed ;  which  event  indeed  foon  followed. 

Learn,  parents,  from  this  ftory,  the  danger  of  ' 
marrying  your  children  to  thofe  they  cannot  love ; 
for  (hould  an  event  lefs  tragical  enfue  than  the 
above,  yet  what  fhould  be  their  paradife  would  be 
hell,  and  your  grand-children  the  worthy  offspring 
of  fuch  purchafed  connubial  rites. 

If  children  inherit  the  eyes  and  forehead  of 
their  parents,  it  is  certain  that  they  as  often  are 
heirs  to  the  internal  formation  of  their  vifcera. 
Nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  there  are  here- 
ditary difeafes,  or  what  comes  to  the  fame  thing, 
predifpofition  to  fuch.  Men  of  fortune  and  opu- 
lence have  it  in  their  power  to  obey  the  laws  of 
nature  and  of  love  ;  and  yet  how  common  are  the 
examples  of  fuch  men  a£ling  an  interefted  part 
in  their  matrimonial  engagements.  Inftead  of 
following  the  diftate?  of  nature,  they  difregard 
the  high  privilege  they  enjoy,  facrifice  their  tafte, 
their  paffion,  and  often  their  happinefs  during 
]ife,  at  the  flirine  of  gold.    To  accomplifli  this 

fordid 


89 

fordid  end,  they  often  embrace  deformity,  difeafe', 
ignorance,  peeviflinefs,  and  every  thing  that  is 
difgufting  to  the  generous  mind.  The  confe- 
quences  do  not  affe£t  them  only,  but  the  public. 
Men  of  rank,  in  all  nations  and  governments, 
are  the  natural  guardians  of  the  ftate.  For  thefe 
important  purpofes,  their  minds  fliould  be  noble, 
generous,  and  bold  ;  and  their  bodies  fliould  be 
ftrong,  mafculine,  fit  to  encounter  the  fatigues 
of  war,  and  to  repel  every  hoftile  affault  that  may 
be  made  upon  their  country.  But  when  men 
of  this  defcription,  whatever  be  their  motives, 
intermarry  with  weak,  deformed,  puny,  or  dif- 
eafed  females,  their  progeny  muft  of  neceflity 
degenerate.  The  ftrength,  beauty,  and  fymmetry 
of  their  anceftors,  are,  perhaps,  for  ever  loft. 
What  is  ftill  more  to  be  regretted,  debility  of 
body  is  almoft  invariably  accompanied  with  weak- 
nefs  of  mind.  Thus,  by  the  avarice  of  one  indi- 
vidual, a  noble  and  generous  race  is  completely 
deftroyed.  By  reverfing  this  conduft,  it  is  true, 
the  breed  may  again  be  mended  j  but  to  repair 
a  fmgle  breach,  many  generations,  endowed  with 
prudence  and  circumfpe61;ion,  will  be  requifite. 
A  fucceflive  degeneration,  however,  is  an  infalli- 
ble confequence  of  imprudent  or  interefted  mar- 
riages of  this  kind.  One  puny  race  may  for  fome- 
time  be  fucceeded  by  another,  till  at  laft  their 
conllitution  become  fo  feeble,  that  the  animals 
lofc  even  the  facility  of  multiplying  their  fpecies. 

This 


90 

This  gradual  degeneration  is  a  great  caufe  of  the 
total  extinftion  of  fome  of  our  noble  families. 
That  it  fliould  be  fo,  is  a  wife  and  beneficent 
inftitution  of  nature;  for  if  fuch  debilitated  races 
were  continued,  an  univerfal  degeneration  might 
foon  take  place,  and  mankind  would  be  unable 
to  perform  the  duties,  or  to  undergo  the  labour 
of  life.  Nature  thus  firft  chaftifes,  and  at  laft 
extirpates,  all  thofe  who  a£l  contrary  to  her  eftab- 
lifhed  laws. 

Certainly  more  than  one  half  of  the  miferies  of 
life  arife  from  marriages  contraBed  where  there 
previoufly  exifted  no  love ;  arifmg  from  the  fordid 
oppofition  of  friends  andrelations  to  fuitable  matches^ 
who  are  always  looking  out  for  a  lord  for  their 
relation,  or  a  rich  heirefs  for  their  fon,  thwarting 
honeft  inclinations,  and  rendering  their  children 
the  melancholy  viftims  of  the  mod  corroding  of 
all  pafTions,  difappointed  love ;  or,  as  they  ought  to 
be,  marrying  without  love^  from  obedience  or 
defire,  mijerable  for  ever. 


vSFXT. 


]I.  TEMPORARY  EXHAUSTION 

OF 

THE  FIBRES. 


I* 

'J 


SECT.  XVIII. 


OF  TEMPORARY  EXHAUSTION. 

The  fibres  as  well  as  the  nerves  are  under  the 
fame  laws,  being  fubjeft  alike  to  exhaujimty  which 
is  either  temporary,  or  irreparable. 

In  the  ftate  of  temporary  exhaujiion,  the  fibre  fails 
for  want  of  irritability.  The  application  of 
the  ordinary  flimulus,  while  it  is  in  this  Jiate,  will 
not  make  it  contra£t.  It  is  only  by  little  and  little 
that  the  fibre  recovers  its  irritability.  This 
truth,  I  dare  venture  to  fay,  is  as  new  as  it  is  Jlrikingy 
and  it  unfolds  a  vaft  number  of  phaenomena  hi- 
therto unexplained. 

Let  us  obferve,  for  example,  the  motion  of  the 
heart ; — the  heart  contrails  from  the  flimulus  of 
the  blood,  and  impels  the  blood  through  the 
arteries ;  it  then  again  dilates,  and  the  blood  en- 
ters. But  the  heart  does  not  contraft  itfelf  im- 
mediately upon  the  firft  impreflion  of  the  blood. 
Its  irritability  having  been  lefTened  by  the 
preceding  contraction,  it  requires  half,  or  three 
quarters  of  a  fecond,  before  the  irritability 
of  the  heart  fliall  have  been  recruited  to  fuch  a 
degree  that  the  flimulus  can  aft  upon  it. 

Thus  alfo  during  the  operation  of  an  emetic  or 
cathartic,  the  ftomach  and  bowels  are  alternctely 

in 


92  ' 

in  a  ftate  of  excitement  and  repofe.  And  thus  the  ; 
mod  violent  pains  and  labour  of  a  parturient  \ 
woman,  if  not  effeflual  for  the  expulfion  of  the  I 
offspring,  ceafe  for  a  time,  and  are  then  renewed,  t 
Thus  likewife  all  the  appetites  are  liable  to  fits,  j 
returning  after  ce{ration  at  ftated  periods  ;  if  it  be  ^ 
hunger,  at  the  diftance  of  fome  hours  j  if  it  be  | 
fever,  it  may  be  explained  on  the  fame  principle;  | 
•that  is  to  fay,  any  ftimulus  which  is  always  pre- 
fent,  and  continually  acting  upon  the  fibres,  pro-  ^ 
duces  no  fenfible  effeft  till  the  exhmifled  irritability  \ 
of  the  fibre  fliall  have  accimiulaied  afrefli.  \ 

You  can  fcarcely  touch  the  leaf  of  the  mimofdy  \^ 
or  fenjitive  plant,  fo  flightly  as  not  to  make  it  clofe.  ,j 
The  large  rib  which  runs  along  the  middle  of  the  \ 
leaf,  ferves  as  an  hinge  on  which  the  two  halves 
of  the  leaf  turn  on  being  touched,  till  they  fland  • 
e^ft,  and  by  that  means  meet  one  another.  The 
Jligktejl  touch  gives  this  motion  to  one  leaf;  if  a  lit-  I 
ile  harder,  it  gives  the  fame  motion  to  the  leaf  ' 
oppofite.  If  the  touch  be  Jiill  rougher,  the  whole  j 
arrangement  of  leaves  on  the  fame  rib  clofe  in  the  ! 
fame  manner.  If  it  be  Jlronger  Jlill,  the  rib  itfelf  i 
moves  upwards  towards  the  branch  on  which  it 
grows.  And  if  the  touch  be  yet  more  rough,  the 
very  branches  flirink  up  towards  the  main  ftem. 

In  Auguft,  one  of  thefe  plants  growing  in  a  pot 
was  put  into  a  carriage.  The  motion  of  the  car- 
riage caufed  it  to  fliut  up  all  its  leaves,  and  the 
effccl:  of  this  great  Jiimulus  was,  that  it  did  not  again 

expand 


93 

expand  Its  leaves  for  more  than  four  and  twenty- 
hours.  A  TORPOR  then  enfued :  for  having 
opened  their  leaves,  they  clojed  no  more  for  three 
days  and  as  many  nights. — Being  then  brought 
again  into  the  open  air,  the  leaves  recovered  their 
natural  motions,  Jlmtting  each  night,  and  opening  in 
the  morning,  as  regu/ar/y  as  ever. 

All  the  periodical  motions  of  animals,  may  be  ex- 
plained upon  the  fame  principle;  that  is  to  fay, 
any  Jiimulus  which  is  always  prefent,  and  continu- 
ally afting  upon  the  fibre,  produces  no  fenfible 
effe£t  till  the  exhaujied  irritability  of  the  fibre  fliall 
have  been  accumulated  afrefli.  The  periodical  mo- 
tions in  organized  bodies  depend  on  the  alternate 
exhaujlion  and  accumulation  of  the  irritability  of  the 
fibre.  A  temporary  exhaujlion  of  the  irritability  of 
Xht  hedyfaritm  gyrans ,  is  produced  by  the  heat  of  the 
fun  and  by  eleftricity.  The  ele6trical  fluid  exhaiijls 
in  like  manner  the  irritability  of  the  mimofa. 


SECT. 


94 


SECT.  XIX. 

EFFECTS  OF  WINE. 

Let  us  confider  the  flimulating  or  exciting 
power  of  wine.  When  a  depreffed  man  is  infuf- 
ficiently  excited  with  the  natural Jlimidi,  and  rifes 
not,  fuppofe,  above  30  degrees  in  his  excitement, 
a  glafs  carries  him  up  to  32  degrees,  another  to 
34  degrees,  and  fo  forth,  till  after  five  glaffes  he  is 
carried  up  to  40  degrees,  he  then  finds  himfelf 
well  and  vigorous  in  all  his  fun61:ions.  But  ftill 
we  are  not  fo  flimfily  made,  as  not  to  bear  a  little 
of  what  is  either  too  much  or  too  little.  Suppofe  he 
then  takes  five  glaffes  more,  and  confequently  is 
raifed  to  50  degrees.  As  his  ipirits,  his  intellec- 
tual, and  all  his  other  fun£tions,  were  low,  while 
his  excitement  remained  at  40  degrees,  fo  are 
they  all  proportionally  exalted  by  the  time  that 
his  excitement  is  elevated  to  50  degrees.  Let 
him  ftill  go  on,  and  his  intellectual  functions  will 
rife  ftill  higher ;  he  will  now  difplay  the  full  ex- 
tent of  his  genius ;  and  his  paffions  and  emotions 
of  whatever  kind  they  be. — If  he  goes  on,  how  will 
the  appearance  be  reverfed !  The  hero  foon  ftirinks 

into 


95 

into  a  mere  brute.  He  falls  off  in  both  his  intel- 
leftual  and  corporeal  funftions  his  tongue,  his 
feet,  his  eyes,  his  memory,  fail  him ;  and  at  laft, 
deprived  of  all  power  of  motion  and  fenfe,  he 
fmks  into  an  inanimate  sleep  *.  > 

*  How  will  the  ajipearance  he  i-everfed!  The  hero  hecomes  fhe 
mere  brute,  and  finally  finks  into  an  bianhndte  sleep.  Thefe  ex- 
preffions  of  John  Brown  are  nearly  verbatim  the  fame  as  i\i*m- 
ftrong,  which  fee  over-leaf.  Many  fuch  refemblances  r^ake 
me  fiifpe£t  that  Brown  caught  up  his  firft  idea  from  the  poet, 
which  he  worked  up  into  his  beautiful  fyftem.  Vide  Vol.  itv 
p. -i6o,  where  the  fame  thing  was  before  hinted  at. 


PRACTICAL 


9^ 


PRACTICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 


SECT.  XX.- 

ON  DRINKING. 
♦ 

"  Struck  by  the  powerful  charm,  the  gloom 

"  diffolves 
"  In  empty  air ;  Elyjtum  opens  round. 
"  A  pleajing  phrenzy  buoys  the  lighten'd  foul, 
"  And  Jangtdns  hopes  difpel  your  fleeting  carej 
"  And  what  are  difficult,  and  what  was  dire, 
*'  Yields  to  your  prowefs  and  fuperior  Jlars : 
"  The  happieft  you,  of  all  that  e'er  were  mad, 
"  Or  are,  or  fliall  be,  could  this  folly  lafl:. 
"  But  foonyour  heaven  is  gone ;  a  heavier  gloom 
"  Shuts  o'er  your  head  :  and,  as  the  thundering 
"  ftream, 

"  Swoln  o'er  its  banks  with  fudden  mountain  rain, 
"  Sinks  from  its  tumult  to  a  silent  brook; 
**  So,  when  the  frantic  raptures  in  your  breaft 
"  Subjide,  you  languiJJi  into  mortal  man ; 
"  You  SLEEP, — and  waking  find  yourfelf  undone. 
"  For  prodigal  of  life  in  one  rash  night 

"  You 


9? 

^  You    LAVISri-D'  MORE    THAN    MIGHT  SUP- 
"   PORT  THREE  DAYS. 

"  A  heavy  morning  cornet;  your  f^yr^'j- return 
"  With  tenfold  rage>"  &c. 

ARMSTRONG. 


Let  thofe  who  have  been  enticed  frequently  to 
tafte  fpirituous  liquors,  or  rich  cordials,  till  at 
length  they  begin  to  have  a  fondnefs  for  them, 
refleft  a  moment  on  the  danger  of  their  fituation, 
and  refolve  to  make  a  fpeedy  and  honourable 
retreat.  Remember,  that  cuftom  foon  changes 
into  habit:  that  habit  is  a  fecond  nature  more 
ftubborn  than  the  frrfl:,  and  of  all  things  mo  ft:  dif- 
ficult to  be  fubduedk  Remember,  thai  it  is  bv 
little  unfufpefting  beginnings,  that  this  unfortu- 
nate'vice  is  generally  contraded,  and  when  once 
confirmed,  rarely  terminates  but  with  life  !  Learn 
then,  in  time,  to  refift  this  bewitching  fpirit, 
whenever  it  tempts  you.  Then  will  you  find 
yourfelf  fo  perfeftly  eafy  without  it,  as  at  length 
never  to  regret  its  abfence  ;  nay,  peculiarly  happy 
in  having  efcaped  the  allurements  of  fuch  a  dan- 
gerous and  infidious  enemy. 

The  manner  however  of  overcoming  this  fatal 
propenfity,  when  once  formed,  requires  fome  ad- 
drefs  in  the  phyfician.  It  is  in  v^in  to  defire  an 
immediate  dcfcrtion  of  this  habit.  Human  na- 
ture is  too  frail,  It  cheriflies  knowingly  the 
ufurper  in  its  bofom.    Art  muft  be  ufed.  The 

Vol.  IV.  U  drunkard 


$8 

drunkard  muft  be  advifed  to  change  his  liquofy 
taking  rum  inftead  of  brandy,  and  then  Geneva  > 
afterwards  it  muft  be  diluted,  and  in  time  it  may 
without  much  difficulty  be  changed  for  ale,  or 
porter,  and  a  habit  broken,  or  elfe  fixed  upon 
fome  lefs  hurtful  liquor  than  fpirits*. 

To  thofe  who  pride  themfelves  in  living  faft. 
and  are  bent  upon  "  a  fhort  and  merry  life  i" 
though,  in  truth,  it  is  a  fliort  and  miferable  one ; 
they  will  doubtlefs  fpurn  at  thefe  admonitions, 
and  run  headlong  to  their  own  deftructiou. 
Strange  infatuation  !  Can  you  fubmit  to  fuch  def- 
picable  bondage,  and  tamely  give  up  your  free- 
dom without  one  generous  ftruggle.  The  prefent 
conflid,  remember,  is  not  for  the  fading  laurel,  or 
tinfel'led  wreath,  for  which  others  fo  earneftly 
contend,  but  for  thofe  more  blooming,  more  fub- 
ftantial  honours,  which  Health,  the  daughter 
of  Temperance,  only  can  beftow.  For  it  is 
thine,  O  Health,  and  thine  alone,  to  diffufe 
through  the  human  breaft  that  genial  warmth, 
that  ferene  funfliine  whi^ch  glows  in  the  cheek, 
Ihines  in  the  eye,  and  animates  the  whole  frame ! 
But  if  ftill  you  have  no  regard  for  this  bleffmg, 
let  me  then  remind  you  of  an  hereafter.  To 

*I  once  cured  a  patient  of  this  propenfity  by  ordering  a 
fniall  portion  of  emetic  tartar  to  be  put  into  the  brandy  bottle. 
This,  when  taken  to  excefs,  produced  naufea,  or  vomiting;  and' 
the  idea  getting  aflbciated,  even  the  ffght  of  it  became  after- 
wards difguftful. 

"  die 


9^ 

"  die — to  fleep — nay,  perchance,  to  dream" — yes, 
there  s  the  rub  ! — How  great  will  be  your  furprife 
and  terror  fliould  you  be  fuddenly  roufed  by  that 
dream  ! — When  the  thick  mift  is  difpelled — when 
the  day  begins  to  dawn,  and  difcovers  you  on  the 
confines  of  that  unknown  country  ! — When  the 

Sun  of  Righteousness  But  here  let  me 

flop,  for  exhorting,  and  not  preaching,  is  my  pro- 
vince. To  the  divine  it  belongs  to  refurae  the 
fubjeft  where  I  am  obliged  to  drop  it,  and  to  ex- 
patiate on  thofe  higher  arguments,  which,  with  a 
trembling  pen,  I  have  fcarcely  ventured  to  fug- 
gcft.-  


SECT. 


lOO 


SECT.  XXI. 

OF  OPIUM  AND  HEMLOCK. 

.  If  a  grain  of  opium  be  fwallovvcd  by  a  perfon 
unufed  to  fuch  a  ftrong  ftimulus,  all  the  vafcular 
fyftera  in  the  body  a£ts  with  greater  energy,  all 
the  fecretions,  and  the  abforption  from  thofe 
fecreted  fluids,  are  increafed  in  quantity,  and  much 
pleafure  is  introduced  into  the  fyftem,  independent 
of  our  ordinary  train  of  thinking,  which  adds  an 
additional  ftimulus  to  that  already  too  great. 

After  fome  time  the  excitability  becomes  diminijlied 
in  quantity,  being  expended  by  the  great  activity  of 
the  fyftem  ;  and  hence,  when  the  ftimulus  of  the 
opium  ceafes,  the  fibres  will  not  abey  their  natural 
Jiimuliy  and  a  confequent  torpor  enfues,  as  is  expe- 
rienced by  drunkards,  who,  on  the  day  after  a 
great  excefs  of  fpirituous  liquor,  feel  tremor,  pal- 
pitation of  the  heart,  head-ach,  and  general  de- 
bility. During  this  torpor  an  accumulation  of  excita- 
bility in  the  exhaufted  fibres  takes  place,  which  is 
fo  great,  as  to  occafion  a  fecond  over-exertion  on  the 
application  even  of  the  ordinary  Jlimuli,  and  thus 
an  unequal  balance  of  the  excitability  and  of  the 
natural  Jlimuli  continues  for  two  or  three  days, 
where  the  ftimulus  employed  has  been  violent  in 
decree ;  and  for  weeks  in  fome  fevers,  from  the 
ftimullis  of  contagious  matters. 

But 


101 


But  if  Tifeconddofe  of  opium  be  exhibited  before 
the  fibres  have  regained  their  natural  quantity  of 
due  excitabihty,  its  effetts  will  be  much  lefs  than 
the  former,  becaufe  the  excitability  is  in  part  ex^^ 
hauled  by  the  previous  excefs  of  exertion.  Hence- 
all  medicines  repeated  frequently  gradually  ]ofe> 
tlieir  effe£l.  Thus  aloetic  purges  lofe  their  ef-. 
ficacy  by  repetition ;  and  opium  and  tobacco,  if 
not  taken  beyond  their  ufual  dofes,  ceafe  to  ftupify 
and  intoxicate  thofe  who  are  habituated  to  their 
life. 

But  when  a  ftimulus  is  repeated  at [iich  dijlant 
intervals  of  time,  that  the  natural  quantity  of  ex- 
citability becomes  completely  reftored  in  the  a6ting» 
fibres,  it  will  then  aft  with  the  fame  energy  as 
when  firft  applied.  Hence  thofe  who  have  lately 
accuftomed  themfelves  to  large  dofes  of  opium  or 
aloes,  by  beginning  with  fmall  ones,  arid  gradually 
increafing  them  and  repeating  them  frequently  j 
if  they  intermit  the  ufe  of  it  for  a  few  days  only, 
muft  begin  again  with  as  fmall  a  dofe  as  they  took 
at  firft,  otherwife  they  will  experience  the  incon- 
venience of  an  over-dofe. 

A  lady  labouring  under  a  cancer  of  her  breaft, 
was  advifed  to  the  ufe  of  cicuta  (hemlock) ;  and 
flie  accordingly  got  a  quantity  of  it  in  powder, 
and  weighed  out  the  dofes  of  it  for  herfelf.  She 
began  with  a  fmall  dofe  j  and  feeling  no  fenfible 
effe£ts  from  that,  (he  went  on  increafing  the  quan- 
tity.   By  the  time  fhe  had  come  to  60  grains,  flie 

had 


102 


had  taken  the  whole  parcel  fhc  had  got  from  the 
apothecary,  and  therefore  fent  to  him  for  a  frefli 
parcel  of  the  powder.  In  the  interim  fhe  had 
been  advifed,  that  when  {he  was  to  pafs  from  one 
parcel  to  another,  flie  fliould  begin  with  a  fmall 
dofe  only ;  therefore,  as  fhe  had  taken  60  grains  of 
the  former,  fhe  fliould  take  20  of  the  new  parcel. 
But  fuch  was  the  efFeft  of  intermijjion,  fays  Dr. 
Cull  EN,  who  relates  this  ftory  in  his  Materia 
Medica^  that  thefe  20  grains  had  very  nigh  killed 
her.  In  iq  or  15  minutes  flie  was  affefted  with 
ficknefs,  tremor,  giddinefs,  delirium,  and  convul' 
fions.  Happily  for  her  the  ficknefs  proceeded  to 
a  vomiting,  which  threw  up  part  or  the  whole  of 
the  powder,  but  notwithftanding  this  the  delirium, 
^nd  ^ven  the  convulfions,  continued  m^ny  hours, 


PRACTICAL 


103 

PRACTICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 


SECT.  XXII. 

•OF  THE  CUSTOM  OF  TAKING  LAUDANUM. 

Opium  is  certainly  the  moft  fovereign  remedy 
5n  the  materia  medica,  for  eafing  pain  and  pro- 
.<:uring  fleep,  and  alfo  the  moft  certain  antifpafH 
modic  yet  known:;  but,  like  other  powerful 
medicines,  becomes  highly  noxious  to  the  human 
conftitution,  and  even  mortal,  when  improperly 
adminiftered. 

The  firft  efFefts  of  opium  are  like  thofe  of  a 
ftrong,  ftimulating  cordial,  but  are  foon  fucceeded 
hj  univerfal  languor  or  irrefiftible  propenfity  to 
fleep,  attended  with  dreams  of  the  moft  rapturous 
and  enthufiaftic  kind.  After  thofe  .contrary 
,effe£ls  are  over,  which  are  generally  terminated 
by  a  profufe  fweat,  the  body  becomes  cold  and 
torpid ;  the  mind  penfive  and  defponding ;  the 
head  is  affecled  with  ftupor,  and  the  ftomach 
with  ficknefs  and  naufea.  Its  liberal  and  lone 
continued  ufe  has  been  obferved  greatly  to  injure 
the  brain  and  nerves,  and  to  diminifli  their  in- 
fluence on  the  vital  organs  of  the  body.  By  its 
firft  effefts,  which  are  exhilarating,  it  excites  a 
kind  of  temporary  delirium,  which  diflipates  and 
exhaufts  thx?  fpirits ;  aiid,  by  its  fubfequent  nar- 
cotic 


104 

-cotic  power,  occafions  confufion  of  ideas  and  lofs 
of  memory-,  attended  with  naufea,  giddinefs,  head- 
ach,  and  conflipation  of  the  bowels ;  in  a  word, 
it  feems  to  fufpend  or  diminifli  all  the  natural 
fecretions  and  excretions  of  the  body,  that  of 
perfpiration  only  excepted. 

Thofe  who  take  opium  to  excefs  become  ener- 
vated, and  foon  look  old ;  when  deprived  of  it, 
they  are  faint,  and  experience  the  languor  and 
deje£lion  of  fpirits  common  to  fuch  as  drink 
fpirituous  liquors  in  excefs ;  to  the  bad  effe£ts  of 
which  it  is  fimilar,  fince,  like  thofe,  they  are  not 
eafily  removed  without  a  repetition  of  the  dofe. 

By  the  indifcriminate  ufe  of  that  preparation 
of  opium  called  Godfrey's  Cordial,  many  children 
are  yearly  put  off ;  for  it  is  frequently  given,  dofe 
after  dofe,  without  moderation,  by  ignorant 
women  and  mercenary  nurfes,  to  filence  the  cries 
of  infants,  and  lull  them  to  fleep,  \n  order  to  pre- 
vent nurfing,  by  which  they  are  at  laft  rendered 
ftupid,  inaftive,  and  rickety,  Nor  do  grown  up 
people  receive  lefs  injury  often  from  the  fame 
enticing  medicine.  They  foon  become  fo  be- 
wedded  to  their  night-draught,  that  they  muft 
have  of  the  apothecary  one  every  night,  or  a  box 
of  pills,  and  thefe  become  at  length  abfolutely  ne- 
ceffary  articles.  Unfortunate  infatuation  !  What 
was  fent  as  a  folace  in  the  moment  of  affliction  muft 
now  be  had  daily  recourfe  to, 


SECT. 


11.  PERMANENT  EXHAUSTION 

OF 


THE  FIBRES, 


■i. 


i05 

SECT.  XXIIl. 

OF  IRREPARABLE  EXHAUSTION. 

The  fibre  is  faid  to  be  in  a  ftate  of  irreparable 
exkaiijiion^  when  it  does  not  recover  its  due  degree 
pf  IRRITABILITY,  and  fails  upon  the  application 
of  the  proper  Jlimuli.  All  then  is  languor  and 
debility.  The  aftions  within  the  body  are  infuf- 
licient,  or  nearly  fo,  for  the. maintenance  of  hfe, 

Mille  modis  lethi  fors  una  fatiget. 

The  fame  lot  of  death  harafles  in  a  thoufand 
ways,  yet  terminates,  however,  in  the  fame  point, 
the  extinftion,  fooner  or  later,  of  the  irritable  pririr 
fiple  within  the  body. 


SECT. 


io6 


SECT.  XXIV. 

THE  ABUSE  OF  TONIC  MEDICINES. 

Of  the  evil  effects  from  the  abufe  of  tonic 

■«-]•• 

MEDICINES  we  may  relate  the  hiftory  of  the  Port- 
land  Powder i  called  fo  from  its  having  cured,  of 
an  hereditary  and  inveterate  gout, 'one  of  the 
dukes  of  that  name.  It  confifts  of  equal  parts  of 
the  following  herbs,  viz. 
Take  the  roots  of  round  birthwort, 

.   and  GENTIAN, 

The  tops  &  leaves  of  fraall-oERMANDER, 

 :  ' —    leffer  centaury, 

,  and  ground  PINE.    Equal  parts. 

Powder  them. 

A  dram  of  this  powder  was  ordered  to  be 
taken,  in  fome  convenient  liquid,  jn  a  morning, 
fafting,  the  patient  tafting  nothing  for  an  hour 
and  an  half  after  it ;  it  muft  be  ufed  in  this  dofe 
for  three  months  without  the  leaft  interruption. 
Forty-five  grains  are  to  be  taken  daily  in  the 
fame  manner  for  the  fucceeding  three  months: 
half  a  dram  every  day  for  the  next  fix  months  : 
and  half  a  4ram  ever^  other  day  during  the  fecund 

From  very  anclept  times  down  to  the  prefent, 
aromatic  hitters  have  been  recommended  and  em- 
ployed for  the  gout ;  and  as  this  remedy,  on  its 

fivll 


107 

firft  coming  into  ufe  in  England,  feems  to  have 
been  of  fervice,  and  to  have  cured  feveral,  it 
might  have  been  expetled,  had  not  its  confe- 
quences  been  often  found  hurtful,  that  the  ufe 
of  it  would  have  continued,  and  this  difeafe 
would  have  ceafed  to  be  one  of  the  opprobria 
medicorum.  We  find,  however,  that  while  at 
one  period  a  courfe  of  bitters,  prolonged  above 
a  year,  has  been  in  fafiiion  in  this  difeafe,  at  ano- 
ther it  feems  to  have  been  entirely  negle£ted ; 
3nd  this  I  can  impute  only  to  its  being  attended 
often  with  confequences  more  ferious  than  the 
gout  itfelf.  That  the  latter  was  the  cafe, 
may  prefume  from  the  accounts  of  the  ancients, 
who,  though  they  recommend  the  remedy  in  cer- 
tain conjlitiuions  as  highly  beneficial,  allow  that  in 
other  cafes  it  has  been  as  highly  pernicious. 

In  nine  inftances,  fays  Dr,  CuIvLen,  I  had 
occafion  to  know,  or  to  be  exaQly  informed,  of 
the  fate  of  perfons  who  had  taken  the  Portland 
Powder  for  the  time  and  in  the  quantities  pre- 
fcribed.  Thefe  perfons  had  beep  liable  for  fome 
years  before  to  have  fits  of  a  regular  or  very  painr 
ful  inflammatory  gout ;  but  after  they  had  taken 
the  medicine  for  fome  time,  they  were  quite  free 
from  any  fit  of  inflammatory  gout ;  and  particu- 
larly when  they  had  completed  the  courfe  pre^ 
fcribed,  had  never  a  regular  fit,  or  any  inflammar 
tion  of  the  extremities,  for  the  reft  of  their  life, 
Jn  no  inftance,  however,  w?s  the  health  of  thefe 

perfon^ 


io8 

perfons  tolerably  entire.  Soon  after  finifliing  the 
courfe  of  their  medicine,  they  became  valetudi- 
nary in  different  fliapes ;  and  particularly  were 
much  affefted  with  dyfpeptic,  and  what  are  called 
nervous  complaints.  In  thofe  whom  1  knew,  fome 
hydroptic  fymptoms  appeared,  which  gradually  in^ 
creafing  in  the  form  of  an  afcites  or  hydrothoraXy 
efpecially  the  latter  joined  with  anajarca^  in  lefs 
than  two,  or  at  moft  three  years,  proved  fatal,. 
Thefe  accidents  happening  to  perfons  of  fome 
rank,  became  very  generally  known  in  this  coun- 
try, and  has  prevented  all  fuch  experiments  fince. . 


SECT. 


i09 
SECT.  XXV. 

THE  ORDINARY  STIMULI. 

 '  At  firft,.  the  infant. 

Mewling  and  puking  in  the  nuife's  arms : 
And  then,  the  whmmgfihool-boy  with  his  fatchel, 
And  [liining  morning  face,  creeping  like  I'nail 
Unwillingly  to  fchool.    And  then,  the  lover; 
Sighing  like  furnace,  with  a  woeful  ballad 
Made  to  his  miftrefs'  eye-brow.    Then,  the  foldier\ 
Full  of  flrange  oaths,  and  bearded  like  the  pard, 
Jealous  in  honour,  fudden  and  quick  in  quarrel, 
Seeking  the  bubble  reputation 

Even  in  the  cannon's  mouth.    And  then,  ihejujlice, 

In  fair  round  belly,  with  good  capon  lin''d. 

With  eyes  fevere,  and  beard  of  formal  cut, 

Full  of  wife  faws  and  modern  inftances, 

And  fo  he  plays  his  part.   The  Jixth  age  iliifts 

Into  the  lean  and  flipper'd  pantaloon, 

With  fpeclacles  on  nofe  and  pouch  on  fide; 

His  youthful  hofe,  well-fav'd,  a  world  too  wide 

For  his  flirunk  flianks;  and  his  big  manly  voice. 

Turning  again  towards  childifh  treble,  pipes 

And  whiftles  in  its  found.    Lafl  fcene  of  all,^ 

That  ends  this  flrange  eventful  hifiory. 

Is  fecond  childilhnefs,  and  mere  oblivion; 

Sa}is  teeth,  fans  eyesyfans  tafie,Jans  every  thing. 

SHAKESPEARR. 

The  babe  is  a  compound  of  matter  fo  orga- 
nized as  to  be  capable  of  being  afted  upon  by 
various  ftimuli,  neceffary  to  the  continuance  of 
life  J  and  immediately  upon  its  birth  the  firft 
ftimulus  it  receives  is  a  quantity  of  atmofpheric 
air  in  the  lungs;  this,  with  the  addition  of  fome 
milk,  or  mild  food,  taken  into  the  ftomach,  is  all 
the  ftimulus  it  feems  capable  of  bearing,  at  this 

period. 


116 


period,  confident  with  life  and  healthy  the  extcf- 
nal  fenfes  cannot  endure  any  ftrong  a£tion  on 
them;  hence  the  tympanum,  or  drum  of  the  car, 
is  kindly  covered  for  fome  time  after  birth  with 
a  thick  mucus,  occafioning  deafncfs ;  and  the  eyes 
are  fliut  againft,  or  turn  from,  the  imprcflion  of 
ftrong  light.  In  this  (late,  as  was  before  fliewn, 
there  is  the  keeneji  irritability^  the  fmalleft  ftimu- 
]us,  even  that  of  the  air  of  a  chamber,  more  efpe- 
cially  the  purer  and  colder  air  abroad,  and  the 
mildeft  food,  fo  aft  upon  it,  and  exhauft  it,  as  to 
produce  almoft  conftant  deep. 

From  day  to  day  the  irritabiliiy  of  the  fibre  gets 
diminijiiedy  as  is  known  to  us  by  the  circumftance  of 
the  fame  ftimulantshavingaleffer  effeft  on  the  fibre, 
in  proportion  as  we  advance  from  infancy  to  puber- 
ty, and  from  puberty  to  manhood.  At  this  pe- 
riod of  life,  viz.  about  thirty-five  years  of  age,  it 
appears  that  there  exifts,  as  it  were,  a  jufl:  equi- 
librium between  the  powers  of  the  ordinary Jiimu- 
lants  and  the  irritability  in  the  mufcular  fibre  j  yet, 
at  the  fame  time,  as  the  continued  application  of 
the  ordinary  ftimuli  is  abfolutely  neceffary  to  life 
and  health,  fo  the  daily  eflfefts  of  thefe  is  a  fmall 
degree  of  exhaujlion  of  irritability,  reftored  nearly 
by  periodical  fleep.  But  again,  according  to  the 
organization  of  our  bodies,  though  fleep  reftores 
the  healthy  ilate  of  irritability  in  a  certain  degree, 
yet  it  feems  never  to  reftore  aftually  the  former 
Jlate;  a  fmall  degree  of  exhanjiion  of  irritability 
takes  place  every  year^    This  gradual  change, 

cpnfequently, 


Ill 

I  confequently,  not  only  indicates  the  power  of 
'  bearing,  but  alfo  the  neceffity  of  the  application 
of  Jironger  Jlimuli,  as  we  advance  in  life,  until  at 
ilaft,  that  ftate  takes  place  w;hich  we  call  old  age^ 
iwhich  is  little  afFefted  by  the  ordinary,  and  fcarce 
ifenfible  of  the  llronger,  ftirhuli  j  and  as  thefe  gra- 
idually  ceafe.to  make  the  impreflions  neceffary  to 
tthe  continuance  of  life,  the  death  of  old  age  muft 
cenfue*. 

*  Vide  Vol.  I.  Se£i.  III.  on  Stimuli,  which  muft  be  varied 
:iccording  to  the  age  of  the  individual;  which  verifies  the  old 
iidage,  that  milk  is  the  food  of  infantt^  and  wine  o{  old  age. 


Vol.  IV.  I  PRACTICAL 


PRACTICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 


SECT.  XXVI. 

tHE  EFFECTS  OF  DRUNKENNESS.  j 

The  ftate  of  the  frame,  in  confequence  of  fye-'  | 
qiient  inebriety,  confifts  in  the  end,  if  it  does  not  ^ 
cccafion  immediate  death,  in  the  Jiaralyjts  which  j 
ufually  fucceeds  long  and  violent  excitement. 
Sometimes  the  ftomach  is  more  materially  afFe£l- 
ed,  and  paralyjis  of  the  ladleal  fyftem  is  induced ; 
whence  a  total  abhorrence  from  fiefh  food  and  | 
general  emaciation.     In  others,  the  lymphatic 
fyftem  is  affefted  with  ^-paraly/is,  and  dropfy  is  the 
confequence.    More  frequently  the  fecretory  vef- 
fels  of  the  liver  become  firft  paralytic,  and  a  torpor ^ 
with  confequent  gall-ftones,  or  fchirrus,  of  this 
vifcus,  is  induced  vi^ith  concomitant  jaundice  ;  or 
it  becomes  inflamed  in  confequence  of previous  tor- 
poYy  and  this  inflammation  is  frequently  tranf- 
ferred  to  a  more  fenfible  part,  which  is  affociated 
with  it,  and  produces  the  rofy  eruption  of  the 
face,  or  fome  other  eruption  on  the  head,  or 
arms,  or  legs.    In  fome  inebriates  the  torpor  of 
the  liver  produces  pain  without  fchirrus,  gall- 
ftones,  or  eruption,  and  in  thefe  epilepfy,  or  infa- 
liity,  are  often  the  confequence*. 


*  Darwin. 

PRACTICAL 


113 


PRACTICAL  OBSERVATIONS, 


SECT.  XXVU. 

THE  ART  OF  PROLONGING  LIFE. 
Various  have  been  the  panaceas  for  the  pro- 
longmg  of  human  life.    Sage  was  fuppofed  by 
the  ancients  to  have    this   virtue*:   but  the 

*  Hence  the  following  vprfe.  Cur  moriatur  homo,  cui 
falvia  crefcit  in  horto  ?  How  c?n  man  die,  in  whofe  garden 
there  grows  fage?  in  allufion  to  its  many  virtues. — rWhat  % 
lhameful  abufe  of  this  pretended  property  was  lately  made  by 
the  late  Sir  John  Hill,  in  his  patent  Tinfture  of  Sage  for  the 
prolonging  of  human  life,  and  warding  off  old  age,  is  known 
to  every  one.  This  conduft  could  not  fail  to  draw  upon  him- 
felf  the  pen  of  the  wits  of  the  age,  and  Garrick,  with  ThpmpT 
fon,  conjointly,  published  the  following  Epigram: 

Thou  effence  of  dock,  valerian,  and  fage, 
At  once  the  difgrace  and  the  pert  of  this  age, 
The  worfl;  that  we  wilh  thee,  for  all  thy  bad  crimes, 
Is  to  take  thy  oim phyjic^  and  read  thy  own  rhymes, 
Pr.  Hill  made  the  fpUowing reply; 

Ye  defperate  junto,  ye  great,  or  ye  fmall, 

Who  combat  dukes,  doilors,  the  deuce,  and  'eni  all ; 

"Whether  gentlemen,  fcribblers,  or  poets  in  jail. 

Your  impertinent  curfes  fliall  never  prevail : 

I'll  take  neither  fage,  dock,  or  balfam  of  honey ; 

J)oyou  take  the  Jihyjic,  and  PU  take  the  money. 

The  reader  will  pleafe  to  call  to  mind  what  has  been  fald  on 
quackery.  Vol.  I,  p,  2or.  Such  fhamelefs  impoficions  on  comn 
mon  fenfe  deferve  more  than  ridicule ;  for  deceivipg  the  fi&k; 
and  helplefs,  they  merit  the  execrations  of  every  man  yi'ho  hasi 
one  fpark  of  humanity, 


114 

fecret  lies  in  a  very  narrow  compafs,  a  tem- 
perate ufe  of  all  the  means  of  excitement.  Old 
age  happens  fo  mankind  at  different  periods  of 
life,  earlier,  if  they  have  given  themfelves  up  to 
pleafure  and  a  variety  of  exceffes,  and  later  with 
thofe  who  have  followed  a  moderate  way  of 
living,  and  been  generally  temperate  in  their  en- 
joyments. 

O!  Temperance!  thou  fupport  and  atten- 
dant of  other  virtues!  Thou  preferver  and  re- 
ftorer  of  health,  and  protraElor  of  life !  Thou 
maintainer  of  the  dignity  and  liberty  of  rational 
beings,  from  the  wretched  inhuman  flavery  of 
Senfuality,  Tafte,  Cuftom,  and  Example !  Thou 
brightener  of  the  underftanding  and  memory  1 
Thou  fweetener  of  life  and  all  its  comforts! 
'  Thou  companion  of  reafon,  and  guard  of  the  paf- 
lions!  Thoa  bountiful  re  warder  of  thy  admirers 
and  followers !  how  do  thine  excellencies  extort 
the  unwilling  commendations  of  thine  enemies  ! 
and  with  what  rapturous  delight  can  thy  friends 
raife  up  a  panegyric  in  thy  praife ! 


CLASS 


CLASS  III. 

VEGETABLE  AND  ANIMAL 
POISONS. 


Vol.  IV. 


f 


115 


PRACTICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 


SECT,  xxviir. 

TREATMENT  OF  THE  DISEASES  OF  DRUNlCARDS. 

Where  there  is  a  total  exhauftion  from  ex- 
cefs  of  drinking,  as  might  chance  to  happen  at 
the  time  of  convivial  meetings,  or  the  folly  of 
drinking  for  a  v/ager,  the  perfon  ought  to  be 
kept  very  ftill,  and  the  head  to  be  raifed  above 
the  level  of  the  body  by  means  of  a  pillow,  and 
the  utmoft  care  fhould  be  taken  that  the  mouth 
fliould  not  get  ftopt  by  the  want  of  power  in  the 
mufcles  of  the  neck,  or  the  exertion  of  the  will, 
to  avoid  the  danger,  left  fuffocation  fhould  enfue. 
As  there  is  a  great  determination  to  the  brain, 
leaches  fhould  be  applied  to  the  temples:  but  an 
emetic  would  be  of  the  greateft  fervice,  provided 
it  could  be  got  down,  or  plenty  of  lemon-juice  *. 
However  m.edical  exertion  is  feldom  required, 

*  I  have  known  medical  men,  when  called  from  a  convivial 
party,  where  they  had  rather  indulged  in  the  bottle,  drink  vine- 
gar in  order  to  clear  their  heads,  which  renders  them  imme- 
diately fober.  In  the  Weft  Indies  the  quantity  of  rum  being 
poured  in,  the  negro  is  in  the  habit  of  a/king  his  mafter,  as  he 
is  putting  in  the  lemon  juice,  whether  he  drinky  for  drunky,  or 
drinky  for  dry,  proportioning  the  lemon  according  as  he  re- 
ceives his  anfvver. 

12  *  but 


ii6 


but  to  relieve  the  diforder  occafioned  by  drink- 
ing.— The  moft  eflcclual  means  which  I  have 
found,  are,  after  the  exhibition  of  an  emetic*  and 
purge  f,  to  throw  in  a  mixture  of  decociion  of 

bark, 

*  R.  Ipecac — for.  r. 

Andm.  tart. — gr.  z, 
Syr.  (imp. — dr.  2. 

Aq.  Rofae — unc.  2\. 

F.  Hauft.  emetic.  Cap'  dimid  liori  vii.  vefpcie,  et 
poft  quadrant,  part.  hor.  cap'  coch.  min.  i  et  repet, 
Gmni  quinque  minuta  ufque  ad  voniitionem. 

Take  of  Ipecacuanha — a  fcruple. 

Tartarized  Antimony — twa grains. 

Simple  Syrup — two  drachms. 

Rofe  water — an  ounce  and  a  half. 

For  an  emetic  draught.  Take  the  half  at  feven  in 
the  evening,  and  after  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  repeat 
a  tea-fpoonful  every  five  minutes  until  it  vomits. 

f  R.  Rhel  pulv. — fcr.  i. 

Kali  vitriolat. — fcr.  i|. 
Syr.  zingib. — dr.  2. 
Aq.  Cinnam. — 
Aq.  Menth.  pip. — aa  dr.  7. 

F.  Hauft.  cathartic — Cap'  primo  mane,  vcl  dimid. 
hora  fomni  et  reliq.  primo  mane  fequent. 

Take  of  Rhubarb  in  powder — one  fcmple. 

Vitriolated  Kali — a  fcruple  and  a  half. 
Syrup  of  Ginger — two  drachms. 
Cinnamon,  and 

Peppermint  waters,  of  each,  feven  drachms. 

Make  into  an  aperient  draught.  Take  this  early  the 
next  morning,  after  the  vomit,  or  the  half  at  bed- 
time, and  remainder  when  rifing  the  next  morn- 
ing. 

*  R. 


117 


PRACTICAL  OBSERVATIONS, 


SECT,  xxviir. 

OF  VEGETABLE  AND  ANIMAL  POISON. 

We  are  arrived  now  at  a  very  interefting  pait 
of  our  work,  the  confideration  of  vegetable  and' 
animal  poifons.  By  confiderirtg  them  together, 
and  thepra£tice  recommended  frorii  the  beft  au- 
thorities, in  obviating  their  influence,  we  fliall 
fee  whether  any  analogy  exifts  between  them^ 
and  may,  perhaps,  be  able  to  form  fome  philo- 
fophic  indu6tion,  and  improve  this  part  of  the- 
branch  of  medicine.  In  thus  feparating  infeftious 
difeafes  from  the  reft  of  thofe  maladies  whicH' 
humanity  is  heir  to,  we  have  deviated  from  all 
former  fyftems,  and  this  divifion  is  prefented,  with-- 
tlie  utmoft  diffidence,  before  a  candid  and  dif-- 
cerning  Public. 


SECT. 


ii8 


SECT.  XXIX. 

RATIONALE  OF  THE  OPERATION  OF  OPIUM,  AND 
THE  MANNER  OF  OBVIATING  IT. 

The  attention  of  phyficians  has  defervedly 
been  turned  towards  opium,  in  order  to  afcer- 
tain  its  falutary  operation  on  the  animal  oecono- 
my,  and  its  powers  as  a  poifon.    After  having 
been  fo  long  employed,  it  may  feem  furprifmg 
that  any  contrariety  of  opinion  ftiould  exift  among 
liberal  minds ;  but  fome  ftill  deem  il  altogether  fe- 
dative  in  its  operation  ;  others  Jiimulant;  and  others 
again  both  Jiimulant  and  fedative.  This  controverfy 
appears  to  have  its  rife  from  the  difference  in 
effe£i  which  takes  place  according  as  it  is  admi- 
niftered. — As  a  Jiimulant  it  (lands  before  wine,  and 
has  nearly  the  fame  operation.    Wine  quickens 
the  pulfe,  raifes  the  fpirits,  increafes  vigour,  and 
gives  more  than  coriimon  animation  for  the  time  j 
but  no  fooner  are  the  fumes  of  the  intoxicating 
drink  exhaufted,  than   the  drunkard  becomes 
weak,  enervated,  and  deprelfed  in  fpirits.  Here 
we  diftinclly  fee  both  the  Jiimulant  and  fedative 
power  of  wine ;  and  the  fame  exactly  holds  with 
regard  to  opium.    Thus  if  any  one  is  under  the 
preffure  of  fleep,  he  will,  by  opium,  be  rendered 
furprifmgly  fprightly,  lively,  and  vigilant ;  it  ba- 
nifhes  melancholy  j  begets  confidence  j  converts 

fear 


119 

fear  into  boldnefs,  makes  the  filent  eloquent  j  and 
daftards  brave.    Has  it  not  the  fame  eflfe£t  upon 
the  Turks  that  wine  has  upon  us?  Or  are  we  to 
fuppofe,  that  the  troops  of  that  people,  on  their 
march  to  the  onfet  of  battle,  chew  opiimi  with  the 
intention  of  checking  their  natural  alacrity  and 
propenfity  to  aStion,  and  of  blunting  and  depref- 
fing  their  high  fpirits  and  cou;-age?   But  after 
awhile,  the  excitability  becomes  diminiJJied  in  quan- 
tity, being  expended  by  the  great  activity  of  the 
fvftemi  and  hence,  when  the  ftimulus  of  the 
opium  ceafes,  the  fibres  will  not  obey  their 
natural Jlimuli,  and  a  confequent  torpor  enfues,  as  is 
experienced  by  drunkards,  who  on  the  day  after 
a  great  excefs  of  fpirituous  liquor,  feel  tremor^ 
head-ack,  and  general  debility.    During  this  torpor 
an  accumidation  of  excitability  in  the  exhaufted 
fibres  takes  place,  which  is  frequently  fo  great  as 
to  occafion  a  fecond  over-exertion  from  even  the 
ordinary  Jiimiili,  and  thus  an  mieqtial  balance  of  tlie 
excitability  and  natural  Jlimuli  may  continue  for  tzvo 
or  more  days. 

But  where  the  dofe  firft  adminiftered  is  great, 
its  fedative  effe^s  are  almoft  immediately  per- 
ceived. By  a  folution  of  opium,  injected  into  the 
ftomach  of  a  frog,  while  the  tranfparent  membrane 
of  its  toes  was  under  a  good  microfcope,  the  dofe 
hemg /mail,  there  was  at  firft  an  inrrea/e,  and  after- 
wards a  diminution  of  the  blood's  velocity.  By  a 
fecond  and  larger  dofe,  given  an  hour  after  the 

firll, 


120 


flrll:,  the  blood  was  feen  to  move  immediately 
Jlower.^  and  its  WQ\oQ.\iy  gradually  decreafing^  it  ftag- 
nated  at  length,  and  the  animal  expired. 

A  folution  of  opium  injected  into  the  inteflines 
of  a  dog,  brought  on  paljy  of  his  pofterior  extre- 
mities, attended  with  convulfions  and  ftupor. 

Some  days  after,  when  the  dog  was  recovered, 
the  like  folution  was  injected,  by  a  perforation 
through  the  integuments,  into  the  abdomen  of 
the  fame  dog:  he  h<tz2im^-paralyiic  inftantaneoufly, 
and  died  in  a  few  minutes. 

We  are  now  to  enquire,  hy  what  channel  does 
opium  a5l  f — Seeing  the  many  erroneous  opinions  that 
have  prevailed,  we  fhould  be  careful  how  we 
fuffer  ourfelves  to  be  led  away  by  great  authorities, 
and  fliould  bow  our  affent  only  to  fa5is,  and  fuck 
concluftons  as  naturally  refult  from  them. 

We  are  to  enquire,  '*  zvhether  opium  aSls  by 
"  means  of  the  blood  on  the  irritable  fibre, as  will 
be  proved  with  the  other  poifon,  or  "  has  its  opera- 
"  tion  folely  on  the  nerves  ?" 

Notwithftanding  it  appears  certain,  that  opium, 
even  when  fimply  diffolved  in  water,  whether  it  is 
introduced  into  the  ftomach,  or  into  the  inteftines; 
whether  it  is  inje£led  beneath  the  fkin,  or  into  the 
abdomen ;  whether  it  be  applied  to  the  heart  or 
mufcles  ;  equally  a6ts  on  the  animal  body :  yet  a 
doubt  ftill  remains  whether  its  aftion  and  energy 
are  wrought  on  the  nerves,  or  whether  it  needs 
the  vehicle  of  the  blood,  and  the  circulation,  to 
give  it  a6tivity. 

It 


121 


It  is  certain  that  all  polfons,  as  well  as  ophm, 
kill  when  fwallowed;  but  this  does  not  prove 
•that  their  action  is  wrought  immediately  on  the 
nerves,  and  that  they  do  not  employ  the  medium 
of  the  />/ood.  There  are  we  know  in  nature  prin- 
ciples attractive  and  deftruftive  of  each  other,  and 
may  not  the  fubtle  and  a£tive  particles  of  a  poifon, 
penetrate  from  this  law  of  affinity,  and  introduce 
themfelves  into  the  blood?  We  are  under  the  ne- 
ceflity  of  admitting  unknown  powers,  of  whofe 
principles  and  mechanifm  we  are  ignorant.  We 
allow  that  iron  is  attra£ted  by  the  magnet,  though 
we  are  wholly  ignorant  of  magnetifm.  Thus  the 
difficulty  which  arifes  from  the  mortal  effefts  of 
opium,  when  taken  internally,  does  not  prove  that 
it  acts  immediately  on  the  nerves ;  and  befides,  it 
can  be  demonftrated,  that  the  venom  of  the  viper 
and  ticunas  have  no  immediate  a61:ion  on  the  nerves 
themfelves  *. 

To  be  enabled  to  make  forae  very  probable 
affertion  on  this  difficult  matter,  an  experiment 

*  ift.  FoNTANA  divided  the  nerves  goirjg  to  the  leg  of  a  rab- 
bit, it  was  rendered  ififenfihk  and  jiaralytic.  He  then  applied 
the  venom  to  the  leg,  and  though  the  nervous  injluence  was  in- 
tercepted, it  communicated  all  the  fymptoms  of  the  poifon  of 
the  viper. 

2d.  On  the  contrary,  when  the  veins  and  arteries  going  to, 
and  returning  from,  the  leg  were  intercejited^  and  the  poifon 
inferted,  it  did  not  communicate  the  difeafe  of  the  venom  of 
the  viper. 

And  3d.  When  the  nerves  were  feparated  from  the  body,  and 
furrounded  with  venom,  it  produced  no  fymptoms  of  this 
jdiieafe. 

muft 


122  I 

mufl:  be  imagined  in  which  oj)ium  may  acl  freely  i 
againrt:  the  nerves,  without  the  fmalleft  introduc-  ; 
tion  of  it  into  the  /;/ood,  or  rather,  without  its  ] 
touching  the  blood-vejjels.  Such  an  experiment,  | 
confjdering  the  dexterity  and  precilion  it  requires,  j 
is  not  one  of  the  eafieft  to  make,  and  can  be  only  ij 
well  tried  on  very  fmall  animals,  and  on  a  very  V 
few  of  the  nerves.  To  obtain  certain  confe-  li 
quences,  and  fuch  as  do  not  proceed  from  deceit-  i 
ful  and  variable  experiments,  it  was  neceffary  to  |ij 
make  a  great  many  trials,  to  exclude  all  the  re-  i 
fults  that  accidental  circumftances  might  have  i 
rendered  imperfeft,  to  compare  the  different  con-  | 
fequences  with  each  other,  and  to  weigh  them  in  I 
each  cafe  with  thofe  of  the  experiments  intended 
to  ferve  as  comparative  ones. 

I  deftined,  fays  Fontana,  300  frogs  for  thefe 
experiments,  and  by  means  of  pincers  and  fciflars, 
I  laid  bare  the  crural  nerves  in  fuch  a  manner  as 
they  w^ere  entirely  free  of  every  other  part,  and 
obtained  about  eight  or  ten  lines  of  nerve  totally 
clear,  and  in  fomc  very  large  frogs  even  more. 
I  then  let  fall  the  nerves  of  each  thigh  into  a  fmall 
hollow  glafs,  which  receives  them  in  fuch  a  way, 
that  I  can  fill  each  giafs  with  a  fluid  of  any  kind 
without  its  touching  the  adjacent  mufcles.  I 
lafually  have  been  able  to  put  into  thefe  glaffes 
fuch  a  proportion  of  whatever  I  wifli  to  try  on 
the  nerves,  as  to  cover  the  greater  part  of  them 
with  it,  without  its  being  pollible  for  any  of  the 

liquor 


123 

liquor  to  find  its  way  to  the  thighs,  and  mix  with 
the  blood.  In  this  way  I  can  make  a  comparifoii 
betwixt  the  nerves  that  are  envenomed,  and  thofe 
that  tire  not,  compute  the  time  that  they  continue 
to  contract  the  mufcles,  and  judge  of  the  vivacity 
of  the  motions. 

At  the  end  of  the  firft  ten  minutes,  I  flimulated 
the  medicated  nerves;  I  fliall  diftinguifli  in  this 
way  thofe  to  which  I  applied  the  opium,  and 
thofe  which  w^ere  not  medicated,  and  found  that 
the  two  extremities,  the  right  as  well  as  left,  con- 
traSed  with  the  fame  force  and  vivacity. 

At  the  end  of  twenty  minutes,  I  tried  the  ftimula- 
tion,  and  could  perceive  no  fenjible  difference  betwixt 
the  motions  of  the  two  feet,  which  were  almoft  as 
lively  as  thofe  in  the  firft  experiment. 

At  the  end  of  thirty  minutes,  the  motions  of  the 
two  feet  were  feebler,  but  alike  in  both. 

At  the  end  of  forty  minutes,  the  feet  fcarcely 
contracted  ;  but  their  diftinft  mufcles  were  clearly 
feen  to  contract,  when  the  crural  nerves  were 
ftimulated ;  and  the  motions  of  thefe  mufcles 
were  equally  lively  in  each  foot. 

At  the  end  o'i fifty  mw^/^j, the' motions  were  very 
fmall,  but  alike  in  both  fides. 

At  the  end  of  eighty  minutes ,  there  was  no  longer 
any  motion  to  be  obferved  in  feveral  of  the  frogs, 
in  whatever  way  i  ftimulated  either  their  crural 
nerves  that  were  medicated,  or  thofe  that  were 
pot, 

I  can 


124 

I  can  conceive,  adds  Font  an  a,  nothing  more 
<3ecirive  and  more  certain,  than  from  this  feries  of 
experiments,  that  the  aftion  of  opium  is  not  di- 
re6ily  on  the  iierves;  and  when  I  related  thefe  ex- 
periments to  Sir  John  Pringle,  he  very  frankly 
told  me,  that  for  his  part  "  he  had  never  too  great  a 
*'  belief  in  the  explanation  given  of  NERVOUS 
"  DISEASES,  a}id  that  for  the  future  he  Jliould  have 
"  lefs  faith  in  tJie  doctrine  than  ever." 

In  order  to  make  this  point  flill  clearer,  I  wifhed 
to  fee  whether  opium,  when  injected  into  the 
veffels,  caufes  death,  and  whether  it  produces  the 
fame  derangements  in  the  animal  ceconomy,  when 
introduced  into  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  as  it 
does  when  fwallowed,  or  inje6led  into  the  different 
organs  and  vifcera. 

I  injefted  about  eighteen  drops  of  the  aqueous 
folution  of  opium  into  the  jugular  vein  of  a  large 
rabbit.  It  was  fcarcely  injefted  when  the  animal 
felt  drowfy,  could  no  longer  fupport  itfelf,  and  fell 
down.  It,  however,  recovered  in  a  few  hours, 
and  became  perfectly  well. 

I  next  injefted  a  tea-fpoonful  of  the  fame 
aqueous  folution  into  the  vein  of  another  rabbit, 
and  it  died  infant ly. 

I  repeated  this  experiment  on  a  third  rabbit, 
with  the  fame  quantity  of  folution,  and  it  died 
alfo  at  the  moment  of  injeftion. 

Thus  then  ofmm,  inje£led  into  the  veins,  pro- 
duces heavinefs,  and  even  death  itfelf. 

IVine 


125 

IVine  or  alcohol  produces,  as  I  found,  pretty  near-' 
]y  the  fame  effefts. 

I  conceive  it  to  be  altogether  fuperfluous  to 
relate  a  greater  number  of  experiments  on  opium 
injetled  into  the  jugular  vein,  and  introduced 
into  the  circulation,  without  its  touching  any  of 
the  wounded  folids.  When  once  it  is  received 
into  the  velTels,  I  do  not  fee  how  it  can  commu- 
nicate itfelf  in  an  immediate  way  to  any  of  the 
fierves,  fince  all-prying  anatomy  affures  us,  that 
the  coats  of  the  blood-veffels  are  not  furnithed 
with  any  nerves,  and  we  have  a  further  confirma- 
tion of  this  point  from  an  experiment  made  by 
the  celebrated  profeffor  of  anatomy  at  Edin- 
bursrh. 

I  difcovered,  fays  Dr.  Monro,  when  I  poured 
a  folution  of  opium  under  the  ikin  of  the  thigh 
and  leg  of  a  living  frog,  not  only  the  leg  itfelf 
was  very  foon  affe<Stcd,  but  the  affeftion  was 
communicated  to  the  mojl  di^ant  part  of  the  body : 
but  if,  previous  to  the  application  of  opium,  I 
cut  out  the  heart,  or  cut  acrofs  the  femoral 
blood-velTels,  the  effefits  of  the  opium  were  not 
communicated  from  that  limb  to  dijlant  parts, — 
which  feems  to  prove  how  much  the  circulation 
of  the  blood,  and  the  fluid  of  the  machine,  is 
the  vehicle  for  o'pium,  and  that  without  this  fluid 
it  would  have  no  a61ion  on  the  living  body. 

Having  cut  out  the  heart  of  a  young  kitten, 
fays  Dr.  James  Johnson,  it  notwithftanding 

continued 


126' 


continued  its  natural  movements  in  a  very  lively 
and  regular  manner.    In  that  ftate  I  put  it  into  i 
a  tea-cup  containing  fome  laudanum :  in  a  mo-  i 
ment  the  pulfations  of  the  heart  ceafcd,  and  could  i] 
not  be  removed  by  any  kind  of  ftimulus.  j| 
Having  divided  the  heart  of  another  kitten,  i 
fays  this  ingenious  experimentalift,  into  ivio  pieces,  ( 
out  of  the  body,  one  of  them  was  thrown  into  b 
laudanum,  a  little  diluted  with  water,  and  it  foon  i; 
loft  its  pulfatory  motions,  and  llimuli  had  no  b 
power  or  efFeft  in  reftoring  them  :  but  the  other  i] 
half  Q)^  the  heart,  lying  at  the  fame  time  upon  the  >i 
table,  contra£\ed  very  brifkly  whenever  it  was  i 
touched  with  the  point  of  a  needle  or  a  knife,  and  -\ 
that  long  after  the  part  fteeped  in  diluted  jauda- 
num  remained  immoveable.  j 
The  fame  events  happened  to  a  piece  of  intejiine,  i 
cut  out,  when  dipped  in  laudanum :  the  periftal- 
tic  motions,  which  were  brifk  before,  ceafed  in- 
ftantly,  and  could  not  be  removed  by  ftimulij 
yet  another  -piece  of  the  fmall  gut,  cut  out,  lying  on 
the  table,  continued  to  move  and  twift  itfelf 
with  great  vivacity  when  it  was  ftimulated. 

Does  not  OPIUM  then  aft  upon  the  mujcular 
fibres  through  the  medium  of  the  blood  f  Does 
not  the  motion  and  power  of  thefe  fibres  depend 
upon  their  union  with  OYGEN,  chiefly  taken 
into  the  body  by  refpiration,  and  dilfufed  by  the 
circulation  of  the  blood  ?  And  does  not  its  aElion 
confift  in  dijmiting  the  OXYGEN  from  theje fibres 

fo 


12/ 

fo  rapidly,  by  changing  the  law  of  elective 
ATTRACTION,  HS  to  extinguiOi  their  vitality^ 
before  they  can  have  a  fre(h  and  adequate  fupply 
of  VITAL  AIR? — The  fudden  extui6tion  of  life, 
and  the  ftate  of  the  body  after  death,  entitled  the 
ingenious  Dr.  Beddoes  to  make  thefe  fugg^^f- 
tions  ;  and  ftart  an  opinion,  which  an  enlightened 
and  reformed  fyftem  of  phyfic  will  foon,  perhaps, 
fatisfaftorily  elucidate. 

Mr.  Y  ,  of  the  age  of  fifty  years,  took  by 

miftake,  at  bed-time,  about  ten  drachms  of  lau- 
danum :  he  had  a  fit  of  the  gout  at  the  time. 
No  alarm  was  given  till  about  four  o'clock  next 
morning,  when  exceffive  drowfinefs  and  languor 
came  on :  after  that  he  took  repeated  dofes  of  the 
oxYD  of  ANTIMONY,  (antimony  combined  with 
oxygen)  by  which  fome  of  the  laudanum  was 
rejected'  by  vomiting. 

I  faw  him,  fays  Dr.  Johnson,  about  nine  the 
fame  morning :  his  palenefs,  languor,  and  lethar- 
gic difpofition,  were  very  great  j  his  pulfe  beat 
languidly,  about  thirty-eight  ftrokes  in  a  minute. 
By  ftimulating  his  throat  with  a  volatile  embro- 
cation, he  was  empowered  to  fwallow  a  cathar- 
tic :  blifters  were  applied  to  the  back  and  arms 
and  finapifms  to  his  feet.  He  took,  by  my  direc- 
tion, coffee  frequently,  and  after  each  dofe  of  it, 
a  dcfert  fpoonful  of  vinegar  *.  He  was  alio 
carried  out,  and  well  fliaken  in  a  poft  chaife  on  a 

^  Jlnegar  owes  its  acidity  to  the  abforption  of  vital  air. 

roujjh 


128 


rough  road.  About  four  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon, he  was  fo  much  roufed,  that  his  pulfe  beat  i 
at  Icaft  feventy  ftrokes  in  a  minute.  The  dan-  | 
gerous  fedative  power  of  this  enormous  dofe  of  j 
opium  was  thus  obviated,  and  his  brain  put  into  j 
fuch  a  ftate  of  vigilance,  that  the  enfuing  even-  ( 
ing  he  pafled  a  reftlefs  night.  He  then  returned  < 
to  his  ufual  ftate  of  health.  I 
We  have  a  cafe  ftill  more  to  our  point  in  a  i 
letter  from  Colonel  Braithwaite  Boughton,  b 
to  Dr.  Beddoes,  in  Part  III.  of  his  Obfervations  \\ 
on  the  Medicinal  Ufe  of  FaSlitious  Airs,  and  their  ^ 
ProduSIioH.  j 

To  Dr.  beddoes. 

Po^on  Hall,  July  24,  1793. 

SIR, 

Having  for  a  confiderable  time  been 
troubled  with  Rheumatic  pains,  it  was  recom- 
men^ied  to  me  to  take  a  mild  opiate  estrv  night 
on  going  to  bed,  and  in  the  event  of  that  dofe  not 
proving  fufficiently  foporific,  I  was  to  add  to  it 
a  few  drops  of  laudanum,  for  which  purpofe  I 
had  procured  a  three-ounce  phial  of  laudanum. 
Neverthelefs,  being  unwilling  to  accuftom  myfelf 
to  the  ufe  of  opium,  I  generally  poftponed  taking 
the  opiate  till  extreme  p^iin  and  want  of  fleep 
rendered  it  abfolutcly  necelTary.  In  one  of  thefe 
moments,  about  four  o'clock  in  the  morning, 

I  reached 


129 

i  reached  out  my  hand  to  the  table,  on  which, 
by  miftake,  my  fervant  had  placed  the  phial 
containing  the  laudanum,  and  believing  this  to 
be  my  ufual  night- draught,  I  poured  out  the  con- 
tents into  a  tumbler  glafs,  and  drank  it  off.  I 
foon  perceived  my  miftake  by  the  tafte  of  the 
laudanum,  but  from  my  immediate  relief  from 
pain,  accompanied  by  a  certain  pleafing  languor, 
it  was  fome  time  before  I  could  roufe  myfelf  fo 
as  to  call  affiftance.    Being,  however,  perfectly- 
convinced  that  I  muft  foon  beat  a  quick  march 
to  the  other  world,  unlefs  my  ftomach  was  eafed 
of  the  poifon  it  contained,  I  rang  the  bell,  and 
ordered  fome  warm  water.     It  was  fometime 
before  this  could  be  got  ready.  As  foon  as  it  was 
brought,  I  drank  large  quantities,  bijt  without 
any  effeCl.    The  apothecary  was  then  fent  for, 
who  gave  me  three  feveral  dofes  of  vitri- 
OLATED  ZINC  *,  whcn  at  laft  they  fuccee^ed  fo 
well,  that  I  brought  up  a  confiderable  quantity 
of  the  laudanum.    In  the  morning  early  I  fent  for 
Dr.  Thornton,  who  adminiftered  the  vital 
AIR  f,  and  ordered  me  Lemonade  f,  which, 

*  This  metal,  like  the  rellj  has  no  power  until  it  be  com- 
bined with  oxygen. 

t  Dr.  Thornton,  in  his  obfervations  on  this  cafe,  remarks 
that  the  vital  air  was  very  rapidly  confumed,  which  miift 
recal  to  the  reader's  mind  the  celebrated  experiment  of  Spalu^ 
iNG,  recorded  in  Vol.  I.  p.  89. 

X  A  mixture  of  lemon-,  fugar,  and  water. 

Vol.  IV.  IC  from 


130 

from  the  weak  ftate  of  my  ftomach,  was  almoft  as 
fpeedily  returned,  bat  perfectly  f%veet  to  the  tafte, 
and  fo  deprived  of  all  acidity  *,  as  to  be  like  fugar 
and  water,  and  did  not  effervefce  with  alkali. 
This  was  frequently  repeated,  when  in  the  even- 
ing I  ate  my  dinner,  without  any  fenfible  diffe- 
rence, and  felt  the  next  day  much  as  ufual.  This 
is  the  fimple  fa£t,  to  the  beft  of  my  remem- 
brance ;  if  it  can  be  of  any  ufe  in  a  fcience  which 
has  for  its  objeft  the  eafe  and  happinefs  of  man- 
kind,  I  fliall  always  look  back  with  pleafure  to 
an  accident  which  has  afforded  me  an  opportu- 
nity of  giving  you  this  detail,  I  have  the  honour 
to  be, 

SIR, 

Your  moft  obedient  Servant, 

G,  G.  Brathwaite  Boughtok. 

P.  S.  Among  the  Indians,  who  take  great 
quantities  of  folid  opium,  when  they  wifh  to  re- 
move the  etfefts  of  ftupefaftion,  they  drink  plenty, 
of  lime  juice,  which  they  know,  from  experience, 
produces  that  effect. 

*  The  acid  principle  has  been  before  proved  tq  be  derivecj 
from  the  OXYGEN,  or  VITAL  AIR, 


SECT. 


SECT.  XXX. 

POISONS  OF  THE  VIPEll,  ASPIC,  AND  POLYPUS. 

I  PROCURED,  fays  FoNTANA,  fifty  of  the 
ftrongeft  and  Idrgeft  frogs  I  could  meet  w^ith.  I 
preferred  thefe  animals  becaufe  they  are  livelier 
th&n  others;  becaufe  they  die  with  greater  diffi- 
culty: and,  laftly,  becaufe  their  mufcles  contraft 
evert  feveral  days  after  they  are  dead.  I  had 
each  of  them  bit  by  a  viper ^  fome  in  the  thigh, 
dthers  in  the  legs,  back,  head.  Sec.  Some  of 
them  died  ift  lefs  than  half  an  hour,  others  inl  airf 
hour,  and  others  again  in  two  arid  thrfee  hours. 
There  w'ere  likewife  others  among  them  that  fell 
irtto  a  laiiguifliirig  ftate,  fheif  hind  legs  that  had 
been  bitteri  continuing  very  weak  and  paralytic. 
In  fome  of  them'  I  contented  myfelf  with  intro- 
ducing cautioufly  into  a  wound,  made  with  a  lan- 
cet at  the  very  inftant>  a  drop  of  venom.  Thefe' 
laft" lived  longer  than  thofe  I  had  caufed  to  be  bit; 
rieither  af  them  however  efcaped.  A  fliort  time- 
after  thefe  animals  had  either  been  bit,  or  wounded 
and  venOmed,  the  l&fs  of  their  mufailar  force  was 
very  evident.  When  they  were  fet  at  libertffj 
they  no  longer  leaped,  but  dragged  their  legs  arid 
bodies  along  with  great  difficulty,  and  could 
fcarcely  withdraw  their,  thighs  when  violently  ir- 

K  9  ritated : 


132 

ritatcd:  by  degrees  they  became  motionlefs,  and 
paralytic  in  every  part  of  the  body,  and,  after  con- 
tinqmg  a  very  fliort  time  in  this  ftate,  died. 

I  now  opened  the  abdomen,  and  ftimulated 
the  nerves  that  pafs  through  it  in  their  way  from 
the  vertebrae  to  the  thighs.  I  employed  the 
ftrongeft  corrofives,  but  could  excite  no  motion 
or  tremulus  in  the  lower  extremities.  I  pricked 
the  mufcles  with  as  little  effect,  and  thrufl:  a  long 
pin  into  the  fpinal  marrow,  without  producing 
any  motion  or  trembling  either  of  the  mufcles  or 
]imbs.  In  none  of  thefe  parts  was  there  a  veftige 
of  fenfibility  or  irritability.  The  nerves  were  no 
longer  the  inftrumerit  of  motion.  The  mufcles 
no  longer  contratled,  or  were  fenfible  to  ftimuli. 
'  The  heart  alone,  in  a  few  of  them,  continued  to. 
move  languidly,  and  its  auricles  were  filled  and. 
blackened  by  the  blood  which  it  feemed  incapable 
of  difpellirjg.  This  motion,  and  thefp  pfcillations, 
were  however  but  of  fliort  duratipn. 
.  Perfons  have  been  met  with,  who  having  been 
bit  by  a  viper,  have  remained  paralytic  in  fome 
particular  part  of  the  body  during  life.  A  fliort 
time  ago  a  woman  in  Tuscany,  who  had  been 
bit  in  the  little  finger  by  a  viper,  became,  after 
various  other  corqplaints,  paralytic  throughout  the 
whole  right  fide  of  her  body,  and  could  never  be 
cured.  In  a  word,  it  is  certain  that  all  thofe 
who  haye  met  with  this  accident  complain  foon 
after  of  an  piiverfgl  weaknefs.   Their  mufcles  re- 

.'  fufe 


133 

fufe  their  office.  They  become  dull  and  heavy, 
have  no  longer  the  free  exercifc  either  of  body 
or  mind,  and  fall  infenfibly  into  a  kind  oi' lethargy: 
fo  true  it  is^  that  this  venom  induces  a  ^aljy  of  the 
mufcles,  and  robs  them  of  their  a6live  property, 
called  by  the  moderns  animal  irritability. 

The  afpic  alfo  kills  by  occafioning  a  fudden 
drowjinefs  and  tmiverfal  weaknefs,  followed  by  death, 
in  the  animal  llruck  by  it.  Hence  it  feems  that 
all  the  perfons  fupplied  by  the  animal  kingdom, 
occafion  death  by  exhaujiing  the  irritability  of  the 
moving  fibres. 

But  of  all  the  poifonous  animals  hitherto  known, 
the  polypus  feems  to  poflefs  the  moft  powerful  and 
afctive  venom.  However  irritable  thefe  creatures 
may  be  in  other  cafes,  and  difficult  to  kill,  the 
polypus  fucceeds  inftantly  in  extinguifliing  the 
principles  of  motion  and  life  in  water-worms. 
What  is  very  fingular,  its  mouth  or  lips  have  no 
fooner  touched  this  worm,  than  it  expires ;  fo 
great  are  the  force  and  energy  of  the  poifon  it 
conveys  into  it.  No  wound  is  however  found  in 
the  dead  animal.  The  polypus  is  neither  provided 
with  teeth,  nor  any  other  inftrument  calculated 
to  pierce  the  fkin,  as  I  have  affijred  myfelf,  fays 
Font  AN  A,  by  obferving  it  with  excellent  rai- 
crofcopes. 

If  we  refleft  on  the  effi^fts  of  opium,  its  mode 
of  a£tion  will  alfo  clearly  illuftrate  this  fubjeft. 
That  vegetable  juice,  if  taken  in  a  large  dofe,  be- 
gins 


134 

gins  by  rendering  an  animal  weak  and  torpid, 
and  foon  kills  it  by  exhaujling  the  irrkability  of  the 
mufcular  fibres,  as  1  have  feveral  tinies  obferved 
in  animals  with  cold  blood,  and  as  the  famous 
Baron  de  Haller  demonftratcd  a  long  time 
ago,  even  in  thofe  that  have  the  blood  warm. 

The  fymptoms  and  accidents  that  follow  the 
bite  of  the  viper,  do  tiot  differ  effentially  from 
thofe  I  have  juft  fpokcn  of,  and  may  at  leaft  in- 
duce one  to  fufpecl  that  the  venom  of  that  ani- 
mal likewife  kills  by  totally  deftroying  tlie  irrita- 
bility of  the  fibres. 

Both  of  them  aft  by  exciting  violent,  convul- 
fions  and  vomiting.  Each  conveys  gn  miiverfal. 
debility  into  t]ie  organs.  They  render  the  ipufqlesi 
paralytic,  m^ke  the  animal  heavy,  ^nd,  fin^Jly  bring 
on  lethargy  and  death. 

It  avails  nothing  to  animals  with,  cojd  blood, 
that  thpy  4re  endued  with  an  obftinate  life^ 
and  are  capable  of  preferving  that,  as  well  as- 
rnotion,  after  they  are  cut  to  pieces.  If  either 
of  thefe  poifons  attacks  the  principle  of  their- 
motion,  that  is,  deftroys  oxygen  upon  which 
the  IRRITABLE  PRINCIPLE  dcpcuds,  thcv  di«? 
fpeediiV;  all  motion  is  annihilated  in  them,  and 
their  parts  will  no  longer  give  any  figns  of  life. 
Their  body,  it  is  true,  will  preferve  its  organi- 
zation; but' an  organized  body  that  has  loft  its 
motion,  is  truly  a  body  without  life,  and  the 
body  th^n  differs  in  nothing  from  a  foffil,  or  any 

other 


i35 

other  dead  matter,  for  all  this  aflemblage  of  vef- 
fels,  fo  many  different  organs,  and  this  aftonifli- 
ing  ftrufture  of  parts,  are  no  longer  of  any  ufe 
to  the  animal,  and  fhould  be  regarded  as  not 
exifting,  for  without  irritability  there  is  nei- 
ther fenfation  nor  life. 


PRACTICAL 


136 


PRACTICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 


SECT.  XXXL 

THE  BITE  OF  THE  VIPER,  AND  THE  METHOD  Of 

CURE. 

FoNTANA  made  more  than  fix  thoufand  ex- 
periments upon  the  poifon  of  the  viper;  he  cm- 
ployed  more  than  four  thoufand  animals,  and  the 
conclufion  he  draws  from  this  enormous  number  of 
experiments,  is,  that  this  poifon  does  not  aft  on  the 
NERVES,  but  on  the  irritable  principle  in 
the  moving  fibres,  throudi  the  medium  of  blood. 
Hence,  in  thofe  animals  that  recover,  the  parts 
bitten  are  ufually  paralytic,  but  not  injenfible.  He 
obferves,  that  the  venom  of  the  viper  produces  a 
perfect  gangrene^  and  the  mufcular  parts  are  either 
difcoloured or  pale;  and  that  the  jlorid  colour  of  the 
blood  alfo  is  wholly  dejiroyed. 

His  experiments  are  very  numerous  refpefting 
the  antidotes  againft  this  poifon.  After  reading 
two  thick  volumes  of  experiments,  ingeniouHy 
devifed,  we  are  at  laft  amply  repaid  by  the  ac- 
count he  gives  us  of  the  LUNAR  CAUSTIC; 
that  is,  filver  combined  with  oxygen.  He  had 
no  theory  that  conduced  him  to  the  trial,  and 
therefore  cannot  be  fufpefted  of  having  any  bias 
on  his  mind. 

He 


137 

He  mixed  equal  quantities  of  lunar  caustio 
with  the  venom  of  the  viper,  adding  thereto  a 
few  drops  of  water.  I  wounded  with  this  mix- 
ture, fays  He,  the  legs  of  five.fmall  birds,  but  none 
of  them  died,  or  feemed  affeEled  tvith  the  difeafe  of  the 
venom,  and  there  ivas  7iq  gangrene  or  paralyfis  -pro- 
duced! 

I  tried  this  mixture  on  ten  other  birds,  which 
added  to  my  great  aftonifliment.  Still  I  could 
not  determine  as  to  the  unexpe6ied  novelty  of 
thefe  favourable  confequences;  and  fearing  that 
accidental  circumftances  might  have  prevented, 
the  action  of  the  venom,  I  refolved  to  make  orther, 
experiments  on  the  fame  animals.  I  wounded 
the  legs  of  fix  others,  multiplying  the  incifions,  to 
introduce  a  good  deal  of  the  venom.  In  thefe 
experiments  two  of  the  birds  aftually  died,  one 
in  the  fpace  of  fix  hours,  the  other  in  twenty- 
eight. 

On  the  morrow  I  repeated  this  experiment, 
with  the  fame  circumftances,  on  ten  other  birds; 
two  only  of  them  died,  and  that  at  the  end  of 
twelve  hours. 

Fearing  that  the  wounds  alone  might  have 
brought  on  death,  particularly  as  they  were  irri- 
tated by  the  cauftic,  I  tried  ten  birds,  on  the  legs 
of  which  I  made  wounds  as  ufual,  and  applied 
the  cauftic  by  itfelf.  One  of  them  died  at  the 
end  of  eight  hours.  So  it  feems  at  leaft  very, 
probable,  if  not  very  certain,  that  the  two  birds 

before- 


138 

before-mentioned,  died  likewife  of  their  wounds,  i 
anci  not  of  the  effecls  of  the  venom.  j 

Tlie  pigeon,  next  to  fmall  birds,  particularly  if  | 
very  young,  is  the  animal  killed  with  the  fmalleft  ' 
quantity  of  venom.  I  chofe  four  of  thefe  for  a  ] 
trial,  and  operated  on  all  of  them  in  the  fame  ! 
way.  I  made  feveral  tranfvcrfe  wounds  with 
fciffars,  in  .the  mufcles  of  their  legs,  and  intro-  j 
duced  this  venomous  liquor,  mixed  with  lunar  ; 
CAUSTIC,  abundantly  into  the  wounds.  Neither  \ 
of  thefe  pigeons  either  died,  or  feemed  to  have  the 
difeafe  catifed  by  the  venom  of  the  viper.  The  next 
dciy  I  repeated  the  experiment  on  tvrelve  pigeons, 
the  legs  of  which  1  wounded  in  feveral  places, 
ilnd  neither  of  them  died.  I  varied  the  application 
of  the  venomous  mixture,  which  I  fometimes 
forced  into  the  wounds  with  fmall  bits  of  wood,  1 
fometimes  with  pieces  of  ftout  thread  fmeared  t 
with  it.  Neither  of  them  died  in  thefe  trials. .  I 
proceeded  to  the  mufcles  of  the  breaft,  whfch  I 
wounded  in  different  ways,  and  diverfified  the 
application  of  the  mixture:  but' it  was  ih  vaiit 
that  I  multiplied  my  experiments,  neithei-  of  the  )i 
pigeons  died  ! 

It  cannot  now  be  doubted,  but  that  the  LU- 
NAR CAUSTIC,  vtrhen  mixe'd  with  the  venom 
oftke'vipe'r,  renders  it  i  nnoce  n  t  ;  and  thtrS'  every 
thing  concurs  to  mfake      regard  it  as  the  triie  ^ 

only  fpecific  againft  this  poifon.  I  catt  no^ 
flatter  mVfelf,  fays  Font  an  a,  with  having  at 

length 


1^ 


139 

length  difcovered  a  certain  remedy  againfl:  the  bite 
of  the  viper;  a  remedy  that  fo  many  people  have 
fought  f(j>r  in  vain. 

I  next  proceeded  with  confidence  to  try  the 
LUNAR  CAUSTIC,  after  the  bite  or  infertion  of 
the  venom  had  taken  place.  I  wounded!  the 
jaufcles  of  the  legs  of  four  fmall  birds,  as.  birds 
are  the  eafiefi  killed  by  the  venom  of  the  viper, 
and  after  having  made  flight  fcarifications,,  I  ap-- 
plied  the  lunar  cmtfticy  wall] ing  the  wounds  foon 
after.  Neither  of  them  died,  nor  had  the  dipafe  of 
the  venom. 

I  wounded  next  four  other  birds  like  the  pre- 
ceding ones,  in  the  legs,  with  venomous  teeth; 
?ipd  afterwards  wafhed  and  fcarified  the  wounds, 
but  did  not  apply  the  lunar  caiiftic.  They  aljd 
DIED.  I  then  w^ounded  eighteen  birds,  fcarified 
the.  wounds,  applied  the  remedy,  and  wafhed 
them,  and  they  all  recovered! 
.  I  proceeded  then  to.  try  this  new  remedy  on 
fix;  fmall  Guinea-pigs.  To  three  of  them  I  ap- 
plied the  venom  to.  the  mufcles  of  the  legs/to 
the  other  three  to  thofe  of  the  breaft,  each  of 
which  I  had  previoufly  wounded.  I  then  ap- 
plied the  LUNAR  c  AU  S  T  I  c .  Neither  of  the  Guinea- 
pgs  died. 

I  began  to  vary  my  experiments.  I  had  fix 
fowls  bit  in  the  thigh  by  as.  many  vipers.  Five 
of  them  fwallowed  three,  tea-fpoonfuls  each  of 
the  folution  of  the  lunar  caufiic,  the  other  did  not 

fwallow 


1 

146 

fwallow  any.  I  applied  the  /rmar  caujlic  in  the  ; 
fame  way  to  each  of  their  wounds;  the  laft  died,  ' 
and  the  other  five  who  took  the  folution  all  re-  ' 
covered. 

Among  the  multitude  of  other  experiments,  1 
we  find  but  one  other  remedy  befides  the  lunar  \ 
caujiic,  which  was  of  any  material  advantage  for  | 
the  bite  of  the  viper,  and  this  ferves  alfo  to  con-  I 
firm  the  theory  maintained  in  this  part  of  the  ] 
work,  refpe£ting  the  power  of  oxygen  in  overcom*  | 
ing  poifons. 

I  obferved,  fays  Font  an  A,  that  dogs  and  cats 
recovered  in  proportion  to  the  violence  of  their 
vomiting.  I  wiflied  to  follow  the  indications  of 
nature.  The  refult  of  fome  of  thefe  experiments 
contradifted  that  of  others,  but  feveral  of  them 
were  very  favourable  and  uniform.  Amongft  a 
great  number  of  trials,  I  had,  fays  he,  a  dozen 
dogs  bit  in  the  leg,  each  by  three  vipers,  and  by 
each  repeatedly.  To  fix  I  gave  emetic  tar- 
tar ^««//wo;(y  combined  with  oxygen),  and  to  the 
other  half  nothing.  All  who  had  the  ertietic  tar- 
tar recovered:  and  the  others,  except  two,  foon 
died^  fo  that  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  emetics*  \ 
are  of  fervice,  as  feven  or  eight  fucceilive  trials  I 
had  not  unfrequently  the  fame  fuccefsful  termi-  i 
nation.  i 

*  The  query  is,  Whether  any  other  emetic  than  a  ttietallic  \ 

oxyd  would  have  had  this  efFeft  ?  j 

j 

SECT.  \ 


141 

SECT.  XXXIL 

'  POISON  OF  THE  TICUNAS,  AND  ITS  ANTIDOTE. 

I  HAD  intended  to  have  made  no  mention  of 
poifons  which  are  uncommon,  but  there  is  one 
particular  mentioned  refpe61ing  the  vegetable 
poifon,  called  ticunas,  with  which  the  American 
Indians  fatalize  their  arrows,  that  I  cannot  help 
here  relating  it. 

I  diffolved,  fays  Font  an  a,  this  deleterious 
poifon  in  the  three  MINERAL  ACIDS,  as  alfo 
m  diftilled  VINEGAR. 

I  made  flight  incifions  into  the  fliin  of  a  fmall 
Guinea-pig,  and  wet  it  feveral  times  with  the 
folution  of  the  poifon  in  nitrous  acid.  What  the 
animal  fuffered  feemed  to  refult  from  the  wounds 
and  acid  alone,  for  in  an  hour  it  became  as  lively 
as  ufual. 

Two  hours  after,  I  repeated  this  experiment 
on  another  part  of  the  Ikin  prepared  in  the  fame 
way,  employing  a  folution  of  the  poifon  in  rum-j, 
in  lefs  than  four  minutes  the  animal  died. 

I  then  wounded  the  Ikin  of  a  fmall  rabbit 
flightly,  and  applied  to  it  feveral  drops  of  a  folu- 
tion of  thp  poifon  in  oil  of  vitriol.  The  rabbit 
felt  no  ill  effefts  from  it. 

I  next  prepared  as  ufual  the  Ikin  of  a  fmall 
rabbit,  and  wet  it  with  a  folution  of  the  poifon 
in  the  dephlogijlicated  marine  acid:  and  the  animal 
4id  not  fuffer  from  it. 

lalfq 


142 

I  alfo  made  an  experiment  with  the  folution  ot 
this  poifon  in  vinegar. 

Of  fix  animals  treated  with  the  folution  in 
vinegar,  two  died,  two  had  all  the  fymptoms  of 
the  difeafe  caufed  by  the  poifon,  and  the  other 
two  were  not  affefted  by  it. 

In  thefe  inftances,  we  cannot  fuppofe,  fays 
FoNTANA,  that  the  mineral  acids  prevented  the 
effefls  of  the  poifon  of  the  ticunas;  or  the  lunar 
caujiic  that  of  the  viper;  by  crifping  and  harden- 
ing the  blood-veffels,  and  thus  preventing  the 
poifon  from  infinuating  itfelf  this  way  into  the 
blood,  for  the  Jiiiid  volatile  alkali  has  no  fuch  pro- 
perty, and  this  muft  appear  to  us  Jlrange^  he  adds, 
when  we  confider  the  great  agreement  there  is  be- 
twixt the  FLUii>  ALKALI  and  lunar  caustic. 

Now  the  dawn  of  a  probable  theory  has  broke 
in  upon  U'S,  we  are  abfe  to  diftinguifli  the  ope- 
ration of  thefe  two  bodies,  which  deftroy  conti- 
guity of  -parts  in  the  living  body  from  very  diffe- 
rent caufes.  The  lunar  caustic,  as  was  faid 
before,  is  ftlver  combined  with  the  nitrous  acid, 
and  that  to  the  oxygen  of  that  mineral-  acid-  if 
owed  its  powers.  Now  the  fluid  volatile 
ALKALI  is  azot  and  hydrogen,  which  has  the 
ftrongeft  affinity  for  fixed  air  (carbon  combined 
with  oxygen,}  and  by  difpolfeffing  from  animal- 
matter  its  carbon  and  oxygen  it  afts;  for  when 
pfevioufly  faturated  with  fixed  air^  it  has  then  no- 
fuch  property,  but  becomes  mild  alkali^ 


SECT, 


i43 


SECT.  XXXIII. 

OF  THE  BITE  OF  VENOMOUS  SERPENTS,  AND  THE 
METHOD  OF  CURE. 

I  HOPE  the  reader  will  forgive  me,  if  I  adduce 
one  more  inftance  of  a  poifon  to  which  we  are 
ftrangers,  from  the  confideration  of  a  fpecific 
being  difcovered,  which  tends  to  confirm  the  ge- 
neral conclufion  jrefpe^ting  the  power  of  oxygen. 
Dr.  RulTel,  in  his  account  of  ferpents,  affures  us, 
that  what  is  known  in  the  Eaft,  by  the  name  of 
the  fnake-pillj  never  fails  in  curing  the  bites  of  the 
moft  venemous  ferpents.  The  Tanjore,  or  Snake- 
pll,  confifts  principally  of  the  OX  YD  OF  MER. 
CURY,  and  of  ARSENIC. 

S warts,  a  Moravian  prieft,  inftigated  by  the 
celebrity  thefe  had  obtained  for  the  bite  of  the 
Cobre  de  Capello,  and  other  Indian  ferpents, 
through  the  nobleft  motives  of  philanthropy, 
purchafed  the  fecret  from  the  Brachmlns,  and 
communicated  it  to  the  Company's  furgeons. 
One  of  thefe  gave  the  information  to  Dr.  RufTel, 
with  an  account  of  feveral  cafes,  proving  their 
(iiccefs  ill  fuch  cafes, 


1 


SECT, 


144 


SECT.  XXXI V. 

OF  CANINE  MADNESS. 

In  the  whole  catalogue  of  difeafes,  hydropho- 
bia feems  the  moft  dreadful.  It  often  attacks  in 
a  healthy  period  of  life,  and  when  death  appear? 
far  off,  and  leaves  the  patient  until  the  approach 
of  the  difcafe  in  a  horrid  fufpenfe*.  In  viewing 
ii  hydrophobic  patient,  when  labouring  under  the 
action  of  this  dreadful  poifon,  the  attention  is 
naturally  ftruck  with  the  horrid  convulfions  which 
torture  the  unhappy  patient,  the  difficulty  of  deg- 
lutition, and  the  wonderful  diftrefs  which  he  ex- 
preffes  at  the  fight  of  water,  though  at  the  fame 
time  his  thirft  be  exceffive.  Thefe,  with  his 
ghaftly  countenance,  extrerne  reftleffnefs,  and  con- 
ftant  wakefulnefs,  has  upiverfally  led  the  pra£li- 
tioner  to  confider  the  complaint  as  purely  nervous. 
He  flics,  therefore,  to  whatever  he  prefumes  may 
ftill  the  a£lion  of  the  nerves.  Hence  blifters. 
Opiates,  affafoetida,  camphor,  valerian,  tonics, 
and  every  medicine  of  which  he  has  either  read 
or  heard  mentioned  for  that  purpofe,  are  imme- 
diately called  to  his  aid.    With  what  fuccefs 

*  John  Hunter,  though  a  man  of  courage,  was  difle£ling  a 
clog,  which  died  of  canine  madnefs,  and  cut  himfelf.  He  was 
fo  alarmed  that  he  dates  the  origin  of  his  difeafe  of  the  heart  to 
this  caufe. — Plde  Homers  Life  of  Hunter, 


145 

may  be  feen  from  the  wretched  detail  of  cafes,  as 
fatal  as  they  are  numerous,  which  the  experience 
of  many  centuries  have  recorded;  The  time  in- 
deed for  a£tIon  is  fliort;  its  longeft.  period  little 
more  than  a  day  or  two;  the  difeafe  moft  rapidly 
running  its  courfe,  the  fymptoms  hourly  doubling 
their  violence.  The  late  period  when  the  phyfi- 
cian  is  called  in,  is  another  reafon  for  fo  little 
having  been  done,  for  what  can  be  effeftually 
done  towards  the  clofe  of  the  fatal  period? 
Thus  placed,  what  can  he  often  do,  than  merely 
to  caft,  with  the  bye-ftander,  a  look  of  com- 
miferation  on  the  hopelefs  fufferer,  prepare  the 
friends  for  the  approaching  cataftrophe,  or  order 
fome  medicine,  which  for  the  prefent  fitua- 
tion  of  things,  though  powerful  in  itfelf,  he  is 
confcious  cannot  for  a  moment  arrefl:  the  fatal 
blow. 

We  have  a  very  accurate  defcription  of  the 
fymptoins  of  hydrophobia,  or  as  it  is  more  properly 
called,  rabies  contagiofa,  by  Dr.  Wolf,  in  five 
cafes  of  perfons  who  died  of  this  dreadful  difeafe. 
The  eye,  as  in  typhus  fever,  is  impatient  of 
the  leaft  light ;  any  bright  colour  creates  uneafi- 
nefs ;  the  mind  is  very  irritable ;  the  beft  friends 
are  difliked.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  lint,  or 
other  dreffings,  when  taken  off,  difcover  a  black 
furface,  even  though  the  wound  may  difcharge 
good  pus  J  the  fauces  have  «o  appearmtce  of  red- 
nefs ;  the  face,  which  at  firft  is  J)a/e,  becomes 

Vol.  IV.  L  i>rown. 


14^ 

brown,  and  during  each  fpafmodic  attack  turns 
aJmoft  quite  black;  the  lips  are  extremely //W; 
as  the  difeafe  advances  each  paroxyfm  is  lefs 
violent ;  the  patient  has  intervals  of  reafon  ;  the 
dread  of  ftrangulation  from  water  goes  off;  the 
pulfe  becomes  weak,  quick,  and  fluttering ;  and 
the  body  feels  remarkably  cold;  he  then  com- 
pofes  himfelf  as  it  were  to  fleep,  and  expires. 
Upon  difTcftion  there  is  not  to  be  found  the  leqfi 
trace  of  inflammation. 

From  this  appearance  of  things,  have  we  not 
reafon  to  expetl  fome  advantage  from  fubftances 
containing  OXYGEN?  Opium,  camphor,  mufk, 
and  fubmerfion,  have  from  repeated  trials  juftly 
loft  their  reputation  in  this  difeafe  *.    The  ab- 

ftraftion 

*  Thefe  remedies  have  been  employed  from  confidering  this 
difeafe  as  purely  ■nervous.  Opium  in  every  different  prepa- 
ration yet  invented,  has  been  employed.  It  has  been  given  in 
moderate,  and  alfo  in  large  and  powerful  dofes.  Dr.  Vaughan, 
gave  to  one  of  his  patients  no  lefs  than  57  grains  in  fourteen 
hours.  John  Hunter  exhibited  it  in  a  cafe  that  came  under  his 
eare  with  a  tolerable  free  hand,  and  Dr.  Meufe  has  carried  it 
from  5  to  15  grains;  but  it  failed  in  eveiy  inftancc,  and  fufpi- 
€ion  may  arife  whether  this  difeafe  has  not  been  aggravated  by 
it,  and  the  other  antifpafmodics.  The  nature  of  fpafmodic 
difeafes,  and  the  operation  of  opium,  was  formerly  unknown. 
Its  aftion  on  the  blood  has  been  before  explained  in  Seflion 
XXVIII. 

Convulfions  appear  to  arife,  fays  Font  an  a,  from  the  def?ruc- 
tion  at  different  times,  and  in  an  irregular  manner,  of  the  irri- 
tability of  the  mufcular  fibres.  It  has  been  unjuftly  attributed 
to  a  fuperabundance  of  animal  fpirits.  Weak  languifliing  ani- 
mals, that  die  from  hunger,  perifli  in  dreadful  convulfions,  It 

is 


147 

ftra61iGn  of  oxygen  from  the  fyftem  by  immoderate 

exercife, 

is  befides  certain,  that  men  and  women  of  a  delicate  and  wea^ 
frame,  are  always  the  mofl  fubjeft  to  convulfionsj  and  it  is  not 
poffible  to  fuppbfe  in  thefe  perfons  a  fuperabundance  of  animal 
fpirits. 

We  know  that  all  the  muicles,  even  in  a  relaxed  ftate,  pre- 
ferve  notwithftanding  a  certain  t  'enjion  of  their  fibres,  which, 
when  they  are  cut,  never  fail  to  contraft  themfelves  and  enlarge 
the  wound.  When  a  mufcle  becomes  paralytic  it  lengthens, 
and  its  antagonift  then  contrails  the  more;  which  fliews  that 
repofe  of  the  mufcles  depends  on  the  equilibrium  of  ftrength 
betwixt  the  different  mufcles,  and  betwixt  their  different  fibres. 
The  powers  thus  balanced  deftroy  and  renew  themfelves  at  every 
inftant,  without  producing  any  motion  or  fenfible  change. 
This  natural  tenjion  of  the  mufcular  fibres  arifes  either  from 
the  nervous  eleflricity,  or  from  the  exa£l  diftribution  of  -well 
oxygenated  blood  through  the  whole  fubftancc  of  the  mufcles. 
If  thefe  mufcles  do  not  receive  the  fame  proportion  of  well 
oxygenated  blood,  or  if  the  arterial  blood  be  diftributed  with 
an  unequal  quicknefs  and  energy  amongft  them,  the  equili- 
brium  of  the  mutual  efforts  of  the  mufcles  is  immediately  de- 
ftroyed ;  the  ftrongefl  of  them  contrafl ;  and  hence  arife  con- 
vuljions  and  agitations  of  the  whole  frame.  It  iy  for  this  reafon, 
that  thofe  who  die  of  an  haemorrhage,  as  well  as  thofe  who 
perifh  by  poifon,  or  by  breathing  mephitic  airs,  are  feized  with 
convuljions :  for  it  certainly  is  not  probable  that  the  lofs  of  blood, 
and  of  ftrength,  Ihould  bear  an  equal  proportion  in  every  part, 
in  every  mufcle,  and  in  every  fibre,  whilft  the  circulation  itfelf  is 
unequal,  and  the  Jirinci/ile  of  irritability  is  dependent,  on,  or  de- 
rived from,  the  blood. 

Some  frefli  light,  I  think,  may  be  thrown  on  this  interefting 
fubjeft,  by  comparing  the  fymptoms  which  arofe  in  the  cafe 
of  that  mofl:  eminent  anatomift  John  Hunter,  which  appeared 
upon  diffeftion  (Vide  Vol.  I.  Seft.  The  Vitality  of  the 
Blood,  where  his  death  is  related)  in  whom  was  found  an  offi- 
fication  of  the  valves  of  the  great  vefTels  of  the  heart.  Who 
in  this  cafe  would  not  have  affirmed,  that  the  rotatory  motion  of 
the  room,  the  falfe  perception  of  being  as  it  were  fufpended  in 


148 


cxercife  *,  is  alfo  found  to  be  no  remedy,  and 
in  dogs  it  is  the  fymptom  of  the  difordcr. 

M.  Matheu,  after  bleeding  and  purging,  ex- 
cites as  foon  as  poflible  falivation.  He  fays,  "  the 

hydrophobia  yields,  as  it  were,  by  enchantment, 
"  when  the  falivation  appears;  and  it  muft  be 
"  kept  up  according  to  the  degree  of  the  difeafe 
"  and  the  flrength  of  the  patient."    The  illuf- 

air,  was  referable  to  the  nerves,  and  to  thefe  alone  ?  But 
the  accurate  hiftory  of  this  (trange  complaint,  compared  with 
the  difTeftion,  clearly  fhows,  that  the  primary  caufe  was  in  or- 
ganic changes  in  the  heart  and  arteries,  preventing  the  due 
circulation  of  the  blood.    The  afFe£lions  of  the  nerves  was 
doubtlefs  fecondary.    I  throw  out  this  hint  merely  as  expref- 
five  of  my  doubts,  whether  thofe  men  are  correal  who  refer 
all  to  the  nerves  primarily.    Purfuing  the  opinion  of  the  im- 
jTiortal  Hunter  before  referred  to,  I  would  fay,  that  all  feda- 
tive  poifons  attack  the  oxygen  of  the  blood,  the  moving  fibres 
are  thence  afFefted,  the  heart  is  convulfed,  the  brain  is  affefied, 
and  fymptoms  called  nervous  enfue.  For  the  nerves  are  a  part 
of  the  fyftem  framed  from  the  blood ;  they  grow  from  this  pa- 
rent fource,  and  whatever  be,  what  is  termed  the  nervous  fluiJ^ 
it  cannot  but  be  confiefted  with  the  blood,  being  conftantly 
expended  and  renewed,  and  therefore  to  be  confidered  only  as 
a  branch  from  the  parent  flock.    Deny,  therefore,  parts  of 
their  due  proportion  of  blood,  or  encreafe  the  quantity,  or  let 
this  blood  be  deficient  in  its  oxygen^  and  the  nerves  will  imme- 
diately indicate  the  change.    This  doftrine  relates  then  to  all 
other  poifons  as  well  as  hydrophobia,  and  it  will  refer  us  to  the 
jiuids  as  a  primary,  and  to  folids  (including  nerves)  only  as  a 
fecondary  caufe  in  tracing  this  complaint  to  its  origin^  and 
cftablifliing  a  pathology. 

*  This  is  recommended  by  John  Hunter,  becaufe  a  man 
in  hydrophobia  ran  three  times  round  Smithfield,  and,  exhaufled 
by  t^e  fatigue,  feemed  for  awhile  relieved!  Allquando  bonus 
dormitat  Homerus.  Vide  John  Hunter's  Diflertation  on  Hydro- 
phobia. 

trious. 


j 


149 

trious  Sauvage,  fpeaking  of  Mercury,  declares, 
**  apres  bien  de  recherches.  L'ignor.e  que  ce 
"  remede  ait  encore  manque,  etant,  meme  ap- 
"  plique  quand  le  rage'etoit  declaree."  "  After 
"  many  enquiries,  I  know  not,"  fays  Sauvagev 
"  whether  mercury  has  ever  failed,  even  when  the 
"  hydrophobia  had  commenced." 

It  may  be  faid  by  fome,  that  the  oxyd  of  mercury 
has  been  adminiftered  in  this  difeafe,  and  without 
advantage  ;  ,  but  as  far  as  I  have  read,  it  has  been 
conftantly  in  fuch  cafes,  accompanied  with  mufk, 
bleeding,  opium,  or  camphor.  But  whether  in 
this  alarming  diforder  it  be  better  to  oxygenate 
the  blood  or  not  when  the  difeafe  has  taken 
place,  as  -prevention  is  always  better  than  cure^it 
Ihould  occupy  moft  of  our  attention. 

When  the  contagion  of  a  putrid  fever  is  taken 
by  the  faliva  into  the  ftomach  and  bowels,  which 
is  its  conftant  road,  if  the  patient,  the  moment 
he  finds  himfelf  attacked  with  a  fenfe  of  chillii^efs, 
lofs  of  appetite,  and  an  mipleafant  tafte  in -his 
mouth,  has  recourfe  to  two  emetics  at  proper 
intervals,  and  after  the  operation  of  the  firft  eme- 
tic, takes  a  cathartic,  he  has  certainly  got  rid  of 
the  infedlion :  in  the  fame  way,  even  after  three 
days,  or  perhaps  a  week,  if  the  part  bitten  by 
the  dog  be  cut  out  with  the  knife,  even  after  a 
few  days,  the  danger  is  efcaped. 

Vinegar  has  of  late  been  recommended  as  a 
fpecific.    Dr.  Moreta,  phyfician  to  the  King  of 

Poland, 


Poland,-  is  among  the  number  who  extols  its  vir- 
tue, aflerts  his  having  prevented  the  difeafa 
in  mor^  than  fuxty  cafes,  when  ufed  immediately 
after  the  bite,  and  for  nine  fucceeding  days  as  an 
external  application  to  the  wound.  Whilft  this 
procefs  is  carried  on,  an  ounce  and  a  half  at  a 
dofe  is  frequently  to  be  adminiftered  internally-j 
and  this  is  to  be  continued  until  the  ijth  day, 
not  thinking  it  necelTary,  however,  to  keep  the 
wounds  open  longer  than  the  9th  day.  The  hy^ 
drophohia  itfelf,  he  aflures  us,  has  been  ftopt  at 
its  commencement  by  the  fame  means.  Did  exr 
perience  in  the  hands  of  other  men  furnifli  fimilar 
events,  the  difcovery  woi^ld  be  as  valuable  as  the 
method  is  fimple. 

A  mad  fow  is  faid  to  have  been  cured  by  this 
remedy.  The  creature  wa,s  feized,  we  are  told, 
^yith,  the  difeafe  on  the  6th  day  after  the  bite. 
Being  fliut  up  immediately  on  being  bitten,  an 
opportumty  was  afforded  for  obfervation.  The 
iirft  fymptom  was  refufal  to  eat.  She  ftood  for 
three  days  with  hej-  h^a4'  leaning  on  her  food, 
:ivjthput  eatiipg  it..  M.  B^udon  directed  four  pots 
of  ftrong  warm  vinegaji;  to  be  let  dov^n  through  si 
l?ole  in  the  liable  where  the  creature  ftood  j  then 
flopped,  up  th(e  b(j>le  to,  preve-nt  communication 
>yi-itl?;  the  ex;temj^l  air.  About  a,n  hour  after  flie 
was  obferved  to  difiijJ^  the  vinegar  with  the 
greateft  avidity.  This  induced  him  to  put  a 
quantij^  Q^br^,  B)§^^-ea?|ed,wit^,  vinegar,  in,to  her 

trough; 


^5^ 

iTOUgh;  it  was  all  confumed  by  the  following  day. 
The  plan  was  purfued,  and  the  animal,  it  is  faid, 
recovered.  Two  dogs  bitten  with  the  fow  were 
cured  by  the  fame  means  *. 

Should  the  principle  of  acidity  be  confidered 
as  the  ufeful  part,  and  alone  containing  the  vir- 
tues of  the  medicine,  the  cohefion  of  combination 
between  it  and  the  fubftance  in  union  with  it,  is 
to  be  taken  into  confideration.  The  more  loofe 
the  combination,  the  more  eafy  will  the  fepara- 
tion  become,  to  afford  it  an  opportunity  of  a  ne\f 
combination  with  the  frame. 

If  an  acid  compofition  be  thought  ufefuf,  t 
fhould  be  inclined  to  prefer  the  oxalic  to  the 
acetous. 

Sugar  is  compofed  of  carbon  and  hydrogen  in 
conjunftion  with  oxygen f.  By  the  addition  of 
nitrous  acid  to  fugar,  we  can  feparate  its  and 
in  form  of  pure  cryjiah,  and  are  enabled  by  this 
procefs  to  fuperfaturate  fugar  with  oxygen^  and  in 
this  way  obtain  a  larger  quantity  of  it  in  a  given 
bulk,  and  in  a  loofer  bond  of  union  j  a  confidera* 
tion  of  confequence  in  a  difeafe  where  deglutition 
is  fo  difficult. 

Arjenic  is  another  remedy  which  deferves  par- 
ticularly to  be  tried.  We  are  aflured  by  the  fame 
furgeon  who  gave  the  communication  of  the 

*  Vide  I^erriar's  excellent  Hiftories  and  Reflexions, 
f  See  Cruikfhank's  excellent  account  of  the  formation  of 
fugar,  in  Dr.  Rollo's  work  on  Diabetes, 

fnake- 


152 

fnake-pill  to  Dr.  Ruffe],  that  he  tried  thefe  pills, 
whofe  efficacy  we  before  proved  to  depend  prin- 
cipally in  arfenic,  in  no  fewer  than  fourteen  difr 
ferent  perfons  bitten  by  mad  dogs,  with  perfect 
fuccefs ;  and  with  no  other  unpleafant  fymptoms 
than  purging  in  moft,  and  a  flight  vomiting  in 
a  few. 

Lunar  canjlic,  the  fpecific  againft  the  bite  of 
the  viper,  both  as  an  external  application,  and  an 
internal  remedy,  in  fuch  a  difeafe  deferves  to  be 
tried. 

Added  to  thefe,  I  would  recommend  the  iu' 
halation  of  fuperoxygenated  air.  In  a  difeafe  fo 
ftiort  in  its  fatal  termination,  every  moment  is  of 
confequence.  If  this  air  can  more  immediately 
reach  the  blood,  and  reftore  to  the  fyftem  the 
oxygen  which  is  dpftrpyed  by  the  a(Stion  of  the 
poifon,  it  will  be  one  of  the  moft  valuable  ac- 
quifitions  to  the  Materia  Medica. 

Thus  have  I  affembled  a  few  faQ:s  towards  a 
conje6lure  on  the  probable  good  effe£ls  of  oxygen  as 
the  antidote  of  this  poifon.  I  grant  that  yet  more 
fa£ls  are  wanting  to  afcertain  this  point,  which  is 
founded  upon  the  fuppofition  that  the  hydrophor 
bic  virus  enters  the  fyftem,  and  by  a  certain 
modus  operandi  on  the  blood,  creates  a  certain 
fet  of  actions,  inducing  changes,  of  which  the  ab^: 
Jlra5iion  of  oxygen  may  form  the  principle, 


^ECT, 


153 


SECT.  XXXV. 

THE  HOOPING  COUGH. 

This  difeafe,  fo  well  known  by  the  peculiar 
Cbund  of  the  cough,  incidental  to  the  human  race 
but  once,  is  a  poifon  whofe  nature  is  but  very- 
little  known.  The  clear  air  of  the  country,  is 
the  remedy  ufually  reforted  to.    The  inhalation. 
I  of  oxygen  air  was  tried  with   fuccefs  in  fome 
iinftances  by   Dr.  Thornton,  after  the  exhibi- 
1  tion  of  a  vomit.   Accident  has,  however,  brought 
Itp  light  the  power  of  arjenic  over  this  difeafe. 
'.The  white  drop,  fo  famous  for  the  cure  of  the  ague 
((which  fever  is  probably  derived  from  the  opera- 
ttiou  of  the  poifon  of  marflies,  or  marfh  miafmata) 
I  being  taken  by  children  who  laboured  under  both 
tthefediforders,  were  very  foon  recovered  from  both, 
aand  reftored  to  health  *.    The  trial,  however,  of 
tthis  mineral  muft  be  made  with  extreme  cau- 
ttion,  for  in  injudicious  hands  the  remedy  would 
the  generally  found  to  be  more  fatal  than  the  dif- 
eeafe  in  queftion. 

.- *  This  circumftance  was  related- to  the  author  by  Mr. 
Xorp,  an  emjnent  furgeon  of  Barnet. 

.1*  - 

j 


SECT. 


154 


SECT.  XXXVI, 

THE  SMALL-POX, 

A  •  <  1  .  . 

'  ■^His  is  another  poifon,  which  is  peculiar  to 
tiife  human  rac6,  and  exerts  its  influence  but  once 
in  the  body  *.  Nor  does  our  wonder  at  the  or- 
dinance of  God  ceafe  here,  (for  he  equally  ap- 
pears in  the  thunder  and  the  tempeft,  as  in  the 
ferenity  of  fpring,  which  refembles  our  ftates  of 
difeafe  and  health);  for  as  the  blood  is  converted 
into  callous  for  bones,  when  wanted,  into  mufcu- 
lar /fibre,  into  nerve,  which  is  by  the  procefs  of 
iiffimulation,  fo  the  minuted  partielea£ls  throughout 

!  *  Great  advantage  has  been  lately  taken  of  this  itriftinw 
phaeiiomeiiQn.  .  Th^e  is  a  diforder  poj  _  unfrequent  among 
cows,  called  the;C  o  w-  p  o  x,  fKom  Its  producing  puftules.  When 
the  niatter  of  tfie  Tores  about  tHe  teat  of  the  cows  Tabouring 
iirider  this  difeafe  gets  applied  to  any- part  of  the  human  body 
an  ephemeral  f?ver,  ^fter  a.  certain  pgriod,  enfues,  and.the  pa- 
tient is  ever  after  rendered  infufcefitibley  like  animals,  or  thofo 
who  have  had  the  fmall-pox,  of  tliat  dreadful  fcourge  of  hu- 
manity. The  Cow-pox,  however,  may  be  cangbt  feveral 
times.  This  diforder  had  exifted  unnoticed  by  praditioners 
for  time  immemorial,  until  the  attention  of  the  faculty  was 
called  to  it  by  Dr.  Jenne>r,  and  the  truth  of  this  circura- 
flance  put  beyond  a  queftion;  and  it  is  probable  that  the 
'  ravages  of  the  fmall-pox  will  be  in  future  prevented  by  the 
general  inoculation  of  the  Cow-pox,  as  foon  as  truth  fliall 
have  conquered  oppofition.' 

the 


^55 

^he  frame,  after  which  matter  of  a  fimilar  nature 
is  engendered  in  the  whole  body.  In  the  natural 
way  the  quantity  of  this  poifon  is  greater  than 
from  inoculation,  hence  the  advantage  of  raifing^ 
this  difeafe  artificially.  The  fecondary  fever  is 
alfo  common  to  the  natural  fmall-pox,  and  atr 
tended  with  great  danger,  from  the  abforption 
of  the  new-fgrmed  variolous  matter  and  the  throat 
is  frequently  affefted,  and  goes  into  gangrene. 
This  affection  of  the  throat,  in,  the  natural  frpall- 
,p.ox,  is  fupppfed,  by  Dr.  Darwin,  to  arife  from 
ji^ariolous  matter  imbibed  and  adhering  to  tbefe 
.parts.  On  the  contrary,  the  celebrated  Sutton 
thinks,  that  the  whole  difference  between  the 
natural  and  inoculated  fmall-pox,  arifes  from  the 
different  Hates  of  the  body  for  the  reception  of  this 
difeafe :  But  fafts  daily  contradift  this  fuppo^=- 
■tion,  where,  without  preparation,  the  inoculated 
go  through  this  difeafe  generally  well,  few^  if 
any,  dying  from  it  *. 

Vide  the  following  Sef^ions. 


SECT 


156 


I 

I 

i 

j 

SECT.  XXXVII.  ' 

.  THE  ANTIQUITY  OF  IN OC ULATION.  \ 

'  ■  'By  what  means  the  inoculation  of  the  Small- 
pox was  firft  difcovered,  or  at  what  time  and  : 
place'  it  was  'firft  ufed,  we  are  totally  ignorant.  \ 
"It  may  be  inferred^  therefore,  that  the  art  of  mocu-  ^ 
/(^/'wz,  which  is 'capable  of  faving  more  lives  than 
the  whole  Materia  Medica,  was  originally  a  for- 
tuitous difcovery  i  and  I  may  add,  that  to  the 
diflionour  of  the  medical  profeffion,  it  was  for  a 
-long  time  under  the  management  of  old  women,  and 
ignorant  perfods,  in  //as  and  many  other  countries^ 
before  it  was  patronized  and  adopted  by  the  legi- 
tmiate  pra6titioners  of  medicine. 

Inoculation  was  certainly  firft  introduced  into 
Conjlantinople  from  Georgia  * ;  but  as  this  event 
did  not  take  place  till  towards  the  end  of  the  laft 
century,  we  may  conclude,  that  had  the  art  been 
pra6tifed  for  many  ages  at  fo  fhort  a  diftance 
from  that  metropolis,  it  would  have  been  known  i 
there  much  fooner.   Befides,  in  various  countries,  \ 
very  remote  from  the  Cafpian  fea,  it  is  proved  to  > 
have  been  fin  inimemorial  ufage, 

*  It  is  generally  thought  that  the  Circaffians  firft  inoculated  0 

their  children  in  order  to  rear  them  as  flaves  for  the  Turkilh  li 

Seraglio.    Vide  page  171  in  this  volume.  j 

InocuIatioK  i 


157 

hioculation  was  introduced  mto  Loudon  as  an 
invention  wholly  foreign,  and  from  •  its  fuccefs  upon 
the  younger  branches  of  the  royal  family,  in  1722, 
became  the  fubje6l  of  public  converfation,  when, 
to  the  great  furprife  of  the  learned,  feveral  com- 
munications to  the  Royal  Society  proved  that,  it 
was  already  a  praftice  known  in  South  Waks^ 
where  it  had  exifted  under  the  denomination  of 
buying  the  fmall-pox,  as  far  back  as  tradition  could 
be  traced. — That  this  Cambrian  mode  of  buying 
the  fmall-pox  was  in  effeft  the  fame  as  the  Byzan- 
tine inoculation^  then  juft  adopted  in  England,  the 
letters  of  Dr.  Williams,  Mr.  Owen,  and  Mr, 
Wright  *,  bear  ample  teftimony.  The  laft-men- 
tioned  gentleman  writes  to  Mr.  Bevan  as  follows: 

"  I  received  yours  the  9th  inft.  and,  in  anfwer 
"  to  it,  will  readily  give  you  all  the  fatisfaftion 
"  I  can  in  relation  to  a  very  ancient  cuftom  in 
"  this  country,  commonly  called  buying  the  Jmall- 
"  pox;  w^hich,  upon  ftrift  inquiry  fince  I  had 
"  your  letter,  I  find  to  be  a  common  praEiice,  and  of 
"  a  very  long  Jlanding,  being  affured  by  perfons 
"  of  unqueftionable  veracity,  and  of  advanced 
"  age,  that  they  have  had  the  fmall-pox  com- 
"  municated  to  themfelves  in  this  way,  when 
"  about  fixteen  or  feventeen  years  of  age :  they 
"  then  being  very  capable  of  diftinguiiliing  that 

^  *  Thefe  letters  may  be  feen  in  the  Philofophical  Tranfac- 
tions  for  the  year  1 722 ;  and  in  Dr.  Jurin's  account  of  the 
fuccefs  of  Inoculation  in  1723. 

"  diflempep 


158 

"  diftemper  from  any  other,  and  that  they  have 

parted  with  the  matter  contained  in  the  puf- 
"  tales  to  others,  producing  the  fame  effe£ls. 

"  There  are'  two  large  villages  in  this  county, 
"  near  the  harbour  of  Milford,  more  famous  for 
"  this  cuftom  than  any  other,  namely.  Sr. 
"  Ishmael's  and  Marloes.  The  old  inhabi- 
"  tants  of  thefe  villages  fay,  that  it  has  been  a 
"  common  fraBice  with  them  time  out  of  mind ;  and 
"  what  was  more  remarkable,  one  W.  Allen,  of 
"  St.  Iflimael's,  ninety  years  of  age,  who  died 
"  about  fix  months  ago,  declared  to  fome  perfons 
"  of  good  fenfe  and  integrity,  that  this  praftice 

was  ufed  all  his  time,  and  that  he  got  the 
"  fmall-pox  that  ve^ay.  Thefe,  together  with 
"  many  other  informations  I  have  met  with, 
"  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  confirm  me  in 

the  belief  of  its  being  a  very  ancient  praSiice 
"  among  the  common  people ;  and  to  prove  that 
"  this  method  is  flill  continued  among  us,  I  will 
"  give  you  the  relation  of  an  elderly  woman,  a 
"  midwife  (who  accidently  came  into  company 
"  when  your  letter  was  reading,)  whofe  name  is 
"  Joan  Jones,  aged  feventy  years,  of  good  credit, 
"  and  perfeft  memory.  She  folemnly  declares, 
"  that  about  fifty-four  years  ago,  having  the 
"  fmall-pox,  one  Margaret  Brown,  then  about 
"  twelve  or  thirteen  years  of  age,  bought  the 
«  fmall-pox  of  her;  and  flie  further  fays,  that 
"  flie  has  known  this  way  of  procuring  the  fmall- 

"  pox 


159 

"  pox  praftifed  from  time  to  time  above  jifiy 
*'  yean-.,  that  it  had  been  lately  ufed  in  her  neigh- 
"  bourhood;  and  (lie  knows  but  of  dying  of 
"  the  faid  diftemper  when  communicated  aft^r 
"  the  method  aforefaid,  which  accident  hap- 
"  pened  within  thefe  two  lad  years." 

The  manner  of  inoculating ^  or  buying  the  Jmall- 
pox,  here  alluded  to,  was  not  always  the  fame, 
but  was  varied  by  different  perfons.  Dr.  Wil- 
liams fays,  "  They  either  rub  the  matter,  taken 
"  from  the  puftules  when  ripe,  on  feveral  parts 
"  of  the  Ikin  of  the  arms,  &c.  or  prick  thofe  parts 
**  with  pins,  or  the  like,  being  firfl:  infefted  with 

the  inoculating  matter."  Mr.  Owen,  and  five  of 
his  fchool-fellows,  "  fcraped  the  Ikin  w^ith  a  knife 
"  until  the  blood  began  to  flow,  before  they 
"  applied  the  variolous  pus."  Others  produced 
the  diftemper,  "  by  holding  a  certain  number 
"  of  dried  puftules  for  a  confiderable  time  in  the 
"  palm  of  the  hand." 

We  are  alfo  informed,  that  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Highlands  of  Scotland"^,  for  many  ages,  have  had 
recourfe  to  a  fpecies  of  inoculation,  performed  by 
tying  worfted  threads,  moiftened  with  variolous 
matter,  round  the  wrifts  of  their  children. 

This  vulgar  or  domeftic  cuftom  of  inoculating 
the  fmall-pox,  likewife  prevailed  in  many  other 
parts  of  Europe,  and  in  various  countries  of  Afa 
and  Africa ;  and,  what  is  highly  curious,  In  feveral 
of  thefe  diftant  nations,  the  pra61ice  was,  as  in 

*  See  Monro  on  Inoculation  in  Scotland. 

Wales, 


i6o  , 

Wales,  termed  buying  the  small-pox.  For 
it  was  fuperftitioufly  imagined,  that  inoculation 
would  not  produce  the  proper  effect  unlefs  the 
perfon,  from  whom  the  variolous  matter  was 
taken,  received  a  piece  of  money,  or  fome  other 
article  in  exchange  for  it,  from  thofe  whom  it 
was  intended  to  infect. 

At  Naples,  Monf.  de  la  Condamine,  in  1769, 
learned  that  inoculation  had  been  fecretly  ufed 
by  the  people  there  from  time  immemorial:  and 
the  celebrated  P.  Bofcowich  affured  him  it  was 
pra£tifed  in  the  farne  manner  at  Pavia,  where 
the  nurfes  often  inoculated,  without  the  parents 
knowledge,  the  infants  entrufted  to  their  care. 
For  this  purpofe  they  commonly  rubbed  the  palm 
of  the  hand  of  the  child  with  fluid  variolous  mat- 
ter, recently  taken  from  a  puftule. 

The  praftice  of  buying  or  inoculating  the  fmall- 
pox  prevailed  alfo  in  fome  of  the  provinces  of  France, 
efpecially  in  Auvergne  and  in  Perigord ;  and  ftill 
more  generally  among  the  ignorant  peafantry  in 
many  parts  of  Germany  *,  Denmark,  and  Sweden  f . 

In 

*  See  Condamine,  /,  c.  He  alfo  fays,  Ce  n'eft  pas  feule- 
ment  dans  le  Duche  de  Cleves  &  dans  le  comte  de  Moeurs,  ou 
le  Dofteur  Schwenke  trouva  cet  iifage  ctabli  en  1713:  il  y  a 
pres  d'un  fiecle  qu'on  le  connoiflbit  en  Dannemarck,  puifque 
Bartolin  en  fait  mention  dans  une  lettre  fur  la  ti'anfplantatioii 
des  maladies,  imprimee  a  Copenhague  en  1637. 

Le  Dofteur  Carburi,  premiere  profeffeur  de  medicine  en 
I'univerfite  de  Turin,  natif  de  Ceplialonie,  m'a  dit  en  1756, 
que  I'inoculation  ctoit  en  ufagedans  cette  Ifle  avant  I'an  1537. 

f  See  Profeflbr  Murray's  Hijioria  infitionis  variolarum  in 


i6i 

In  tlie  northern  parts  of  Europe  this  practice 
feems  to  have  been  lefs  complete  *  than  that 
adopted  on  the  fouthern  and  eaftern  coafts  of  the 
Mediterranean  Sea.  For  in  Barbary  and  in  the 
Levant,  though  they  placed  implicit  confidence 
in  the  efficacy  of  buying  or  purchafing  the  vario- 
lous puftules  \  yet  their  method  of  performing  the 
operation  v^^as  fuch  as  could  not  fail  of  producing 
the  inoculated  fmall-pox.  The  infeElious  matter 
was  injerted  at  a  Jmall  opening  made  in  the  fieJJiy  part 
of  the  hand,  between  the  thumb  and  fore-jinger ;  and, 
according  to  Dr.  Shaw,  "  the  perfon  who  is  to 
"  undergo  the  operation,  receives  the  infeftion 
"  from  fome  friend  or  neighbour,  who  has  a 
"  favourable  kind,  and  who  is  entreated  to  fe// 
*'  two  or  three  of  his  pudules,  for  the  fame  num- 
"  ber  of  nuts,  comfits,  or  fuch  like  trifles." 

This  account  of  inoculation  differs  not  mate- 
rially from  that  praftifed  in  the  kingdoms  of 
Tripoli,  Tunis,  and  Algier,  as  related  by  his  excel- 
lency Caflim  Aga,  in  1728  when  ambafi^ador  to 
our  court.  He  fays,  "  If  any  one  has  a  mind  to 
"  have  his  children  inoculated,  he  carries  them 

Suecia^  p.  96.  Sckultz's  Account  of  Inoculation^  65.  Ejihem. 
Germ.  An.  2.  A.  D.  1671.  Obf.  165.  Alfo  An.  8.  Anm  iSyy. 
0^15.    Werlhof  Di/q.  de  variolis  et  anthyaciius, /i: 

*  Vide  Roeder.  Dijf.  utrum  natiiralibus puejlent  variola  artifi- 
ciales^  Jt.  34. 

t  See  Scheuchzer's  Account  of  the  Succefs  of  inoculating 
the  Small-pox  in  Great  Britain,  for  tlje  years  t-jzy  and  1728, 
p.  61.  ' 

Vol.  IV.  M  « to 


16.  ^ 

"  to  one  that  lies  ill  of  the  fmall-pox,  at  the  time  ' 
"  when  the  puftules  are  come  to  full  maturity.  I 
"  Then  the  father  makes  an  incifion  on  the  ' 
"  back  of  the  hand,  between  the  thumb  and  i 
"  fore-finger,  and  puts  a  little  of  the  matter, 
"  fqucezed  out  of  the  largeft  and  fulleft  puftules,  j 
"  into  the  wound.    This  done,  the  child's  hand 
"  is  wrapped  up  in  a  handkerchief,  to  keep  it  j 
"  from  the  air,  and  he  is  left  to  his  liberty,  till 
"  the  fever  arifmg  confines  him  to  his  bed,  which  ] 
"  commonly  happens  at  the  end  of  a  few  days. 
"  This  pra6tice  is  fo  innocent,  and  fo  fure,  that 
"  out  of  ICO  perfons  inoculated  not  tzvo  die  j  ; 
"  whereas,  on  the  contrary,  out  of  loo  perfons 
"  that  are  infe£led  with  the  natural  fmall-pox, 
"  there  die  commonly  about  t/iirfj.  Inoculation 
"  is  fo  ancient  in  the  kingdoms  of  Tripoli,  Tunisy 
"  and  A/gier,thsLt  nobody  remembers  its  firftrife  ; 
"  and  it  is  not  only  praftifed  by  the  inhabitants 
"  of  the  towns,.-but  alfo  by  the  wi/d  Arabs." 

That  this  praftice  is  very  common  with  the 
Arabs,  and  is  by  them  alfo  called  buying  the Jmall-  | 
pOA',  fully  ajjpears  from  Dr.  Rufiell's  communica-  i 
tion  to  the  Royal  Society*.  About  the  year  i 
1758,  while  this  ingenious  phyfician- was  on  a  ;i 
vifit  at  a  Turkifh  Harem,  a  lady  happened  to  :^ 
cxprefs  much  anxiety  fof  an  only  child  who  had  \ 
nc^t  had  the  fmall-pox  j  the  diftemper  at  that  ,lj 

*  An  Account  of  Inoculation  in  Arabia,  in  a  ktter  from  ;f| 
Br.  Patrick  Rufiell.    Phil.  Tranf.  vol.  56.  p.  140.  .  ij 

time  I 


i63 

time  being  frequent  in  the  city.    None  of  the 
ladies  in  the  company  had  ever  heard  of  inocula- 
tion,  fo  that  the  Do6lor  having  once  mentioned 
it,  \\'as  obliged  to  enter  into  a  detail  df  the  ope- 
ration, and  the  peculiar  advantages  attending  it. 
Among  the  female  fervants  in  the  chamber,  was 
an  old  Bedouin  Arab,  who  having  heard  the 
Do£lor  with  great  attention,  afTured  the  ladies, 
"  that  the  account  given  by  the  Do£tor  was 
"  upon  the  whole  a  juft  one  j  only  that  he  did 
"  not  feem  well  to  underftand  the  way  of  per- 
"  forming   the  operation,  which  flie  aflerted 
"  fliould  not  be  done  with  a  lancet  but  with  a 
"  needle  * :"  fhe  added,  "  that  fhe  herfelf  had 
"  received  the  difeafe  in  that  manner  when  a 
"  child,  and  had  inoculated  many ;  that  the  whole 
"  art  was  well  known  to  the  Arabs,  and  that 
"  they  termed  it  buying  the  fmall-pox.'"    In  con- 
fequence  of  this  hint.  Dr.  RufTell  made  further 
inquiries,  by  which  he  difcovered,      that  inocu- 
"  lation  had  been  of  long  {landing  among  them. 
"  They,  indeed,  did  not  pretend  to  affign  any 
"  period  to  its  origin ;  but  perfons  feventy  years 
"  old  and  upwards,  remembered  to  have  heard 
it  fpoken  of  as  a  common  cujiom  of  their  ancef- 
"  tors,  and  they  believed  it  to  be  of  as  ancient  a 
**  date  as  the  difeafe  itfelf." 

*  Niebuhr  has  fince  told  us^  that  the  Bedou'm  women  inocu-' 
late  their  children,  "  avec  ime  epine,  faute  de  meilleur  rnftru- 

M  9  Df, 


164 


Dr.  Ruffell  was  likewife  affured,  "  that  inocii- 
"  latlon  was  equally  common  among  the  eajlern 
"  Arabs,  being  pra£lifed  not  only  at  Bagdad  and 
"  Moful,  but  alio  at  Bajfora ;  and  that  at  Moful 
particularly,  when  the  fmall-pox  firft  appeared 
"  in  any  diftrict  of  the  city,  it  was  a  cuftom  fome- 
"  times  to  give  notice  by  a  public  cryer,  in  order 
"  that  thofe  who  were  fo  inclined  might  take  the 
"  opportunity  to  have  their  children  inoculated." 

"  In  Armenia:'  Dr.  Ruffell  fays,  "  the  Turko- 
"  man  tribes,  as  well  as  the  Armenian  Chriftians, 
"  have  prattifed  inoculation  Jince  the  memory  of 
"  man ;  but,  like  the  Arabs,  are  able  to  give  no 
"  account  of  its  firjl  introdudion  among  them. 
"  At  Damafciis,  and  all  along  the  coaft  of  Syria 
"  and  Palejiine,  inoculation  has  been  long  known. 
"  In  the  Cajiravan  mountains  it  is  adopted  by  the 
"  Druli  as  well  as  the  Chriftians.  Whether  the 
"  Arabs  of  the  defert  to  tlie  fouth  of  Damafcus, 
"  are  acquainted  with  this  manner  of  commu- 
"  nicating  the  fmall-pox,  I  have  not,"  fays  thii? 
phyfician,  "  hitherto  been  able  to  learn ;  but  a 
"  native  of  Mecca,  whom  I  had  occalion  to  con- 
verfe  with,  alTured  me  that  he  himfelf  had  been 
"  inoculated  in  that  city." 

From,  the  various  accounts  ot  inoculation  here 
related,  it  is  highly  curious  that  in  fo  many  dijiant 
nations,  differing  widely  in  manners,  cuftoms, 
laws,  habits,  and  religion,  this  art  fhould  be 
generally  known  by  the  name  of  "  buyinh  the 

"  SMALL- 


165 


**  SMALL-POX.'^  It  is  alfo  to  be  confidercd  as  a 
remarkable  proof  of  its  great  antiquity,  that  the 
Icfs  civilized  part  of  mankind,  or  people  of  the 
moft  fimple  and  uniform  habits,  have  retained  this 
euftom  the  longeft. 

Having  before  related  Caffim  Aga's  account 
of  inoculatiofl  'in  Tripoli,  Tunis,  and  Algiers,  I 
tliink  it  proper  to  add,  that  there  are  likewife 
proofs  of  its  long  ufage  in  Senegal ;  and  that  the 
negr'oes  in  the  interior  parts  of  Africa,  whenever 
the  fmall-pox  threatens  to  invade  them,  have  re- 
courfe  to  inoculation,  performing  the  operation  in 
the  arm,  and  obliging  the  patients  to  abftain  from 
animal  food,  and  fufferlng  them  to  drink  nothing 
but  water,  acidulated  W'ith  the  juice  of 

LIMES  *. 

In  Hindojlan  this  pra61ice  fliould  feem  to  be  a 
more  ancient  cufiom  than  in  China ;  for  D'Entre- 
colles,  by  obtaining  accefs  to  feveral  medical 
books  at  Pekin,  difcovered  that  one  of  them  gave 
fome  account  of  the  introduftion  of  inoculation 
into  China,  and  ftated  that  in  this  empire  it  had 
lirft  to  encounter  ftrong  oppofition.  The  author 
of  the  book  here  alluded  to,  lived  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  dynafty  of  Ming ;  hence  it  may  be 
concluded,  that  inoculation  in  China  has  not  yet 

*  See  the  Letter  of  C.  Golden,  Efq.  to  Dr.  J.  Fothergill  in 
Med.  Obf.  and  Inq.  vol.  i.  p.  227.  Alfo  the  "  Narrative  of 
'*  the  Method  of  Succefs  of  Inoculation  in  New  England,"  by 
D.  Neal,  p.  34. 

been 


^66 

been  praftifed  two  hundred  years  *  ;  whereas,  in 
Hindojtan,  from  tradition,  it  feems  to  have  been 
an  immemorial  cuftom  j  and  the  methods  of  prac- 
tifmg  this  art  by  the  Chinefe  and  Hindoos  are  fo 
widely  different  as  clearly  to  fhew  that  they  could 
not  be  derived  from  the  fame  origin. 
J  The  ChimJSi  in  order  to  inoculate,  take  from 
two  to  four  dried  variolous  puftules  or  fcales 
(according  to  their  fize),  between  which  they 
place  a  fmall  portion  of  mulk  j  the  whole  is  then 
wrapped  up  in  cotton,  and  inferted  within  the 
noftril  of  the  patient.  If  the  child  undergoing 
the  operation  be  a  male,  this  infjeftipus  tent  is 
introduced  into  the  left,  but  if  a  girl,  into  the 
right  noftril.  The  fcales,  thus  ufed,  are  to  be 
kept  in  a  clofe  jar  for  feveral  years.  When  the 
Chinefe  are  obliged  to  ufe  recent  puftules,  they 
think  it  neceffary  to  correft  the  acrimony  of  the 
matter,  by  expofmg  it  to  the  fteam  of  an  infufion 
of  the  roots  of  fcorzonera  and  liquorice.  They  fome- 
times  reduce  the  dried  fcales  into  powder,  and  forn> 
jthem  into  a  pafte,  for  the  purpofe  of  inoculation. 

On  the  contrary,  inoculation,  as  pra£tifed  in 
Hindojlan  by  the  Bramins,  very  rarely  fails  of  pro- 
ducing the  diftemper  in  the  moft  favourable  way : 
I  lhall  therefore  circumftantially  relate  the  whole 
procefs  in  the  words  of  Mr,  Holwell  f-   "  Inocur 

*  D'Entrecolles,  1.  c.  p.  10. 

f  Sec  An  Account  of  the  Manner  of  imculi^tw^  the  Small'Jtox 
in  the  Eaji  Indies. 

"  lation 


16/ 

"  lation  is  performed  in  Hindoftan  by  a  particU'- 
lar  tribe  of  Bramins,  who  are  delegated  annu- 
ally  for  this  fervice  from  the  different  colleges 
"  of  Bindoobund,  Eleabas,  Banaras,  &c.  over 
"  all  the  diftant  provinces  i  dividing  themfelves 
"  into  fmall  parties  of  three  or  four  each ;  they 
"  plan  their  travelling  circuits  in  fuch  w^ife  as  to 
"  arrive  at  the  places  of  their  refpeftive  deflina- 
"  tion  fome  weeks  before  the  ufual  return  of  the 
"  difeafe ;  they  arrive  commonly  in  the  Bengal 
"  provinces  early  in  February  ;  although,  in  fome 
"  years,  they  do  not  begin  to  inoculate  before 
"  March,  deferring  it  until  they  confider  the  ftate 
**  of  the  feafon,  and  acquire  information  of  the 
"  ftate  of  the  diftemper.     The  inhabitants  of 
"  Bengal,  knowing  the  ufual  time  when  the 
"  inoculating  Bramins  annually  return,  obferve 
"  ftritily  the  regimen  enjoined ;  this  preparation 
confifts  only  in  abftaining  for  a  month  from 
"  fifh,  milk,  and  gee  (a  kind  of  butter  made 
"  generally  of  buffalo's  milk :)  the  prohibition 
"  of  fifli  refpe£ts  only  the  native  Portuguefe  and 
"  Mahomedans,  who  abound  in  every  province 
"  of  the  empire.    When  the  Bramins  begin  to 
"  inoculate,  they  pafs  from  houfe  to  houfe,  and 
"  operate  at  the  door,  refufmg  to  inoculate  any 
"  who  have  not,  on  a  ftrift  fcrutiny,  duly  ob- 
"  ferved  the  preparatory  courfe  enjoified  them. 
"  They  inoculate  indiflferently  on  any  part  j  but 
"  if  left  to  tfieir  choice,  they  prefer  the  outfide 

"  of 


i68 


of  the  arm,  midway  between  the  wrift  and  the 
"  elbow,  and  the  flioulders  for  the  females. 
"  Previous  to  the  operation,  the  operator  takes  a 
"  piece  of  cloth  in  his  hand,  and  with  it  gives  a 
**  /'Vi^^^f^  'tipon  the  part  intended  for  inocula- 
"  tion,  for  the  fpace  of  eight  or  ten  minutes*  ; 
"  then,  with  a  fmall  inftrument  he  wounds,  by 
"  many  flight  touches,  about  the  compafs  of  a 
"  filver  groat,  juft  making  the  fmall  appearance 
"  of  blood ;  then  opening  a  linen  double  rag 
"  (which  he  always  keeps  in  a  cloth  round  his 
"  waifl:,)  takes  from  thence  a  fmall  pledget  of 
"  cotton,  charged  with  the  variolous  matter, 
"  which  he  moiftens  with  two  or  three  drops  of 
"  the  Ganges  water,  and  applies  it  to  the  wound, 
"  fixing  it  on  with  a  flight  bandage,  and  order- 
"  ing  it  to  remain  on  for  fix  hours  without  being 
"  moved ;  then  the  bandage  to  be  taken  off,  and 
*■  the  pledget  to  remain  until  it  falls  off  itfelf. 

The  cotton,  which  he  preferves  in  a  double 
"  callico  rag,  is  faturated  with  matter  from  the 
"  inoculated  puftules  of  the  preceding  yearj 
"  for  they  never  inoculate  with  frefli  matter,  nor 
"  with  matter  from  the  difcafe  caught  in  the 
*'  natural  Way  f,  however  diftin£t  and  mild  the 
*'  fpecies.  Early  in  the  morning  fucceeding  the 
"  operation,  four  collons  (an  earthen  pot  con- 

*  This  promotes  abforption. 

I  Is  this  a  popular  prejudice,  or  is  there  any  truth  in  the  dif- 
ference of  matter  ?  It  is  generally  fuppofed  here  that  frefli  mat- 
ter produces  the  mildeft  difeafe. 

"  tainingf 


169 


taining  about  two  gallons)  of  cold  watery  are 
"  ordered  to  be  thrown  over  the  patient  from 

the  head  downwards,  and  to  be  repeated  every 
"  niorning  and  evening  until  the  fever  comes  on, 
"  which  ufually  is  about  the  clofe  of  the  fixth 

day  from  the  inoculation ;  then  to  defift  until 
"  the  appearance  of  the  eruption  (about .  three 
"  days,)  and  then  to  purfue  the  cold  bathing*^ 
"  as  before,  through  the  courfe  of  the  difeafe, 
"  and  until  the  fcabs  of  the  puftules  drop  off. 
"  They  are  ordered  to  open  all  the  puftules  with 
"  a  fine  fliarp  pointed  thorn  as  foon  as  they 
"  begin  to  change  their  colour,  and  whilft  the 

matter  continues  in  a  fluid  Hate  f.  Confine- 

ment  to  the  houfe  is  ahjolutely  forbid^  and  the 
"  inoculated  are  ordered  to  be  expofed  to  every  air  that 

blows  J,  and  when  the  fever  comes  on,  to  be  laid 

upon  a  mat  at  the  door  j  but  in  faft  the  eruptive 
"  fever  is  generally  fo  inconfiderable  and  trifling 
"  as  very  feldom  to  require  this  laft  order.  Their 
"  regimen  is  ordered  to  confift  of  all  the  refri- 

gerating  things  the  climate  and  feafon  pro- 
"  duces,  as  plaintains,  fugar-canes,  water-melons, 

rice,  gruel  made  of  white  poppy  feeds,  and 

*  This  praftice  has  been  lately  introduced  in  the  putrid 
fever  by  Dr.  Currie  of  Liverpool,  and  the  rationale  of  its  opera- 
tion will  be  therefore  exarqined  in  another  place. 

f  This  is  an  excellent  praftice,  and  greatly  affifts  nature. 

X  This  is  the  late  well-known  improvement  introduced  by 
the  Sutton's  in  this  country.  Its  rationale  will  be  afterwards 
explained  when  confidering  his  praftice. 

"  cold 


I/O 

"  cold  water,  or  thin  rice  gruel,  for  their  ordinary 
*'  drink.  Thefe  inflruclions  being  given,  and 
"  an  injunftion  laid  on  the  patients  to  make  a 
"  thankfgiving  poojahy  or  offering,  to  the  goddefs  : 
"  on  their  recovery,  the  operator  takes  his  fee, 
"  which  from  the  poor  is  a  pund  of  cowries,  equal 
"  to  about  one  penny  fterling,  and  goes  on  to 
"  another  door,  down  one  fide  of  the  ftreet,  and 
"  up  on  the  other,  and  is  thus  employed  from 
"  morning  till  night,  inoculating  fometimes  eight 
or  ten  in  a  houfe." 

This,  and  indeed  all  the  preceding  accounts  of 
imcidationy  as  anciently  praSiifed  in  different  countries , 
were  not  known  in  London  till  after  this  art  had  been 
regularly  adopted  in  England*. 

*  The  above  account  is  extrafted  from  The  Hiftory  of 
Inoculation,  by  Dr.  Woodville,  phyfician  to  the  Small  Pox 
Hofpital,  a  work  which  reflefts  the  higheft  honour  on  the 
author  for  his  great  candour  and  able  refearches. 

•r  • 


SECT. 


SECT.  XXXVIII. 


ON  THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  INOCULATION  IN 

ENGLAND. 

It  is  a  well  known  fa£l,  although  it  muft  flag- 
cer  the  belief  of  moft  fathers  and  mothers,  that 
there  exifts  a  clafs  of  people  in  Georgia,  who  re- 
gularly train  up  their  daughters  for  fale  and  prof- 
titution.  Forming  the  /peculation,  if  their  child 
has  a  fine  form,  and  fair  complexion,  they  edur 
cate  her  for  the  market  j  but  frequently,  when 
they  had  expended  much  money,  they  were  dif- 
appointed  in  their  fordid  views  by  the  attack  of 
the  fmall-pox,  when  all  the  education  received  was 
then  thrown  away.  Such  were  the  confiderations 
which  firft  induced  the  natives  of  Georgia  to 
inoculate,  and  the  firft  intimation  of  this  praftice 
was  derived  to  the  Turks  by  the  fair  Circaffians, 
as  thefe  flaveswere  called. 

But  it  was  immediately  from  Conjlantinople  that 
the  Englifli  firft  derived  a  competent  knowledge 
of  the  advantages  of  inoculation;  and  to  fhew  in 
what  fliape,  and  what  grounds,  the  pra6tice  of  it 
came  originally  recommended  to  this  country,  I 
fliall  tranfcribe  a  letter  written  by  Lady  Mary 
WoRTLEY  Montague: 

"  The  Small-pox,"  fays  this  lady  in  her  natural 
eafy  ftylc,  "  which  is  fo  fatal  and  fo  general 

"  amongft 


172 

"  aniongft  us,  it  here  entirely  liarmlefs,  by  the 
"  invention  of  ingrafting,  which  is  the  term  they 
"  give  it.  There' is  a  fet  of  old  women  who  make 
"  it  their  bufmefs  to  perform  the  operation  every 
"  autumn  here,  in  the  month  of  September. 
*'  When  the  great  heat  is  abated,  people  fend  to 
*^  one  another  to  know  if  any  of  their  family  has  a 
"  mind  to  have  the  Small-pox ;  they  make  parties 
"  for  this  purpofe,  and  when  they  are  met  (com- 
"  monly  fifteen  or  fixteen  together,)  the  old  woman 
"  comes  with  a  nut-fhell-full  of  the  matter  of  the 

beft  fort  of  Small-pox,  and  aiks  where  they  pleafe 
"  to  be  inoculated.  She  immediately  pierces  that 
**  you  offer  to  her  with  a  large  needle  (which 
"  gives  you  no  more  pain  than  a  common  fcratch) 
*'  and  puts  into  the  part  as  much  matter  as  can 
"  lie  upon  the  head  of  her  needle,  and  after  that 

binds  up  the  little  wound  with  a  hollow  bit  of 
"  fliell ;  and  in  this  manner  makes  four  or  five  in- 
"  cifions.    The  Grecians  have  commonly  the  fu- 

perftition  of  making  a  fcratch  in  the  middle  of 
"  the  forehead,  one  in  each  arm,  and  one  in  the 
"  breaft,  to  make  the  fign  of  the  crofs;  but  this 

has  no  very  ill  effecl,  all  thofe  wounds  feldom 
"  leaving  fears,  and  is  not  done  by  thofe  who 
*'  are  not  fuperftitious,  who  choofe  to  have  them 

in  the  leg  or  that  part  of  the  arm  that  is 

concealed.  The  children,  or  young  patients, 
"  play  together  all  the  reft  of  the  day,  and  are  in 
<'  perfect  health  to  the  eighth.    Then  the  fever 

"  begins 


173 

begins  to  feize  fbem,  and  they  keep  their  beds 
"  two  days,  very  feldom  three.  They  have  very 
«  rarely  above  twenty  or  thirty  in  their  faces, 
«  which  never  mark,  and  in  eight  days,  time  they 
«  are  as  well  as  before  their  illnefs.  Every  year 
"  thoiifands  undergo  this  operation ;  and  the  French 
"  ambaffador  fays,  pleafantly,  that  they  take  the 
•*  Small-pox  here  by  way  of  diverfion.  There  is  no 
"  example  of  any  one  that  has  died  in  it ;  and  yon 
"  may  believe  1  am  well  fatisjied  of  the  fafety  of  this 
"  experiment,  fince  I  intend  to  try  it  on  my  dear  little 
"  fon.  I  am  patriot  enough  to  take  pains  to  bring  this 
"  lifeful  invention  into  faJJiion  in  England;  and  I 
"  Jliould  not  fail  to  write  to  fome  of  our  doctors  very 
"  particularly  about  it,  if  I  knew  any  of  them  that  I 
"  thought  had  virtue  enough  in  them  to  deftroy  fuch  a 
*'  confider able  branch  of  their  revenue,  for  the  good  of 

mankind. — Perhaps,  if  I  live  to  return,  I  may, 
"  however,  have  courage  to  war  with  them^ 

This  communication,  dating  the  advantages  of 
inoculation  upon  indubitable  authority,  as  well  as 
fimilar  accounts  of  the  fuccefs  of  this  new  practice, 
orally  given  by  merchants  and  others,  who,  from 
bufinefs  or  pleafure  had  vifited  the  Ottoman  me- 
tropolis, could  not  fail  greatly  to  intereft  many  i^ 
this  couritry.  Indeed,  any  fcheme  njuch  lefs 
plaufible  than  the  prefent,  which  promifed  to  dif- 
arm  of  its  terrors  fo  univerfal  and  dellruftive  a 
diftcmper  as  the  Small-pox,  muft  have  had  a 
ftrong  claim  to  the  attention  and  patronage  of 

any 


174 

any  nation.  Among  the  Englifli,  therefore,  whofe 
fondnefs  for  novelties  is  proverbial,  it  is  fomewhat 

furprijing  that  inoculation  was  not  attempted  before  the 

year  1721. 

Mr.  Mait LAND,  Surgeon  to  the  Honourable 
Wortl-ey  Montague  in  his  diplomatic  character  at 
the  Ottoman  court,  informs  us,  that  the  ambafla- 
dor's  lady,  being  convinced  of  the  advantages  of 
inoculation,  was  determined  that  her  only  fon, 
then  fix  years  of  age,  fliould  undergo  the  opera- 
tion.   For  this  purpofe  flie  delired  Mr.  Maitland 
to  procure  the  variolous  matter  from  a  proper 
fubje6t,  which  being  done,  an  old  Greek  woman, 
manv  years  in  the  conftant  habit  of  inoculating, 
was  employed  to  infert  it.    "  But,"  fays  Mr.  M. 
"  the  good  woman  went  to  work  fo  aukv/ardly, 
and  by  the  fliaking  of  her  hand  put  the  child 
"  to  fo  much  torture  with  her  blunt  and  rufty 
"  needle,  that  I  pitied  his  cries,  and  therefore 
**  inoculated  the  other  arm  with  my  own  inftru- 
"  ment,  and  with  fo  little  pain  to  him,  that  he 
"  did  not  in  the  leaft  complain  of  it*/'  The  con- 
fequent  difeafe  was  very  mild,  there  being  only 
about  fifty  puftules;  and  it  may  be  remarked, 
that  this  inoculation,  which  was  performed  at 
Pera,  near  Gonftantinople,  in  the  month  of  March, 
1717  (if  the  mode  of  buying  the  Small-pox  be 

*  Mr.  Maitland's  Account  of  Inoculating  the  Small-pox, 
page  7- 

excepted) 


175 

excepted)  was  the  firft  ever  pra£lifed  upon  any 
EngliJJi  fubjea. 

Having  now  ftated  all  the  principal  fa£ls  which 
immediately  led  to  the  eftablifliment  of  the  By- 
zantine method  of  praftice  in  this  country,  I  pro- 
ceed to  relate  the  progrefs  of  Inoculation  under 
the  conduft  of  men  educated  in  the  medical  pro- 
feflion. 

Inoculation  of  the  Small-pox  was  firft  regularly 
adopted  in  England  in  the  month  of  April,  1721; 
and  it  was  owing  to  the  enlightened  and  philofo- 
phic  mind  of  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montague,  that 
Great  Britain  had  the  honour  of  adopting  this 
praflice  the  firft  among  the  nations  of  Europe. 
For  after  this  celebrated  lady  had  witneffed  the 
good  efFetls  of  inoculation  upon  her  fon  at  Pera, 
die  determined  alfo  to  try  it  upon  her  daughter*, 
then  an  infant  of  three  months  old.  The  parti- 
culars of  the  cafe  are  ftated  by  Mr.  Maitland  in  the 
following  manner; — This  noble  lady  fent  for 
"  me  laft  April,  and  when  I  came,  (he  told  me  llie 
"  was  now  refolved  to  have  her  daughter  inocu- 
"  lated,  and  defired  me  to  find  otit  matter  for 
"  that  purpofe.  I  pleaded  for  the  delay  of  a  week 
"  or  two,  the  weather  being  then  cold  and  "wef ; 
"  for  indeed  I  was  unwilling  to  venture  mt  aii 
'*  experiment  altogether  new  a«4  uncoriin>oh  iil 

*  She  was  afterwards  married  to  the'Earfo^  feute  in^ig-^, 
and  died  in  her  77th  year,  November  5th,  iV94- 


1 


ij6 

"  England,  in  a  cold  feafon:  though  I  am  now 
"  convinced  it  may  with  due  care  be  pra£lifed  at 

all  times  and  feafons,  but  (till  with  more  fafety 
"  in  the  temperate  and  favourable.  I  alfo  pray'd, 
"  that  any  two  phyficians,  whom  they  thought 
"  fit,  might  be  called  in,  not  only  to  confuit  the 
"  health  and  fafety  of  the  child,  but  likewife  to 
"  be  eye-witnefles  of  the  practice,  and  contribute 
"  to  the  credit  and  reputation  of  it.  In  the 
"  meantime,  having  found  proper  matter,  I  en- 
"  grafted  it  in  both  arms;  the  child  was  neither 
"  blooded  nor  purged  before,  nor  indeed  was  it 
"  neceflary,  confidering  the  very  cool  regular 
"  diet  (he  had  ever  been  kept  to  from  her  infan- 
*'  cy.  She  continued  eafy  and  well,  without  any 
"  fenfible  alteration,  bating  the  ufual  little  fpots 
"  and  flufliings,  till  the  tenth  night,  when  flie  was 
"  obferved  to  be  a  little  hot  and  feverifli.  An 
"  old  apothecary  in  the  neighbourhood  being 
"  then  called,  prudently  advifed  not  to  give  the 
**  child  any  medicine,  affuring  them  there  was 
"  no  danger,  and  that  the  heat  would  quickly 
**  abate,  which  accordingly  it  did ;  and  the  Small- 
"  pox  began  to  appear  the  next  morning.  Three 

learned  phyficians  of  the  College  were  admit- 
"  ted,  one  after  another,  to  vifit  the  young  lady; 
"  they  are  all  gentlemen  of  honour,  and  will,  on 
"  all  occafions  declare,  as  they  have  hitherto 
**  done,  iha!  they  faw  Mifs  Worthy  playing  about 
"  the  roomy  cheerful  and  well^  with  the  Small-pox 

"  raifed 


177 

"  raijecl  upon  her;  and  that  in  a  fezv  days  after  JJie 
"  -perfeElly  recovered  of  them.  Several  ladies  and 
"  other  perfons  of  diftindiion,  vilited  alfo  this 
"  voung  patient,  and  can  atteft  the  truth  of  this 
"  faa.'' 

The  very  favourable  event  of  this  firft  trial  of 
the  Byzantine  mode  of  inoculation  in  Britain, 
and  alfo  that  of  a  fecond  made  on  the  fon  of  Dr. 
Keith*,  which  immediately  followed,  was  foon 
generally  known  in  London,  and  confequently 
communicated  to  the  different  parts  of  the  king- 
dom. For  an  art  Jd  new  and  interejling  to  the  pub- 
lic, could  not  fail  to  excite  the  attention  of  people  of  all 
ranks,  and  more  ef/iecially  thoje  of  the  medical  profef- 
fion,  on  zvhofe  concurrent  opinions  the  efiablijiment  of 
this  foreign  pra^lice  here  was  ultimately  to  depend. 

However,  though  thefe  profperous  inftances  of 
inoculation  had  hitherto  confirmed  the  reports  of 
its  fuccefs  at  Confiantinople;  and  though  the 
praftice  had  been  introduced  among  the  Englifh 
by  a  woman  who,  from  her  brilliant  accomplifh- 
ments,  mafculine  underftanding,  and  great  in- 
fluence in  the  fafhionable  circles,  was,  above  all 

*  See  Sir  Hans  Sloane's  MSS.  preferved  in  the  Brltifli 
Mufeum. — Alfo  Dr.  Douglafs's  Eflay  on  the  Small-pox,  p.  67. 

Mr.  Maitland  does  not  mention  the  name;  but  fays,  on  the 
nth  May  he  inoculated  the  fon  of  one  of  the  learned  phyfi- 
cians  who  vifited  Mifs  Wortley.  Condamine  Rirkpatrick, 
and  fucceeding  writers,  have  fallen  into  the  miftake  of  dating 
Sir  John  Shad  well's  fon  as  the  fecond  perfon  inoculated  by 
Mr.  M. 

Vol.  IV.  N  others. 


others,  moft  likely  to  be  followed  as  an  example  i 
in  the  metropolis;  yet  this  valuable  art  was  Hill 
regarded  with  a  fufpicious  cautioDj  and  feveral 
months  elapfed  before  a  third  trial  of  it  was  made  ' 
in  London. 

Even  foiir  nionths  after  the  inoculation  of  Mifs  ' 
Wortley,  this  praftice  vvas  ftill  viewed  in  fuch  a  j 
dubious  light,  that  it  was  determined  that  feveral  | 
culprits,  then  in  Newgate,  who  had  forfeited  j 
their  lives  to  the  laws  of  their  country,  fhould,  on  j 
fubmitting  to  be  inoculated,  receive  full  pardon 
by  th€  royal  prerogative:  a  propofition  which  is 
faid  by  fome  to  have  been  fuggefted  by  the  Col- 
lege of  Phyficians  to  their  Royal  Highnefles  the 
Prince  and  Princefs  of  Wales;  but  Sir  Hans 
Sloane  Hates  'it  to  have  wholly  originated  with 
the  Princefs  of  Wales.    Mr.  Maitland  was  accor- 
dingly requefted  to  perform  the  operation,  which 
he  declined;  but  left  the  opportunity  fliould  be 
loft,  Sir  Hans  wrote  to  Dr.  Terry,  at  Enfield, 
wha  had  praftifed  phyfic  in  Turkey,  to  know  his 
opinion  concerning  inoculation.    The  Do£tor  re- 
plied, that  he  had  feen  the  pradtice  there  among 
the  Greeks  encouraged  by  the  patriarchs,  and 
that  not  one  \w  eight  hundred  had  died  in  confe- 
quence  of  the  operation.    Upon  which  inocula- 
,  tion  was  performed  upon  the  following  fix  crimi-  i 
nals  at  Newgate,  on-  the  ninth  day  o-f  Auguft„  i 
1721,  in  the  prefence  of  feveral  eminent  phyfi-  j 
cians  and  furgeons.  •  j 

Mary  [j 

'i 

■ 


Mary  North  ......  36  years  oU 

Anti  ToMPioN    .....  25 

Elizabeth  Harris oN  .  .  19 
Joh'n'GAWTflERV  .  .  1  i  25 
John  Alcock  20 
Richard  Evans  19 

All  thefe'^jc,  who  w^re  inoculated  by  rtiakirt^ 
incifions  in  both  arms,  and  on  the  right  leg,  ob- 
tained a  remiflion  of  the  fentence  of  the  law  on 
very  eafy  terms  j  for  in  Alc^ock,  oti  whom'  the:' 
operation  produced  the  greateft  crop  of  puftules^' 
the  number  did  not  exceed /".v/)'}  and  Evans^ 
having  had  the  Small-poji  the  preceding  year,  of* 
courfe  did  not  receive  the  difeafe  a  fecond  time. 

Thefe  experiments,  no  doubt,  tended  much' tO' 
the  encouragement  of  inoculation,  whi^h  in  ft)' 
many  infrances  had  now  fully  anfwered  the-  ut- 
mofti  expectations  of  its  patrons.  The  trials  of 
it,  however, -werC'  yet  confidered  by  the  faculty 
as  ftill  )f^?~o//ie>  to  afcertain  the  general  fafety  and 
advantage'  of  the  praftice*  ,     •  . 

'  Early  in  the  fpring  of  the  year  1722,  inocufa^ 
6on  began  to  be  adopted  m  various  parts  of 
England  ;  and  by  order  of  her  Royal  Highnefs 
the  Princdfs  of  Wales,  it  was  praftifed  lirft  upon 
j£v,  and  afterwards  upon  five,  chanty  children,  be- 
longing to  the  parilh  of  Saint  James's.  The 
fuccefs  with  which  thefe  trials  were  attended,  in- 
duced her  Royal  Highnefs  to  eaufe  Princefs 

N  2  Amelia 


0 


i8o 


AMEtiA  and  Princefs  Carolina  to  be  inocu- 
lated on  the  19th  of  April,  1722*;  the  former 
being  then  eleven  and  the  latter  nine  years  of 
age.    They  were  inoculated  by  Serjeant  Surgeon 
Amyand,  under  the  dire£tion  of  Sir  Hans  Sloane: 
but  before  her  Royal  Highnefs  determined  upon 
the  inoculation  of  the  Prmcejfes^  flie  confulted  Sir 
Hans  refpedting  the  propriety  and  fafety  of  the 
meafure.     He  "  told  her  Royal  Highnefs,  that 
"  by  what  appeared  in  the  feveral  eflays,  it  feem- 
"  ed  to  be  a  method  to  fecure  people  from  the 
"  great  dangers  attending  the  Small-pox  in  the 
*'  tmtttral  way.    That  the  preparations  by  diet, 
*'  and  necelTary  precautions  taken,  made  that 
"  practice  very  defirable;  but  that  not  being  cer- 
tain  of  the  confeqiiences  which  might  happen, 
*V  he  would  not  perfuade  nor  advife  the  making 
"  trials  upon  patients  of  fuch  importance  to  the 
"  public."    The  Princefs  then  afked  him  if  he 
would  dijjiiade  her  from  it:  to  which  he  anfwered, 
he  would  not  in  a  matter  Jo  likely  to  be  of  fuck  ad- 
vantage.   Her  reply  was,  that  flie  was  then  refolv- 
ed  itflmUd  be  done;  and  ordered  Sir  Hans  to  go  to 
the  King  (George  the  Firft)  who  had  commanded 
the  Doftor  to  wait  on  him  upon  the  occafion, 
and  it  being  agreed  upon  between  his  Majefty  and 
Sir  Hans,  the  two  Princelfes  were  inoculated  f  , 

*  See  Hiftorical  Regifter  for  the  year  1722. 
t  Phil.  Traiif.  vol.  49.  p.  518. 

Both 


i8i 

*  .  • 

Both  thefe  younger  branches  of  the  Royal 
Family  pafled  through  the  Small-pox  in  a  very 
favourable  manner:  and  inoculation,  in  confe- 
quence  of  this  illuftrious  example,  was  now  mak- 
ing a  rapid  progrefs,  when  the  number  of  perfons 
inoculated  in  England  amounted  to  182,  viz. 


By  Dr.  Nettleton   61 

Mr.  Maitland,  Surgeon   57 

Claud.  Amyand,  Efq.  Serjeant  Surgeon  .  17 

Dr.  Dover   4 

Mr.  Weymilh,  Surgeon   3 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Johnfon   3 


In  or  near  London  ...  145 

Mr.  Smith,  Surgeon,  and  Mr.  Dymer, 

Apothecary,  at  Chichefter   13 

Dr.  Brady,  at  Portfmouth   4 

Mr.  Waller,  Apothecary,  at  Gofport  .  .  3 

A  Woman,  at  Leicefter   8 

Dr.  Williams,  at  Haverfdrdweft   6 

Two  other  perfons  near  the  fame  place  .  2 

Dr.  French,  at  Briftol   1 


In  all  ...  182 

Out  of  this  number  (fays  Dr.  Jurin)  the  oppo- 
fers  of  inoculation  affirm,  that  two  perfons  died  of 
the  inoculated  Small-pox;  the  favourers  of  this 

pra£lice 


pra£tice  maintain,  that  their  death  was  occafion- 
ed  by  other  caufes.  If,  to  avoid  difpute,  thefe  two 
be  allowed  to  have  djed  of  inoculation,  we  muft 
eftimate  the  haxar4  of  dying  of  the  inoculated 
^mall-po;?:,  a?  f^r  as  can  be  colle£led  from  our 
own  experience  at  prefent,  to  be  that  of  two  out 
of  182,  or  one  out  of  91,  fmce  which  time  by  a 
proper  preparation  by  medicine  the  favourable 
chances  hfive  been  yet  more  increafed.  In  the 
natural  vyay  the  chances  are  as  otie  to  6,  which  is 
a  yi'onderfjjl.pdds  in  favour  of  inoculation. 

*  Vide  Sea.  XLIIL 


SECT. 


i83 


SECT.  XXXIX- 

THE  OPPOSITION  INOCULATION  MET  WITH. 

Previous  to  my  farther  inveftigation  of  the  na- 
ture of  this  difeafe,  it  may  be  proper  to  take  fome 
notice  of  the  oppofttion  which  inoculation  excited, 
and  which  was  continued  with  much  clamour 
throughout  the  year  1722.  The  objeQ:ioiis  then 
urged  againft  inoculation,  were  both  of  a  phyfical 
and  moral  nature,  and  gave  rife  to  a  controverfy, 
in  which  men  of  various  profeflions  engaged. 
But  as  many  of  the  objc6liohSj  alledged  by  medi- 
cal practitioners  againft  the  practice  of  inocula^ 
tibn,  were  founded  upon  cafual  and  temporary 
circumftances,  a  recital  of  them  now  would  be 
confidered  as  wholly  ufelefs  and  uninterefting. 
Mr.  Maitland,  however,  had  to  encounter 
fome  accufations  which  it  was  not  eafy  to  repel. 
Pie  had  afferted,  and  his  enemies  did  not  fail  to 
remind  him  of  it,  that  inoculation,  as  pra£tifed  at 
Conftantinople,  was  a  procefs  which  almoft  uni- 
verfally  produced  the  Small-pox  in  its  mildeft 
form ;  infomuch  that  not  one  per/on  in  many  thou- 
fands  died  under  it:  and  he  had  entertained 
no  doubt  of  experiencing  the  like  fuccefs  in  Eng- 
land. But  after  a  few  trials  of  inoculation  made 
here,  the  refult  proved  different  from  his  flatter- 
ing 


i84 

ing  proniifes.  Two  pcrfons  actually  died  in  con- 
fequence  of  the  operation,  when  not  even  200 
liad  been  inoculated.  Mr.  Maitland  was  there- 
fore reprefented  by  fome  as  felfijli  and  defigning, 
and  by  others  as  the  ignorant  and  credulous  dupe  of 
the  old  women  in  Turkey.  That  inoculation  did 
not  conflantly  fuccced  in  producing  the  diftincl 
or  favourable  kind  of  Small-pox,  was  at  that 
time,  and  ftill  continues  to  be,  a  melancholy 
truth.  But  the  inoculators  were  at  firfl:  unwilling 
to- acknowledge  it,  and  by  attempting  to  attri- 
bute the  death  of  perfons  inoculated  to  other 
accidental  cauJeSy  expofed  themfelves  to  a  juft 
cenfure. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  writers  againft  inocula- 
tion purfued  a  condu6t  ftill  more  reprehenfible. 
Inftead  of  waiting  to  afcertain  fuch  fa6ts  as  might 
have  enabled  them  to  form  juft  conclufions  on 
the  advantages  and  difadvantages  of  this  new 
art,  they  immediately  proceeded  to  employ  falfe- 
hood  and  inve5iive-y  reproaching  the  inoculators 
with  the  epithets     poifoners  and  murderers. 

I  fliall  firft  notice  a  pamphlet  publifhed  about 
the  middle  of  the  year  1722,  entitled.  The  new 
practice  of  inoculation  conjidered,  with  an  humble 
application  to  the  approaching  parliament  for  the  pre- 
venting of  that  dangerous  experiment.  In  this  work, 
however,  the  anonymous  author  confines  his  hu- 
mility wholly  to  the  title  page.  He  reprefents 
the  death  of  Lord  Sunderland's  fon,  and  an  un- 
fortunate 


i85 

fortunate  cafe  of  inoculation  at  Bofton,  in  the 
moft  aggravated  point  of  view ;  and  declares  this 
new  praflice  to  be  founded  in  atheifm,  quackery, 
and  avarice,  which,  to  ufe  the  author's  words, 
"  pujh  men  to  all  the  helliJJi  praSiices  imaginable  y 
"  making  men  murder  fathers,  mothers,  relations,  and 
"  innocent  children,  and  any  that  Jland  in  the  way 
"  of  their  wicked  defires'' — He  adds,  "  While  this 
hellifi  principle  has  Jo  much  hold  upon  mankind,  it  is 
"  highly  necejfary  that  there  flioidd  be  no  covering  of 
"  fuch  horrid  things  from  the  reach  of  the  law,  by 
"  inoculating  death  in/lead  of  a  difeafe,  and  making 
"  ufe  of  an  art  never  before  praSiifed,  in  a  manner  not 
"  forefeen,  and  by  the  laws  not  yet  fufficiently  guarded 
"  againjir 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Massey,  in  a  fermon,  preach- 
ed at  St.  Andrew's,  Holborn*,  "  Againfi  the  danger 
rous  and  ftnful  practice  of  inoculation,^'  treated  the 
inoculators  with  the  mod  unqualified  abufe,  call- 
ing  them  helliJJi  poifoners,  enemies  of  mankind,  and 
hoped  they  would  be  diftinguiflied  from  thofc 
of  the  faculty  who  deferve  honour,  and  not  be  per- 
mitted to  mingle  with  them  as  the  devil  among 
the  fons  of  God. 

But  the  intemperate  zeal  of  the  preacher  does 
not  ftop  here  J  it  not  only  hurries  him  into  nume- 
rous and  palpable  inconfiftencies,  but  alfo  to 

*  On  Sunday,  July  8th,  1722.  His  text  was: — "  So  went 
•  Satan  forth  from  the  prefence  of  the  Lord,  and  fmote  Job 
' "  with  fore  boils,  from  the  fole  of  his  foot  unto  his  crown." 

'  C/iaji.  xi.  veiife  18. 

grofs 


i86 


grofs  mifreprefentations  of  faEts:  for  he  roundly 
aflerts,  that  "  the  mijcar  yiciges  in  this  new  method 
"  (of  inoculation)  are  more  than  have  happened  in 
the  ordinary  way.^' 

But  the  moft  redoubted  champion  who  at  this 
time  appealed  to  the  public  againft  inoculation, 
was  Dr.  Wagstaffe,  a  man  of  cxtenfive  pro- 
feflional  practice;  and  as  a  fellow  of  the  College, 
and  Phyfician  to  St.  Bartholomew's  Hofpital,  he 
could  not  fail  to  influence  the  minds  of  many  to 
a  conliderable  degree;  more  efpecially  as  his 
-  Letter,  Jhewin^  the  danger  and  uncertainty  of  inoctt- 

lating  the  Small-pox y'  was  addrelTed  to  the  learn- 
ed Dr.  Freind. 

Of  the  other  writings,  which  now  appeared 
againft  inoculation,.  I  truft  it  will  be  unnecelTary 
to  take  notice,  as  they  contain  little  more  than 
unfounded  conje6iures  on  the  practice,  with  fanciful 
conceits  concerning  its  effeiis,  and  fupply  the  place 
of  arguments  with  the  utmojl  obloqiiy  and  ahnfe  of 
Mr.  Maitland. 

The  numerous  attacks  upon  this  gentleman 
and  the  other  inoculators,  produced  various 
replies,  efpecially  to  Dr.  Wagftaffe  and  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Maffey.  The  chief  of  them  were  by  Dr. 
Crawford*,  Dr.   Brady f,  Dr.   Williams,  Dr. 

*  The  cafe  of  inoculating  the  Small-Jiox  confJered,  and  its  adr 
vantages  averted,  in  a  review  of  Dr.  Wagmffe's  Letter^  by  J. 
Crawford,  M.  D. 

f  Some  remarks  ujion  Dr.  Wagstajfe's  Letter  and  Mr.  Maffefi 
Sermon  againfl  inoculation^  by  Samuel  Brady,  M.  D. 

Slare, 


.1.87 

Slare*,  and  Mr.  Maitland,  or  rather  Dr.  Arbuth- 
notf,  who  is  faid  to  have  written  Maitland's 
Vindication;  and  the  fubjeft  was  puflied  forward 
fo  warmly,  that  even  rejoinders  to  thefe  were 
publifhed  before  the  terminatioft  k)f  the  year 
1722. 

I  fliall  be  readily  excufed  from  following  the 
iabove  difputants,  through  the  extraneous,  and 
multiplied  points  of  controverfy  with  which  they 
indulged  themfelves,  and  have  no  doubt  but  that, 
both  as  to  the  manner  and  matter  of  their  argu- 
ments, a  fmgle  example  will  be  deemed  fufficient- 
Dr.  Wagftaffe  having  afferted,  "  It  never  came 
■ "  into  men's  heads  to  take  the  work  out  of  na- 
'  ^'  ture's  hands,  and  raife  diftempers  by  art  in  the 
human  body."    Received  the  following  reply 
:  in  Maitland's  Vindication,  "  That  the  pra£tice  of 
' "  phyfic  is  founded  upon  the  principle  of  curing 
natural  by  railing  artificial  difeafes.    What  is 
bleeding,  but  an  artificial  hamorrhagyf  Purging, 
but  raifing  an  artificial  diarrhaaf  Are  not  blij- 
'^^  ters,  ijfuesy  and  Jeatons,  artificial  impofihumations  f^* 
<On  this  Mr.  Ifaac  Maffey,  apothecary,  calls  out, 
'^^  Very  good,  fir;  but  go  on: — What  is  corre£liou 
" "  at  the  cart's  tail,  but  the  noble  art  of  muscular  phle- 

*  Some  remarks  on  Dr.  Wagstaffe's  Letter,  by  Perrott  Wil- 
liams, M.  D.  With  an  ajijiendix  in  favour  of  inocitlc^tion,  by  F. 
S51are,  M.  D. 

f  Mr.  Maitland's  account  of  inoculating  the  Small-Jiox  vinJi- 
'Xatedfrom  Dr.  Wagstaffe's  mifrejtrefentations  of  that  pa^ice,  with 
(ifome  remarks  on  Mr.  Maffey' s  fermon. 

y  .  boiomyB 


i88 

'■^  botomyf — What  is  burning  in  the  hand,  but  the 
"  art  of  applying  a  caujlic? — What  is  hanging,  but  an 
"  artificial  quinjyy  which  makes  the  patient  feel  for  the 
*'  ground y  and  chokes  him  P — What  is  breaking  on  the 
"  wheely  but  the  art  of  making  difiocations  and  frac- 
"  tureSy  and  differs  from  the  wounds  and  amputations 
^  offurgeons  only  by  the  manner  and  intentions* f'" 

X  A  Jhort  and  Jilain  account  of  inoculation,  ivith  fome  remarks^ 
^c.—Ji.  19. 


SECT. 


i89 


SECT.  XL. 

THE  SUCCESSFUL  ESTABLISHMENT  OF  INOCU- 
LATION IN  ENGLAND. 

Although  the  advantages  of  inoculation 
were  great,  in  the  firft  place,  as  it  gave  every 
profpeft  of  recovery  in  this  otherwife  often  fatal 
difeafe,  and  fecondly,  fecurity  in  future,  which 
removed  the  terror  of  apprehenfion,  which,  like  a 
fword  hung  over  the  head,  was  fure  often  to  pre- 
fcnt  itfclf  to  the  feared  imagination,  yet  was  its 
firft  introduction  from  the  oppofition  it  expe- 
rienced extremely  flow. 

During  the  year  1723,  the  practice,  however, 
of  Inoculation  made  a  confiderable  progrefs  in 
England.  It  was  adopted  not  only  among  the 
nobility  of  the  firft  rank,  but  (which  ftill  more 
tended  to  its  promotion)  it  received  encourage- 
ment from  the  heads  of  the  church,  having  been 
introduced  into  the  family  of  the  Bifliop  of  Win-^ 
cheftcr,  and  alfo  into  that  of  that  learned  divine 
Dr.  Calamy.  Whence  the.  number  of  the  inocu- 
lated that  year^  far  exceeded  the  numbers  in  the 
two  preceding  years  taken  together.  It  amount- 
ed to  292,  which  being  added  to  182,  makes  the; 
whole  number  of  the  inoculations  in  the  years 
1721,  1722,  and  1723,  to  be  474,  viz, 

Jhr 


igo 


The  Refults  of  tJiefe  Cafes  are  reprefented  in  the  an- 
nexed Table,  taken  from  Dr.  Jurin. 


AGES. 

PcrTons 
itioculat- 
td. 

Had  the 
bmaU- 
pox  b)- 

inucula' 
tion. 

Had  an 
imverfcci 
fort. 

Had  no 
effect. 

Supixjfed 

to  tlAVC 

(lied  of 
inucula- 
tioa. 

u     1        rA  ^         ■     1                 A/  1* 

unaci  vjne  icai  -  - 

1  1 

1  i 

V 

0 

0 

•  V/IH--    LKJ    X  V\  w  ~ 

1 J 

1 

■6 

T*wn  tci  Thrpp       —  . 

JL  «V  1^    4.V     X  ••''^•1              —    •  • 

O  I 

V 

o 

\J 

1 
* 

Three  to  Four  

41 

38 

0 

3 

1 

Four  to  Five  

33 

31 

0 

2 

1 

Five  to  Ten  -  -  -  - 

140 

13T 

1 

2 

3 

Ten  to  Fifteen  

82 

76 

0 

6 

0 

Fifteen  to  Twenty  - 

56 

50 

1 

5 

2 

,  Twenty  to  Fifty-two 

62 

50 

3 

-  9 

0 

Age  unknown  

3 

2 

0 

1 

0 

Total  

474 

440 

5 

29 

9 

Hence  we  find,  that  of  the  474  perfons  fii-ft 
inoculated  in  England,  Kw^died,  and  their  deaths 
were  juftly  fufpetted  to  have  happened  in  confe- 
quence  of  inoculation. 

Thus  inoculation  triumphed,  under  the  aufpices 
iof  roya/  patronage;  and  Dr.  WagftaflFe,  after  his 
invidious  remark,  "  that  pojierify  ivill  fcarcely  be 
"  brought  to  believe,  that  an  experiment,  praEiifed  only 
*'  by  a  few  ignorant  zvomen,  JJiould  fo  far  obtain  in  one 

"  of 


of  the  politejl  mtions  in  the  world,  as  to  he  received 
"  buo  the  Royal  palace^'  had  the  raortlfication  to 
find  it  introduced  a  fecond^  time,  into  the  Royal 
family.  For  their  Royal  .  Highiieffes  Prince 
Frederick  and  Prince  William  were  both 
inoculated  this  year.  The  former^,  who  refided  at 
Hanover,  and  was  then  eighteen  yeai's  of  age, 
fubmitted  to  be  inoculated  by  Mr.  Maitland  on 
the  firft  of  May,  1724,  and  the  event  was  ex- 
tremely favourable ;  his  Royal  Highnefs  not  hav- 
ing more  than  from  eleven  to  eighteen  piiftules. 
The  latter,  was  about  the  fame  time  inoculated 
here  by  Serjeant  Surgeon  Amy  and,  under  the 
dire£tion  of  Sir  Hans  Sloane,  who  likewife  paffed 
through  the  Small-pox  without  any  alarming  or 
even  troublefome  fymptom. 

But  what  tended  ftill  more  efFe£lually  to  eftab- 
lifh  general  inoculation,  was  the  fubfequent  de- 
claration of  the  College  of  Phyficians,  viz.  "  The 

"  COLLEGE  HAVING  BEEN  INFORMED,  THAT 
FALSE  REPORTS  CONCERNING  THE  SUCCESS 
"  OF  INOCULATION  IN  ENGLAND,  HAVE  BEEN 
"  PUBLISHED  IN  FOREIGN  COUNTRIES,  THINK 
"  PROPER  TO  DECLARE  THEIR  SENTIMENTS  IN 
"  THE  FOLLOWING  MANNER;  viz.  THAT  THE 
"  ARGUMENTS  WHICH  AT  THE  COMMENCE- 
"  MENT  OF  THIS  PRACTICE  WERE  URGED 
"  AGAINST  IT,  HAD  BEEN  REFUTED  BY  EX~ 
"   PERIENCE;   that  IT  IS  NOW  HELD  BY  THE 

Ir 

ENGLISH  IN  GREATER  ESTEEM,  AND  PRAG-- 

"  TISED 


192 


i 


"  TISED   AMONG  THEM    MORE  EXTENSIVELY 

*'  THAN  EVER  IT  WAS  BEFORE  ;  AND  THAT  THE 

"  COLLEGE  THINKS    IT  TO  BE  HIGHLY  5ALU- 

"  TARY  TO  THE  HUMAN  RACE*.'* 

•  The  words  are  as  follow; — "  Qiioniam  coUegio  nuntiatiim 
fuit,  falfos  de  variolarum  infititiarum  in  Anglia  fiiccefTii  et  exif- 
timatione  apud  exteras  gentcs  nuper  exiiHe  nirnores,  eidem  col- 
legio  fententiam  fuam  de  rebus  hifte  ad  hunc  modum  declarare 
placuit:  videlicet,  argiimenta,  quai  contra  banc  variolas  infe- 
rendi  confuetiidinem  in  principio  afFerebantur,  experientiam 
refellifTe;  eamque  hoc  tempore  majori  in  honore  apud  Anglos 
haberi,  magifque  quam  unquam  antea  inter  eos  nunc  invalef- 
cere;  atque  humano  gencri  valde  falutareni  eJe  fc  cxiftimare. 
fide  Taylor  Orat.  Harv.  Jiage  29 


SECT. 


193 


SECT.  XLL 

OF  THE  DISTINCT  AND  CONFLUENT  SMALL-POX. 

The  moft  cafual  obfervers  have  noticed  the 
diJlhiEi  and  confluent  fmall-pox,  and  this  is  fome- 
times  exhibited  under  the  titles  of  the  -purple, 
and  the  black. 

With  thofe  who  labour  under  the  Small-pox, 
at  firft  reddifli  puftules,  as  fmall  as  a  pin's 
head,  appear  fcattered  over  the  face  and  body. 
Thefe  form  into  puftules,  often  of  the  diftinEl  kind, 
which  are  painful,  and  heighten  by  degrees, 
rendering  the  fpaces  between  the  eruptions  of  a 
light  red  colour,  refembling  that  of  damalk 
rofes ;  and  the  milder  the  fmall-pox,  the  nearer 
do  the  intermediate  fpaces  approach  this  colour. 

In  the  confluent  or  malignant  Small-pox,  there 
is  a  greater  degree  of  fever,  and  the  puftules 
are  fmaller,  and  run  into  one  another.  Inftead 
of  filling  up  on  the  feventh  day  from  their  firft 
appearance,  maturating  and  looking  yellow, 
and  then  fcaling,  they  have  frequently,  even  at 
firft,  a  purplifli  appearance,  and  finally  become 
Ihidy  and  laftly  black.  Frequently  purple  fpots 
appear  in  the  fpaces  furrounding  the  erup- 
tion, and  often  fmall  black  fpots,  fcarce  fo  large 

Vol.  IV.  O  as 


194 

as  fmall  pins  heads,  and  deprcffed  in  the  middle, 
are  difcovered  on  the  top  of  the  puftules  in  dif- 
ferent places.  The  face  foon  refembles  one  en- 
tire encruftation,  brown  at  firft,  afterwards  of  a 
frightful  black.  Sometimes  bladders  arife,  filled 
with  a  limpid  ferum,  which  burft  when  the  flefli 
underneath  appears  black,  and  as  if  gangrened*. 
The  change  from  red  to  purple,  and  black,  in  this 
difeafe,  is  extremely  obvious ;  and,  before  the 
fatal  cataftrophe,  the  tortured  being  appears  more 
like  a  negro  than  a  white  j  all  which  feems  to  de- 
note a  deftru£lion,  or  lofs,  of  the  oxygenous 
PRINCIPLE  in  the  blood. 

*  I  was  fent  for,  in  the  beginning  of  January,  1670,  by 
Mr.  Collins,  a  brewer,  in  St.  Giles's  parifh,  to  his  fon,  an  in- 
fant, who  had  bladders  on  his  thighs  as  large  as  a  walnut,  and 
full  of  tranfparent  ferum,  which  afterwards  burfting,  the  flefli 
•underneath  appeared  as  it  were  quite  mortified,  and  he  died 
foon  after;  as  did  all  thofe  I  had  feen  attacked  with  tlik 
dreadful  fymptom. — Sydenham.. 


PRACTICAL 


195 

PRACTICAL  OBSERVATIONS'. 


SECT.  XLII. 

THE  TREATMENT  OF  THE  NATURAL  SMALL-POX,- 

The  prevailing  theory,  refpe6ling  this  difeafc;! 
was,  that  the  blood,  by  the  matter  of  the  fmall-pox, 
.Was  put  into  a  ferment,  and  therefore  to  promote 
conco6lion  the  external  heat  muft  be  augmented, 
in  order  that  the  fkum,  or  filth,  might  be  thrown 
off  upon  the  furface.  How  many  thoufands  be-* 
fore,  and  fmce  the  days  of  Sydenham,  have  pe- 
riflied  through  this  erroneous  conception !  This 
immortal  phyfician  firft  laid  the  foundation  for 
abolifliing  this  grand  error  i  for  his,  as  well  as 
modern  experience,  fhews,  that  the  eruption 
greatly  depends  upon  the  quantity  of  combuftible 
; matter  in  the  blood,  or  in  other  words,  feven 
It  is  during  the  eruptive  fever  that  the  quantity 
of  the  fmall-pox  matter  is  determined,  as  well 
as  its  kind ;  for  this  is  invariably  found  to  bear 
an  exaft  proportion  to  the  preceding  fever ;  and 

O  2.  hence 


hence  it  is  that  the  diminution  of  this  fever  will  di-  | 
minifli  the  quantity,  and  obviate  the  danger,  of  the 
variolous  eruption.  Hear  the  illuftrious  Sydenham 
on  the  prefcnt  occafion.  "  What  reafon  feemed, 
fays  he,  to  intimate  formerly,  appeared  mani- 
feft  to  me  this  year,  (1681),  namely,  that  it 
was  improper  to  confine  the  patient  conjlantly  in  bed 
before  the  eruption  of  the  puftules;   for  the 
fpring  and  fummer  having  been  the  drieft  feafons 
that  any  perfon  living  could  remember  to  have 
happened,  fo  that  the  grafs  was  burnt  up  in 
moft  places,  the  blood  was  by  this  means  de- 
prived of  the  greater  part  of  the  humidity,  which 
the  air  otherwife  ufually  communicated  thereta  ; 
whence  the  then  reigning  fmall-pox  was  accom,- 
panied  with  a  more  confiderable  inflammation 
than  ordinary,  and  the  other  fymptoms  thence  ] 
arifing  were  more  violent  *.  And  this,  I  conceive,  , 
was  the  caufe  thofe  purple  fpois  frequently  pre-  i 
ceded  the  total  eruption  of  the  puftules,  and  that  i 
the  violent  inflammation  which  expelled  them,  , 
by^diflblving  the  texture  of  the  blood,  fuddenly  ' 
defl:royed  the  patient,  even  on  an  early  day  of  I 
the  difeafe.    And  the  difeafe  proved  fo  much, 
the  more  dcftrucfive,  becaufe  the  eruptions  fo 

*  As  the  fpring  and  fummer  were  remarkably  dry  feafons, 
it  is  probable  they  were  likewife  very  hot ;  and  then  the  im- 
ufual  violence  of  the  fniall-pox-,  and  its  fymptoms,  may  be 
eafily  acCQUnted  for. 

readily 


^97 

r-cadlly  ran  together,  for  the  reafon  above  inti- 
mated ;  the  intempcrature  of  the  air,  now,  doing 
the  fame  mifchief  fpontaneoufly,  which  ignorant 
practitioners  ordinarily  occafion,  by  ufing  a  hot  re- 
gimen and  cardiacs,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
diftemper.  For  it  is  a  remark  well  worth  noting, 
and  the  refult  of  the  moft  careful  obfervation, 
that  the  fmall-pox  is  the  leaft  dangerous  w^hen 
the  eruptions  are  few,  and  mod  fo,  when  they 
are  numerous  ;  and  accordingly  as  they  do,  or  do 
not  abound,  the  patient  lives,  or  dies. 

"  I  conceive  it  eafy  to  account  for  the  patient's 
being  more  or  lefs  endangered,  in  proportion  to 
the  paucity  or  number  of  the  eruptions ;  for  as 
every  puftule  is  at  firft  a  phlegmon,  or  boil,  though 
of  a  very  fmall  fize,  and  foon  impoflumates,  fo  the 
fecondary  fever,  which  depends  on  the  matter 
hereafter  to  be  produced,  muft  needs  be  more 
or  lefs  violent  at  the  height  of  the  difeafe,  ac-r 
cording  to  the  quantity  of  matter  to  be  fappu- 
rated,  which  is  ufually  completed  in  the  rnildeft 
fpecies  of  the  confluent  fmall-pox  on  the  eleventh 
day,  in  the  middle  fort  on  the  fourteenth,  and 
the  worft  on  the  feventeenth  day, 

"  Hence,  therefore,  if  the  patient  be  not  otherr- 
wife  endangered  than  from  the  abundance  of 
eruptions,  I  confider  well  whence  this  proceeds, 
and  if  it  can  be  done  with  fafety,  ufe  all  my  en- 
deavours to  reprefs  them,  which  in  reality  is  the 
principal  thing  to  be  effefted,  and  the  way  to 

relieve 


198 


relieve  the  patient ;  every  thing  being  doubtful 
and  dangerous  v^hen  this  fpecies  of  the  difeafe  is 
confirmed.  Now  fuch  an  extraordinary  eruption 
of  puftules,  in  ray  opinion,  proceeds  from  the 
too  pov^^erful  an  affimilatiori  of  the  variolous 
jnatter  ;  which  feems  chiefly  to  arife  either  from 
the  over- hot  and  fpiritiious  conjlitution  of  the  patient, 
or  from  his  having  raifed  the  fermentation  too 
high,  by  a  too  early  confinement  in  bed,  the  ufe  of 
hot  cardiacs,  or  any  fpirituous  liquor ;  by  which 
means  the  blood  is  difpofed  to  receive  the  imr 
prefllons  of  the  difeafe  more  intimately,  and  na- 
ture, being  greatly  difturbed  by  the  vaft  quan- 
tity of  the  variolous  matter,  changes  almoft  all 
the  folids  and  fluids  into  puftules  *. 

"  The  immoderate  aflTnnilation  of  the  variolous 
matter,  however,  cannot  be  more  effeftually  pror 
moted,  than  by  the  patient's  confining  himfelf 

*  Mr.  Sutton,  in  the  vicinity  of  Plymouth,  inoculating  a 
lady,  who  on  the  third  day  after  the  commencement  of  the 
fever,  had  five  or  fix  red  pimples,  which  formed  gradually 
into  puftules.  During  the  progrefs  of  the  difeafe,  as  flie  fat 
at  table,  flie  exprefied  uneafinefs,  and  wifhed  to  have  ftronger 
evidence,  than  yet  appeared,  that  ftie  had  the  Small-pox. 
Mr.  Sutton  told  her,  that  ftie  had  only  to  eat  a  portion  of 
hare,  which  was  on  the  table,  and  drink  one  gtafs  of  "loincy 
and  flie  would  have  fufficient  evidence  to  fatisfy  her  mind. 
She  accepted  the  propofal ;  the  fever  increafed ;  and  the 
Small-pox,  from  being  difcrete,  became  confluent.  Sutton 
then  took  fright,  and  delivered  her  to  the  care  of  Drs.  Mudge 
and  Huxham,  by  whofe  watchful  attention  fhe  was  carried 
fafely  through  the  fecpndary  fever. 

in 


199 

in  bed  unfeafonably,  namely,  before  the  fixth  day 
from  the  begmning  of  the  illnefs,  or  the  fourth 
inclufive  from  the  eruption  j  when  all  the  puftules 
are  come  out,  and  no  more  are  expedled.  And 
though  the  moderate  warmth  of  the  bed,  even 
after  this  time,  does  in  fome  meafure  contribute 
to  the  rife  of  the  delirium,  watching  the  other 
fymptoms,  yet  thefe  are  of  fuch  a  nature,  that 
they  readily  yield  to  proper  remedies  j  whilft  the 
imminent  danger  of  death  that  happened  on  the 
eleventh  day,  from  the  great  abundance  of  the 
puftules,  cannot  be  prevented,  or  removed  by 
medicine. 

"  The  patient  therefore  is  here  to  be  diligently 
admoniihed,  by  no  means  to  keep  his  bed  in  the 
day-time,  at  the  onfet  of  the  difeafe,  whereby 
the  eruptions  will  be  fewer,  and  he  will  be; 
greatly  refrefhed.  But  after  this  time,  if  the 
puftules  be  very  numerous,  he  will  fcarce  be 
able  to  leave  his  bed  at  all,  on  account  of  the 
pain  thence  arifing,  and  a  greater  difpofition  to 
fainting  upon  fitting  up  j  fo  that  having  frequently 
remarked  this,  it  came  into  my  niind  that  na- 
ture, in  the  common  courfe  of  the  difeafe,  firft 
pointed  out  the  time  when  a  confinement  in  bed 
becomes  neceifary. 

"  But  in  order  to  confirm  this  practical  rule, 
which  is  fo  highly  ferviceable  in  leffening  the 
impending  danger  from  the  Small-pox,  and  in 

treating 


200 


treating  of  it,  at  the  fame  time,  to  deliver  our 
hiflory  thereof  from  the  beginning  to  the  end, 
it  will  be  proper  to  draw  up  a  kind  of  plan  of 
the  whole  difeafe,  and  make  a  ftrict  fearch  into 
the  nature  and  progrefs  thereof ;  fo  that  we  may 
at  length  be  enabled  to  afcertain  the  matter 
clearly,  from  the  unerring  reafon  of  thofe  who 
make  ufe  of  the  jujlejl  obfervations,  and  not  from 
opinion  founded  on  the  Jlippery  bafis  of  fancy. 

"  It  the  firlt  place,  therefore,  its  elfence,  fo  far 
as  we  can  trace  the  efTences  of  things,  feems  to 
confift  in  a  peculiar  inflammation  of,  or  a£tion 
on  the  blood ;  in  the  courfe  of  which  nature  is 
employed  for  fome  days,  in  the  beginning,  in 
preparing  and  moulding  the  inflamed  particles, 
for  their  readier  expulfion  to  the  external  parts  ; 
at  which  time  the  blood  being  difturbed,  a  fever 
mufl:  needs  be  occafioned  ;  for,  the  agitated  par- 
ticles, hurrying  in  a  tumultuary  manner  through 
the  veflTels,  neceifarily  caufe  a  ficknefs  at  fto- 
mach,  fliarp  pains  in  the  head,  and  all  the  other 
fymptoms  preceding  the  expulfion,  according  as 
they  are  carried  to  this  or  that  particular  part. 
But  when  the  eruption  is  over,  the  fleJJiy  parts 
become  the  feat  of  the  difeafe  ;  and,  as  nature 
has  no  other  method  of  expelling  the  peccant 
matter  from  the  blood,  but  by  raifing  a  fever,  fo, 
likewife,  it  does  not  free  the  fiefliy  parts  from 
?iny  extraneous  body,  but  by  impoftumation. 

Thus 


201 


Thus  if  by  accident  a  thorn,  or  the  like  fljarp- 
:  pointed  body  be  lodged  in  the  flefli,  unlefs  it  be 

immediately  extrafted,  the  parts  around  foon 
1  impoftumate.  Hence  it  is,  that  when  thefe  par- 
i  tides  are  lodged  in  the  flefli,  they  at  firft  occa- 
;  (ion  very  fmall  phlegmons,  wherein  they  lie  con- 
icealed;  which  encreafing  every  hour,  and  be- 
I  coming  more  inflamed,  at  length  come  to  fuppu- 
r  ration  ;  when  a  part  of  the  matter  muft  needs  be 
.licked  up  by  the  blood  which  returns  by  the 
> veins,  and  if  too  large  a  quantity  thereof  be  re- 
iceived  into  the  mafs,  it  is  not  only  productive  of 
I  a  fever,  which  the  debihtated  patient  is  unable 
tto  bear,  but  alfo  taints  the  whole  mafs. 

"  But  if  only  a  fmall  quantity  of  the  pum- 
llent  matter  be  received  into  the  blood,  the  vio- 
llence  of  the  fecondary  fever  is  eafily  checked  by 
tthe  encreafing  ftrength  of  nature,  and  the  puf- 
ttules  drying  avi^ay  gradually,  the  patient  foon  re- 
tcovers. 

"  Now  allowing  this  to  be  the  genuine  and 
jjuft  hiftory  of  this  difeafe,  it  is  manifefl:,  that 
tthe  failure  or  fuccefs,  on  either  hand,  depends 
lupon  laying  a  good  or  bad  foundation  for  the 
(cure  in  the  beginning  :  for  if  thefe  hot  and  fpi- 
rrituous  particles  be  quickend  by  hot  medicines, 
jand  efpecially  by  a  confl:ant  confinement  in  bed, 
t  the  affimilating  virtue,  which  they  already  pof- 
ifefs  in  too  great  a  degree,  will  neceflTarily  be 
I  heightened 


202 


heightened  and  encreafed.  And,  befides,  the 
blood  and  other  juices  being  hereby  heated, 
yield  more  readily  to  the  ftronger  impreflion  of 
the  particles,  whence  more  eruptions  appear 
than  fliould,  and  life  is,  in  confequence,  unne- 
ceffarily  endangered.  Whereas  the  contrary, 
viz.  the  moderate  cooling  regimen  and  the  FREE 
USE  OF  THE  AIR,  abate  the  force  of  the 
hot  tumultuary  particles,  whence  they  are  better 
enabled  to  refift  the  morbific  particles,  and  fup- 
port  their  violence  ;  and  hence  no  greater  quan- 
tity of  variolous  matter  is  prepared,  than  is  pro- 
per to  mark  this  difeafe. 

"  But  the  only  inconvenience  arifmg  from  a  too 
early-  confinement  in  bed,  is  not  from  the  affimi- 
lation  of  too  large  a  quantity  of  the  morbific 
matter,  and  the  immoderate  exaltation  of  the 
ferment  of  the  difeafe ;  for  the  fame  caufe  fre- 
quently PRODUCES  kloody  urine  and  purple  fpots, 
with  hamorrhage^  efpecially  in  fummer,  and  in 
perfons  in  the  vigour  of  Hfe.  I  conceive  that 
both  thefe  fymptonis  proceed  from  the  heat  and 
commotion  raifed  in  the  blood,  by  hot  and  fpi- 
rituous  particles  ;  by  which  it  is  agitated  and 
confiderably  attenuated,  fo  that  it  burfts  the  vef- 
fels,  caufing  bloody  urine  when  it  forces  its  way 
through  the  kidnies,  and  purple  fpots,  when  it 
is  ftrained  through  the  extremities  of  the  arte- 
ries, terminating  in  the  mufcles  and  fkin,  which 

refemble 


203 

refemble  fo  many  mortifications  In  thofe  parts' 
wherein   the   extravafed  blood  is  coagulated. ' 
And  though  all  thefe  fymptoms  might  eafily 
have  been  prevented  in  the  beginning,  hy  ^  cool- 
ing regimen  and  diet ;  yet  when  they  a6iually  ap- 
pear, whoever  attempts  to  cure  them,  by  cori-" 
fining  the  patient  in  bed,  and  exhibiting  car- 
diacs, will  find  himfelf  as  much  in  the  wrong 
;as  an  old  woman  would  be,  who,  to  niake  her- 
pot  boil  more  gently,  fliould  make  a  larger  fire 
jmderneath. 

"  But  to  acknowledge  the  truth  upon  this 
.occafion,  how  little  foever  it  may  be  liked  by 
the  dogmatical,  and  fuch  as  are  unacquainted 
with  this  matter,  and  therefore  incompetent 
judges,  it  is  not  only  unfafe  to  keep  the  patient' 
always  in  bed  the  firft  days  of  the  illnefs,  bu^ 
fometimes  neceflary  to  expofe  him  to  the  OPEN 
AIR  ;  viz.  if  it  be  the  fummer  feafon,  and  he 
not  pall  the  prime  of  life,  or  that  he  has  been 
accuftomed  to  fpirituous  liquors,  and  efpecially 
if  the  difeafe  be  owing  to  hard  drinking.  Now 
in  thefe  cafes  I  conceive,  that  the  too  hafty 
eruption  of  the  puftules  cannot  be  fufficiently' 
checked  by  refraining  from  bed,  and  taking  no 
cardiacs  ;  for  the  blood,  unaffifted  by  thefe,  is  fo 
overftocked  with  hot  fpirits,  of  a  like  kind  with 
the  difeafe,  that  a  kind  of  violent  explofion 
thereof  muft  necelTarily  happen ;  and  moreover, 
fuch  a  plenitude  of  humours  will  refolve  into 

puftules, 


204 

puftules,  that  the  patient  being  quite  op- 
preffed  by  the  copious  matter  returning  into  the 
blood,  muft  inevitably  perifli  at  the  clofe  of  the 
difeafe. 

"  Nor  have  I  hitherto  found  that  bleeding, 
though  it  be  ufed  early,  does  fo  effectually  check 
the  over-hafty  affim'ilation  of  the  variolous  matter, 
as  cooling  the  blood*,  by  the  air  received  in  by 
breathing,  efpecially  if  the  patient  be  put  to  bed 
immediately  after  the  operation,  and  injured  by 
hot  cardiacs  ;  the  blood  being  by  this  means 
more  difpofed  to  receive  the  impreflions  of  the 
adventitious  heat,  than  it  was  before  bleeding. 
And  I  pofitively  affirm,  that  one  of  the  worft 
cafes  I  ever  met  with  in  the  confluent  Small- 
pox, in  which  the  patient  died  on  the  eleventh 
day,  happened  in  a  young  woman  foon  after  her 
recovery  from  a  rheumatifm,  by  the  ufual  method 
of  copious  and  repeated  bleeding.  And  from 
this  inftance  I  firft  learned,  that  bleeding  did  not 
contribute  fo  much  to  keep  the  Small-pox  within 
its  due  limits,  as  I  heretofore  imagined  ;  though 
I  have  frequently  obferved  that  repeated  purging^ 
whilft  the  blood  remains  uninfeded,  generally 
renders  the  fubfequent  Small-pox  of  a  mild  and 
diftinft  kind. 

"  I  am  well  aware  that  feveral  obje£tions  may 

*  This  was  the  error  of  Harvey  and  of  the  times.  The 
office  of  the  air  is  now  better  known,  as  imparting  oxygen 
to  the  blood. 

be 


205 

be  made  to  this  opinion  of  ours,  of  permitting  the 
patient  to  fit  up  in  the  day  time ;  which  may 
have  great  weight  with  the  common  people,  and  fuch 
as  are  Httle  ikilled  in  this  difeafe,  to  whom  the  lower 
rank  of  phylicians  generally  appeal  as  proper 
judges  in  the  cafe,  that  they  may  fupport  their 
ill-grounded  reafonings  by  their  authority  :  fuch 
reafonings  being  in  reality  better  adapted  to  their 
capacities,  than  thofe  that  are  the  refult  of  deli- 
berate confideration  in  men  of  deeper  penetra- 
tion. Hence  it  follow that  as  the  bulk  of  mankind 
can  only  arrive  at  a  fuperficial  knowledge  of  things^ 
and  hit  few  have  ability  to  go  to  the  bottom,  fo  thefe 
pretenders  to  learning  eafily  acquire  a  fitperiority  over 
the  more  intelligent,  who  are  often  expofed  to  calumny , 
but  without  being  dijcouraged  thereby,  becaufe  they  have 
truth,  and  the  men  of  found  judgment  on  their  fide. 

"  However  I  am  not  fo  attached  to  my  own 
opinion,  as  to  think,  that  what  I  have  here  deli- 
vered fliould  be  credited  upon  the  authority  of 
my  flender  judgment.  And  in  reality,  I  have 
ever  fo  flightly  efteemed  the  fentiments  of  the 
generality  of  mankind,  that  I  may  always  rea- 
fonably  fufpett  my  own,  when  they  clafli  with 
thofe  of  others ;  and  I  fliould  alfo  be  upon  my 
guard  in  this  cafe,  if  my  reafonings  were  not 
unanimoufly  fupported  by  praEiical  obfervatiom. 
For  fetting  afide  thefe,  what  appears  reafonable 
merly  prevailed,  no  one  would  have  fought  after 

fuch 


206 


to  me  or  any  other  perfon,  may,  perhaps,  be' 
tiothmg  more  than  the  fhadow  of  reafon,  that  is 
barely  opinion.    And  the  more  I  converfe  with 

.  men,  the  more  I  am  convinced  how  dangerous  it  \ 

is  for  perfons  of  the  acuteft  underftanding,  to  i 

make  a  ftri6t  fearch  into  any  art  or  fcience,  un-  ] 

leh  matter  of  faSi  be  conftituted  the  judge  and  ! 

teft.  of  truth  and  faUity.    For,  to  ufe  Cicero's  ] 

.  phrafe,  thofe  who  are  fo  ftrongly  prepoffeffed  of  ' 

their  abilities,  deviate  widely  from  truth,  in  mere  j 

Jpeciilative  matters  ;  whereas  thofe  who  apply  their  \ 

minds  only  to  fuch  things  as  may  be  certainly  j 

•determined  by  pr^2;3/V^,  though  they  fhould  hap-  ' 

.  pen  to  miftake,  would  foon  be  fet  right,  by  j 

bringing  their  ideas  to  this  touchftone.  For  in-  i 
fiance  in  the  prefent  cafe,  cannot  I  certify  my- 

felf  by  obfervatioHy  what  method  is  moft  produc-  j 

tive  of  a  favourable  or  fevere  kind  of  Small-pox  $  | 

and  form  a  judgment  thereof,  fui table  to  the  \ 

clearnefs  of  i\\Q  fa6i  P  And  if  others  would  follow  ' 
this  way  of  reafoning,  I  fhould  be  fatisfied  with 

.  their,  conduft }  but  it  is  moft  unjuft  to  accufe  j 

me  of  advancing  falfities,  without  having  once  | 

experienced,  whether  the  method,  fo  often  men-  "i 

tioned  above,  of  keeping  the  patient  up  in  the  ! 

day  time,  at  the  beginning  of  the  illnefs,  be  ad-  J 

vantageous  or  detrimental.    Sure  if  this  humour  , 

.  of  defaming  thofe  who  difcovered  truths,  though  ! 

contrary  to  generally  received  opinions,  had  for-  \ 

merly 


207 

fuch  things,  as  when  found,  might  be  ufeful  to 
mankind.  But  why  {hould  I  give  myfelf  fo  much 
trouble,  if  a  long  courfe  of  experience  did  not 
manifefl:  this  method  to  be  much  /7/"^r  than  thfe 
common  one  :  for  I  am  not  fo  fenfelefs  as  to  en- 
deavour to  acquire  reputation,  by  exploding  the 

||;  opinions  of  thofe  whom  I  ought  to  flatter,  if  I 
fought  after  applaufe.  Neither  is  it  to  be  fup- 
pofed  that  I  am  fo  abandoned,  as  to  ufe  my  au- 

li  thority  to  compafs  the  deftruftion  of  late  pofte- 
rity  after  my  deceafe,  that  though  I  might  mur- 
der my  fellow  creatures  when  I  am  dead,  as 
well  as  during  my  life  j  which  I  tremble  even 
to  mention. 

However  it  be,  I  have  followed  this  method 

I in  my  own  children,  my  neareft  relations,  and 
•all  thofe  I  have  attended  ;  and  am  confcious  of 
no  error,  unlefs  in  yielding  fometimes  to  perfons 
,of  a  contrary  opinion,  to  avoid  the  imputation  of 
morofenefs  and  obftinacy ;  and  for  the  truth  of 
this,  I  appeal  to  my  intimate  acquaintance. 
"  When  the  cafe  is  thus  circumftanced,  the  phy- 
fician,  confulting  his  duty  rather  than  a  precari- 
ous reputation,  ought  with  authority  to  order  the 
patient  to  be  refrejlied  with  the  open  air  ;  and  to  ob- 
tain the  endhere,  it  has  frequently  feemed  fufficient 
to  me,  for  the  patient  to  rife,  and  fit  up  awhile, 
even  in  a  delirium,  the  window  being  opened,  by 
which  expedient  I  have  faved  feveral  from  death. 

And 


208 


And  befidcs  thofe  I  have  feen,  there  are  number 
lefs  inftances  of  Jjerfons  who  by  this  means  have 
been  fnatched  from  imminent  danger.  For 
fome  delirious  perfons  deceiving  their  nurfcs, 
and  getting  out  of  bed,  have  remained  expofed 
to  the  cold  air,  even  in  the  night-time,  with  advan- 
tage ;  and  others  again,  either  fecretly,  unawares, 
or  by  entreaty,  have  procured  cold  water  to 
drink,  and  thus,  by  a  happy  miftake,  faved  their 
lives,  when  defpaired  of. 

"  I  fliall  here  fet  down  the  hiftory  of  a  cafe, 
which  I  had  from  the  perfon  concerned.  He  told 
me,  that  when  he  was  a  young  man,  he  went 
to  Briftol,  and  was  there  feized  with  the  Small- 
pox about  Midfummer,  followed  foon  after  by  a 
delirium.  His  nurfe,  going  into  the  city,  left 
him  in  the  mean  while  to  the  care  of  fome  other 
perfons,  intending  to  be  back  foon  ;  but  making 
a  pretty  long  flay,  the  patient  in  the  interim  died, 
as  the  attendants  thought ;  who  confidering  the 
heat  of  the  feafon,  and  his  corpulency,  that  the 
body  might  not  fmell,  took  it  out  of  bed,  and 
laid  it  naked  on  a  table,  throwing  a  fheet  over  it. 
The  nurfe  at  length  returned,  and  hearing  the 
ill  news,  entered  the  room  to  behold  the  fad 
fpe£lacle,  and  immediately  throwing  by  \h^. 
flieet,  and  looking  on  his  face,  flie  imagined  flie 
faw  fome  fmall  iigns  of  life,  and  therefore  put 
him  to  bed  again  direQly,  and  ufmg  fome  means 

or 


209 

or  other,  flie  brought  him  to  Ijirafelf,  and  he  re- 
covered ,in,  a  few  days  *. 

.  "  I  own,  indeed,  that  the  Small-pox,  in  what 
manner  foever  it  be  treated,  will  Ibmetimes 
prove  highly  confluent  j  whence  this  difeafe  is 
never  void  of  danger,  though  the  befl:  method 
gnd  medicines  ]be  ufed  to  prevent  it. 

"  And  therefore  I  fcruple  not  to  afiert,  that  the 
reputation  of  the  phyfician,  who  is  frequently 
employed  in  it,  is  much  expofed  to  cenfure  ;  for 
not  only  the  vulgar  are  apt  to  attribute  the  caufe 
of  the  patient's  death  to  the  over-officioufnefs  of 
the  phyfician,  but  even  the  profeflbrs  of  the  fame 
art  fometimes  take  occafion  from  thence  to  de- 
fame their  brother,  and  haranguing  before  partial 
judges,  eafily  obtain  the  fevere  fentence  againft 
him,  with  this  view,  that  they  may  pro- 
cure greater  efteem  for  themfelves,  and  build 
their  rife  upan  the  ruin  of  others  j  which  is  a 
praftice  utterly  unbecoming  men  of  letters,  and 
even  the  meaneft  artizans,  provided  they  have  a 
regard  for  probity. 

"  But  this  I  affirm,  which  is  fufficient  for  my 
purpofe,  that  it  is  manifell,  from  frequent  expe- 

*  I  have  good  ihformation,  fays  the  learned  Dr.  Monro, 
Profeflbr  at  Edinburgh,  of  i  la  being  Inoculated  in  the  middJe 
of  winter,  in  fome  of  our  moft  northern  ifles,  where  there 
was  fcarce  fuel  enough  to  prepare  viftuals,  and  many  of  the 
inoculated  went  abroad  bare-footed  in  fnow  and  ice ;  yet  not 
one  of  the  whole  number  died.  ,  :T'  'c  v '.'  : 

Vol.  IV.  P  rience. 


210 


l  icnce,  that  he  that  refrains  from  bed  in  the  day 
time,  at  the  beginning  of  the  difeafe,  abflains  entirely 
from  fiejli,  and  drinks  only  fmall  liquors,  is  abundantly 
fafer  than  he  that  confines  himjelf  immediately  in  bed, 
and  takes  hot  cardiacs.  For  this  method,  as  above- 
mentioned,  generally  occafions  only  few  eruptionSy 
and  confequently  checks  the  exceflive  effer- 
vefcencc  of  the  fecoiidary  fever.  Moreover,  this 
method  is  preventive  of  the  purple  fpots,  and  bloody 
urine both  which  fymptoms  feize  at  the  begin- 
ing  of  the  difeafe,  and  often  before  any  fign  of 
the  eruption  appears,  which  ordinarily  happens 
alfo  in  the  meajles,  fcarlet  fever,  and  other  acute 
difeafes  proceeding  from  a  violent  inflammation. 
Not  to  mention  the  fingular  refrefliment  the  pa- 
tient finds  from  the  admiffion  of  frejh  air,  every 
time  he  is  taken  out  of  his  warm  bed  ;  which, 
all  thofe  that  I  was  fuffered  to  treat  in  this  man- 
ner openly  declared,  and  were  very  thankful 
for  J  having,  as  it  were,  received  nezv  life  and" 
fpirits  from  breathing  a  freer  air. 

*'  I  muft  proceed  next  to  obferve,  that  though 
the  patient  may  fometimes  refrain  from  bed  in 
the  day  time,  yet  in  cafe  of  extreme  ficknefs,  a 
high  fever,  enormous  vomiting,  a  vertigo,  rheu- 
matic pains  of  the  limbs,  and  the  like  diforders ; 
he  cannot  be  indulged  this  refrefliment,  thefc 
fymptoms  indicating  the  contrary ;  which,  if 
they  be  violent,  efpecially  in  the  young  and  fan- 
§;uine,  foreOiew  that  a  large  quantity  of  the  va- 
riolous 


211 


riolous  matter  is  generated  in  the  body,  and 
threaten  great  danger   from   the  tumultuary 
eruption  of  the  puftules,  which  will  prove  very 
confluent.    In  this  cafe,  therefore,  as  all  endea- 
vours muft  be  ufcd  to  check  the  immoderate  fer- 
ment, which  notwithllanding,  on  the  one  hand, 
will  rage  more  by  the  continual  warmth  of  the 
bed,  and  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  the  patient 
cannot  keep  up,  by  reafon  of  extreme  ficknefs, 
unlefs  we  relieve  him  ;  it  is  indifpenfably  necef- 
fary  to  give  a  vomit  of  the  infufion  of  i:rocus  me- 
tallorum  *,  which  not  only  expels  the  matter  oc- 
cafioning  this  unufual  ficknefs,  but  refreflies  the 
patient  fo  confiderably,  that  being  now  in  a  man- 
ner wellj  he  is  able  to  refrain  from  bed.  Neither 
are  we  to  endeavour  to  weaken  the  force  of  the 
ferment  by  this  method  only,  but  in  order  to  put 
the  patient  further  out  of  danger,  befides  the 
evacuations  juft  mentioned,  it  is  proper  to  give 
him  a  large  dofe  of  Jpirit  of  vitriol  (vitriolic  acid,) 
in  every  draught  of  fmall  beer,  till  the  eruption 
be  over.  And  notwithllanding  thefe  evacuations, 
and  the  ufe  of  the  cooling  drink,  the  patient 
jnuft  refrain  from  bed  in  the  day  time,  if  he  can 
bear  to  fit  up  ;  becaufe  thefe  general  remedies 
do  not  check  the  aflimilation  of  the  variolous 
matter,  near  fo  much  as  once  cooling  the  blood 
by  drawing  in  the  freJJi  air,  and  breathing  it  out 
by  the  lungs ;  M'hich  alone  immediately  abates 

*  Semi-v.itrious  fiilphurated  oxyd  of  antimony, 

P  2  the 


212 


the  fymptomatic  ficknefs  above-mentioned,  as  I 
have  fometimes  experienced.    But  this  unufual 
method  is  not  neceffary,  unlefs  in  fuch  as  are  in 
the  prime  of  life,  vvhofe  blood  has  been  over- 
heated by  food,  or  wine,  and  in  others  (alv^'ays 
excepting  young  children,)  who,  together  with 
the  Small-pox,  flruggle  with  the  above-mentioned 
violent  fymptoms.    For  where  the  blood  is  lefs 
inflamed,  and  the  fymptoms  milder,  as  there  is 
much  lefs  danger  of  aflimilating  the  variolous  mat- 
ter too  haftily,  fo  of  courfe,  neither  the  above- 
mentioned  evacuations,  nor  the  fpirit  of  vitriol^ 
need  be  ufed. 

"  This  fpirii,  as  if  it  were  truly  a  jpecific  in  this 
difeafe,  furprizingly  abated  all  the  fymptoms  ; 
the  face  fwells  earlier,  and  in  a  greater  degree, 
the  fpaces  between  the  eruptions  approaches 
more  to  a  bright  red  colour,  like  that  of  a  da- 
mafk  rofe  ;  the  fmalleft  puftules  alfo  became  as 
large  as  this  fpecies  would  allow,  arid  thofe, 
which  had  otherwife  been  blacky  difcharged  .  a 
yellow  matter,  refembling  a  honey-conib  ;  the 
face,  inftead  of  being  blacky  appeared  everywhere 
of  a  deep  yellow ;    laftly,  the  eruptions  came 
fooner  to  fuppuration,  and  ran  through  all  their 
ftages  a  day  or  two  fooner  than  ufual.    In  this 
manner  did  the  difeafe  proceed,  provided  the  pa» 
tient  drank  freely  of  the  liquor   above  com- 
mended ;  fo  that,  when  I  found  there  was  not 
enough  of  it  drank  to  take  oif  the  fymptoms,  I 

exhibited 


213 

exhibited  fome  drops  of  the  fpirit  of  vitriol  be- 
tween whiles,  in  ,a  fpoonful  of  fome  fyrup,  or  a 
mixture  of  -fcime  diftilled  water  and  fyrup,  in 
order  to  make  amen'ds  for  the  fparing  ufe  of  the 
above-mentioned  liquor,  where  this  acid  was  more 
largely  diluted. 

"  I  have  enumerated  the  many  advantages  of 
this'  medicine,'  and  indeed  I  have  not  hitherto 
found  the  lead  inconvenience  attending  the  ufe 
thereof :  for  though  it  moftly  flopped  the  faliva- 
tipn  on  the  tenth  or  eleventh  day,  yet  fome  ftools 
ufually  fuoceeded  at  this  time  inftead  of  if,  which 
were  lefs  dangerous  than  that  ftoppage  5  for,  as 
we  have  often  mentioned,  fuch  as  have  the  con- 
fluent Small-pox  are  principally  endangered  on 
thefe  days,  becaufe  the  faliva,  being  rendered 
more  vifcid,  does  then  threaten  fuffqcation.  Now, 
in  the  prefent  cafe,  this  fyraptom  is  relieved  by 
the  loofenefs,  which  yet'  either  goes  off  fpontane- 
oufly,  or  is  eafily  cured  by  the  milk  and  water, 
and  an  opiate,  when  the  danger  from  the  Small- 
pox is  over. 

"  On  the  26th  of  July,  i675,  Mr.  Elliot,  one 
of  the  grooms  of  the  bed-chamber  to  the  king, 
committed  to  my  care  one  of  his  fervants,  who 
had  this  dreadful  fpecies,  the  black  Small-pox. 
He  was  about  eighteen  years  of  age,  of  a  very 
fanguine  conftitution,  and  was  attacked  with 
this  diftemper  foon  after  hard  drinking.  The 
puftules  were  of  the  confluent  kind,  and  xm,  to- 

<?ether 


214 

gether  more  than  any  I  had  hitherto  feen,  fo 
that  fcarce  any  intermediate  fpace  was  left  be^ 
tween  them.     Relying  upon  the  virtue  of  this  i 
efficacious  medicine,  I  omitted  bleedings  though  I  j 
was  called  in  foon  enough  to  have  done  it,  and  ! 
ought  indeed  to  have  performed  it,  as  the  difeafe  ^ 
was  occafioned  by  drinking  wine  too  plentifully.  , 
When  the  eruption  was  over,  viz.  on  the  fifth 
or  fix th  day,  I  ordered  spirit  of  vitriol  to  \ 
be  dropped  into  fome  bottles  that  were  filled  j 
with  fmall  beer,  and  allowed  this  liquor  to  be  • 
flrank  at  pleafure  for  common  drink.    On  the  ' 
eighth  day  he  bled  fo  much  at  the  nofe,  that  j 
the  nurfe,  terrified  by  this  fymptom,  fent  in  great  i 
hafte  for  me.    Accordingly  I  went,  and  perceiv-  ; 
ing  that  the  hasmorrage  arofe  from  the  immode-  i 
rate  heat,  and  extraordinary  commotion  of  the 
blood,  I  ordered  him  to  drink  more  freely  of  the  \ 
acidulated  fmall  beer,  whereby  the  flux  of  blood 
was  foon  flopped.    The  falivation  being  plen^  ! 
tiful  enough,  and  the  fwelling  of  the  face  and  j 
hands,  and  the  filling  of  the  puftules,  proceeding 
in -a  proper  manner,  the  difeafe  went  on  very  i 
well,  except  that  in  the  decline  it  was  attended  j 
with   fome  blood,  and  mucous  ftools,  which  ' 
might  poffibly  have  been  prevented  by  bleeding  | 
in  the  beginning.    Neverthelefs,  I  ufed  no  other  ! 
medicine  in  this  dyfentery,  fince  this  fymptom 
required  nothing  further  than  the  opiate,  which 
I  jQiould  h^ve  ordered  to  be  taken  every  evening,  ' 

 if  ' 


215 

if  this  diforder  had  not  happened;  and  by  thus 
means  it  was  checked,  till  the  eruptions  went 
off;  and  the  patient  foon  recovered. 

"  About  the  fame  time  Mr.  Clinch,  a  neigh- 
bouring gentleman,  committed  two  of  his  chil- 
dren to  my.  care ;  the  one  was  four  years  of  age, 
and  the  other  fucked,  and  was  not  fix  months 
old  ;  the  eruptions  were  very  fmall  and  confluent 
in  both,  and  of  the  black  kind,  and  came  out 
like  an  eryfipelas.  I  directed  fpirit  of  vitriol  to 
be  dropped  into  all  their  drink,  which,  notwith- 
ftanding  their  age,  they  drank  without  averfion  ; 
and  not  being  affecled  with  any  more  violent 
fymptom,  they  foon  recovered.  My  intimate 
friend.  Dr.  Mapletoft,  accompanying  me  to  vifit 
them,  found  the  eldeft  recovering,  and  the 
youngeft  then  lying  ill  in  the..cradle. 

"  I  will  fubjoin  a  late  cafe,  as  a  fpeeimei:i  of  this 
whole  procedure.  I  was  fent  for  this  winter  by 
lady  Dacres,  to  attend  her  nephew,  Mr.  Thomas 
Chute,  a  perfon  of  a  very  fanguine  conftitution, 
and  in  the  prime  of  life.  The  day  before  I 
came  he  was  feized  with  a  high  fever,  vomited 
aconfiderable  quantity  of  bilious  matter,  and  had 
a  violent  pain  in  his  back.  In  order  to  miti- 
gate thefe  fymptoms,  he  went  to  bed,  and  by 
heaping  on  clothes,  and  taking  hot  liquors,  fpent 
a  day  to  no  purpofe,  in  endeavouring  to  fcce 
fweat,  the  great  tendency  to  vomiting,  and  the 
purging,  though  moderate,  rendering  the  fudo- 

rijics 


2l6 


rifics  inefFetlual,  and  in  the  mean  time  incrcaf- 
ing  the  fever.  I  fufpe£led  the  Small-pox  would 
fliortly  appear,  and  likvvife  prove  very  confluent, 
both  on  account  of  his  youth,  and  the  great 
inflammation  raifed  in  his  blood  by  the  fruitlefs  at- 
tempt to  procure  fweat,  which,  if  the  difeafe  had 
happened  in  the  fummer,  would  certainly  have 
Gccafioned  bloody  urine  and  purp/e  /pots ;  but 
chiefly,  becaufe  I  have  always  obferved,  that  in 
young  perfons,  attacked  with  exceifive  vomiting, 
ficknefs,  and  extraordinary  pain,  the  fucceeding 
Small-pox  proved  highly  confluent.  For  this 
reafon,  judging  it  requifite  to  ufe  all  endeavours 
tp  prevent  the  too-hafl^y  aflimilation  of  the  vario- 
lous matter,  I  kept  him  up  till  his  ufual  time 
of  going  to  bed  ;  and  the  next  day  in  the  morn- 
ing, which  was  the  third,  the  Small-pox  not 
appearing,  I  directed  eight  ounces  of  blood  to 
be  taken  away  from  the  right  arm.  The  blood 
was  good  and  florid,  and  having  as  yet  only  re- 
ceived the  fpiritupus  miafm,  and  not  that  pu- 
trefaftion  oecafioned  by  a  longer  continuance  of 
the  difeafe,  and  generally  obfervable  in  the  blood 
of  perfons  lately  recovered  from  this  difeafe. 
The  fame  dav,  at  five  in  the  afternoon,  I  ex- 
hibited  an  ounce  of  the  infufion  of  crocus  me- 
iallorum;  which  operated  well,  carrying  off"  his 
ficknefs,  fo  that  he  feemed  niuch  better  and 
willingly  refrained  from  bed,  which  he  did  not 
care  to  quit  before  by  reafon  of  hi^  great  ficknefs 

and 


and  giddinefs.  On  the  fourth  day  in  the  morn- 
ing, I  found  the  eruptions  coming  out  fo  co- 
pioufly,  notwithflanding  the  endeavours  I  had 
ufed  to  prevent  it,  that  they  threatened  the  ut- 
moft  danger,  I  was,  therefore,  very  cautious'  to 
keep  him  up  in  the  day  time,  and  advifed  the 
drinking  of  fmall-beer  acidulated  with  fpirk  of 
vitriol.  He  continued  the  ufe  of  thefe  things 
to  the  fixth  day,  when,  though  he  was  not  fick, 
but  much  refreflied  by  the  f re/It  air,  yet  his 
belly  was  foluble  between  whiles  j  towards  night 
he  was  obliged  to  go  to  bed,  which  is  common 
in  this  cafe,  and  therefore,  he  continued  therein, 
by  my  confent,  during  the  whole  courfe  of  the 
difeafe  ;  the  eruption  being  now  over.  Though 
the  puftules  were  fewer  than  I  have  obferved 
hi  fome  that  have  died  of  this  difeafe,  yet.  they 
were  more  numerous  thai:^  they  generally  are  in 
moft  that  recover. 

"  And  now  I  have  given  the  reader,"  fays  Syden- 
ham, "  my  f///^obfervations  relating  to  the  Small- 
pox ;  and  though  they  may  perhaps  in  this  cen- 
forious  'age,  hp  efteemed  of  little  moment,  yet  I 
have  with  great  pains  and  care  fpent  many  years  in. 
examining  them  j  nor  had  I  now  publiflied  them, 
if  a  defign  of  benefiting  mankind  had  not  in- 
duced me  to  it,  even  at  the  expence  of  my  reputa- 
tion, which  I  am  fenfible  will  fuffer  on  account  of 
the  novelty  of  the  method." 


SECT. 


2l8 


SECT.  XLIII, 

OF  THE  TREATMENT  OF  THE  INOCULATED 
SMALL-POX, 

This  is  divided  into  two  parts,  the  preparation 
before,  and  the  plan  to  be  followed  after,  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  eruption.  The  immortal  Boer- 
have  conje£lures  that  the  higheft  advantage  will 
"hereafter  be  derived  by  finding  out  an  antidote  to 
the  variolous  as  to  other  poifons.  "  Let  us  en- 
"  quire,"  fays  he,  with  a  fagacity  almoft  pro- 
phetic, "  whether  in  ANTIMONY  and  MER- 
"  CURY,  reduced  to  a  Hate  of  CALX  (an  oxyd) 
"  this  prophylaftic  power  does  not  exift*?'* 

His  commentator.  Van  Swieten,  relates,  that 
feveral  phyficians  have  profited  of  this  hint,  and 
the  refult  w^as,  that  not  only  few,,  but  fometimes 
even  no  puftules  whatever  have  appeared.  A 
phyfician  gave  to  his  own  child,  who  had  all  the 
fymptoms  of  the  eruptive  fever,  a  fufficient  dofe 
of  dulcified  mercury  (calomel)  by  which  flie 
purged  and  vomited,  after  which  flie  flept  quiet- 
ly, nor  did  any  eruption  whatever  appear,  al- 
though her  brother  at  the  fame  time,  who  was 
not  fo  treated,  was  a  fight  from  the  quantity  of 
eruption.  After  which  he  gave  the  fame  to  eight 

*  Vide  Aphorifm  1391  and,  1392. 

Others, 


219 

others,  and  with  this  effeft,  that  they  had  very 
few  puftules*.  Modern  experience  has  fince 
fliewn,  that  if  you  mix  the  virus  of  SraalKpox 
with  muriate  of  Mercury,  it  is  difarmed  of  its  power 
of  producing  the  nifeafe. 

Jn  1750,  Dr.  Adam  Thomfon,  upon  the  fug- 
geftion  of  the  1392  aphorifm  of  Boerhaave,.  was 
led  to  prepare  his  patients  by  a  compofition  of 
antimony  and  mercury;  which  he  employed  with 
uninterrupted  fuccefs  for  the  fpace  of  twelve 
years.  He  relates  that  only  one  out  of  700  died 
with  this  manner  of  preparation*.  We  find  his 
plan  more  particularly  noticed  in  the  Pennfylvania 
Gazette,  June  26,  1760. 


A  CERTAIN  WAY  OF  AVOIDING  THE  DAN- 
GER OF  THE  SMALL-POX. 

"  The  night  before  you  inoculate,  give  a  few 
grains  of  calomel,  (oxyd  of  mercury)  well  levi- 
"  gated,  with  a  like  quantity  of  diaphoretic  anti- 
mony,  (oxyd  of  antimony)  unwaflied,  propor- 
"  tioning  the  quantity  of  calomel  to  the  conftitu- 
"  tion  of  your  patient ;  from  four  grains  to  ten 
f*  for  a  grown  perfon,  and  from  one  to  three  for 

*  Van  Swieten  refers  us  to  Mifcellaa  cunor.  dec.  i.  an.  3. 
'page  13.  for  this  hiftory. 

f  Vide  A  Difcourfe  on  the  preparation  of  the  body  for  the 
Small-pox,  and  the  manner  of  receiving  the  infection,  as  it  was 
-lelivered  in  the  public  hall  of  the  Academy. 

"  a  child. 


220 


a  child,  to  be  made  up  into  a  bolus  or  fmall 
"  pill,  with  a  little  conferve  of  rofes,  or  any  com- 
"  mon  fyrup.  The  next  nnorning  give  a  purge 
"  of  the  pulvis  cornachini,  made  with  equal 
"  parts  of  diaphoretic  antimony^  fcammony,  and 
"  cream  of  tartar.  Repeat  the  bolus  or  pill 
"  three  times,  that  is,  once  every  other  night 
*'  after  inoculation  5  and  on  the  fifth  day  give  a 
*^  dofe  of  Boerhaave's  Golden.  Sulphur  of  Antimony: 
"  about  four  grains  of  it  for  a  grown  perfon,  with 
*'  two  or  three  grains  of  calomel,  made  into  a 
"  fmall  pill,  will  operate  both  as  a  vomit  and  a 
"  purge  at  the  fame  time/' 

"  In  the  intermediate  days, , give  two  or  three 
"  papers  of  the  following  powders,  viz.  diapho- 
"  retic  antimony'*,  ten  grains;  fal  prunel\y  fix 
"  grains;  and  calomel,  one  grain,  mixed  together, 
"  for  a  grov^m  perfon;  and  about  one  fourth  part 
"  of  a  paper  for  a  child. 

Thefe  powders  are  to  be  continued  until  the 
"  variolous  or  Small-pox  fever  is  over;  and  while 

the  fever  is  high,  let  your  patient  drink  a  cup 
"  of  uohey  two  or  three  times  a  day;  the  whey  to 
"  be  made  of  cream  of  tartar  \  inftead  of  runnet, 
"  and  thofe  that  are  of  a  full  habit,  fliould  be 
"  blooded  once  or  twice  within  the  firft  eight 

*  White  oxyd  of  antimony  by  nitre,  according  to  the  new 
nomenclature  of  chemiftry. 
f  Purified  nitre. 
%  Acidulous  tartrite  of  potafli. 

"  days. 


221 


"  days,  and  muft  abftani  from  all  fpirituous 
"  liquor,  and  from  meat  of  all  kinds,  broth,  fait, 
«  and  butter." 

The  next  publication  which  I  fliali  :  notice, 
is  that  of  Dr.  Andrew,  of  Exeter,  in  1 7 6'5,  en- 
titled, "  The  praBice  of  Inoculation  impartially  con- 
*'  fidered;  its  Jignal  advantages  fully  proved;  and 

the  popular  objedions  agaiyijl  it  confuted.''''  In  the 
praftical  part  of  this  pamphlet  the  author  ftre- 
nuoufly  contends  for  the  ufe  of  mercurial  purgatives 
and  antimonials,  as  a  neceffary  preparation  for 
inoculation. 

On  this  fubjeft  he  cites  the  following  letter 
from  Dr.  Huxham,  dated  Plymouth,  January 
1765: — So  long  ago  as  1724,  I  fuggefted  that 
"  mercurials,  as  well-prepared  cnlomel,  or  the 
*'  like,  might  be  of  ufe  in  the  Small-pox.  I  fel- 
"  dom  fail  of  giving  a  mercurial  purge  or  two^ 
"  previoufly  to  inoculation  of  a  perfon  for  the 
"  Small-pox.    Sometimes  alfo  I  give  my  nntimo- 

7iiated  athiops.  He  adds,  the  ufe  of  mercurials 
"  and  antimonials  will  more  fully  appear,  as  prc- 

paratory  to  inoculation,  by  what  the  ingenious 
"  Dr.  Benjamin  Gale,  of  Conne£licut,  in  New 
"  England,  has  communicated  to  me  in  his  '  Dif- 
"  fertation  on  the  Inoculation  of  the  Small-pox  in  Ame- 
"  rica;\  in  which  he  fays,  *  Before  the  ufe  of  mer- 
"  cury  and  antimony ,  in  preparing  perfons  for  inocula- 

tion,  one  of  100  of  the  inoculated  died,  but  fince 
"  mly  one  of  800." 

According 


222 


According  to  Dr.  Gale,  the  ufe  of  mercury  in, 
the  Small-pox  was  firft  reforted  to  in  the  Emiijk 
American  Colonies  in  1745,  when  it  was  employ- 
ed with  fuccefs  by  Dr.  Thomas,  of  Virginia, 
"  and  Dr.  Murison,  of  Long  Ifland,  in  the 
Province  of  New  York. 

In  the  year  1752,  there  was  an  exact  account 
taken  by  order  of  the  magiftrates  of  the  town  of 
Bofton,  and  rendered  upon  oath,  of  all  who  had 
the  Small-pox,  either  in  the  natural  way,  or  by 
inoculation,  and  the  precife  number  of  thofe  who 
had  died  of  it  in  either;  by  which  it  appears,  the 
number  of  the  inhabitants  amounted  to  15,734. 
Thofe  who  had  the  diftemper  in  the  natural  way 
amounted  to  5,544,  of  which  514  died. — The 
whole  number  inoculated  amounted  to  i^,II3,  of 
which  30  died.  Hitherto  mercury  had  not  been 
made  ufe  of  in  inoculation  at  Bofton;  but  in  1764 
the  Small-pox  vifited  Bofton  again,  when  Dr. 
Gale  fays,  by  the  laft  accounts  3,000  had  reco- 
vered from  inoculation  in  the  nezv  method  by  the 
ufe  of  mercury,  and  five  only  had  died. 

The  pra6lice  of  the  venerable  Sydenham  was 
nearly  exploded,  when  a  new  sra  in  the  hiftory 
of  inoculation  took  place,  by  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  Suttonian  prafiice,  which  in  the  year 
1765  had  extended  fo  rapidly  in  the  counties  of 
EfTex  and  Kent,  as  to  much  intereft  the  public, 
who  were  not  lefs  furprifed  by  the  novel  manner 
in  which  it  was  conducted,  than  by  the  uninter- 
rupted 


223 

mpied  Juccefs  with  which  it  was  attended  upon  a. 
prodigious  number  of  perfons. 

Mr.  Robert  Sutton,  the  firft  of  this  name 
who  acquired  celebrity  as  an  inoculator,  refided 
at  Debenham,  in  Suffolk,  where  he  praftifed  fur- " 
gery  and  pharmacy.  He  began  to  inoculate  in 
February,  1757,  in  which  year  the  number  q£ 
perfons  inoculated  by  him  was  ....  41 
In  the  year  1758  he  inoculated  27 

1759  .  .  »  132 

1760   135 

1761  113 

1762    452 

1763    575 

4764   243 

1765    835 

1766    224 

1767    239 

2,514 


Two  of  his  fons,  Robert  and  Daniel,  de- 
signing to  follow  the  profeffion  of  their  father, 
were  employed  in  the  difpenfing  of  medicinesi 
and  in  affifting  him  during  the  three  firft  years  of 
his  praftice  of  inoculation;  after  which  Robert, 
the  elder  brother,  removed  to  Bury  St.  Edmund's, 
where  he  became  an  eftabliihed  inoculator;  while 
Daniel  afted  as  affiftant  to  Mr.  Bumftead,  a  fur- 
geou  and  apothecary  at  Oxford, — The  latter,  on 

his 


his  return  to  Debenham,  in  the  year  17C3,  fug- 
gefted  to  his  father  (as  I  was  informed  by  him)  a 
NEW  PLAN  of  inoculation,  in  which  he  propofed 
to  JJiorten  the  time  of  preparation  to  a  few  days^  and 
not  to  confine  the  inoculated  patients  to  the  houfe,  but 
to  oblige  them  to  be  in  the  open  air  as  much  as  pojjible 
during  the  whole  progrefs  of  the  diflemper. 

To  reduce  ,  the  procefs  preparatory  to  inocula- 
tion, from  a  month,  which  was  then  the  ufual 
time,  to  eight,  or  ten  days,  was  to  obviate  the 
objeftions  that  many,  pcrfons  had  made  to  inocu- 
lation, from  the  great  length  of  time  it  required. 
This,  therefore,  might  be  thought  a  meafure  of 
expediency,  to.  bring  a  greater  number  of  pa- 
tients; but  obliging  thofe  under  inoculation  to 
walk  out  in.  the  cold  air,  during  the  eruptive 
fever,  feems  to  have  been  a  pra£tice  derived  from 
Sydenham,  and  confirmed  by  experience.  How- 
ever, Mr.  Sutton,  the  father,  could  not  be  per- 
fuaded  to  adopt  any  innovation  in  his  pra£lice  of 
inoculation,  and  would  not  hear  of  his  fon's  new 
fcheme,  which  he  condemned  as  not  only  rajh  and 
abfurd,  but  as  extremely  dangerous.  Daniel  foon 
afterwards,  however,  availed  himfelf  ot  repeated 
opportunities  of  carrying  it  into  efFe6l,  and  found 
it  to  anfwer  his  utmoft  expeclations.  The  ad- 
vantages of  this  nezv  plan  were  foon  perceived  by 
the  patients,  who  now  began  to  manifeft  a  defire 
of  being  folely  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  D. 
Sutton.    This  preference  gave  occafion  to  a  dif- 

pute 


2^5 

pute  between  the  father  and  the  fon,  about  the 
end  of  the  year  1763,  when  the  latter  determined 
to  praftife  inoculation  uncontrolled  by  parental 
authority  j  and  for  this  purpofe  he  opened  a 
houfe  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Ingateftone,  in 
ElTex.  Here  the  young  adventurous  inoculator, 
by  public  advertifements,  and  hand-bills,  propofed 
to  inoculate  upon  an  improved  method,  peculiar  to 
himfelf;  and  alfo  hinted,  that  by  the  nfe  of  certain 
medicines,  he  could  always  render  the  Small-pox  an 
innocent  and  traSiable  difeafe.  Three  months  elapfed 
before  he  profited  by  his  new  fituation :  but  he 
afterwards  fucceeded  fo  well,  that  at  the  clofe  of 
the  firli  year  his  profeffion  produced  him  2000 
guineas:  and  in  the  fecond  year,  which  he  fays 
was  the  moft  profitable  of  any  that  he  expe- 
rienced, his  fees  amounted  to  more  than  treble 
this  Jimu  His  fame  was  now  fpread  to  the  moft 
diftant  parts  of  the  kingdom  ^  and  the  numbers 
that  reforted  to  him  for  inoculation,  conftantly 
filled  the  village  of  Ingateftone,  fo  that  it  was 
with  grea:t  difficulty  lodgings  could  be  procured 
for  the  purpofe;  His  practice  in  Kent  being 
alfo  very  extenfive,  he  was  under  the  neeeffity  of 
employing  feveral  medical  affiftants*. 

*  In  1767,  Mr.  D.  Sutton,  removed  to  London,'  where  he 
hoped  to  profit  by  his  profeffion  ftill  more  than  he  had  done  in 
the  countr}';  but  his  pradice  here  fell  far  fliort  of  his  expefta- 
tions}  and  the  two  houfes,  one  at  Ki^nfington  Gore,  and  ano- 
ther at  Brentford,  which  were  procured  for  his  inoculated  pa- 
tients, were  foon  abandoned. 

Vol.  IV,  Q  Great, 


226 


Great,  however,  as  might  be  the  number  which 
he  inoculated,  and  the  fticcefs  of  his  practice, 
yet  they  were  both,  perhaps,  exaggerated,  not 
only  by  public  report,  but  by  the  pen  of  the 
Reverend  Robert  Houlton*.  This  gcntle- 
m<in,  who  ftiles  himfclf  "  Chaplain  to  the  Earl  of 
"  Ilchejlcr,'''  afferted,  "  that  not  one  perfon  out  of  a 

thuufand  inoculated  by  Mr.  Sutton,  had  more  vario- 
**  loUs  fujlules  than  he  could  wiJJi,  and  that  if  any 

patitnt  had  twenty  or  thirty  pujiules,  he  was  faid  to 
"  have  the  Small-pox  very  heavily."  He  fays, 
"  If  Mr.  Sutton  perceives  a  Jymptom  in  patients  of 
"  great  fever,  or  a  probability  of  their  having  more 
"  pujiiiks  than  they  would  choofe,  he  quickly  prevents 

both  by  virtue  of  his  medicines-,^''  for,  according 
to  this  writier,  "  the  Sutton  family  is  in  pojjejjion  of  an 
*^  iNESTiMAfeLE  MEDICINE,  by  the  ufe  of  which 
"  a  too  great  burthen  of  puflides  can  infallibly  be  pre- 

vented.'^ 

According  to  Mr.  Houlton's  rtatement,  the 
iiumber  of  p6rfons  inoculated  by  Mr.  Daniel 
Sutton,  in  the  year,  1764  was  1629 

1765  .  .  •.  4347 

1766  .  .  .  7816 

13,792 


*  Vide  "  A  Sermon  preached  at  Ingateftone,  EfTex,  0£lober 
"  12,  1766^  in  Defence  of  Inoculation.  To  which  is  added, 
«  au  Appendix  on  the  prefent  State  of  Inoculation." 

"  To 


,  22/ 

*^  ■  Te  the  above  number  (fays  he)  Jlwuld  be  added 
"  6,000  that  have  been  inoculated  by  Mr.  Sutton's 

aJJiJiantSf  Jo  that4ie  may  be  /aid  to  have  inoculated 
"  within  thefe  three  years  20,000  perfons, 

"  Of  the  above  multitude  he  denies  that  a  Jitin 
"  gle  patient  has  died  really  from  inoculation 
"  (by  him  or  his  ajjijiants)  or  from  its  effeEls.  The 
"  death  of  tzvo  or  three  who  died,  was  owing, 
"  one  to  his  own  imprudence  in  being  drunk 
"  feveral  times  during  the  eruption  j  the  other 
"  two  to  complicated  diforders,  which  would 
*'  have  killed  them  had  they  not  been  inoculated  : 
"  for  as  to  Small-pox,  they  had  but  very  few 
"  puftules,  and  had  taken  their  leave  of  Mr. 
«  Sutton/' 

Though  this  and  other  accounts  of  Mr.  Sutton's 
praftice,  magnified  it  probably  beyond  its  real 
merit,  yet  not  a  doubt  could  be  entertained  but 
that  the  Suttonian  plan  of  inoculation  was  incom- 
parably more  fuccefsful  than  that  of  any  other 
praftitioner. 

It  cannot  therefore  appear  furprifing,  that  the 
attention  of  medical  men  lliould  be  dire6led  to 
inveftigate  the  caufes  which  gave  this  new  method 
of  inoculation  fuch  a  decided  advantage.  Thus 
we  find  Sir  George  Baker,  Prefident  of  the  Lon- 
don College,  and  Phyfician  to  the  King,  was  the 
firfl:  to  embark  in  the  purfuit,  and  to  detail  the 
n^w  procefs  of  inoculation  by  Mr.  D,  Sutton, 
which  he  has  done  as  follows : — 

Q  2  «  All 


228 


All  perfons,"  fays  this  phyfician,  "  are 
"  obliged  to  go  through  a  ftrift  preparatory  fegi- 
"  men  for  a  fortnight  before  the  operation  is  per- 
"  formed.  During  this  courfe,  every  kind  oY 
*'  animal  food,  milk  only  excepted,  and  all  fer- 

merited  liquors  and  fpices,  are  forbidden.  Fruit 
"  of  all  forts  is  allowed,  except  only  on  thofe 
"  days  when  a  purging  medicine  is  taken.  In  this 
*'  fortnight  of  preparation,  a  dofe  of  a  powder  is 
*'  ordered  to  be  taken  at  bed-time,  three  fevera:! 
"  times;  and  on  the  following  mornings,  a  dofe 
"  of  purging  fait.    To  children,  only  three  dofes 

of  the  powder  are  given,  without  any  purgitig 
*'  fait.  The  compofition  of  this  powder  is  in- 
"  duftrioufly  kept  a  fecret.  But  that  it  confifts 
"  partly  of  a  mercurial  preparation,  is  demon- 
*'  f  rated  by  its  having  made  the  gums  of  fever al  peo- 

"  P^^  Z^''^'       ^'^'^^^  falivated  others. 

"  As  foon  as  the  eruption  has  made  its  firft 
"  appearance,  he  obliges  every  body  to  get  up, 
"  to  walk  about  the  houfe,  or  into-  the  garden. 
"  From  this  time  to  the  turn  of  the  difeafe,  he 
"  gives  milk-gruel  ad  libitum. 

"  What  is  above-written  is  to  be  confidered  as 
"  relating  only  to  the  praftice  of  one  gentleman 
"  (Mr.  D.  Sutton.)  There  are  in  different  parts 
"  of  the  country  feveral  other  inoculators,  fome 
"  of  whom  are  faid  to  have  furpalfed  this  perfon 

in  the  boldncfs  of  their  pra£tice.  We  have 
"  heard  of  patients  who  have  been  carried  into 

«  the 


229 

"  the  fields  while  fliivering  in  a  rigor;  or  of  their 
^'  having  been  allowed  no  liquor,  except  what 

they  have  been  able  to  procure  for  themfelves 
"  at  the  pump,  while  the  fever  has  been  upon 
"  them;  and  of  their  having  been  indlfcriminate- 

ly  expofed  to  the  air,  in  all  forts  of  weather, 
"  and  in  all  feafons,  during  every  period  of  the 
"  eruption.    Tk's  and  more  has  hen  related  upon 

good  authority :  and  indeed  it  is  certain  that  many 
"  thoiifands,  of  all  conjlitutions  and  ages,  even  to  that 
"  of  feventy  years,  have  within  thefe  few  years  been 
"  inoculated,  according  to  the  general  method  above 

defcribed;  and  in  general  have  gone  through  the 

difeafe  almoji  without  an  unfavourable  fymptom, 
.**  ylccording  to  the  bejl  information  which  I  can  pro^ 
"  cure,  about  seventeen  thousand  have  been 
*'  thus  inoculated;  of  which  number  nq  more  thai} 
*■  FIVE  cr  SIX  have  died''' 

After  ftating  this  as  the  Suttonian  praftice,  Sir 
George  proceeds  to  examine,  to  what  caufes  its 
fuperior  fuccefs  is  to  be  afcribed  ;  and  upon  comr 
paring  it  circumftantially  with  the  other  methods, 
he  concludes  that  the  principal  advantage  of  it  is 
derived  from  the  free  ufe  of  COLD  AIR,  in 
which  the  Suttons  indulged  their  patients  through 
the  whole  procefs  pf  the  difeafe,  to  a  much  greater 
degree  than  what  had  generally  been  allowed. 
In  confirmation  of  this  opinion,  he  inquires  into 
Sydenham's  method  of  treating  his  variolous  pa- 
tients, and  fliows,  that  this  accurate  practitioner 

gradually 


230 

gradually  became  a  greater  patron  of  the  cool 
regimen,  in  proportion  to  the  progrefs  which  he 
made  in  his  knowledge  of  the  difeafe.  Many 
other  fa£ls  are  alfo  adduced,  proving  the  great 
efficacy  of  the  cool  treatment  in  the  Small-pox. 

A  few  months  after  the  publication  of  this 
"  Inquiry,"  appeared  "  A  letter  from  Dr.  Glass 
*'  (of  Exeter)  to  Sir  George  Baker,''  in  which  the 
former  differs  from  the  latter,  in  not  attributing 
the  chief  advantage  of  the  Suttonian  procefs  of 
inoculation  to  the  more  free  employment  of  the 
cool  regimen.  Dr.  Glafs,  however,  admits  that 
pra£lical  obfervations  furnifh  undeniable  evidence 
of  the  good,  effefts  of  cold  air,  as  well  in  common 
ns  in  (bme  very  defperate  cafes  of  Small-pox;  but 
he  contends,  that  the  extraordinary  fuccefs  of 
inoculation,  under  the  direction  of  Mr,  Sutton, 
depends  upon  other  means.  He  fays,  the  pa- 
tients, on  having  a  confiderable  degree  of  fever^ 
are  permitted  to  lie  in  bed,  and  that  an  apothe- 
cary of  his  acquaintance,  who  vifited  the  inocula- 
tor's  hofpital  laft  year,  found  three  of  them  in 
bed,  and  favv  the  matron  of  the  houfe  give  to 
each  of  them  a  fmall  tumbler  of  liquor,  and  was  in- 
formed by  her  they  w^ere  to  continue  in  bed  until 
the  eruption  appeared.  The  liquor  fhe  gave 
them,  they  called ;  it  had  the  appearance  of 
pure  water,  and  tafted  fomewhat  like  flierbet. 
This  ACID  LIQUOR  was  given  three  or  four 
times  a  day,  to  all  the  patients  in  whom  the 

eruptive 


231 

eruptive  fytriptoms  were  attended  with  much 
fever,  and  its  ordinary  efFeft  was  that  of  a  fudo- 
rific;  but  if  it  did  not  produce  perfpiration,  a  pill 
or  powder,  ftill  more  powerful,  was  adminiftered. 
Thus,  Dr.  Glafs  obfervcs,  it  is  a  conftant  rule  with 
the  Suttons  to  keep  their  patients  in  a  fweat  .for 
fome  time  before  the  appearance  of  the  eruption, 
and  to  proportion  the  degree  of  the  fweat  to  the 
height  of  the  fever.  Hence  he  thinks  it  "  highly 
"  probable,  that  their  great  fuccefs  is  chiefly 
"  owing  to  their  lingular  method  of  difpofmg 
"  their  patients  to  fweat,  and  then  fweating  them 
"  by  the  medicines  given  after  inoculation,  and 
"  during  the  eruptive  fever." 

The  Reverend  Mr.  Houlton  now  came  for- 
ward to  declare,  that  the  publications  of  Drs. 
Baker  and  Glafs  contained  "  little,  very  little  in- 
"  deed,  of  the  true  Suttonian  practice  of  inocula- 
"  tion.  The  time,  fay  he,  will  come  perhaps 
^'  when  the  Sutton  family  will  generoufly  difclofe 
"  to  the  world  their  juftly  fingular,  noble,  and 
"  ineftimable  practice  of  inoculation*." 

This  Reverend  Author  here  complains  of  the 
perfecution  of  D.  Sutton,  even  to  the  following  ex- 
tent : — About  the  beginning  of  laft  fummer,  the 
"  Small-pox  broke  out  in  a  mofh  violent  manner 
"  at  Chelmsford,  in  ElTex,  fweeping  off  every 
"  week  many  of  the  inhabitants.    This  was  a 

fine  opportunity  for  Mr.  Sutton's  enemies  to 

f  This  has  been  done.  Vide  p.  237. 

furmife. 


232 

furmife,  invent,  and  propagate  what  calumnies 
"  theypleafedj  efpecially  as  he  fometimcs  came 
"  on  market-days  to  treat  with  people  who  were 
inclined  to   be  inoculated.     If  any  perfon 
"  chanced  to  accompany  him  in  his  carriage,  it 
was  always  induftrioufly  reported,  that  fuch 
perfon  was  a  patient,  brought  to  inoculate  from 
or  fpread  the  difeafe.    In  confequence  of  thefe 
groundlefs  infmuations  and  mifreprefentations, 
"  an  indi£iment  was  aftually  preferred  laft  fummer 
"  affize,  againft  Mr.  D.  Sutton,  furgeon-,  for  a 
"  nuifance ;  but  the  grand  jury  would  not  find 
^*  the  bill  againft  him." 

To  the  above  fucceeded  "  An  EJfay  towards  an 
"  mvejiigation  of  the  prefent  fuccefsful  and  mojl  general 
method  of  inoculation^  by  B.  Chandler,  Sur- 
*'  geon,  at  Canterbury."  This  gentleman  informs 
us,  that  a  number  of  perfons  of  all  ranks  had  been 
inoculated  at  Canterbury,  according  to  the  Sut- 
tonian  plan,  by  Mr.  Peale,  a  furgeon  of  eminence 
at  Maidftone,  and  one  of  the  partners  of  Mr.  Sut- 
ton ;  and  that  in  Mr.  Peale's  abfence,  he  had 
been  by  many  defired  to  attend,  fo  that  by  thefe 
opportunities,  and  by  frequent  converfations  with 
Mr.  Peale,  he  was  enabled  to  carry  the  inveftiga- 
tion  of  the  new  praftice  farther  than  it  had  been 
done  by  Drs.  Baker  and  Glafs.  Nay,  he  made 
trials  of  it  upon  great  numbers  at  Chilham,  and 
fays  his  patients,  in  every  ftage  of  the  Small-pox, 
%vere  "  exaft  copies  of  Mr.  Peale's  patients." 

Hie, 


233 

His  method  of  conducing  the  procefs  of  inocu'Ui- 
tion,  and  which  he  confiders  as  being  efrcntiall)'" 
the  fame  with  that  of  Mr.  Sutton,  is  thus  de-- 
fcribed : — "  My  patients  have  taken,  if  adults,  a 
*'  dofe  of  calomel,  adapted  to  their  age  and  ftrength, 
«  at  bed-time,  and  purged  it  off  with  Glauber's 
"  fait  next  morning ;  this  has  been  repeated  to 
the  third  time  j  at  the  intermediate  diftance  of 
two  days  from  each.    Children  have  fometimes 
"  taken  a  purging  powder,  with  calomel,  three 
"  times,  of  a  morning  only. — In  regard  to  diet,  \ 
have  ftriclly  forbade  all  animal  and  fpiced  food, 
"  and  all  fermented  liquors,  not  only  through  the 
"  preparatory  courfe,  but  in  general  through  the 
"  whole  of  the  difeafe,  conftantly  advifing  them 
to  return  to  their  ufual  way  of  living  gradually 
"  and  cautioufly.    On  the  day  following  the  laft 
"  dofe  of  phylic,  I  have  performed  the  operation ; 
"  which  I  do  by  wetting  my  lancet  in  the  moifture 
"  of  the  puftule,  which  rifes  on  the  arm  of  an 
inoculated  perfon,  before  the  little  feverifhnefs 
and  general  eruption  cjppear  5  and  then  making 
two  very  fmall  oblique  punftures  with  it  in  the 
"  arm  of  the  perfon  to  be  inoculated,  dire£ting 
the  inftrument  not  perpendicularly,  but  hori- 
"  zontally,  fp  as  to  divide  the  cuticle  from  the 
"  cutis  underneath ;  as  foon  as  the  leaft  tinge  of 
"  blood  appears,  I  wipe  my  lancet  on  the  wound, 
"  and  make  another  puncture  in  the  fame  man- 
Hgr^  immediately  pulling  down  the  fleeve,  and 

"  applying 


234 

apph  ing  neither  plafter  nor  bandage.  From 
"  this  time  I  take  care  to  keep  ray  patients  cool 
"  and  open,  advifmg  moderate  exercife  in  the 

free  air,  and  giving  to  moft,  except  very  young 
"  children,  two  or  three  pills  every  other  day,  or 
"  thereabout,  from  the  fifth  after  inoculation, 

compofed  of  aloes,  kermes  mineral*,  and 
"  camphire.  If  the  preparatory  medicines  have 
"  been  inaftive,  thefe  fupply  their  place ;  if  the 
"  patient  has  been  irregular,  thefe  are  as  likely  as 

any  thing  to  corretl  the  inconveniences  which 
*'  may  arife  from  it.  '  And  as  fomething  wrong 
"  in  the  habit  may  often  juftly  be  fufpe£led,  when 
"  the  punftures  do  not  inflame  fo  much  as  ufual, 
"  I  give  the  pills,  in  fuch  cafes,  fomewhat  more 
"  freely.  This  is  no  new  obfervation  ;  it  has 
*^  often  been  experienced  in  the  old  inoculation, 
"  that  thofe  patients  had  the  difeafe  moft  favour- 
*'  ably,  whofe  inoculated  arms  difcovered  an 

earlier  inflammation,  a  more  confiderable  fwel- 
"  ling,  and  a  broader  difk  of  furrounding  rednefs. 
"  I  do  not  pretend  that  thefe  have  any  fpecific 
"  powers ;  indeed,  I  think  they  have  not :  but 
"  they  are  more  commodioufly  carried  about,  and 
"  as  eafily  taken  as  any  other  form  of  medicine. 
*^  I  have  Boerhaave's  fanSlion  for  their  ufe,  and  a 
"  ftrong  probability  of  their  being  the  fame  as 
"  Mr.  Sutton's :  I  have  always  feen  them  operate 


*  The  Red  fiilphurated  Oxyd  of  Antimony. 

"  in 


235 

<^  in  the  fame  manner,  and  anfvver  every  inten- 
"  tion  equally  well.  From  the  feventh  to  the 
"  ninth  day,  I  expeft  my  patients  to  begin  to 
"  complain  a  Uttle;  but  fome  few  entirely  ef- 
"  c^pe  :  then  I  give  nitre,  diffolved  in  a  decoo- 
"  tion  of  oats,  acidulated  with  lemon  juice,  or 
"  weak  SPIRIT  of  y it vhol^,  ad  libiiim.  This 
"  cooling  liquor  is  agreeable  to  the  palate,  af- 
"  fuages  their  thirft,  if  they  have  any,  and  for  the 
"  moft  part  proves  a  little  fudorific,  if  taken  at 
"  bed-time.  In  a  day  or  two  from  their  iirft  be- 
"  ginning  to  complain,  the  puftules  feldom  fail  to 
"  appear  immediately,  upon  vi^hich  all  ficknefs 
"  vanifhes,  and  I  have  never  heard  one  complaint 
"  afterwards." — 

Mr.  Chandler,  after  a  very  minute  examination 
of  Mr.  Sutton's  praftice,  concludes,  that  the  fuc- 
-cefs  of  this  celebrated  inoculator  does  not  prin- 
cipally depend  upon  his  mercurial  preparation, 
nor  yet  upon  the  free  expofure  of  his  patients  to 
cold  air^  as  alledged  by  Sir  George  Baker.  Szveat- 
ing  the  inoculated,  he  afferts,  Mr.  Sutton  never 
attempts,  and  therefore  afcribes  but  little  efficacy 
to  what  has  been  called  the  ptmc^ ;  the  pills  he 
thinks  ufeful  merely  as  evacuants,  not  as  poffeffing 
any  fpecific  power ;  whence  he  cannot  impute  the 
chief  advantage  of  the  Suttonian  fyftem  of  inocu- 
lation to  any  of  the  above  caufes.    In  fliort,  the 


*  Vijriolic  Acid. 


grand 


236 

grand  fecret  in  the  new  mode  of  inoculation,  Mr. 

C.  fays,  is  "  the  taking  of  the  infeEling  humour  in  a 
crude  Jiute,  before  it  has  been,  if  I  may  allow  the 
.  exprefjion,  ultimately  variolated  by  the  fucceeding 
fever." 

Thus  it  appears,  that  the  three  firft  perfons 
who  inveftigated  the  Suttonian  pra6lice  of  inocu- 
lation, all  differed  in  opinion  refpefting  the  moft 
effential  point  of  it  ;  fucceffively  afcribing  its 
fuperior  fuccefs  to  the  more  free  ufe  of  cold  air, 
to  fzveatingy  and  to  inoculating  with  crude  uncon- 
coEled  variolous  matter. — And  here  I  may  add, 
that  Baron  Dimfdale,  who  immediately  after- 
wards gave  his  fentiments  on  this  fubjeft,  fays, 
"  Should  it  be  afked  then,  To  what  particular 

circumftances  the  fuccefs  of  Sutton  is  owing, 
*'  I  can  only  anfwer,  that  although  the  whole 
"  procefs  may  have  fome  fliare  in  it,  in  my  opi- 
"  nion  it  confifts  chiefly  in  the  method  of  inocu- 
"  lating  with  recent  fluid  matter 

The  grand  fecret  has  at  laft  tranfpired  in  a 
work  called  the.  Inoculator,  publiflied  by  D.  Sut- 
ton hirafelf,  in  which  he  has  unveiled  the  whole 
myftery.  Here  it  will  be  found  that  lefs  depends 
upon  the  variolous  matter  *,  than  upon  an  alte- 
rative powder  abounding  in  oxygen. 

*  He,  however,  recommends  the  recent  fluid  matter,  as 
being  more  certain,  and  as  producing  an  earlier  eruption  of 
the  puftules,  generally  of  a  kinder  fort, 

Sutton's 


237 

Sutton's  alterative  powder  he  openly  declares 
to  be 

Antim.  calcin.  lot  * — dr.  id. 
Calomel. f— dr.  8. 
Antim.  tart.  J — dr.  2. 
M. 

That  is. 

Take  of  Calx  of  antimony— ten  drachms. 
Calomel — eight  drachms. 
Emetic  tartar — two  drachms. 

This  powder  he  dire6ls  to  be  kept  in  a  wide- 
mouthed  vial,  with  a  gaiize  covering  only  j 'kn'd 
it  will  be  found  to  anfwer  better  after  it  has  flood 
a  month,  or  fix  weeks,  before  ufing,  in  order 
that  it  may  imbibe  more  oxygen.  Of  this 
twelve  grains  is  a  dofe  for  a  grown-up  perfon. 
This  is  his  grand  alterative  powder,  on  which,  he 
fays,  he  places  his  higheft  dependence.  It  is  given, 
in  currant  jelly,  every  night.  The  patient  having 
taken  the  medicine,  is  ordered  immediately  to 
get  into  bed,  in  order  that  it  may  reft  upon  the 
ftomach.  It  is  not  unufual,  however,  fays  Sutton, 
for  the  firft,  and  fometimes  the  fecond  alterative 
powder,  to  caufe  a  flight  ficknefs  and  vomiting. 
Afterwards  it  feldom  has  this  effeft  5  nor  do  I 
wifh  it,  fays  he,  to  produce  any  other  effe61:,  than  to 
caufe  a  laxative  motion  towards  morning.  After 
the  third  morning,  I  gently  purge  with  Glauber's 

*  Tartrite  of  antimony-  f  Oxyd  of  mercury. 

X  Oxyd  of  antimony. 

falts. 


238 

falts  *,  or  rhubarb  and  jalap.  The  patients  are 
kept  upon  a  vegetable  diet^  and  the  quantity  of 
food  reftrifiled.  The  purging  powder,  fo  as  to 
give  three  or  four  evacuations,  fliould  be  repeated 
every  other  morning.  Nor  is  there,  adds  Sutton, 
any,  the  leaft  danger  to  be  apprehended,  that 
the  patient  can  be  reduced  fo  low  as  not  to  have 
ftrength  enough  to  throw  out  tlie  Small-pox. 
The  fa6t  is,  the  fewer  are  produced,  the  lefs  the 
conftitution  will  have  to  ftruggle  with  ;  and  this 
depends  upon  following  the  plan  here  laid  out,, 
from  an  infinite  experience  of  above  forty,  years. 

*  Sulfate  of  pot-afli. 


PRACTICAL 


239 


PRACTICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 


SECT.  XLV. 

THE  MEASLES. 

The  polfon  of  the  Meafles  differs  greatly  from 
that  of  the  fmall-pox  and  hooping-cough,  ex- 
erting its  influence  for  a  much  fhorter  period  on 
the  human  body,  the  whole  difeafe  being  goncj 
through  in  a  few  days  :  and  whereas  the  hoop- 
ing-cough feems  chiefly  to  effe£t  the  ftomach,  fo 
this,  like  the  fmall-pox,  affefts  the  furface  of 
body,  as  alfo  the  lungs,  and  its  chara8:eriftic 
fymptom  is  the  fuffujion  of  water  in  the  eyes  *. 
Sydenham  obferves,  that  by  an  improper  treat- 
ment, the  eruption,  which  fhould  referable  flea- 
iDites,  bring  fmall  red  fpots,  turn  purple  or  livid, 
and  fometimes  black.  The  wifh  of  forcing  out  the 
eruption,  or  what  was  thought  the  expulfion  of  the 
morbific  matter,  has  deftroyed  its  thoufands  in  this 
difeafe,  as  well  as  in  the  fmall-pox.  As  its  dura-; 
tion  is  fhorter  than  either  of  thefe  diforders,  and  its 
violence  greater,  the  moft  decifive  remedies  fliould 

*  Inoculation  has  been  performed  with  this  water,  drawn 
from  the  eye,  and  with  great  advantage.  It  is  a  pity  fo  falu- 
tary  a  praftice  fliould  be  fo  foon  and  eafily  abandoned. 

be 


24(3 

be  fpeedily  employed.  Dr.  Brown  conceived 
"  that  all  difeafes  were  the  action  of  ftlmuli  on  the 
"  excitability  or  living  principle  of  the  body,  for 
"  none  of  the  ftimuli  aft  on  the  dead  body  *i  and 

that  the  province  of  the  phyfician  was  to  ma- 
"  nage,  in  return,  the  quantum  of  a£lion  in  the 
**  fyflem.  Thus,  when  added  to  the  natural  ftimuli, 
"  a  foreign,  or  poifonous  one,  was  exerting  its  in- 
"  fluence,  the  funi  of  the  two  powers  was  a  ftate 
*^  of  too  ftrong  excitement ;  and  as  the  foreign 

power  could  not  be  removed,  the  art  of  phyfic 
"  was  therefore  to  remove  the  natural  ftimuli,  fo 
"  as  to  make  the  fum  of  ftimuli  not  dcftru£tive  to 
"  the  living  powers."  Here  this  great  improver  of 
the  praftice  of  medicine  was  right,  provided  we 
had  no  means  of  attacking  the  nature  of  the  poi- 
fon  itlelf ;  and  hence  the  important  advantages 
derived  to  medicine  from  the  B-runonian  practice^ 
as  It  is  called. 

Mead,  fpcaking  of  the  advantages  of  bleeding, 
fays,  in  commendation  of  it :  "I  am  afraid,  left 
I  fliould  feem  vainly  to  court  applaufe  by  the 
following  narration  ;  yet  it  is  fo  much  to  th6 
purpofe_,  and  fo  happily  confirms  what  1  have 
faid,  that  I  muft  beg  leave  to  relate  it.  About 
forty  years  ago,  the  Meafles  raged  with  fo  gi-eat 
violence  in  this  city,  that  it  proved  more  fatal 
than  even  the  fmall-pox.   At. that  time  a  phy- 

*  Thus  a  blifter  will  not  rife  on  the  dead  body. 

fician 


241 

fician  of  great  eminence  came  to  me,  defiring 
that  I  would  inform  him  what  method  I  followed 
in  this  difeafe.  I  aflced  himj  whether  or  not  he 
ufed  to  take  away  blood  ?  He  anfwering  no^ 
becaufe  Sydenhani  very  feldom  did  it ;  I  advifed 
hirri  to  open  a  vein  in  the  beginning  of  the  dif- 
temper  j  or,  if  he  was  called  in  latef,  as  foon 
however  as  he  poflibly  could  :  for,  faid  I,  this 
difeafe  always  brings  with  it  jl  peripneumony^ 
which  he  \6ty  well  knew  ever  required  bleeding. 
Not  long  after  he  met  me  again,  returning  me 
hearty  thanks  for  my  counfel,  afluring  me,  that 
he  had  not  loft  one  patient  whom  he  had  treated 
in  this  manner." 

Mead  adds  :  "  The  fuppofition  that  the  emp- 
tying of  the  veffels  would  hinder  the  coming  out 
of  the  eruption,  is  a  popular  error,  as  daily  ex- 
perience evinces  5  but  it  is  this  prejudice  that  will 
give  room  for  many  to  find  fault  with  my  prac- 
tice, and  hinder  my  reputation  in  life :  yet  I 
am  happy  if  I  fliall  have  proved  myfelf,  in  any 
way,  beneficial  to  my  fellow  creaitures.  This  is: 
all  I  defire  ;  for  the  confcioufnefs  of  having  done  right 
is  beyond  all  praife,  efpecially  of  the  vulgar ^  and  car- 
ries with  it  its  own  reward^  zvhich  he  abundantly 
enjoys  who  confidts  the  good  of  his  fellow  creatures^ 
andy  by  his  aElions^  Jliews  that  he  thinks  he  is 

Non  fibi,  fed  toti  genitum  fe  credere  mundo 

LUC  AN. 

'*  That  he  is  not  born  for  himfelf,  but  for  the  whole  M'orld. 

Vol.  IV.  R  I  have 


242 

I  have  frequently  ufed  fmall  dofes  of  antimo- 
fi'ml  'Wine,  as  twenty  or  forty  drops,  repeated  it 
every  two  or  three  hoilrs,  and  until  it  produced 
either  vomiting,  purging,  fweating,  or  all  three, 
which  evacuate  plentifully,  and  the  diforder  is 
readily  fubdued  j  or  has  the  ox  yd  any  particular 
fpecific  power  in  this  difeafe  ? 

The  Meafles,  if  badly  cured,  when  violent, 
often  ends  in  difeafes  of  indireft  debility,  as 
pulmonary  confumption,  or  water  in  the  cheft : 
both  which  difeafes  afterwards  will  be  conCi- 
dered. 


THEORETICAL 


THEORETICAL  AND  PRACT/CAT, 
OBSERVATJONS. 


SECT.  XL VI. 

OF  THE  AGUE,  OR  INTERMITTENT  FEVER. 

The  queftion,  whether  putrid marJJies  are,  or  are 
hot,  unwholefome,  is  of  confiderable  moment. 
Dr.  Prleftky,  therefore,  by  a  clear  and  cpnclufive 
experjnientj  firft  proved,  that  the  vapour  whiclj 
arjfes  from  putrid  water  is  exceedingly  noxious,  ^ 
and  thus  guards  us  againft  the  mifchief  whichi 
might  ptherwife  proceed  from  a  carelefs  belief  of* 
theoppofite  opinion.  "  Happening,"  fays  he,  "tp 
ufe  at  Calne  a  much  larger  trough  of  water,  for 
the  purpofe  pf  my  experiments,  than  I  had  done 
at  Leeds,  and  not  having  frefli  watqr  fo  ne^r  at 
hand  as  I  had  there,  I  neglefted  to  change  it,  ' 
till  it  became  pffenfive,  but  by  no  means  to  fuch 
a  -degree  as  to  determine  me  from  not  making 
ufe  of  it.  In  this  .ftate  of  the  water,  I  obferved 
bubbles  pf  air  to  rife  froni  it,  and  efpecially  in 
one  place,  to  which  fome  flielves,  that  I  had  in, it, 
direclcd  them  j  and  having  fet  an  inverted  ^la(s 

R  2  veffel 


244 

tefifel  to  catch  them,  in  a  few  days  I  collefted  a 
confiderable  quantity  of  this  air,  which  iffued 
fpontaneoufly  from  the  putrid  water ;  and  put- 
ing  nitrous  air  to  it,  I  found  that  no  change  of 
colour  or  diminution  epfued,  fo  that  it  mufl:  have 
been  in  the  higheft  degree  noxious." 

The  celebrated  Dr.  Franklin  has  likewife 
pointed  out  the  pernicious  effe6ts  of  air  from 
fiagnant  waters.  Speaking  of  the  flame  which  may 
be  lighted  up  on  the  furface  of  fome  waters  in 
Arnerica  :  "  I  have  frequently,"  fays  this  excellent 
phllofopher,  "  tried  the  experiment  in  England. 
One  day  being  employed  in  ftirring  up  the  ftag- 
nant  water  at  the  bottom  of  a  deep  ditch,  I  was 
feizcd  foon  after  with  an  intermitting  fever,  which 
I  can  afcrlbe  to  no  other  caufe  than  to  my  breathing 
too  much  of  that  foul  air  which  I  ftirred  up  from 
the  bottom,  and  which  I  could  not  avoid  while  I 
ftooped  in  endeavouring  to  kindle  it." 

An  eaft  wind  in  England  is  often  accompanied 
with  a  fog,  which  it  is  faid  to  bring  with  it  from 
the  fea  :  but  the  truth  of  the  matter  is,  that  this 
wind  then  raifes  a  copious  vapour  from  water, 
mud,  and  all  marfliy  or  damp  places. 

I  do  not  remember  to  have  met  with  any  obfer- 
vations  on  this  exhaling  quality  of  the  eafterly 
wind,  fays  Dr.  Lind,  though  I  have  been  an  eye- 
witnefs  to  it.  When  the  wind  changes  to  the  eaft, 
the  mud  fometimes  fends  up  a  vapour  as  thick  as 

fmoke. 


245 

fmoke.  Two  fifh  ponds  in  my  neighbourhoodj 
one  of  frefli,  the  other  of  falt-water,  upon  the  ap- 
proach of  an  eafterly  wind,  fometimes  alfo  emit 
a  denfe  vapour,  as  from  a  pot  of  boiling  water. 

In  order  to  view  this  phasnomenon  diftindly, 
the  perfon  fhould  ftand  at  about  100  yards  dif- 
tant  from  the  ponds.  If  the  fun  fhines,  when 
the  wind  changes  to  the  eaft,  he  will  obferve  a 
conftant  ftream  of  vapours  rifmg  out  of  the  ponds, 
from  about  five  to  ten  yards  height,  while  the  air 
about  him  remains  ferene.  As  the  vapour  or 
fog  arifing  from  other  places  glides  along  the  fur- 
face  of  the  earth,  and  is  brought  by  the  eafterly 
wind  to  the  ponds,  he  will  ftill  be  able,  for  fome 
time,  to  diftinguifli  the  vapours  afcending  per- 
pendicularly out  of  the  ponds,  from  thofe  which 
are  carried  in  an  horizontal  direction  by  the 
wind ;  efpecially  if  the  fun  continues  to  fhine, 
though  faintly. 

This  evaporating  quality  of  an  eaftwind,  feeras 
to  manifeft  itfelf  alfo  by  its  effefts,  both  on  the 
thermometer,  and  the  human  body.  A  thermo- 
meter, hung  over  a  damp  piece  of  ground,  during 
the  fogs  or  exhalations  arifing  from  it,  will  often 
indicate  a  degree  of  cold  below  the  freezing 
point.  There  is  alfo  a  chlllnefs  of  the  body, 
fenfibly  perceived  in  this  fituation,  nearly  the 
fame  as  that  arifing  from  the  wet  floor  of  a 
chamber. 

But 


246 

But  winds  are  fiot  conftaAt  iti  their  eftefts  *. 
as  have  forriefimes  warm  weather  with  a  north 
"v^ifiid,  and  fometimes  very  little  heit  With  a  wind 
from  the  fouth  j  fo  thd  fogs  attending  an  eaft 
wind  are  tidf  conftant ;  Neither  is  the  evaporation 
which  we  haive  mentioned  at  all  times  to  be 

I  ini  perfeftly  fenfible,  thit  there  may  be  a 
deeeptioh  in  thefe  matters,  and  that,  inftead  of 
fiippofirig  the  quantity  of  vapours  exhaled  to  be 
jnfcr6afed  by  an  eafterly  wind,  the  coldnefs  of 
that  Wind  rnay  be  fuppofed  only  to  condenfe  and 
render  vifible  the  vapours  in  the  air  at  that  time. 
But  eVen  this  fuppofition  is  liable  to  great  objec- 
tibrife,  as  bur  coldeft  north  winds  feldom  or  never 
produce  fuch  an  ef!e£l,  but  are  commonly  at- 
tended by  ferene  dry  weather. 

Let  that  be  as  it  will,  an  eaft  wind  is  ufually 
accompanied  by  a  cold,  damp,  and  unwholefome 
Vapbiirj  Avhith  is  bbfefved  to  affe£t  both  animal 
md  vegetable  health,  and  iii  many  places  to  give 
rife  ahd  obftinacy  to  jnterrtiitting  fevers,  as  alfo  to 
produce  frequent  relapfes. 

In  particular  fpots  of  the  lov^  damp  ifland  of 
Portfea,  the  ague  frequeritly  prevails,  and  fome- 
tillifes  the  fliix,  during  the  autumnal  feafon  ;  in 
fome  years  they  are  much  more  frequent  and  vio- 
lent than  in  others.  It  is  obfervable,  that  their 
jittack  proves  always  moft  fevere  to  ftrangers,  or 

thpfe 


247 

thofe  who  have  formerly  lived  on  a  drier  foil,  an4 
on  a  more  elevated  fituatipn,  from  not  being  haf 
bituated  to  this  poifon. 

The  year  1765  was  remarkable,  not  only  for 
the  long  continuance  of  eafterly  winds,  but  alfo 
for  t^n  exceffivc  degree  of  heat,  which  produced 
a  more  violent  and  general  rage  of  thpfe  difeafes, 
than  had  been  known  for  many  years.  During 
the  rnonths.  of  May,  June,  and  July,  we  had  fel- 
dom  fevsfer  ^t  Haflar-hofpital,  continues  Dr,  Lind, 
than  thirty  or  forty  patients,  labouring  under  re- 
gular tc'rtian  agues,  with  perfeft  intermillions. 
Of  thefe,  fome  were  feized  on  board  the  guard- 
fhips  that  lay  in  the  harbour  near  the  mud,  but 
the  grea.teft  number  were  marines,  who  did  duty 
at  Portfmouth. 

In  the  nionth  of  4-Uguft  the  quickfilver,  in 
Farenheit's  thermoineter,  often  rofe  to  eighty-two 
degrees  in  the  middle  of  the  day.  This  heat,  to- 
gether with  the  want  of  refrefliing  rains,  fpread 
the  fever,  increafed  its  violence,  and  in  many 
places  changed  its  form.  At  Portfmouth,  and 
throughout  almoft  the  whole  ifland  of  Portfea,  an 
alarming  continual,  or  remitting  fever,  raged, 
which  extended  itfelf  even  as  far  as  phichefter. 
At  the  fame' time  the  town  of  Gofport,  on  the 
oppofite  fide  of  the  harbour,  though  diftant  qnly 
one  mile  from  Portfmouth,  enjoyed  an  almof): 
total  exemption  from  ficknefs  of  every  kin4  > 
and  in  the  neighbouring  villages  and  farm-hpuf^s 

on 

1 


248 

on  that  fide,  only  a  mild  regular  tertian  ague 
prevailed,  which  however  diftreffed  whole  fami- 
lies. The  violence  of  the  fever,  with  its  appear- 
ances in  a  continued  remitting  or  intermitting 
form,  marked,  in  fome  meafure,  the  nature  of  the 
foil.  In  Portfmouth  its  fymptoms  were  had,  worfe 
at  Kingfton,  and  Jiill  more  dangerous  and  violent,  at 
a  place  called  Halfway-houfes,  half  a  mile  from 
Portfmouth,  where  fcarcely  one  in  a  family  ef- 
caped  this  fever,  which  there  generally  made  its 
firft  attack  with  a  delirium.  In  the  large  fuburb 
of  Portfmouth,  called  the  Common,  it  feemed 
to  rage  with  more  violence  than  in  the  town, 
fome  few  parts  excepted;  but  even  whole  ftreets 
of  this  fuburb,  together  with  the  houfes  in  the 
Dock-yard,  efcaped  it. 

The  marines,  who  were  three  times  a  week 
exercifed  early  in  the  morning  on  South-Sea 
Beach,  from  the  effeft  of  the  ftagnant  water  of 
an  adjoining  morafs,  fuffered  much.  Half  a  dozen 
of  them  at  a  time  were  frequently  taken  ill  in 
their  ranks,  when  under  arms ;  fome  were  feized 
with  fuch  a  giddinefs  in  the  head,  that  they 
could  fcarcely  ftand  ;  others  fell  down  fpeechlefs, 
and  upon  recovering  their  fenfes,  complained  of  a 
violent  head-ach. 

When  fuch  patients  were  received  into  the  hof- 
pital,  fome  few  had  a  regular  ague,  but  far  the 
greater  number  laboured  under  a  remitting  fever, 
in  which  fometimes,  indeed,  there  was  no  per- 
ceptible 


H9 

ceptible  remiffion  for  feveral  days.  A  conftant 
pain  and  giddinefs  of  the  head  were  the  moft 
mfeparable  and  diftrefling  fymptoms  of  this  dif- 
eafe.  Some  were  delirious^  and  a  few  vomited 
a  quantity  of  bile;  in  all,  the  countenance  was 
yellow. 

A  long  continuance  of  the  fever  produced 
either  a  dropfy,  or  a  jaundice^  or  both;  even  a 
flig-ht  attack  reduced  the  moft  rbbuft  conftitution 
to  a  ftate  of  extreme  debility ;  which,  together 
with  the  giddinefs,  continued  long  after  the 
fever. 

The  univerfality  of  this  fever,  together  with 
its  uncommon  fymptoms,  were  at  firft  alarming; 
but  when  the  lancet  was  withheld,  and  the  bark 
freely  given  in  large  dozes,  few  died*.  It  de- 
creafed  with  the  heat  of  the  weather,  and  in  the 
winter  appeared  chiefly  under  the  form  of  a  quar- 
tan ague. 

This  may  fuffice  for  a  brief  defcription  of  the 
autumnal  fever  of  Great  Britain,  which  in  its  ut- 
moft  violence  prevailed  in  1765,  not  only  in 
Hampfliire,  but  in  many  other  parts  of  this  ifland, 
and  which  feemed  to  have  been  increafed  that 

*  When  the  head-ach  or  giddinefs  were  very  violent,  and 
the  pulfe  neither  full  nor  ftrong,  I  ordered,  fays  Dr.  Lind,  (to 
whom  the  world  owes  fo  much  for  improvement  in  medi- 
cal knowledge)  a  blifter  to  the  back,  and  endeavoured  to  re- 
duce the  fever  into  an,  intermitting  form,  by  giving  half  ^ 
grain  of  tarfar-  emetic  (antimonial  tartrite  of  pot-afli)  with  a 
few  grains  of  niitr,  every  fix  hours,  which  ufually  fucceeded. 

year, 


250 

year,  by  the  unufuul  and  excellive  heat  of  the 
fummer,,  together  with  an  undiluted  putrid  moif- 
ture  in  the  foil,  and  the  long  duration  of  eafterly 
winds,. 

In  looking  over  ancient  authors,  I  find  the  cur^ 
of  intermittents  was  by  regularly  abftaining  from 
food  for  five  days,  and  afterwards  eating  and 
drinking  to  excefs.  Celfus,  who  improved  upon 
this  barbarous  pra£lice,  advifes  only  tliree  days 
abftinence,  and  a  cautious  return  to  a  full  diet. 

Before  the  difcovery  of  the  bark,  the  cure  of 
agues  was  generally  attempted  by  bitters,  fuch 
^■Qhamcemehm,  centaurmm  winits,  gen/iam,  cortex 
aitraniioytm,  zedoaria.  Thefe  bitters^  together  with 
fixed  alkaline  falts,  are  ftill  in  great  efteem  with 
fome  phyficians,  who  entertain  prejudices  againll 
th^b^rkj  all  which,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  will  foon 
be.?^ji5kp,ved. 

Opinionum  commenta  delet  dies. 

It  is  curious  to  obferve  with  what  diffidence 
bark  was  formerly  employed  in  the  cure  of  agues. 
The  great  Dr.  Willis,  fpeaking  of  this  medicine, 
fays,  concerning  the  Peruvian  bark,  "  becaufe 
of  late  it  hath  begun  to  be  in  ufe,  there  arc 
Ibme  things  to  be  faid,  which  offer  themfelves 
to  common  obfervation.  The  common  manner 
of  exhibiting  this  is,  that  two  drachms  of  it, 
beaten  to  powder,  be  infufed  in  fack  or  white 
\vine,  in  an  open  glafs,  for  two  hours,  and  then, 
upon  the  coming  of  the  fit,  the  patient  being 

put 


251 

put  to  bed,  that  the  liquor  and  powder  be  drunk 
up.  This  potion  often  takes  away  the  approach- 
ing fit^  yet  oftentimes,  though  taken  after  the 
wonted  manner,  it  prevents  the  next ;  however, 
either  in  the  firft,  fecond,  or  third  period,  the  fit 
is  inhibited,  and  the  difeafe  Jeems  to  be  cured,  it 
is  often  wont  to  return,  within  twenty  or  thirty 
days ;  then  this  powder,  being  again  exhibited, 
the  difeafe  is  for  a  time  deferred  about  the  fame 
fpace,  and  by  this  means  I  have  known  many^ 
fick  of  a  quartan,  to  have  fufFered  fome  {t\v  fits 
only,  a  whole  autumn  and  winter,  and  fo  to  have 
detained  the  enemy  in  his  precinfts,  till  the  fpring 
coming  on,  the  difpofition  of  the  blood  is  altered 
for  the  better,  by  the  help  of  the  time  of  the 
year,  dnd  of  other  phyfic,  and  fo  this  diftemper 
vanifhes  by  degrees.  Thofe,  who  by  this  means, 
have  procured  the  frequent  truces  of  the  quartan, 
have  lived  cheerful,  lively,  and  ready  for  any 
bufinefs,  when  otherwife,  being  weak  and  pale, 
they  were  brought  into  languifliment,  and  a  vi- 
tious  habit  of  body  :  fcarce  one  of  an  hundred 
hath  tried  this  medicine  in  vain,  yea,  if  but  half, 
or  a  lelTer  quantity,  viz.  the  weight  of  but  one 
drachm,  taken,  it  very  often  takes  away  the  fits, 
and  fufpends  the  fame,  a  fliorter  fpace  only  j  nei- 
ther is  it  any  matter,  whether  it  be  taken  in 
ftrong  or  fmall  wine,  unlefs  with  the  refpe£t  to 
the  difpofition  of  the  fick  :  becaufe  in  a  more  hot 
temper,  it  may  be  profitably  taken  in  diftilled 

water. 


252 

Water,  oi'  whey  ;  alfo  a  clear  infafidn  of  it,  the 
more  thick  fabftance  being  caft  away,  produces 
the  hke  effe£l,  but  of  fliorter  durance  :  I  have 
taken  care  to  reduce  this  powder  into  pills,  with 
the  mucilage  of  tragacanth,  with  a  little  cofl:  to 
the  fick,  to  be  given  to  fome  ;  after  what  manner 
foever  it  is  taken,  unlcfs  to  thofe  loathing  and 
abhorring  every  medicine,  it  caufes  no  manifeft 
evacuation,  and  takes  away  the  fit,  almofl:  from 
all ;  neither  is  it  only  in  a  quartan  fever,  but  in 
the  other  kinds  of  intermitting  fevers,  to  wit,  in 
every  one  where  there  is  any  remiffion  coming 
between,  given  with  good  fuccefs.  It  is  commonly 
ordered,  that  a  gentle  purge  fhpuld  be  taken  be- 
fore this,  but  in  fome  who  are  very  weak,  and 
keep  their  beds,  this  powder  being  taken  care- 
fully, without  any  previous  medicine,  hath  pro- 
duced laudable  efFefts.  In  the  mean  time,  I  will 
mgenuoujly  confefs,  that  I  have  not,  feen  an  inter- 
mitting fever  quite  cured  by  this  bark,  once  taken  : 
nay,  rather  the  fits  not  only  of  a  quartan,  but  of 
a  tertian  and  quotidian  fever,  wholly  overcome 
eafily  by  other  remedies,  feeming  to  be  driven 
away  by  this  powder,  have  conjianily  relumed  after 
a  (hort  time.  For  this  reafon,  they  who  Jupprejs  in- 
tsrmitting  fevers,  otherways  eafily  curable,  no  necef- 
Jity  urging  them,  by  this  medicine,  for  a  little  while, 
only  fiem  to  injiitute  a  deceitful  medicine,  and  do  no 
more  than  thofe  who  fain  over  a  rotten  ulcer,  which 
willfiortly  break  out  again ;  in  truth,  in  fome  cafes, 

the 


^53 

the  ufe  of  this  will  be  requifite,  viz.  \vhe\i  hf 
the  too  great  affiduity  of  the  fits,  the  fpirits  of 
the  fick  are  caft  down,  truces  are  by  this  mean<} 
procured,  by  which  nature  may  recollecl:  herfelf^ 
and  afterwards  may  be  more  able  to  fight  againft 
this  potent  enemy:  alfo,  that  a  quartan  fever^ 
during  the  autumn  and  winter,  may  pafs  over 
with  little  trouble,  this  bark  is  profitably  admi- 
niftered  :  but  thofe,  who  expeft  a  longer  refling 
time,  from  the  alTaults  of  this  fever,  are  bid  to 
take  this  powder  in  greater  quantity,  and  more 
often,  to  wit,  that  they  fliould  take  two  drachms, 
three  fev^eral  times  one  after  another,  whether 
the  fits  return  or  no  ;  by  this  means  they  remain 
longer  free,  yet  they  retain  within  the  enemy  Jlill^ 
though  ajleep.''^ 

The  early  exhibition  of  bark  we  fee  then  was 
thought  only  to  put  this  difeafe  ajleep,  and  inju^ 
rioj[s,hY  preventing  the  expulfion  of  the  morbific 
matter.   Sydenham  firft  rooted  out  this  error. 

Modern  phyficians  perceive,  that  though  like 
other  aftringents,  it  braces  the  fibres,  and  as  it 
often  produces  vomiting,  or  naufea,  that  it  muft 
a6t  as  a  flimulus,  yet  the  efFeft  of  this  is  chiefly 
by  giving  an  encreafed  power  in  the  blood  to  im- 
bibe OXYGEN,  whereby  this  fever  is  cured. 

Thofe  who  have  had  much  pra£lice  in  marfhy 
countries,  have  feen  that  when  Jieei  which  ren- 
ders 

*  Monf.  de  Hallef  conjeftures,  that  the  u'on  which  is  found 
in  the  earthy  parts  of  the  blood,  is  particularly  conneiled  with 

the 


254 


^ers  the  blood  M  more  attraaive  of  OXYGEN 
has  been  conjoined  with  hark,  the  efFecls  are  in 
proportion  great,  often  conjointly  overcoming  the 
difeafe  when  the  bark  alone  has  failed  *. 

the  reJ  particles,  and  this  conjefture  of  his  appears  to  be 
founded  in  truth,  ,if  we  may  believe  the  experiments  of  Pro- 
feflbr  Buckwald  at  Copenhagen.  Buckwald  took  a  quantity 
of  the  white  part  of  the  crafTamentum  from  which  the  reJ 
particles  had  been  entirely  waflied  off,  and  calciived  it,  along 
with  a  certain  portion  of  fixed  alkaline  fait;  than  he  diffolved 
this  mafs  in  water;  and  laftly,  added  a  folution  of  alum;  but 
the  colour  was  not  changed  by  this  addition  of  the  alum.  He 
then  calcined  a  quantity  of  red  craflamentum  along  with 
fixed  alkaline  fait,  and  having  dilTolved  the  mafs,  added  a  fo- 
lution of  alum.  This  immediately  turned  lilue,  and  yielded  a 
portion  of  the  blue  pigment,  called  PrulTian  Blue,  which  is  a 
fure  teftof  the  prefence  of -iron  ',  hence  Dr.  Buckwald  con- 
cludes, that  the.red  colour  of  blood  is  chiefly  owing  to  a  mix- 
ture  of  ferruginous  matter.  The  deterioration  of  the  air 
with  perfons  labouring  under  ague,  is  much  fmaller  than 
when  cured,  efpecially  after  'taking  fteel.  The  florid  red  of 
the  cheeks  is  another  proof  this  pofition. 

*  This  is  the  famous  elei^tuary  of  Penrofe,  fo  much  prized  in 
Lincolnfhire  and  Cambridgefliire,  and  may  be  made  as  follows ; 
R.    Cinchon.  pulv.  unc.  i. 

Rubig.  Ferri.  dr.  z. 

Bulv.  aromat.  xlr.  i . 

Conf.  cort.  aur.  unc.  |. 

Syr.  zingib.  q.  f. 
•  F.eleft. 

Cap.  magnltud.  snuc  mofcbat.  omnlb.  hor. 

That  is,  take  of 

Powdered  bark,  one  ounce. 

Rufl  of  iron  (carbonat  of  iron)  two  drachms. 

Aromatic  powder,  one  drachm. 

Conferve  of  orange  peel,-  half  an  otmce. 

Syrup  of  ginger,  as  much  as  is  fufficient. 
Make  this  into  an  eleftuary,  and  take  the, fize  jof,a  nutrneg 
of.it  every  two  houi:s. 

In 


^55 

In  'tlip  cure  of  Mary  Rhodes,  the  power  cjf 
OXYGEN  air,  in  conjunftion  with  i>^rk  Sind Jl&el^ 
was  very  ftriking.  This  patient  had  been  to  Xeie 
fome  friends  in  Effex,and  returned  with  an  agiie. 
•Living  with  her  father,  who  Was  a  bookbinderj, 
and  being  by  trade  a  folder  of  the  printed  llieets, 
flie  was  conftantly  engaged  with  danip  paper, 
and  her  diforder,  probably  from  this  caufe,  ire- 
fifted  for  two  years,  what  has  been  long  deemed 
the  fpecific  bark.  Being  at  length  advifed  to  come 
under  the  care  of  Dr.  Thornton,  he  ordered 
her  to  inhale  twenty  quarts  of  vital  air,  mixed 
with  twice  that  quantity  of  atmofpheric,  and 
previous  to  the  time  of  the  acceffion  of  tertian 
to  take  thirty  drops  of  tincture  of  opium,  with 
twenty  of  ether,  in  fome  cold  porter.  A  ftrong 
deco£libn  of  liquorice  was  alfo  drank  warm,  and 
the  cold  fit  was  nearly  prevented,  and  a  powerful 
perfpiration  enfued.  The  bark  with  Jieel  was  im- 
mediately after  adminiftered,  and  the  GXYG-EN 
air  continued,  and  the  patient  had  no  more  pa- 
roxyfms,  and  was  fo'on  reftored  to  health. 

Mr.  Bufh,  a  watch-maker,  in  Wood-ftreet,  had 
an  ague  that  for  fix  weeks  refilled  bark  under 
Mr.  Chamberlirt.  He  applied  to  Dr.  Thornton, 
who  ordered  him  to  come  to  him  half  tan  hour 
before  the  expe£led  paroxyfm.  He  was  bound 
tight  in  flips  of  flannel  of  eonfiderable  extent, 
for  half  an  hour,  when  he  had  a  yawning,  and 
all  the  .fymptoms  of  '.the  approachir][g:fit.  After 

this 


2S6 

this  he  was  liberated,  took  thirty  drops  of*  lauda- 
num, and  fifty  of  ether,  in  fome  port  wine,  and 
then  inhaled  twenty  quarts  of  vita/  air,  mixed  with 
thirty  of  atmofpheric ;  and  now  feeling  extremely 
warm,  he  walked  home,  and  had  no  fit  then,  or 
afterwards.    The  bark  however  was  continued. 

Dr.  Thornton  has  cured  feveral  agues  fimply 
with  the  different  acids.  From  many  inilances 
we  can  adduce  the  following: — 

Charles  Davis,  living  at  No.  i,  Great  Titch- 
field-ftreet,  plafteref,  went  into  the  Hundreds  of 
EfTex,  where  he  was  felzcd  with  a  remittent  fever 
immediately  after  harveft,  (common  to  that  part  of 
the  country  at  that  feafon  of  the  year)  and  the  ague 
which  followed  continued  even  after  his  return  to 
London,  which  was  a  tertian.  Previous  to  the 
coming  on  of  the  paroxyfm,  he  took  the  juice  of 
a  lemon  every  two  hours,  with  fifteen  drops  of 
the  diluted  vitriolic  acid,  and  his  ague  ceafed 
immediately.  Bark  was  had  recourfe  to  at  the 
end  of  a  week,  to  prevent  a  return. 

Hoffman  mentions,  that  in  obfllnate  quartans, 
he  has  repeatedly  cured  by  calomel,  carried  even 
fo  far  as  to  produce  falivation. 

The  numberlefs  charms  employed  for  ague, 
feem  to  aft  upon  the  fame  principle,  hope  power-^ 
fully  difpofing  the  blood  to  imbibe  OXYGEN, 
as  will  be  feen  when  we  come  to  treat  on  fcurvy. 

Hence  it  is,  that  a  change  of  air  is  frequently 
the  mofl  efFeftual  means^  of  obtaining  a   cure : 

the- 


257 

the  moft  obflniate  intermittept  I  ever  had  occa-i 
fion  to  fee.  was  removed  by  a  change  from  the 
land  to  the  fea  air;  the  patient  never  had  one 
fit  after  being  fent  on  board  a  fliip. 

But  the  remedy  lately  found  to  be  fuperior  to 
every  other,  is  the  OXYD  OF  ARSENIC.  It 
comes  fanftioned  to  us  by  the  recommendation 
of  Drs.  Fowler,  Arnold,  Withering,  Willan, 
Marfli,  and  Fearfon, 

Mr.  Jenner,  of  Painfvvick,  in  Gloucefterfliire, 
relates,  that  he  had  cured  more  than  200  inter- 
mittents  with  it. 

The  form  recommended  by  Dr.  Fowler  is, 
R.  Arfenic  alb. 

Sal.  alk.  veget.  fix.  aa.  gr.  64. 
Aq.  diilil.  lb.  |. 
Immittantur  in  ampullam,  qua  in  balneo  are- 
nae  pofita,  aqua  lente  ebulliat,  donee  arfenicum 
perfe^te  folutum  fuerit ,   dein  folutioni  frigid^ 
adde, 

Sp.  lavend.  comp.  unc.  f  * 
Aq.  diftil  lb.  |. 
Dofis  gtt.  lo  bis  die  ad.  gtt.  20  ter  die. 
That  is,  take  of 

White  arfenic,  and 

Fixed  vegetable  alkali,  equal  parts, 

fixty-four  grains. 
Diflilled  water  half  a  pound. 
Let  thefe  be  put  into  a  jug,  placed  upon  a 
Vol.  IV.  S  fand 


258 

fond  bath;  and  gently  boil,  until  the  arfenic  bo 
pcife61:ly  diffolvcd,  and  when  cold,  add  to  it, 

Compound  fpirit  of  lavender,  half  an 
ounice. 

Diftilled  water,  half  a  pound. 
Tlie  dofe  is  ten  or  twenty  drops,  twice  or 
thrice  a  day.- 

An  ague,  if  not  cured,  leaves  the  patient  in- 
the  ftate  of  the  greateft  indiretl  debility,  and 
often  obftrutlions  of  the  vifcera  enfue,  and  dropfy 
or  jaundice,  from  general  debility. 

Such  dropfies  are  to  be  cured  by  exciting  a 
gentle  a8:ion  of  mercury  with  fquills,  thus  : 
R.  Pil.  e  fcilla,  gr.  lo. 
Pil.  ex  hydr.  gr.  4. 
F.  pil.  3.  alternis  noftibus  fumcnd. 
.  That  is,  take  of 

The  fquill  pill,  ten  grains. 
The  mercury  pill,  four  grains. 
And  make  them  into  three  pills,  to  be 
taken  every  other  night. 
And,  in  the  intermediate  days,  the  following 
mixture  is  to  be  taken  : 

R.  Aq.  pulegii  fimp.  une.  5. 
Aq.  Raphanr  comp.  unc.  i. 
Kali  acetat.  dr.  i . 
Oxymel  fcill,  unc.  |. 
M.  cap.-  unc.  |  4tis  horis. 

That 


259 

That  is,  take  of 

Pennyroval  water,  jfive  ounces. 

Compound  horfe-radifli  water,  one  ouncd. 

Acetated  kali^  one  drachm  * 

Oxymel  of  fquills,  half  an  ounce. 
Mix,  and  take  half  an  ounce  every  four  hours.- 

When  the  water  has  been  removed,  the  fyftemi 
muft  be  afterwards  fortified  with  bark  and  fteel. 


ORIGIN 


s6o 


ORIGIN  OF  PUTRID  FEVER. 


SECT.  XLII. 

FIRST  CAUSE,  OR  SELF-GENERATION  OF  PUTRID 

FEVER. 

Howard,  who  vifited  all  Europe  and  tVre 
Eaft,  not,  as  Mr.  Burke  beautifully  exprefles  it, 
,  to  furvey  the  fumptuoufnefs  of  palaces,  or  the 
ftatelinefs  of  temples;  not  to  make  accurate 
meafurements  of  the  remains  of  ancient  grandeur, 
nor  to  form  a  fcale  of  the  curiofity  of  modem 
arts  ;  not  to  collect  medals,  or  to  collate  manu- 
fcripts;  but  to  dive  into  the  depth  of  dungeonsj 
to  plunge  into  the  infection  of  hofpitals ;  to 
furvey  the  manfions  of  forrow  and  of  pain ;  to  take 
the  gauge  and  dimenfions  of  mifery,  depreffion, 
and  contempt ;  to  remember  the  forgotten ;  to 
attend  to  the  negle6led  ;  to  vifit  the  forfaken ; 
and  to  compare  and  collate  the  diftreffes  of  all 
men,  in  all  countries.  His  plan  is  original ;  and 
it  is  as  full  of  genius  as  it  is  of  humanity.  It  is 
a  voyage  of  difcovery,  a  circumnavigation  of  cha- 
rity; and  already  the  benefit  of  his  labour  is  felt 
more  or  lefs  in  every  country. 

'  '  This 


26l 


This  benevolent  man,  who  went  about  vifiting 
prifons,  and  relieving  the  affliaed,  fpeaking  of 
the  putrid,  or  jail-fever,  fays,  "  If  it  were  alked 
me,  what  is  the  caufe  of  this  difeafe?  I  fliould 
not  anfwer,  a  want  of  cleanlinefs ;  for  I  have 
found  in.  forae  prifons,  cells,  and  dungeons,  as  of- 
fenfive  and  dirty  a&  any  I  have  obferved  in  this 
country,  where,  however,  this  diftemper  was,  un- 
known ;  I  am  obliged  to  look  out  therefore  for 
fome  other  caufe  of  its  production.  This,  in  my- 
opinion,  arifes  from  want  of  proper  ventilation, 
and  the  corruption  of  the  fluids.  Our  convicts  are 
ironed,  and  thru-ft  into  clofe  ofFenfive  dungeons,, 
and  there  chaiped  down,  fome  of  them,,  without 
ftraw,  or  other  bedding  ;  in  which  they  con- 
tinue, in  winter,  fixteen  or  feventeen  hours  out 
of  the  twenty-four,  in  utter  ina£tivity,  and  ini- 
merfed  in  the  noxious  effluvia,  exhaling,  and  not 
carried  o6f  from  their  own  bodies  j  on  this,  ac- 
count, the  jail-fever  is  always,  obferved  to  reiga 
more  in  our  prifons  during  winter  than  in  fum- 
mer;  contrary,  I  prefume,  to  the  nature  of  other 
putrid  difeafes.  Their  diet,  at  the  fame  tinie,, 
i,s  low  and  fcanty,  and  they  feel  this  change 
the  more  feverely,  being  before  accuflomed,  ge- 
nerally, to  free  diet,  tolerable  lodgings,  and  vi- 
gorous exercife,  and  the  fluids  cannot  fail  fooii 
to  degenerate  under  fo  many  caufes  of  ficknefs, 
and  defpair. 

Let 


262 


Let  me  draw  the  fkctch  only  of  a  fingle  cap- 
tive. It  is  taken  from  the  life.  I  had  to  look 
through  the  twilight  of  his  grated  door  tp  take 
his  true  features, 

I  beheld  his  body  half  wafied  away  with 
long  expeftation  and  confinement,  and  felt  what 
kind  of  ficknefs  of  the  heart  it  was  which  arifes 
from  hope  deferred. — Upon  looking  nearer,  I  faw 
him  -pale  and  wan  : — in  thirty  years  the  weftern 
breeze  had  not  once  warmed  his  blood — he  had 
feen  no  fun,  no  moon  in  all  that  time — nor  had 
the  voice  of  friend  or  kinfman  breathed  through 
his  lattice  : — his  children — but  here  my  heart  be- 
gan to  bleed — and  I  am  forced  to  go  on  with 
another  part  of  the  portrait.  He  was  fitting  upon 
tiie  ground  upon  a  little  ftraw,  in  the  furtheft 
corner  of  his  dungeon,  which  was  alternately  his 
chair  and  bed  5  a  little  calendar  of  fmall  fticks 
were  laid  at  the  head,  notched  all  over  with  the 
difmal  days  and  nights  he  had  pafTed  there — he 
had  one  of  thefe  little  fticks  in  his  hand,  and 
with  a  rufty  nail  he  was  etching  another  day  of 
mifery  to  add  to  the  heap.  As  I  darkened  the 
little  light  he  had,  he  lifted  up  a  hopelefs  eye 
towards  the  door,  then  caft  it  down — fhook  his 
head,  and  went  on  with  his  work  of  afflitlion.  I 
heard  the  chains  upon  his  legs,  as  he  turned  his 
body  to  lay  his  little  ftick  upon  the  bundle — He 
gave  a  deep  figh — I  faw  the  iron  enter  into  his 
foul — I  burft  into  tears— 

This 


263 

This  is  too  faithful  a  pitture  of  every  prifoner, 
fume  few  excepted,  who  appear  totally  devoid  of 
feeling.  Hence  it  is,  fays  Howard,  and  I  fpeak 
from  my  own  obfervations,  during  many  fuccejGTive 
years,  that  more  die  of  the  Jail-fever  than  by  the 
arm  of  the  executioner. 

The  hiftory  of  the  Boullam  fever,  as  it  has 
been  called,  is  a  ftriking  inftance  of  a  felf-gene- 
rated  fever. 

The  Hankey  failed  from  England,  in  company 
with  another  fliip,  both  chartered  by  the  Sierra 
Leone  company,  loaded  with  ftores  and  adven- 
turers, for  the  proje£ted  colony  at  Boullam,  about 
the  beginning  of  the  month  of  April,  1792. 
When  thefe  fliips  failed,  and  during  the  voyage 
out,  the  crews  and  fettlers  were  all  healthy  ;  and 
as  the  latter  were  in  general  of  the  middling  clafs 
of  people,  and  appeared  to  be  induced  to  fettle 
in  this  new  country,  more  from  the  delufive  profr 
peel  of  wealth  held  out  to  them,  than  by  apy  de- 
privation of  the  means  of  fubfiftance  in  their 
own  country,  no  fufpicion  whatever  can  be  en- 
tertained of  the  exiftence  of  latent  infeftioii. 
among  them  ;  nor  can  marfli  effluvia  be  fuppofed 
as  the  origin  of  the  djfeafe  which  afterwards 
fvvept  off  fo  many  of  thofe  unhappy  people, 
Boullam,  being  furrounded  by  the  fea,  enjoys  all 
the  advantages  of  the  fea-breeze  3  and  being  dry, 
and  not  incommoded  by  any  marfliy  tra6ls,  it  is 
confidered  as  the  healthicft  fpot  on  the  windward 

coalt, 


264 


CQ^ft\  It  is  not  inhabited,  but  occafionally 
vifited  by  the  natives  of  the  adjoining  continent, 
■who  have  fniall  fcattered  patches  of  millet  on  it. 
It  is,  however,  deftitute  of  frefli  water ;  and 
that,  procured  by  digging  temporary  wells  on  the 
beech,  is  brackifh,  and  confequently  unwhole- 
fome.  The  negroes  of  this  part  of  Africa  ai-e  fe- 
TDcious  in  an  extraordinary  degree  ;  and  are  even 
faid  to  "be  cannibals.  This  circumftance  prevents 
ing  the  erection  of  any  fort  of  accommodation  on 
iliore,  during  the  nine  months  the  Hankey  lay 

*  This  part  of  Africa  is  allowed,  by  all  who  have  vlfited  if, 
to  be  uncommonly  healthy  and  pleafant,  I  have  converfed 
with  feveral  intelligent  captains  of  flave-ftiips,  who  have  uni'^ 
formly  agreed  in  this  point:  and  indeed  the  appearance  of  the 
flaves  brought  from  the  windward  coaft,  part  of  which  this  is, 
conftitutes  a  convincing  proof  of  the  falubrity  of  the  climate. 
Many  travellers  have  given  their  teflimony  to  this  efFeft :  the 
Chevalier  de  Marchais,  in  particular,  is  very  full  of  its  praife  ; 

Le  lit  dp  cette  riviere  (Sierra  Leona)  renferme  quantite  d'ifle§ 
d'un  terrein  parfaitement  bon,  gras  et  profond  qui  prodiiit  de 
lui-m^me  et  prefque  fans  culture  tout  ce-qui  eft  necefTaire  a  1» 
vie— Mais  ce  qu'on  ne  fgauroit  eftimer  affez,  c'eft  que  Pair  y 
efl  tres  pur,  et  qu'on  n'y  ell:  point  fujet  a  ces  maladies  violente? 
et  dangereufes  qui  regnent  a  la  Cote  de  Guinte  et  qui  ont  fait 
perir  tant  d'Europcens."  See  Voyage  du  Chev.  Des  Marchais 
en  Guin6e  et  ifles  voifines,  par  le  R.  Pere  Labat.  torn.  I.  p.  58--~ 
Dr.  Lind  alfo  fpeaks  favourably  of  thofe  iflands,  and  the  ad- 
joining continent.  Difeafes  of  Hot  Climates,  p.  56.  Capt.  Nor- 
ris,  in  his  African  Pilot,  lately  publifhed,  the  moft  corre£V  thing 
of  the  kind  I  ever  faw,  lays  down  3oullarn  in  lat.  N.  11  ;  and 
long.  W.  from  Farro,  3  ;  almoft  in  the  mouth  of  Rio  Grande, 
having  Hen  Ifland  between  it  and  the  ocean.  It  appears  to  be 
pearly  circular,  about  15  miles  long,  and  15  broad  ;  and  con- 
fequently about  45  round. 

there 


there,  the  fettlers  were  obliged  to  ]ivc  on  board  i 
aiid  the  rainy  feafon .  coming  on  ahuofl;  imme- 
diately after  their  arrival,  and  the  heat  being  at 
the  fame  time  exceffively  great,  they  endeavoured 
to  fheher  themfelves  from  both,  by  raifmg  the 
fides  of  the  fhip  feveral.  feet,  and  covering  her 
with  a  wooden  roof. 

Among  upwards  of.,  two  hundred  people,  of 
whom  women  and  childreii  conftituted  a  part, 
thus  confined  in  a  fultry  moil^  atniofphere,  clean- 
linefs  could  not  be  well  attended  to,  however 
well-inclined  the  people  themfelves  might  be. 
Thefe  circumftances,  joined  to  the  depreffion  of 
mind  confequent  upon  their  difappointment,  muft 
certainly  be  confidered  as  the  caufes  of  the  ma- 
lignant fever  which  broke  out  among  thofe  un- 
fortunate people,  fometime  after  their  arrival  at 
Boullam*.  And  no  doubt  can  be  entertained, 
that  neglefting  to  fw^eten  the  flu'p,  to  ventilate 
her  afterwards,  and  to  deftroy  the  clothes,  bed- 
ding, &c.  of  thofe  who  died  on  board,  was  the 
fole  caufe  of  her  retaining  the  feeds  of  infection 
when  fhe  arrived  at  this  port,  Th?  following  fa£ls 
will  ferve  to  illuftrate  this  :  Capt.  Coxe,  finding 
the  water  at  Boullam  unwholefome,  proceeded 
with  his  fliip  to  Bijjao,  where  there  is  a  Portu- 
guefe  fettlement,  for  a  fupply.  The  fliip  was  na- 
vigated by  about  twelve  feamen,  moft  of  whom 

*  Such  is  the  origin  of  the  jail-fever,  according  to  Howard. 
Vide  p.  265.  It  iti  here  we  deliver  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Chifliolm. 

had 


•266 


had  not  experienced  fickncfs,  and  had  been  pro- 
bably procured  trom  Sierra  Leone  :  at  any  rate 
they  were  then  taken  on  board  for  the  firft  time. 
Of  thefe^  before  tlie  return  of  tlie  Hankey  to 
Boullam,  nine  died  ;  and  the  remainder  were  re- 
duced to  a  deplorable  ftate. 

The  time  for  which  the  Hankey  was  char- 
tered being  expired,  Mr.  Paiba,  with  his  fa- 
mily, intended  to  return  to  England  in  her ; 

as  no  feamen  could  be  procured,  they 
■were  obliged'  to  proceed  to  fea,  having  on 
board  the  captain  fick,  and  only  the  mate,  Mr. 
Paiba,  and  two  feamen  to  navigate  the  fhip. 
With  much  difficulty  they  arrived  at  St.  Jngo, 
where  they  fortunately  found  the  Charon  and 
Scorpion  fhips  of  war.  Capt.  Dodd,  of  the  for- 
mer, humanely  rendered  them  every  fervice  in 
his  power  ,;  and,  on  leaving  them,  put  two  men 
of  each  fliip  on  board  the  Hankey.  With  this 
aid  they  proceeded  to  the  Weft-Indies  ;  a  voyage 
to  England  being  impracticable  in  their  wretched 
ftate.  On  the  third  day  after  leaving  St.  Jago, 
the  men  they  procured  tVom  the  fliips  of  war 
were  feized  with  the  fever,  which  had  carried  off 
three-fourths  of  tliofe  on  board  the  Hankey  at 
Boullam  ;  and  having  no  affiftance,  two  of  the 
four  died  :  the  remaining  two  were  put  on  fliore 
here  in  the  moft  wretched  ftate  poffible.  Capt. 
Dodd,  on  his  arrival  at  Barbadoes  from  the  coaft 
of  Africa,  was  ordered  by  Admiral  Gardener  to 

convoy 


267 


convoy  the  homeward-bound  fleet  of  merchant- 
men. In  the  execution  of  his  orders,  he  came 
to  Grenada  on  the  27th  of  May,  and  hearing  of 
the  mifchief  which  the  Hankey  had  been  the 
caufe  of,  mentioned  that  feveral  of  the  Charon's 
and  Scorpion's  people  were  fent  on  board  the 
Hankey  at'  St.  Jago,  to  repair  her  rigging,  &c. 
that  from  this  circumftance,  and  the  communi- 
cation which  his  barge's  crew  had  with  that  fliip, 
the  peftilence  was  brought  on  board  both  Jliijis  i 
and  that  of  the  Charon's  crew  thirty  died  ;  and 
of  the  Scorpion's  about  fifteen.  The  Hankey  ar- 
rived at  the  Port  of  St.  George  on  the  19th  of 
February,  in  the  moft  diftrelTed  fit  nation  ;  and  for 
a  few  days  lay  in  the  Bay,  but  was  afterwards 
brought  into  the  Carenage  *, 

From 

*  Our  Lieut.  Governor,  Ninian  Home,  Efq.  fometime  after 
the  diieafe  became  epidemic,  informed  me,  that  in  confequence 
of  the  information  he  had  received  of  the  clothes,  &:c.  of  the 
viftims  of  the  fever  ^t  Boullam  being  ftill  on  board  the  Han- 
key, he  ordered  Capt.  Coxe  to  be  brought  before  him  and  fome 
gentlemen  of  the  council,  &c.  He  then  acknowledged  that  all 
the  efFefts  of  thofe  who  had  died  were  then  on  board  his  ftiip; 
and  faid,  that  he  would  not  deftroy  them,  unlefs  he  was  indem- 
nified for  the  lofs  he  might  fuftain,  ftiould  the  heirs  of  the  de- 
Qeafed  call  on  him  for  thofe  effefts.  Every  argument  was  ufed 
to  induce  him  to  deftroy  the  articles,  but  the  only  one  which 
influences  a  man  of  this  defcription,  Indemnification ;  and  he 
of  courfe  carried  the  feminium  of  the  difeafe  to  England  when 
the  Hankey  failed  with  a  convoy  in  July.  Mr.  Hume  was  fo 
jmprelT'ed  with  the  idea  of  the  danger  Capt.  Cox's  condu£l  might 
be  productive  of  on  the  arrival  of  the  fhip  in  England,  that  he 

wrote 


^68 

_^  From  this  period  we  are  to  date,  fays  Dr. 
Chiiholm,  the  cornmencpment  of  a  difeafe  before, 
I  believe,  unknown  in  this  country,  and  certainly 
unequalled  in  its  deftructive  nature. 

— IMQva  peftis  adeft :  euj  ncQ  vjrtute  r^Wii 
Nec  telis,  arinilVe  potell  •  ■      .  ovid. 

.  The  manner  in  which  this  difeafe  wg$,  firfl 
communicated,  and  its  fubf^quent  progr^fl,  too 
plearly  evinced  its  jusilign^nt  and  peftii^^ti^ll 
pitture, 

.  A  Capt.  Rmingtm,  an  intimate  acquaintance 
of  Capt,  Coxe'g,  was  the  firft  perfon  who  vifjted 
the  Hankey,  after  h^r  arrival  in  St..  George's  Bay, 
This  perfon  went  on  board  of  her  in  th^  evening 
4tfter  flie  anchored,  and  remained  three  day*  i  at 
the  end  of  which  time  he  left  St.  George's,  and 
proceeded  in  a  Drogher  *  to  Grenville  Bay,  where 
his  fliip,  the  Adventure,  lay.  He  was  feized  with 
the  malignant  peftilential  fever  on  the  palfage  5 
and  the  violence  of  the  fymptoms  increafed  fo 
rapidly,  as,  on  the  third  day,  to  put  an  end  to  his 
exiftence. 

The  crew  of  the  Defiance,  of  Blythe  Port,  near 
Newcaftle,  were  the  next  who  fuffered  by  vifiting 

wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  ftating  the  danger.  Proper 
riottice  of  this  reprefentation  waa  taken  by  Government ;  for 
the  Hapkey  was  obliged  to  perform  quarantine ;  or  perhaps 
we  might  have  had  the  fame  fever  in  F.ngland,  and  a  fecond 
plague. 

*  A  coafting  velTel. 

this 


269 


this  (hip  :  the  Mate,  boatfzvain,  and  four  faikrs^ 
went  on  board  the  day  after  her  arrival :  the  mate 
remamed  either  on  deck  or  in  the  cabin,  but  the 
reft  went  below,  and  fliaid  all  night  there.  AH  of 
them  were  immediately  feized  with  the  fever, 
and  died  in  three  days.  The  mate  was  alfo  taken 
ill,  but,  probably  from  his  having  been  lefs  ex- 
pofed  to  the  virulence  of  the  infeQion,  he  reco- 
vered. 

The  crew  of  the  ihip  Bailies,  from  the  fame  im- 
prudent civility  or  curiofity,  were  the  next  who 
fuffered.  Thefe  communicated  the  infection  to 
the  ihips  neareft  them  j  and  it  gradually  fpread 
from  thofe  neareft  the  mouth  of  the  Carenage, 
where  the  Hankey  for  fome  time  lay,  to  thofe  at 
the  bottom  of  it ;  not  one  efcaping,  in  fucceffion, 
whatever  means  the  captains  took  to  prevent  it  5 
even  the  fmell  and  fmoke  of  coal-tar,  which  is 
unc<5mmonly  pungent  and  penetrating',  had  no 
effeft  as  a  preventive ;  for  the  Hope  of  London, 
then  careening,  and  having  her  bottom  paid  with 
this  bitumen,  received  the  infedUon  as  extenfively 
as  the  others. 

In  the  fliort  fpace  of  time  from  the  beginning 
of  March  to  the  end  of  May,  2CX)  of  about  500 
jailors,  who  manned  the  ftiips  in  the  regular  trade^, 
died  of  this  fever.  If  to  thefe  we  add,  thofe  who 
fuffered  on  board  Guinea-fhips,  and  other  tran- 
lient  veffels,  the  number  cannot  fall  Ihort  of  250 ; 

which 


270 

which  is  neatly  one  in  three,  or  a  third  of  all  thf^ 
failors  during  about  ten  weeks  in  harbour. 

From  the  beginning  of  June  till  the  middle  of 
Augufl,  when  the  difeafe  had  nearly  difappearedy 
the  number  of  failors  was  confiderably  diminifhcdj 
by  two  fleets  having  failed  for  Europe,  but  the 
mortality  was  proportionably  great.  Although  fo 
great  a  mortality  naturally  leads  us  to  form  a 
dreadful  idea  of  the  virulence  of  the  contagion 
which  gave  rife  to  it,  it  muft  not  remain  uncon- 
fidered,-  that  the  predifpolition  of  the  clafs  of  men 
among  -ivhom  it  happened,  was  very  great.  The 
failors  were  men  from  the  age  of  fifteen  to  fifty  j 
and  the  circumftances  whieh  appeared  to  predif-^ 
pofe  them  more  ftrong:ly  than  other  m€h  to  the 
a£lit)Ti  of  the  contagion,-  were  violent  exereife  in 
the  fun  ;  the  immoderate  u-fe  of  midiluted  new 
rum  J  bathing  in  a  {late  of  intoxicaition,  and  often 
when  violently  heated ;  fleeping  on  deck  during 
the  night.  All  the  caufcs  of  direft,  or  indireft 
debility,  predifpofe  to  catch  the  infection  of 
contagious  fever.'  Fear  has  a  remarkable  effect 
this  way.  Other  circumftances  which  did  not 
depend  fo  much  on  their  own  prudence,  no  doubt,, 
contributed  very  much  to  give  the  difeafe  fo  very 
fatal  a  tendency  j  the  damp  heat  between  decks  ; 
the  exceffive  filth  of  moft  of  the  fhips  j  and  the 
uncleanly  ftate  of  the  perfons  and  clothc3  of  the 
men  themfelves. 

About 


About  the  middle  of  April  the  difeafe  began  tG 
appear  on  fhore.  The  firft  houfe  it  fliewed  itfelf 
in,  was  that  of  Meflrs.  Stowewood  and  Co.  fituated 
elofe  to  the  wharf ;  and  the  infeiStion  was  evi- 
dently introduced  by  a  negro-wench,  who  took 
in  failors  clothes  to  wafli.  The  whole  of  the  fa- 
mily were  fucceflively  affli6lcd  with  it ;  and  by 
them  communicated  to  all  thofe  with  whom  they 
had  any  intercourfe-  The  difference  of  living, 
and  the  being  more  apart,  difpofing  them  to 
be  lefs  a6led  on  by  the  contagion,  with  the  fupe- 
rior  care  and  attention  to  cleanlinefs,  rendered 
the  fever  infinitely  milder  when  it  appeared  among 
the  inhabitants.  The  manner,  however,  in  which 
it  fpread  in  town,  clearly  evinced  its  contagious 
nature ;  for  all  who,  from  friendfhip,  bufmefs, 
or  duty,  communicated  with  the  difeafed,  were 
themfelves  infefted  j  and  no  inftance  occurred 
wherein  the  contagion  could  not  be  traced  to  its 
particular  fource.' 

That  part  of  the  garrifon  quartered  nearefl:  to 
wliere  the  Hankey  lay,  were  the  firft  of  this  clafs  of 
men  wIk)  received  the  infeftion.  A  barrack,  con- 
taining nearly  one-half  of  the  45th  regiment,  was 
fituated  exactly  to  leeward  of  the  Hankey,  aud:dir- 
tant  from  her  about  two  hundred  yards.  It  is  not  to 
be  fuppofed,  that  this  circumftance  alone  could  be 
produftive  of  a  difeafe  arifing  from  contagion;  but 
it  was  fo  in  a  fecondary  manner,  by  exciting  the 
curiofity  of  fome  of  the  officers.  One  of  thefe 
vifited  the  Hankey,  and,  with  two  or  three  fol- 

diers 


2j2 

diers  who  rowed  his  boat,  remained  on  board 
fome  time.  The  confequence  of  this  imprudence 
was  fatal  to  himfelf  almofl:  immediately  after  j 
and,  in  a  little  time,  too  many  of  the  men  :  all  the 
officers  and  men  were  fucceflively  feized  with  the 
difeafe  ;  but  it  proved  fatal  only  to  recruits  who 
had  lately  joined.  The  ftrength  of  the  regiment 
at  this  time  was  280,  and  of  thefe  24  died;  fo 
that  the  proportion  was  one  to  fomething  lefs 
than  twelve.  The  fmallnefs  of  this  proportion 
arofe  from  the  mode  of  treatment  by  mercury  5 
as  will  be  fliewn  hereafter. 

About  the  beginning  of  May,  the  difeafe  made 
its  appearance  in  the  detachment  of  Royal  At  til- 
lery  :  a  circumftance  rather  extraordinary,  as  that 
corps  were  quartered  in  a  fituation  far  removed 
from  the  focus  of  infeftion.  It  was  evidently 
produced,  however,  by  the  communication  which 
the  gunners,  doing  duty  in  Fort  George,  had 
with  the  45th  regiment ;  and  the  predifpofition 
of  the  men  to  receive  infection,  as  far  as  that 
could  be  induced  by  excefles  in  drinking,  and 
other  irregularities,  was  by  no  means  lefs  than 
that  of  the  failors  and  foldiers  of  the  45th  regi* 
ment.  Of  84  people  belonging  to  the  ordnance 
department  at  that  time,  about  56  were  feized 
with  the  difeafe  before  the  1ft  of  July,  and  of 
thefe  five  died  :  a  trifling  mortality,  confidering 
the  nature  of  the  complaint.  All  thefe  men, 
however,  had  been  about  three  years  in  the 
country,,  and  confequently  fuffered  lefs  from  the 

difeafe. 


273 

fliTeafe,  than  about  27  recruits  who  joined  the 
artillery  in  July.  Of  26  of  thefe  unfortunate  men 
who  were  infected,  21  died  before  the  middle  of 
Auguft  :  a  dreadful  inftance  of  its  peculiar  ten- 
dency to  prove  fatal  to  ftrangers  to  the  climate. 

About  the  middle  of  June,  the  difeafe  broke 
out  in  the  57th  regiment  -y  and  among  the  artificers 
and  labourers  on  Richmond-hill.  The  infeftion 
was  communicated  by  fome  of  the  latter,  whp 
had  vifited  their  friends  in  town  labouring  under 
it.  All  were  fucceflively  feized  with  it  i  but  it 
fell  heavier  on  the  officers  than  the  men,  feveral 
of  the  former  being  young  men  lately  arrived  from 
Europe.  The  proportion  of  deaths  was  about  on^ 
to  fifteen. 

The  difeafe,  in  the  courfe  of  the  months  of 
May,  June,  and  July,  appeared  in  feveral  diilinft 
and  diftant  parts  of  the  country,  whither  the  in- 
fection was  carried  by  perfons  who  imprudently 
vifited  infe6led  houfes  in  town. 

But  the  infeftion  was  not  confined  to  Grenada 
alone  ;  from  this,  as  a  focus,  it  fpread  to  Jamaica^ 
St.  DomingOy  and  to  the  other  iflands,  by  means 
of  veffels  on  board  of  which  the  infeftion  was 
retained  by  the  clothes,  more  efpecially  the 
woollen  jackets  of  the  deceafed  failors ;  and  the 
multitude  which  petiflied  from  this  caufe 
fcarcely  credible. 


Vol.  IV. 


SECT. 


274 


SECT.  XLVIII. 

SECOND  CAUSE,  OR  PUTRID  FEVER  ARISING  FROM 
ANIMAL  AND  VEGETABLE  MIASMATA. 

Another,  and  I  believe  a  more  frequent 
caufe  of  putrid  fever,  is  the  miafms  from  the  cor- 
ruption of  animal  and  vegetable  fubftances. 

PutrefadHon  is  the  great  procefs  appointed 
by  the  Creator,  for  the  refolution  of  animal  and 
vegetable  fubftances  into  the  elements  from  which 
they  were  firft  formed.  By  this  procefs,  the  oak 
and  the  bramble,  the  cedar  and  the  hyffop,  fruits, 
whether  delicious  or  nutritive,  or  acrid  or  poifon- 
ous,  the  moft  beautiful  of  the  human  fpecies, 
and  the  moft  frightful  of  the  other  tribes  of  ani- 
mals, are  all  reduced  to  one  common  lot :  they 
finally  return  back  to  their  original  and  primeval 
elements.  Hence  the  adage — Omnia  metit  tempus. 

This  refolution  of  bodies,  when  philofophically 
confidered,  is  equally  wonderful  with  their  for- 
mation j  and  is  alike  governed  by  regular  and  in- 
variable laws.  Every  plant  brings  forth  its  own 
kind,  and  every  animal  its  own  fpecies.  Thefe 
live,  they  are  nouriflied,  and  filently  hafteri  to 
decay;  they  pafs  back  to  their  elementary  Jlate, 
and  are  again  employed  as  the  conjiituent  -j^arts  of 
other  vegetables  and  other  animals.    Such,  with  re- 

fpea 


275 

{pe£t  to  the  material  part  of  the  creation,  is  the 
amazins:  circle  of  life  and  death  !  a  circle  in 
which  nature  keeps  her  fteady  rounds,  and 
moves  agreeably  to  laws  eftablifhed  by  the  Al- 
mighty. 

Vegetable  fubftances  which  confift  of  hy- 
drogen, OXYGEN,  and  carbon,  maintain  for 
a  long  while  their  organized  firudtiire,  and  putrefy 
with  difficulty.  Having  palTed  through  firft  the 
'vinous*  and  then  the  acetous  fermentations '\,  they  at 
length  become  fubjeft  to  the  pitrefaEtive  fer- 

*  The  firft  efFe£l  we  fee  produced  on  vegetable  fubftances 
which  have  loft  their  vital  tRiNciPLE,  is  the  deftruftion  of 
the  equilibrium,  or  juft  union  of  their  three  Gonftituent  prin- 
ciples {hydrogen^  oxygen^  and  carbon)^  by  the  aftion,  or  opera- 
tion, of  heat  and  rnoifture.  The  oxygen  unites  with  the 
CARBON,  and  the  fermenting  juice  is  covered  on  its  furface 
vi'ith.  carbonic  acid  gas.  The  fpecific  gravity  of  the  liquor  is 
now  confiderably  diminiflied,  and  if  expofed  to  diftillation,  it 
affords  a  light  inflammable  fubjiance,  called  alkohol,  or  spi- 
rit OF  wine:  which,  as  we  might  reafonably  expeft  from  the 
volatilization  in  great  part  of  the  carbo7i  and  oxygetiy  is  almoft 
entirely  made  up  of  the  other  vegetable  principle,  hydrogen : 
for  if  eight  ounces  of  spirit  ok  wine  or  alkohol  be 
burnt  in  a  confined  apparatus  containing  only  oxygen  gas,  the 
produft  will  be  nine  ounces  of  water.  The  alkohol, 
having  in  this  cafe  increafed  its  weight  an  ounce,  muft  have  at- 
trafted  fame  thing,  arid  this  fame  thing  can  be  nothing  elfe  but 
OXYGEN,  the  bafe  of  oxygen  air,  and  the  caloric  of  the 
oxygen  air  being  difengaged,  is  feen  in  its  active  form  during 
the  combuftion. 

f  This  fecond  Jlage  of  fpontaneous  decompofition,  as  it  is 
called,  is  nothing  more  than  the  abforption  or  imbibing  of 
OXYGEN  from  the  air. 


T2 


276 

meni'*,  and  the  hydrogen  of  the  vegetable 
efcapes  in  the  form  of  hydrogen  gas,  while  the 
OXYGEN  and  carbon  evaporate  in  the  form  of 
carbonic  acid  gas,  leaving  nothing  behind  but  a 
fmall  refiduum  of  carbon  and  vegetable  earth. 

It  is  different  with  fubftances  containing  a  por- 
tion of  AZOT.  The  equilibrium  of  parts  is  foon 
deftroyed.  Hence  it  is  that  animal  excrements, 
which  contain,  like  other  animal  matter,  a  quan- 
tity of  AZOT-j-,  are  added  to  the  elements  ca- 
pable of  putrefaction,  to  form  compofts  or  dung- 
hills. 

The  addition  of  azot  not  only  accelerates 
the  putrefaftive  procefs,  but  the  azof  combining 
with  the  hydrogen,  affords  a  new  produft,  which  is 

AMMONIAC   or  VOLATILC    ALKALI  J.  Mouf. 

Bertholet  has  proved,  by  a  variety  of  experi- 
ments, that  AMMONIAC  is  produced  by  the  union 
of  azot  and  hydrogen,  for  if  the  azot  in  the  animal 
fubftances  be  difengaged  by  the  a£tion  of  diluted 
nitrous  acid,  no  ammoniac  will  be  produced, 

*  When  the  fpontaneous  decompofition  is  fuffered  to  pro- 
ceed beyond  the  acetous  frocefs,  then  the  thirel  jiate,  or  pu- 
trefactive F  E  R  M  E'N T,  ta kes  place. 

f  The  putrefactive  procefs  is  moft  eminently  perceived  \%. 
animal  bodies.  Thefe  either  putrefy  immediately;  or,  if  the 
putrefaction  be  Jireceded  by  either  of  the  other  ftages,  their 
duration  is  too  fhort  to  be  perceived. 

%  This  com/iomid  did  not  naturally  exift  in  the  animal  fub- 
ftance,  but  is  formed  by  the  combination,  in  a  certain  pro- 
portion, of  two  of  its  Gonftitueut  elements, 

and 


277 

and  in  all  cafes  putrifying  fubftances  furnilli 
AMMONIAC  only  in  proportion  to  the  azoi  they 
contain. 

The  following  experiment  alfo  fully  proves  the 
compofition  of  ammoniac. 

If  AMMONIAC  be  combined,  fays  Monf.  Four- 
CROY,  with  a  METALLIC  oxYD,  the  hydrogen  of 
the  ammoniac  will  unite  with  the  oxygen  of 
the  METALLIC  OXYD,  and  form  water^  whilft 
the  metal  is  revived,  and  the  azot,  being  left  free, 
will  unite  with  the  caloric  and  affume  the  form  of 
a  gas  or  air. 

Ammoniac  has  a  peculiar  penetrating  odour. 
In  the  putrefa£lion  of  animal  fubftances  fome- 
times  ammoniac  predominates,  which  is  eafily 
perceived  by  its .  fharpnefs  upon  the  eyes,  and 
fometimes,  as  in  putrid  herrings,  the  phospho- 
rated HYDROGEN  GAS  is  moft  abundant. 

Phosphorus  is  found  in  almoft  all  animal 
fubftances,  and  in  fome  plants  which  give  indeed 
a  kind  of  animal  analyfis. 

It  is  chiefly  to  ammoniac  (hydrogen  and  azot). 
and  PHOSPHORUS  dilTolved  in  hydrogen  gas, 
that  the  foetor  ilTuing  from  the  putrefaftion  of 
animal  fubftances  depends. 

This  vapour  is  highly  hurtful  to  animal  life. 
When  accumulated,  if  the  pick-axe  of  the  grave- 
digger  unfortunately  ruptures  the  coffin,  it  burfts 
forth,  and  oftentimes  proves  fatal  to  the  fexton, 
and  is  feen  to  affe6l  every  perfon  at  a  dijiance  with 
vertigo,  naufea,  and  uneafinefs.  After  having  ob- 

ferved 


278 

ferved  the  conftant  dread  that  grave-diggers  have 
for  this  poifonous  vapour,  after  having  feen  the 
cadaverous  palenefs  of  countenance,  and  other 
marks  of  the  gradual  atlion  of  a  flow  poifon,  fo 
evident  in  the  appearance  of  all  men  employed  much 
in  church  yards ^  it  is  impolTible  not  to  believe  that 
the  air  in  their  immediate  neighbourhood  mud, 
in  fome  meafure,  injure  the  health  of  the  in- 
habitants. 

I  have  foanetimes  obferved,  fays  Dr.  St.  John,  a 
pheenomenon  to  take  place  during  the  putrefac- 
tion of  human  bodies,  and  which  I  cannot  but 
think  of  very  great  importance  to  be  enquired 
into  and  known.  This  is  the  exhalation  of  a 
particular  gas,  which  is  the  moft  active  and  dread- 
ful of  all  corrofive  poifons,  and  produces  moft 
fudden  and  terrible  effe6ls  upon  a  living  crea- 
ture. This  I  more  than  once  have  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  remarking  in  the  dilTefting  room  of  Mr. 
Andravi  at  Paris*.  The  aeriform  fluid  which 
is  exhaled  at  certain  times  frgfn  animal  bodies  in 
putrefa6tion,  is  infinitely  more  noxious  than  any 

*  Mr.  Andravi  has  had  more  aftual  praftice  in  anatomy 
than  any  other  man  in  Europe.  He  has  difcovered  a  method 
of  amputating  the  humerus  at  the  articulation,  by  which  he 
faves  the  deltoid  mufcle,  and  the  parts  are  healed  in  a  few 
days :  an  improvement  very  little  known,  but  which  in  Eng- 
land would  render  him  immortal.  He  is  looked  upon  at  Paris 
as  a  very  Angular  man,  becaufe  he  always  fpeaks  his  mind, 
and  is  as  much  an  admirer  of  fimplicity  in  chirurgical  opera- 
tions as  our  late  celebrated  Meflrs.  Pott  and  Hunter. 

elafl:ic 


279 

elaftic  fluid  as  yet  difcovered.    So  that  it  is  ut- 
terly dangerous  to  approach  a  body  in  a  ftate  of 
putrefa£tion.    I  have  known  a  gentleman  who, 
by  nightly  touching  the  inteftines  of  a  human 
body  beginning  to  liberate  this  corrofive  gas,  was 
afFefted  with  a  violent  inflammation,  which  in  a 
very  fliort  fpace  of  time  extended  up  almoft  the 
entire  of  his  arm,  producing  an  extenfive  ulcer 
of  the  moft  foul  and  frightful  black  appearance, 
which  continued  for  feveral  months,  and  reduced 
him  to  a  miferable  fl:ate  of  emaciation.    This  is 
only  one  example  of  many  which  I  have  feen.  I 
have  known  a  celebrated  profeflbr  who  was  at- 
tacked with  a  violent  inflammation  of  the  nares 
and  fauces,  from  which  he  with  difficulty  reco- 
vered, by  Hooping  for  an  infl:ant  over  a  body  which 
was  beginning  to  give  forth  this  deleterious  fluid. 
It  is  happy  for  mankind  that  this  particular  ftage 
of  putrefafiiion  continues  but  for  a  few  hours  j 
and  what  may  appear  very,  remarkable,  this  de- 
ftruftive  gas  is  not  very  difagreeable  in .  fmell, 
and  has  nothing  of  that  abominable  and  loath- 
fome  fetor  produced  by  dead  bodies  in  a  lefs  dan- 
gerous fl:ate  of  corruption ;  but  has  a  certain 
fmell  totally  peculiar  to  itfelf,  by  which  it  may 
be  infl:antly  difcovered  by  any  one  that  ever 
fmelled  it  before. 

This  is  an  objeft  very  worthy  the  attention  of 
phyficiansi  it  is  both  extremely  interefting,  and 
very  little  known  j  but  at  the  fame  time  it  is  a 

ftudy 


28o 


fludy  In  the  higheft  degree  unpleaiant,  from  the 
deteftable  fmell  and  naftlnefs  which  attend  the 
putrefa£lion  of  animal  bodies  j  and  a  man  muft 
be  armed  with  uncommon  philanthropy  and  re- 
folution  to  attempt  it.    I  think  it  probable  that 
there  is  a  rapid  fixation  of  the  bafis  of  vital  air 
in  dead  bodies  at  a  certain  ftate  of  putrefaction, 
on  account  of  the  luminous  appearance  which 
they  fometimes  make,  as  if  all  over  painted  with 
liquid  fire.    This  phofphoric  flate,  if  I  may  fo 
call  it,  exifts  but  for  a  few  hours  at  the  moft; 
and   fometimes  affords  a  more  beautiful  and 
brilliant  appearance  than  can  be  imagined.  But 
whether  it  takes  place  in  every  body,  or  w-hether 
it   precedes  or  follows  the  exhalation  of  the 
corrofive  gas  above-mentioned,  I  have  not  been 
able  to  difcover.    As  I  know  of  nothing  more 
a£live  or  corrofive  in  nature  than  the  gas  above- 
mentioned,  which  difcngages  from  animal  bodies 
in  putrefaction,   I  think  it  probable,  that  the 
fame  gas  modified,  or  mixed,  or  united  with 
others,  niay  be  the  occafion  of  putrid  fever,  &c. 
If  fo,  it  furely  deferves  our  attention;  and  by 
acquiring  a  knowledge  of  its  caufe,  nature,  and 
affinities,  we  may  know  how  either  to  prevent 
its  production,  or  proteCt  ourfelves  from  its  in- 
fluence after  it  is  produced.    We  have  had  an 
Englilhman  generous  enough  to  make  a  voyage 
to  the  Levant,  to  cure  the  Turks  of  the  plague ; 
fuch  an  adventure,  undertaken  by  men  of  genius 

and 


28l 


and  fcience,  may  be  productive  of  more  benefit  to 
mankind  J  and  if  my  ideas  arejufl,  we  have  here 
a  feeming  poffibility  of  being  able  to  tear  up  the 
evil  by  the  very  roots. 

Becher  had  the  courage  to  make  obfervations, 
during  the  courfe  of  a  year,  upon  the  decom- 
pofition  of  a  carcafe  in  the  open  air ;  and  to 
obferve  all  the  phaenomena.  The  firft  vapour 
which  rifes,  fays  he,  is  fubtile  and  naufeous  : 
fome  days  after  it  has  a  certain  four  and  pene- 
trating fmell.  After  the  firft  weeks,  the  ikin  be- 
comes covered  with  a  down,  and  appears  yel- 
lowifli ;  greenifli  fpots  are  formed  in  various 
places,  which  afterwards  become  livid  and  black; 
a  thick  moffy  or  mouldy  fubftance  then  covers 
the  greateft  part  of  the  body  j  the  fpots  open, 
and  emit  a  fanies. 

Carcafes  buried  in  the  earth  prefent  very  dif- 
ferent phcenomena ;  the  decompofition  in  a  bury- 
in2:-srround  is  at  leaft  four  times  as  flow.  It  is 
not  perfectly  ended,  according  to  Mr.  Petit,  tilt 
three  years  after  the  body  has  been  interred,  at 
the  depth  of  four  feet ;  and  it  is  flower  in  pro- 
portion as  the  body  is  buried  at  a  greater  depth. 
Thefe  fafts  agree  with  the  principles  which  we 
have  already  eftabliflied  for  bodies  buried  in  the 
earth,  and  fubjeCted  to  laws  of  decompofition  very 
different  from  thofe  which  take  place  in  bodies 
expofed  to  the  open  air.  In  this  cafe  the  de- 
compofition U  favoured  by  the  waters  which  fil- 
ter 


282 


ter  through  the  earth,  and  diflblve  and  carry  with 
them  the  animal  juices.  It  is  alfo  favoured  by 
the  earth,  which  abforbs  the  juices  with  more  or 
lefs  facility.  MefTrs.  Lemcry,  Geoffroy,  and 
Hunaud,  have*  proved  that  argillaceous  earths 
exert  a  very  flow  a£lion  upon  bodies;  but  when  the 
earths  are  porous  and  light,  the  bodies  then  dry 
very  fpeedily.  The  feveral  principles  of  bodies 
abforbed  by  the  earth,  or  carried  by  the  va- 
pours, are  difperfed  through  a  great  fpace,  im- 
bibed by  the  roots  of  vegetables,  and  gradually 
decompofed.  This  is  what  pafTes  in  burying^ 
grounds  in  the  open  air ;  but  it  is  very  far  from 
being  applicable  to  the  fepulchres  which  are 
made  in  churches  and  covered  places.  Here  is 
neither  water  nor  vegetation;  and  confequently 
no  caufe  which  can  carry  away,  diflblve,  or 
change  the  nature  of  the  animal  fluids:  and  it  is 
an  inftance  of  wifdom  in  the  French  government, 
that  has  prohibited  the  burying  in  churches;  a 
praftice  now  confidered  by  them  as  a  fubje£t  of 
horror  and  infection. 

The  accidents  which  have  happened  at  the 
opening  of  graves  and  vaults,  are  but  too  nu- 
merous to  render  any  apology  neceflary  for  our 
fpeaking  a  few  words  refpefting  the  method  of 
preventing  them. 

The  decompofition  of  a  body  in  the  bowels  of 
the  earth  can  never  be  dangerous,  provided  it  be 
buried  at  a  fufiicient  depth,  and  that  the  grave  be 

not 


283 

not  opened  before  its  entire  and  complete  de- 
compofition.    The  depth  of  the  grave  ought  to 
be  fuch  that  the  external  air  cannot  penetrate  it  j 
that  the  juices  with  which  the  earth  is  impreg- 
nated may  not  be  conveyed  to  its  furface  j  and 
that  the  exhalations,  vapours,  or  gafes,  which 
are   developed   or  formed   by  decompofition, 
fliould  not  be  capable  of  forcing  the  earthy  co- 
vering which  detains  them.    The  nature  of  the 
earth  in  which  the  grave  is  dug,  influences  all  its 
effe61:s.    If  the  ftratum  which  covers  the  body 
be  argillaceous,  the  depth  of  the  grave  may  be 
lefs,  as  this  earth  difficultly  aflfords  a  pafTage  to 
gas  and  vapour ;  but  in  general  it  is.  admitted  to 
be  neceflary  that  bodies  fliould  be  buried  at  the 
depth  of  five  feet,  to  prevent  all  thefe  unhappy 
accidents.    It  is  likewife  neceflary  to  attend  to 
the  circumftance,  that  a  grave  ought  not  to  be 
opened  before  the  complete  decompofition  of 
the  body.   This  decompofition,  according  to  Mr, 
Petit,  is  not  perfect  until  the  expiration  of  three 
years,  in  graves  of  four  feet  depth  j  or  four  years, 
when  they  are  fix  feet  deep.    This  term  affords 
many  varieties,  according  to  the  nature  of  the 
earth,  and  the  confl:itution  of  the  fubjefts  buried  in 
it  ?  but  we  may  confider  it  as  a  medium.  The  per- 
nicious cufl:om  which  allows  a  fingle  grave  to  fa- 
milies more  or  lefs  numerous,  ought,  therefore,  to 
be  fuppreffedj  for  in  this  cafe  the  fame  grave  may 
t?e  opened  before  the  time  prefcribed.  Thefe  are 

abufes 


284 

abufes  which  ought  to  occupy  the  attention  of 
government ;  and  it  is  time  that  the  vanity  of 
individuals  fliould  be  facrificed  to  the  public 
fafety.  It  is  likewife  neceffary  to  prohibit  bury- 
ing in  vaults,  and  even  in  coffins.  In  the  firft 
cafe,  the  principles  of  the  bodies  are  fpread  into 
the  air,  and  infeft  it ;  in  the  fecond  their  decom- 
pofition  is  flower  and  lefs  perfect. 

If  thefe  precautions  be  negle£led ;  if  the  dead 
bodies  be  heaped  together  in  too  confined  a 
fpace;  if  the  earth  be  not  proper  to  abforb  the 
juices,  and  decompofe  them;  if  the  grave  be 
opened  before  the  entire  decompofition  of  the 
body — unhappy  accidents  will,  no  doubt,  be 
produced;  and  thefe  accidents  are  but  too  com- 
mon in  great  towns,  where  every  wife  precaution 
is  neglefted.  An  inftance  of  this  happened  when 
the  ground  of  the  church  of  St.  Benoit,  at  Paris, 
was  dug  up  a  few  years  ago  ;  a  naufeous  vapour 
was  emitted,  and  feveral  of  the  neighbours  were 
affected  by  it.  The  earth  which  was  taken  out 
of  this  grave  was  un£tuous,  vifcid,  and  emitted 
an  infectious  fmell.  MefTrs,  Maret  and  Navier 
have  left  us  fimilar  obfervations. 

Moft  authors  have  obferved  putrid  fevers  to 
have  arifen  from  the  corruption  of  the  dead  bo- 
dies after  battle.  This  Ga/en  notes  as  one  of  the 
caufes  of  peftilential  fevers  *,  and  is  fupported 

*  Epit,  Galen  de  Feb.  Differ,  lib.  I.  cap.  iv. 

by 


2  85 

by  the  teftimony  of  other  authors  j  in  particular 
by  ForeJiiiSy  who  was  eye-witnefs  to  a  dlftemper  of 
this  kind,  (which  indeed  he  calls  a  plague)  owing 
to  the  fame  caufe,  attended  with  buboes,  and  a 
high  degree  of  contagion  *.  The  fame  author 
alfo  gives  an  account  of  a  malignant  fever  break- 
ing out  at  Egmont,  in  North-Holland,  occafioned 
by  the  rotting  of  a  whale  that  had  been  left  upon 
the  Ihoref.  We  have  a  like  obfervation  of  a 
fever  affefting  a  fliip's  crew,  upon  the  putre- 
fa£lion  of  fome  cattle  they  had  killed  in  the 
ifland  of  Nevis,  in  the  Weft-Indies  \.  Thefe  men 
were  feized  with  a  pain  in  the  head  and  loins, 
great  weaknefs  and  diforder  of  the  ftomach,  ac- 
companied with  a  fever.  Some  had  carbuncles, 
and  it  was  remarked  that  purple  fpots  appeared  ' 
even  after  death. 

Foreftus  informs  us  of  a  plague  (rather  a  pefti- 
lential  fever),  that  raged  at  Fenice  in  his  time, 
owing  to  the  corruption  of  a  fmall  kind  of  fifh  in 
that  part  of  the  Adriatic  §.  And  the  fame  author 
quotes  Montanus,  for  a  defcription  of  the  pefti- 
lential  endemic  fever  at  Famagujla,  in  Cyprus, 
arifmg  in  furamer  from  the  corruption  of  a  lake 
in  the  neigbourhood. 

*  Obfervat.  lib.  VI.  obf.  xxvi. 

f  Obf.  ix.  fchol.  Paraeus  fays,  tliat  m  his  time  the  like 
happened  on  the  coaft  of  Tufcany.   Fid.  de  Pefte^  cafi.  III. 
+  Traite  de  la  Pefte. 
§  Obfervat.  lib.  VI.  obf.  ix.  fchol. 

Hiftory 


28G 

Hiftory  abounds  with  many  examples  of  pcill- 
lential  fevers,  added  to  the  other  miferies  of  a 
fiege  :  nay,  there  is  fcarce  any  inftance  of  a  town 
•being  long  inverted,  without  fomc  fatal  malady  of 
this  kind.  Sometimes  it  may  be  owing  alfo  to  the 
filth  of  a  place,  crowded  with  people  and  cattle 
brought  in  for  Ihclter  5  as  it  formerly  happened 
both  at  Athens  *  and  at  Rome  f. 

From  this  view  of  the  caufes  of  malignan! 
fevers  and  fluxes,  it  is  eafy  to  conceive  how  in- 
cident they  rauft  be  to  all  populous  cities,  low 
and  ill-aired  >  unprovided  with  common  fliores ; 
or  where  the  ftreets  are  narrow  and  foul ;  or  the 
houfes  dirty ;  where  water  is  fcarce ;  where  jails 
or  hofpitals  are  cfowded^  and  not  ventilated  and 
•kept  clean  ;  when  in  fickly  times  the  burials  are 
within  the  towns  |,  and  the  bodies  not  laid  deep ; 
when  flaughter-houfes  are  alfo  within  the  walls ; 
or  when  dead  animals  and  offals  are  left  to  rot  in 
the  kennels,  or  on  dunghills. 

Though  the  putrefa£l:ion  of  a  vegetable  fub- 
ftance  is  not  to  be  reckoned  nearly  fo  fatal  as 
that  of  animals,  it  is  not,  however,  without  dan- 
ger J  for  vegetables,  rotting  in  a  clofe  place, 
yield  a  cadaverous  fmell  ;  and  we  have  in- 
ftances  of  malignant  fevers  occafioned  by  the 

*  DioDOR.  5'/V«/.  Blbliothec.  Hiff.  lib.  XII.  cap.  xiv. 
f  Tit.  Liv.  anno  U.  C.  291. 
%  ScRKTA  de  Feb.  Caftrens. 

effluvia 


28/ 

effluvia  of  putrid  cabbages  as  well  as  of  plants 
in  marflies. 

Forejiiis  imputes  the  plague  at  Delft,  in  the 
year  1557,  to  the  eating  of  mouldy  grain,  that 
had  been  long  kept  up  by  the  merchants  in  the 
time  of  a  dearth  f.  And  I  have  heard  it  re- 
marked, that  in  this  ifland  the  dyfentery  is  ob- 
ferved  to  be  moft  frequent  among  the  common 
people,  in  thofe  parts  where  they  live  wholly  on 
grain,  when  the  preceding  crop  has  been  da- 
maged in  a  rainy  feafon,  or  kept  in  damp  gra- 
naries. 

We  cannot  but  obferve,  that  though  all  moift 
countries  are  fubje£l  to  intermittents,  yet  if  the 
moifture  is  pure,  and  the  fummers  are  not  clofe 
and  hot,  thefe  fevers  will  moftly  appear  in  a  re- 
gular tertian  fhape,  and  be  eafily  cured.  But  if 
the  moifture  arifes  from  long  ftagnating  water,  in 
which  plants,  fifties,  and  infe6ts,  die  and  rot,  then 
the  damps  being  of  a  putrid  nature,  not  only  oc- 
cafion  more  frequent,  but  more  dangerous  fevers, 
which  oftner  appear  in  the  form  of  quotidians,  or 
double  tertians,  than  that  of  fingle  ones.  Thefe 
are  not  only  apt  to  begin  in  a  continued  ftiape, 
but  after  intermitting  for  fome  days,  to  change 
again  into  continuah  of  a  putrid  and  malignant 
nature.    It  is  remarkable  how  much  thefe  fevers 

*  Dr.  Rogers's  Eflay  on  Epidemic  Difeafes,  p.  41. 
t  Obfervat.  lib,  vi.  obf.  ix. 

vary 


288 


vaiy  with  the  feafon  ;  for,  however  frequent,  vio- 
lent, or  dangerous,  they  have  been  in  the  decline 
of  fummer,  or  beginning  of  autumn,  when  the 
putrefaftion  is  at  the  height,  yet  before  winter 
they  are  reduced  to  a  fmali  number,  become 
mild,  and  generally  affume  a  regular  tertian 
form . 

The  worft  kind  of  fevers  are  mentioned  by 
Sir  John  Pringlc,  in  his  obfervations  on  the  di- 
feafes  of  the  army  in  the  campaign  in  the  Low 
Countries,  to  prevail  in  the  country  bordering 
upon  the  inundations  in  Dutch  Braba-nt ,  the  next 
were  thofe  of  Zealand ;  of  the  third  degree  were 
fuch  as  appeared  in  the  lines  of  Berg  en-op- Zoom  j 
and  the  mildeft  fort,  comparatively,  were  thofe 
that  were  moft  frequent  in  the  cantonments 
round  Eyndhven,  in  villages  rendered  moifl:  by 
plantations  and  under-ground-water,  but  that  not 
putrid-  I  {hall  defcribe  the  firft  and  worft  kind, 
from  which  it  will  be  eafy  to  judge  of  the  nature 
of  the  reft. 

In  the  end  of  July  1748,  when  the  troops  had 
been  about  a  fortnight  or  three  weeks  in  the  can- 
tonments, whilft  the  days  were  fultry,  but  the 
nights  cool  and  foggy,  feveral  of  the  men  (of 
thofe  regiments  that  lay  neareft  the  inundations) 
were  feized  at  once  with  a  burning  heat  and  vio- 
lent head-ach  i  fome  feeling  a  fliort  and  flight 
chillinefs  before ;  others  mentioning  no  preceding 
diforder.   They  complained,  befides,  of  intenfe 

thirft. 


289 

thirft,  aching  of  the  bones,  a  pain  of  the  back, 
great  laflitiide  and  inquietude,  frequently  of  a 
naiifea,  ficknefs,  or  a  pain  about  the  pit  of  the 
ftomach,  fometimes  attended  with  a  vomiting  of 
green  or  yellow  bile  of  an  ofifenfive  fmell.  The 
pulfe  was,  upon  the  firft  attack,  generally  de- 
preffed  ;  but  rofe  upon  bleeding. . 

At  Copenhagen,  in  the  year  1652,  a  fever  beggn 
in  autumn,  after  an  unufually  hot  and  dry  fum- 
mer  *.  The  city  is  fituated  in  a  low  and  marfhy 
country.  The  fever  was  accompanied  either  with 
quotidian  or  tertian  paroxyfms,  with  bilious  vo- 
mitings, a  burning  heat,  violent  head-achs,  fre- 
quently a  delirium  ;  and  with  petechial  fpots,  that 
came  out  in  the  fits,  and  difappeared  in  the  re- 
mifllons.  Thefe,  with  an  extraordinary  debility, 
indicated  the  malignant  nature  of  the  fever,  far* 
ther  afcertained  by  its  ending  in  profufe  fweats, 
abfceffes,  a  diarrhoea,  or  dyfentery.  The  author  of 
this  account,  Thomas  Bartholine,  upon  differing 
the  bodies,  and  finding  the  ftomach  and  duodenum 
always  inflamed  or  mortified,  afligns  thefe  parts 
as  the  feat  of  all  malignant  fevers. 

In  the  year  1669  a  like  fever  raged  at  Leyden, 
defcribed  by  the  famous  Sylvius  (De  le  BoeJ  f  , 
who  lived  at  the  time,  and  pra6tifed  there.  The 
fituation  of  this  place  is  alfo  very  low  and  damp. 


*  Bartholin.  Hiftor.  Anatomic.  Rar.  cent.  II.  hlft.  Ivi. 
•f-  pRAx.  Med.  append,  traft.  x. 

Vol.  IV.  U  The 


290 

The  fpring  and  beginning  of  fummer  were  cold, 
but  the  remainder  of  fummer  and  autumn  were 
exceeding  hot^  with  little  or  no  rain,  and  with  a 
conftant  calm  or  ftagnation  of  the  air.  The  water 
of  the  canals  and  ditches  was  highly  corrupted  ; 
and  the  more  fo,  as  the  author  obferves,  by  an 
inlet  of  falt-water  mixing  with  the  frefh.  The 
air  being  thereby  rendered  impure,  brought  on 
an  epidemic  fever,  of  a  remitting  or  intermitting 
form,  and  very  fatal.  Befides  a  diforder  of  tlie 
ftomach,  great  anxiety,  bilious  vomitings,  quo- 
tidian or  tertian  paroxyfms,  and  other  fymptoms, 
the!  conftant  attendants  of  this  illnefs,  he  men- 
tions fpots,  oozing  of  blood  from  the  nofe  and 
hasmorrhoidal  veins,  dyfenteric  ftools,  putrid  urine^ 
great  debility,  aphtha,  and  other  appearances, 
that  argued  an  extraordinary  refolution  and  pu- 
trefaftion.  of  the  blood.  "  And  yet,  what  is 
"  ftrange,"  fays  Sir  John  Pringle,  "  Sylvius  afcribed 
*'  the  caufe  to  a  prevailing  acid*,  and  treated  the 
"  diftemper  accordingly  ;  fo  that  we  cannot  help 
"  remarking,  that  the  great  mortality  among  the 
"  principal  inhabitants  of  that  city  (of  which, 
"  he  fays,  two-thirds  died)  may  have  been  owing, 
**  m  fome  meafure,  to  the  method  of  cure  by 
"  abforbents  and  other  fuch  medicines,  agreeable 
to  the  notion  that  author,  and  his  followers, 
"  entertained  of  its  caufe." 


*  Svtv.  Prax.  loc.  cit.  dcxxvii. 

Thefe, 


Thcfcj  and  other  inftances  of  the  fame  kind,  • 
may  confirm  what  was  obferved  before,  of  the 
danger  arifing  from  hot  and  dry  fummers  to  moift 
and  low  countrieSi 

.'.  But  the  bilious  difeafes  are  ftill  more  frequent 
and  fatal  in  the  marfliy  countries  of  the  fouth, 
where  the  heats  are  longer  and  more  intenfe. 
In  fome  parts  of  .  Italy,  and  other  tra6ts  of  the 
fame  latitude,  thefe  fevers  have  appeared  with 
fuch  dangerous  and  putrid  fymptoms,  as  not  only, 
to  have  been  called  peflilential,  but  confounded 
with  the  plague  itfelf  In  this  fenfe  we  are  to 
underftand  Celfus  *,  in  the  terms  ■pejlikntia  and 
febris  pejientialis,  \^-\{\ch.  he  defcribes  as  peculiar  to 
the  grave  ami  tempiis  and  the  graves  regmies. 
His  meaning  is,  that  the  bilious  and  malignant 
fever  is  the  difeafe  of  the  latter  part  of  fummer, 
and  of  autumn,  when  the  air  is  thickeft  and  moft 
foggy ;  and  that  it  is  moft  incident  to  low  and 
wet  countries. 

Rome  was  always  liable  to  thefe  fevers*  Galen 
calls  the  hemitritaa  the  epidemic  of  that  city,  and 
fpeaks  of  its  moift  air  ^.  Nay,  in  the  beginning 
of  the  Republic^  before  the  Romans  feem  to  have 
been  aware  of  the  noxious  effefts  of  ftaraating: 
water,  or  at  leaft  knew  how  to  let  it  off,  that 
place  appears  to  have  been  fo  very  fickly,  that 


*  Vid.  Cels.  de  Medicin.  lib.  I.  cap.  x.  lib.  III.  cap.  vii. 
■\  De  Temperam.  lib.  II. 

U  2  from 


292 

from  the  beginning  of  the  (late,  to  the  year  U.  C, 
459,  I  find  no  lefs  than  fifteen  plagues  mentioned 
by  Livy  *  :  which  yet,  from  other  circumftances, 
appear  to  have  been  only  fo  many  malignant  and 
defl:ru61ive  epidemics,  occafioncd  by  the  putrid 
effluvia  from  the  neighbouring  marflies.  But 
when  drains  and  common  fliores  were  made, 
Rome  became  much  more  healthful ;  and  then 
only  the  low  and  wet  places  of  Latium  remained 
fickly.  Afterwards,  when  the  city  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  Goths,  the  drains  being  flopt,  and  the 
aquedu6ls  cut,  the  Roman  territory  became  one 
continued  mardi ;  which  for  a  fcries  of  years  oc- 
calioned  an  incredible  defolation  j*.  And  though 
thefe  evils  have  been  fince  greatly  remedied,  yet 
ftill,  by  neglecting  to  draw  off  the  flagnating  and 
corrupted  water,  after  inundations  of  the  Tybe)' 
fucceeded  by  great  heats,  the  malignant  remit- 
ting and  intermitting  fevers  become  both  general 
and  fatal.  The  diffedions  made  by  Lancifms, 
added  to  his  excellent  account  of  thofe  epide- 
mics, are  a  full  proof  of  their  putrid  nature  J. 

Although  it  does  not  appear  that  the  countries 
in  which  Hippocrates  praftifed  were  either  marfhy, 
or  fubjeft  to  inundations,  yet  we  find  him  fre- 
quently mentioning  thefe  fevers  as  common  in 

*  Lancisius  reckons  up  feveral  more  from  the  fame  au- 
thor, Fid.  Dijfert.  dc  Advent.  Roman.  Cceli  Clualit.  cap.  III. 
f  Id.  loc.  cit. 

X  De  Nox.  Plaud.  Effluv.  lib.  II.  epid.  I.  cap.  vi. 

fummer 


293 

fummer  and  autumn  ;  and  as  prevailing  moft 
when  wet  fprings,  with  foutherly  winds,  were 
fucceeded  by  hot  and  clofe  fummers.  A  re- 
markable conftitution  of  this  kind  is  defcribed 
in  the  epidemics  at  which  time  the  difeafes 
were  ardent,  remitting  and  intermitting  fevers  of 
the  worft  kind,  attended  with  fluxes,  parotids, 
and  eruptions  of  a  pcftilential  nature. 

Pro/per  Alpinus  obferves,  that  the  ftagnated  ca- 
nals at  Grand  Cairo  breed  every  year  putrid  and 
peftilential  fevers,  that  prevail  in  March,  Aprily 
and  May,  which  the  conftant  foutherly  winds 
make  the  hotteft  months  in  that  country  f .  He 
alfo  remarks,  that  the  peftilential  fevers  are  both 
epidemic  and  fatal  at  Alexandria  in  autumn,  after 
the  recefs  of  the  Nile.  Thefe  begin  with  a  nanjea, 
great  ficknefs  at  the  llomach,  extraordinary  in- 
quietude, and  a  vomiting  of  an  acrid  bile  | :  and 
many  have  bilious  and  putrid  ftools.  Now,  as 
thefe  diftempers  rage  in  both  cities  every  year,  it 
is  not  furprizing,  if  in  feafons  uncommonly  hot 
and  moift,  they  fliould  be  raifed  to  a  true  plague. 
For  although  the  learned  author  afTerts,  that  the 
true  plague  is  not  properly  indigenous  to  Egypt, 
but  is  brought  thither  from  Greece,  Syria,  or  the 
■more  fouthern  parts  of  Africa,  yet  he  owns  that 
jt  fometinies  begins  there  after  extraordinary 

*  Lib.  IIL  §  ili. 

■\  De  Medicin.  iEgyptior.  lib.  1.  cap.  xiv, 
\  The  author's  phrafe  is,  bilis  virulaita. 

inundations 


294 

Inundations  of  the  Nile-,  when  the  water,  ex- 
tending itfelf  beyond  the  ufual  drains,  remains 
on  the  land,  and  forms  into  putrid  marfhes*. 

There  is  a  pretty  exaft  uniformity  in  the  ap- 
pearances and  nature  of  the  fevers  and  fluxes 
which  attack  flrangers  in  Guinea;  only  their  ma- 
lignity or  violence,  and  the  mortality  proceeding 
from  them,  in  the  rainy  feafon,  are  in  propor- 
tion to  the  fituation  of  the  place,  and  its  venti- 
lation. 

The  natives  themfelves  are  not  exempted  from 
thofe  djfeafes.  They  are  in  general  fliort-lived, 
and  perceive  as  various  degrees  of  purity  and 
infalubrity  of  the  air,  in  different  fpots  of  their 
country,  as  are  felt  in  Europe,  or  in  any  other 
part  of  the  world.  On  account  of  the  badnefs 
of  the  climate,  black  priefts,  natives  of  the 
country,  are  hired  by  the  Portuguefe  to  undcr^ 
take  the  converfion  of  thofe  of  their  own 
colour,  who  refide  in  unhealthy  places :  hence 
the  milTions  of  Rio  Nunes  and  at  Gagafliore 
have  been  rendered  both  honourable  and  lucra- 
tive, to  fuch  black  miffionaries  as  chofe  to  un- 
dertake them. 

We  fliall  conclude  our  account  of  Guinea, 
with  fome  extrafts  frqm  the  journal  of  the  fur- 
■geon  of  a  fliip,  which  failed  up  the  rivers  of  that 
country :  "  Upon  the  20th  of  February,  we  failed 
from  Liibon,  and  on  the  16th  of  March  arrived  at 

^  Pe  Medicin.  ^gvptior.  lib.  I.. cap.  xv. 

'    ■  the 


'2  95 

the  ifland  of  St.  Jago.  Here  we  found  fliips  of 
different  nations,  whofe  crews,  as  alfo  the  white 
people  on  the  ifland,  were  perfectly  healthy. 
Tlie  latter,  however,  feemed  to  have  been  fickly, 
and  many  of  thein  were  afflifted  with  ague- 
cakes,  or  hard  fwellings  on  the  feat  of  the 
fpleen. 

«  Upon  the  5  th  of  April,  we  failed  up  the  river 
Gambia,  and  found  all  the  Englifli  in  the  fort  in 
perfe£t  health.  The  furgeon  of  the  fa£lory  in- 
formed me,  that  a  relaxation  of  the  ftomach,  and 
confequently  a  weakened  digeftion,  feemed  to 
bring:  on  moft  of  the  dieafes  fo  fatal  to  Euro- 
peans  in  the  fickly  feafon.  They  were  gene- 
rally of  a  bilious  nature,  attended  with  a  low 
fever,  fometimes  of  a  malignant,  at  other  times 
of  a  remittent  kind.  Fluxes  were  alfo  then  pre- 
valent, and  often  proved  mortal.  The  flux  fome- 
times appeared  alone,  at  other  times  attended  the 
fever,  moft  frequently  followed  it. 

"  In  the  month  of  June,  almoft  two-thirds  of 
the  white  people  were  taken  ill.  Their  fickr 
nefs  could  not  well  be  charafterifed  by  any  de- 
nomination commonly  applied  to  one  clafs  of 
fevers  :  it  however  approached  neareft  to  what  is 
called  a  nervous  fever,  as  the  pulfe  was  always 
low,  and  the  brain  and  nerves  feemed  principally 
affefted.  It  had  alfo  a  tendency  to  frequent  tct 
miffions.  It  began  fometimes  with  a  vomiting, 
]?ut  oftener  with  a  delirium.  Its  attack  was  comr 
  monly 


296 

monly  in  the  night,  and  the  patients  being  then 
delirious,  were  apt  to  run  into  the  open  air.  / 
obferved  them  frequently  recover  their  fenfes  for  a 
fliort  time,  by  means  of  the  heavy  rain,  zvhich  at  that 
time  fell  upon  their  naked  bodies.  But  the  delirium 
foon  returned :  they  afterwards  became  comatofe ; 
their  pulfe  funk,  and  a  train  of  nervous  fymp- 
toms  followed  ^  their  Ikin  often  became  yellow  j 
bilious  vomitings  and  ftools  were  frequent. 

"  The  fever  reduced  the  patient's  ftrength  fo 
much,  that  it  was  generally  fix  weeks  or  two 
months  before  he  was  able  to  walk  abroad,  A 
confuming  flux,  a  jaundice,  a  dropfy,  or  obftruc- 
tions  in  the  bowels,  were  generally  the  confe- 
quences  of  it.  Of  fifty-one  white  men,  being 
the  companies  of  four  fliips  which  were  at  Cat- 
chou,  one-third  died  of  the  fever,  and  one-third 
more  of  the  flux,  and  other  difeafes  confeqiieni 
upon  it ;  of  thefe  not  one  was  taken  ill  till  after 
the  rains  began. 

"  I  believe,  on  the  whole  face  of  the  earth, 
there  is  fcarce  to  be  found  a  more  unhealthy 
country  than  this,  during  the  rainy  feafon  :  the 
idea  I  then  conceived  of  the  fituation  of  our 
white  people,  was  by  making  a  comparifon  of 
their  breathing  fuch  a  noxious  air,  with  a  num- 
ber of  river-fifli  put  into  ftagnating  water,  where, 

the  water  corrupts,  the  filli  grow  lefs  lively, 
they  droop,  they  pine  away,  and  many  die.  Thus., 
feme  perfons  became  dull,  ina6tiye,  or  flightly 

delirious 


297 

delirious  at  intervals,  and  without  being  fo  mucb 
as  confined  to  their  beds,  they  expired  in  that 
delirious  (late,  in  lefs  than  forty-eight  hours,  al- 
though fuch  event  feemed  not  to  be  apprehended. 
The  white  people  in  general  became  yellow ; 
their  ftomach  could  not  receive  much  food,  with- 
out loathing  and  reachings.  Indeed  it  is  no  wour 
der  that  this  ficknefs  proved  fo  fat^l,  that  reco- 
veries from  it  were  fo  tedious,  and  that  they 
were  attended  with  fluxes,  dropfies,  the  jaundice, 
ague-cakes,  and  other  dangerous  chronical  dif-r 
tempers. 

"  It  feemed  to  me  more  wonderful  that  any 
white  people  fhould  ever  recover,  while  they  con- 
tinued to  breathe  fo  peftiferous  an  air,  as  that  at 
Catchou,  during  the  rainy  feafon. 

"  We  were,  as  I  have  already  obferved,  thirty 
miles  diftant  from  the  fea,  in  a  country  altogether 
uncultivated,  overflowed  with  water,  furrounded 
with  thick  impenetrable  woods,  and  over-run 
with  flime.  The  air  was  vitiated,  noifome,  andthichy 
infomuch  that  lighted  torches  or  candles  burnt  dim,  and 
feemed  ready  to  be  extingui/Jied.  The  fmell  of  the 
ground  and  of  the  houfes  was  raw  and  ofFenfive  ; 
the  vapour  arifmg  from  the  putrid  water,  in  the 
ditches  which  furround  the  town,  was  much 
worfe.  All  this,  however,  feemed  tolerable  when 
compared  with  the  infinite  numbers  of  infefts 
fwarming  every  where,  both  on  the  ground  and  in 
the  air  3  which,  as  they  feemed  to  be  produced  and 

cheriflied 


298 

clieriflied  by  the  putrefaclion  of  the  atmofphere, 
fo  they  contributed  greatly  to  incrcafe  its  impu- 
rity. The  wild  bees  from  the  woods,  together 
with  millions  of  ants,  over-ran  and  deftroved  the 
furniture  of  the  houfes ;  at  the  fame  time,  fwarms 
of  cock-roaches  often  darkened  the  air,  and  ex- 
tinguiflied  even  candles  in  their  flight ;  but  the 
greatefi:  plague  was  the  the  mufquitoes  and  fand- 
flics,  whofe  inceffant  buzz,  and  painful  flings, 
were  more  infupportable  than  any  fymptom  of 
the  fever.  Befides  all  thefe,  an  incredible  num- 
ber of  frogSj  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  made  fuch 
a  conftant  and  difagreeable  croaking,  that  no- 
thing, but  being  accuftomed  to  fuch  an  hideous 
Hoife,  could  permit  the  enjoyment  of  natural 
fleep. 

"  In  the  beginning  of  Oclober,  as  the  rains 
abated,  the  weather  became  very  hot ;  the  woods 
.were  covered  with  abundance  of  dead  frogs,  and 
other  vermin,  left  by  the  recefs  of  the  river  j  ail 
the  mangroves  and  fhrubs  were  likewife  over- 
jfpread  with  a  {linking  flime." 

How  different  is  this  from  the  air  of  the  Canary, 
iflands.  The  Canaries  arc  bleffed  with  a  tempe- 
rate, pure,  and  wholefome  air.  No  fooner  were 
the  Englifh  ofHcers  landed  there,  when  brought 
fick  from  Senegal,  than  they  found  an  immediate 
and  fatisfaftory  alteration  in  their  health.  There 
they  no  longer  were  fcorched  with  the  fierce  heat 
of  a  meridian  fun,  but  found  its  warmth  tem- 
pered 


1 


299  i 

pered  with  refreflilng  breezes,  and  a  cool  air ;  j 

from  which  impenetrable  furrounding  woods  had  ; 

before  debarred  them.   They  were  no  longer  fen-      ,  j 

fible  of  the  fudden  and  piercing  chillnefs  of  the  ] 

evenings,  not  tortured  with  fwarms  of  blood-  , 

fucking  gnats  and  flies.  It  was  furprifing  in  how  | 

fliort  a  time  they  recovered  their  health,  llrength,  i 

and  colour,  in  thofe  delightful  iflands.  j 

The  Dutch,  with  a  folly  almoft  incredible,  by  ' 
endeavouring  to  make  their  capital  in  India  re- 

femble  their  own  cities,  have  adorned  it  with  ca-  j 

nals  or  ditches,  interfecling  each  other,  and  run-     '  | 

ning  through  every  part  of  it.    Thofe  canals,  j 

filled  with  water,  may  ferve  for  fome  ufe,  or  per-  ' 

haps  ornament ;  but  notwithftanding  the  utmoft  '■ 
care  to  keep  them  clean,  in  the  hot  and  unwhole- 

fome  climate  of  Java,  during  and  after  the  rainy  j 

feafon,  they  become  extremely  noxious  to  the  in-  ■ 

habitants,  and  more  particularly  to  ftrangers.  , 

The  unwholefome  air  of  that  place  alone  has  cut  I 

off"  mere  Europeans  thab  have  fallen  by  the  fw^ord,  i 

in  all  the  bloody  wars  carried  on  by  the.  Dutch  j 

in  that  part  of  the  world.   In  Jmie  the  rains  be-  j 

gin  ;  in  July,  and  the  fucceeding  months,  ficknefe  i 

rages  moft.  It  is  remarked,  that  in  the  war  which  i 

terminated  in  1763,  the  Englifh  Ihips  of  wai"  'i 

which  touched  at  Batavia,  fufFered  more  by  the      ,  | 

malignant  difeafes  of  that  climate,  than  they  did  I 

in  any  other  part  of  India,  if  we  except  a  fatal  \ 

fcurvy  which  once  raged  in  that  fleet  at  fea.  i 

Sqou 


300 

Soon  after  the  capture  of  Manilla,  the  Fal- 
mouth, a  fliip  of  50  guns,  went  to  Batavia,  where 
flie  remained  from  the  latter  end  of  July  to  the 
Jatter  end  of  January  j  during  which  time  flic  bu- 
ried 75  of  her  crew,  and  100  foldiers  of  the  79th 
regiment,  who  were  embarked  on  board  her ;  not 
one  perfon  having  efcaped  a  fit  of  ficknefs,  except 
her  commander.  Captain  Brcreton. 

The  Panther,  a  fliip  of  60  guns,  was  there  iq 
the  years  1762  and  1764  ;  both  times  unhappily 
during  the  rainy  feafon.  In  the  year  1762  flie  bu- 
ried 70  of  her  men,  and  had  92  of  them  very  ill 
when  flie  left  the  place.  In  the  year  1764,  during  a 
Ihort  ftay,  flie  buried  25  of  her  men  :  the  Med- 
way,  which  was  then  in  company  with  her,  loft 
alfo  a  great  number  of  men. 

Nor  was  the  ficknefs  at  that  time  confined  to 
the  fliips  ;  the  whole  city  afforded  a  fcene  of 
difeafe  and  death  :  ftreets  crowded  with  funerals, 
bells  tolling  from  morning  to  night,  and  horfcs 
jaded  with  dragging  the  dead  in  hearfes  to  their 
graves.  At  that  time  a  flight  cut  of  the  fkin,  the 
leail:  fcratch  of  a  nail,  or  the  moft  inconfiderable 
wound,  turned  quickly  into  a  putrid  fpreadhig  ulcer, 
which  in  twenty-four  hours  confumed  the  flefli, 
even  to  the  bone.  This  fa6t  is  fo  extraordinary, 
that,  upon  a  fingle  tcftimony,  credit  would  hardly 
be  given  to  it ;  yet,  both  on  board  the  Medway 
and  Panther,  they  had  the  moft  fatal  experience 
of  it,  and  feveral  died  from  that  caufe. 

Mr. 


301 

Mr.  Ives  gives  us  another  mofi:  remarkable  de- 
count  of  the  deftru6tion  occafioned  by  the  pefti- 
ferous  air  of  marflies. 

"  After  failing  up  the  river  Tigris  from  Baflbra, 
we  arrived  at  Bagdat.  In  this  city,  fuppofed  to 
contain  500,000  fouls,  a  purple'  fever  then  raged  j 
but  though  it  was  computed  that  an  eighth-part 
of  the  inhabitants  were  ill,  yet  the  diftemper  was 
not  generally  mortal.  Here  we  were  informed, 
that  the  Arabs  had  broken  down  the  banks  of 
the  river  near  BalTora,  with  a  deftgn  to  cover  witk 
mater  the  deferts  in  its  neighbourhood.  This,  it  feemSy 
is  the  ujual  method  of  revenge  taken  by  the  Arabs,  for 
any  injury  done  them  hy  the  Turks  in  Baffora  ;  and 
was  reprefented  to  us  as  an  a£i  of  th^  mofi  shocking 
H.  BARBARITY,  ftnce  a  general  confuming  f  chiefs  would 
undoubtedly  be  tJie  confeque-nce.  This  was  the  cafe 
fifteen  years  before,  when  the  Arabs,  by  demo- 
lifliing  the  banks  of  this  river,  laid  the  environs  of 
Baffora  under  water.  The  ftagnatlng  and  putrifying 
water  in  the  adjacent  country,  and  the  great  quan- 
tity of  dead  and  corrupted  fi/Ii,  at  that  time  lying 
upon  the  fliore,  polluted  the  whole  atmofphere, 
and  produced  a  putrid  and  mortal  fever.  Of  this 
fever  between  12  and  14,000  of  the  inhabitants 
died  ;  at  the  fame  time  not  above  tv^^o  or  three  of 
the  Europeans  who  were  fettled  there  efcaped 
with  life  :  fo  dreadful  are  the  effects  of  corrupt  flag- 
nating  zvaters  in  ftich  fultry  climates  /" 


.1  have. 


302 

I  have  perufed  many  Englilli  accounts,  botli  in 
nianufcript  and  print,  of  the  yellow  fever,  in  moft 
of  which  the  authors  have  agreed  only  in  the 
common  epithet  of  yellow,  from  the  (kin's  being 
frequently  tinged  with  that  colour.  But  the  fame 
appearance  is  alfo  ufual  in  moft  intermitting  fe- 
vers, in  fome  contagious  fevers,  and  in  many 
other  fevers,  fo  cannot  properly  be  a  difiinguifli- 
ing  mark  of  this. 

The  yellow  fever  has  been  fuppofed  by  fome 
to  have  been  imported  to  the  Weft  Indies  by  a 
fliip  from  Siam  :  an  opinion  truly  chimerical ;  as 
fimilar  difeafes  have  made  their  appearance,  not 
only  in  the  Eaft  and  Weft  Indies,  but  in  fome  of 
the  fouthern  parts  of  Europe,  during  a  feafon 
when  the  air  was  intenfely  hot  and  unwholefome. 
This  happened  at  Cadiz  in  Spain,  in  the  months 
of  September  and  06lober  1764,  when  exceffive 
lieat,  and  want  of  rain  for  fome  months,  gave  rife 
to  violent,  epidemic,  bilious  diforders,  refembling 
thofe  of  the  Weft  Indies,  of  which  an  hundred 
perfo7is  often  died  in  a  day.  At  this  time  the  winds 
blew  moftly  from  the  fouth,  and,  after  fun-fet, 
there  fell  an  unufual  and  very  heavy  dew. 

This  difeafe  began  commonly  with  alternate 
flight  chills  and  heats,  naufea,  pains  of  the  head, 
of  the  back,  of  the  loins,  and  at  the  pit  of  the 
ftomach.  Thefe  fymptoms  were  often  followed, 
in  lefs  than  24  hours,  with  violent  reachings,  and 
a  vomiting  of  a  green  or  yellow  bile,  the  fmell 

of 


303 

of  which  was  very  offenfive.  Some  threw  up  ail 
humour  black  as  ink,  and  died  foon  after,  in  vio-^ 
lent  convulfions,  and  in  a  cold  fweat.   The  pulfe 
was  fometimes  funk,  fometimes  quick,  often  va- 
rying.  After  the  firft  day  the  furface  of  the  body 
was  generally  either  cold,  or  dry  and  parched. 
The  head-ach  and  ftupor  often  ended  in  a  furious 
delirium,  which  proved  quickly  fatal.   The  dead 
bodies  having  been  examined,  by  order  of  the 
court  of  Madrid,  the  Jlomachy  myfentery,  and  intef- 
tines,  were  found  covered  with  gangrenous  fpots. 
The  orifice  of  the  fiomach  appeared  to  have  been 
^x:^?iCiN  affeEled,  the  jpots  \y^ox\  it  h^m^  ulcerated. 
The  liver  and  lungs  were  both  of  a  pitrid  colour 
snd  texture.    The  ftomach  contained  a  quan- 
tity of  an  atrabilious  liquor^  which,  when  poured 
on  the  ground,  produced  a  Jenfible  effervefcence  y 
and,  when  mixed  with  fpirit  of  vitriol,  a  violent 
ebullition.    The  dead  bodies  turned  fo  quickly 
putrid,  that  at  the  end  of  fix  hours  their  flench 
was  intolerable ;  and,  in  fome  of  them,  worms 
were  found  already  lodged  in  the  ftomacb. 

I  am  informed  by  Mr.  Martin,  furgeon  of  the 
Cataneuch,  a  Guinea  trader,  that  when  he  w^as 
in  Gambia  river,  in  company  with  four  other 
fliips,  the  men,  in  one  of  thofe  fhips,  were  daily 
taken  ill  of  fevers  and  fluxes,  and  feveral  of  them 
died  delirious  ;  while  all  the  Englifli  in  the  other 
fliips,  and  in  the  faftories,  were  in  perfect  health  : 
but  upon  removing  that  Ihip  about  half  a  league 

from 


304 

from  her  firfl:  ancliorage,  which  was  too  near 
fome  fwamps,  her  men  became  as  heahhy  as 
thofe  in  the  other  (hips. 

In  the  year  1766,  fixteen  French  proteftant  fa- 
mihes,  confifting  of  fixty  pcrfons,  were  fent,  at 
the  expence  of  the  Enghfli  government,  to  JVeJl 
Florida.  The  ground  allotted  for  their  refidence 
was  on  the  fide  of  a  hill,  furrounded  with  marflies, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Scambia.  Thefe  new 
planters  arrived  in  winter,  and  continued  per- 
fectly healthy  until  the  fickly  months,  which  in 
that  country  are  thofe  of  July  and  Auguft.  About 
that  time,  eight  gentlemen  (from  one  of  whom 
1  received  this  account)  went  to  this  new  fettle- 
ment,  to  folicit  votes  for  the  ele6lion  of  a  repre- 
Tentative  in  the  general  affembly  of  the  province ; 
by  remaining  but  one  night,  every  one  of  them 
was  feized  with  a  violent  intermitting  fever,  of 
which  the  candidate  for  becoming  the  reprefenta- 
tive,  and  another  of  their  number,  died.  The 
next  day  feven  other  gentlemen  came,  upon  the 
fame  bufmefs,  to  this  unhealthy  fpot ;  b.ut,  by 
leaving  it  before  night,  they  efcaped  the  ficknefs, 
and  all  continued  in  perfe£t  health.  Among  the 
French  fettlers,  during  thefe  two  months,  the  an- 
nual fever  of  the  climate  proved  fo  fatal  on  this 
unwholefome  fpot,  that  of  fixty  perfons,  four- 
teen only  furvived  ;  and  even  thofe  who  remained 
alive,  in  the  September  and  Odober  following, 
were  all  in  a  very  ill  ftate  of  health  j  not  one  of 

them 


305 

tlicm  had  efcaped  the  attack  of  the  fever,  and 
moil  of  them  died  within  a  few  months  after- 
wards, from  the  injury  it  had  done  to  their  con- 
iVitutions. 

In  the  year  1793,  the  manufa£lures,  trade,  and 
commerce  of  Philadelphia,  were  flourilhing 
in  the  greateft  degree.  The  number  of  coaches, 
chairs,  &c.  lately  fet  up  in  that  city,  by  men  in 
the  middle  rank  of  life,  is  hardly  to  be  believed. 
And  although  there  had  been  a  very  great  in- 
creafe  of  hackney  chairs,  yet  was  it  next  to  im- 
poffibleto  procure  one  on  a  Sunday,  unlefs  it  was 
engaged  two  or  three  days  beforehand.  Luxury, 
the  ufual,  and  perhaps  inevitable  concomitant  of 
profperity,  had  eradicated  the  plain  and  whole- 
fome  manners  of  an  infant  town.  Every  one 
looked  forward  to  the  full  harveft  of  profperity. 
But  how  fleeting  are  all  human  views  !  how  un- 
certain all  plans  founded  on  earthly  appearances  I 
All  thefe  flattering  profpefts,  as  Mr.  Carey 
beautifully  exprelTes  it,  vaniflied  like  the  bafelefs 
fabric  of  a  vifion.  At  this  feemingly  propitious 
moment,  the  dejlroying  Jcourge  crept  in  among  us^ 
and  nipped  in  the  bud  the  fairefl:  blofforas  of 
hope.  And,  oh!  what  a  dreadful  contrail  fud- 
denly  took  place ! 

■  This  fever  is  fuppofed  to  have  originated  from, 
the  miafm  of  damaged  coffee.  On  the  nineteenth 
of  Augufl:  I  was  requefted,  fays  Dr.  Rufh,  to 
vifit  the  wife  of  Mr.  Peter  Le  Maigre,  in  Water- 

VoL  IV,  X  '  ftreet. 


30^ 

ftreet,  between  Arch  and  Race-ftreets,  in  conful- 
tation  with  D.  Foulke  and  Dr.  Hodge.  I  found 
her  in  the  lafi:  ftagc  of  a  highly  bilious  fever. 
She  vomited  conftantly,  and  complained  of  great 
heat  and  burning  at  her  ftomach.  The  moft 
powerful  cordials  and  tonics  were  prefcribed, 
but  to  no  purpofe.  She  died  on  the  evening  of 
the  next  day. 

Upon  coming  out  of  Mrs.  Le  Maigre's  room, 
I  remarked  to  Dr.  Foulke  and  Dr.  Hodge,  that 
I  had  feen  an  unufual  appearance  of  bilious  fever, 
accompanied  with  fymptoms  of  uncommon  ma- 
lignity, and  that  I  fufpe£led  all  was  not  right  in 
our  city.   Dr.  Hodge  immediately  replied,  that  a 
fever  of  a  moft  malig^iant  kind  had  carried  off  four 
or  five  perfons  within  fight  of  Mr.  Le  Maigre's 
door,  and  that  one  of  them  had  died  in  twelve 
hours  after  the  attack  of  the  diforder.  This  infor- 
mation fatisfied  me  that  my  appreheniions  were 
well  founded.  The  origin  of  this  fever  was  dif- 
covered  to  me  at  the  fame  time,  from  the  ac- 
count which  Dr.  Foulke  gave  me  of  a  quantity  of 
damaged  coffee  which  had  been  thrown  upon  Mr. 
Ball's  wharf,  and  in  the  adjoining  dock,  on  the 
24th  of  July,  nearly  in  a  line  with  Mr.  Le  Maigre's 
houfe,  and  which  had  putrefied  there,  to  the  great 
annoyance  of  the  whole  neighbourhood. 

After  this  confultation,  I  was  foon  able  to  trace 
all  the  cafes  of  fever  which  I  have  mentioned  to 
thh  fource.   Dr.  Hodge  lived  a  few  doors  above 

Mr. 


3^7 

Mr.  Le  Maigre's,  where  his  child  had  been  ex- 
pofed  to  the  exhalation  from  the  coffee  for  feveral 
days.  Mrs.  Bradford  had  fpent  an  afternoon  in  a 
houfe  direftly  oppofite  to  the  wharf  and  dock  on 
which  the  putrid  coffee  had  emitted  its  noxious 
effluvia,  a  few  days  before  her  ficknefs,  and  had 
been  much  incommoded  by  it.  Her  filter,  Mrs. 
Learning,  had  vifited  her  during  her  illnefs,  and 
probably  caught  the  fever  from  her,  for  fhe  per- 
feftly  recollefted  perceiving  a  peculiar  fmell,  un-^ 
like  to  any  thing  fhe  had  been  accuftomed  to  in  a 
fick  room,  as  foon  as  fhe  entered  the  chamber 
where  her  lifter  lay.  Young  Mr.  M'Nair,  and 
Mrs.  Palmer's  two  fons,  had  fpent  whole  days  in 
a  compting-houfe,  near  where  the  coffee  was  ex- 
pofed,  and  each  of  them  had  complained  of  hav- 
ing been  made  fick  by  its  offenfive  fmell ;  and 
Mr.  Afton  had  frequently  been  in  Water-ftreet, 
near  the  fource  of  the  exhalation. 

Upon  my  leaving  Mrs.  Le  Maigre's,  I  expreffed 
my  diftrefs  at  what  I  had  difcovered,  to  feveral  of 
my  fellow-citizens.  The  report  of  a  malignant 
and  contagious  fever  being  in  town  fpread  in-, 
every  direftion,  but  it  did  not  gain  univerfal  cre- 
dit. Some  of  thofe  phyficians,  who  had  not  feen 
patients  in  it,  denied  that  any  fuch  fever  exifted  ; 
and  affcrted  (though  its  mortality  was  not  denied) 
that  it  was  nothing  but  the  common  remittent  of 
the  city.  Many  of  the  citizens  joined  the  phy- 
ficians in  endeavouring  to  difcredit  the  account 

X  2  I  had 


308 

I  had  given  of  this  fever;  and,  for  awhile,  it  waa 
treated  with  ridicule  or  contempt.  Indignation 
in  fome  inftances  was  excited  againft  me. 

My  lot,  fays  Dr.  Rufli,  in  having  thus  difturbed 
the  repofe  of  the  public  mind,  upon  the  fubject  of 
general  health,  was  not  a  fmgular  one.  There 
are  many  inftances,  upon  record,  of  phyficians 
who  have  rendered  themfelves  unpopular,  and 
even  odious  to  their  fellow  citizens,  by  giving  the 
firfl  notice  of  the  exiftence  of  malignant  and 
mortal  difeafes.  A  phyfician  who  aflerted  that 
the  plague  was  in  Meflina,  in  the  year  1743,  ex- 
cited fo  much  rage  in  the  minds  of  his  fellow  ci- 
tizens ajjainft  him,  as  to  render  it  necelTarv  for 
him  to  fave  his  life,  by  retreating  to  one  ot  the 
churches  of  that  city. 

In  fpite,  however,  of  all  oppofition,  the  report 
of  the  exiftence  of  a  malignant  and  contagious,  fe- 
ver in  the  city,  gained  fo  much  ground,  that  the 
governor  of  the  ftate  directed  Dr.  Hutchinfon,  the 
infpedfor  of  fickly  veffels,  to  inquire  into  the  truth 
of  it,  and  into  the  nature  of  the  difeafe.  In  con- 
fequence  of  this  order,  I  received  the  following 
letter  from  Dr.  Hutchinfon, 

DEAR  SIR, 

A  confidcrablc  alarm  has  taken  place, 
in  confequence  of  the  appearance  of  an  infe6tious 
diforder  in  this  city ;  from  which  the  governor  has 
been  induced  to  dire6\  me  to  make  enquiries  rela- 
tive 


309 

live  to  the  exigence  and  nature  of  fuch  dlforder. 
In  executing  this  duty,  I  muft  rely  on  the  afiift- 
ance  of  fuch  of  ray  medical  brethren  as  may  have 
been  called  to  attend  any  of  the  perfons  fuppofed 
to  have  been  infe<Sled :  as  I  underftand  you  have 
had  feveral  of  them  under  your  care,  I  would  be 
much  obliged  to  you  to  communicate  to  me  {as 
fpeedily  as  can  be  done  with  convenience  to  your- 
felf )  fuch  fa£ts  as  you  have  been  able  to  afcertain 
relative  to  the  exigence  of  fuch  diforder  y  in  what 
part  of  the  city  it  prevails ;  when  it  was  intro- 
duced J  and  what  was  the  probable  caufe  of  it. 

I  am,  Sir, 

With  the  greateft  refpe£l, 

J:,gu^  24///,  Your  obedient  fervant, 

1793. 

J.  HUTCHINSON. 

Dr.  Benjamin  Rujh. 

To  this  letter  I  wrote  the  following  anfwer  a 
few  hours  after  it  came  to  hand  : 

DEAR  SIR, 

A  malignant  fever  has  lately  appeared 
in  our  city,  originating,  I  believe,  from  fome  da- 
maged coffee,  which  putrefied  on  a  wharf  near 
Arch-ftreet.  The  fever  was  confined  for  awhile 
to  Water-ftreet,  between  Race  and  Arch-ftreets ; 
but  1  have  lately  met  with  it  in  Second-ftreet,  and 
in  Kenfington  ;  but  whether  propagated  by  con- 

tagion. 


310 

iagion,  or  by  the  original  exhalation,  I  cannot  tell. 
The  difeafe  puts  on  all  the  intermediate  forms  of 
a  mild  remittent,  and  a  typhus  gravior.  I  have 
not  feen  a  fever  of  fo  much  malignity,  fo  general, 
fmce  the  year  1762. 

From,  Dear  Sir, 

Augtcjl  ^^th,  Yq^^5  fincerely, 

.   1793.  ^' 

BENJ.  RUSH. 

A  few  days  afterwards  the  following  publica- 
tion, by  Dr.  Hutchinfon,  appeared  in  the  Ame- 
rican Daily  Advertifer  of  Auguft  28th. 

The  Governor  having  direfted  an  inquiry  to  afcertain 
the  fafts,  refpefting  the  exiftence  of  a  contagious  fever 
in  the  city,  and  the  probable  means  of  removing  it,  Dr. 
Hutchinfon,  the  phyfician  of  the  port,  has  made  the 
following  ftatement  upon  the  fubjeft,  in  a  letter  to 
Nathaniel  Falconer,  Efq,  health-officer  of  the  port  of 
Philadelphia. 

DEAR  SIR, 

Immediately  on  the  receipt  of  your 
letter,  with  the  enclofure  from  the  governor, 
ftating  that  a  confiderable  alarm  had  taken  place, 
in  confequence  of  the  appearance  of  an  infectious 
diforder  in  this  city,  I  endeavoured  to  take  mea- 
fures  to  afcertain  the  fafts,  relative  to  the  exift- 
ence  of  fuch  difeafe  :  for  this  purpofe,  I  wrote  to 
fuch  of  my  medical  brethren  who  had  been 
called  on  to  attend  perfons  fuppofed  to  have  been 
infedledj  and  from  their  anfwers,  as  well  as 

from 


311 


from  my  own  obfervations,  I  am  convinced  that 
a  malignant  fever  has  lately  made  its  appearance 
in  Water-ftreet,  and  in  Kenfington  ^  principally 
in  Water-ftreet,  between  Arch  and  Race-ftreets. 
This  part  of  the  city  I  examined  perfonally  on 
Thurfday  and  Friday  laft ;  and  found,  that  eart  of 
Front-ftreet,  and  between  Arch  and  Race-flreets, 
ftxty-feven  perfons  were  difeafed,  many  with  the 
malignant  fever.  Thirteen  of  them  are  fince  dead, 
and  numbers  remain  ill.  For  awhile  this  fever 
was  confined  to  the  above-mentioned  part  of  the 
city,  but  the  diforder  is  fpeading,  and  now  ap- 
pears in  other  plac-es,  fo  that  feveral  are  affe£led 
in  other  parts  of  Water-ftreet,  fome  in  Second- 
ftreet,  fome  in  Vine-ftreet,  fome  in  Carter's-alley, 
fome  in  other  ftreets;  but,  in  moll:  cafes,  the  con- 
tagion can  be  traced  to  Water-Jireet.  As  far  as  I 
have  been  able  to  afcertain,  the  number  of  per- 
fons who  have  died  altogether,  of.  this  fever, 
amounts  to  40,  or  thereabouts*. 

The  general  opinion,  both  of  the  medical  gen- 
tlemen, and  of  the  inhabitants  of  Water-ftreet,  is, 
that  the  contagion  originated  from  fome  damaged 
£off'ee,  or  other  putrefied  vegetable  and  animal  matters ; 
and,  on  enquiry,  it  appears,  that  on  a  few  wharfs 
above  Arch-ftreet,  there  was  not  only  a  quantity 
of  damaged  coffee^  which  was  extremely  offenftve, 

*  The  regifter  of  the  deaths  fliows  that  it  amounted,  at  that 
tiifle,  to  upwards  of  1 50. 

expofed 


312 

expofed  for  fome  time,  but  alfo  fome  puirid 
hides,  and  other  putrid  animal  and  vegetable  fub- 
Jlances. 

It  does  not  appear  to  be  an  imported  difeafe ; 
for  I  have  heard  of  no  foreigners  or  Tailors  that 
have  hitherto  been  infected ;  nor  has  it  been  found 
in  any  lodging-houfes  ;  but  it  is,  on  the  contrary, 
principally  confined  to  the  inhabitants  of  Water- 
Hreet,  and  fuch  as  have  done  bufinefs,  or  had 
confiderable  intercourfe  with  that  part  of  the 
city.  The  Difpenfary  phyficians  tell  me,  that  out 
of  the  large  number  of  fick,  now  under  the  care 
of  that  charitable  inilitution,  they  have  had  but 
one  perfon  afflifled  with  this  fever.  In  the  Penn- 
fylvania  Hofpital  the  diforder  does  not  exifr. 

I  am,  with  the  grcateft  refpeft. 
Your  moft  obedient  fervant, 

PhiladeJhhia. 

Auguji  o^vi  1793.  J.  HUTCHINSON. 

From  a  convI£lion  that  the  difeafe  originated 
in  the  putrid  exhalations  from  the  damaged  cof- 
fee, I  publifhed,  in  the  American  Daily  Adver- 
iifer  of  Auguft  29th,  the  following  fliort  addrefs 
to  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia,  with  a  view  of 
directing  the  public  attention  to  the  fpot  where 
the  coffee  lay,  and  thereby  of  checking  the  pro- 
grefs  of  the  fever,  as  far  as  it  was  continued  by  the 


original  caufe. 


Mr.  1 


3^3 


"  Mr.  Dun  LAP, 

"  A  doubt  has  been  exprefled,  whe- 
ther the  malignant  fever,  which  now  prevails  in 
our  city,  originated  in  an  exhalation  from  Ibme 
putrid  coffee,  on  a  wharf  between  Arch  and 
Race-ftreets. 

"  It  is  no  new  thing  for  the  efBuvia  of  putrid 
vegetables  to  produce  malignant  fevers.  Cabbage^ 
onions,  black  pepper,  and  even  the  mild  potatoe, 
when  in  a  ftate  of  putrefa^ion,  have  all  been  the 
remote  caufes  of  malignant  fevers.  The  noxious 
quality  of  the  effluvia  from  mill-ponds  is  derived 
wholly  from  a  mixture  of  the  putrefied  leaves 
and  bark  of  trees  with  water, 

"  It  is  much  lefs  common  for  the  effluvia  of 
putrid  animal  matters  to  produce  fevers.  How 
feldom  do  we  hear  of  them  in  the  neigbourhood 
of  flaughter-houfes,  or  of  the  workfhops  of  fkin- 
oers  or  curriers } 

"  Thefe  obfervations  are  intended  to  ferve  two 
purpofes  :  ]fl.  To  fupport  the  opinion  of  Dr. 
Hutchinfon,  that  the  malignant  fever,  which  has 
excited  fo  general  and  fo  juft  an  alarm  in  our  city, 
is  not  an  imported  d'lksiie  ;  and,  2dly,  To  direft  the 
attention  of  our  citizens  to  the  fpot  from  whence 
this  fevere  malady  has  been  derived.  It  will  be 
impofTible  to  check  it  during  the  continuance  of 
warm  and  dry  weather,  while  any  of  the  impure 
matter  which  produced  it  remains  upon  the  pef- 
tilential  wharf.  R." 

This 


314 

This  publication  had  no  other  effe£l:  than  to 
produce  frefli  clamours  againft  the  author for 
the  citizens,  as  well  as  moft  of  the  phyficians  of 
Philadelphia,  had  adopted  a  traditional  opinion, 
that  the  yellow  fever  could  exift  among  us  only 
by  importation  from  the  Weft  Indies. 

In  confequence,  however,  of  a  letter  from  Dr. 
Foulke  to  the  Mayor  of  the  city,  in  which  he  had 
decided,  in  a  pofitive  manner,  in  favour  of  the 
generation  of  the  fever  from  the  putrid  coffee ; 
the  mayor  gave  orders  for  the  removal  of  the  cof- 
fee, and  the  cleanfmg  of  the  wharf  and  dock. 
It  was  faid  that  meafures  were  taken  for  this 
purpofe  ;  but  Dr.  Foulke,  who  vifited  the  place 
where  the  coffee  lay,  has  repeatedly  affured  me, 
that  they  were  fo  far  from  being  effeclual,  that 
an  offenfive  Jmell  was  exhaled  from  it  many  days 
afterwards.   The  fever,  however,  extended. 

Difmay  and  affright  are  foon  vifible  in  every 
one's  countenance.  Moft  people,  who  can  by 
any  means  make  it  convenient,  are  flying  from  the 
city.  Of  thofe  who  remain,  many  have  fliut  them- 
felves  up  in  their  houfes,  and  are  afraid  to  walk 
the  ftreets.  Thofe  who  venture  abroad,  have 
handkerchiefs  or  fpunges  impregnated  with  vine- 
gar or  camphor  perpetually  at  their  nofes,  or  elfe 
are  fmelling  at  bottles  with  the  thieves's  vinegar. 
Others  carry  pieces  of  tar  in  their  hands  or  poc- 
kets, or  camphor  bags  tied  round  their  necks. 
Many  never  walk  on  the  foot  path,  but  go  into 

tbf 

1 


3^5 

the  middle  of  the  ftreets,  to  avoid  being  infected 
in  palling  houfes  wherein  people  have  died.  Ac- 
quaintances and  friends  avoid  each  other  in  the 
ftreets,  and  only  fignify  their  regard  by  a  cold 
nod.  Every  one  appears  to  fliift  his  courfe  at  the 
fight  of  a  hearfe  coming  towards  him.  A  perfon 
with  a  crape,  or  any  appearance  of  mourning,  is 
Hiunned  as  a  viper.  Indeed  it  is  probable  Lon- 
don did  not  exift  ftronger  marks  of  terror  than 
were  feen  in  Philadelphia  from  about  the 
middle  of  Auguft  till  pretty  late  in  September. 
Many  of  our  firft  commercial  houfes  are  totally 
diffolvcd  by  the  death  or  flight  of  the  parties,  and 
their  affairs  neceffarily  left  in  fo  deranged  a  ftate, 
that  the  lolTes,  and  protefts  of  notes,  v/hich  have 
enfued,  are  beyond  eftimation. 

While  affairs  were  in  this  deplorable  ftate,  and 
people  at  the  loweft  ebb  of  defpair,  we  cannot  be 
aftonifhed  at 'the  frightful  fcenes  that  were  a£led, 
which  feemed  to  indicate  a  total  diffolution  of 
the  bonds  of  fociety  in  the  neareft  and  deareft 
connexions.  Who,  without  horror,  can  read  of  a 
hufband  deferting  his  wife,  united  to  him  perhaps 
for  twenty  years,  in  the  laft  agony  ; — a  wife  un- 
feelingly abandoning  her  hufband  on  his  death- 
bed j — parents  forfaking  their  children  : — children 
ungratefully  flying  from  their  parents,  and  re- 
figning  them  to  chance  j — mafters  hurrying  off 
their  faithful  fervants  to  the  hofpital,  eftabliflied 
o]it  of  the  town,  even  on  fufpicion  of  the  fever ; 

and 


3i6 

and  that  at  a  time  when,  Hke  Tartarus,  it  was 
open  to  every  vifitant,  but  never  returned  any ; — 
fervants  abandoning  tender  and  humane  mafters, 
who  only  wanted  a  Httle  care  to  reftore  them  to 
health  and  ufefulnefs : — who,  I  fay,  can  even  now 
reflect  on  thefe  things  without  horror  ?  Yet  fuch 
were  the  daily  fpe^Stacles  exhibited  throughout  our 
city.  Many  men  of  affluent  fortunes,  who  have 
given  employment  and  fuftenance  to  multitudes, 
have  been  abandoned  to  the  care  of  a  hired  negro, 
after  their  wives,  children,  friends,  clerks,  and 
fervants,  have  fled  away,  and  left  them  to  their 
fate.  With  the  poor  the  cafe  was,  as  might  be 
expe£led,  infinitely  worfe.  Many  of  thefe  have 
perifhed  without  a  human  being  to  hand  them  a 
little  water,  to  adminifter  medicines,  or  perform 
any  charitable  oflice  for  them.  Various  inftances 
occur  of  dead  bodies  found  lying  in  the  ftreets,  of 
perfons  who  had  no  houfe  of  their  own,  and, 
looking  ill,  could  procure  no  flielter. 

The  number  of  the  infe6led  daily  increafing, 
and  every  one  afflicted  with  this  difeafe  being  re- 
fufed  admittance  into  the  alms-houfes,  as  fome 
temporary  place  was  requifite,  three  of  the  guar- 
dians of  the  poor  took  polTeflion  of  tJie  Circus y  in 
which  Mr.  Ricketts  had  lately  exhibited  his 
equeftrian  feats,  being  the  only  place  that  could 
be  procured  for  the  purpofe.  Thither  they  fent 
Teven  perfons  afflifted  with  the  malignant  fever, 
where  they  lay  in  the  open  air  for  fome  time, 

without 


317 

without  affiftance,  for  nurfes  could  not  be  pro- 
cured them,  though  high  wages  were  offered. 
Of  thefe,  one  crawled  out  on  the  common,  where 
he  died  at  a  diftance  from  any  houfe.  Two  died 
in  the  Circus,  one  of  whom  was  feafonably  re- 
moved, the  other  lay  in  a  ftate  of  putrefaftion 
for  above  forty-eight  hours,  owing  to  the  difficulty 
of  procuring  any  perfon  to  remove  him. 

Tlie  inhabitants  of  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
Circus  took  the  alarm,  and  threatened  to  burn  or 
deftroy  it,  unlefs  the  fick  were  removed ;  and  it 
is  believed  they  would  have  aftually  carried  their 
threats  into  execution,  had  a  compliance  been 
delayed  a  day  longer, 

A  fervant  girl,  belonging  to  a  family  in  this  city, 
in  which  the  fever  had  prevailed,  was  apprehen- 
fiye  of  danger,  and  refolved  to  remove  to  a  rela- 
tion's in  the  country.  She  was,  however,  taken 
fick  on  the  road,  and  returned  to  town,  w^here 
flie  could  find  no  perfon  to  receive  her.  One  of 
the  guardians  of  the  poor  provided  a  cart,  and 
took  her  to  the  alms-houfe,  into  which  fhe  was 
refufed  admittance.  She  was  brought  back,  and 
the  guardians  offered  five  dollars  to  procure  her 
a  fingle  night's  lodging,  but  in  vain.  And,  in 
fine,  after  every  effort  to  provide  her  flielter,  flie 
abfolutely  expired  in  the  cart. 

To  add  to  the  dreadful  affliction  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Philadelphia,  the  alarm  was  fpread 
throughout  the  different  ilates  of  America.  The 

inhabitants 


Si8 

inhabitants  of  New  York  firft  came  to  a  refo- 
lution  to  flop  all  intercourfe  with  the  infc£te(i 
city  j  and  for  this  purpofe  guards  were  ftationed 
at  the  different  landings,  with  orders  to  fend  back 
every  perfoii  coming  from  Philadelphia.  All 
perfons  taking  in  lodgers  were  called  upon  to 
give  information  of  all  people  of  every  defcrip- 
tlon,  under  pain  of  being  profecuted  according 
to  law.  All  good  citizens  were  required  to  give 
information  to  the  mayor  of  any  breach  of  thefe 
premifes. 

All  thefe  ftrift  precautions  being  eluded  by  the 
anxious  fugitives  from  Philadelphia,  there 
was  a  fecond  meeting  held,  of  the  delegates  from 
the  feveral  wards  of  the  city,  in  order  to  adopt 
more  effectual  methods.  At  this  meeting  it  was 
refolved  to  eftablifli  a  night  watch,  of  not  lefs 
than  ten  citizens  in  each  ward,  to  guard  againft 
fuch  as  might  efcape  them  by  day.  Not  yet 
eafed  of  their  fears,  they  next  day  publiflied  an 
addrefs,  in  which  they  mentioned;  that,  notwith- 
ftanding  their  utmoft  vigilance,  many  perfons  had' 
been  clandejlinely  landed  upon  the  fliores  of  New- 
York  Island.  They  therefore  again  called  upon 
their  fellow  citizens  to  be  cautious  how  they  re- 
ceived ftrangers  into  their  houfes ;  not  to  fail  to 
report  all  fuch  to  the  mayor  immediately  uporr 
their  arrival ;  to  remember  the  importance  of  the  oc- 
cafion  \  and  to  confider  zvhat  reply  they  JJiould  make  to 
the  JUST  refentme'tit  of  their  fellow  citizens  ^  ivhofe  lives 

they 


319 

thy  might  expofe  by  a  criminal  negkEl  and  infidelity. 
They  likewife  refolved,  that  they  would  confider 
and  publifh  to  the  world,  as  enemies  to  the  welfare 
of  the  city,  and  the  lives  of  its  inhabitants,  all 
thofe  who  fhould  be  fo  felfifli  and  hardy  as  to  at- 
tempt to  introduce  any  goods,  wares,  merchan- 
dize, l>edding,  baggage,  &c.  imported  from,  or 
packed  up  in  Philadelphia,  contrary  to  the 
rules  prefcribed  by  that  body,  who  were,  they 
faid,  deputed  to  exprefs  the  will  of  their  fellow 
citizens. 

While  our  citizens  were  thus,  complains  Mr. 
Carey,  profcribed  in  feveral  cities  and  towns, — 
hunted  up  like  felons  in  fome, — and  debarred  ad- 
mittance, and  turned  back  in  others,  whether 
found  or  infe61:ed, — it  is  with  extreme  fatisfaftion 
I  am  able  to  record  a  few  inftances  of  a  contrary 
procedure. 

A  refpe£table  number  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Springfield,  in  New  Jersey,  after  a  full  confide- 
ration  of  the  diftreffes  of  our  citizens,  pafled  a 
refolve,  offering  their  town  as  an  afylum  to  the 
people  flying  from  Philadelphia,  and  dire£t- 
ing  their  committee  to  provide  a  fuitable  place, 
as  an  hofpital,  for  fuch  of  them  as  might  be  feized 
with  the  prevailing  malignant  fever.  An  afylum. 
was  likewife  offered  to  the  Philadelphians  by  fe- 
■  veral  of  the  inhabitants  of  Elkion,  in  Mary- 
land i  and  the  offer  was  couched  in  terms  of 

the 


320 

the  utraoft  fympathy  for  the  diftreffes  of  the 
Philadelphians. 

At  this  time  the  diforder  was  raguig  with  in- 
creafing  vehemence.  By  order  of  the  mayor  the 
bells  were  flopped  from  tolling.  This  was  a  very 
expedient  meafure ;  as  they  had  before  been  kept 
pretty  conftantly  going-  the  whole  day,  fo  as  to 
terrify  thofe  in  health,  and  drive  the  lick,  as  far 
as  the  influence  of  imagination  could  produce 
that  efFeft,  to  their  graves.  An  idea  had  gone 
abroad,  that  the  burning  of  fires  in  the  ftreets 
would  have  a  tendency  to  purify  the  air,  and  ar- 
reft  the  progrefs  of  the  diforder.  The  people  had, 
therefore,  almoft  every  night,  large  fires  at  the 
corners  of  each  flreet.  The  mayor  publiftied  alfo 
a  proclamation,  forbidding  this  dangerous  prac- 
tice. As  a  fubftitute,  many  had  recourfe  to  the 
firing  of  giins^  which  was  imagined  a  fure  pre- 
ventative of  the  diforder.  This  was  carried  fo 
far,  and  attended  with  fo  great  noife,  that  it  was 
alfo  forbidden  by  an  order  from  the  mayor. 

The  lituation  of  the  pihiic  hojpital  was  moft 
dreadful.  A  profligate  and  unfeeling  fet  of  nurfes 
(none  of  good  cbarafter  could  be  procured  at  this 
moment)  rioted  on  the  provifions  and  comforts 
prepared  for  the  fick,  who  (unlefs  at  the  hours 
the  doftors  attended)  were  left  almoft  entirely 
deftitute  of  every  afliftance.  The  dying  and  dead 
were  indifcrirainately  mingled  together.  The  or- 
dure 


321 

dure  and  other  evacuations  of  the  fick  were  often 
allowed  from '  inattentioii  to  remahi.    Not  the 
fmatleft  order  or  regularity  exifted.   It  was,  ifi 
h&f  a  great  hUtnan  Jlaiighter-houfe,  where  nume- 
rous ti£lims  were  immolated  at  the  altar  of  riot 
a!nd  intemperance.   No  wonder,  then,  that  a  ge- 
neral dread  of  the  place  prevailed  throughout  the 
city,  and  that  a  removal  to  it  was  confidered  as 
the  feal  of  death.    In  confequence,  there  wer0 
various  iriftances  of  fick  perfons  locking  their 
rooms,  and  refrftfng  every  attempt  to  carry  them 
away.   At  length  the  poor  were  fo  much  afraid 
of  being  fent  to  Bush-hill,  that  they  would 
not  acknowledge  their  illnefs,  until  it  was  no 
longer  poflible  to  conceal  it.    For  it  is  to  be  ob- 
ferved,  that  the  fear  of  the  contagion  was  fo  pre- 
valent, that  as  foon  as  any  one  was  taken  fick,  an 
alarm  was  fpread  among  the  neighbours,  and 
every  effort  was  ufed  to  have  the  fick  perfon  hur-' 
ri'ed  off  to  Bush-hill,  to  avoid  fpreading  the 
diforder.  The  cafes  of  poor  people  forced  in  this 
way  to  that  hofpital,  though  labouring  uridet 
only  common  colds,  and  common  fevers  of  irri- 
tation, are  numerous  and  affli£ling.  There  were 
not  wanting,  inftances  of  perfons,  only  flightly  ill, 
being  fent  to  Bush-htll  by  their  panic-ftrucfc 
neighbours,  and  embracing  the  firft  opportunity 
of  running  back  to  Philadelphia. 

At  this  time  a  circumftance  however  occurred, 
which  alone  would  be  fufficient  to  refcue  the 

Vol.  IV.  Y  charaaer 


322 

chara£ler  of  man  from  obloquy  and  reproach. 
As  a  human  being,  I  rejoice,  fays  the  benevolent 
Mr*  Carey,  that  it  has  fallen  to  my  lot  to  be 
a  witnefs  and  recorder  of  the  fa£l.  Stephen 
Gerard^  a  wealthy  merchant,  and  native  of 
France^  touched  with  the  wretched  fituation  of 
the  fufferers  at  Bush-hill,  voluntarily  and  un- 
expeftcdly  offered  to  fuperintend  that  hofpital. 
The  furprize  and  fatisfaftion  excited  by  this  ex- 
traordinary effort  of  humanity  can  be  better  con- 
ceived than  expreffed.  Peter  Helm,  a  native 
of  Pennfylvania,  a6luated  by  the  like  benevolent 
motives,  offered  his  fervices  alfo  in  the  fame  de- 
partment. 

To  form  a  juft  eftim^te  of  the  value  of  the  offer 
of  thefe  good  men,  it  is  neceffary  to  take  into  con- 
fideration  the  general  confternation  which  at  that 
period  pervaded  every  quarter  of  the  city,  and 
which  made  attendance  on  the  fick  be  regarded 
little  lefs  than  certain  facrifice.  Uninfluenced  by 
any  refleftions  of  this  kind,  without  any  polTible 
inducement  but  the  pureft  motives  of  humanity, 
they  came  forward,  and  undertook  what  would 
by  others  be  deemed  a  forlorn  hope.  They  under- 
went a  laborious  round  of  duty.  They  inceffantly 
encouraged  and  comforted  the  fick  ;  they  gave 
them  neceffaries  and  medicines ;  they  even  per- 
formed many  difgulling  offices  of  kindnefs,  which 
nothing  could  render  tolerable,  but  the  exalted 
motives  that  impelled  them  to  this  heroic  conduct. 

On 


323 

On  the  contrary,  the  jail  of  Philadephia  is 
under  fuch  excellent  regulations,  that  the  difor- 
der  made  its  appearance  there  only  in  two  or 
three  inftances,  although  fuch  abodes  of  mifery 
are  the  places  where  contagious  diforders  are 
mofily  generated.  When  this  putrid  fever  raged 
moft  violently  in  the  city^  there  vi^ere  in  the  jaii 
one  hundred  and  fix  French  foldiers  and  failors^ 
confined  by  the  order  of  the  French  conful,  be- 
fides  eighty  convi6ls,  vagrants,  and  perfons  for 
trial ;  all  of  v^^hom,  except  two  or  three,  remained 
perfeftly  free  from  the  complaint.  Several  cir- 
Gumftances  confpired  to  produce  this  falutary 
effea. 

The  people  confined  are  frequently  cleanfed  and 
purified  by  the  ufe  of  the  hot  and  cold  bath  ; — 
they  are  kept  conftantly  employed  ; — vegetables 
form  a  confiderable  portion  of  their  diet in  the 
yard  vegetation  flourilhes^ — and  many  of  them 
being  employed  in  ftone-cutting,  the  water,  con^ 
ftantly  runnings  keeps  the  atmofphere  in  a  tnoijl  and 
pure  ftatCi  Whereas  the  inhabitants  of  dirty  and 
confined  ftreets  have  feverely  expiated  their  neg- 
lect of  cleanlinefs  and  decency,  by  the  number  of 
them  that  have  fallen  facrifices.  Whole  families 
in  fuch  houfes  have  funk  into  one  filent  and  un- 
dift:inguiflied  grave. 

As  I  have  been  obliged  to  note  a  variety  of 
horrid  circumftances,  which  have  a  tendency  to 
throw  a  fliade  over  the  human  chara6ter,  it  is 

Y  2  proper 


f)foper  to  reflea  a  little  light  on  the  fubjeft, 
wherever  juftice  and  truth  will  permit  it.  Here 
it  ought  fo  be  recorded,  that  fome  of  the  convi£ts 
in  the  jail  voluntarily  offered  themfelves  as  nurfes 
to  attend  the  fick  at  Bush^hill,  and  have  in  that 
capacity  conducted  themfelves  with  fo  much  fide- 
lity and  tendernefs,  that  they  have  had  the  re- 
peated thanks  of  the  managers. 

In  the  progrefs  of  this  diforder,  from  the  nume- 
rous deaths  of  heads  of  families,  a  great  number 
of  children  were  left  in  a  raoft  abandoned  and 
forlorn  ftate.  The  bettering  houfes,  in  which 
fuch  helplefs  fubje£ls  have  been  ufually  placed, 
was  barred  againft  them.  Many  of  thefe  little  in- 
nocents were  aftually  fuffering  for  want  of  even 
common  neceffaries.  The  deaths  of  their  parents 
and  protestors,  which  Hiould  have  been  the 
ftrongefl:  recommendation  to  public  charity,  was 
the  very  reafon  of  their  diftrefs,  and  of  their  being 
fliunned  as  a  peflUence.  The  children  of  a  family, 
once  in  affluent  circumftances,  were  found,  their 
parents  being  dead,  in  a  blackfmith's  Ihop,  fqua- 
lid,  dirty,  and  half  ftarved,  having  been  for  a 
confiderable  time  without  even  a  tafte  of  bread. 
This  early  caught  the  attention  of  the  humane, 
and  160  children  were  foon  refcued  from  this 
forlorn  condition,  and  lodged  in  a  building  called 
the  Loganian  Library. 

Rarely  has  it  happened  that  fo  large  a  proportion 
of  the  gentlemen  of  the  faculty  have  funk  beueath 

the 


325 

the  labours  of  their  very  dangerous  profejjion,  as  on 
this  occafion.  In  little  more  than  a  month,  ex- 
clufive  of  medical  ftudents,  no  lefs  than  ten  phy- 
fuians  have  been  fwept  off.  Hardly  any  of  the 
apothecaries^  who  remained  in  the  city,  efcaped 
from  indifpofition.  The  venerable  Samuel  Ro- 
bes an  has  been,  like  a  good  angel,  indefatigably 
performing,  in  families  where  there  was  not  one 
perfon  able  to  help  another,  even  the  menial  of- 
fices of  the  kitchen,  in  every  part  of  his  neigh- 
bourhood. John  Connelly  has  fpent  hours 
befide  the  fick,  -when  their  own  wives  and  chil- 
dren had  abandoned  them.  Twice  did  he  catch 
the  diforder, — twice  was  hp  on  the  brink  of  the 
grave,  which  was  yawning  to  receive  him, — yet, 
unappalled  by  the  imminent  danger  he  had  ef- 
paped,  he  again  returned  to  the  charge. 

To  habits  defectively  oxygenated,  as  with 
tiplers  and  drunkards,  and  men  of  a  corpulent 
habit,  and  women  with  child,  this  djforder  proved 
very  fataL  Of  thefe  many  were  feized,  and  thp 
recoveries  were  very  rare, 

If  you  examine  the  regifler  of  the  weather, 
you  will  find  there  was  no  rain  from  the  25th  of 
Auguft  until  the  14th  of  0£l:ober,  except  a  few 
drops,  hardly  enough  to  lay  the  duft  ip  the  flreets, 
which  fell  on  the  9th  of  September,  and  the  12th 
of  Ofilober.  In  confequence  of  which,  the  fprings 
3i?d  wells  failed  in  many  p&rts  of  the  country, 

The 


326 


Tlie  dud  in  fome  places  extended  two  feet  below 
the  furface  of  the  ground.  The  paftures  were 
deficient,  or  burnt  up,  and  there  was  a  fcarcity  of 
autumnal  fruits  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  city. 
The  regiller  of  the  weather  fliews  alfo  how  little 
the  air  was  agitated  by  winds  during  the  above 
time*".  In  vain  were  the  changes  of  the  moon  ex- 
pelled to  alter  the  ftate  of  the  atmofphere.  The 
light  of  the  morning  as  conftantly  mocked  the 
hopes  which  were  raifed  by  a  cloudy  Iky  in  the 
evening.  Hundreds  fickened  each  day  beneath 
the  influence  of  the  fun  ;  and  even  when  his 
beams  did  not  excite  difeafe,  they  produced  a 
languor  in  the  body,  and,  to  ufe  the  country 
phrafe,  the  labourer  in  the  field  gave  in,  and  that 
too  when  the  mercury  in  the  thermometer  was 
under  80  degrees.    On  the  12th  of  September  a 

*  Howeyer  inoffenfive  uniform  heat,  when  agitated  by  gen- 
tle breezes,  may  be,  there  is,  I  believe,  no  record,  where  a 
dry  and  ftagnating  air  has  exifted  for  any  length  of  time,  with- 
out producing  difeafe.  HippocRATKs,  in  defcribing  a  pefti- 
lential  fever,  fays,  the  year  in  which  it  prevailed  was  without  a 
breeze  of  wind:  The  fame  ftate  of  the  atmofphere,  for  fix 
weeks,  is  mentioned  in  many  of  the  hiftories  of  the  plague 
which  prevailed  in  London  in  1665.  Even  the  fea-air  itfelf 
becomes  unwhplefome  byftagnating;  hence  Dr.  Clark  in- 
forms us,  that  failors  become  fickly  after  long  calms  in  their 
voyages  to  the  Eaft  Indies.  Sir  John  Pringle  deUvers  the 
following  aphorifm,  from  a  number  of  fimilar  obfervations 
upon  this  fubje£t  :  "  When  the  heat  comes  on  foon^  and  continues 
"  throughout  autumn,  not  woderated  by  winds  or  rains,  the  feafon 

proves  fick^y-i  dijlcivpcrs  appear  early,  and  arc  dangerous 

tneteor 


327 

meteor  affrighted  the  inhabitants.  Mufchetoes  were 
uncommonly  numerous.  Here  and  there  a  dead 
cat  added  to  the  impurity  of  the  air  of  the  flreets ; 
for  many  of  thofe  animals  periflied  with  hunger 
in  the  city,  in  confcquence  of  fo  many  houfes 
being  deferted  by  the  inhabitants  who  had  fled 
into  the  country. 


A  TABLE  OF  DExiTHS, 


Died. 

Died. 

Died. 

August  1 

9 

5 

■ 

20 

1 A 
i  u 

—  93 

2 

- 

8 

g 

24 

1  i 

—  119 

3 

C) 

7 

J  0 

1  o 

—  Ill 

4 

10 

c 

O 

4.9 

J  o 

  ]04 

5 

10 

9 

32 

T?  3 1  n     1 .]. 

—  81 

6 

3 

10 

-'9 

1  ^ 

—  80 

7 

12 

11 

1  a 
I  o 

—  70 

8 

- 

■  i; 

17 

0 



1 1 

13 

37 

10 

Q 

14 

48 

1  Q 

—  65 

11 

7 

15 

9(1 

—  55 

12 

5 

16 

67 

21 

  59 

13 

— 

11 

17 

— 

81 

22 

— -  82 

14 

4 

18 

68 

23 

—  54 

15 

9 

19 

61 

24 

—  38 

16 

7 

20 

67 

Cloudy,  25 

—  35 

17 

6 

21 

57 

Cloudy,  26 

—  23 

18 

5 

22 

76 

Rain,  -  27 

—  13 

19 

9 

23 

68 

Rain,  -  28 

—  24 

20 

7 

24 

96 

fair,    -  29 
Raiii,  -  30 

—  17 

21 

8 

25 

87 

—  16 

22 

13 

26 

52 

Rain,  -  31 

—  21 

23 

10 

27 

60 

Nov.  Rain,  1 

—  13 

24 

17 

28 

51 

Fair,    -  2 

—  21 

25 

12 

29 

57 

Cloudy,  3 

—  15 

26 

17 

30 

63 

Rain,  '-  4 

—  15 

27 

12 

OCTOB.  1 

74 

Rain,  -  5 

—  14 

28 

22 

2 

66 

Cloudy,  6 

—  11 

39 

24 

3 

78 

Fair,  but  cold,  7 

—  15 

30 

20 

4 

58 

Fair,    -  8 

—  8 

31 

17 

5 

7! 

Fair,    -  9 

~  6 

^EPTEM.  I 

17 

6 

76 

Fair,    -  lo 

  2 

2 

18 

7 

82. 

,    Fair,    -  li 

-—  0 

3 

11 

8 

90 

4 

23 

0 

102,' 

TOTAX.  - 

4,000 

From 


328 

From  this  table  it  appears  that  the  principal 
mortality  was  in  the  fecond  week  of  October. 
A  general  expe6tation  had  obtained,  that  cold 
weather  was  as  deftru£live  of  the  contagion  of 
this  fever  as  heavy  rains.  The  ufual  time  for  its 
arrival  had  come,  but  the  weather  was  ftill  not 
only  moderate  but  warm.  In  this  awful  fitua- 
tion,  the  ftouteft  hearts  began  to  fail.  Hope  fick- 
ened,  and  defpair  fucceeded  diftrefs  in  almoft 
every  countenance.  On  the  14th  of  O£iober  it 
pleafed  God  to  alter  the  ftate  of  the  air.  The 
clouds  at  laft  dropped  health  in  Jfiowers  of  rain, 
which  continued  during  the  whole  day,  and  which 
\vere  fucceeded  for  feveral  nights  afterwards  by 
cold  and  froji.  The  effects  of  this  change  in  the 
weather  appeared  firft  in  the  fudden  diminution 
of  the  fick,  for  the  deaths  continued  for  a  week 
afterwards  to  be  nearly  as  numerous,  but  they 
were  pf  perfons  who  had  been  confined  before,  or 
on  the  day  in  which  the  change  had  taken  place 
in  the  weather. 

The  appearance  of  this  rain  was  like  a  dove 
with  an  olive  branch  in  its  mouth,  to  the  whole 
city.  Public  notice  was  given  of  its  beneficial 
effects  in  a  letter  fubfcribed  by  the  mayor  of  Phi- 
ladelphia, who  a£led  as  prefident  of  the  com- 
tnittee,  to  the  mayor  of  New  York. 


329 


TO  RICHARD  VANCHE,  ESQ. 

*'  SIR, 

"  I  am  favoured  with  your  letter  of  the 
12th  inftant,  which  I  have  communicated  to 
**  the  Committee. 

"  The  part.  Sir,  which  you  perfonally  take  in 
*'  our  affliflions,  and  which  you  have  fo  patheti- 
"  cally  expreffed  in  your  letter,  excites  in  the 
*'  breads  of  the  Committee  the  warmeft  fenfations 
"  of  affeftion.  The  fubfcription  made  in  New 
*'  York  is  a  balm  to  the  fores  of  our  diftreffed 
"  city. 

"  I  am  overjoyed  as  I  inform  you,  that  the  re- 
"  frefhing  rain  which  fell  on  the  14th,  though 
*'  light,  3indi\\Q  cool  weather  which  hath  fucceeded, 
"  appear  to  have  given  a  check  to  the  prevalence 
"  of  the  fever.  Few  fince  appear  to  have  taken 
"  the  infection ;  the  applications  for  the  hofpital 
"  are  few,  and  the  funerals  are  decreafed. 

"  With  fentiments  of  the  greateft  efteem  and 

regard,"  &c. 

On  the  30th  and  3lft  of  0£tober  there  was  a 
confiderable  fall  of  rain.  The  fever  was  in  cour 
fequence  wholly  fubdued.  A  vifible  alteration 
foon  took  place  in  the  city.  Every  hour  long  ab- 
fent  and  welcome  faces  appear, — and,  in  many 
inftances,  thofe  of  perfons  whom  public  fame  has 
buried  for  weeks  paft.  The  (lores,  fo  long  clofed, 
are  opening  faft.  Some  of  the  country  merchants, 

bolder 


330 

bolder  than  the  reft,  are  daily  venturing  into  their 
old  place  of  fupply.  Market-ftreet  is  almoft  as 
full  of  waggons  as  ufual.  The  Cuftom-houfe,  for 
weeks  nearly  deferted  by  our  mercantile  people, 
is  thronged  by  citizens  entering  their  veffels  and 
goods  : — the  ftreets  too,  long  the  abode  of  gloom 
and  defpair,  have  afTumed  the  buftle  fuitable  to 
the  feafon.  The  arrival  in  the  city  of  our  beloved 
Prefident,  continues  Mr.  Carey,  gives  us  a  flat- 
tering profpe£l  of  the  next  feffion  of  congrefs 
being  here.  And,  in  fine,  as  every  thing  in  the 
early  fi:a2;e  of  the  diforder,  feemed  calculated  to 
add  to  the  confternation ;  fo  nov^'',  on  the  contrary, 
every  circumftance  has  a  tendency  to  revive  the 
)ippes  and  happinefs  of  our  afflicted  city. 


SECT. 


331 

SECT.  XLIX. 

THIRD  CAUSE,  PUTRID  FEVER  FROM  CONTAGION,. 

yExHiopiA  and  Egypt  have  been  ftigmatized, 
in  every  age,  as  the  original  fource  and  feminary 
of  the  plague.  In  a  damp,  hot,  ftagnating  air,  this 
African  fever  is  generated  from  the  putrefaction 
of  animal  fubftances,  and  efpecially  from  the 
fwarms  of  locufts,  not  lefs  deftru£live  to  mankind 
in  their. death,  than  in  their  lives.  This  fatal 
difeafe,  which  depopulated  the  earth  in  the  time 
of  Juftinian,  and  his  fucceflbrs,  firlt  appeared  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Pelufium*.  From  thence, 
tracing  as  it  were  a  double' path,  it  fpread  to  the 
Eaft,  over  Syria,  Perfia,  and  the  Indies,  and  pene- 
trated to  the  Weft,  along  the  coaft  of  Africa, 
and  over  the  continent  of  Europe.  In  the  fpring 
of  the  fecond  year,  Conftantinople,  during  three 
or  four  months,  was  vifited  by  the  plague : 
and  Procopius,  who  obferved  its  progrefs  and 
fymptoms  with  the  eyes  of  a  phyfician,  has  emu- 
lated the  Ikill  and  diligence  of  a  Thucydides.  This 
fever  was  charaflerized  by  fwelling  of  the  glands, 
particularly  thofe  of  the  groin,  of  the  arm-pits, 
and  under  the  ear ;  and  when  thefe  buboes  or 
tumors  were  opened,  they  were  found  to  contain 

"  A  town  fituated  on  the  mouth  of  the  Nile. 

a  coal. 


332 

a  coal,  or  black  Juhjlance*,  of  the  fize  of  a  lentil. 
If  they  came  to  a  juft  fwelling  and  fuppuration, 
the  patient  was  faved  by  this  kind  and  natural 
difcharge  of  the  morbid  humour.  But  if  they 
continued  hard  and  dry,  a  mortification  quickly 
enfued,  and  the  fifth  day  was  commonly  the  term 
of  his  life.  The  fever  was  often  accompanied 
with  lethargy  or  delirium  ;  the  bodies  of  the  fick 
were  often  covered  with  black  puflules  or  car- 
buncles J  and  in  the  conftitutions  too  feeble  to 
produce  an  eruption,  the  vomiting  of  blood  was 
followed  by  a  mortification  of  the  bowels.  To 
pregnant  women  the  plague  was  generally  mortal. 
Youth  was  the  moft  perilous  feafon  j  and  the 
female  fex  was  lefs  fufceptible  than  the  male : 
but  every  rank  and  profelTion  was  attacked  with 

*  Thefe  arc  the  words  of  Gibbon  :  The  carbuncle^  fays 
Hodges,  is  at  firft  a  fmall  eruption,  whofe  contents  are  foon 
idifcharged,  then  it  crufts,  loolcs  blacky  and  turns  hard.  It  is 
furrounded  with  a  circle  of  inflammation,  at  firft  of  a  bright 
red,  which  grows  dufl<y,  often  livid,  and  finally  black.  This 
change  to  black  is  obferved  in  all  the  other  dire  marks  of  the 
Plague.  Speaking  of  tokens^  which  he  elfewhere  calls Jiigmata 
vigra,  which  are  fmall  fpots,  often  the  fize  of  a  filver-penny ;  in 
fome,  fays  he,  the  colour  was  reddifli,  of  a  faint  blue,  and  often 
pf  a  black-bronany  refembling  a  mole  in  the  body.  So  of  fett- 
chicey  they  are  faid  to  be  ruddy  at  firft,  but  in  a  few  hours  be- 
pome  dufky,  and  finajly  of  a  leaden-purple.  The  fame  is  faid 
of  the  macula^  or  large  broad  patches  on  the  ikin.  Welks,  or 
vibices,  are  narrow  ftreaks,  and  they  look  like  bruifes  by 
fome  narrow  inftrument ;  or  as  Foreftus  fays,  Ut  fi  quis  fufti- 
bus  caefiis  eflet,  aut  ab  alto  cecidifTet;  as  if  one  had  been 
beaten,  or  had  fallen  from  an  eminence. 

indifcriminate 


333 

indiicriminate  rage,  and  many  of  thofe  who  ef- 
caped  were  in  a  wretched  condition,  without 
being  fecure  from  a  return  of  the  diforder*.  The 
phyficians  of  Conftantinople  were  zealous  and 
(kilful ;  but  their  art  wa^  baffled  by  the  various 
fymptoms  and  pertinacious  vehemence  of  the 
difeafe  ;  and  doubts  are  entertained,  whether  me- 
dicine did  not  fometimes  aid  the  fatality  of  the  di- 
feafe. The  order  of  funerals  and  the  right  of  fepul- 
chres  were  confounded  ;  thofe  who  were  left  with- 
out friends  or  fervants  lay  unburied  in  the  ftreets, 
or  in  their  defolate  houfes  j  and  a  magiftrate  was 
authorized  to  colle6t  the  promifcuous  heaps  of 
dead  bodies,  to  tranfport  them  by  land  or  water, 
and  to  inter  them  in  deep  pits  beyond  the  pre- 
cin£ls  of  the  city. 

Contagion  is  the  infeparable  companion  of  the 
plague,  which,  by  refpiration  and  perfpiration,  is 
wafted  from  the  infefted  perfons  to  the  lungs 
and  ftomachs  of  thofe  who  approach  them.- 
While  philofophers,  fays  Gibbon,  believe  and 
tremble,  it  is  fmgular  that  the  exiftence  of  a 
real  danger  fliould  have  been  denied  by  a  peo- 

*  Thucydides  (c.  51.)  affirms  that  the  infection  could  only 
be  once  taken  ;  but  Evagrius,  who  had  family  experience  of  the 
plague,  obferves,  that  fome  perfons,  who  had  efcaped  the  firft, 
fiink.  under  the  fecond  attack ;  and  this  repetition  is  confirmed 
by  Fabius  PauUinus  (p.  588).  RuiTei,  whofe  authority  at  the 
prefent  day  is  greateft,  mentions,  in  his  Hiflory  of  the  Plague, 
that  occurrences  of  this-  kind  happen,  although  very  rarely. 

pie 


334 

pie  mod  prone  to  vain  and  imaginary  terrofs*. 
Yet  tlie  fellow-citizens  of  Procopius  were  fatif- 
fied,  by  fome  lliort  and  partial  experience,  that 
the  infection  could  not  be  gained  by  the  clofeft 
converfation  ;  and  this  ^erfuafion  might  fupport 
the  affiduity  of  friends  or  phyficians  in  the  care  of 
the  fick,  whom  inhuman  prudence  would  other- 
wife  have  condemned  to  folitude  and  defpair. 
But  the  fatal  fecurity,  like  the  predeftination  of 
the  Turks,  muft  have  aided  the  progrefs  of  the 
contagion ;  and  thofe  falutary  precautions,  to 
which  Europe  is  indebted  for  her  fafety,  were 
unknown  to  the  government  of  Juftinian.  No 
reftraints  were  impofed  on  the  free  and  frequent 
intercourfe  of  the  Roman  provinces :  from  Perfia 
to  France,  the  nations  were  mingled  and  infefted 
by  wars  and  emigrations  ;  and  the  peftilential 
odour,  which  lurks  for  years  in  a  bale  of  cotton, 
was  imported,  by  the  abufe  of  trade,  into  the 
moft  diftant  regions.   The  mode  of  its  propaga- 
tion is  explained  by  the  remark  of  Procopius 
himfelf,  that  it  always  fpread  from  the  fea-coaft 
to  the  inland  country:  the  moft  fequeftered  iflands 
and  mountains  were  fucceffively  vifited  ;  the 
places  which  had  efcaped  the  fury  of  its  firft  paf- 
fage,  were  alone  expofed  to  the  contagion  of  the 
enfuing  year.   The  winds  might  diffufe  that  fub- 
tle  venom  ;  but  unlefs  the  atmofphere  previoufly 

i<-  Vide  an  account  of  the  Plague  at  Marfeilles,  page  335. 

difpofed 


335 

difpofed  the  body  for  its  reception,  the  plague 
would  foon  expire  in  the  cold  or  temperate  cli- 
mates of  the  earth.  Such,  however,  was  the  tem- 
perament of  the  air,  that  the  peftilencc  which 
burft  forth  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  Juilinian  was 
not  checked  or  alleviated  by  any  difference  of  the 
feafons.  In  time,  its  firft  malignity  was  abated 
and  difperfed  ;  the  difeafe  alternately  languiflied 
and  revived  j  but  it  was  not  till  the  end  of  a  ca- 
lamitous period  of  fifty-two  years,  before  this 
plague  ceafed  its  devaftations.  No  fafts  have 
been  preferved'to  fuftain  an  account,  or  even  a 
conjefture,  of  the  numbers  that  periflied  in  this 
extraordinary  mortality.  I  only  find,  that,  during 
three  months,  five,  and  at  length  ten  thoufand  per- 
fons  died  each  day  at  Conftantinople  ;  that  many 
cities  of  the  Eaft  were  left  vacant,  and  that,  in 
feveral  diftricts  of  Italy,  the  harveft  and  the  vin- 
tage withered  on  the  ground.  Gibbon,  however, 
conje£tures,  that  this  plague,  which  began  in  the 
year  A.  D.  542,  ending  594,  carried  off  not  lefs 
than  one  hundred  millions. 

Mead  proves  that  the  plague  is  contagious, 
from  Thucydides,  Lucretius,  Ariftotle,  Galen,  and 
common  experience  ;  and  he  refutes  the  contrary 
opinion  of  the  French  phyficians,  who  vifited 
Marfeilles  in  the  year  1720.  He  inconteftably 
proves,  from  the  account  of  Ruffel,  that  the  Plague 
raged  in  the  Levant  in  1719  ;  that  in  1720  a  fliip 
arrived  with  goods  from  this  quarter,  commanded 

by 


by  Chataud,  who  had  certain  Turks  paflTengers  on 
board,  with  their  luggage  ;  that  foon  after  one 
of  thefe  died  ;  that  two  failors,  who  were  em- 
ployed in  throwing  the  corpfe  overboard,  alfo 
fickened  and  died.  A  third  failor  was  feized  with 
the  fame  fever,  and  died  j  as  apfo  the  furgcon, 
who  died.  After  this  three  other  failors  fell  fick 
of  this  fame  fever,  and  died.  Two  days  from  the 
arrival  of  this  fliip  in  Marfeilles,  an  officer  of  qua- 
rantine, who  came  on  board,  died.  Six  porters, 
employed  to  open  the  goods  en  board,  and  air 
them,  were  feized  with  this  difeafe  alfo,  and  died. 
A  prieft  who  adminiftered  to  the  fick,  and  a  fur- 
geon  of  the  Lazaretto,  with  part  of  his  family, 
were  infefted  alfo,  and  died.  The  apothecaries, 
their  affiftants,  the  houfe  fteward,  with  his  fons, 
a  cook,  the  fcuUions,  the  other  porters,  and  the 
waflier-women  of  the  Lazaretto,  in  fhort,  not  one 
but  fell  vi6lims  to  the  devouring  monfter. 

This  fever  afterwards  appeared  in  the  city. 
A  woman  from  the  rue  de  I'Efcale  being  received 
into  the  principal  hofpital  with  the  fame  fever, 
two  of  the  nurfes  who  afhfted  at  her  reception, 
and  the  matron  who  changed  her  linen,  were 
taken  ill  next  day,  and  died  after  a  few  hours 
illnefs.  From  them,  the  contagion  fpreading  with 
dreadful  rapidity,  deftroyed  phyficians,  furgeons, 
apothecaries,  confeiTors,  and  all  the  other  officers 
and  fervants  of  the  houfe,  with  the  whole  oi  the 
poor  in  the  hofpital,  including  in  all  upwards  of 


i37 

four  hundred.  Laftly,  of  two  hundred  and  thirty 
galley-flaves,  employed  in  going  into  the  infc6ted 
houfes,  and  in  burying  the  dead,  two  hundred 
and  twenty  periflied  in  the  fpace  of  ten  or  twelve 
days.  If  this  is  not  contagious,  I  am  at  a  lofs 
to  know  what  is.  Befides  this,  they  beheld  the 
fame  fever,  which  in  a  few  months  fwept  away 
50,000  inhabitants  of  a  city  that^  at  the  prefent 
hour  of  profperity  and  trade,  contains  no  more 
than  90,000  fouls.  All  that  the  French  phyficians 
oppofe  to  this  is,  that  neither  they  who  were 
fent  by  the  Regent  to  Marfeilles,  and  who  cou- 
rageoufly  expofed  themfelves,  caught  the  difeafe> 
or  their  alTiftants.  This,  however,  on/y  proves, 
that  all  do  not  equally  take  the  Plague,  the  reafon 
of  which  will  be  the  obje6l  of  confideration  in 
the  enfuing  feftion.  They  might  as  well  affert, 
that  the  people  who  fall  in  battle  are  not  killed, 
becaufe  fome  efeape  the  danger* 

What  is  ftyled  by  pre-eminence  the  plague 
of  London,  may  be  traced  to  the  fame  fowce. 
A  violent  plague  had  raged  in  Holland  in  the 
year  1663,-  on  which  account  the  importation  of 
merchandize  from  that  country  was  prohibited 
by  the  Britifli  Legiflature  in  1664.  Notwith- 
.ftanding  this,  however,  it  appears  that  the  Plague 
lhad  been  aftually  imported ;  for  in  the  clofe  of  the 
;year  1664,  two  or  three  perfons  died  in  London 
'With  fymptoms  of  the  Plague  5  that  is  a  fenfe  of 
kCold,  fuccecded  by  flufhes  of  heat,  often  rigors, 
•  Vol.  IV.  Z  proftration 


338 


profti-ation  of  ftrength,  carbuncles,,  buboes,  pe- 
techia;, &c.    Hereupon,  fays  Hodges,  fome  of 
tlieir  timorous  neighbours,  under  apprehenfions  of 
a  contagion,  removed  into  the  city  of  London, 
Avho  unfortunately  carried  along  with  them  the 
peitilential  taint;  whereby  that  difeafe,  which  was 
before  in  its  infancy,  in  a  family  or  two,  fuddenly 
got  ftrength,  and  fpread  abroad  its  fatal  venom  ; 
and  merely  for  want  of  confinmg  the  perfons  firft 
fei^ed  with  it,  the  whole  city  was  in  a  little  time 
fffecoverably  infe6ted.    Not  unlike  what  hap- 
pened the  year  following,  when  a  fmall  fparkj, 
from  an  unknown  caufe,  for  want  of  timely  care, 
increafed  to  fuch  a  flame,  that  neither  the  tears 
of  the  people,  nor  the  profufion  of  their  Thames, 
Gouid  extinguifli,  and  which  laid  wafte  the  greateft- 
part  of  the  city  in  three  days  time,  where  the 
altars  themfelves  became  fo  raanyiTictims,^  and 
the  fineft  churched  in  the  wliole  world  carried  up 
to  heaven  fupplications  in  flamesi,  while  their 
marble  pillars,  wet  with  tears,  melted  like  wax 
nor'  were  monuments  fecure  from  the  .inexorable 
flames,  ?wrhere^many-  of  their  venerable .  remains 
palfed  a  fecond  martyrdom  ;  the  moft  auguil  pa*: 
laces  were  fodn  laid  wafte,  and  the  flaiiiies  feemed 
to  be  in  a  fatal  engagement  to  deftroy  tlie  great 
ornament  of  commerce  ;  and  the  burning  of  .all 
the  commodities  of  the  world  together  feemed  a 
proper. .epitome' of  this  conflagration:  neither 
cOftfedeiate  Jcrowns,  nor  the  drawn  fwords  ot 

kings. 


339 

khiffs,  could  refl.rain  its  fanatic  and  rebellious 
rage  ;  large  halls,  ftately  houfes,  and  the  fheds  of 
the  poor,  were  together  reduced  to  aflies ;  the 
fun  bluflied  to  fee  himfelf  fet,  and  envied  thofe 
flames  the  goverment  of  the  night,  which  had 
rivalled  him  fo  many  days: — as  the  city,  I  fay^ 
was  next  year  burnt  without  any  diftinftion,  in 
like  manner  did  this  Plague  fpare  no  order,  age, 
or  fex;  the  divirie  was  taken,  in  the  very  exercife 
of  his  prieftly  office,  to  be  inrolled  amongft  the 
faints  above  i  phyficians  could  not  find  affiftance 
in  their  own  antidotes,  btit  died  in  the  admini- 
ftration  of  them  to  others  ;  and  although  the  fol- 
diery  retreated  from  the  field  of  death,  and  en- 
camped out  of  the  city,  the  contagion  followed, 
and  vanquiflied  them  ;  many  in  their  old  age, 
others  in  their  prime,  funk  under  its  cruelties 
of  the  female  fex  moft  died,  and  hardly  any  chil- 
dren efcaped;  and  it  was  not  uncommon  to  fee 
an  inheritance  pafs  fucceflively  to  three  or  four 
heirs  in  as  many  days  ;  the  number  of  fextons 
were  not  fufficient  to  bury  the  dead  ;  the  bells 
feemed  hoarfe  with  continual  tolling,  until  at  laft 
they  quite  ceafed  ;  the  burying  places  would  not 
hold  tht  dead,  but  they  were  thrown  into  large 
pits  dug  in  wafte  grounds,  in  heaps,  thirty  or 
forty  together ;  and  it  often  happened,  that  thofe 
who;  attended  the  funerals  of  their  friends  one 
evening,  were  carried  the  next  to  their  own  long 
home  : 

Z  2   Quis 


340 

•—  Quis  tali  a  fando 

Temperet  a  lachrymis  r-  

As  fnion  as  the  magiflracy,  to  wliom  belonged 
the  public  care,  faw  how  tlie  contagion  daily  in- 
creafcd,  and  had  now  extended  itfelf  to  feveral 
pariflies,  tin  otder  was  immediately  ifiued  out  to 
ihiit  up  all  the  inte£l:ed  houfes,  that  neither  rela- 
tions nor  acquaintance  might  unwarily  receive  it 
from  them,  and  to  keep  the  infefted  from  car- 
rying it  about  with  them. 

Fbr  this  purpofe,  it  is  to  be  obfcrved,  that  a 
law  was  made  for  marking  the  houfes  of  infefted 
perfons  with  a  red  crofs,  having  with  it  this  fub- 
fcription.  Lord  have  mercy  upon  us  :  and 
that  a  guard  fliould  there  continually  attend, 
both  to  hand  to  the  fick  the  neceffaries  of  food 
and  medicine,  ^ind  to  reftrain  them  from  coming 
abroad  until  forty  days  after  their  recovery. 

But  althoudi  the  Lx)rd  Mavor  and  all  inferior 
officers  readily  and  effectually  put  thefe  orders  inf 
execution,"  yet  it  was  to  no  purpofe,  for  the 
Flague  more  and  more  increafed  ;  and  the  con- 
fternation  of  thofe  who  were  thus  feparated  from 
all  fociety,  unlefs  with  the  infected,  was  inexpref- 
fible  ;  and  the  difmal  apprehenfions  it  U\d  them 
under,  made  them  but  an  eafier  prey  to  the  de- 
vouring enemy.  And  this  feclufion  was  on  this 
account  much  the  more  intolerable,  that  if  a  frefli 
perfon  was  feized  in  the  fame  houfe  but  a  day 
before  another  had  finiflied  the  quarantine,  it 

was 


341 


was  to  be  performed  over  again;  which  occa- 
fioned  fuch  tedious  confinements  of  fick  and  well 
together,  as  fometimes  to  caufe  the  lofs  of  the 
whole. 

But  what  greatly  conjjiibuted  to  the  lofs  of 
people  thus  flmt  up  was  the  wicked  pra6tices  of 
nurfes  (for  they  are  not  to  be  mentioned  but  in 
the  moft  bitter  terms) :  tJiefe  wretches,  out  of  greedi- 
nefs  to  p/under  the  dead,  woidd  Jlr angle  their  -patients ^ 
and  charge  it  to  the  dijlemper  in  their  throats  ;  others 
would  fecretly  convey  the  pejiilential  taint  from  fores 
of  the  infected  to  thofe  who  were  well ;  and  nothing 
indeed  deterred  thefe  abandoned  mijcreants  from  profe  - 
cuting  their  avaricious  purpofes  by  all  th^  'methods  their 
wickednefs  could  invent,  who,  although  they  were 
without  witnelTes  to  accufe  them,  yet  it  is  not 
doubted  but  divine  vengeance  -will  overtake  fuch 
wicked  barbarities  with  due  punifhment :  nay, 
fome  were  remarkably  ftruck  from  heavpn  in 
the  perpetration  of  their  crimes  ;  and  one  par- 
ticularly amongft  many,  as  fiie  was  leaving  the 
houfe  of  a  family,  all  dead,  loaded  with  her  rob- 
beries, fell  down  dead  under  her  burden  in  the 
ftreets :  and  the  cafe  of  a  worthy  citizen  was 
very  remarkable,  who  being  fufpe£ted  dying  by 
his  nurfe,  was  before-hand  flripped  by  her  ;  but. 
recovering  again,  he  came  a  fecond  tiitic  into  the 
world  naked  *. 

Moreover, 

*  This  IS  related  upon  the  authority  of  Hodges,  an  eye  - 
witnefs ;  and  it  is  much  to  be  lamented  that  this  athcrwife  tjfe- 

fiil 


34^ 


Moreover,  this  flmtting  up  infecled  houfes 
made  the  neighbours  fly  from  thejrs,  who  other- 
wife  might  have"t)een  a  help  to  them  on  many 
accounts  ;  and  I  verily  believe  that  many  who 
were  loft  might  have  n^w  been  alive,  had  not  the 
tragical  mark  upon  their  door  drove  away  proper 
afliftances  from  them. 

But  to  return  :  the  infection  had  long  doubt- 
fully reigned,  and  continued  through  May  and 
June  with  more  or  lefs  feverity,  fometimes  rag- 
ing in  one  part,  and  then  in  another  ;  as  often  as 
the  number  of  funerals  dccreafed  great  hopes 
were  conceived  of  its  difappearance  \  then,  on  a 
fudden  again,  their  increafe  threw  air  into  de- 
jeftion,  as  if  the  whole  city  was  foon  to  be  un^ 
peopled  ;  which  uncertainty  gave  advantage  to 

ful  order  of  people  ftiould  not  be  chofen  from  a  better  defcription 
of  perfons.  In  the  prefent  times  I  have  known  the  ear-rings 
torn  from  the  ears  of  the  dying,  the  cap  removed  in  the  aft  of 
dying,  and  a  better  one  put  on,  the  bell  clean  linen  put  on 
the  bed  un-aired,  as  the  perquifite  after  death,  and  the  dying 
lifted  out  of  bed,  to  prevent  thefc  from  being  ftained  by  the  laft 
aftions  of  death.  Some  have  been  aftually  jumpt  upon,  to 
force  the  blood  to  the  liead,  to  make  a  better  corpfe;  and  thefe 
over-anxious  nuifes  for  charafter,  wafli  out  the  chambers  of 
the  fick  at  night,  and  only,  they  fay,  open  a  piece  of  the  win- 
dow. "  Good  God  I"  fays  one  of  this  defcription,  "  would 
"  you  put  on  a  blifter  on  the  fair  fkin  of  her  royal  highnefs  ? " 

*'  Dam  it !"  fays  Dr.  E  ,  "  her  highnefs  fliall  have  the  fame 

"  chance  as  her  waflier-woman."  It  is  a  pity  to  torment 
with  medicine,"  fays  another,  "  or  to  flarve  the  poor  crea- 
*'  ture.  One  glafs  of  wine  can  furely  do  nobody  any  harm," 
fays  a  fourth.  Thus  it  is,  people  are  cheated  out  of  their  lives 
by  the  low  ignorhnt  tribe  of  nyrfes, 

the 


343 

the  dlftemper,  becaufe  perfons  were  more  remifs 
in  their  provifions  againft  it  during  fuch  fluc- 
tuation. 

.  As  foon  as  the  nature  of  the  difeafe  was  tho- 
roughly known,  40,000  fervants  were  difmifled, 
and  turned  into  the  ftreets  to  perifli,  for  no  one 
would  receive  them  into  their  houfes  ;  and  the 
villagers  near  London  drove  them  away  with 
pitch-forks  and  fire-arms. 

Sir  John  Lawrence,  "  London's  generous 
mayor,"  fupported  them  all,  as  well  as  the  needy 
who  were  fick,  at  firft  by  expending  his  own  for- 
tune, till  fubfcriptions  could  be  folicited  and  re- 
ceived from  all  parts  of  the  nation. 

HE 

Rais'd  the  weak  head,  and  ftay'd  the  parting 
figh. 

Or  with  new  life  relum'd  the  fwimming  eye. 

DR.  DARW.IN. 

Yet  after  the  chief  of  the  people  were  fled, 
and  thereby  the  nouriftiment  of  this  cruel  enemy 
had  been  in  a  great  meafure  taken  away,  yet  it 
raged  ftill ;  and  it  foon  returned  with  redoubled 
fury,  and  killed  not  by  flow  paces,  but  almofl: 
immediately  upon  feizure  ;  not  unlike  what  is 
often  feen  in  battle,  when,  after  fome  fkirmiflies 
of  wings,  and  feparate  parties,  the  main  bodies 
come  to  engage ;  fo  did  this  contagion  at  firft 
only  fcatter  about  its  arrows,  but  at  laft  cover  the 
whole  city  with  death. 

The 


344 

The  government,  however,  to  the  duty  of  pub- 
lic prayers,  negleded  not  to  add  what  afiTiftances 
might  be  had  from  medicine ;  to  which  purpofe 
his  majefty,  with  the  divine  helps,  called  in  alfo 
all  that  was  human ;  and,  by  his  royal  authority, 
commanded  the  college  of  phyficians,  of  London, 
jointly,  to  write  fome  what  inEnglifh  that  might  be  a 
general  directory  in  this  calamitous  exigence.  Nor 
was  it  fatisfaftory  to  that  honoured  fociety  to  di(- 
charge  their  regards  for  the  public  with  that  only, 
but  fome  were  chofen  out  of  their  number,  and 
appointed  particularly  to  attend  the  infe£led  on 
all  occafions  :  two  alfo  out  of  the  court  of  alder- 
men were  required  to  fee  this  hazardous  tafk 
executed  ;  fo  that  encouraged  with  all  proper 
means,  this  province  was  cheerfully  undertaken, 
and  all  poflible  caution  was  ufed  fully  to  anfwer 
the  intention.  But  this  talk  ^yas  too  much  for 
four  perfons,  and  wanted  rather  the  concurrence 
of  the  whole  faculty:  thcfe  were  |ioweyer  afliamed 
to  give  it  up,  and  ufed  our  utmpft  application 
therein  ;  but  all  their  care  and  pains  were  eluded, 
for  the  difeafe,  like  the  Hydra's  heads,  was  no 
fponer  extinguKhed  in  one  family,  but  it  broke 
Qut  in  many  mprp  with  aggrjivations ;  fo  that  in 
a  little  time  they  found  their  talk  too  great,  and 
finally  defpaired  of  putting  an  entire  flop  to  the, 
infe^liqn. 

In  the  months  of  Augufl:  and  September  the 
contagion  changed  its  former  flow  and  languid 

pace, 


345 

pace,  and  having  as  it  were  got  mafler  of  all, 
made  a  mofl:  terrible  {laughter,  fo  that  tliree,  fow\ 
or  five  tJiouJand^  died  in  a  week,  and  once  eight 
ihoufand,  Wh.Q  ,cau  exprefs  the  calamities  of  fuch 
times  ?  In  fomc  houfes  carcafes  lay  waiting  foj: 
burial,  and,  in  others,  perfons  in  their  laft  ago- 
nies j  in  one  rpom  might  be  heard  dying  groans, 
in  another  the  ravings  of  a  delirium,  and  nof  far 
off  relations  and  friends  bewailing  both  their  lofs, 
gnd  the  difmal  prpfpeft  of  their  own  fudderji  de- 
parture :  death  was  the  fure  midwife  to  all  chil- 
dren, and  infants  paffed  immediately  from  the 
womb  to  the  grave  ;  who  would  not  burft  with 
grief,  to  fee  the  ftock  for  a  future  genera- 
'tion  hang  upon  the  breafi:  of  a  dead  mother  ? 
or  the  marriage-bed  changed  the  firft  night  into 
a  fepulchre,  and  the  unhappy  pair  meet  with 
death  in  their  firft  embraces  ?  Some  of  the  im 
fefted  run  about  ftaggering  like  drunken  men, 
and  fall  and  expire  in  the  ftreets ;  while  other^ 
lie  half-dead  and  comatous,  but  never  to  be 
waked  but  by  the  Jaft  trumpet ;  fpme  lie  vqmit- 
ing,  as  if  they  had  drunk  poifon  j  and  others  felj 
dead  in  the  market,  while  they  are  buying  rjeccf- 
faries  for  the  fupport  of  life. 

A  pit,  40  feet  long,  |6  feet  wide,  and  ^bout 
20  feet  deep,  was  dug  in  the  Charter-house  ; 
and  in  two  weeks  it  received  1,114  bodies. 

During  this  dreadful  calamity  there  were  in- 
fiances  of  mothers  carrying  their  own  children  to 

thof? 


34^ 

thofe  pul)lic  graves,  and  of  people  delirious,  or 
in  defpair  for  the  lofs  of  their  friends,  who  threw 
ikemf elves  alive  into  thefe  pits. 

One  fmiling  boy,  her  lafl:  fweet  hope,  (he 
warm'd, 

Hufli'd  oii  her  bofom,  circled  in  her  arms. 
Daughter  of  woe ! — ere  morn,  in  vain  carefs'd. 
Clung  the  cold  babe  upon  thy  milklefs  breafi-. 
With  feeble  cries  thy  laji  fad  aid  required, 
Stretch'd  its  ftifF  limbs,  and  on  thy  lap  ex- 
pired I 


Long  with  wide  eye-lids  on  her  child  flie 
gazed. 

And  long  to  heaven  their  tearlefs  orbs  flie 
raifed  ; 

Then  with  quick  foot  and  throbbing  heart 
flie  found 

Where  Chartreuse  open'd  deep  his  holy 
ground  ; 

Bore  her  laft  treafure  through  the  midnight 
gloom, 

"And  kneeling  dropp'd  it  in  the  mighty  tomb  ; 
/ follow  next  !  the  frantic  mourner  faid. 
And  living  plung'd  amid  the  feftering  dead. 

DR.  DARWIN. 

About  the  beginning  of  September  the  difeafe 
was  at  the  height,  in  the  courfe  of  which  month 

more 


/'ii/j/i.r/i/i/  Ay  Cox  ,/aii.  i./yt^() . 


347 

more  than  twelve  thoufand  died  in  a  week :  but  at 
length,  that  nothing  might  go  untried  to  divert 
the  contagion,  it  was  ordered  by  the  governors, 
who  were  left  to  fuperintend  thofe  calamitous 
affairs,  (for  the  Court  was  then  removed  to  Ox- 
ford) to  burn  fires  in  the  Hreets  for  three  days 
together  j  yet  while  '  this  was  in  debate,  the 
phylicians  concerned  were  diffident  of  the  fuc- 
cefs,  as  the  air  in  itfelf  was  un-infe61:ed,  and 
therefore  rendered  fuch  a  Ihowy  and  expenfive 
a  project  fuperliuous,  and  of  no  effect  and  thefe 
conjectures  were  fupported  by  the  authority  of 
antiquity,  and  Hippocrates  himfelf ;  notwithftand- 
ing  which,  the  fires  were  kindled  in  all  the 
ftreets.  But,  alas  1  the  controverfy  was  foon  de- 
cided ;  the  moft  fatal  night  enfued,  wherein 
more  than  four  thoufand  expired.  May  poflerity 
by. this  miftake  be  warned,  and  not,  like  empy- 
ricks,  apply  a  coflly  remedy  where  they  are  igno- 
rant of  the  effeft. 

In  this  account  we  fhould  not  negleft  to  men- 
tion, that  the  contagion  fpread  its  cruelties  into 
the  neighbouring  counties ;  for  the  citizens,  which 
crowded  in  multitudes  into  the  adjacent  towns, 
carried  the  infeElmi  along  with  them,  where  it 
raged  with  equal  fury;  fo  that  the  plague,  which  at 
firft  crept  from  one  flreet  to  another,  now  reigned 
over  whole  counties,  leaving  hardly  any  place 
free  from  its  ravage;  and  the  towns  upon  the 

Thames 


348 

Thames  were  more  fcvcrely  handled,  i#)t,  per- 
haps, from  a  great  moiftiirc  in  the  air  from 
thence,  but  from  the  tainted  goods  rather  that 
were  carried  upon  it :  moreover,  fome  cities  and 
towns,  of  the  moft  advantageous  fituation  for  a 
wholefome  air,  did  notwithftanding  feel  the  com- 
mon ruin.  Such  was  the  rife,  and  fuch  the  pro- 
grefs  of  this  cruel  deflroyer,  which  firft  began  at 
London.  But  the  worft  part  of  the  year  being 
over,  and  the  height  of  the  difeafe,  the  Plague  by 
flow  degrees  decHned,  as  it  had  gradually  made 
its  firft  advances. 

About  the  clofe  of  the  year,  that  is,  in  the 
beginning  of  November,  people  grew  more 
healthful,  and  fuch  a  different  face  was  put  upon 
the  public,  that  although  the  funerals  were  yet 
frequent,  yet  many  who  had  made  moft  hafte  in 
retiring,  made  the  moft  to  return,  and  came  into 
the  city  without  fear  ;  infomuch,  that  in  Decem- 
ber they  crowded  back  nearly  as  thick  as  they 
Red  :  the  houfes,  which  before  were  full,  of  the 
dead,  were  now  again  inhabited  by  the  living ; 
and  the  fliops,  which  had  been  moft  part  of  the 
year  fhut  up,  were  again  opened,  and  the  people 
again  cheerfully  went  about  their  wonted  affair^ 
of  trade  and  employ. 


A  TABLE 


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349 

Hiftories  of  the  Plague,  exhibiting  the  modifi- 
cations it  undergoes  in  different  climates,  mufl  at 
all  times  and  in  all  places  be  acceptable,  if  not  to 
the  public  at  large,  at  leaft  to  that  clafs  of  per- 
fons  who  make  the  art  of  medicine  their  particu- 
lar iludy  and  employ  :  and,  to  a  country  lituated 
like  our  own,  hiflories  of  this  terrible  diforder 
occurring  but  lately  in  the  northern  parts  of  Europe , 
are  more  particularly  interefting,  by  holding  up 
to  our  view  a  picture  of  what  it  probably  would 
be,  whenever  it  ihould  vifit  us  again,  even  at  the 
prefent  time.  Such  a  pifture  is  prefented  to  us 
in  the  hiflory  of  the  Plague  which  depopulated 
Mofcow,  and  other  parts  of  the  Ruflian  empire, 
in  the  year  1771,  which  will  form  the  fubjett 
of  the  following  pages.  What,  at  the  prefent 
time,  mufl  give  a  greater  degree  of  interefl  to 
fach  a  fubjeft,  is  the  danger  to  which  we  are  ex- 
pofed  of  importing  the  peftilential  contagion 
from  America  *  on  the  one  hand,  and  from  Tur- 
key and  the  Levant  on  the  other :  for,  although 
the  cold  has,  happily,  fuppreffed  for  the  prefent 
the  peftilence  which  has  been  committing  fuch 

"  Whatever  doubts  might  have  been  entertained,  as  to  the 
real  nature  of  the  yellow  fever,  on  Its  firfl  appearance  in  North 
America,  I  believe  almoft  all  phyficians  are  now  agreed  that  it 
is  the  plague^  with  fuch  modifications  as  are  eafily  referable  to 
difference  of  climate  and  different  mode  of  living.  But  whe- 
ther it  is,  as  the  French  wifhed  to  fay  of  the  plague  of  Marfeilles, 
z  fievre /lutriJe  only,  or  the  true  plague,  is  immaterial,  if  it  is 
proved  to  be  fat;U  and  infeftious. 

<3readful 


350 

tlreadful  ravages  at  Philadelphia  *  and  New  York  5 
yet -it  is  to  be  feared  that  it  may  be  retained  in 
many  boufes,  and  lie  dormant  in  various  goods, 
ready  to  break  out  again,  whenever  it  lliall  be 
favoured  by  the  weather  :  and  no  one  who  is  ac- 
qoaainted  with  the  nature  of  that  contagion  can 
deny  tJ^e  pGfffibillty  of  its  importation  from  Ame- 
'lfiba  irtt6  this  country,  either  now  or  hereafter* 
by  infe£led  perfons,  or  infected  merchandize.  On 
the  other  hand,  are  we  not  threatened  with  a  fimilar 
danger  from  the  Eaft  ?  In  executing  the  hoflile 
operations  which  are  going  forwards  in  the  Medi- 
terranean and  in  Egypt,  it  fecms  fcarcely  poffible 
for  our  fleets  and  armies  to  keep  quite  clear  of 
contagion.  No  nation  was  ever  long  engaged  in  a 
war  w^th  the  Turks,  without  taking  the  P /ague. 
Ill  this  refpeft  they-  are  as  much  to  be  dreaded 
by  their  friends  as  their  foes.  If,  in  the  prefent 
conteft,  Italy,  and  France,  and  England,  lliall 
efcape  this  fcourge,  it  will  form  an  exception  to 
pall  events,  which  all  Europe  muft  devoutly 
pray  for. 

In  the  year  1769  war  was  declared  by  the  Ruf- 
fians againft  the  Turks.  Added  to  the  miferies 
of  war,  the  plague  followed  the  devaftations  of 
fire  and  the  fword  ;  and  more  periflied  by  it  in 

*  The  hiftory  of  one  attack  has  been  given  ;  and  iinlefs  it 
had  fwelled  out  the  work  too  much,  the  raging  of  the  fame 
Plague  this  laft  fummer  would  have  again  arrefted  our  attention, 
za,d  excited  our  commiferations. 

a  few 


35i 

a  few  months,  than  by  the  arm  of  the  murderer- 
Soon  after  the  inroads  of  the  Turks  into  Wallachia 
and  Moldavia,  the  Plague  fliowed  itfelf,  where  it 
made  dreadful  ravages.  The  following  fummer  it 
extended  itfelf  into  Poland,  and  a  multitude  died; 
It  then  paffed  to  Kiovv,  where  it  deftroyed  4,000 
fouiilis.  All  communication  betwixt  this,  place  and 
the  city  of  Molcow  was  cut  off,  and  guards  were 
ftationed  on  fall  the  great  roads ;  but  vigilance 
was 'of  no  avail,':  ■''■■i.if     .  .:. 

Soldiers,  who  ha)d;~tl5ebn'c0rit-efiii3j'"ng  with  the 
Turks,  were  obliged  to  be  receiTed  into  the 
rniiitary  hofpital  at  Mofcow ;  and  here  the 
Plague  broke  out  with  all  its  dreadful  reti- 
nue: Thofe  who  were  feized  with  this  direful 
diftemper  at  firft  complain  of  a  general  fenfe 
of  illnefs.  Sometimes  they  exhibit  marks  of  iti*-' 
toxication  or  drowfmefs.  They  have  a  particular 
tafte  in  their  mouths,  which  foon  turns  to  a  bittef  j 
To  thefe  fucceed  chilly  and  hot  -its^  and,  laftjy^ 
.  all  the  fymptoms  which  charafterize  the  plagu^< 
The  difeafe  fometimes  terminates  favourably  by 
perfpiration,  before  the  appearance  of  purple, 
fpotsy  ^buboeis,  oV  carbuncles.  <  Thie  contagion  ji^i- 
fometimes  •' more  rapid -and  wore  violent  in  its 
afliori  ;'  irl  -that  cafe  ■the  infeftfed-  -atfe  fuddenly- 
feized  after  making  a  hearty  meal,-  after  a  fit  of 
anger,  or  too  much  bodily  motion,  with  head- 
ach,  naufea,  and  vdmit'ing  ;  'tHe'e)''es* 'become  in- 
flamed  and  watery  (lachrymans)  ^  and  pains  are 

felt 


352 

felt  in  thofe  parts  of  the  body  where  buboes  and 
carbuncles  arc  about  to  appear.  There  is  no 
great  degree  of  heat;  The  pulfe  is  fomctimes 
full  and  hard  ;  fomctimes  fmall,  foft,  and  fcarcely 
perceptible  ;  it  often  intermits  j  and,  what  fliould 
be  particularly  noticed,  it  is  often  feeble;  Thefc 
fymptoms  are  accompanied  with  laffitude,  a  white 
tongucj  dry  ikin,  urine  of  a  pale  yellow  colour, 
or  turbid,  but  without  fediment ;  frequently  at- 
tended with  a  diarrhoea,  which  it  is  difficult  to 
flop  5  and  laftly,  with  delirium,  buboes,  carbun- 
cles, and  petechiie*; 

The  military  furgeon  firft  fell  a  vidlimj  and  each 
iiurfe  in  turn,  until  all  of  them,  to  the  number  of 
eleven,  periflied ;  nor  did  it  ceafe  until  twenty- 
four  pcrfons  had  been  feized  with  it,  only  two  of 
whom  recovered. 

•  The  houfe,  with  all  its  furniture,  was  ordered 
to  be  burnt,  which  was  accompliflicd  j  the  dead 
were  burled  at  a  diftance  from  the  city :  but 
this  proved  of  flight  avail,  it  broke  out  afrefli ; 
and  what  added  to  the  contagion  was  a  riot  of  the 
populace,  which  began  on  the  15th  of  September, 
late  in  the  evening,  when  a  frantic  mob,  chiefly 
compofed  of  women,  broke  open  the  pefl-houfes 
and  quarantinC'hofpitals,  renewing  all  the  reli- 
gious ceremonies  which  it  is  cuftomary  with  them 

*  This  defcription  is  from  Baron  Arch,  firft  phyficii^n  to  the 
Ruffian  army.  // 

to 


353 

to  perform  at  the  bed-fide  of  the  fick*;,  and  dig* 
ging  up  the  dead  bodies,  and  burying  them  afrefli 
in  the  city.  Agreeably  to  their  ancient  cuftom,  the 
people  began  again  to  embrace  the  dead,  defpifing 
all  manner  of  precaution,  which  they  declared  to 
be  of  no  avail,  "  as  the  public  calamity  "  (I  repeat 
their  own  words)  "  was  fent  by  God,  to  punifli 
"  them  for  having  neglefted  their  ancient  forms 
"  of  worfliip."   They  further  infifted,  that  as  it 
was  pre-ordained  who  fliould  and  who  fliould  not 
die,  they  muft  await  their  deftiny ;  therefore,  that 
all  endeavours  to  avoid  the  contagion  were  only 
a  trouble  to  themfelves,  and  an  infult  to  the  Di- 
vinity, whofe  wrath  was  only  to  be  appeafed  by 
their  refufmg  all  human  afliftance.    In  their  pa- 
roxyfm  of  phrenfy,  the  populace  attempted  to 
wreak  their  vengeance  upon  thofe  who  had  la- 
boured for  their  prefervation.   After  they  had 
facrificed  one  vi£iim  to  their  blind  rage,  they 
fought  for  the  other  phylicians  and  furgeons ; 
all  of  whom  happily  efcaped.    General  Yerop- 
kin,  with  a  fmall  party  of  foldiers,  drawn  toge- 
ther as  fpeedily  as  poffible,  difperfed  the  mob, 
and  reftored  tranquillity  in  a  few  days,  after  which 
every  thing  was  placed  on  its  former  footing. 

*  Befides  praying  by  them  hi  the  ordinary  manner,  it  is 
(cuftomary,  in  Ruflia,  to  carry  in  great  pomp  to  the  fick  the 
images  of  their  faints,  which  every  perfon  prefent  kifTes  in  ro^ 
tation. 

Vol.  IV.  A  a  This 


354  'I 

This  vaft  concourfe  and  intermixture  of  the  j 

healthy  and  infected,  caufed  the  contagion  to  t 

fpread  to  fuch  a  degree,  that  from  this  time  the  \ 

daily  number  of  deaths  amounted  to  one  thoufand  ' 

two  hundred,  and  upwards,  per  diem  !    The  J 

number  of  deaths  kept  at  this  rate  for  fome  \ 

days,  and  then  diminiOied  to  one  thoufand.   As  i 

the  populace,   during  the  riots,  had  re-efta-  j 

bliflied  all  the  religious  ceremonies  cuftomary  i 

on  burying  the  dead,  almoft  all  their  priefls,  j 
deacons,  and  other  ecclefiaftics,  fell  victims  to  the 

contagion.  j 

The  people,  brought  to  a  fenfe  of  their  duty,  j 

partly  by  the  rigorous  meafures  employed  againft  j 

them,  and  partly  by  feeing  that  the  public  cala-  i 

mity  had  been  aggravated  by  their  diforderly  | 

proceedings,  now  began  to  implore  our  medical  j 

afliftance.  The  monafteries  and  other  peft-houfes  j 

were  full ;  the  fick  were  no  longer  carried  thither;  I 

the  contagion  had  fpread  every  where ;  infomuch  i 

that  the  city  itfelf  might  be  confidered  as  one  \ 
entire  hofpital. 

At  this  time  Prince  Orlow  arrived  at  Mofcow,  ■ 
inverted  with  full  powers  by  the  emprefs.  Hav- 
ing taken  the  neceHary  fteps  to  prevent  all  fur-  j 
ther  popular  commotions,  the  Count  felected,  j 
from  all  our  papers,  what  appeared  of  moft  mo-  \ 
ment,  and  drew  up  a  fet  of  regulations,  as  well  j 
for  the  treatment  of  the  fick,  as  for  the  keeping  ; 

of  I 


355 

of  thofe  who  were  yet  well  free  from  infc£tionv 
He  alfo  ordered  new  hofpitals  to  be  immediately 
built  for  the  reception  of  the  poor  feized  with 
the  Plague  *. 

The  weather  was  intenfely  cold  during  the 
whole  of  the  winter.  In  order  to  deftroy  all  re- 
mains of  the  contagion,  the  doors  and  windows 
of  the  rooms,  in  which  there  had  been  ajiy  per- 
fons  ill  of  the  Plague,  were  broken,  and  the 
rooms  were  fumigated  with  the  antipeftilential 
powder  f ;  the  old  wooden  houfes  were  entirely 
demoliflied. 

At  the  clofe  of  the  year  1771,  this  dreadful 
fcourge  ceafed,  by  the  bleffing  of  God,  at  Mof- 
cow,  and  in  every  other  part  of  the  Ruffian  em- 
pire. Befides  the  three  towns  before-mentioned, 
upwards  of  four  hundred  villages  had  been  in- 
fe6ted. 

The  effefts  of  the  Plague  were  traced  in  every 
part  of  the  city,  Even  as  late  as  the  month  of 
February,  1772,  upwards  of  four  hundred  dead 
bodies  were  difcovered,  which  had  been  fecretly 
buried  the  year  before  in  private  houfes,  So 

*  In  Ruffia  it  is  no  uncommon  thing  to  have  a  large  edi- 
fice built  of  wood  in  a  few  days,  See  Coxe's  Travels.  To 
perfons  unacquainted  with  this  faft,  the  ere£ling  of  new  hof- 
pitals might  feem  a  very  tardy  meafyre  for  checking  the  pro* 
grefs  of  the  plague. 

f  Vide  the  next  fe£tion,  On  Prevention. 

A  a  2  powerful 


356 


powerful  is  cold  in  deftroying  the  contagion^ 
that  not  one  of  thofe  who  were  employed  in 
digging  up  thefe  bodies,  and  carrying  them  to 
the  public  burying-grounds,  became  infedted  *. 

The  total  number  of  perfons  carried  off  by  the 
Plague  amourited,  according  to  the  reports  tranf- 
mitted  to  the  Senate  and  Council  of  Health,  to 
upwards  of  70,000;  more  than  23,000  of  this 
number  of  deaths  happened  in  the  month  of  Sep- 
tember alone.  If  we  add  to  thefe  the  private 
and  clandeftine  interments  f ,  the  whole  number 

;,*  For  carrying  away  and  burying  the  dead,  criminals  capi- 
tally convifted  or  condemned  to  hard  labour,  were  at  firft  em- 
ployed ;  but  afterwards,  when  thefe  were  not  fufficient  for  the 
purpofe,  the  poor  were  hired  to  perform  this  fervice.  Each  was 
provided  with  a  cloak,  gloves,  and  a  ma(k,  made  of  oiled  cloth  ; 
and  they  were  cautioned  never  to  touch  a  dead  body  with 
their  bare  hands.  But  they' would  not  attend  to  thefe  precau- 
tions, believing  it  to  be  impoffible  to  be  hurt  by  merely  touch- 
ing the  bodies  or  clothes  of  the  dead,  and  attributing  the  ef- 
fe£ls  of  the  contagion  to  an  inevitable  deftiny.  We  loft  before 
this  time  thoufands  of  thefe  people,  fays  Dr.  De  Mertens,  who 
feldonri  remained  well  beyond  a  week.  I  was  informed  by 
the  Infpeftors  of  Health,  that  moft  of  them  fell  ill  about  th« 
fourth  or  fifth  day. 

f  The  number  of  thefe  was  by  no  means  inconfiderable ; 
for  during  the  height  of  the  Plague,  there  was  fcarcely  a 
fufficient  number  of  men,  horfcs,  and  carts,  to  carry  off 
thfe  dead ;  many  remained  uninterred  for  two  or  three  daySj 
and  were  at  length  taken  awav  by  their  relations,  friends, 
or  poor  people  hired  for  that  purpofe.  Many  of  thefe 
could  not  be  regiftered,  befides  numbers  of  other*  who 
were  buried  in  fecret,  and  wliofe  iUiiefs  was  never  reported 
to  the  fenate. 

of 


357 

of  deaths  in  Mofcow  will  amount  to  80,000 : 
and  reckoning  thofe  who  died  in  upwards  of  four 
hundred  villages,  and  in  the  three  towns  of  Tula, 
Yaroflaw,  and  Kalomna  (or  Kaluga),  it  will  fol- 
low that  this  Plague  fwept  off  altogether  as  many 
as  100,000  perfons  ! 


SECT. 


358 


i>ECT.  L. 

OF  PERSONS  MOST  LIABLE  TO  TAKE  INFECTION. 

Many  in  the  times  of  contagion  have  recom- 
mended high^  others  low  living  i  but  both  as  pro- 
ducing debility — the  former  of  the  direEl,  the  other 
of  the /W/>r(5Z  kind,  have  been  blind  leaders  of 
the  blind  :  for  the  conftitutions  moft  liable  to  be 
afted  upon,  are  thofe  where  debility  prevails. 
Hence,  according  to  the  accurate  obfervations  of 
of  Dr.  Rufh,  the  yellow  fever  invaded  chiefly 
thofe  where  there  had  been — 

1.  Fatigue  of  body,   induced  by   labour,  by 
walking,  riding,  watching,  or  the  like  exercifcv. 
It  was  labour  which  excited  the  difeafe  fo  uni- 
verfally  among  the  lower  clafs  of  people.  A  long 
walk  often  induced  it.   Few  efcapcd  it  after  a 
day,  or  even  a  few  hours  fpent  in  gunning. 
A  hard  trotting  horfe  brought  it  on  two  of  my 
patients.   Perhaps,  riding  on  horfeback,  and  in 
the  fun,  was  the  exciting  caufe  of  the  difeafe  in 
moft  of  the  citizens  and  ftf-angers  who  were  af- 
fe£ted  by  it  in  their  flight  from  the  city.    A  fall 
excited  it  in  a  girl ;  and  a  ftroke  upon  the  head 
excited  it  in  a  young  man  who  came  under  my 
care.  Many  people  were  feized  with  the  diforder 
in  confequence  of  their  exertions  on  the  night  of 

the 


359 

the  7th  of  September,  in  extinguifliing  the  fire 
which  confumed  Mr.  Dobfon's  printing-office; 
and  even  the  lefs  violent  exercife  of  working  the 
fire  engines,  for  the  purpofe  of  laying  the  duft  in 
the  ftreets,  added  frequently  to  the  number  of 
the  fick. 

2.  Heat,  from  every  caufe,  but  more  efpecially 
the  heat  of  the  fun,  Vi'as  a  very  common  exciting 
caufe  of  the  diforder.  It  aided  the  ftimulus  of 
the  contagion  in  bringing  on  indireft  debility. 
The  regifter  of  the  weather,  during  the  latter  end 
of  Auguft,  the  whole  of  September,  and  the  firft 
two  wrecks  in  0£lober,  vi^ill  fhew  how  much  the 
heat  of  the  fun  muft  have  contributed  to  ex- 
cite the  difeafe,  more  efpecially  among  labouring 
people.  The  heat  of  common  fires  likewife  be- 
came a  frequent  caufe  of  the  activity  of  the  con- 
tagion, where  it  had  been  received  into  the  body ; 
hence  the  greater  mortality  of  the  difeafe  among 
bakers,  blackfmiths,  and  hatters,  than  among  any 
other  clafs  of  people. 

3.  Intemperance  in  eating  or  drinking.  A  plen- 
tiful meal,  and  a  few  extra-glalTes  of  wine,  fel- 
dom  failed  of  exciting  the  fever.  But  where  the 
body  was  ftrongly  impregnated  with  the  conta- 
gion, even  the  fmalleft  deviation  from  the  cuf- 
tomary  ftimulus  of  diet,  in  refpeft  to  quahty 
or  quantity,  roufed  the  contagion  into  aftion. 
A  meat  fupper  in  one,  and  eating  oyfters  for 
fupper  in  another  of  my  patients,  produced  the 

difeafe^^ 


36  o 

difcare.  Half  an  ounce  of  meat  rendered  tlic 
contagion  a6Hve  in  a  lady  who  had  lived,  by  my 
advice,  for  two  weeks  upon  milk  and  vegetables. 
A  fupper  of  falad,  dreffed  after  the  French 
fefliion,  excited  it  in  one  of  Dr.  Mcafe's  patients. 
It  is  beeaufe  men  are  more  predifpofed  by  their 
conftitution  and  employments  to  indirect  debility 
than  women,  and  that  young  and  middle  aged 
perfon&  are  more  predifpofed  to  this  fpecies  of 
debility  than  old  people,  that  more  men  than 
tvomen,  and  more  young  than  old  people,  were 
affected  by  the  diforder. 

There  were  feveral  exciting  eaufes  of  the  di- 
feafe,  which  a6l£d  by  inducing  ciired  debility 
upon  the  fyftem.  It  may  appear  difficult,  at  firlt 
figlit,  to  explain  how  caufes  fo  oppofite  in  their 
nature,  as  indireSl  and  direSl  debility,  fliould  pro- 
duce exaftly  the  fame  cfFe61.  The  difficulty  va- 
nifhes  when  we  reflect  that  the  abfrraciion  of  one 
flimulus,  by  accumulating  the  excitability  of  the 
fyftem,  increafes  the  force  of  thofe  which  remain. 
The  contagion.  When  received,  into  the  body, 
was  frequently  innocent,  until  it  was  aided  by  the 
addition  of  a  new,  or  by  the  abftra(SliGn  of  a  cuf- 
kiraary  ftimulus.  The  caufes  which  afted  in  this 
wav  were — 

1.  Fear.  This- paffion  debilitates,  only  beeaufe 
k  abftra£ts  its  antagonift  paffion, of  courage.  In^ 
many  people  the  difeafc  was  excited  by  a  fudden 
paroxyfm  of  .  fear  i  but  I  faw  fome  remarkable 

inftances 


S6i 

inrtanccs  where  timid  people  efcaped  the  difealc, 
although  they  were  conftantly  expofed  to  it. 
Perhaps  a  moderate  degree  of  fear*  ferved  to  ba- 
lance the  tendency  of  the  fyftcm  to  Indireft  de- 
bility from  the  exceffive  ftimulus  of  the  conta- 
gion, and  thereby,  to  preferve  it  in  a  Hate  of 
healthy  equilibrimn.  I  am  certain  that  moderate 
fear  did  no  harm,  after  the  difeafe  was  formed,  in 
thofe  cafes  where  a  morbid  excefs  of  a6lion,  or 
proftration  of  the  moving  powers  from  excefs  of 
ftimulus,  bad  taken  place.  It.  was  an  early  dif- 
covery  of  this  faft  which  led  me  not  to  conceal 
from  my  patients  the  true  name  of  this  fever, 
when  I  was  called  to  them  on  the  day  of  their 
being  attacked  by  it.  The  fear  greatly  co-operated 
with  fome  of  my  remedies  in  reducing  the  morbid 
excitement  of  the  arterial  fyftem.  A  total  abfence 
of.  fear,  however,  in  many  cafes  that  came  under 
my  notice,  did  not  prevent  an  attack  of  the 
fever. 

2.  Grief.  It  was  remarkable,  that  the  greateft 
concentration  of  the  contagion  did  not  produce 
the  difeafe  in  many  inftances  in  the  attendants 
upon  the  iick,  while  there  was  a  hope  of  their 
recovery.  The  grief  which  followed  the  ex- 
tinftion  of  hope,  by  death,  frequently  produced 
the  difeafe  within  a  day  or  two  afterwards  5  and 
that  not  in  one  perfon  only,  but  often  in  moft  of 
the  near  relations  of  the  deceafed.  But  the  di- 
feafe was  alfo  produced  by  a  change  in  the  ftate 

of 


362 

of  the  mind  directly  oppolite  to  that  which  has 
been  mentioned.  Many  perfons,  that  attended 
patients  who  recovered,  were  feized  with  the 
diforder  a  day  or  two  after  they  were  relieved 
from  the  toils  and  anxiety  of  nurfing.  The  col- 
lapfe  of  the  mind  from  the  abftraftion  of  the 
flimulus  of  hope  and  defire,  by  their  ample  grati- 
fication, probably  produced  that  debility  and  lofs 
of  the  equilibrium  in  the  fyftem,  which  favoured 
the'a£livity  of  the  contagion. 

The  effefls  of  both  the  dates  of  mind  which 
have  been  defcribed  have  been  happily  illuftrated 
by  two  fa61s  which  are  recorded  by  Dr.  Jackfon*. 
He  tells  us  that  the  garrifons  of  Savannah  and 
York  Town  were  both  healthy  during  the  fiege 
of  thofe  towns;  but  that  the  former  became 
fickly  as  foon  as  the  French  and  American  armies 
retreated  from  before  it,  and  the  latter  immedi- 
ately after  its  capitulation. 

3.  Cold.  It  will  not  be  neceffary  to  paufe 
here,  to  prove  that  cold  is  a  negative  quality,  and 
produced  only  by  the  abfence  of  heat.  Its  aftion 
in  exciting  the  difeafe  depended  upon  the  dimi- 
nution of  the  nece{fary  and  natural  heat  of  the 
body,  and  thereby  fo  far  deftroying  the  equili- 
brium of  the  fyftem,  as  to  enable  the  contagion 
to  produce  excellive  or  convulfive  motions  in  the 
blood  velTels.  The  night  air,  even  in  the  warm 

*  Treatife  on  the  Fevers  of  Jamaica,  page  298. 

month 


3^3 

month  of  September,  was  often  fo  cool,  as  to  ex- 
cite the  difeafe  where  the  drefs  and  bed-cloaths 
were  not  accommodated  to  it  *.  It  was  excited  in 
one  cafe  by  a  perfon's  only  wetting  his  feet  in  the 
month  of  Oftober,  and  neglefting  afterwards  to 
change  his  flioes  and  (lockings.  Every  change  in 
the  weather,  that  was  fliort  of  producing  froft, 
evidently  increafed  the  number  of  fick  people. 
This  was  obvious  after  the  18  th  and  19th  of  Sep- 
tember, when  the  mercury  fell  to  44°  and  45''. 
The  hopes  of  the  city  received  k  fevere  difap- 
pointment  upon  this  occafion,  for  I  well  rccolleft 
there  was  a  general  expectation  that  this  change 
in  the  weather  would  have  checked  the  diforder. 
The  fame  increafe  of  the  number  of  fick  was  ob- 
ferved  to  follow  the  cool  weather  which  fucceeded 
the  6th  and  7th  of  Oftober,  on  which  days  the 
mercury  fell  to  43°  and  46°. 

It  was  obferved,  that  thofe  perfons  who  were 
habitually  expofed  to  the  cool  air  were  lefs  liable 
to  the  difeafe  than  others.  I  afcribe  it  to  the  ha- 
bitual impreffion  of  the  cool  night  air  upon  the 
bodies  of  the  city  watchmen,  that  only  four  or 

.  five  of  them,  out  of  twenty-five,  were  affected  by 

•diforder. 

*  Lind  frequently  remarks  in  his  work  on  the  Difeafes  of 
Warm  Climates,  that  perfons  who  had  quitted  their  fhips  and 
ftopt  on  ftiorc,  were  foon  after  attacked  with  fever :  whereas 
thofe  who  were  on  the  very  fame  infalubrious  fpot,  only 
during  the  day-time,  returned  back  uninjured. 

After 


3^4 

After  the  body  had  been  heated  by  violent  cx  - 
ercife,  a  breeze  of  cool  air  fornetimes  excited 
the  difeafc  in  thofc  cafes  where  there  had  been 
no  change  in  the  temperature  of  the  weather. 

4.  Sleep.  A  great  proportion  of  all  who  were 
afFe£led  by  this  fever  were  attacked  in  the  night. 
Sleep  induced  dire£l  debility,  and  thereby  dif- 

r  ■  ■ 

pofed  the  contagion,  which  floated  in  the  blood, 
t£>^  a£^,with  fuch  force  ypon  the  fyftem  as  to  de- 
ftroyj.its  equilibrium,  and  thus  to  excite  a  fever. 
The,  influence  of  fleep,  as  a  predifpofing  and  ex- 
citing canfe,  was  often  aJjTifted  by  the.  want  of 
bed-cloaths,  fu i ted, :tg.^^^,  midnight  or  morning 
i;;oolnf;fs  of  the  *ir*  ; . 

,5,  ,  Immoderate.  Evacuations.  The  eflicacy  of 
moderate  purging  and  bleeding,  in  preventing 
the  difeafe,  led  fome  people  to  ufe  thofe  reme- 
dies in  an  excefs,  vi'hich  both  predifpofed  to  the 
difeafe  and  excited  it.  The  morbid  effefts  of 
thefe  evacuations  were  much  aided  by  fear ;  for 
it  was  this  pallion  which  perverted  the  judgment 
in  fuch  a  manner,  as  to  lead  to  the  exceflive  ufe  of 
remedies,  which,  to  be  efFe£lual,  fliould  only  be 
ufed  in  moderate  quantities. 

Hence  is  the  necefllty,  in  times  of  contagion, 
of  a  knowledge,  and  careful  obfervance  of,  the 
laws  of  -the  animal  oeconomy*. 

■*  Thefe  have  been  before  amply  difcuffed  in  Vol.  I.  II. 
and  III. 


Befides 


3^5 

Befides  fumigation,  various  remedies  have  heeix 
recommended  as  prefervatives,  external  and  in- 
ternal. Of  the  firft  kind,  fome  are  to  be  carried 
in  the  hand,  or  worn  about  the  body,  or  other- 
wife  applied  externally.  Little  need  be  faid  of 
the  ingredients  of  which  the  fmall  bags,  balls, 
ointments,  or  amulets,  are  compofed,  as  they 
have  no  juft  claims  to  the  title  of  antidotes,  and 
are  for  the  moft  part  either  the  offspring  of  em- 
pirical craft,  or  are  mere  innocent  devices,  to 
give  confidence  to  thofe  under  the  neceflity  of 
approaching  the  fick.  In  this  laft  view,  fuch  as 
can  do  no  harru  may  be  admitted,  in  compliance 
with  popular  notions ;  but  amulets  of  poifonous 
or  doubtful  quality  fliould  be  admitted  with  more 
caution,  or  rejefted  *.  Some  of  the  perfumes  or- 
dered by  the  College,  are  perhaps  as  proper  as 
finy ;  but  their  forms  fhould  be  rendered  more 
fmiple,  excluding  coftly  ingredients,  or  fuch  as 
are  procured  with  difficulty.  No  difference,  per- 
haps, fhould  be  made  between  compofitions  of 
this  kind  intended  for  the  rich  or  the  poor;  the 
latter,  by  their  fituations  in  life,  {land  moft  ex- 
pofed,  and  fhould  not  have  their  confidence  in 
the  defenfative  lelTened,  by  the  refletlion  that 
their  poverty  mufl  deprive  them  of  the  mofl  effi- 
cacious. The  pomander  prefcribed  for  the  richer 

*  Muratori,  lib.  ii.  c.  p,  129.  See  alfo  a  Treatife  of  the 
plague  by  Thomas  Lodge,  M.  D.  Lohd.  1603. . 


366 


fort,  by  the  College,  contains  lignum  aloes  *, 
which  can  be  of  no  poflible  ufe  when  inclofed 
in  an  ivory  box,  bccaufe  it  emits  its  fcent  only 
when  much  heated  or  burning. 

Many  of  the  people  of  Aleppo  carry  a  little 
ball  of  labdanum  in  their  hands,  or  fmell  to  vi- 
negar in  which  rue  has  been  fteeped. 

As  to  •  internal  prefervatives,  the  number  of 
fimple,  recommended  under  the  title  of  antidotes, 
is  much  greater,  and  the  compound  forms  are 
in  general  moft  unjuftifiably  complex.  Medical 
books  are  filled  with  them,  and  fome  with  eulogies 
on  their  approved  efficacy.  The  reader  may  find  a 
copious  colle£tion  in  Muratori  f ,  upon  which  it 
is  needlefs  to  comment. 

The  College  at  London,  in  J  665,  made  fome 
alterations  on  the  head  of  Inward  Medicines, 
leaving  out  a  very  few  articles  of  the  old  forms, 
and  fubftituting  others  in  their  place,  fome  of 
which  do  not  appear  to  have  any  juft  claim  to 
fuperior  efficacy.  Among  the  principal  new 
compofitions  introduced,  are  fome  medicated  ales, 
diftilled  waters,  and  two  or  three  eleftuaries  ;  of 
all  which  the  ingredients  are  fuperfluoufly  multi- 
plied. Among  the  old  compofitions  retained,  is 
one  calculated  for  the  rich,  and  which  ftands  dif- 
graced  by  the  following  ingredientss — oriental 


\ 


*  Advice  of  the  Phyficians,  xii. 
f  Muratori,  lib.  ii.  c.  iii. 


bezoafj 


3^7 

bezoar,  pearl,  hyacinth  ftone,  unicorn's  horn,  and 
lignum  aloes  ;  the  proportion  of  the  laft  article 
being  about  three  grains  to  four  hundred  and  fifty 
of  the  other  ingredients. 

In  the  Epiftle,  dedicatory,  prefixed  to  the  ad- 
vice of  the  College  in  1665,  it  is  faid,  "  We 
"  have  been  tender  in  omitting  many  forms  and 
prefcripts,  which  by  reafon  of  the  plainnefs  and 
"  homelinefs  of  them  we  looked  upon  as  very 
"  obnoxious,  to  be  cenfured  and  vilified,  efpccially 
"  by  perfons  pretending  to  rare  preparations  and 
"  fecrets  ;  we  confidered  that  our  predecefTors 
"  (amongft  whom  were  then  the  mofl;  eminent 
"  phyficians  in  England,  and  fuch  as  had  expe- 
"  rience  of  plagues  in  their  times,  raging  to  a  far 
"  greater  height  than  through  God's  mercy  any 
hath  done  fince)  might  fee  juft  caufe,  upon  their 
experience  and  fuccefs  to  bring  them  in." 
But  it  is  to  be  hoped,  whenever  the  College 
come  to  revife  their  public  advice,  that  the  fame 
fcrupulous  delicacy  will  no  longer  reftrain  their 
corre£lions.  Indeed  the  fame  reafon  for  delicacy 
no  longer  exifts  ;  for  the  reigning  prejudices  in 
favour  of  names  and  authorities,  which  at  that 
time  rendered  a  cautious  refpeft  in  fome  degree 
neceffary,  have,  in  the  long  interval  which  Bri- 
tain has  providentially  enjoyed  free  from  the 
plague,  either  been  configned  to  oblivion,  or  re- 
tain little  of  their  former  influence  over  the  minds 
of  men. 

The 


368 

The  reformation  that  in  the  prefent  century 
has  taken  place  in  moft  of  the  European  difpen- 
fatories,  more  efpecially  in  Britain,  has  difencum- 
bered  the  Materia  Mediga  of  many  ufelefs  arti- 
cles s  and  the  later  improvements  in  pharmacy, 
joined  with  the  modern  more  fimple  mode  of 
prefcription,  have  prepared  the  way  for  high  im- 
provement in  medical  direftions  for  the  pre- 
vention and  cm-e  of  the  plague,  without  danger 
ot  offending  popular  opinions. 

It  feem.s  highly  expedient,  that  fome  compo- 
litions,  under  the  denomination  of  prefervatives, 
ihould  be  prepared,  with  the  fanclion  of  the  Col- 
lege, and  fold  at  eafy  rates.  Many  perfons  will 
never  think  themfelves  fecure  without  fomethin? 
of  that  kind,  and  where  they  cannot  find  an- 
tidotes regularly  recommended,  will  be  the  more 
eafily  tempted  to  have  recourfe  to  every  boafting 
impoftor  who  offers  his  noftrum :  of  which  num- 
bers, at  fuch  times,  are  always  ready  to  take  ad^ 
vantage  of  the  public  credulity  *, 

At  the  fame  time  it  muft  be  confeffed,  that 
prefervative  internal  remedies  do  not  appear  to 
be  neceffary  for  perfons  in  good  health ;  and, 
except  where  there  is  a  ftrong  prepoffeffion  in 
their  favour,  may  fafely  be  omitted.  A  tempe- 
rate eourfe  of  life,  and  temperate  indulgence  in 
cuftomary  liquors,  promife  every  advantage  that 

*  Hodges's  Loirpologia,  p,  21.  Journal  of  the  Plague  Year, 


can 


3^9 

can  be  expe£led  from  cordials  and  ftomachics. 
To  valetudinarians,  hypochondriacal  perfons,  and 
others  of  weak  nerves,  or  difturbed  digeftion, 
fomething  medicinal,  befides  wine,  may  perhaps 
become  requifite  for  the  bowels,  and  for  pre- 
ferving  a  conftant  and  lalutary  moifture  on  the 
furface  of  the  Ikin ;  but  inanition,  and  fudden 
changes  in  diet,  ought  to  be  avoided  ;  and  all 
evacuations  ought  in  general  to  be  profcribed, 
in  refpe£l  to  thofe  who  are  obliged  to  go  into  the 
way  of  infeftion. 

Terror,  defpondence,  and  other  debililating 
affeftions  of  the  mind,  have  been  univerfally  held 
of  mod  dangerous  tendency  in  times  of  peftilence. 
On  the  contrary,  a  regular  flow  of  fpirits,  a  tem- 
per not  given  to  anticipate  evils,  or,  when  they 
happen,  to  brood  over  them,  and  a  lively  hope 
of  efcaping  the  infe£l:ion,  are  confidered  as  the 
beft  fafeguards  againft  contagion*.  But  thefe 
are  not  in  the  power  of  medicine  to  beftow ; 
they  are  the  bleffings  of  natural  conftitution  j 
and,  where  wanting,  muft  be  fought  in  a  cheer- 
ful aflbciation  with  others  who  poflefs  them,  and 
by  engagements  that  divert  the  mind  from  the 
contemplation  of  melancholy  objefts. 

*  Muratori,  lib.  iii.  cap.  ii. 


Vol.  IV. 


SECT. 


37^ 


SECT  LI.  j 

OF  THE  LIMITED  SPHERE  OF  ACTION  OF  PUTRID  ! 

MIASMS.  j 

Having  eftabliflied  a  houfe  in  the  neighbour-  ] 
hood  of  this  city  (Lyons),  fays  Dr.  Ryan,  for  the  j 
reception  of  inoculated  patients,  many  people,  -j 
falfely  perfuaded  that  a  perfon  infected  by  a  ^ 
good  kind  of  fmall-pox  would  have  the  dif-  s 
temper  in  the  like  favourable  manner,  brought 
their  children  to  vifit  my  patients,  with  an  V 
intention  that  they  fliould  be  infected  by  a  /' 
communication  with  thofe  who  were  inoculated,  f  ■ 
After  many  unfuccefsful  attempts  to  convince 
thefe  people  of  their  error,  feeing  that  they  re- 
jefted  my  offers  to  inoculate  thefe  children,  and 
not  doubting,  in  fpite  of  my  arguments  and  ex- 
prefs  prohibition,  that  fooner  or  later  they  would 
feize  another,  and  perhaps  a  lefs  favourable  op- 
portunity, I  expofed  them  to  the  following  ex- 
periments, after  they  had  undergone  a  due  courfe 
of  preparation. 

I  placed  a  large  dolTil  of  cotton,  foaked  in  va- 
riolous matter,  on  the  middle  of  an  oval  table, 
whofe  leaft  diameter  was  three  feet :  I  feated  fix 
children  around  it,  three  on  each  fide  of  the  table, 
in  fuch  a  manner,  that  all  were  fituated  within 
half  a  yard  of  the  infe6tious  cotton.  This  expe- 
riment 


371 

rlment  was  fometlmes  made  in  the  open  dir, 
fometimes  in  the  houfe :  1  took  care  to  renew, 
every  fecond  day^  both  the  variolous  matter,  and 
the  fubftance  which  contained  it :  I  alternately 
ufed  the  poifon  taken  froni  the  inoculated,  and 
from  the  cafual  fm all-pox ;  and  I  copioufly  im- 
pregnated with  it  balls  of  cotton,  lint,  wool,  and 
filk.  This  operation,  repeated  during  a  whole 
week,  morning,  noon,  and  night,  for  an  hour  at; 
each  fitting,  produced  no  effeQ-. 

I  then  fent  away  the  children,  defirihg  the  pa- 
rents to  acquaint  me,  in  cafe  any  indifpofition 
appeared,  and  to  bring  them  to  me  a  fortnight 
afterwards,  although  no  alteration  fliould  have 
taken  place  in  their  health:  I  declare  that,  not 
only  for  that  term,  but  for  many  fuccedding 
months^  during  vphich  I  took  care  frequently  to 
vifit  them,  they  all  enjoyed  perfe6t  health.  It 
was  not  till  nine  months  after  this  time  that  four 
of  thefe  children  had  a  mild  kind  of  fmall-pox; 

Having  concluded  from  thefe  experiments,  that 
the  children  could  not  have  efcaped  infeflionj, 
but  becaufe  the  variolous  matter  might  have  loft 
that  fpring,  and  that  degree  of  energy,  which, 
perhaps,  it  may  poffefs  on  arifing  immediately 
from  the  human  body,  I  placed  a  perfon,  in  the 
eruptive  fever  of  the  fmall-pox  by  inoculationj 
at  the  diftance  of  about  half  a  yard  from  four 
children  properly  prepared  ;  each  expofure  con* 
tinued  one  hour,  and  was  repeated  daily  for  a 

B  b  2  fortnight. 


372 

fortnight,  reckoning  from  the  commencement  of 
the  fever  till  the  puftules  were  become  perfectly 
dry :  not  one  of  the  four  received  the  infeftion. 
Two  months  afterwards  I  inoculated  three  of 
thefe  children  :  they  had  the  diftemper  in  a  very 
mild  manner,  and  recovered  without  difficulty. 

Like  experiments  made  with  the  blood,  and 
with  the  flimy  matter  which  runs  from  the  eyes 
and  the  nofe  of  perfons  attacked  by  the  meafles, 
have  uniformly  had  the  fame  refult. 

I  can,  fays  Dr.  Currie,  bring  many  fafts,  to 
prove  that  the  contagion  has  fpread  a  very  little 
way  into  the  atmofphere  in  fituations  where  many 
patients  have  been  confined  together,  and  confe- 
quently  the  quantity  of  effluvia  greatly  multiplied. 
Thefe  are  chiefly  from  the  accounts  of  our  Guinea 
voyages,  in  which  the  fmall-pox  ufed  formerly 
to  make,  at  times,  dreadful  havoc  among  the 
flaves.  The  practice,  however,  of  late  years  has 
been,  immediately  on  the  appearance  of  the  ca- 
fual  difeafe  on  Ihip-board,  to  inoculate  the  whole 
cargo  5  and  nothing  can  fpeak  more  forcibly  the 
fafety  of  inoculation,  than  the  complete  fuccefs 
with  which  it  has  generally  been  attended  on 
perfons  of  all  ages,  entirely  unprepared,  and 
under  circumftances  every  way  unfavourable.  As 
however  a  general  inoculation,  under  fueh  cir- 
cumftances,  is  always  followed  by  unpleafant, 
and  fometimes,  though  rarely,  by  deftruftive  con- 
fequences,  it  is  not  now  uncommon  to  feparate 


373 

the  difeafed  perfons,  and  to  trufl:  to  means  of 
prevention  for  the  fafety  of  the  reft.    Thefe  fre- 
quently, perhaps  I  might  fay  generally,  fucceed, 
provided  the  voyage  is  performed  with  light  and 
favourable  winds,  which  is  neee0ary  to  enable 
them  to  make  the  feparation  complete.   An  iur 
fiance  of  this  has  juft  occurred  in  a  Guineaman, 
called  the  Golden  Age  j  foon  after  flie  Jeft  the 
coaft  of  Africa  the;  fmall-pox  appeared,  arid,  be- 
fore the  difeafe  was  known,  eight  perfons  were 
afFe6led  j  the  whok  were  immediately  brought 
on  deck,  their  apartments  wafhed  and-  ventilated 
with  the  greateft  care,  and  the  eight  perfons  ill 
were  placed  in  the  main-top  about  twenty  feet 
from  the  deck,   where  they  regularly  patfed 
through  the  difeafe.    Before  coming  down,  they 
were  waflied,  the  contagion  was  extinguifhed, 
and  the  whole  cargo,  as  well  as  crew,  arrived  in 
perfe£l  health  in  the  Weft  Indies.    Puring  all 
'this  time,  the  flaves,  as  is  ufual,  paffed  the  day 
near  them  ;  but  though  all  were  fuppofed  liable 
to  the  difeafe,  not  one  of  two  hundred  and 
upwards  thus  fexpofed  received  the  infeftion. 
My  friend  Mr.  Beg,  formerly  furgeon,  afterwards 
mafter  of  a  Guineaman,  and  now  a  confiderable 
merchant  here,  informs  me,  that,  in  one  of  his 
voyages,  he  practifed  the  fame  method  of  flopping 
the  contagion  of  this  difeafe,  and  with  the  fame 
fuceefe.   He  acquaints  me  alfo,  that  twice,  when 
the  fmall-pox  appeared  among  the  flavcs,  while 

they 


374 

they  were  at  anchor  on  the  coaft,  he  put  the  in- 
fe61ed  perfons  in  a  boat  a-ftern  of  the  fliip,  and 
pfFeftiially  fccured  the  people  on  board  from  the 
contagion.  Many  fimilar  fa£ls  might  be  collc£led ; 
and,  as  I  fee  they  may  iUuftrate  and  inforce  your 
do£lrines,  i  will  attend  to  the  fubjecr.  The  fame 
holds  good  of  other  difcafes. 

In  .April,  1779,  Mafter  Plumbe,  the  fon  of  a 
gentleman  of  fortune  near  Liverpool,  was  at- 
tacked, in  a  dangerous  degree,  with  a  fcarlet 
fever  and  fore  throat,  in  the  houfe  of  his  fchool- 
mafter,  the  Rev.  ]\lr.Vanbrugh,  at  Chefter,  Tjiere 
were  at  the  time  thirty^feven  young  gentlemen, 
boarders  in  the  family,  moft  of  whom,  it  is  highly 
probable,  were  difpofed  to  receiye  this  dangerous 
contagion. .  My  patient's  chamber,  fays  Dr.  Hay- 
garth,  was  fituated  in  the  middle  of  the  houfe,  at 
the  landingofthefirftpj^ir  of  flairs  :  all  the  fcholars 
:went.clofe  pafl:  his  door  feyeral  times  a  day.  At  this 
feafon,-  Winchefter,  and  feveral  other  large  fchpols 
•in.Englan4,  fent  home  7\nd  difperfed  their  fcholars^ 
on  - account  of  this  dillemper,  which  had  alarm- 
ingly fpread  among  them.  Whether  this  mea- 
sure,, w-ith  all  its  incpnyenicncies,  \vas  not  advife- 
able;,  became  a  very,  ferious  queftipn.  The. nume- 
rous fa£t3  whiph  I  had  then  cplle6ted,  to  prove 
that  the  variolous  infe£liQn,  though  probably  the 
moft  virulent-  we  are  acquainted  witli  in  this  cli- 
mate,, exerted  its  baneful  influence  at  but  a  fmall 
fliftancc  only  from  the  poifon,  cncQuraged  me  to 

hope 


375 

hope  that  the  contagion  of  a  fcarlet  fever  was  in- 
capable of  producing  more  cxtenfjve  mifchicf. 
The  rules  of  prevention  were  placed  on  the  door 
of  the  patient's  chamber,  and  rigid  attention  to 
their  faithful  obfervance  was  required.  The 
event  fully  rjuftified  my  hopes.  Though  all  the 
thirty-feyen  (eholars  remained  in  the  fame  houfe 
and  family,  during  the  whole  difeafe,  yet  not  one 
of  them  was  infefted. 

I  do  not  recolleft  any  obfervations  recorded  by 
authors  to  determine  what  proportion  of  man- 
kind are  liable  to  the  attack  of  the  fcarlet  fever. 
In  Oftober  1778,  out  of  forty  young  ladies  at  a 
boarding-fchool  in  Chefter,  all  but  four  had  the 
diftemper,  twelve  very  feverely,  and  two  moft 
dangeroufly.  This  comparative  ftatement  of  fafts, 
which  happened  in  two  fchools,  fliews,  beyond 
all  reafonable  doubt,  to  what  a  little  diftance 
from  the  poifon  the  .infectious  miafms  extend, 
and  that  the  rules  of  prevention  are,  in  this  re- 
fpetl,  fully  adequate  to  their  purpofe. 

Thisknowledge  is  extremelyufeful  in  makingus 
acquainted  with  the  real  ftate  of  our  danger  ;  for 
like  a  city  befieged,  even  before  the  befiegers  ap- 
proach near  enough  to  do  any  damage,  every 
thing  is  in  the  utmoft  confufion  :  fo  I  have  known 
a  whole  houfe  deferted  on  the  appearance  of  a 
putrid  fever,  and  as  much  precipitation  in  flight 
as  if  the  houfe  had  been  on  fire.  This  know- 
ledge fhould  alfo  reconcile  thofe  who  happen  to 


37^ 

be  in  a  houfe  where  the  Plague  rages,  and  the 
ftate  places  centinels  at  the  door  of  the  infc£led 
houfes,  forbidding  any  one  to  leave  them.  The 
danger  is  not  fo  great  as  they  imagine.  It  may  be 
avoided  by  a  few  fimple  rules.  Thefe  confift 
in  avoiding  the  fphere  of  infedion,  and  con- 
tact of  any  clothes  that  has  been  within  this 
fphere  *. 

\^  Vide  Dr.  Haygarth  on  the  Small-pox,  who  has  been  inde- 
fatigable in  removing  the  prejxidices  of  mankind,  and  clearing 
this  ipterefting  fubjed. 


PRACTICAL 


377 


PRACTICAL  OBSERVATIONS, 


SECT.  LIL 

THE  METHOD  OF  DESTROYING  CONTAGION. 

The  prefent  fyftem  of  quarantine  proceeds  on  ] 
a  fuppofition,  that  infefted  goods  are  capable 
of  being  purified,  in  a  certain  time,  by  ventila- 
tion. If  this  be  not  fuppofed,  quarantine  is  no 
more  than  a  very  undecifive  trial  whether  the 
goods  be  really  contagious ;  I  fay  undecifive,  be- 
caufe  though  the  goods  be  really  contagious, 
thofe  employed  in  unloading  or  opening  them  may 
poffibly  efcape  unhurt,  in  like  manner  as  it  fome- 
times  happens,  that  of  feveral  perfons  frequent- 
ing the  chamber  of  a  patient  in  the  plague, 
no  one  is  infe£ted.  It  is  certain,  however,  2, 
llrong  prefumption  either  of  the  goods  being 
not  tainted,  or  pf  the  ftate  of  the  air  being  not 
favourable  to  contagion,  when  thofe  employed 
in  handling  them  receive  no  harm.  But,  be- 
jfides  this,  it  is  the  common  opinion,  that  the 
peftiferous  effluvia,  conveyed  in  fubftances  clofe 
packed  up,  when  opened,  either  evaporate 
during  a  long  expofure  to  the  air,  or  are  other- 
wife  deftroyed  by  its  agency.    In  confequence  of 

which. 


378 


which,  thofe  who  affift  at  the  firft  opening  of  the 
goods  are  confidered  as  being  in  much  more 
danger  of  infeftion,  than  thofe' who  re^packthem 
after  an  airing  of  forty  or  fifty  days. 

Quarantine,  however,  is  not  merely  an  experi- 
ment to  determine  whether  the  merchandize  re- 
tain infefilion;  but  the  ventilation,  during  the 
quarantine,  is  reported  to  be  the  means  of  puri- 
fying them,'  if  they  happen  to  be  infe£lious.  The 
lerrns  eftabliOied  for  ventilation  may  appear  to 
be  unnecelFarily  long.  It  is  much  to  be  wifhed, 
tj^at  means  could  be  devifed  for  the  expurgation 
of  merchandize  more  expeditioufly  than  by  Cm- 
ple  expofure  to  the  air  ;  and  perhaps  fumigation 

Wherever  irife£lion  lurks,  and  in  what€ver 
matQrials  it  .  is.  harboured^  the  admiffion.  of  th^ 
^j,,]^j^reft  air,:,or  th^  moft  perfeSt  ventilation,  wii] 
"  J  often  not  a.Yatl,,,e;ither  in  ren;oving,,or  ,abatin^ 
*'  rts  a9;ivity,..fay,s  Dr.  Lind.^-^  Jt  ^-jipw  ;gives  me 
the  bigheft  fat.i&fa£tipn  to  affirm,,  that  I  feldom 
*'^^pr  never  knew  a  proper  application  of  fumes  of 
l^^  ijRIMSTONE  to  be  unfuccefsful,  in  producing 
"  ifhc  happy  cpAfeguenqe  of  effeftually  purifying 
"  all  tainte.d  places^, materials,  and  fubltances*. 
^-^^y^It  is jQot  to  \)p  doubted  but  that,  ejicepting 
"^^t^ie,  true  plague,  there  has.  beeii  an  infe6tion 

.riLind's  DiffertatiDn'  on  FevQi!s'afi)d;'Iqfe<aibiii  ^  aa^. 
alfo  a  times  added  the  OXYD  OF  .  ARSENIC."    .  ^  •  • 


379 

".f\i\ly  as  peftilential,  and  as  mortal,  in  fome 
"  fhips,  as  in  any  other  place  whatever ;  yet  I 

never  heard  of  any  Ihip,  which  after  having 

been  carefully  and  properly  fumigated,  did  not 
"  immediately  become  healthy.  And  if  after- 
"  wards  they  turned  fickly,  it  was  eafy  to  trace 
"  that  ficknefs  from  other  infefted  fliips,  jails, 
"  and  the  like  places." 

After  defcribing  the  mode  of  fumigating  fliips, 
he  adds,  "From  the  known  and  experienced 
"  efficacy  of  thefe  procelTes,  it  appears  that  fire 
"  and  fmoke  are  the  moft  powerful  agents  for 
"annihilating  infection  J  and  it  maybe  prefumed 
*5  even  the  plague  itfelf.  I  have  known  in  feveral 
"  /hips,  where  there  are  the  faireft  opportunities 
f'rof  trying  things  of  this  nature,  that  the  con- 
"  tagion  of  the  fmall-pox  has  been  entirely  ftop- 

ped  by  means  of  wood  fires,  fprinkled  with 
",brimftone,  kept  burning  and  clofely  confined 

in  the  infefted  placed. 

I  fliall  laftly  deliver  my  fentiments  with  re-f 
f  gard  to  the  purification  of  goods,  moveables, 
"  clothes,  &c.  which  are  fufpefted  to  harbour 

contagion  3  and  I  cannot  but  take  notice,  that 
"  the  ufual  cuftom  of  only  unpacking  and  ex- 
"  pofing  fuch  materials  to  the  open  air,  is,  in 

nriany  inftances,  infufficient  to  deftroy  the  latent 
"  feeds  of  the  dife^fef," 


t  Ibid.  p.  235. 


Muratori 


38o 

Muratori  has  given  us  an  ample  defcription  of 
the  purification  of  goods  by  fumigation. 

The  infefted  apparel,  linen,  flieets,  coverlets, 
Bcc.  are  to  be  fpread  out  upon  lines,  ftretchcd 
acrofs  the  chamber.  The  doors,  windows,  and 
chimneys  are  then  to  be  fliut  up,  fo  as  to  prevent 
the  fmoke  from  making  its  efeape  too  foon.  When 
this  is  done,  four  or  five  po-uiids  of  dry  hay  are 
placed  at  bottom,  and  upon  that  are  ftrewed 
four  handfuls  of  the  ingredients  in  powder,  which 
being  covered  with  a  little  more  hay,  the  whole 
is  fprinkled  with  VINEGAR,  in  order  that  the 
materials  may  not  be  confumed  too  faft.  The 
fire  is  applied  in  feveral  places  at  the  bottom, 
the  hay  being  raifed  and  fupported  by  a  poker; 
and  after  the  whole  is  well  kindled,  the  perfon 
employed,  immediately  retiring,  takes  care  to 
fhut  the  door.  The  houfe,  or  chamber,  remains 
tlofe  fhut  up  three  days  ;  after  which  the  houfe 
and  goods  are  carefully  aired. 
■  '  'T>^  combuftible  materials,  I  fuppofe,  are  laid 
upon  a  brafifer,  whieb  may  anfwer  very  well  in 
Italy*,''  where  the  fioors-  are  generally  brick  or 
plafter;  but  for  boarded  floors,  the  fire  muft  be 
■gutirded  by  a  better  apparatus,  toprevent  accidents. 
'  The  method  of  fmoking  fl^ips,  defcribed  by 
Dr.  Lind,  feem«  preferable  t»  this.  After  care- 
fully (lopping  up  all  the  openings  and  crevices, 
^  jnumber  of  iron  pots,  properly  fecured,  are 
placed  in  the  hold,  &c.  Each  of  thefe  contain 
a  layer  pf  charcoal  at  the  bottom,  then  a 


layer  of  brimftone,  and  fo  alternately  three  of 
four  layers  of  each.  On  the  top,  fome  oakum, 
dipped  in  tar,  is  laid  to  ferve  as  a  match*. 

A  great  variety  of  fubftances  have  been  re- 
commended for  the  purpofe  of  fumigation,  and 
a  number  of  compofitions  have  been  emploj^ed, 
confining  of  a  farrago  of  ingredients  which^ 
though  they  enhance  the  coft,  add  nothing  per- 
haps to  the  efficacy  of  the  compofition.  The 
Italian  compofition  for  fumigation  might  there- 
fore be  reformed,  leaving  feveral  of  the  more 
coftly  ingredients  out,  v^athout  impairing  its  vir- 
tue*  The  forms  mentioned  by  Muratori  might 
be  thus  reduced  f . 

SULPHUR,     5  pounds. 

ORPIMENT,  2  pounds. 

Common  Frankincenfe,  and 

Juniper  Berries,  of  each  3  pounds. 
To  thefe,  after  being  reduced  to  a  powder,  are 
added : 

Shavings  of  the  Pine  Tree,    5  pounds. 

Bran,  20  pounds. 
In  like  manner  a  ftill  ftronger  fumigation  is 
prepared,  by  increafing  the  proportion  of  SUL- 
PHUR, and  adding  one  pound  of  OXYD  OF 
ARSENICK. 

Thefirftof  thefe  two  fumigations  is  ufed  for 
the  purification  of  infe£ted  houfes  j  the  fecond, 

*  Lind's  Diflertation  on  Fevers,  2d  edit.  p.  22^. 
t  Muratori,  lib.  i.  cap,  ix.  p;  72. 

for 


382 

for  Lazarettos,  fepulchres,  and  fluff  more  flrongly 
tainted  than  common  furniture.  A  third  fumi- 
gation, intended  for  pcrfons  and  their  apparel^ 
who  are  obliged  to  approach  the  fick,  is  compofed 
of  SULPHUR,  aromatic  gums,  and  fpiceries^ 
without  arfenick  *. 

Muratorij  after  remarking  that  fumigation  was 
ufed  anciently  in  the  peflilence,  fays,  the  prac- 
tice was  brought  into  more  general  ufe  by 
P.  Maurizio  da  Tolono,  a  Capuchin,  who  had 
great  fuccefs  with  it  in  the  plague  of  Genoa,  in 
1657.  He  obferves  further,  that  Francefco  Ran- 
chino,  and  others,  were  of  opinion,  that  fetid 
and  poifonous  fumes  were  the  moft  cffeftual. 
Declining  however  a  decifion  on  this  point,  he 
refers  to  the  experience  of  the  Capuchin,  who 
delivers  himfelf  to  the  following  purpofe:  "That 
"  his  milder  fumigation,  intended  for  perfons 
"  obliged  to  go  among  the  infe£ted,  or  other- 
"  wife  to  expofe  themfelves  to  danger,  was  an 
"  admirable  prefervative,  and  was  ufed  with  re- 
"  markable  fuccefs  in  Genoa,  in  1657;  thefumi- 
"  gation  being  applied  to  the  perfon,  and  his 
"  clothes,  before  coming  out  from  his  houfe." 
— He  adds  further,  "  that  the  application  of  his 
"  other  fumigations  rendered  the  former  prac- 
"  tice,  of  burning  infefted  or  fufpe6led  goods, 
"  unneceffary ;  as  alfo  the  fhutting  up  infected 

*  Muratori,  lib.  i.  cap.  ix.  p.  73. 

"  houfes. 


383 

houfes,  which  bemg  abandoned  by  theib  inha- 
"  bitants,  were  left  expofed  to  the  depredation 
"  of  robberSi  He  acknowledges  that  infefted 
"  goods  may  be  purified  by  proper  expofure  to 
"  the  air,  but  then  a  fpace  of  forty  days  is  re- 
"  quifite  for  their  purgation,  during  which  time 
"  they  are  fubje£l  to  many  inconveniencies, 
"  befides  being  fpoilt  by  the  rain,  or  flolen  by 
"  thieves :  whereas,  by  his  metJiod,  twenty-four 
"  hours  are  fiifficient  for  the  pmfying;  not  only  houfeSy 
"  with  their  furniture^  hut  even  Lazarettos,  and  the 
"  infeded  beds  of  the  fick."  Muratori  fubjoins 
two  inftances  of  the  goodefFe£t  of  fumigation,  at 
Venice,  in  1576;  and  at  Malta,  in  1675  ;  and 
gives  feveral  inftances  of  the  bad  confequences 
of  the  negleft  of  fuch  precautions,  at  Rome,  in 
1656;  at  Marfeilles,  in  1649  ;  and  at  Modena, 
in  1630,  alfo  at  Palermo,  Florence,  Sec  *. 

Notwithftanding  thefe  authorities  in  favour  of 
fumigation,  Dr.  Mead  appears  to  think  the  prac- 
tice injudicious,  if  not  prejudicial,  the  fumes  of 
VINEGAR,  and  perhaps  BRIMSTONE  ex- 
cepted, founding  this  opinion  chiefly  on  the 
pra£lice  of  the  Arabians,  who,  he  fays,  recom- 
mend the  keeping  the  houfes  cool  and  airy,  and 
ftrewing  them  with  cooling  herbs,  as  rofes,  violets, 
water  lilies,  &c.  fprinkling  them  at  the  fame 
time  with  VINEGAR.    But  I  apprehend  there 

*  Muratori,  lib.  i.  c.  i;^. 

is 


384 

is  a  little  inaccuracy  in  this  reprefentation  of  the 
Arabian  pra6tice  j  for  though  the  Arab  writers 
certainly  recommend  the  keeping  the  houfes 
cool,  Scc.  they  are  far  from  condemning  fumiga- 
tion with  aromatic  herbs  and  gums.  The  faft 
is,  the  Arabians  made  a  very  material  diftinftion, 
which  the  Doftor  feems  not  to  have  attended  to, 
namely,  between  the  regimen  for  perfons  lying 
fick  in  peftilential  diforders,  and  perfons,  yet  in 
good  health,  ufmg  precantionsior  their  prefervation. 

I  have  collefted  the  above  authorities,  with  a 
view  to  refcue  the  praftice  of  fumigation,  as  a 
means  of  purifying  infefted  goods,  from  the  de- 
rogation implied  in  Do£tor  Mead's  manner  of 
expreffing  himfelf  on  the  fubjeft  ;  and  I  am  alfo 
obliged  to  differ  from  him  in  what  follows : 
"  when  the  fick  families  are  removed,  aJl  the 
"  goods  of  the  houfes,  in  which  they  were,  fhould 
**  be  burnt,  or  rather  buried  deep  under  ground 
"  -  -  -  and  moreover,   the   houfes  themfelves 

may  likewife  be  deftroyed  by  fire,  if  that  can 
"  conveniently  be  done,  that  is,  if  they  are  re- 
"  mote  enough  from  others ;  otherwife  it  may 
"  fuffice  to  have  them  thoroughly  cleanfed,  and 
**  then  plaftered  up*."  The  burning  of  houfes 
in  a  town  muft,,  for  the  raoft  part,  be  attended 
with  danger ;  and  the  burning  of  furniture,  &c. 
lias  been  found  by  experience  to  occafion  dange- 
rous concealment,  and  theft,  befides  many  other 
inconveniences. 

*  Mead,  p.  io8. 

Since 


385 

Since  there  is  no  diforder  to  which  human 
nature  is  fubjc6t,  more  deftru6rive  or  alarming 
than  contagious  fever,  the  humane  reader  will 
not  require  an  apology  for  delaying  his  attention 
upon  fo  important  a  point,  more  efpecially  as  it 
confers  the  higheft  honour  on  the  prefent  en- 
lightened age,  and  holds  out  a  profpect  that  one 
of  the  greateft  fcourges  to  mankind  may  be  at 
iaft  baniflied  from  the  earth,  never  again  to  rear 
its  truly  formidable  head. 

The  commifiion  at  Mofcow  having,  in  the 
year  1770,  invented  a  fumtgntmi-pozvdery  which, 
from  feveral  lefler  experiments,  had  proved  effi- 
cacious in  preventing  the  infeftion  of  the  plague  5 
in  order  more  fully  to  afcertain  its  virtue  in  that 
refpe£t,  it  was  determined,  towards  the  end  of 
the  year,  that  ten  malefaftors  under  fentence  of 
death  fliould,  without  undergoing  any  other  pre- 
cautions than  the  fumigations,  be  confined  three 
weeks  in  a  Lazaretto,  be  laid  upon  the  beds, 
and  drefled  in  the  clothes,  which  had  been  ufed 
by  perfons  fick,  dying,  and  even  dead^  of  the 
plague  in  the  hofpitah  The  experiment  was 
accordingly  tried,  and  none  of  the  ten  malefactors 
zvere  then  infeCied,  or  have  been  fince  ill.  The  fumi-^ 
gation-powder  is  prepared  as  follows. 

'Powder  of  the  firfl  flrength.'] — Take  leaves  of 
juniper,  juniper-berries  pounded^  ears  of  wheat, 
guaiacum-wood  pounded,  of  each  fix  pounds  j 
common  faltpetre  pounded,  eight  pounds ;  SUL- 

VoL.lV.  Co  PHUR 


386 

PHUR  pounded,  fix  pounds;  Smyrna  tar,  or 
myrrh,  two  pounds ;  mix  all  the  above  ingredients 
together,  which  will  produce  a  pood  of  the  pow- 
der of  fumigation  of  the  firfl:  ftrength.  [A^.  B.  A 
pood  is  40  pounds  Ruffian,  which  are  equal  to 
35  pounds  and  a  half  or  36  pounds  Englifli  avoir- 
dupoife.] 

Powder  of  the  fecond  jirength?\ — Take  fou- 
thern-wood  cut  into  fmall  pieces,  four  pounds ; 
juniper-berries  pounded,  three  pounds  ;  common 
SALTPETRE  pouuded,  four  pounds;  sulphur 
pounded,  two  pounds  and  a  half ;  Smyrna  tar, 
or  myrrh^  one  pound  and  a  half  ;  mix  the  above 
together,  which  will  produce  half  a  pood  of  the 
powder  of  fumigation  of  the  fecond  ftrength. 

Odoriferous  pozvder.l — Take  the  root  called  kal- 
mis,  cut  into  fmall  pieces,  three  pounds  ;  leaves  of 
juniper  cut  into  fmall  pieces,  four  pounds ;  frank- 
incenfe  pounded  grofsly,  one  pound ;  ftorax 
pounded,  and  rofe-flowers,  half  a  pound  ;  yellow 
amber  pounded,  one  pound ;  common  salt- 
petre pounded,  one  pound  and  a  half;  sul- 
phur, a  quarter  of  a  pound:  mix  all  the  above 
together,  which  will  produce  nine  pounds  and 
three  quarters  of  the  odoriferous  powder. 

In  all  thefe,  the  ACID  FUMES  from  the  nitre 
and  fulphur  form  the  principal  part.  The  reft 
appear  only  ufeful  in  holding  thefe  in  a  ftate  of 
longer  fufpenfion. 

In 


387 

In  1773,  the  cathedral  of  Dijon  was  fo  ia- 
fe£led  by  opening  a  vault  containing  dead  bodies, 
:that  it  was  obliged  to  be  fliut  up.  De  Morveau, 
one  of  the  moft  able  chemifts  in  France,  to 
^difmfeft  this  church,  employed  the  following 
I  means:  He  put  into  a  chaffing-difli,  covered 
'with  fine  charcoal,  a  tubulated  retort  of  green 
Iglafs,  filled  with  nine  ounces  of  marine  acid^, 
iflightly  moiftened  with  half  an  ounce,  or  a  little 
more,  of  water.  The  fire  being  lighted,  four 
'Ounces  of  the  vitriolic  acid-f  was  poured  on  the 
diluted  marine  acid.  The  MURIATIC  ACID 
GAS  was  immediately  difengaged,  and  this, 
fays  he,  uniting  with  the  ammo-diacal gas  of  putre- 
faction, neutralizes  it,  prevents  its  injurious  quar 
lity,  removing  at  the  fame  time  all  its  loathfome 
foe  tor.  In  the  prefent  inftance  it  was  ftrongly 
exemplified.  It  was  afterwards  tried  with  equal 
-fuccefs  in  the  hofpital  at  Dijon,  and  fince  which 
a  decree  of  the  National  AfTembly  has  been 
palTed,  ordering  it  to  be  employed  in  the  different 
military  hofpitals  where  infe£lion  prevailed. 

In  the  year  1782  an  infectious  fever  broke  out 
among  the  prifoners  in  Winchejier.  This  excited 
the  attention  of  Parliament,  and  many  eminent 
phyficians  in  London  were  applied  to,  to  take 
charge  of  the  prifoners  there ;  but  they  refufed 
venturing  upon  fo  hazardous  an  oflice.  The 
late  Dr.  Fothergill  then  waited  on  Dr.  Smith, 

*  Munat  of  Soda.  f  Sulplnirie  acid. 

an4 


388 


and  requeftcd  him,  in  the  mofl:  urgent  manner,  to 
accompany  the  commiffioner  to  Winchefter.  He 
accepted  the  offer.  One  hundred  and  eighty- 
eight  perfons  had  already  perifhed  by  this  dread- 
ful malady,  whofe  violence  feemed  daily  increaf- 
ing.  Moft  of  the  officers  and  fervants  belonging 
to  the  hofpital  had  fallen  viftims  to  this  fatal 
diftemper.  He  had  previous  to  this  turned  his 
attention  to  the  power  of  the  mineral  acids  in 
deftroying  contagion.  He  had  before  noticed, 
that  the  vitriolic  and  marine  acids^  in  a  ftate  of 
vapour,  had  proved  effeftual  in  deftroying  con- 
tagion ;  although,  owing  to  its  deleterious  quality, 
it  could  not  be  employed,  except  in  fituations 
from  which  people  had  been  removed.  But  is 
the  NITROUS  ACID*,  he  reafons,  in  a  ftate  of 
vapour,  equally  dangerous,  and  may  it  not  be 
equally  effeftual  in  deftroying  contagion?  To 
prove  that  it  was  not  very  injurious  to  life,  w© 
put,  fays  he,  a  moufe,  confined  in  a  wire  trap, 
under  a  glafs  cylindrical  jar,  capable  of  holding 
about  25  pints, beer  meafure, or  881  cubic  inches; 
the  jar  was  inverted  upon  wet  fand,  contained 
in  a  flat  earthen  trough  or  pan  ;  it  was  then  filled 
with  the  fumes  of  the  finoking  nitrous  acid, 
until  the  animal  could  not  be  very  diftinftly  per- 
ceived. The  moufe  was  kept  in  this  fituation 
for  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  when  the  jar  was  re- 

*  Dr.  vSmith  ufes  the  term  nitrous  acid,  but  probably  meant 
tfie  nitric, 

»  '  moved^ 


389 

moved,  and  the  animal  expofcd  to  the  open  air ; 
it  immediately  ran  about  the  wire  trap,  as  ufual, 
and  had  not  the  appearance  of  having  fuffered 
the  flighteft  inconvenience  from  its  confinement. 
After  a  few  minutes,  the  nioufe  was  again  put 
under  the  glafs  jar,  which  was  now  filled  with 
the  vapour  of  pure  nitmis  actdy  detached  from 
nitre  by  the  vitriolic  acid.  It  remained  much 
about  the  fame  time  as  before,  and  when  the 
jar  was  removed,  feemed  perfeftly  well. 

We  repeated  the  fame  experiments  with  a 
greenfinch,  only  with  fome  little  variation  iri 
the  manner.  We  placed,  on  a  table  covered 
with  green  baize,  a  brown  earthen  veffel  or  pan, 
containing  heated  fand  \  in  this  was  put  a  glafs 
faucer,  with  about  half  an  ounce  of  ftrong  vitrio- 
lic acid  J  above  which  we  placed  the  bird-cage, 
fupported  with  fome  fmall  pieces  of  wood  laid 
acrofs  the  pan;  then,  adding  a  drachm  or  two 
of  nitre,  in  powder,  to  the  vitriolic  acid,  we 
covered  the  whole  with  the  glafs  jar.  The  ni- 
trous acid  rofe  in  fuch  quantity,  that,  in  a  very 
little  time,  the  bird  feemed  as  if  in  a  cloud  or 
fog.  We  kept  it  in  this  fituation  fifteen  minutes, 
by  which  time  the  cloud  had  difappeared,  and 
the  acid  was  in  part  condenfed  on  th€  fide  of  the 
glafs  jar  3  during  the  whole  time  the  bird  neither 
panted,  nor  appeared  to  fuffer  any  uneafinefs, 
from  the  atmofphere  in  which  it  was  confined. 

We 


S90 

We  made  trial  alfo  of  the  marine  acid,  bv  add- 
ing  common  fait  inftcad  of  nitre,  to  heated  vi- 
triolic acid:  during  this  experiment,  the  bird 
appeared  to  be  now  and  then  fomewhat  uneafy, 
and  opened  its  bill ;  but,  at  the  end  of  fifteen 
minutes,  upon  removing  the  jar,  it  hopped 
about  as  lively  as  before.  We  then  expofed  the 
bird  to  the  fumes  of  fulphur,  burnt  with  an 
eighth  part  of  nitre  j  it  immediately  gave  figns 
of  uneafinefs,  opened  its  bill,  and  feemed  to 
pant  for  breath  in  fuch  a  manner,  that  we  were 
afraid  to  cover  it  with  the  glafs  jar.  We  like- 
wife  made  trial,  in  the  open  air,  of  the  oxyge- 
nated marine  acid^  \  for,  as  this  is  fo  extremely 
deleterious,  we  did  not  think  it  fafe  to  expofe 
ourfelves  to  the  vapour  of  it  in  a  room,  nor  did 
we  venture  to  expofe  the  bird  to  it  in  any  other 
way  but  in  the  open  air,  and  even  there  it  ap- 
peared to  fuffer  very  much. 

Having  made  trial  of  the  effeft  of  the  dif- 
ferent mineral  acids,  in  a  ftate  of  vapour,  upon 
animals,  we  determined  to  render  the  experiment 
ftill  more  conclufive,  by  trying  what  effect  they 
\vould  have  on  ourfelves.    With  this  intention, 

*  The  oxygenated  marine  acid  is  a  difcovery  of  the  famous 
Scheele,  and  hds  been  recommended  by  BerthoUet  and  Chaptal, 
two  French  chemifts,  for  the  purpofe  of  bleaching.  This 
was  the  vapour  employed  by  Dr.  Morveau  to  purify  the  infeded 
cathedral  of  Dijon. 

we 


39^ 

we  filled  the  room*  in  which  we  were  with  the 
fumes  of  nitrous  acid,  (obtained  by  mixing  nitre 
with  heated  vitriolic  acid,  in  the  manner  already 
defcribed)  until  the  different  obje6ls  became  fome- 
what  obfcure,  by  a  kind  of  fog  or  mift  produced. 
The  fire  irons  and  fteel  fender  loft  their  poHfli, 
and  the  vapour  arifing  from  a  bottle  of  aqua  am- 
monite purae,  placed  at  fome  diftance  from  the 
table,  was  evidently  neutralized,  as  it  iflfued  from 
the  bottle  by  the  vapour  of  the  nitrous  acid. 

Mr.  Hume  and  I  remained  in  the  room  the 
whole  time,  without  perceiving  the  flighteft  in- 
convenience ;  the  fumes  did  not  excite  coughing, 
nor  affeft  the  eyes,  in  the  way  the  fmoke  of  wood 
commonly  does,  even  when  I  held  my  head  over 
the  glafs  faijcer,  and  breathed  them  immediately 
arifing  from  it.  We  made  trial  likewife  of  the 
eflfeO:  of  the  marine  acid,  which  we  found  more 
pungent  and  ftimulating  than  the  nitrous  ;  but, 
though  it  excited  poughing,  it  did  not  caufe  that 
conftriclion  of  the  windpipe,  and  tightnefs  at  the 
cheft,  with  the  fenfe  of  fuffocation,  which  is 
immediately  induced  by  the  volatile  vitriolic  or 
Julphiireous  acid.  Indeed  we  were  imprudent 
enough  to  try  how  far  we  could  breathe  this  laft, 
hut  I  was  inftantly  obliged  to  run  to  the  window 
for  air,   from  the  fenfe  of  conftriftion  and  of 

*  The  room  in  which  we  made  the  experiments  was  a  fmall 
parlour  13  feet  by  10,  and  8  feet  high  ;  or  about  1040  cubic 
(eet. 

fuffocation 


392 

fuffocation  which  it  occafioned.  We  likewifc 
tried  the  effeftof  the  mixed  fumes  of  tlie  marine 
and  nitrous  aeid,  a  kind  of  volatile  aqua  regia, 
which  we  found  more  pungent  than  the  marine 
acid  by  itfelf.  As  for  the  oxygenated  marine 
acid,  perceiving  the  effeft  of  it  on  the  bird,  and 
knowing  how  extremely  daiigerous  it  is^  we  did 
not  venture  tq  go  very  near  it. 

From  the  preceding  experiments,  the  diftcrent 
acid  vapours,  in  refpefit  to  the  {afet}'  with  winch 
they  may  be  breathed,  may  be  arranged  in  tlie 
following  order : 

ift.  The  vapour  of  nitrous  acid,  arifing  from 
nitre  decompofed  by  vitriolic  acid. 

2.  Ditto — of  nitrous  acid  in  its  fuming  ftate, 

or  when  the  nitric  acid  is  mixed  with 
nitrous  gas. 

3.  Ditto^ — of  marine  acid,  arifing  from  com- 

mon fait,  decompofed  by  vitriolic  acid. 

4.  Ditto — of  nitrous  and  marine  acids,  ob- 

tained from  the  decompofition  of  nitre 
and  common  fait  by  vitriolic  acid. 

5.  Ditto — of  fulphur,  burnt  with  an  eighth 

part  of  nitre. 

6.  Ditto — of  oxygenated  marine  acid*,  obtain- 

ed by  putting  manganefe  to  marine  acid. 

*  The  oxygenated  marine  acid  is  obtained  by  diftilling 
marine  acid  from  manganefe,  but  may  alfo  be  procured  in 
fmall  quantity,  by  putting  manganefe  to  heated  marine  acid, 
or  by  gradually  adding  a  mixture  of  manganefe  and  sea-falt  to 
heated  vitriolic  acid. 

As 


393 

As  the  firft  vapour  is  perfe£tly  harmlefs,  In  any 
quantity  in  which  it  may  be  required,  it  is  evi- 
dently the  moft  proper  to  be  employed  in  all 
fituations  where  people  are  necelTarily  prefent  j 
and  if  it  fliould  prove  efficacious  in  dellroying 
contagion,  of  which  I  have  not  the  fmalleft 
doubt,  it  is  the  deftdcratum  fo  much  fought  after 
by  Dr.  Lind. 

The  fecond,  though  more  pungent  than  the 
firfl,  may,  I  believe,  be  employed  with  the 
greateft  fafety ;  at  leaft,  I  have  never  obferve4 
any  inconvenience  from  ufing  it.  But  as  it  can- 
not fo  eafily  be  procured  in  confiderable  quantity, 
and  is  attended  with  greater  inconvenience  and 
expence,  I  would  advife  only  the  firft. 

Our  experiments  likewife  warrant  us  to  affirm, 
that  the  third,  or  marine  acid,  though  more 
ilimulating,  and  more  apt  to  excite  coughing 
than  the  nitrous,  may  be  fafely  ufed,  at  leaft  in 
a  moderate  quantity,  where  people  are  prefent ; 
and  when  nitre  cannot  be  had,  I  fliould  have  no 
hefitation  in  employing  it, 

Of  the  fourth  lean  fay  but  little,  only  that  in 
breathing  it  I  perceived  it  more  pungent  than  the 
pure  marine  acid ;  and  therefore,  unlefs  it  fliould 
be  found  to  poffefs  fuperior  efficacy  in  deflroying 
contagion,  I  would  not  employ  it  where  there 
are  people  prefent. 

As  the  fifth  never  can  be  ufed  with  fafety 
where  there  are  people  prefent,  its  ufe  muft  be 

~  folely 


394 


tolely  confined  to  fumigating  empty  apartments, 
clothes,  furniture,  &c. 

Of  the  fixth  I  have  no  particular  knowledge, 
only  that  it  is  extremely  deleterious,  and  I  believe 
extremely  powerful ;  but  whether  it  has  more 
efie£l  on  contagion  than  the  other  mineral  acids, 
experience  only  can  determine. 

Having  now  fully  proved  that  the  nitrous,  and 
poffibly  alfo  the  marine  acid,  obtained  in  the 
manner  already  defcribed,  may  be  employed 
with  perfeft  fafety,  I  fliall,  in  the  next  place, 
relate  how  far  my  experience  went  to  afcertarn 
the  efficacy  oinitroits  acid  in  deftroying  contagion. 

When  I  arrived  at  Winchefter  I  found  the 
hofpital  in  this  ftate  : 

TABLE   OF  DEATHS. 

Number  of  Spanifli  Prifoners. 


Weekly  Accounts. 

In  Cuftody. 

Sick. 

Dead. 

March  26,  1780 

1247 

60 

1 

April  -  2,   

1243 

106 

4 

  9,   

1475 

150 

10 

  16,   

1457 

172 

18 

23,  

1433 

142 

21 

30,  

1412 

171 

21 

May  -    7,.  • 

1388 

191 

25 

-—  14, 

135 1 

197 

27 

  21,   

1523 

205 

30 

28,  

1494 

,  .  226 

31 

Total 

188 

Immediately 


395 

Immediately  upon  the  admlffion  of  the  nitrous 
acid  vapour,  the  deaths  funk  down  June  17th  to  9, 
oil  the  27th  to  5,  July  ift  to  5,  and  July  8th  to  1, 
when  the  contagion  ceafed.  None  after  its  ad- 
milTion  caught  it,  and  the  difeafe  immediately 
fliewed  a  milder  afpeft. 

The  efficacy,  however,  of  the  nitrous  vapour, 
as  appears  from  almoft  the  whole  of  the  reports 
fince  publiflied,  is  not  confined  to  the  deilroying 
or  preventing  the  communication  of  contagion  ; 
its  falutary  influence  is  no  lefs  remarkable  on  the 
lick  and  on  thofe  recovering  from  ficknefs ;  but  on 
this  very  important  fubjeft  I  could  wifh  the 
reader  to  confult  Mr.  Paterfon's  Table  of  the 
Weekly  Returns  at  Forton  Hofpital,  from  which 
it  appears,  that  during  the  fliort  fpace  of  fix 
weeks,  in  an  hofpital  containing  from  300  to 
400  men,  there  was  a  difference,  from  employing 
the  nitrous  fumigation,  of  about  50  lives  faved, 
and  about  110  rnen  fpeedily  reftored  to  a  ftate  of 
health  fit  for  aftive  duty ;  but  if  the  reader  is 
defirous  of  forming  an  accurate  judgment  of  the 
immediate  effe£t  of  the  nitrous  vapour  on  thofe 
ill  of  typhus  fever,  I  would  advife  him  to  read 
with  attention  what  Mr.  M'Grigor  and  Mr.  Hill 
have  written  on  the  fubjeft. — By  Mr.  M'Grigjor  * 

we 

*  The  EfFed  of  the  Nitrous  Vapour  in  preventing  and 
deftroying  Contagion  ;  afcertained  from  a  variety  of  trials  made 
chiefly  by  furgeons  of  his  Majefly's  navy,  in  prifons,  hofpitals, 

and 


39^ 

we  are  told,  that  fome  years  back,  during  the 
prevalence  of  a  fever  fimilar  to  the  one  he  de- 
fcribcs,  in  the  fame  place,  the  illand  of  Jerfey, 
the  88th  regiment  to  which  he  belongs,  in  the 
fpace  of  ten  weeks,  fuffered  a  lofs  of  40  or  5Q 
men ;  whereas  during  the  prcfent  illnefs,  when 
he  employed  the  nitrous  fumigation,  of  64  men 
Seized  with  the  fever,  he  did  not  lofe  a  fingle  -patient. 
Jie  further  remarks,  that  by  ufmg  conftantly  the 
nitrous  vapour,  the  malignant  fymptoms  of  the  dif- 
eafc  difappeared,and  that  from  a  typhus  it  became 
a  fimple  fever  without  much  danger.  Dr.  Car- 
MiicHAEL  Smith  himfelf,  on  the  firft  day  of  his 
aijival  at  Winchefter,  was  feized  with  this  diforder, 
and  confined  to  his  bed,  yet,  like  a  true  hero, 
he  would  not  yield  to  his  difeafe,  but  continued 
to  give  directions.  In  a  memorial  which  he  after- 
wards fent  to  the  minifter  of  ftate,  in  mentioning 
thefe  circumftances,  he  fays,  "  But  thefe,  ray 
"  lord,  are  only  the  fufferings  of  an  individual, 
I  readily  complied  with  your  lordfliip's  wiflies, 
and,  as  to  the  conditions  of  my  attendance  I 
^*  rr)ade  none :  convinced  that  no  pecuniary  re- 
tl  compence  could  be  an  adequate  compenfation 
tt.to.me,  circumftanced  as  I  then  was,  for  the 

and  on  board  of  fiiips :  with  an  Introduftion  refpefting  the 
Nftture  of  the  Contagion  which  gives  rife  to  the  Jail  or  Hofpital 
Fever.;  and  the  various  methods  formerly  employed  to  prevent 
or  deftroy  this.  By  James  Carmichael  Smyth,  M.  D.  F.  R  S. 
Fellow  of  the  Royal  College  of  Phyficians,  and  Phyficiaa 
Extra ordinai-y  to  liis  Majefty. 

rilk 


397 

"  rifk  I  ran  ;  and  that  if  I  was  fortunate  enough 
"  to  furvive,  and  fucceed,  I  was  certain  of  the 
*'  firfl:  of  all  rewards,  the  confa'oufnefs  of  having 
"  difcharged  a  duty  to  which  I  was  called  by  the 
"  voice  of  my  country,  and  in  the  event  of  which 
"  the  national  as  well  as  my  own  honour  was 
"  involved.  My  endeavours  have  been  attended 
"  with  a  fuccefs  which  even  my  friends  could 
"  hardly  expe6l,  and  which  I  believe  ftands 
zvithout  example  in  the  annals  of  phyfic.  I  have 
already  received  from  the  public  the  fullefl:  ap- 
"  probation  of  my  conduft,  and  make  no  doubt 
"  that,  in  confequence  of  your  lordfliip's  favour- 
*'  able  reprefentation  of  it  to  the  King,  I  fhali 
"  receive  from  his  Majejly,  ever  attentive  to  re- 
"  ward  merit  in  the  lowefi:  of  his  fubjefts,  fome 
"  mark  of  his  Majefty's  royal  favour."  In  confe- 
quence of  which  difcovery,  he  was  appointed 
phyfician  extraordinary  to  the  king. 


SECT. 


398 


PRACTICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 


SECT.  LIIL 

THE  SAME  SUBJECT  CONTINUED. 

OF  THE  VENTILATOR.   The  good  Dr.  Hales,  in  his  trealife 

on  this  fubjeft,  remarks,  that  when  ventilators  are  proved,  as 
tliey  undoubtedly  will  one  day  be  found,  to  be  greatly  and 
extenfively  beneficial  to  mankind,  fo  as  thereby  to  have  a  con- 
fiderable  influence  on  tlie  atlairs  of  the  world,  it  will  hereafter 
be  matter  of  wonder,  that  fo  plainly  felf-evident  a  benefit 
fhould  be  fo  many  years  propofed  befoi-e  the  world  could  be 
prevailed  on  to  receive  them  ;  which  proceeds  from  a  general 
backwardnefs  to  all  new  propofals,  not  caring  to  give  them- 
felves  the  trouble  thoroughly  to  confider  and  examine  them. 
But  it  is  reafonable  to  believe  that  ventilators  will,  from  time 
to  time,  come  into  more  general  ufe,  not  only  for  the  feveral 
important  purpofes  hereafter  to  be  mentioned,  but  alfo  for 
many  other  at  prefent  unthought-of  ufes  to  the  great  benefit 
of  mankind.  New  difcoverios  are  apt,  he  adds,  to  be  de*- 
fpifed,  efpeciully  by  tliofe  who  are  incompetent  judges  of 
them ;  and  that  no  wonder ;  for  we  are  flavcs  to  old  habits 
and  cuftoms,  even  to  the  degree  of  fuffering  inconveniencies 
which  we  might  eafily  remedy.  And  this  very  difpofition  is 
fometimes  beneficial  to  us,  as  it  enables  us  the  better  to  bear 
inconveniencies  which  we  cannot  remedy.  But  in  all  other 
cafes,  where  a  remedy  can  be  had,  it  is  renouncing  our  reafon 
blindly  to  follow  the  old  track  we  are  in,  only  becaufe  it  is  a 
beaten  one,  or  becaufe  we  will  not  give  ourfeives  the  trouble 
to  enquire  wliether  we  cannot  find  a  Jhorter  and  more  commo- 
dious luay.  One  would  think  it  altogether  needlefs  to  ufe 
many  arguments  to  prevail  with  men  to  make  ufe  of  fo  eafy 
and  certain  a  way  to  preferve  their  own  lives  and  that  of 
their  comrades.  But  I  am  fenfible  that  narrow  minds,  who 
do  not  care  to  go  out  of  an  old  beaten,  though  very  bad 
track,  are  apt  to  view  new  propofals,  though  ever  fo  rational, 

only 


399 


only  on  their  worft  fide,  without  duly  weighing  the  advan- 
tages. This  was  lately  the  case  of  a  very  ufeful  contrivance 
for  fleering  the  rudder  with  great  eafe  and  fafety,  by 
means  of  a  wheel  above  deck.  And  1  make  no  doubt,  but 
that  whatever  difcouragement  it  may  meet  at  firft,  yet  its 
great  benefit  in  preferving  the  health  and  lives  of  men,  will 
hereafter  recommend  it  to  the  general  eflecm  and  ufe  of  man- 
kind :  for  I  cannot  tliink  that  men  will  cliufe  to  licken  and 
die  in  and  by  flench  in  an  old  exl>erienced  luay,  when  tiiey 
have  it  in  their  power  to  prevent  it  by  new,  rational,  and 
efle6tual  mean. 

HALES  ON  THE  VENTILATOR. 

The  noxioufnefs  of  the  putrid  air  in  unven- 
tilated  jails,  may  be  feen  in  the  following  ac- 
count, which  was  drawn  up  by  the  late  Sir  John 
Pringle,  viz. 

Having  lately  had  an  opportunity  of  feeing 
feveral  cafes  of  the  jail  fever,  arifing  from  the 
jail  itfelf,  I  thought  it  would  not  be  improper 
to  lay  before  the  public  a  fliort  account  of  the 
manner  in  which  thofe  perfons  were  feized  ;  the 
chief  fymptoms  and  progrefs  of  the  difeafe,  with 
fome  remarks  upon  it,  in  order  further  to  illuflrate 
what  I  have  advanced  *  elfewhere,  concerning 
the  danger  arifing  from  foul  air,  and  the  agree- 
ment of  this  diftemper  with  what  has  been  called 
the  Fever  of  the  Hofpital,  or  more  generally,  a 
malignant  or  peftilential  Fever. 

In  the  month  of  Oftober,  1750,  a  committee 
of  the  Court  of  Aldermen  was  appointed  to  en- 
quire into  the  beft  means  for  procuring  in  New- 
gate fuch  a  purity  of  air  as  might  prevent  the 


*  Obfervations  on  the  difeafes  of  the  army. 

rife 


400 

rife  of  thofe  infc£tions  diflcmpers  which  not  only 
had  been  deftructive  to  the  prifoners  thcmfelves, 
but  dangerous  to  others  who  had  any  communi- 
cation with  them,  and  particularly  to  the  courts 
of  juftice  upon  the  trial  of  malcfaftors,  whereof 
a  fatal  inftance  had  occurred  that  year  at  the  fef- 
fions  held  in  the  Old  Bailey. 

Jails  have  often  been  the  caufe  of  malignant 
fevers,  and  perhaps  no  where  oftener  than  in 
this  country.  Lord  Bacon  makes  the  following 
obfervation:  The  mojl  pernicious  infeSlion  next  the 
plague  is  the  Jmell  of  the  jail,  when  the  prifoners  have 
been  long,  and  clofe,  and  naflily  kept ;  whereof  we 
have  had,  in  our  time,  experience  twice  or  thrice, 
when  both  the  Judges  that  fat  upon  the  jail,  and  num- 
bers of  thofe  who  attended  the  buftnejs,  or  were  pre^ 
fent,  fickened  upon  it  and  died.  Therefore  it  were 
good  wifdom,  that  in  fuch  cafes  the  jail  were  aired 
before  they  be  brought  forth.  It  is  probable,  that 
one  of  the  times  pointed  at  by  this  noble  author. 
Was  at  the  fatal  affizes  held  at  Oxford, -in  the 
year  1577  j  of  which  we  have  a  more  particular 
account  in  Stowe's  Chronicle j  in  thefe  words : 
On  the  4th,  5th,  and  6th  days  of  July,  were  the  ajfizes 
held  at  Oxon ;  where  was  arraigned  and  condemned 
Rowland  Jenkins,  for  a  {editions  tongue ;  at  which 
time  there  arofe  amidfl  the  people  fuch  a  damp,  that 
almofi  all  were  [mothered.  Very  few  efcaped  that 
T/uere  not  taken. — Here  died  in  Oxon  three  hundred 

perfons  ; 


401 

perfons ;  and  ftckened  there,  but  died  in  other  places, 
two  hundred  and  odd"^. 

Of  thfe  fame  kind  of  infe£i:ion  we  have  an  un- 
Bappy  inftance  fo  frefli '  in  our  memory,  that  I 
need  not  have  meiitioned  it  here,  had  it  not  been  to 
iniform  fuch  as  live  at  a  diftance,  or  thofe  that  are 
to  come  after  us.  In  the  year  1750,  on  the  1 1  th  day 
of  May  the  feffions  began  at  the  Old-Bailey, 
and  continued  for  fome  days ;  in  which  time  a 
ffreat  number  of  criminals  Were  tried,  atid  there 
was  prefent  in  the  court  a  greater  multitude  than 
ufually  attend.    The  hall  in  the  Old-Bailey  is  a 
room  of  no  more  than  about  30  foot  fquare. 
Now,  whether  the  air  was  at  firft  tainted  from 
the  bar  by  fome  of  the  prifoners,  then  ill  of  the 
jail-difiemper,  or  by  the  general  uncleanlinefs  of 
fuch  perfons,  is  uncertain  ;  fmce,  from  the  latter 
caufe,  it  will  be  eafy  to  account  for  its  corruption; 
efpecially  as  it  was  fo  much  vitiated  by  the  foul 
fleams  of  the  Bail-dock,  and  of  the  two  rooms 
opening  into  the  court  in  which  the  prifoners 
were  the  whole  day  crowded  together,  till  they 
were  brought  out  to  be  tried :  and,  it  appeared 
afterwards,  that  thefe  places  had  not  been  cleaned 
for  fome  years.    The  poifonous  quality  of  the  air 
was  ftill  aggravated  by  the  heat  and  clofenefs  of 
the  court,  and  by  the  perfplrable  matter  of  a  great 
number  of  all  forts  of  people  penned  up  for  moft 


*  This  account  is  confirmed  by  Cambden,  vid.  Annal.  Eli%. 

Vol,  IV.  Dd  part 


402 


part  of  the  day  without  breathing  the  free  air,  or 
receiving  any  refrefhment.  The  bench  confided 
of  fix  perfons*,  whereof  four  died,  together 
with  two  or  three  of  the  counfe],  one  of  the 
under-flieriffs,  feveral  of  the  Middlefex  jury,  and 
others  prefent,  to  the  amount  of  above  forty  in 
the  whole,  without  making  allowance  for  thofe 
of  a  lower  rank,  whofe  death  may  not  have  been 

*  Fiz.  The  Lord  Mayor,  one  of  the  Lords  Chief  Jiiftices, 
two  of  the  Judges,  one  of  the  Aldermen,  and  the  Recorder. 
Of  thefe  died  Sir  Samuel  Pennant,  Lord  Mayor;  Sir  Thomas 
Abncy  and  Baron  Clark?,  Judges;  and  Sir  Daniel  Lambert, 
Alderman.    It  is  remarkable^  that  the  Lord  Chief  Juftice  and 
the  Recorder,   who  fat  on  the  Lord  Mayor's  right  hand, 
efcaped,  whilft  he  himfelf,  with  the  reft  of  the  bench  on  his 
l^t,  vvece  fei7.,ed  vrith  the.  infedlion :  and  thftt  the  Middlefex 
jury,  on,  the  fame  lide  of  the  court,  l.oft  fq  many,  whilft  the 
London  jury,  oppofite  to  them,  received  no  harm;  and  that 
of  the  whole  n^ultitudc,  but  one  or  two,  or  at  moft  a  fmall  num- 
ber of  thofe  that  were  on  thfi  fide  of  the  court  tjq  the  Mayor's 
righX'  haoid,   Wiere  taken  ill.    Some,  unacquainted  with  the 
dangerous  nature  of  putrid  effiuvia^  have  afcribed  both  this 
circumftance,  and  the  ficknefji  in  general,  to  a  cold  taken  by 
apeniug  a  w'mdaw,  by  which  a,  ftream  of  air  was  directed  to 
the  ftde  of  the  court  on  the  Lord  Mayor's  left  hand :  but  it  is 
to  be  obferved,  that  the  window  was  at  the  fartheft  end  of  the 
room  from  the  bench,  though  the  judges  fuffered  moft.  Nei- 
ther could  the  kind  of  the  fever,  or  the  mortality  attending  it> 
be  imputed  to  any  fuch  caufe.    It  is  therefore  probable,  that 
the  frefli  au-  dire£led  the  putrid  fleams  to  that  part  of  the  court 
above-mentioned.     This,  indeed,  muft  be  granted,  that  all 
feptic  particles  pafEng  into  the  blood,  become  more  aftive  and 
fatal  if  the  infected  perfon  catches  cold,  or  by  any  accident 
fuffers  a  ftoppage  of  perfpiration  ;  for  a  free  perfpiration  is  the 
chief  means  by  which  the  blood  is  freed  from  any  morbific 
matter  of  that  kind. 

heard 


403 

heard  of,  or  including  ally  that  did  not  fitkeli 
within  a  fortnight  after  the  feflions. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Hales  arid  I  being  confulted 
by  the  committee  upon  the  point  referred  to 
them,  tmd  halving  vifited  the  jail  in  company 
with  thofe  gentlemen,  it  was  then  agreed  that, 
confidering  the  fmallnefs  of  the  place,  in  propor- 
tion fo  the  number  of  the  prifoners,  it  would  be 
proper  to  make  a  farther  trial  of  the  ventilator, 
and  to  have  it  worked  by  a  machine  in  the  man- 
ner of  a  windmill,  to  be  eretled  for  that  purpofe 
Upon  the  leads  of  Newgate. 

The  fcheme  was  laid  before  the  Court  of  Al- 
dermen and  approved  of,  but  not  put  in  execu- 
tion till  fiear  two  years  after.  For  on  the  11th 
of  July,  1752,  Dr.  Hales  acquainted  Dr.  Knight 
and  me,  that  feveral  of  the  tubes  were  finiflied, 
and  that  the  machine  had  been  going  about  fix 
weeks  i  wherefore  being  defirous  to  fee  the 
eifefts,  he  had  appointed  Mr.  Stibbs,  the  car- 
penter employed  in  that  work,  to  meet  him  at 
Newgate,  and  defired  us  to  go  along  with  him. — ■ 
We  went  accordingly,  and  having  vifited  feveral 
of  the  wards,  we  were  all  of  us  very  fenfible 
that  fuch  as  were  provided  with  ventilating  tubes 
were  much  lefs  offenfive  than  the  reft  that  wantecL 
them  ;  and  Dr.  Hales  and  I  could  perceive  a  con- 
fiderable  improvement  made  upon  the  air  of  the 
whole  jail  fince  the  time  we  had  been  firft  there 
with  the  Committee.    Some  of  the:  wards  were 

D  d  2;  fo. 


404 

lb  free  from  any  fmell  peculiar  to  fuch  places, 
that  I  am  perfuaded,  were  Dr.  Hales's  defign 
completed,  and  a  perfon  appointed  to  regulate 
the  Aiders  of  the  tubes,  and  to  keep  the  machine 
in  order,  the  ufual  bad  confequences  from  foul 
and  crowded  jails,  might  in  a  great  mcafure,  if 
not  wholly,  be  prevented  in  that  place. 

One  of  the  wards  allotted  for  the  women 
had  a  fmall  room  adjoining  to  it,  in  which  they 
ufually  flept.  Both  places  feemed  at  that  time 
well  aired,  though  the  latter  was  elofe,  and,  if 
I  miftakenot,  without  either  window  or  chimney. 
The  prifoners  informed  us  that  before  this  ward 
received  the  tubes,  this  fleeping  place  had  been 
very  offenfive,  but  that  foon  after  it  became 
iweet y  and  though  upon  the  firft  working  of  the 
ventilator  they  had  been  more  fickly  than  before, 
they  foon  recovered  their  health,  and  had  pre- 
ferved  it  ever  iince.  Now  from  this  account  we 
muft  not  infer  that  any  danger  will  arife  from  a 
fudden  change  of  bad  air  for  good,  fince  this 
accident  may  be  better  accounted  for  from  ano- 
ther circumftance  we  were  then  likev^-ife  told  of, 
viz.  that  this  ward  of  the  women  had  been  fup- 
plied  by  a  ventilating  tube  before  thofe  in  the 
lower  ftory,  where  the  air  being  in  a  more  cor- 
rupted ftate,  it  had  pafTed  from  thence  through 
the  feams  of  the  floor  and  other  palTages,  to  re- 
place that  which  was  drawn  off  by  the  tube  in 
the  ward  above:  but  that  after  the  bad  air  was 

exhaufted. 


405 

exhaufted,  the  benefit  of  the  frcfli  air  foon  ap- 
peared by  the  better  health  of  the  prifoners.  '-i 

But  as  it  was  not  my  defign  in  this  paper  to  fet 
forth  all  the  advantages  that  may  be  expected 
from  the  ventilator,  I  fliall  leave  that  fubjeft  to  be 
treated  of  by  the  inventor  of  it,  and  fliall  only 
take  notice,  that  the  tubes  from  the  feveral  wards, 
uniting  in  one  great  trunk,  convey  all  the  putrid 
fteams  by  that  channel  into  the  atmofphere, 
through  a  vent  made  in  the  leads  of  Newgate.— 
Though  the  wind  was  moderate  during  the  time 
we  ftaid,  yet  we  obferved  that  the  ventilator 
threw  out  a  confiderable  ftream  of  air  of  a  riioft 
ofFenfive  fmelL 

Before  we  parted,  Mr.  Stibbs  informed  us, 
that  Clayton  Hand,  one  of  his  journeymen, 
whilft  he  was  employed  in  fetting  up  the  tubes, 
was  feized  with  a  fever,  and  carried  to  St.  Tho- 
mas's Hofpital,  after  lying  fome  days  ill  at  his  own 
houfe  ;  whereupon  apprehending  that  this  man's 
ficknefs  might  be  owing  to  the  air  of  the  jail,  and 
Dr.  Knight  and  I  having  the  curiofity  a  few  days 
after  to  go  to  St.  Thomas's  to  make  the  enquiry, 
we  found  the  patient  fitting  in  one  of  the  courts, 
recovered  of  his  fever,  though  ftill  weak,  and 
had  the  following  account  from  himfelf. 

He  faid,  that  upon  firft  finding  himfelf  indif- 
pofed,  he  had  left  off  work  for  fome  days,  but 
upon  growing  better  he  had  returned  to  Newgate. 
That  foon  after  happening  to  open  que  of  the 

tubes 


4o6 

tubes  of  the  old  ventilator,  which  had  ftood 
there  for  three  or  four  years,  fuch  offenfive 
fraell  iffued  from  it,  that  being  immediately  feized 
witli  a  naujea  and  ficknefs  at  his  .ftomach,  he  was 
obliged  to  go  home,  and  that  the  night  after  he 
fell  into  a  fever,  in  which  he  lay  about  eight  days 
.before  his  friends  carried  him  to  the  hofpital. 
That  becoming  foon  delirious,  h^  recollected  no 
other  fymptom  fucceeding  thofe  mentioned,  be- 
fides  frequent  Teachings  to  vomit,  a  trembling  of 
kis  handsj,  and  a  conflant  pain  in  his  head.  This 
man  had  taken  no  medicine  before  he  came  into 
St.  Thomas's,  and  fince  that  time  was  attended 
by  Dr.  Reeves  j  but  as  that  gentleman  was  not 
then  piefent,  we  were  informed  by  the  apothe- 
cary, that  Clayton  Hand  had  be^n-  admitted  in 
the  advanced  fl?ate  of  a  continued  fever,  attended 
with  a  great  Jlupr  and  a  funk  pulfe,  and'  that 
the.fever  had  not  left  him  till  feveral  days  after 
his  admiffion.— ^The  nurfes  account  was,  that:  he 
had  all  along  lain  like  one  ftupified,  and  that 
after  the  fever  went  off,  he  had  continued  for 
fome  time  very  dull  of  hearing.    We  could  learn 
nothing  certain  about  the  duration  of  the  fever ; 
but- from  what  the  patient  and  his  attendants  told 
us,  we  recolleQed  that  he  muft  have  been  ill 
about  three  weeks.    So  that  from  all  thefe  marks 
we  made  little  doubt  but  this  perfon  had  been  ill 
of  the  jail  diftemper,  and  were  confirmed  in 
our  opinion  by  the  following  circumftance. 

In 


407 

In  company  with  the  convalefcent  was  one 
Thomas  Wilmot,  another  of  Mr.  Stibbs's  jour- 
neymen, who  had  Itttcwife  worked  in  Newgate, 
and  whom  we  remembered  a  few  days  before  to 
have  feen  in  that  place,  very  a£live  and  m  perfe£l 
health.    This  man  told  us  he  had  come  to  fee  his 
companion,  but  as  he  apprehended  himfelf  in  dan- 
ger of  falling  into  the  fame  fever,  he  fliould  there- 
fore be  glad  of  our  advice.  Upon  examination  we 
found  his  tongue  white,  his  pulfe  quick, and  that  he 
complained  of  a  pain  and  confufion  of  hishcad,with 
a  fhaking  of  his  hands,  and  a  weaknefs  of  his  limbs. 
He  faid  his  diforder  had  come  on  gradually  fihce 
the  time  we  faw  him  in  Newgate,  but  that  he  was 
then  fo  very  ill  he  could  work  no  longer.  From 
which  account  it  appeared  to  us,  that  this  man 
had  alfo  catched  the  infection,  but  aS  ithe  fever 
feemed  not  to  be  quite  formed,  we  had  hopes  of 
(topping  its  progrefs :  and  with  this  view  we 
advifed  hitn  to  take  a  v6mit,  and  on  the  follbw- 
ing  night  a  fudorific,    He  followed  the  prefcrip- 
tion,  and  the  effefits  fhall  afterwards  be  men- 
tioned. 

After  Wilmot  had  told  us  his  own  cafe,  he  in- 
formed us  of  the  indifpofition  of  three  more  of 
his  companions,  who  had  all  been  employed  by 
Mr.  Stibbs  in  Newgate  :  whereupon  we  took 
their  direftions,  vifited  them,  and  found  them  all 
jll  of  the  jail  diftemper. 

The 


4o8 

The  firfl:  was  Michael  Sewel,  who  lodged  in 
the  Swan-Yard,  near  Newgate.  This  man  had 
been  ten  days  confined  to  his  bed  without  taking 
any  medicine.  He  was  then  delirious,  and  ha^i  the 
petechial  eruption.  But  obferying  that  he  lay 
in  a  clofe,  ill-aired,  and  dirty  room,  without  any 
attendants  but  his  wife,  then  fuckling  a  child,  we 
believed  he  had  no  chance  to  recover  where  he 
was,  and  therefore  recommended  his  cafe  to 
Mr.  Stibbs,  who  procured  his  admiffion  that  day 
into  St.  Thomas's  Hofpital,  where  he  alfo  re- 
covered. 

The  fecond  was  Adam  Chaddocks,  who  lay 
at  a  green  ihop  in  the  Little  Qld  Bailey.  He 
was  taken  ill  on  the  fanle  day  with  the  former, 
andhadufed  no  medicine.  He  had  hkewife  the 
petechial  fpots  upon  his  breafl:  and  back,  and 
though  he  was  not  altogether  infenfible,  v^^as  af- 
fefted  with  a  Jiupor,  attended  with  a  funk  pulfe, 
and  other  fymptoms  of  the  diftemper.  Hi§ 
landlady,  who  took  care  of  him,  inform^ii  us 
he  had  been  troubled  with  retchings  to  vomit, 
and  a  head-ach  from  the  beginning,  and  that  for 
fome  days  paft  he  had  been  feized  with  a  loofe- 
nefs,  and  that  his  ftools  were  very  offenfive.  As 
the  room  this  perfon  lay  in  was  large  and  well 
aired,  we  did  not  think  it  neceffary  to  remove 
him,  but  recommended  him  to  the  care  of  Dr. 
Pate,  phyfician  of  St.  Bartholomew's  HofpitaJ, 
who  attended  him  till  he  recovered. 

The 


409 

The  third  was  John  Dobie,  apprentice  to  Mr, 
Stibbs,  and  about  15  years  old,  who  lived  with 
his  parents  in  a  court  by  the  White  Bear,  in 
Cannon-ftreet.  We  faw  him  on  the  fame  day 
with  the  other  two,  which  was  the  14th  of  his 
ficknefs,  and  the  12th  fince  he  took  to  his  bed. 
His  mother  told  us  that  fome  of  the  journeymen 
working  in  Newgate,  had  forced  him  to  go  down 
into,  the  great  trunk  of  the  ventilator,  in  order 
to  bring  up  a  wig  one  of  them  had  thrown  into 
it ;  and  that  as  the  machine  was  then  working, 
-hehafd  almoft  .died  of  the  ftink  before  they  could 
get  him  up.  That  upon  coming  home  he  com- 
plained of  a  violent  head-ach,  a  great  diforder 
at  his  ftomach,  with  teachings  to  vomit,  whicl^ 
had  never  entirely  left  him.  We  found  him  ex^ 
treraely  low,  with  a  funk  pulfe,  a  delirium,  and 
an  unufual  anxiety  or  oppreffion  about  his  breaft. 
This  laft  fymptom  we  afcribe  to  the  opiates  he 
was  then  taking  for  a  loofenefs  that  had  come  on 
two  or  three  days  before  we  faw  him.  This  lad 
being  in  no  condition  to  be  moved,  and  being 
befidps  well  attended  by  his  mother,  and  in 'a 
well  aired  chamber,  we  prefcribed  to  him  there, 
and  repeated  our  vifits  till  he  was  quite  free  of 
the  fever.  It  was  obfervable,  that  before  he  was 
taken  ill  he  had  been  twice  let  down  into  the 
great  trunk  of  the  ventilator,  when  the  machine 
was  (landing  ftill,  without  complaining  of  any  ill 
fmell,  or  receiving  any  hurt  thereby,  but  that 


410 

i 

the  lafl  time,  when  the  machine  was  work- 
ing, he  immediately  cried  out  he  was  ready  to  be  j 
fuifocated,  and  the  two  men  who  helped  him  ' 
out,  by  receiving  the  foul  ftcam  from  the  trunk,  | 
were  both  fet  a  vomiting  fo  violently  as  to  bring  | 
up  blood. 

On  the  23d  of  Auguft,  Thomas  Wilmot  above-  ; 
mentioned,  called  upon  Dr.  Knight,  and  told  j 
him,  that  after  taking  the  vomit  and  fvveats,  he  ; 
had  immediately  recovered,  but  begged  him  to  \ 
fee  his  wife,  who  then  lay  ill  of  a  fever  at  his  « 
houfe  in  Snow's  Fields,  Southwark.  The  Doftor  i 
fufpe^ling  that  this  woman's  indifpofition  might 
be  owing,  to  the  contagion  received  from  her  huf-  ' 
band,  acquainted  me  with  itj,  and  carried  me  to  j 
fee  her.  There  we  were  informed  that  Wilmot's  : 
daughter,  a  girl  of  eight  years  old,  who  lay  with  \ 
her  parents,  had  been  feized  with  a  fever  foon  j 
after  her  father's  recovery  ;  that  flie  had  been  ill  j 
about  a  fortnight,  and  they  believed  had  fpots  ! 
upon  her  breaft,  but  that  the  had  recovered  with-  ! 
put  any  medicine.  That  her  mother  had  not  only  *\ 
liurfcd  her,  but  continued  to  lie  with  her,  and  J 
that  fome  time  after  the  girl's  recovery,  the  mo- 
ther  began  to  complain,  and  foon  after  fell  into  i 
a  fever,  and  that  it  was  the  12th  dayfmce  fhe  was 
confined  to  her  bed.  This  woman  having  the  I 
feiechia,  a  ftupor  with  deafnefs,  and  a  funk  pulfe,  \ 
there  was  no  doubt  of  her  being  likewife  infefted 
with  the  diftemper,  and  probably  by  her  daughter. 

As 


4U 

As  fhe  had  been  without  an}''  afli fiance,  we  ad- 
vifed  her  hufhand  to  fend  for  Mr.  Breach,  apo- 
thecary in  the  Borough,  who  having  ferved  in  the 
hofpital  of  the  army  during  the  war,  was  well 
acquainted  with  the  nature  of  fuch  fevers;  and 
having  left  directions  with  him,  we  did  not  return 
till  after  the  crifis,  which  happened  upon  the 
J 6th  or  17th  day  from  the  time  fte  was  confined 
to  her  bed. 

Some  time  after  thisMr.  Breach,  the  apothecary, 
informed  us,  that  he  was  again  employed  in  Tho- 
mas Wilmot's  family ;  for  that  Elizabeth  IVTar- 
lhall,  his  fifter-in-lavv',  after  nurfing  his  wife,  was 
taken  ill  of  the  fame  kind  of  fever,  and  defired 
our  affiftance.  This  perfon  we  found  in  the  fame 
bed,  and  in  the'  fame  condition  in  which  we  had 
feen  her  fiftei-  fome  time  before  ;  and  in  the  room 
with  her,  in  another  bed,  a  fon  of  Wilmot's,  a 
boy  of  nirie  years  old,  ill  of  the  fame  diftemper. 
The  former  had  been  attacked  on  the  15th  of 
September,  and  the  latter  the  day  before.  The 
woman's  fever  ran  out  the  ordinary  length  of  fix- 
teen  or  feventeen  days,  but  the  boy's  came  fome 
days  fooner  to  a  crifis,  and  was  all  along  of  a 
milder  nature.  She  recovered  very  llowly,  com- 
plaining of  great  weaknefs,  deafhefs,  and  a  con- 
fufion  in  her  head,  the  ordinary  confequences  of 
thefe  malignant  fevers. 

In  my  return  I  called  at  St.  Thomas's  Hofpital, 
'to  enquire  for  one  William  Thompfon,  a  lad  of 

about 


413 

about  fifteen  years  of,  age,  who,  as  Wilmot  then 
told  me,  was  another  of  Mr.  Stibbs's  journeymen, 
and  had  been  taken  ill  by  working  in  Newgate, 
Ijnce  the  three  he  had  mentioned  to  me  before. 
irhjs;lad  .was  recovered,  but  not  yet  difmilfed. 
He  faid,  that  upon;  finding  himfelf  growing  ill 
he  had  left  ,  his  work,  and  kept  at  home  for  about 
a  week,  complaining  of  a  pain  in  the  hinder 
part  of  his  head,  and  in  his  back,  of  a  trembling 
of  .his  hands,  and  of  reftlefs  nights ;  that  his 
feVerifli  indifpofition  increafmg,  he  had  been 
obliged  to  take  to  his  bed,  where  he  lay  about 
eight'  days  before  he  was  fent  to  the  hofpital. 
The  i  apothecary  added,  that  he  had  continued 
al^OiJt  .ithe  fame  number  of  days"  before  the  turn 
of  his  fever  ;  that,  his  pulfe  had  been  extreniely 
Jow  all  that  time,  and  that  they  beheved  him  to 
Jje  in  the  utmoft  danger.  He  added,  that,  the 
wife  of  Michael  Sewel  (the  fecond  patient  they 
had  received  of  thofe  that  had  been  employed  in 
Newgate),  fome  days  after  her  hufband's  admif- 
fioh,  came  to  feek  advice  for  herfelf,  and  that 
her  complaints  had  been  the  fame  with  Wilmot's, 
at  the  time  we  faw  him;  \\q  added,  that  he  had 
giv^n  her  fome  medicines,  but  had  heard  nothing 
of  her  fince. 

On  the  laft  day  of  December,  Mr.  Breach  in- 
formed me,  that  about  a  month  ago,  he  had  been 
called  to  attend  Thomas  Wilmot,  but  as  he  died 
Ijcfore  he  fuw  him,  he  could  give  no  other  ac- 
count 


413 

count  of  his  ficknefs,  than  as  they  told  him  he  had 
long  been  in  a  bad  ftate  of  health,  and  that  at  laft 
he  became  feverifli,  and  went  off  with  a  loofcnefs. 

In  the  beginning  of  this  month,  the  widow 
applied  to  Dr.  Hales  and  me,  in  order  to  have 
the  fufferings  of  her  family  attefted  and  laid  before 
the  Lord  Mayor,  in  hopes  of  having  fome  provi- 
fion  made  for  them.  Upon  which  occafion  we 
learned,  that  Thomas  Wilmot,  her  hufband,  after 
taking  the  fudorific,  fo  far  recovered  as  to  work 
at  his  bufinefs,  but  that  though  he  did  not  return 
to  Newgate,  yet  his  ftrength  would  not  permit 
him  to  continue  at  work  above  a  day  or  two  at  a 
time,  ftill  complaining  of  a  head-ach  and  pains 
acrofs  his  breaft,  or,  as  he  expreffed  it,  about  his 
heart ;  of  a  feeblenefs  of  his  limbs,  a  fliaking  of 
his  hands,  and  a  conftant  drought.. ,  (That  not- 
withftanding  thefe  ailments,  he  went  out  daily  till 
a  week  before  he  died,  when  he  grew  very  . weak 
and  more  feverifli,  had  fometimes  profufe  fweats, 
and  at  other  times  a  loofenefs,  and  that  both 
thefe  excretions,  and  alfo  his  breath,  were  re- 
markably offenlive.  That  at  laft  he  was  feized 
with  convulfions,  and  died  in  one  of  them.  His 
wife  added,  that  her  youngeft  fon  James,  a  boy 
of  four  years  of  age,  was  after  the  father's  de- 
ceafe  feized  with  a  fpotted  fever,  of  the  fame  kind 
with  what  had  prevailed  ia  the  family,  but  that 
he  recovered  ;  and  that  her  own  mother,  Eleanor 

Meggit, 


414 

Meggit,  who  did  not  live  in  the  houfe,  but  came 
often  to  fee  them,  was  alfo  taken  ill  of  a  fever 
without  fpots,  and  died  about  ten  days  after  her 
hufband.  She  concluded  with  telling  us,  that 
the  diftrefs  of  her  family  had  been  increafed  by 
their  being  deprived  of  all  affiftanco  from  theif 
neighbours,  who  having  thus  feen  the  whole 
family,  one  after  another,  feized  with  this  fever, 
were  as  much  afraid  to  come  near  them,  as  if  they 
had  been  infe£led  with  the  plague. 

It  will  be  proper  to  add,  that  befides  thefe  fix 
perfons  that  w^ere  taken  ill  by  working  in  New- 
gate, and  whom  I  faw,  there  was  another,  as 
Mr.  Stibbs  has  lately  informed  me,  but  whom  I 
never  vifited.  So  that,  befides  Wilmot's  whole 
family,  and  Sewel's  Wife,  who  received  the  con- 
tagion at  fecond-hand,  there  were  feven  perfons 
originally  feized  with  the  fever  out  of  eleven  only 
that  were  employed  in  the  jail  by  Mr.  Stibbs. 
Now  as  moft  of  thefe  feven  were  taken  ill  within 
a  few  days  of  one  another,  and  of  the  fame  kind 
of  diftemper,  it  is  not  to  be  doubted  but  that  it 
was  owing  to  the  foul  air  of  Newgate. 

From  all  which  it  appears  how  requifite  it  is 
that  the  public  fliould  take  fuch  meafures  as  may 
prevent  the  like  accidents  arifing  from  foul  and 
crowded  jails,  or  indeed  from  any  place,  wherein 
a  multitude  of  people  are  long,  clofely,  and  naftily 
kept  i  and  which  can  never  be  obtained-  without 
a  conflant  change  of  air. 

Nor 


415 

*Nor  are  diftempers  of  this  fort  to  be  accounted 
among  fuch  rare  occurrences  as  require  no  par- 
ticular provifion  to  be  made  againft  them,  fmce 
from  this  very  inftance  it  is  manifeft  how  often, 
difafters  of  this  kind  may  happen  without  any 
notice  beinsT  taken  of  them.  Had  it  not  been 
for  the  accident  of  Sir  John  Pringle's  going  at  that 
timg  tc>, Newgate,  hearing  of  the  firft  man's  ill- 
n^fsi,  and  feeing  his  companion  with  him,  all 
tbefe  men  might  have  been  ill,  and  not  only  the 
public,  but  raoft  of  themfelves  ignorant  of  the 
caufe.  And  as  for  Wilmot's  family,  they  might 
have  received  the  infection,  and  even  have  pe- 
rifhed  by  it,  without  any  perfon  being  convinced 
of  the  danger  arifing  from  jails,  or  the  contagious 
and  malignant  nature  of  the  fever,  excepting  a 
few  in  the  neighbourhood,  which  is  a  remote  and 
obfcure  quarter  of  the  city. 

The  firft  trial  of  ventilators  in  an  hofpital,  was 
made  in  the  county  hofpital  at  Winchefter ; 
where  they  are  fixed  under  the  floor,  at  the  far- 
ther end  of  the  ward  from  the  entrance,  yet  fo 
ais  to.  be  worked  with  great  eafe  by  thofe  in  the 
ward,  by  means  of  a  lever  F,  G,  vide  Fi^.  2. 
fixed  acrofs  the  ward  between  the  beds.  The 
midriffs  of  the  ventilators  are  each  feven  feet 
long,  and  three  feet  wide.  The  ventilators  arc 
not  feparate,  as  in  Fig.  2.  but  have  only  one  com- 
mon partition  of  thick  plank.  ^  The  air  is  drawn 
out  of  the  ward  through  a  large  trunk,  which 

reaches 


4i6 

reaches  near  up  to  the  ceiling,  that  it  may  no^.. 
incommode  the  patients  with  the  velocity  with 
which  itruflics  into  the  trunk  ;  which  velocity  is 
fo  great  as  to  twirl  fad  round  a  little  wind-mill 
placed  at  the  mouth  of  the  trunk.  And  in  cafes 
where  fuch  a  wind-mill  cannot  be  feen  by  the 
workers  of  the  ventilators,  then  the  wind-mill 
may  be  made  to'  make  a  very  fraall  tinkling  bell 
to  found,  as  was  done  at  Newgate,  when  the  firft 
ventilators  were  worked  by  hand,  and  as  is  done 
in  Durham  county  jail,  with  a  very  fmall  bell. 
The  like  twirling  wind-mill  is  found  to  be  of  con- 
liderable  ufe  in  diverting,  and  thereby  encouraging 
thofe  who  work  the  ventilators  to  perfift  in  work- 
ing ;  without  which  fenfible  amufement  they  are 
apt  to  be  difcouraged  from  working  the  ventila- 
tors ;  becaufe,  as  it  has  been  found  by  experience, 
they  are  apt  to  look  upon  it  as  working  to  no 
purpofe,  lince  they  can  fee  no  viiible  effeft  that 
it  has  on  the  invifiblc  air. 

This  ward  being  filled  with  the  fumes  of  burn- 
ing pitch,  they  were  drawn  off,  and  difpelled  by 
the  ventilators,  through  trunks  which  conveyed 
them  out  into  the  open  air,  in  nine  minutes,  not- 
withftanding  the  length  of  the  ward  is  fifty-eight 
feet,  audits  whole  capacity  equal  to  278  tuns. 
When  the  farther  door  was  flmt  of  another  long 
ward,  which  communicated  with  this  by  a  long 
paiTage,  on  working  the  ventilators,  the  fmoke 
was  drawn  down  the  chimney  of  that  ward  j  and 

with 


417 

with  ten  minutes  ventilation  the  ward  was  fenfibly 
fweeter. 

There  are  ventilators  alfo  in  St.  George's  Hof- 
pltal,  near  Hyde-Park-Corner,  whofe  midriffs 
are  each  nine  feet  long,  and  four,  and  a  half  teet 
wide.  They  are  fixed  on  the  top  of  the  hbufe, 
and  are  worked  by  a  windmill.  From  the  ven- 
tilators there  goes  a  trunk,  a  foot  fquare  ill  the 
clear,  to  the  three  large  wards  on  the  weflern 
lide  of  the  hofpital,  which  are  over  each  other, 
and  extend  north  and  fouth.  From  the  above- 
mentioned  perpendicular  trUnk,  there  is  near  the 
ceiling  of  each  ward  a  like  trunk,  which  reaches 
from  near  the  door  of  the  ward  to  the  farther 
end  of  it,  viz.  about  feventy-five  feet  \  where  the 
foul  air  being  drawn  into  the  trunk,  the  fucceed- 
ing  frefli  air  enters  at  the  ward-door,  and  thereby 
drives  out  the  foul  air  before  it  j  and  the  like 
trunks  are  fixed  in  the  wards  On  the  eaftern  fide 
of  the  hofpital.  But  the  frefh  air  muft  by  no 
means  enter  at  the  windows  in  cold  weather,  be* 
caufe  fuch  cool  air  will  fall  precipitately  down 
through  the  warmer  air  of  the  ward,  and  thereby 
greatly  incommode  the  patients  5  whereas,  by 
entering  principally  at  the  lower  part  of  the 
open  door-cafe,  that  inconvenience  will  be  avoid- 
ed: or  holes  might  be  made  through  the  wall 
for  the  air  to  enter  the  wards  from  the  ftair-cafe; 
by  which  means  the  foul  air  at  that  end  of  the 
ward  will  be  drawn  to  the  other  end  of  the  ward. 

Vol.  IV.  E  e  and 


and  thence  be  drawn  off  by  the  ventilators.  The 
doors  fliould  be  always  open  while  the  ventilators 
are  working.  There  are  alfo  air-trunks  to  fevcrai 
lefler  wards. 

As  feveral  of  thefe  wards  may  thus  be  venti- 
lated at  the  fame  time,  and  as  the  change  of  air 
will  therefore  be  fo  very  gentle  as  to  be  in  a  man- 
ner infenfible ;  therefore  the  ventilation  maybe 
continued  much  the  longer  with  great  fafety  to 
the  patients. 

Some  are  apt  to  think  ventilators  ufelefs  in 
hofpitals,  becaufe  they  can  in  good  warm  wea- 
ther air  the  wards  by  opening  the  windows,  and 
that  doubtlefs  much  better  than  by  ventilation  ; 
and  were  there  fuch  good  kindly  weather  all  the 
year  round,   then  ventilators  would  be  ufelefs. 
But  fince,  for  the  greateft  part  of  the  year,  the 
external  air  is  too  cold  to  be  admitted  in  at  win- 
dows, becaufe  it  is  a  well-known  truth,  viz.  that 
cold  air  admitted  into  the  upper  part  of  a  warm 
room,    being  fpecifically  heavier,  falls  precipi- 
tately down  through  the  warmer  air.    And  this 
it  muft  doubtlefs  do  in  the  warm  wards  of  an 
hofpital,  fo  as  to  incommode  and  endanger  the 
welfare  .of  the  patients  ;  befides  that,  the  indraft 
of  air  at  open  windows  will  be  much  greater 
than  what  comes  in  by  the  more  gentle  method 
of  ventilation  ;  befides  this  further  great  advan- 
tage, that  the  frefli  air  drawn  in  by  ventilators, 
principally  enters  the  wards  at  the  lower  half  of 

open 


419 

open  door-cafes,  as  is  plain  to  be  feen  by  holding 
a  lighted  candle  at  the  lower  and  upper  parts  of 
an  open  door-cafe ;  or  elfe  the  freQi  air  may  be 
conveyed  into  fome  wards,  by  trunks  placed  near 
the  floor,  as  is  done  with  good  effeft  in  32  cham- 
bers in  the  Small-Pox  Hofpital  at  Sir  John  Oid- 
caftle's.  It  has  been  faid,  that  fome  hofpitals 
fland  in  fo  open  and  airy  a  fituation,  that  they 
have  no  occafion  for  ventilators ;  yet  it  is  well 
known,  that  notwithftanding  Ihips  at  fea  are  in 
fo  airy  a  fituation,  that  millions  of  people  have 
loft  their  lives  there  by  the  foulnefs  and  putrid- 
nefs  of  the  air  in  fliips  which  inconvenience  is 
effeftually  prevented  by  ventilators,  as  is  now 
fully  proved  by  repeated  experience  in  many 
fhips,  which  the  people  on  board  are  fo  fenfibie 
of,  that  they  work  the  ventilators  with  eagernefs. 

In  the  year  1752,  a  pair  of  double  ventilators 
were  put  into  an  hofpital  for  the  fmall-pox  at 
Sir  John  Oldcaftle's,  near  London.  Their  midriffs 
were  feven.  feet  long,  and  three  feet  wide.  The 
houfe  was  four  ftories  high,  with  galleries  on  every 
floor,  on  each  fide  of  which  were  four  chambers, 
with  vacant  fpaces  in  the  middle,  in  which  there 
was  a  chimney.  In  the  middle  of  one  of  thefe 
galleries  the  ventilators  were  fixed  up  to  the  ceil- 
ing, where  the  lever  was  comn^od.ioufly  worked 
up  and  down  by  means  of  long  iron  rods  fixed 
to  it  at  F  and  G,  Fig.  2*,  the  lower  ends  of  which 

*  Vide  Hales  on  the  Ventilator. 

E  e  2  rods 


42  o 

rods  were  fixed  to  fliort  levers,  one  end  of  whiclr 
worked  on  iron  pins  fixed  in  the  fides  of  the  vacant 
fpace  where  the  chimney  was.    By  means  of 
trunks  branching  from  the  larger  perpendicular 
ones,  all  the  thirty-two  chambers  were  ventilated 
in  their  turns,  viz.  the  eight  rooms  of  a  gallery 
at  a  time,  by  having  the  foul  air  drawn  with  a 
cautious  hand  through  a  hole  four  inches  fquare, 
near  the  ceiling  of  each  room,  in  which  were 
two  patients,  the  frefli  air  entering  through  a  long 
trunk  under  the  bed  oii  the  other  fide  of  the 
room  -y  which  trunk  is  full  of  fmall  holes,  efpe- 
eially  at  its  farther  end,  thereby  not  only  to  pre- 
vent the  inconvenience  of  a  large  Aream  of  air 
in  one  place,  but  alfo  to  convey  fome  of  the  frefh 
air  to  the  farther  fide  of  the  room,  and  by  that 
means  impel  all  the  foul  air  fo  as  to  have  it  drawn 
out.    The  foul  air  is  conveyed  by  a  trunk  through 
the  roof  of  the  houfe,  where  the  upper  part  of 
the  trunk  is  turned  horizontally,  to  prevent  the 
entrance  of  rain.    In  cafe  it  may  not  be  proper 
to  ventilate  any  particular  wardsj  there  is  a  valve 
to  prevent  the  drawing  out  of  any  air.  The 
midrifFs'  were  feven  feet  long,  and  three  wide. 
This  kind  of  ventilator  is  no  annoyance  to  the 
neighbourhood. 

Such  ventilation  caufes  the  hofpital  to  be  in  a- 
manner  as  fweet  as  a  private  houfe.  And  it  was 
obferved,  ///<?/  fewer  by  more  than  one  third  diCy 
fmce  the  drawing  the  foul  putrid  air  out  of  the 

chambers' 


421 


■chambers  by  ventilation  5  and  it  is  reafonable  to 
think,  that  the  danger  of  fo  putrid  a  diftemper 
as  the  fmall-pox  is,  will  be  much  greater  in  a 
foul  putrid  than  in  a  purer  air.  The  good  efFe6l 
of  this  method  moft  probably  led  to  the  not 
keeping  the  chambers  of  the  fick  very  clofe  in 
private  houfes. 

By  order  of  the  Right  Honourable  Henry 
Fox,  Efq.  fecretary  at  war,  ventilators  were  fixed 
under  a  guard-bed  in  the  Savoy,  whofe  midriffs 
were  eight  feet  long,  and  five  feet  broad  ;  with 
thefe  five  rooms  are  ventilated  5  three  always, 
and  fometimes  four  at  a  time.  The  air-pipes 
draw  air  from  under  the  guard-beds  ;  grate-work- 
paflages  being  made  through  the  fore-front  of  the 
beds,  at  an  oblique  diftant  pofition  from  the 
mouth  of  the  pipes,  thereby  to  prevent  the  in-^ 
draft  of  any  thing  the  foldiers  may  out  of  divert 
fion  put  there.  And,  for  the  fame  reafon,  one 
of  the  air-pipes  which  goes  down  through  the 
boards  of  the  floor  to  a  room  below,  does  not  go 
direftly  through  the  ceiling,  which  is  opened  ajt 
about  two  yards  diftance  from  the  air-pipe, 

Mr.  Hayward,  Mafter  of  the  Savoy  Prifon, 
has  always  been  very  careful  to  have  the  wards 
fcraped  and  fwept  every  morning  j  for  he  ob- 
ierves  that  the  dirt  of  the  fhoes  much  increafes 
the  ftench  and  foulnefs  of  the  air.  Yet,  not- 
withflanding  this  his  care  to  keep  the  rooms 

clean^ 


42  2 

clean,  when  there  were  many  prifoners,  they  were 
apt,  fays  Hales,  to  be  fickly,  and  to  get  the  jail  dif- 
tcmper,  for  want  of  changing  the  foul,  ftagnant, 
putrid  air.  The  doing  of  which,  by  means  of  ven- 
tilators, has  made  thofe  wards  fo  healthy,  that  in 
the  year  1749,  of  200  men  but  one  died,  and  he  of 
the  fmall-pox.  And  in  the  year  1750,  of  240 
which  were  there  three  months,  but  two  died. 
In  the  year  1751  none  died  :  and  in  the  year  1752 
only  one  old  perfon  died.  Whereas  before  the 
ventilators  were  put  up,  there  often  died  50  or 
100  of  the  infeftious  jail  diftcmper.  And  this, 
iiotwithftanding  they  have  a  paved  open  court 
to  walk  in,  which  was  waflied  thrice  a  week  in 
the  evening,  and  the  wards  as  often  in  the  morn- 
ing in  warm  weather,  and  every  14  or  20  days 
in  cold  damp  weather.  But  before  ventilation, 
the  foul  air  of  the  wards,  which  became  putrid 
by  long  continuance,  being  not  frequently  chang- 
ed for  frefli  air,  was  infeftious  and  deadly.  This 
probably  occafioned  the  jail  diftemper  there  in 
the  year  1757  ;  one  of  the  large  wards  having 
no  ventilation,  whence  the  infedlion  might  arifc. 
And  what  contributes  the  more  to  the  prefent 
healthinefs  of  the  place,  is,  that 

Mr.  Hayward,  the  mafter  of  the  prifbn,  conti- 
nues with  the  fame  care  and  zeal  to  keep  it  clean. 
And,  the  more  efFeftually  to  cure  the  wards  ot 
§ny  infection,  he  burns,  as  I  delircci  him,  every 

fix. 


423 

Cx. weeks,  two  pounds  of  brimjlone  in  the  larger 
wards,  and  a  pound  in  the  fmaller  wards. 

And  Mr,  Akerman,  the  keeper,  informed  me, 
that  the  wards  in  Newgate  are  cleaned  every 
week  ;  a  laudable  example  that  ought  to  be  prac- 
tifed  in  jails ;  but  one  of  the  wards  having  no 
ventilators,  and  the  place  being  crowded  with 
men,  the  jail  diftemper  was  bred  in  the  very  hot 
fummer  of  the  year  1757,  which  was  prevented 
from  fpreading,  by  removing  the  lick,  and  puri- 
fying the  wards  with  the  fumes  of  burning  brim- 
Jlone  and  vinegar''^. 

Ventilators  were  fixed  in  Newgate  by  order 
of  Sir  Richard  Hoare,  when  Lord-Mayor,  which 
ventilated  five  principal  wards  where  the  women 
were.  It  was  obfervable  that  in  confequence  the 
prifoners  were  more  healthy,  and  confiderably 
fewer  of  them  died,  for  a  year  after  thofe  wards 
were  ventilated,  although  thofe  apartments  con- 
tained often  a  great  number  of  prifoners.  And 
the  greateft  part  of  thofe  who  died  arofe  from 
fickly  prifoners  brought  from  other  jails  to  New- 
gate to  attend  the  feffions. 

As  ventilators  were  firft  fixed  in  Winchefter 
Hofpital,  fo  were  they  firft  ufed  in  that  jail,  which 
were  found  to  be  of  great  benefit  to  the  prifoners, 
in  freeing  them  from  the  intolerable  ftench  of  a 
foul,  clofe,  putrid  air,  by  often  drawing  it  off, 
and  introducing  frefti  air.  They  are  fixed  upon  the 

*  This  account  from  Hales  was  publiflied  in  1758, 

ceiling 


424 

ceiling  of  the  debtors  room,  as  well  that  they 
may  be  out  of  the  reach  of  the  prifoners  to  da- 
mage them,  as  alfo  that  they  may  take  up  none 
of  their  room  ;  where  they  are  worked  by  the 
lever  F,  G,  which  is  placed  near  a  wall,  thereby 
ventilci,ting  both  the  debtors  roont  and  the  Crimi- 
nals dungeon,  or  night-room — the  prifoners  en- 
joyed good  health  for  more  than  two  years  after 
they  were  fixed  there,  viz.  till  two  fellows  from 
Reading  jail,  who  had  the  jail  diftemper,  firfl: 
gave  it  to  a  man  who  fliaved  them  ;  and  fome 
time  after  eight  more  were  feized  with  it,  who 
were  all  in  the  fame  day-room,  in  which  the 
felons  had  been  till  they  were  executed  ;  and  no 
more  than  thofe  eight  were  ill  of  that  diftemper 
for  a  long  time  after  ;  an  evident  proof  that  the 
felons  brought  the  diftemper  there,  and  that 
ventilation  arrefted  its  progrefs.    The  jail  diftem- 
per is  of  fo  infeftious  and  peftilentious  a  nature, 
that  it  is  well  known,  by  many  inftances,  to  have 
been  carried  into  towns  refrethed  with  the  open 
air ;  and  may  well,  therefore,  infe£t  eafier  in  clofe 
prifons,  notwithftanding  the  wards  are  ventilated 
to  fuch  a  degree  as  very  fenfibly  to  refrefti  them. 
And  it  is  very  probable  that  the  like  degree  of 
ventilation  would  effectually  prevent,  if  not  ar- 
reft,  the  breeding  of  jail  diftempers,  which  are 
chiefly  occafior.cd  by  a  high  degree  of  putrefac- 
tion of  foul,  long  confined,  and  ftagnant  air.  Thus 
filk-worms  aredeftroyed  by  their  own  ftench. 


425 

It  were  therefore  to  be  wiflied,  that  the  pri- 
Toners  which  are  removed  from  unventilated  jails, 
to  thofe  ■v^hich  have  ventilators,  were  carefully 
kept  in  feparate  wards,  till  ventilators  are  put 
into  all  jails.  For  though  ventilation  may  effec- 
tually prevent  the  iirft  breeding  of  the  jail  diftem- 
per,  yet  it  will  not  abfolutely  cure  it,  nor  prevent 
its  fpreading  infe£lion.  Which  fliews  how  rea- 
fonable  it  is  to  have  all  jails  thus  ventilated,  there- 
by to  prevent  the  breeding  of  that  peftilential  iu- 
feftious  difeafe,  called  the  Jail  Diftemper. 

Many  are  apt  to  think  that  there  is  no  occafion 
for  ventilators  in  thofe  prifons  which  have  an  open 
area  or  court  for  the  prifoners  to  air  themfelves  in. 
But  this  is  a  great  miftake ;  for  there  are  many 
jnflances  of  the  Jail  Diftemper's  being  bred,  and 
deftroying  many  in  jails  with  open  courts.  This 
was  frequently  the  cafe  in  the  Savoy,  before  ven- 
tilators were  fixed  there  to  change  the  foul  putrid 
air  of  the  wards.  And  in  the  Fleet  prifon  an 
hundred  (died  of  that  diftemper  in  the  winter, 
between  the  years  1753  and  1754,  notwithftand- 
ing  there  is  a  large  area.  And  it  is  notorious, 
that  millions  of  mankind  have  been  deftroyed  by 
the  noxious  putrid  air  in  fliips,  and  this  notwith- 
jftandjng  they  have  the .  advantage  of  plenty  of 
very  pure  air  to  breathe  in  whenever  they  come 
upon  the  open  deck.  Thefe  daily  inftances  fully 
•prove  the  great  importance  of  refrefliing  the  foul 
air  in  prifons,  lliips,  &?;c. 

PRACTICAL 


426 


PRACTICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 


SECT.  LIV. 

THE  SAME  SUBJECT  CONTINUED. 

God  in  his  infinite  goodnefs  was  pleafed  to 
exert  fuperior  power  in  creating  man  a  fuperior 
being ;  a  being  endued  with  a  choice  of  good 
and  evil ;  and  capable,  in  fome  meafure,  of  co- 
operating with  his  own  intentions.  Man,  there- 
fore, may  be  confidered  as  a  limited  creature, 
endued  with  powers  imitative  of  thofe  refiding 
in  the  Deity.  He  is  thrown  into  a  world  that 
ftands  in  need  of  his  help  ;  and  has  been  granted 
a  power  of  producing  good  out  of  evil.  If, 
therefore,  we  confider  the  earth  as  allotted 
for  our  habitation,  we  fhall  find  that  much  has 
been  given  us  to  enjoy,  and  much  to  amend ; 
that  we  have  ample  reafons  for  our  gratitude,  and 
ftill  more  for  our  indnjlry.  In  thofe  great  outlines 
of  nature  to  which  art  cannot  reach,  and  where 
our  greateft  efforts  muft  have  been  ineflTedual, 
God  himfelf  has  finifhed  thefe  with  amazing 
grandeur  and  beauty.  Our  beneficent  Father  has 
confidered  thefe  parts  of  nature  as  peculiarly  his 
own  J  as  parts  which  no  creature  could  havelkill, 

or 


42/ 

or  ftrength,  or  power,  to  amend  :  and  therefore 
made  them  incapable  of  alteration,  or  of  more 
perfe£t  regularity.  The  heavens,  and  the  firma- 
ment, {hew  the  wifdom  and  the  glory  of  the 
Divine  Artificer.  Aftronomers,  who  are  beft 
fkilled  in  the  fymmetry  of  fyftems,  can  find  nothing 
there  that  they  can  alter  for  the  better.  God 
made  thefe  perfeft,  becaufe  no  fubordinate  being 
could  correft  their  defeats. 

When,  therefore,  we  furvey  nature  on  this 
fide,  nothing  can  be  more  fplendid,  more  correct, 
or  amazing.  We  there  behold  a  Deity  refiding 
in  the  midft  of  an  univerfe,  infinitely  extended 
every  way,  animating  all,  and  cheering  the  vacuity 
with  his  prefence  1  We  behold  an  immenfe  and 
fhapelefs  mafs  of  matter,  formed  into  worlds 
by  his  power,  and  difperfed  at  intervals,  to  which 
even  the  imagination  cannot  travel !  In  this  great 
theatre  of  his  glory,  a  thoufand  funs,  'like  our 
ov^n,  animate  their  refpeftive  fyftems,  appearing 
and  vanifliing  at  divine  command.  We  behold 
our  own  bright  luminary,  fixed  in  the  centre  of 
a  fyftem,  wheeling  its  planets  in  times  propor- 
tioned to  their  difiances,  and  at  once  difpenfing 
light,  heat,  and  action.  The  earth  alfo  is  feen 
with  its  tw^ofold  motion  3  producing,  by  the  one, 
the  change  of  feafons  ;  and,  by  the  other,  the 
grateful  viciffitudes  of  day  and  night.  With 
what  filent  magnificence  is  all  this  performed ! 
with  what  fceming  eafe !    The  works  of  art  are 

exerted 


428 

ocerted  with  interrupted  force ;  and  their  noify 
progrcfs  difcovers  the  obftruftions  they  receive : 
but  the  earth,  with  a  filent  fteady  rotation,  fuc- 
ceflively  prefents  every  part  of  its  bofom  to  the 
fun ;  at  once  imbibing  nouriOimeht  and  light 
from  that  parent  of  vegetation  and  fertility. 

But  not  only  provifions  of  heat  and  light  are 
thus  fuppHed,  but  its  whole  furface  is  covered 
with  a  tranfparent  atmofphere,  that  turns  with 
its  motion,  and  guards  it  from  external  injury. 
The  rays  of  the  fun  are  thus  broken  into  a  genial 
warmth  ;  and,  while  the  furface  is  affiftcd,  a  gen- 
tle heat  is  produced  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth, 
which  contributes  to  cover  it  with  verdure.  Wa- 
ters alfo  are  fupplicd  in  healthful  abundance,  to 
fupport  life,  and  alTift  vegetation.  Mountains 
arife  to  diverfify  the  profpe6i:,  and  give  a  current 
to  the  ftream.  Seas  extend  from  one  continent 
to  the  other,  repleniflied  with  animals  that  may 
be  turned  to  human  fupport ;  and  alfo  ferving  to 
enrich  the  earth  with  a  fufficiency  of  vapour. 
Breezes  fly  along  the  furface  of  the  fields  to  pro- 
mote health  and  vegetation.  The  coolnefs  of  the 
evening  invites  to  reft ;  and  the  frefhnefs  of  the 
morning  renews  for  labour. 

Such  are  the  delights  of  the  habitation  that  has 
been  afllgned  to  man  ;  without  any  one  of  thefe, 
he  muft  have  been  wretched  ;  and  none  of  thefe 
could  his  own  induftry  have  fupplied.  But  while 
many  of  his  wants  are  thus  kindly  furniflied,  on 

the 


429 

ttie  one  hand,  there  are  numberlefs  difficulties  f o 
excite  his  induftry  on  the  other  hand.  This  ha- 
bitation, though  provided  with  all  the  convenien- 
cies  of  air,  pafturage,  and  water,  is  but  a  defert 
place  without  human  cultivation.  The  lovveft 
animal  finds  more  conveniencies  in  the  wilds  of 
nature  than  he  who  boafts  himfelf  their  lord. 
The  whirlwind,  the  inundation,  and  all  the  afpe- 
lities  of  the  air,  are  peculiarly  terrible  to  man, 
who  knows  their  confequences,  and,  at  a  dif- 
tance,  dreads  their  approach.  The  earth  itfelf, 
where  human  art  has  not  pervaded,  puts  on  a 
frightful  gloomy  appearance.  The  forefts  are 
dark  and  tangled  5  the  meadows  over-grown  with 
rank  weeds ;  and  the  brooks  ftray  without  a  de- 
termined channel.  Nature,  that  has  been  kind 
to  every  lower  order  of  beings,  has  been  quite 
negle6lful  with  regard  to  him  ;  to  the  favage  un- 
contriving  man  the  earth  is  an  abode  of  defola- 
tion,  where  his  fhelter  is  infufficient,  and  his  foo^ 
precarious. 

A  world  thus  furniflied  with  advantages  on  one 
fide,  and  inconveniencies  on  the  other,  is  the  pro- 
per abode  of  reajon^  is  the  fitteft  to  exercife  the 
induftry  of  a  free  and  thinking  creature.  Thefe 
evils,  which  art  can  remedy,  and  prefcience 
guard  againft,  are  a  proper  call  for  the  exertion 
of  his  faculties  ;  and  they  tend  ftill  more  to  afli- 
milate  him  to  his  Creator,    God  beholds,  with 

pleafure. 


43'^ 


pteafure,  that  being  which  he  has  made,  convert^ 
ing  the  wretchednefs  of  his  natural  fituation  intd 
a  theatre  of  triumph ;  bringing  all  the  headlong 
tribes  of  nature  into  fubje6lion  to  his  will ;  and 
pfoducing  that  order  and  uniformity  upon  earth, 
of  which  his  own  heavenly  fabric  is  fo  bright  an 
example. 

In  Linnaeus  you  read  an  hypothefis  (l  Amsnitat. 
Academic.)  on  the  caufe  of  mtermittent  fevers, 
and  you  will  find  a  colleftion  of  fa£ts  to  prove 
their  conne£lioil  with  argillaceous  earth,  or  clavcy 
foil.  Of  this  he  was  fo  well  fatisfied,  that  he 
concluded  that  attenuated  particles  of  clay,  taken 
into  the  body  with  food  and  drink,  entered  the 
blood,  ftuck  in  the  extreme  branches  of  the  arte- 
ries, and  brought  on,  as  a  true  proximate  caufe, 
the  fymptoms  of  the  difeafe.  (Hypothcfis  nova, 
§  y.)  The  fenfible  inquirer  will  find,  in  his  fourth 
fe£tion,  an  enumeration  of  all  the  parts  of  Swe- 
den famous  for  intermittents  and  ftrata  of  argilla- 
ceous foil ;  and  the  authority  of  Mr.  Sandel, 
quoted  as  an  eye-witnefs  of  the  fame  coincidence 
of  clayey  bottoms  and  intermittent  fevers  in  Pen- 
fylvania.  The  fa£ls  I  take  to  be  indubitable.  But 
the  hypothefis  I  would  difpute.  I  conceive  that 
the  true  caufe  is  the  putrid  miafms  of  half-cor- 
rupted vegetable  fubje£ts,  as  we  before  attempted 
to  prove,  and  by  this  may  be  fatisfa£torUy  ex- 
plained the  following  fa£t: 

The 


43^ 

The  foil,  fays  Donaldfon  (in  his  General  View, 
&c.  p.  12.)  of  the  Carfe  of  Gowrie,  in  the  county 
of  Perth,  in  Scotland,  confifts  chiefly  of  rich  clay, 
loam,  and  (liarp  gravel ;  and  the  inhabitants, 
until  the  year  1735,  ufed  to  be  fubje6l  to  the 
ague.  Then  one  or  two  of  the  principal  pro- 
prietors undertook,  by  draining,  fummer-fallow- 
ing,  and  fowing  grafs-feeds,  to  improve  their 
eftates.  Accident  led  them  to  a  difcovery  of 
the  efficacy  of  lime  on  that  foil,  from  obferv- 
ing  the  powerful  effe6'ts  of  fome  old  lime  rubbifli 
of  decayed  buildings,  when  fpread  on  the  corner 
of  a  field.  The  liming  their  lands  then  gradually 
came  into  ufe,  and  has  fince  been  generally 
adopted ;  the  confequence  of  which  is,  the  Ague 
has  long  ago  difappeared.  Here  feems  to  have 
been  a  beautiful  experiment  made  upon  about 
ninety-fix  fquare  miles  of  country,  where  the 
putrid  fleams  that  formerly  gave  the  people  agues, 
are  now  attracted  by  the  lime  and  turned  to  cal- 
careous nitre,  while  increafed  produ6tivenefs  of 
the  land,  and  greater  wholefomenefs  of  the  air, 
continue  to  be  the  happy  confequences.  Some 
judgment  may  hence  be  formed  concerning  the 
power  of  art  in  changing  the  face  of  nature  I 
What  a  grand  refledlion  ! 

Lime,  we  know,  is  the  grand  agent  of  deftruc- 
tion,  and  being  ftrewed  on  the  earth,  produces 
a  hafty  decompofition  of  vegetable  matter.  It 
is  not  in  itfelf  a  manure,  for  nothing  grows  iij 

pure 


4^2 

pilrc  calcareous  earth  j  but  it  becomes  the  digeftef 
and  preparer  of  the  vegetable  food,  and  henee  it 
is  elleemed  the  beft  manure. 

God,  with  confumitiate  wifdom,  has  made  re-, 
ciprocal  wants.  He  has  formed  the  barren  hill 
and  the  fenny  marfli,  and  by  the  exertion  of  man^ 
the  manure  of  the  valley  is  tranfported  to  the 
hill,  the  waters  affume  their  bed,  and  the  chalk 
of  the  mountain  is  carried  down  to  the  valley. 
It  is  the  earth,  fays  Pliny,  that  like  a  kind  mo- 
therj  receives  u&  at  our  birth,  and  fuftains  us  when 
born.  It  is  this  alone,  of  all  the  elements  around 
tis,  that  is  rarely  found  an  enemy  to  man.  The 
body  of  waters  deluge  him  with  rains,  opprefs 
him  with  hail,  and  drown  him  with  inundations. 
The  air  rufhes  in  ftorms,  prepares  the  tempeft,  or 
lights  up  the  volcano ;  but  the  earth,  gentle  and 
indulgent,  ever  fubfervient  to  the  wants  of  man, 
fpreads  his  walks  with  flowers,  and  bistable  with 
plenty ;  returns  with  intereft  every  good  com- 
mitted to  her  care  ;  and,  though  flie  produces  the 
f)oifon,  fhe  ftill  fupplies  the  antidote ;  though  con- 
ftantly  teized  more  to  furnifli  the  luxuries  of  man 
than  his  neceffities,  yet,  even  to  the  laft,  (he  con- 
tinues her  kind  indulgence,  and,  when  life  is  over, 
fhe  pioufly  covers  his  remains  in  her  bofom. 


PRACTICAL 


433 


PBACTICAL  OBSERVATIONS: 


SECT.  LV. 

OF  THE  STAGES.  OF  PUTRID  FEVER. 

As  putrid  fever  is  faid  by  Sydenham,  and  other 
equally  good  authorities,  to  be  a  difeafe  that  cuts 
off  a  tenth-part  of  mankind,  the  reader  will  there- 
fore pardon  me,  if  I  fix  his  attention  in  a  particu- 
lar manner  upon  fo  interefting  a  fub]e£t,  more  efpe- 
cially  as  at  this  time  we  are  engaged  in  a  war,  not 
lefs  deftruftive  by  the  wicked  contrivances  of 
mankind  to  infli£t  the  moft  horrible  fufferingSji 
fuch  as  tongue  cannot  exprefs,  nor  the  imagina- 
tion raife  any  pifture  of,  on  beings  of  the  fame 
fiefli  and  blood  as  ourfelves,  and  profeffing  the 
Chriftian  religion,  which  teaches  that  all  are 
brothers ;  I  fay,  not  lefs  deftruftive  by  the  con- 
trivances for  murder,  than  for  the  generation  and 
fpreading  of  pcftilential  diforders.  The  deftruc- 
tion  of  our  troops  in  the  Weft  Indies  has  been  fo 
great  by  the  contagion  of  fever,  that  moft  thought 
themfelves  felf-devoted,  when  they  accepted  any 
command  in  thofe  quarters  ;  nor  has  the  lofs  been 
trifling  on  the  continent  from  the  fame  caufe. 
.  Vol.  IV.  F  f  When 


434 

When  any  one  is  feized  with  putrid  feva', 
the  firft  thing  that  fliould  occupy  our  attention  is, 
whether  its  courfe  can  be  arrefted  ?  Sir  John- 
Pringle  divides  this  fever  into  three  ftages,  or 
periods;  when  it  firll  attacks;  the  intermediate 
time  ;  and  the  laft  ftage. 

In  the  firft  ftage,  he  fays,  the  craffamentum  of 
the  blood  iooks  more  florid  than  ufual ;  in  the  fe- 
cond,  it  is  broken  and  incoherent,  and  of  a  more 
purple  hue  ;  and,  after  that  period,  ia  ftill  lefs  te- 
na£ious>  more  like  ichor,  and  often  extremely 
dark  and  offenfive,  even  when  frelh  drawn.  Wc 
fliall,  however,  txnly  divide  this  fever  into  two 
ftages.  It  is  the  confounding  thefe  that  has  pro- 
duced fuch  contradiftory  evidence,  and  with  a 
poifon  fo'  a£live,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  if  the 
right  praftice  has  been  often  wrong  timed.  The 
mifchiefs  occalioned  by  this  have  been  fo  great, 
that  we  are  confcious  to  have  a  very  powerful 
and  general  prcjiKlicc  tO'  overcome  :  for  tUL  of 
late  the  laws  of  the  animal  osconomy  were  little 

attended  to,   and  fpecific  re?nedies  *  were  the 

order 

«•  How  often  do  we  hear,  even  at  the  prei'ent  day,  practi- 
tioners apologize  to  their  patients,  "  We  have  tried  evay  thing.'' 
am  furey  madam,  you  gave  each  drug  a  fair  trialJ" 
«♦  Yes,  fin,,"  is  the  anfwer,  "  my  frame  has  been  an  apothecary's 
"  fliop  indeed,  and  it  is  luonderful  l  am  no  better."  The  true 
wonder  is,  that  the  patient  fliould  be  arfje  to  make  any  com- 
plaint. Every  one  has  heard  of  the  doftor,  who  obferving  a 
Welchman,  juft  recovered  from  a  fever,  as  the  call  of  nature, 
long  for  a  red  herring  and  ale,  ordered  it  him,  and  he  re- 

Govered  y 


435 


order  of  the  day.  Hence  bleeding  and  tonics, 
with  opium,  in  putrid  fever,  have  faved  a  few 
only,  and  killed  thoufands. 

covered ;  he  gave  it  to  another  who  was  really  in  a  fever,  and 
he  died.  He  noted  it  in  his  book— a  red  herring  and  ale  is 
good  for  a  Welchman  in  fever,  but  kills  an  Englifhman !  The 
fame  kind  of  empiricifm  has  been  too  long  praflifcd  in  putrid 
fever  with  refpeft  to  bleeding,  evacuants,  &c.;  and  the  pradti- 
tioner  was  aftoniftied  to  find  his  want  of  fuccefs,  not  fecin*  that 
the  circumftances  differed.  This  deftruftive  empiricifm  is  very 
well  defcribed  by  Monf.  Peron,  in  the  following  Epigram : 

Dans  un  bon  corps,  Nature  et  Maladie 
Etoient  aux  mains.    Une  aveugle  vient  li, 
6 'eft  Medecine,  une  aveugle  etourdie, 
Qui  croit  par  force  y  mettre  le  hola, 
A  droite,  a  gauche,  ainfi  done  la  voili, 
Sans  favoir  ou,  qui  frappc  a  I'aventure 
Sur  celle-ci,  comme  cellc-1^, 
Tant  qu'une  enfin  ceda — ce  fut  Nature. 


Ff2  PRACTICAL 


43^ 


PRACTICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 


SECT.  LVI. 

OF  THE  ADVANTAGE  OF  GOOD  AIR  IN  FEVER. 

The  firft  objeft  of  our  confideration  fliould  be, 
that  the  patient,  immediately  upon  an  attack  of 
fever,  be  in  as  pure  an  air  as  polTible. 

Captain  Ellis,  author  of  a  voyage  to  Hudfon's 
Bay,  and  now  governor  of  Georgia,  gives  the 
following  account,  from  on  board  the  Halifax 
flave-fliip,  at  Cape  Monte,  Africa ;  viz.  he  took  a 
wax-candle,  of  eight  to  the  pound,  and  drew  it 
through  a  mould,  to  make  it  of  one  thicknefs, 
from  end  to  end  ;  and  found  it  wafted  67  grains 
in  burning  thirty  minutes  in  the  hold,  which  had 
not  been  ventilated  in  twenty-four  hours :  but 
after  fix  hours'  ventilation,  it  wafted  944  |  grain* 
in  the  fame  time,  viz.  jd  more*. 

When  ventilation  had  been  omitted  twelve 
hours,  he  hung  the  fliip's  bell  under  the  lower 

*  This  is  the  firft  EUDIOMETER  fpoken  of,  and  probably 
gave  the  idea  to  Prieftley  and  LavoiCer.  Vide  Vol.  J.  page  337. 

decl^. 


437 

deck,  took  out  the  clapper,  and  fufpended  it  by  a 
line,  which  with  its  own  length,  made  44  inches  : 
the  angle  which  the  rim  of  the  bell  made,  with  a 
line  let  fallen  perpendicular  from  the  pin  on  which 
the  clapper  hung,  was  equal  to  34  degrees.  He 
then  held  the  clapper  at  the  fame  angle,  on  the 
other  fide  of  the  line,  in  order  that  the  ftrokes  at 
different  times  might  be  with  the  fame  force  :• 
when  letting  it  go,  it  ftruck  the  bell ;  in  its  re- 
turn he  catched  it,  and  counting  the  vibrations, 
he  heard  them  dillin6lly  but  three  times;  whereas, 
when  the  hold  was  well  ventilated,  it  vibrated 
five  times,  but  its  vibrations  were  not  fo  quick  in 
the  latter  as  in  the  former  cafe.  He  took  all  pof- 
fible  precautions  that  thefe  experiments  might  be 
fairly  tried,  to  prevent  deception,  but  always 
found  them  to  produce  the  fame  effe6t*. 

We  fee  in  thefe  curious  and  accurate  experi- 
ments, the  great  difference  in  the  purity  and  im- 
purity of  the  air,  of  a  ventilated  and  unventilated 
ihip,  and,  confequently,  the  plain  reafon  why, 
when  fuch  a  foul  ajr  prevails,  it  not  only  impair^ 
the  health,  but  caufes  the  death  of  multitudes. 

The  people  on  board .  were  all  healthy  for  a 
confiderable  time  viz.  till  the  ventilators  were 
fo  fpoiled  by  the  rats  eating  not  only  the  leathern, 
but  the  wooden  p^rts  of  them,  in  fuch  a  mannerj 

*  This  account  is  taken  from  Hales  on  the  Ventilator, 

that 


438 

that  they  were  obliged  to  give  over  the  ufe  of 
them  long  before  they  had  any  ficknefs,  when,  as 
Captain  Ellis  obfervcs,  many  of  their  flaves  died 
of  extremely  infeftious  diftempers  ;  as  fmall^pox, 
meafles,  fluxes,  and  fevers,  which  came  upon 
them  almoft  all  at  once. 

In  order  the  more  efFeftually  to  roufe  the  at^ 
tention  of  mankind,  in  a  matter  of  the  greateft 
importance  to  the  health  and  lives  qf  thoufands, 
and  thereby  the  more  fully  and  clearly  to  con- 
vince them,  I  made,  fays  the  good  Dr.  Hales,  the 
fame  kind  of  experiment,  by  placing  lighted 
candles  in  foul,  clofe,  and  confined  airs ;  it  being 
well  known,  that  the  vital  lamp  of  animals  is 
either  enlivened  and  invigorated,  or  incommoded 
and  quenched,  in  proportion  to  the  different  de- 
grees of  purity  oy  impurity  of  the  air  which  they 
breathe  in. 

I  have  found,  fays  he,  after  variety  of  trials 
with  candles  of  different  fizes,  that  the  larger 
candles,  of  about  fix  to  the  pound,  are  beft  for 
the  purpofe  ;  and  in  order  to  prepare  them  for 
thefe  experiments,  it  is  proper  to  cut  off,  or 
wafte  by  burning,  one-fourth  or  one-third  of  the 
candles,  where  they  are  ufually  fmaller  and  taper, 
viz.  till  they  are  nearly  of  an  equal  cylindrical 
fiz€:  Then  firft  weighing  the  candle,  when  it  is 
well  lighted,  I  begjn  to  eftimate  the  time,  for  its 
burning  half  an  hoqF  in  good  air:  then  I  put  it 
put  with  an  extinguiflier,  that  a  fair  fnuff,  with 


439 

its  black  part  about  half  an  inch  long,  may  be 
preferved  ;  if  it  be  too  long,  I  fnuff  it  to  a  due 
length,  in  order  to  fit  it  for  further  trials  in  foul 
airs,  it  being  of  great  importance  to  begin  each 
trial  with  a  good  fnuff:  the  candle  rauft  be 
weighed  again  after  each  trial,  by  burning  both 
in  good  and  foul  air :  and  in  order  to  prefcrve  a 
fair  fnuff  in  carrying  a  candle  into  a  mine,  &c. 
it  may  be  well  to  make  a  cafe  for  it  of  cards, 
nailed  in  a  femi-circular  form  to  the  fides  of  a 
flat  piece  of  wood,  about  an  inch  and  a  half 
wide ;  or  to  wrap  it  in  ftifF  paper  with  a  flick. 

If  feveral  candles  are  prepared  at  the  fame 
time,  by  burning  them  firft  in  a  good  air,  they 
may  be  marked,  number  1,2,  3,  by  holes  made 
near  the  bottom  with  a  pin's  point,  and  filled 
with  ink  with  the  nib  of  a  pen ;  for  every  can- 
dle which  is  ufed  in  thefe  experiments  muft  firfl 
be  tried  in  a  good  air. 

I  defired  a  furgeon  of  the  fecond  regiment  of 
foot-guards,  to  burn  a  wax  candle,  of  about  half 
an  inch  diameter,  for  half  an  hour,  among  the  fick 
foldiers  at  the  Savoy,  where  it  wafted  but  11 
grains  ;  whereas  the  fame  candle,  in  a  good  air, 
had  wafted  in  the  fame  time  27  grains,  which  is 
more  than  double  of  what  it  wafted  in  that  bad 
foul  air :  and  it  was  often  obferved,  that  the 
ftench  there  is  fometimes  intolerable,  and  that 
candles  give  but  a  very  weak  light. 

Dr. 


44Q 

Dr.  Langrifli  made  the  like  experiments,  at 
my  defire,  with  a  wax  candle,  of  fix  to  the  pound, 
juft  before  the  Lent  Afli  zes,  in  the  dungeon  of 
Winchcfter  Goal,  in  the  morning,  before  the  doors 
or  window-fliuttershad  been  opened  ;  the  candle, 
which  had  wafted  88  grains  in  half  an  hour,  in  a 
good  air,  wafted  but  66  |  grains  in  the  dungeon, 
in  the  fame  time,  which  is  near  one-fourth  lefs;  and 
Mr.  Thomas,  a  furgeon  of  Chelfea  Hofpital,  obT 
ferved  the  like  difproportion  in  burning  a  tallow 
candle,  of  fix  to  the  pound,  where  the  fmall-pox 
was.  After  the  dungeon  had  been  well  ventilated 
for  half  an  hpur  with  the  ventilators,  the  prifoners 
remaining  there  all  the  while,  the  fame  candle 
wafted  in  another  half  hour,  87  +  1  grains,  that 
is,  very  nearly  as  much  as  in  the  good  air  at  firftj 
which  fhews  the  great  life  of  ventilators  both  in 
goals,  hofpitals,  and  fliips.  The  do6tor  obferved, 
that  at  the  firft  going  down  into  the  dungeon,  the 
foul  air  afFefted  the  mouth  and  throat  with  a  re- 
markable faltnefs,  but  not  at  all  at  their  going 
down  after  it  had  been  well  ventilated. 

In  St.  George's  Hofpital,  near  Hyde  Park  Cor- 
ner, a  like  tallow  candle,  which  in  a  good  air 
had  wafted  in  half  an  hour  77  +  ^  grains, 
wafted  in  the  King's  Ward,  early  in  the  morning, 
before  fire?  were  kindled,  7Q  grains,  viz.  ^-Vth  part 
|efs :  and  even  this  lefs  degree  of  foulnefs  in  the 
3ir,  by  putrifyin^,  is  obferved  to  caufe  putrid  difr 

eafes, 


44i 

.eafes,.  and  to  be  very  hurtful,  not  only  to  dcr 
bilitated  perfons,  but  alfo  to  thofe  with  brokei? 
Jlmbs,  who  have  their  health  impaired  thereby^ 
infomuch  that  they  find  it  requifjte  of  late  to  leave 
the  wards  fometimes  vacant,  in  their  turns,  for  a 
time,  to  be  aired,  cleanfed,  and  fumed  vyith  the 
acid  fumes  of  burning  brimftone. 

I  was  obliged  to  the  Reverend  Mr.  Emmerfon, 
of  Middle  ton,  near  Barnard  Caftle,  Durham,  for 
making  the  like  experiments  with  lighted  candles, 
in  Lord  Darhngton's  l,ead-m)nes,  in  his  parifli; 
-where  he  found  they  wafted,  in  burning  15  mi- 
?iutes,  in  fome  places  7  grains,  in  others  H, 
13,  and  15  grains  lefs  than  in  a  frefli  air,  mpre  or 
lefsj  according  to  the  different  ftatcs  of  the  air, 
not  only  in  the  mine,  but  alfo  above  ground,  as 
to  its  weight  or  lightnefs,  wjnd  or  calm,  which 
piade  fome  alteration. , 

In  the  drifts,  while  digging  to  the  air-fliafts, 
the  air  is  very  noxious ;  fo  that  a  candle  will 
burn  only  when  held  inclining  lide-ways.  But 
Mr.  Emmerfon  having  placed  a  fmall  ventilator 
at  the  entrance  qf  an  adit,  that  was  digging  50 
fathom  to  a  new  air-fhaft,  where  the  miners  com- 
plained much  of  the  badnefs  of  the  air  when  they 
were  got  about  2Q  fathom,  infomuch  that  they 
could  work  but  few  hours  at  a  time  ;  yet  when 
^:he  air  was  renewed  through  a  long  trunk,  which 
reached  from  the  ventilators  to  the  miners,  they 
could  then  work  all  the  day  with  pleafure.  This 

cheap 


442 

cheap  and  eafy  method  of  relief  is,  therefore,  not 
only  of  great  benefit  to  the  health  and  lives  of  the 
miners,  but  will  alfo  be  very  profitable  to  the 
proprietors  and  owners  of  mines.  On  commu- 
nicating the  fuccefs  of  this  method  of  ventilating 
drifts  while  digging,  to  Mr.  Percival  at  Briftol, 
he  put  it  in  pra6i:ice  in  his  mines  in  Cornwall,  and 
that  with  fo  good  effeft,  that  it  is  like  to  become 
a  general  practice  in  that  country. 

Thefe  and  the  like  experiments  with  candles*, 
will  be  of  great  ufe  to  fliew  the  degrees  of  un- 
healthinefs  of  the  foul  flagnant  air  in  goals,  hof- 
pitals,  fliips,  and  mines  ;  but  with  this  diftinttion, 
viz.  that  a  lefler  degree  of  foulnefs  of  air  long  con- 
fined, being  thereby  become  the  more  putrid, 
will,  on  that  account,  be  more  noxious  than  a 
greater  dejrree  of  foulnefs  of  air  which  has  not 
been  long  enough  confined  to  become  putrid. 
Thus  the  long  ftagnant  air  of  a  common  goal, 
in  which  there  are  comparatively  much  fewer 
perfons  than  in  a  fliip,  will  breed  the  infectious 
goal  diftemper ;  whereas  the  much  fouler  air  of  a 
fhip,  crowded  full  of  perfons,  if  it  has  not  been 
long  enough  confined  to  putrify,  may  not  produce 
that  dirtemper  ;  though,  when  long  confined,  it 
frequently  produces  that  diftemper,  the  fcurvy, 
flux,  and  other  difeafes,  which  are  the  bad  confe- 
quences  of  a  putrid  air,  which  is  the  principal 

*  The  Eudiometer  of  Dr.  Prieftley  and  Lavoifier,  will  better 
anfwerthis  purpofe.    Vide  vol.  I.  page  337. 

caufe 


443 

caufe  of  fcurvy.  Perhaps  frequently  repeated 
experiments  with  candles  in  the  rooms  of  thofe 
who  are  fick  of  different  diftempers,  may  lead  to 
eftimate  the  different  degrees  of  putridnefs  of 
fome  diflempers,  as  alfo  fhew  the  different  effefts 
that  putrid  and  unputrid  diflempers  have  on 
burning  candles :  at  leaft  it  feems  very  probable, 
that  repeated  trials  with  candles,  in  the  rooms  of 
thofe  who  are  fick  of  the  mofl  putrid  and  ofFenfive 
diflempers,  will  fhew  when  it  is  requifite,  in  fome 
meafure,  to  abate  the  great  degree  of  foulnefs  of 
fuch  air,  by  cautioufly  admitting  frefh  air,  and 
keeping  the  bed-curtains  clofe  for  a  fliort  time, 
till  that  frefh  air  is  grown  warm,  as  has  been 
fometimes  praftifed  with  fuccefs.  And  whereas 
a  cool  frefh  air^  though  admitted  in  but  fmall 
quantities  into  a  hot  air,  will  immediately  de- 
fcend,  fo  as  to  be  fenfibly  felt  j  might  it  not, 
therefore,  be  advifeable  to  admit  the  frefli  cool 
air  near  the  floor  of  the  room. 

Having,  in  the  account  I  have  given  of 
the  feveral  campaigns*,  mentioned  the  dire- 
ful effefts  of  the  hofpital-fever,  I  need  not 
urge  the  necefTity  of  ufing  all  precautions 
againfl  it.  I  fliall  at  prefent  propofe  the  means 
whereby  this  difeafe  may  be  either  kept 
from  appearing  at  all,  or  at  leaft  with  fo  much 
contagion  and  danger.  Thefe  means  fhall 
be  confidered  under  two  heads  j  one  relating 

*  This  is  takpn  from  Sir  John  Pringle. 

to 


444 

to  the  choice  of  hojpitak,  and  the  other  to  the  right 
management  of  the  air  therein. 

In  treating  of  the  bloody-flux,  the  mofl:  airy  and 
fpacious  houfes  that  could  be  procured  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  camp,  were  recommended, 
for  the  better  recovery  of  the  fick,  and  for  pre- 
venting infeftion.  Now  the  fame  means  will 
alfo  tend  to  prevent  the  hofpital-fever ;  as  the  dy- 
fentry  is  fo  apt  to  breed  it*.  On  thefe  occafions, 
it  is  common  to  look  out  for  clofe  and  warm 
houfes,  and  therefore  to  prefer  a  peafant's  houfe 
to  his  barn ;  but  experience  has  convinced  us, 
that  it  is  air  that  is  mofl:  requifite :  for  this  rea- 
fon  not  only  barns,  flables,  granaries,  and  other 
out-houfes,'but,  above  all,  churches  make  the  beft 
hofpitals,  from  the  beginning  of  June  to  October. 
Of  this  there  was  an  jnftance  in  the  campaign 
qf  1747,  when  a  large  church  at  Maeftricht 
was  applied  to  that  ufe  5  and  where,  notwith- 
flanding  above  a  hundred  lay  in  it,  with  foul 
fores,  fluxes,  and  other  putrid  difeafes,  for  three 
months  together,  (during  the  greateft  part  of 
which  time  the  weather  was  very  hot)  there  was 
no  appearance  of  contagion.  Wherefore  we 
may  lay  it  down  as  a  rule,  that  the  more  frefh  air 
we  let  into  hofpitals,  the  lefs  danger  there  is  of 
breeding  and  propagating  this  diftemper. 

*  The  putrid  effluvia  of  the  dyfenteric  feces,  are  not  only 
apt  to  propagate  the  common  bloody  flux,  but  likewife  tQ 
breed  the  malignant  hofpital-fever,  with  or  without  bloody 
ftools. 

It 


445 


It  may  be  neceffary  to  add  the  following  rc- 
fnark :  in  the  firft  part  of  a  campaign,  when  in- 
flammatory diftempers  prevail,  fuch  as  are  taken 
ill  are  then  to  be  left  behind,  as  their  cafes  admit- 
ieaft  of  motion,  and  at  the  fame  time  are  not  in- 
feftioLis.  But  for  thofe  that  fall  ill  from  the  end 
of  fummer  till  the  decline  of  autumn,  as  having 
difeafes  of  a  putrid  kind,  but  which  bear  motion, 
and  generally  mend  upon  a  change  of  air,  they- 
are  therefore  rather  to  be  carried  with  their  re- 
giments and  difperfed,  than  colle6ted  into  one- 
general  hofpital  to  propagate  the  infeftion. 

As  to  the  difpofition  of  hofpitals,  with  regard 
to  preferving  the  purity  of  air,  the  beft  rule  is,  to 
admit  fo  few  patients  into  each  ward,  that  a  per- 
fon'  unacquainted  with  the  danger  of  bad  air, 
might  imagine  there  was  room  to  take  in  double 
or  triple  the  number.  It  will  alfo  be  found  a  good 
expedient,  when. the  ceilings  are  low,  to  remove 
fome  part  of  them,  and  to  open  the  garret  itory 
to  the  tiles.  It  is  incredible,  in  how  few^  days 
the  air  will  be  corrupted  in  thronged  and  clofe 
wards:  and  what  makes  it  harder  to  remedy  the 
evil,  is  the  impoffibility  of  convincing  either  the 
nurfes,  or  the  fick  themfelves,  of  the  neceffity  of 
opening  the  doors  or  windows,  at  any  time,  for 
air.  I  have  always  found  thofe  wards  the  moft 
healthful,  when,  by  broken  windows  and  other 
wants  of  repair,  the  air  could  not  be  excluded. 

In 


446 

In  the  firfi:  ftage,  as  well  as  in  all  the  other,  thd 
flrft  objeft,  continues  Sir  John  Pringle,  is  to  have 
the  patient  in  a  fpacious  apartment ;  when  that 
cannot  be  done,  the  room  or  ward  is  to  be  pu- 
rified, by  making  a  fucceillon  of  air  by  means  of 
fires,  or  letting  it  in  by  doors  and  windows,  dif- 
fufing  the  fteams  of  vinegar,  or  the  like:  for, 
whatever  medicines  are  given,  whilft  the  air  con- 
tinues in  this  corrupted  ftate,  or  indeed  increafes 
in  it  by  the  effluvia  of  the  difeafed,  there  can  be 
little  hope  of  a  cure.  Wherefore,  in  every  ftage, 
though  the  patient  can  breathe  no  other  infectious 
air,  but  that  of  his  own  atmofphere,  it  will  be 
neceffary  to  keep  the  curtains  undrawn,  and  ufe 
all  other  meatus  to  procure  a  free  ventilation.  On 
the  ftriB  obfervation  of  i/its  ru/e,  the  cure  will  in 
a  great  meafure  depend. 

The  following  obfervations  made  by  Dr.  Wind, 
will  ferve  to  illuftrate  what  Sir  John  Pringle  has 
here  advanced. 

The  Middlebwgh,  a  Dutch  fliip  of  war,  failed 
from  the  Texel  in  Holland,  on  the  25  th  of  De- 
cember 1750„  and  on  the  12  th  of  March  1751, 
entered  the  harbour  of  Cura90a,  with  a  healthy 
lliip's  company ;  one  only  having  died  during 
their  paffage  from  Europe.  The  air  at  Cura9oa 
was  foggy  and  moift,  and  the  weather  exceflively 
hot ;  fo  that  in  the  beginning  of  April  two  very 
bad  difeafes  diftrelTed  the  crew  j  a  putrid  dyfen- 

tery, 


447 

tery,  attended  with  great  pain,  ftenclj,  and  hic- 
cup 5  and  alfo  a  violent  fever,  accompanied  with 
a  black  vomit. 

They  failed  on  a  cruize  the  17th  of  April.  The 
weather  at  fea  was  then  moift  and  rainy :  the 
difeafes  ftill  continued,  but  not  in  fo  violent  a  de- 
gree as  in  the  harbour.  Thofe  who  laboured  un- 
der the  dyfentery,  were  not  at  fea  attacked  with 
the  hiccup,  and  its  other  bad  fymptoms ;  neither 
did  the  black  vomit  feize  thofe  who  had  the  fever, 
as  when  in  the  harbour. 

None  of  thofe  taken  ill  at  fea  died  of  either  of 
thefe  diftempers  :  but  when  the  fhip  returned 
into  the  harbour,  in  the  latter  end  of  April,  the 
former  dangerous  fymptoms  returned  ;  the  hiccup 
attended  the  dyfentery,  and  the  black  vomit  ac- 
companied the  fever,  the  number  of  the  fick  was 
greatly  increafed,  and  feveral  of  them  died. 

When  a  violent  and  fatal  ficknefs  raged  at 
Cadiz,  it  did  not  extend  its  influence  to  any  fhip 
which  lay  at  a  diftance  from  the  city  ;  as  I  am 
informed  by  Dr.  Maguire,  an  eminent  phyfieiau 
of  that  place.  His  majefty's  fhip  the  Tweed  wa» 
then  at  anchor  in  Cadiz  Bay  :  an  officer  and  fe-c 
veral  of  her  men^  who  had  been  on  fhore,  were 
feized  with  this  fever ;  but  all  th-ofe  who  were 
fent  on  board  the  fhips  recovered,  no  bad  fymp- 
toms appearing  in.  their  fever ;  whilft  a  difeafe, 
fimilar  to  the  black  vomit  and  the  yellow  fever^ 
and  equally  mortal,  depopulated  tliat  large  city. 


I  acknowledge  It  to  be  new,  fays  Dr.  Line!,  to 
propofe  the  immediate  removal  of  a  pcrfon  la' 
bouring  under  a  violent  fever,  to  fomc  diftanl 
J>lace,  let  the  fymptOms  be  what  they  will.  It 
liiay  be  objeftcd,  that  the  gentleft  motion  will,  in' 
many  fueh  cafes,  affect  the  head  and  bring  on  a 
delirium,  or  increafe  the  fynnptoms  of  the  difeafe  ^ 
that  as  uninterrupted  reft  and  quiet  appear  necef- 
■fary  to  the;  welfare  of  fuch  patients,  the  hurry  of 
motion,  and  even  the  difturbance  produced  by 
taking  them  out  of  bed,  but  efpecially  the  expo- 
fing  of  them  to  the  open  air,  muft  be  highly  in- 
jurious. 

The  experience  of  many  years  in  thrfe  matters 
lias  convinced  me,  that  fiich  apprehenfions  of 
danger'  are  entirely  groundlefs.  I  have  had  the 
nioft  ample  means  of  afcertaining,  that  perfons 
labouring  under  fevers,  fluxes,  and  other  difeafes, 
may  with  great  fafety  be  moved  from  one  place 
to  another ;  nay  more,-  that  by  a  removal  of  them,- 
with  proper  care,  from  a  bad  into  a  pure  air, 
fuch  patients  receive  immediate  benefit.  Of 
many  thoufand  patients  labouring  under  fevers, 
whom  I  have  vifited  in  Haflar  Hofpital,  for 
twenty-five  years,  nine-tenths  of  them  were  moved 
during  the  continuance  of  their  fever,  either  from 
Spithead,  from  the  fliips  in  the  harbour,  or  from 
the  Marine  Infirmary  at  Portfmouth :  they  were" 
brought  in  boats,  or  otherwife,  to  the  hofpital ; 
and  I  do  not  remember  that  any  patient  was  ever 

injured 


44d 


injured  by  fucli  removal  J  on  the  contrary,  lam 
perfuaded  that  many  hundreds,  under  the  moft 
dangerous  and  malignant  fymptoms  of  the  difeafe, 
have  received  great  benefit  by  the  removal  from 
the  foul  air  of  their  {hips  into  the  pure  air  of  th^ 
hofpital. 

In  the  year  1764,  the  kingdom  of  Naples  fur^ 
hiflied  a  very  remarkable  example  of  the  healthi- 
fief$  of  the  fea  air,  and  of  the  benefit  of  remov- 
ing the  fick  thither,  during  the  rage  of  an  epide- 
mic fever*  In  July,  it  became  highly  infeftious, 
was  attended  with  petechia,  fwellings  of  the  pa- 
rotid glands,  obftinate  delirium,  violent  vomiting, 
and  fluxes  of  blood. 

This  difeafe  raged,  with  unremitting  violence, 
for  a  conliderable  time,  till  it  was  happily  ob' 
ferved,  that  the  fick  who  were  moved  into  the 
hofpitals  near .  the  fea,  recovered  much  quicker 
than  in  other  places,  and  few  of  them  died* 
Upon  this  being  reprefented  to  the  king,  mon^y 
was  ordered  out  of  the  treafury  for  the  fitting  up 
of  other  hofpitals  near  the  fea*  In  thefe  hofpi- 
tals, well  ventilated,  and  open  to  the  fea  air,  the 
progrefs  of  the  contagion  was  entirely  ftopped 
none  of  the  nurfes  or  attendants  on  the  fick  were 
infe6led :  and  even  when  they  became  crowded 
with  fick,  the  number  that  died  in  them  was  in- 
confiderable  in  proportion  to  the  number  who 
died  in  other  places. 

Vol.  IV.  Gg  When 


45  o 

When  the  Lion,  Spence,and  feveral  otlier  flilps 
of  war,  were  employed  at  Port  Antonio,  in  the 
ifland  of  Jamaica,  in  clearing  Navy  Ifland  of 
Wood,  in  order  to  build  wharfs  and  ftore-houfes 
there,  many  of  the  men,  when  cutting  down 
the  wood,  were  feized  at  once  with  a  fever  and 
delirium.  This  attacked  fo  fuddenly  and  with 
fo  much  fury,  that  often  the  perfon  feized  would 
with  his  hatchet,  if  not  prevented,  have  cut  to 
pieces  the  others  who  flood  near  him.  Orders 
were  ifTued,  that  as  foon  as  the  men  were  thus 
feized,  they  fliould  be  bled,  and  immediately 
fent  on  board  their  refpe£tive  fliips.  The  confe- 
quence  was,  that  all  who  were  carried  on  board 
quickly  recovered  ;  whereas  thofe  who  remained 
on  fliore,  either  died,  or  fuffered  a  dangerous  fit 
of  ficknefs. 

It  was  formerly  not  uncommon  for  fix  or  eight 
of  the  centinels  who  were  ported  at  Greenwich 
hofpital  in  Jamaica,  which  was  fituated  in  a 
marfh,  and  is  now  evacuated,  to  be  taken  ill.  in 
one  night,  with  copious  vomitings  or  purgings,  a 
delirium,  and  all  the  alarming  fymptoms  of  a  vio- 
lent fever ;  of  which  they  recovered  in  fome  hours 
after  they  were  removed  to  Kingflon. 

But  fliould  a  change  inta  a  purer  air  fail  to 
produce  fuch  immediate  efFe£ts,  it  will  at  leaft 
mitigate  the  fymptoms  of  the  fever ;  the  ufe  of 
medicines  will  afterwards  be  attended  with  more 

fuccefs  y 


451 

Tuccefs  J  and  the  patient  wiJI  recover  fooner,  and 
will  more  fpeedily  regain  a  vigorous  ftate  of 
health. 

I  fliall  here  infert  an  obfervation,  communi- 
cated to  me  by  a  very  fenfible  man,  v^ho  refided 
long  in  Jamaica. 

I  have  often  obferved  the  poor  feamen  in  the 
merchant  fervice  to  recOVer  from  the  yellow  fever, 
folely  by  having  the  benefit  of  a  free  and  conftant 
admiffion  of  the  cool  fea  air,  into  a  fhip  anchored 
at  a  diftance  from  the  fliore,  where  they  lay  utterly 
delHtute  of  every  affiftjmce  in  ficknefs,  and  even 
of  common  necelTaries,  having  nothing  but  cold 
water  to  drink,  and  not  fo  much  as  a  bed  to  lie 
upon  ;  while  gentlemen,  newly  arrived  from  Eng- 
land, by  being  fliut  up  in  fmall,  clofe,  fufiFocating 
chambers  at  Kingfton^,  or  Port-royal,  -expired 
with  their  whole  mafs  of  blood  dilTolved,  flowing 
frojn  every  pore  ;  the  flifling  heat  of  their  room 
having  produced  a  ftate.of  univerfal  putrefa6tion 
in  the  body,  even  before  death. 

This  fupply  of  oxygen  to  the  bloodj  is  appli- 
cable to  every  ftage  of  fever,  and  will  be  the  ob- 
.je£l  of  future  confideration,  when  we  come  to 
the  enquiry  whether  we  have  any  fpecific  remedy 
for  the  cure  of  putrid  fever.  It  muft  be  no^y 
confidered  only  in  the  light  of  an  affiftant  tp  other 
means. 


G  g  2  PRACTICAL 


452 


PRACTICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 


SECT.  LVIl. 

THE  METHOD  OF  CURE  IN  THE  FIRST  STAGE. 

The  cure  of  the  Camp  Fever,  depends,  fays 
Sir  John  Pringle,  in  the  early  ufe  of  evacuants. 
Bleeding  being  indifpenfable,  it  is  the  firft  thing 
to  be  done  in  every  cafe,  and  is  to  be  repeated 
once  or  oftener,  according  to  the  urgency  of  the 
fyrhptoms.  The  vernal  and  latter  autumnal  fe- 
vers are  accompanied  vv^ith  pleuritic  and  rheu- 
matic pains,  and  other  figns  of  high  inflamma- 
tion ;  and  on  that  account  require  more  bleed- 
ing than  are  neceflary  in  the  intermediate  feafon. 
A  perfon  unacquainted  with  the  nature  of  the 
diftemper,  and  attending  chiefly  to  the  paroxyfms 
and  remiflions,  may  be  apt  to  omit  this  evacua- 
tion, and  to  gi'Ve  the  bark  too  foon,  v^^hich  would 
bring  on  a  very  dangerous  inflammatory  fever.  A 
vein  may  be  fafely  opened  either  during  the  remif- 
^On,  or  in  the  height  of  a  paroxyfm.  For,  be- 
fides  that  I  have  obferved  the  remilTion  to  come 
fooner  and  fuller  after  an  haemorrhage,  I  have  re* 
peated  experience  of  the  fafety  of  bleeding  in  the 

hot 


453 

hot  fits ;  and  not  only  in  this,  but  in  the  marjk 
fever,  even  after  coming  to  almoft  regular  inter- 
miffions.  Soon  after  bleeding,  it  is  neceflary  to 
give  an  emetic.  There  is  fome  difficulty  in  deter- 
mining the  kind  of  vomit  ;  and  fometimes  it  may 
be  doubtful  whether  any  is  proper  or  not.  Vo- 
mits do  harm  when  the  ftomach  is  inflamed,  or 
whenever  the  fever  has  been  of  fome  Handing, 
and  affumed  a  continued  form.  But  withal,  it 
muft  be  obferved,  that  an  inflammation  of  the 
ftomach  is  a  rarer  occurrence  than  one  would  ima- 
gine, amidft  fo  many  complaints  of  vomiting, 
pain,  ficknefs,  and  oppreffion  about  the  epigaf- 
tric  region  ;  all  which  being  commonly  relieved 
by  an  emetic,  we  may,  in  general,  very  fafely 
venture  upon  it.  The  ipecacuanha  is  the  fafeft 
and  eafieft,  but  the  ANTIMONIALS  are  the 
moft  efficacious.  I  commonly  added  two  grains 
of  emetic  tartar  to  a  fcruple  of  ipecacuanha.  The 
vomits  that  are  alfo  productive  of  ftools,  are 
the  moft  ufeful ;  but  efpecially  if  they  are  power- 
ful enough  to  procure  a  plentiful  difcharge,  up- 
wards or  downwards,  of  the  corrupted  bile.  By 
this  means  they  fometimes  effe^  a  cure  without  farther 
medicines. 

It  was  a  general  obfervation  during  the  Ame- 
rican war,  that  if  an  emetic  was  given  in  the 
firft  ftage  of  fever,  the  fever  was  either  ftifled 
in  its  birth,  or  fhortened  in  its  duration,  or  at 
leaft  rendered  more  benign.    The  fame  alfo  is  the 

obfervation 


454 

obfervation  of  Sir  John  Pringle,  in  his  Hiftory  of 
the  Difeafes  of  the  Army. 

Stationed,  fays  the  Rev.  Mr.  Townfend,  in  a 
country  parifli,  my  pra£lice  has  been  confined 
chiefly  to  the  rigid  fibre  of  laborious  peafants ; 
and,  among  thofe  of  them  who  made  an  early 
application  for  affiftance,  I  never  fufFered  fever 
to  continue. 

I  have  one  agedfervant,  who  in  the  thirty  years 
during  which  he  has  lived  with  me,  has  frequent- 
ly been  attacked  by  fever.  I  have  often  found 
him  in  the  chimney-corner,  with  a  dry  and  parched 
fkin ;  foul  tongue ;  pulfe  frequent,  hard,  and 
ftrong ;  no  appetite;  thirfty;  coitive :  yet  the 
very  firft  emetic,  difcharging  a  quantity  of  bile, 
of  phlegm,  and  of  indigefted  food,  affifted  by  a 
mercurial  pill  at  night,  and  followed  by  rhubarb 
with  fenna  in  the  morning,  has  fent  him  after  the 
fecond  day  to  work,  without  even  the  ufe  of  the 
Peruvian  bark. 

From  the  earlieft:  periods,  decided  opinions  in 
favour  of  the  exhibition  of  purgatives  may  be 
detefted  in  authors  of  every  clafs,  as  far  as  op- 
portunities of  confulting  them  have  offered. 
Some  amongft  the  moft  illuftrious  of  modern  wri- 
ters, it  has  been  already  mentioned,  recommend 
them  to  a  confiderable  extent ;  but  not  one,  as 
far  as  reading  ferves  on  this  fubjeft,  to  the  degree 
and  in  the  form  which  becomes  indifpenfibly  ne- 
ceflfary  in  moft  inftances.  " 

That 


455 

That  the  caufe  of  the  protra6lion  of  fevers  is 
often  conne£led  with  the  ftate  of  the  mucus,  as 
well  as  of  the  other  fecretionSj.  appears  from  the 
immediate  cefTation  or  alleviation  of  all  the  fymp- 
toms  on  a  copious  difcharge ;  and  that  the  mu- 
cus is  often  vitiated  in  a  moft  extraordinary  man- 
ner, the  fenfes  of  the  obferver  will  afford  arpple 
teftimony.     There  are  pra£litioners  to  whom 
thefe  cannot  prove  a  fource  of  information,  The 
extreme  delicacy  of  fome  gentlemen  will  not 
permit  them  to  carry  their  refearches  fo  far  ;  yet 
it  is  from  this  fource,  and  this  alone,  that  any 
precife  knowledge  refpefting  the  nature,  proba- 
ble duration,  and  other  circumftances  of  the  dif- 
order,   but  particularly  the  neceffity  of  further 
evacuations,  can  poflibly  be  acquired. 

It  may  be  deemed  particularly  fortunate,  fays 
an  experienced  praftitioner,  that  the  purgatives 
which  prove  moji  fuccefsful  in  fevers  are  as  mild 
in  their  operation  as  they  are  certain  and  powerr 
ful ;  that  they  are  not  fubjeft  to  the  inconve- 
niences attending  the  other  clafTes,  for  from  their 
want  of  bulk  they  are  more  retainable  in  the  fto-^ 
mach ;  and  that  from  their  fulP  operation  they 
may  be  fuppofed  to  reach  more  readily  the  fources 
of  the  evil,  and  to  combat  thefe  with  more  fuc- 
cefs.  Mercurial  purgatives,  particularly  CALO- 
MEL, continues  Dr.  Wade,  poflefs  thefe  advan- 
tages in  the  trifling  quantity  of  two  or  three 
grains  j  but  fuch  fmall  dofes  are  feldom  of  mucl^ 

efficacy 


45^ 

efficacy  after  the  firll  and  fecond,  and  a  repetition 
would  beefteemed  rafli  by  the  generality  of  prac- 
titioners. They  have  frequently,  however,  in  the 
fmalleft  proportion,  an  operation  fo  extenfive,  as 
to  remove  the  complaint  altogether,  in  flighter 
Cafes,  by  copious  evacuations.  But  other  occa^ 
fions  *  require  their  exhibition  in  fuch  quantities, 
and  after  intervals  fo  fhort,  as  would  terrify  moft 
of  the  faculty,  even  in  India,  and  appear  to  prac- 
titioners in  Europe  neceffarily  fatal.  The  moft 
trifling  detriment,  however,  has  not  been  obferved 
by  me  in  any  one  inftance,  though  a  difcharge  from 
the  falivary  glands  has  not  unfrequently  enfued. 
It  may  be,  however,  proper,  as  well  to  obviate 
thefe  inconveniencies,  as  to  render  their  evacuat- 
ing powers  more  certain,  to  urge  their  operation 
by  other  cathartics,  efpecially  in  a  liquid  form.  It 
Ihould  be  received  as  a  general  rule,  that  the  calo- 
mel, either  alone  or  in  conjun£lion  with  cathartic 
extract,  refin,  or  extract  of  jalap,  fcammony, 
gamboge,  fliould  be  exhibited  at  night,  and  the  me-r 
dicines  neceflary  to  promote  its  effects  given  early 
the  enfuing  morning,  as  well  as  during  the  courfe 
of  that  day,  according  to  circumftances.  From 
two  to  ten  or  more  grains  of  calomel,  with  a 
greater  proportion  of  any  of  the  other  articles, 
may  form  adofe  with  the  utmoft  fafety  j  for  thefe 

*  This  arifes  from  the  mucus  fliielding  the  living  fibre  from 
liie  operation  of  the  purge.  This  muft  be  firft  cleared,  before 
any  effeft  can  enfue. 

medicines. 


457 

medicines,  as  evacuants,  do  not  aft  with  a  dif- 
turbance,  nor  perhaps  with  an  efficacy,  in  the 
exaft  proportion  of  their  quantities,  owing  to 
the  mucus  coating  the  inteftines.  Thefe  dofes 
may  and  fliould  be  repeated  every  fecond  night, 
or, ,  according  to  the  prelTure  of  the  fymptoms, 
every  night,  as  long  as  any  thing  offenfive  fliall 
remain  to  be  difcharged  from  the  bowels,  in  the 
form  of  groffer  excrement,  vitiated  bile,  mucus, 
3£c.  Forty  or  more  grains  of  calomel,  with  a 
larger  quantity  of  the  laxative  mercurial  pill,  have 
been  exhibited  with  innocency,  and  with  great 
benefit,  in  this  manner,  during  the  courfe  of  five 
or  fix  days.  Laxatives  alone,  or  with  additional 
efficacy  from  an  union  with  ANTIMONIALS, 
fhould  be  admjniftered,  not  only  in  the  mornings 
after  the  calomel,  but  in  fmaller  quantities  during 
the  whole  of  the  intervals  ;  a  very  dilute  folution 
of  tarlar  emetic  alone  generally  anfwers  this  pur- 
pofe  extremely  well. 

As  fymptoms  called  putrid,  nervous,  &c.  indi- 
cate the  excefs  in  quantity  and  vitiation  of  the 
offending  matters,  and  confequently  the  greater 
obftinacy  and  danger  of  the  diforder,  notwith- 
ftanding  the  general  prejudices  againfl:  the  ufe  of 
mercurials  as  weakening  in  putrid  cafes,  this 
courfe  of  purging  by  calomel  is  more  effentially 
neceffary  when  fuch  fymptoms  prevail,  than  on 
any  other  occafion  whatever. 

Purging, 


458 

Purging,  therefore,  on  the  firfl  hints  from  na- 
ture, will  generally  obviate  the  accefs  of  all  fevers 
in  every  conftitution.  On  the  firfl:  attack  of  thefe, 
purging  will  infallibly  prevent  the  approach  of 
dangerous  fymptoms,  particularly  thofe  called 
putrid^  and,  at  their  height,  will  always  fave, 
and  generally  cure,  the  patient*. 

Dr.  Rufli  t  ingenuoufly  confefles,  that  in  his 
firft  treatment  of  the  Yellow  Fever  by  bark  infu- 
fion,  powder,  or  tin6lur.e,  nearly  all  his  patients 
died.  Baffled  in  every  trial  I  made  to  fi:op  the 
ravages  of  this  fever,  I  anticipated,  fays  he,  all 
the  numerous  and  complicated  diflirefTes  in  our 
city,  which  pefl:ilential  difeafes  have  fo  often  pro- 
duced in  other  countries.  The  fever  had  a  ma- 
lignity, and  an  obfl:inacy,  which  I  had  never  before 
obferved  in  any  difeafe,  and  it  fpread  with  a  rapi- 
dity and  mortality,  far  beyond  what  it  did  in  the 
year  1762.  Heaven  alone  bore  witnefs  to  the  an- 
guifli  of  my  foul  in  this  awful  fituation.  But  I 
did  not  abandon  a  hope  that  the  difeafe  might 
yet  be  cured.  I  had  long  believed,  that  good 
was  commenfurate  with  evil,  and  that  there  does 
not  exifl:  a  difeafe  for  which  the  goodnefs  of  Pro- 
vidence has  not  provided  a  remedy.  Under  the 
impreffion  of  this  belief,  I  applied  myfelf  with 

*  This  doflrine  waspubliflied  in  1793,  and  beautifully  con- 
firms Dr.  Rufli's  praftice.  The  work  in  which  it  is  contained, 
is  on  the  prevention  and  treatment  of  diforders  in  India,  by  Dr. 
Wade. 

-I-  Vide  his  Hiftory  of  the  Yellow  Fever. 

'  frefl; 


459 

frefli  ardour  to  the  inveftigation  of  the  difeafe  be- 
fore me.  I  ranfacked  my  library,  and  pored  over 
every  book  that  treated  of  the  yellov^  fever.  The 
refult  of  my  refearches  for  awhile  was  fruitlefs. 
The  accounts  of  the  fymptoms  and  cure  of  the 
difeafe  by  the  authors  I  confulted,  were  contra- 
diftory,  and  none  of  tliem  appeared  altogether 
applicable  to  the  prevailing  epidemic.  Before  I 
defifted  from  the  inquiry  to  which  I  had  devoted 
myfelf,  I  recollefted  that  I  had  among  fome  old 
papers,  a  manufcript  account  of  the  yellow  fever, 
as  it  prevailed  in  Virginia  in  the  year  1741, 
which  had  been  put  into  my  hands  by  Dr.  Franklin^ 
a  fliort  time  before  his  death;  I  had  read  it  for- 
merly, and  made  extracts  from  it  into  my  lectures 
upon  that  diforder.  I  now  read  it  a  fecond  time. 
I  paufed  upon  every  fentence^  even  words  in 
fome  places  arrefted  and  fixed  rriy  attention.  In 
reading  the  hiftory  of  the  method  of  cure,  I  was 
much  ftruck  with  the  following  paffages: 

It  muft  be  remarked,  that  this  evacuation 
"  (meaning  by  -purges)  is  more  neceflary  in  this, 
"  than  in  moft  other  fevers.  The  abdominal  vif- 
"  cera  are  the  parts  principally  afFe6ted  in  this 
"  difeafe,  but  by  this  timely  evacuation,  their 
"  feculent  corruptible  contents  are  difcharged, 
"  before  they  corrupt  and  produce  any  ill  effefts, 
"  and  their  various  emunftories,  and  fecerninsr 
vefTels  are  fet  open,  fo  as  to  allow  a  free  dif- 

"  charge 


460 

"  charge  of  their  contents,  and  confequently  2 
"  fecurity  to  the  parts  themfelves,  during  the 
"  courfe  of  the  difeafe.  By  this  evacuation  the 
"  very  minera  of  the  difeafe,  proceeding  frona 
"  the  putrid  miafma  fermenting  with  the  falivar)^, 
"  bilious,  and  other  inquiline  humours  of  the  body, 
"  is  fometimes  eradicated  by  timely  emptying 
"  the  abdominal  vifcera  on  which  itfirft  fixes,  after 
"  which  a  gentle  fweat  does  as  it  were  nip  it  in 
"  its  bud.  Where  the  primze  via?,  but  efpecially 
"  the  flomach,  is  loaded  with  an  offenfive  matter, 
"  or  contracted  and  convulfed  with  the  irritation 
"  of  its  ftimulus,  there  is  no  procuring  a  laudable 
"  fweat  till  that  is  removed ;  after  which  a  ne- 
*'  cefiary  quantity  of  fweat  breaks  out  of  its 
"  own  accord,  thefe  parts  promoting  it  when 
"  by  an  abfterging  medicine  they  are  eafed  of 
*•  the  burden  or  ftimulus  which  opprelfes  them. 

All  thefe  acute  putrid  fevers  ever  require  fame 
"  evacuation  to  bring  them  to  a  perfe£t  crifis  and 
"  folution.  On  this  account  an  ill-timed  fcrupn- 
*'  loufnejs  about  the  weaknejs  of  the  body,  is  of  bad 
"  confequence  in  thefe  urging  circumftances ;  for 
"  it  is  that  which  feems  chiefly  to  make  evacua- 
**  tions  necelTary,  which  nature  ever  attempts, 
"  after  the  humours  are  fit  to  be  expelled,  but  is 
^'  not  able  to  accomplifh  for  the  moft  part  in  this 
*'  difeafe  ;  and  I  can  afiirm,  that  I  have  given  a 
"  purge  in  this  cafe,  when  the  pulfe  has  been  fo 

"  low 


4^1 

^'  low  that  it  could  hardly  be  felt,  and  the  debi- 
"  lity  extreme,  yet  both  one  and  the  other  have 
been  reftored  by  it. 

"  This  evacuation  muft  be  procured  by  ftrong 
**  cko/ogoqne  purges." 

Here  I  paufed.  A  new  train  of  ideas  fuddenly 
broke  in  upon  my  mind.  I  believed  the  weak  and 
low  pulfe  which  I  had  obferved  in  this  fever,  to  be 
the  efFea  of  debility  of  the  indire£t  kind,  but 
the  unfuccefsful  ifTue  of  purging,  and  even  of  a 
fpontaneous  diarrhoea,  in  a  patient  of  Dr.  Hut- 
chinfon's,  had  led  me  not  only  to  doubt  of,  but 
to  dread  its  effefts.  My  fears  from  this  evacua- 
tion were  confirmed,  by  the  communications  I 
had  received  from  Dr.  Stevens.  I  had  been  ac- 
cuftomed  to  raife  a  weak  and  low  pulfe  in  pneu- 
mony  and  apoplexy,  by  means  of  blood-letting, 
but  I  had  attended  lefs  to  the  effe6ls  of  purging 
in  producing  this  change  in  the  pulfe.  Dr.  Mit- 
chell in  a  moment  diffipated  my  ignorance  and 
fears  upon  this  fubjeft.  I  adopted  his  theory  and 
praftice,  and  refolved  to  follow  them.  It  re- 
mained now  only  to  fix  upon  a  Suitable  purge  to 
anfwer  the  purpofe  of  difcharging  the  contents 
of  the  bowels.  I  had  been  in  the  habit  of  occa- 
fionally  purging  with  calomel  in  bilious  and  in- 
flammatory fevers,  and  had  recommended  the 
practice  the  year  before  in  my  lectures,  not  only 
from  my  own  experience,  but  upon  the  authority 
of  Dr.  Clarke.  I  had,  moreover,  other  precedents 

fof 


462 

for  its  life  in  the  praaicc  of  Sir  John  Pringk, 
Dr.  Cleghorn,  and  Dr.  Balfour,  in  difcafes  of  the 
fame  clafs  with  the  yellow  fever.  But  thefe  were 
not  all  my  vouchers  for  the  fafcty  and  efficacy  of 
CALOMEL.  In  my  attendance  upon  the  military 
hofpitals  during  .the  Jate  war,  I  had  feen  it  given 
.combined  with  jalap  in  the  bilious  fever,  by  Dr. 
Thomas  Young,  a  fenior  furgeon  in  the  hofpitals. 
His  ufual  dofe  was  ten  grains  of  each  of  them, 
j^'his  was  given  once  or  twice  a  day,  until  it  pro- 
cured •  large  evacuations  from  the  bowels.  For 
a  while  I  renionftratcd  with  the  Doclor  againil 
this  purge,  as  jbeing  difproportioned  to  the 
violence  and  danger  of  the  fever  i  but  I  was 
foon  fatisfied  that  it  was  as  fafe  as  cremor  tar- 
tar, or  Glauber's  falts.  It  was  adopted  by  feve- 
ral  of  the  furgeons  of  the  hofpital,  and  was  uni- 
■verfally  known,  and  fometimes  prefcribed,  by  the 
fimple  name  of  ten  and  ten.  This  mode  of  giving 
calomel  occurred  to  me  in  preference  to  any  other. 
iThe  jalaji  appeared  to  be  a  neceffary  addition  to 
it,  in  order  to  quicken  its  paffage  through  the 
bowels ;  for  cailomel  is  flow  in  its  operation,  more 
efpecially  when,  it  is  given  in  large  dofes.  I  re- 
folved,  after  mature  deliberation,  to  prefcribe 
this  purge.  Finding  teij  grains  of  jalap  infuffi- 
cient  to  carry  the  calomel  through  the  bowels,  in 
the  rapid  manner  I  wiflied,  I  added  fifteen  grains  of 
the  former  to  ten  of  the  latter  ;  but  even  this  dofe 
was  flow,  and  uncertain  in  its  operation.  I  then 
ifl'ued  three  dofes,  each  confifting  of  fifteen  grains 

of 


463 

of  jalap,  and  ten  of  calomel  j  one  to  be  given 
every  fix  hours  until  they  procured  four  or  five 
large  evacuations.  The  effefts  of  this  powder, 
not  only  aufwered^  but  far  exceeded  my  expec- 
tations. It  perfeSily  cured  four  out  of  the  firfi  five 
■patients .  to  whom  I  gave  it^  notwithfianding  fome  of 
them  zvere  advanced  feveral  days  in  the  diforder. 
-Mr.  Richard  Spain,  a  block-maker,,  in  Third- 
llreet,  took  eighty  grains  of  calomel,  and  rather 
more  of  rhubarb  and  jalap  mixed  with  it,  on  the 
two  lafl-  days  of  Auguft,  and  on  the  firft  day  of 
September.  He  had  pafTed  twelve  hours  before 
li  began  to  give  him  this  medicine,  without  a 
pulfe,  and  with  a  cold  fweat  on  all  his  limbs. 
His.  relations  had  given  him  over,  and  one  of  his 
neighbours  complained  to  me  of  my  neglefting 
to  advife  them  to  make  immediate  preparations 
for  his  interment.  But  in  this  fituation  I  did  not 
defpair  of  his. recovery.  Dr.  Mitchell's  account 
of  the  effefts  of  purging  in  raifing  the  pu/fe,  excitr 
ing  a  hope  that  he  might  be  faved,  provided  his 
bowels  could  be  opened.  I  now  committed  the 
exhibition  of  the  purging  medicine  to  Mr. /Sta'//', 
one  of  my  pupils,  who  mixed  it,  and  gave  it.  with 
his  own  hand  three  or  four  times  a  (day.  At  length 
it  operated,  and  produced  two,- copious,  foetid 
ftools.  His  pulfe  rofe  immediately  afterwards, 
and  an  univerfal  moifture  on, his  fkin  fucceeded 
the  cold  fweat  on  his  limbs.  In  a  few  days  he 
was  out  of  danger,  and  he  now  lives,  in  good 

health. 


464 


health,  as  the  firft  fruits  of  the  efiicacy  of  ^//ifr* 
curia/  purges  in  the  yellow  fever. 

After  fuch  a  pledge  of  the  fafety  and  fuccefs  of 
my  new  medicine,  I  gave  it  afterwards  with  con- 
fidence. I  communicated  the  prefcription  to  fuch 
of  the  pra6titioners  as  I  met  in  the  ftreets.  I  im- 
parted the  prefcription  to  the  College  of  Phyfi'- 
cians,  on  the  third  of  September,  and  endea- 
voured to  remove  the  fears  of  my  fellow  citizens, 
by  affuring  them  that  the  difeafe  was  no  longer 
incurable,  Mr,  Lewis,  the  lawyer.  Dr.  M*Ilvain>e, 
Mrs.  Bethel,  her  two  fons,  and  a'  fervant  maid, 
and  Mr.  Peter  Baynton's  whole  family  (nine  in 
number),  were  fome  of  the  firft  trophies  of  this 
new  remedy.  The  credit  it  acquired  brought  me 
an  immenfe  acceffion  of  bufmefs.  It  ftill  conti- 
nued to  be  almoft  uniformly  effe£tual  in  ail  thofe 
which  I  was  able  to  attend,  cither  in  perfon  or 
by  my  pupils.  Dr.  Griffits,  Dr.  Say,  Dr.  Penning- 
iOHy  and  my  fbrm-er  pupils  who  had  fettled  in  th-e 
city,  viz.  Dr.  £«'i&.  Dr.  Fcrter^  Annan,  Df- 
fVoodhoufe,  and  Dr.  Meafe,  w-^re  among  the  firft 
phyficians  who  adopted  it,  I  <:an  never  forget 
the  tranfpor.t  with  which  Dr.  Pennington  K2d\7icxo{B 
the  ftreet  to  infdtm  me,  a  few  days  after  he  began 
to  give  ftrong  purges,  that  the  difeafe  yielded  to 
them  in  every  cafe.  But  I  did  not  rely  upon 
purging  alone  to  cure  the  difeajfe.  The  theory 
of  its  approximate  caufe,  which  I  had  adopted, 
led  me  to  life  other  remedies,  to  abfirad  excejs 

of 


465 

cf  fthniili  from  the  fyftem.  Thefe  were  blood- 
letting,  cool  air,  cold  drinks,  low  diet,  and  applica- 
tions of  cold  water  to  the  body.  I  had  bled  Mrs. 
Bradford,  Mrs.  Learning,  and  one  of  Mrs.  Pal- 
mer's fons,  with  fuccefs,  early  in  the  month  of 
Auguft.  Never  before  did  I  experience  fuch 
fublime  joy  as  I  now  felt  in  contemplating  the 
fuccefs  of  my  remedies.  It  repaid  me  for  all  the 
toils  and  ftudies  of  my  life.  The  conqueft  of  this 
formidable  difeafe  was  not  the  efPeft  of  accident, 
nor  of  the  application  of  a  fmgle  remedy  ;  but 
it  was  the  triumph  of  a  principle  in  medicine*. 
The  reader  will  not  wonder  at  this  joyful  Rate  of 
my  mind,  when  I  add  a  fliort  extra6t  from  my 
note  bookj  dated  the  10th  of  September, 
"THANK  GOD!  OUT  OF  ONE  HUN- 
DRED PATIENTS,  WHOM  I  HAVE  VISIT- 
ED, OR  PRESCRIBED  FOR,  THIS  DAY, 
I  HAVE  LOST  NONE." 

Being  unable  to  comply  with  the  numerous  de- 
mands which  were  made  upon  me  for  the  purging 
powders,  notwithftanding  I  had  requefted  my  fifter, 
and  two  other  perfons  to  alTift  my  pupils  in  putting 
tliem  up  J  and  finding  myfelf  unable  to  attend  all 
the  perfons  who  fent  for  me,  I  furniflied  the  apo- 
thecaries with  the  recipe  for  the  mercurial  purges, 
together  with  a  copy  of  the  following  dire6lions. 


*  How  contrary  this  to  what  is  called  the  Brunonian  Prac' 
tke,  although  exadly  confo/iant  to  Dr.  Brown's  theory. 

.  Vol,  IV.  H  h  for 


466 


for  giving  them,  and  for  the  treatment  of  the  dif- 
order. 

DireBioH. — "  As  foon  as  you  are  affected  (whe- 
ther by  night  or  day)  with  a  pain  in  the  head  or 
back,  ficknefs  at  ftomach,  chills,  or  fever  j  more 
efpecially,  if  thofe  fymptoms  be  accompanied  by 
a  rednefs  or  faint  yellownefs  in  the  eyes,  take  one 
of  the  powders  in  a  little  fugar  and  water^  every 
fix  hours,  until  they  produce  four  of  five  lar^c 
evacuations  from  the  bowels — drink  plentifully 
of  water  gruel,  or  barley  water,  or  chicken  wa- 
ter, or  any  other  mild  drink  that  is  agreeable,  to 
aflill  the  operation  of  the  phyfic.  It  will  be  pro- 
per to  lie  in  bed  while  the  medicine  is  operating^ 
by  which  means  a  plentiful  fweat  will  be  more 
eafily  brought  on.  After  the  bowels  are  thoroughly 
cleanfed,  if  the  pulfe  be  full  or  tenj'e,  eight  or  ten 
ounces  of  blood  fliould  be  taken  from  the  arm, 
and  more,  if  the  tenlion  or  fullnefs  of  the  pulfe 
lliould  continue.  Balm  tea,  toaft  and  water, 
lemonade,  tamarind  water,  (hoUld  be  drank  dur- 
mz  this  ftate  of  the  diforder— and  the  bowels 
fliould  be  kept  conftantly  open,  either  by  another 
powder,  or  by  fmall  dofes  of  cremor  tartar,  or 
cooling  falts,  or  by  common  opening  glyfters  j 
but  if  the  pulfe  Ihould  become  zveak  and  /ozy 
after  the  bowels  are  cleanfed,  infufions  of  camo- 
mile and  fnake-root  in  water,  elixir  of  vitriol, 
and  laudanum  i  alfo  wine  and  water,  or  wine,. 

punch. 


46? 

plincli,  and  pbrtcr  fliould  be  given,  and  the  barkj 
either  in  infufion  in  water,  or  in  fubftance,  may- 
be adminifteredm  the  intermiflion  of  the  fever. 
Blill:crs  may  likewife  be  apphed  to  the  fides, 
neck,  or  head,  in  this  ftate  of  the  diforder,  and 
the  lower  iitnbs  may  be  wrapped  up  in  flannels 
wetted  in  hot  vinegar.  The  food  fliould  confill: 
of  gruel,  fago,  panada,  tapioca,  tea,  coffee,  weak 
chocolate,  wine  whey.  The  fruits  of  the  feafon 
may  be  eaten  with  advantage  at  all  times.  Frefli 
air  Ihould  be  admitted  into  the  room  in  all  cafes, 
and  cool  air  when  the  pulfe  is  full  and  tenfe.  The 
floor  fhould  be  fprinkled  now  and  then  with  vine- 
gar j  and  the  difcharges  from  the  body  be  removed 
as  Ipeedlly  as  polTible.'' 

Hitherto  there  had  been  great  harmony  among 
the  phyficians  of  the  city,  although  there 
was  at  firft  a  diverfity  of  fentlment  as  to  the  na- 
ture knd  cure  of  the  prevailing  fever.  But 
this  diverfity  of  fentiment  and  pra£lice  was 
daily  leflening,  and  would  probably  have  ceafed 
altogether  in  a  few  days,  had  not  the  follow- 
ing publication,  fubfcribed  A.  K.  and  faid  to 
be  written  by  Dr.  Adam  Khun,  made  its  ap- 
pearance on  the  11th  of  September,  in  the  Gene- 
ral Advertlfer,  from  which  it  was  copied  into  all 
the  papers  of  the  city. 


H  h  2 


SIR, 


468 


Philadelfhia,  Sept.  7th,  t79J« 

SIR, 

"I  RECEIVED  your  letter  to-day,  and  (hall  with 
pleafure  give  you  every  information  in  my  power 
refpefting  the  malignant  fever,  which  proves  fo 
fatal  among  us.  As  I  confider  debility  and  putre- 
faEiion  the  alarming  circumftances  to  be  attended 
to,  and  to  be  obviated  from  the  earlieft  commence- 
ment of  the  difeafe,  I  do  not  adminifter  any 
emetic,  neither  do  I.  give  a  laxative,  unlefs  indi- 
cated by  coftivenefs,  when  I  recommend  cream 
of  tartar,  or  caftor  oil,  but  prefer  a  clyfter  to 
either.  In  cafe  of  naufea  I  order  a  few  bowls  of 
camomile  tea  to  be  taken  ;  if  the  naufea  continues, 
it  Is  to  be  relieved  with  the  jaline  draught  in.  a 
Jiate  of  effervefcence,  elixir  of  vitriol,  and  if  necef- 
fary,  laudanum.  The  ficknefs  of  the  ftomach 
may  alfo  be  alleviated  by  applying  mint,  cloves, 
or  any  other  fpice,  with  wine  or  fpirits,  to  the 
pit  of  the  ftomach.  The  ftomach  being  compo- 
fed,  20  drops  of  elixir  of  vitriol  are  to  be  taken 
every  two  hours  in  a  tea  cup  full  of  ftrong  cold 
camomile  tea,  and  if  bark  can  be  retained,  two 
drachms  of  the  beft  pale  bark,  in  fubftance,  are 
to  be  given  every  two  hours,  alternately  with  the 
elixir  of  vitriol.  When  an  ounce  of  bark  has  been 
adminiftered  in  this  manner,  the  dofe  is  to  be  di- 
miniflied  to  one  drachm  every  two  hours,  as  the 
continuance  of  the  large  dofes  might  diforder  the 

ftomach 


4^9 


flomach  or  bowels.  Should  the  bark  prove  pur 
gative,  it  will  be  neceflary  to  give  10  or  15  drops 
of  laiidamm  after  every  ftool.  But  if  the  bark 
cannot  be  retained  on  the  ftomach,  20  drops  of 
elixir  of  vitriol  are  to  be  taken  every  hour,  and 
recourfe  muft  be  had  to  bark  clyjlers. 

Of  regimen  it  is  needlefs  to  fay  much  to  you: 
ripe  fruits,  fago  with  wine,  and  rich  wine-whey 
are  the  moft  proper.  A  fpacious  chamber,  with 
a  free  circulation  of  air,  and  repeatedly  changing 
of  bed  and  body  linen  are  highly  necelTary.  If 
the  bark  clyfters  fliould  bring  on  coftivenefs,  the 
laudanum  may  occalionally  be  omitted  j  if  this 
is  not  attended  with  the  defired  confequences, 
we  have  recourfe  to  a  common  inje6tion.  Sprink- 
ling the  chamber  with  vinegar,  waOiing  the  face, 
neck,  hands,  and  feet  with  it,  and  then  wiping 
them  dry,  will  have  their  ufe.  The  fumes  of 
vinegar  and  of  nitre  will  contribute  much  to 
fweeten  the  air  in  the  chamber. 

I  am,  &c. 
A.  K. 

"  N.  B.  The  pra£lice  of  applying  the  cold 
bath  in  fevers  is  not  new." 

To  obviate  the  effefts  of  this  letter  upon  the 
minds  of  the  citizens,  I  publiflied,  fays  the  hu- 
mane Dr.  Rufh,  the  next  day  an  account  of  the 
ill  fuccefs  which  had  attended  the  ufe  of  the  reme- 
dies 


470 


(^ics  recommended  by  Pr.  Kuhn,  in  my  practice, 
and  of  the  happy  effects  of  mercurial  purges  and 
Heeding,  This  publication  was  concluded  with 
the  following  remarks : 
*  


I  have  had  fo  many  unequivocal  proofs  of  the 
fuccefs  of  the  fiiort  and  fimplc  mode  which  I  have 
adopted  of  treating  this  diforder,  that  I  am  now 
fatisfied,  that  under  more  favourable  circum- 
llances  of  attendance  upon  the  fick,  the  difeafe 
would  yield  to  the  power  of  medicine  with  as 
much  certainty  as  a  common  intermitting  fever. 
September  13,  1793.  BENJ.  RUSH. 

The  ^bove  addrefs  to  the  citizens,  produced 
the  following  letter  from  Dr.  Kuhn  to  the  Mayor 
of  the  city. 

"  SIRj 

"If  you  are  of  opinion  that  the  enclofed  ftate- 
ment  can  have  the  leaft  tendency  to  abate  the  ap- 
prehenlions  of  the  citizens,  I  beg  of  you  to  make 
any  ufe  of  it  you  may  think  proper. 

J  am,  Avith  refpeft, 

Your  moft  humble  fervant, 

September  XI,  1793.  A.  KUHN. 

Matthew  Clarkfon,  Efq.  Mayor  | 
of  the  City  of  Philadelphia.  5 

This 


471 

This  letter  was  followed  by  one  from  Dr.  Ste- 
vens to  Dr.  Redman,  the  prefident  of  the  CoU 
kge  of  Phyficians,  which  was  publiflied  in  the 
Federal  Gazette  of  the  16th  of  September.  He 
argues  that  this  difeafe  produces  debility,  and  the 
vis  vitaj  muft  in  confequence  be  fupported. 

Dr.  Rufli  immediately  takes  up  the  club  of  rear 
fon  to  combat  the  hydra  prejudice,  and  gives 
the  public  the  theory  of  his  praftice,  with  its  fuc-f 
cefs,  when  applied  to  the  touchftone  of  experience. 
He  thus  addreffes  the  College  : 

"  GENTLEMEN,, 

"  It  is  with  extreme  regret  that  I  have 
read  Dr.  Stevens's  letter  to  the  prefident  of  our 
College  in  one  of  the  newfpapers.  It  will,  I 
fear,  co-operate  with  Dr.  Kuhn's  plan  of  treating 
the  diforder,  and  Mr.  Hamilton's  well-meant  let- 
ter, in  adding  to  the  mortality  of  the  diforder.  If 
I  fliould  furvive  my  prefent  labours,  I  hope  to 
prove  that  Dr.  Stevens's  theory  of  the  difeafe  in 
the  Weft  Indies,  is  as  erroneous  as  the  practice 
he  has  recommended  has  been  fatal  in  Philadel- 
phia. It  is  a  moft  inflammatory  diforder  in  its 
firft  ftage.  The  contagion,  it  is  true,  in  its  firft 
aftion  upon  the  fyftem,  frequently  produces  de- 
bility ;  but  the  debility  here  is  of  the  indirect 
kind,  and  arifes  wholly  from  an  excefs  of  the 
ftimulus  of  contagion  upon  the  fyftem.  This 
indire6t  debility,  as  in  many  other  difeafes,  yields 

only 


472 

only  to  the  abftraaion  of  other  ftlmuh',  and  to 
none  fo  fpeedily  as  to  large  evacuations  from  the 
bowels  and  the  blood-veflels. 

"  I  have  fo  high  an  opinion  of  Dr.  Stevens's 
candour  and  liberality  as  a  gentleman  and  a  phyfi- 
cian,  that  I  fhall  make  no  apology  for  thus  pub- 
licly dilTenting  from  his  opinions  and  praftice. 

"  Could  patients  be  vifited  by  phyficians  as  of- 
ten, and  attended  by  nurfes  as  carefully,  as  in 
other  acute  difeafes,  I  am  fatisfied  that  the  mode 
of  treating  it  which  I  have  adopted  and  recom- 
mended, would  foon  reduce  it  in  point  of  danger 
and  mortality,  to  a  level  with  a  common  cold. 

From,  Gentlemen, 

Sejtt.  i-jth,        Your  fincere  friend  and  brother, 
^793- 

B.  RUSH." 

During  this  controverfy  with  the  opinions  and 
praclice  of  Dr.  Kuhn  and  Dr.  Stevens,  I  alfo  pub- 
lifhed  in  the  Federal  Gazette,  the  following  letter 
to  the  College  of  Phyficians  ;  alfo  fome  additions 
to  the  directions  I  had  given  with  the  mercurial 
purges. 

"  GENTLEMEN, 

*'  As  the  weekly  meetings  of  our  Col- 
lege have  become  no  longer  practicable,  I  have 
taken  the  liberty  of  communicating  to  you  the  re- 
fult  of  further  obfervations  upon  the  prevailing 
^  epidemic. 

I  have 


473 

I- have  found  bleeding  to  be  ufeful,  not  only 
in  cafes  where  the  pulfe  was  full  and  quick,  but 
where  it  w^as  JIow  and  tenfe.  I  have  bled  in  one 
cafe,  where  the  pulfe  beat  only  48  ftrokes  in  a 
minute,  and  recovered  my  patient  by  it.  The 
pulfe  became  more  full  and  more  frequent  after  if. 

"  I  have  bled  twice  in  many,  and  in  one  acute 
£afe  four  times,  with  the  happieft  effefts.  I  con- 
-fider  intrepidity  in  the  ufe  of  the  lancet  at  prefent 
to  be  as  neceffary,  as  is  the  ufe  of  calomel  and  jalaps 
in  this  infidious  and  ferocious  difeafe. 

From,  Gentlemen, 

Sejtt.  i2th.  Your  friend  and  brother, 

1793. 

BENJ.  RUSH." 
In  fupport  of  the  efficacy  of  thefe  remedies.  Dr. 
Porter,  Dr.  Annan,  and  Dr.  Meafe,  gave  very  de-  ' 
cided  teftimonics  in  the  public  papers.    I  fliall 
infert  as  an  epitome  of  them  all,  the  following 
letter  from  Dr.  Porter. 

"  DEAR  SIR, 

"  As  I  know  it  will  afford  you  much 
pleafure,  I  fend  you  the  following  ftatement  of 
cafes.  Within  three  days  paft  I  have  been  called 
to  thirty-feven  perfons  labouring  under  the  pre- 
vailing epidemic.  I  have  treated  them  all  in  the 
new  method,  with  the  greateft  fuccefs  j  nearly 
half  of  them  are  fo  far  recovered  as  to  require  no 
farther  alTiftance  from  me.  .  I  cannot  avoid  men- 
tioning 


474 

tioning  one  cafe  of  a  man  in  whom  the  advan- 
tages of  bleeding  were  remarkable. — The  pain 
in  his  head  was  fo  violent  as  to  lead  rne  to  order 
bleedintj  previous  to  purging — from  fome  inac- 
curacy in  the  operation,  he  loft  a  greater  quantity 
than  I  dire6^ed,  his  attendants  fuppofe  fixteen 
ounces  ;  the  confequence  however  was,  that  at 
my  next  vifit  I  found  that  my  patient  had  walked 
out  perfectly  recovered.  This  cafe  was  clearly 
marked  with  all  the  fymptoms  attendant  on  the 
difeafe  in  its  firft  ftages,  particularly  pain  in  the 
head  and  rednefs  in  the  eves. 

With  great  regard, 

I  am  your  obedient  fervant, 

Se/iteijiber  iph,  ' 

JOHN  PORTER." 

JDr.  RnJJi, 

The  beft  confirmation  of  this  doclrine,  is  the 
cafe  of  Dr.  Rufli,  as  drawn  up  by  himfelf. 

Sometime  before  the  fever  made  its  appearance, 
fays  he,  my  wife  and  children  went  into  the  ftate 
of  New  Jerfey,  where  they  had  long  been  in  the 
habit  of  fpending  the  fummer  months.  My  fa- 
mily, about  the  25th  of  Augufl,  confifted  of  my 
mother,  a  fifter  who  was  on  a  vifit  to  me,  a  black 
fervant  man,  and  a  mulatto  boy.  I  had  five  pu- 
pils, viz.  Warner  Wafliington,and  Edward  Fiflier, 
of  Virginia,  John  Alfton  of  South  Carolina,  and 
John  Redman  Coxe  (grandfon  to  Dr.  Redman), 

and 


475 

and  John  Stall,  both  of  this  city.  They  all  crowd- 
ed around  me  upon  the  fudden  encreafe  of  bufi- 
nefs,  and  with  one  heart  devoted  themfelves  to 
my  fervice,  and  to  the  caufe  of  humanity. 

The  credit  which  the  new  mode  of  treating 
the  difeafe  acquired  in  all  parts  of  the  city,  pro- 
duced an  immenfe  influx  of  patients  to  me  from 
all  quarters.  My  pupils  were  conftantly  em- 
ployed ;  at  iirft  in  putting  up  purging  powders, 
but,  after  a  while,  only  in  bleeding  and  vifiting 
the  fick. 

Between  the  8th  and  the  15th  of  September, 
I  vilited  and  prefcribed  for  between  an  hundred 
and  an  hundred  and  twenty  patients  a  day.  Se- 
veral of  my  pupils  vifited  a  fourth  or  fifth  part  of 
that  number.  For  a  while  we  refufed  no  calls. 
In  the  fhort  intervals  of  bufinefs  which  I  fpent  at 
ray  meals,  my  houfe  was  filled  with  patients, 
chiefly  the  poor,  waiting  for  advice.  For  many 
weeks  I  feldom  ate  without  prefcribing  for  num- 
bers as  I  fat  at  my  table.  To  aflift  me  at  thefe 
hours,  as  well  as  in  the  night,  Mr.  Stall,  Mr. 
Fiflier,  and  Mr.  Coxe,  accepted  of  rooms  in  my" 
houfe,  and  became  members  of  my  family.  Their 
labours  now  had  no  remiflion. 

From  my  great  intercourfe  with  the  fick,  my 
body  became  highly  impregnated  with  the  conta- 
gion. My  eyes  were  yellow,  and  fometimes  a 
yellownefs  was  perceptible  in  my  face.  My  pulfe 
was  preternaturally  quick,  and  I  had  profufe 

fweats 


476 

fweats  every  night.    Thefc  fvveats  were  fo  offeii- 
iive  as  to  oblige  me  to  draw  the  bed-cloaths  clofe 
to  my  neck  to  defend  myfelf  from  their  fmell. 
They  loft  their  foetor  entirely  upon  my  leaving  off 
the  life  of  broth,  and  living  intirely  upon  milk 
and  vegetables.    But  my  nights  were  rendered 
difagreeable,  not  only  by  thcfe  fweats,  but  by  the 
want  of  my  ufual  lleep,  produced  in  part  by  the 
frequent  knocking  at  my  door,  and  in  part  by 
anxiety  of  mind,  and  the  ftimulus  of  the  conta- 
gion upon  the  fyftem.    I  lay  down  in  conformity 
to  habit  only,  for  my  bed  ceafed  to  afford  me  reft 
or  refrefhment.    When  it  was  evening,  I  wifhed 
for  morning  ;  and  when  it  was  morning,  the  pro- 
fpeft  of  the  labours  of  the  day,  caufed  me  to 
wifli  for  the  return  of  evening.    The  degrees  of 
my  anxiety  may  be  eafily  conceived,  when  I  add, 
that  I  had  at  one  time  upwards  of  thirty  heads  of 
families  under  my  care :  among  thefe  were  Mr. 
Jofiah  Coates,  the  father  of  eight,  and  Mr.  Ben- 
jamm  Scull,  and  Mr.  John  Morrell,  each  fathers 
of  ten  children.     They  were  all  in  imminent 
danger;  but  it  pleafed  God  to  make  me  the  in- 
ilrument  of  faving  each  of  their  lives.    I  rofe  at 
6  o'clock,  and  generally  found  a  number  of  per- 
fons  waiting  for  advice  in  my  fliop  or  parlour. 
Hitherto  the  fuccefs  of  my  practice  gave  a  tone 
to  my  mind,  which  imparted  preternatural  vigour 
to  my  body.    It  was  meat  and  drink  to  me  to 
fulfil  the  duties  I  owed  to  my  fellow  citizens  in 

this 


477 

this  time  of  great  and  univerfal  diftrefs.    From  a 
hope  that  I  might  efcape  the  difeafe,  by  avoiding 
every  thing  that  could  excite  the  contagion  in  ray 
body  into  aftion,  I  carefully  avoided  the  heat  of 
the  fun,  and  the  coldnefs  of  the  evening  air.  I 
likewife  avoided  yielding  to  every  thing  that 
fliould  raife  or  deprefs  my  paffions.    But  at  fuch 
a  time,  the  events  which  influence  the  flate  of 
the  body  and  mind,  are  no  more  under  our  com- 
mand than  the  w^inds  or  weather.    On  the  even- 
ing of  the  14th  of  September,  after  eight  o'clock, 
I  vifited  the  fon  of  Mrs.  Berriman,  near  the 
Swedes  church,  who  had  fent  for  me  early  in  the 
morning.    I  found  him  very  ill.    He  had  been 
bled  in  the  forenoon  by  my  advice,  but  his  pulfc 
indicated  a  fecond  bleeding.    It  would  have  been 
difficult  to  procure  a  bleeder  at  that  late  hour.  ^  I 
therefore  bled  him  myfelf.    From  hanging  over 
his  breath  and  blood  for  ten  minutes,  and  after- 
wards riding  home  in  the  night  air,  debilitated  as 
I  was  by  the  labours  of  the  day,  I  found  myfelf 
much  indifpofed  the  enfuing  night.    I  rofe  .not- 
withftanding  at  my  ufual  hour.    At  8  o'clock  I 
loft  ten  ounces  of  blood,  and  immediately  after- 
wards got  into  my  chair,  and  vifited  between  forty 
and  fifty  patients  before  dinner.    At  the  houfe 
of  one  of  them,  I  was  forced  to  lie  down  a  few  mi- 
nutes.   In  the  courfe  of  this  morning's  labour, 
my  mind  was  fuddenly  thrown  off  its  pivots,  by 
the  laft  look,  and  the  pathetic  cries  of  a  friend 

for 


478 

for  helji^  who  was  dying  under  the  care  of  a  French 
phyfician.  I  canne  home  about  two  o'clock,  and 
was  feized  immediately  afterwards  with  a  chilly 
fit  and  a  high  fever.  I  took  a  dofe  of  the  mercu- 
rial medicine^  and  went  to  bed.  In  the  evening  I 
took  a  jecond  purging  Jiowder,  and  loft  ten  ounces 
more  of  blood.  The  next  mornitig  I  bathed  my 
face,  hands,  and  feet  in  cold  water  for  fome  time. 
I  drank  plentifully  during  the  day  and  night  of 
weak  hyfon  tea,  and  of  water  in  which  currant  jelly 
had  been  diflblved.  At  8  o'clock  I  was  fo  well 
as  to  admit  perfons  who  came  for  advice  into  my 
room,  and  to  receive  reports  from  my  pupils  of 
the  ftate  of  as  many  of  my  patients  as  they  were 
able  to  vifit  j  for  unfortunately  they  were  not  able 
to  vifit  them  all  (with  their  own)  in  due  time  : 
by  which  means  feveral  died.  The  next  day  I 
came  down  flairs,  and  prefer!  bed  in  my  parlour 
for  not  lefsthanan  hundred  people.  On  the  19th 
of  the  fame  month,  I  refumed  my  labours,  but  in 
great  w-eaknefs.  It  was  with  difficulty  that  I 
afcended  a  pair  of  flairs,  by  the  help  of  a  banifler. 
A  flow  fever,  attended  with  irregular  chills,  and 
a  troublefome  cough,  hung  confiantly  upon  me. 
The  fever  difcovered  itfelf  in  the  heat  of  my 
hands,  which  my  patients  often  told  me  were 
warmer  than  their  own.  The  contagion  now 
began  to  affeft  me  in  fmall  and  infefted  rooms,  in 
the  mofl  fenfible  manner.  On  the  morning  of  the 
4th  of  06lober,  I  fuddcniy  funk  down  in  a  fick 

room 


479 

room  upon  a  bed,  with  a  giddinefs  in  my  head. 
It  continued  for  a  few  minutes,  and  was  fucceed- 
€d  by  a  fever  which  confined  me  to  my  houfc  the 
remaining  part  of  the  day.  Every  moment,  in 
the  intervals  of  my  vifits  to  the  fick,  was  employ- 
ed in  prefcribing  in  my  own  houfe  for  the  poor, 
or  in  fending  anfwers  to  meffages  from  my  pa- 
tients ;  time  was  now  too  precious  to  be  fpent  in 
counting  the  number  of  perfons  who  called  upon 
me  for  advice.  From  circumftances,  I  believe  it 
was  frequently  150,  and  feldom  lefs  than  50  in  a 
day,  for  five  or  fix  weeks.  The  evening  did  not 
bring  with  it  the  leaft  relaxation  from  my  labours. 
I  received  letters  every  day  from  the  country,  and 
from  diftant  parts  of  the  Union,  containing  inqui- 
ries into  the  mode  of  treating  the  diforder,  and 
after  the  health  and  lives  of  perfons  who  had  re- 
mained in  the  city.  The  bufinefs  of  every  even- 
ing was  to  anfwer  thefe  letters,  alfo  to  write  to 
my  family.  Thefe  employments,  by  affording  a 
frelh  current  to  my  thoughts,  kept  me  from  dwel- 
ling on  the  gloomy  fcenes  of  the  day.  After  thefe 
duties  were  performed,  I  copied  into  my  note, 
book  all  the  obfervations  I  had  collected  during 
the  day,  and  which  I  had  marked  with  a  pencil 
in  my  pocket-book  in  lick  rooms,  or  in  my  car- 
riage. To  thefe  conftant  labours  of  body  and 
mind  were  added  dijirejfes,  from  a  variety  of  cau- 
fes.  Having  found  myfelf  unable  to  comply  with 
the  numerous  applications  that  were  made  to  me, 

I  was 


48© 

I  was  obliged  to  refufe  many  every  dsy.  My 
filler  counted  forty-fcven  in  one  forenoon  before 

II  o'clock.  Many  of  them  left  my  door  with 
tears,  but  they  did  not  feel  more  diftrefs  than  I 
did  from  refufing  to  follow  them.  Sympathy^ 
when  it  vents  itfelf  in  acts  of  humanity,  affords 
pleafure,  and  contributes  to  health,  but  the  reflux 
of  pity,  like  anger,  gives  pain,  and  diforders  the 
body.  In  riding  through  the  ftreets,  I  was  often 
torced  to  refifh  the  entreaties- of  parents  imploring, 
a  vifit  to  their  children,  or  of  children  to  their 
parents.  I  recolleiSt,  and  even  yet,  I  recolleft 
with  pain,  that  I  tore  myfelf  at  one  time  from 
five  perfons  in  Moravian-alley,  who  attempted  to 
ftop  me,  by  ordering  the  man  to  drive  as  fpeedily 
as  poffible  beyond  the  reach  of  their  cries^  The 
folicitude  of  the  friends  of  the'  fick  for  help,  may 
further  be  conceived  of,  when  I  add,  that  the 
moft  extravagant  compenfations  were  fometimes 
offered  for  medical  fervices,  and,  in  one  inftance, 
for  only  a  fingle  vifit.  I  had  no  merit  in  refufing 
thefe  offers,  and  1  have  introduced  an  account  of 
them  only  to  inform  fuch  phyficians  as  may  here- 
after be  thrown  into  a  fimilar  fituation,  that  I  was 
favoured  with  an  exemption  from  the  fear  of 
death,  in  proportion  as  I  fubdued  every  felHfli 
feeling,  and  laboured  exclufively  for  thfe  benefit 
of  others.  In  every  inftance  in  which  I  was  torced 
to  refufe  thefe  pathetic  and  carneft  applications, 
my  diftrefs  was  heightened.. by.  the  fear^  that  the 

perfons 


484:: 

perfons  whom  I  was  unable  to  vifit,  woiild  fall 
into  improper  hands,  and  perifli  by  the  ufe  0^ 
bark,  wine,  and  laudanum. 

But  I  had  other  affliaions  befides  the  diftrefs 
which  arofe  from  the  abortive  fympathy  which  I 
have  defcribed.  On  the  11th  of  September,  my 
ingenious  pupil  Mr.  WaHiington  fell  a  viaim  to 
his  humanity.  He  had  taken  lodgings  in  the 
country,  where  he  fickened  with  the  diforder. 
Having  been  almoft  uniformly  fuccefsful  in  curing 
others,  he  made  light  of  his  fever,  and  con- 
cealed the  knowledge  of  his  danger  from  me, 
until  the  day  before  he  died.  On  the  18th  of 
September  Mr.  Stall  fickened  in  my  houfe.  A 
delirium  attended  his  fever  from  the  firft  hour 
it  affefted  him.  He  refufed,  and  even  refifted 
force  when  ufed  to  coriipel  him  to  take  me- 
dicine. He  died  on  the  23d  of  September. 
Scarcely  had  I  recovered  from  the  fliock  of 
the  death  of  this  amiable  youth,  when  I  was 
called  to  weep  for  a  third  pupil,  Mr.  Alfton, 
who  died  in  my  neighbourhood  the  next  day. 
He  had  worn  himfelf  down  before  his  ficknefs 
by  uncommon  exertions  in  vifiting,  bleeding,  and 
even  fitting  up  with  fick  people.  At  this  time 
Mr.  Fiftier  was  ill  in  my  houfe.  On  the  26th  of 
the  month,  at  12  o'clock,  Mr.  Coxe,  my  only 
affiftant,  was  feized  with  the  fever,  and  went  to 
his  grandfather's.  I  followed  him  with  a  look 
which  I  feared  would  be  the  laft  in  my  houfe. 

Vol.  IV.  I  i  At 


482 

At  two  o'clock,  my  fifter,  who  had  complained 
for  feveral  days,  yielded  to  the  diforder,  and  re- 
tired to  her  bed.  My  mother  followed  her,  much 
ihdifpofed,  early  in  the  evening.  My  black  fer- 
vant-man  had  been  confined  with  the  fever  for 
feveral  days,  and  had  on  that  day  for  the  firft 
time  quitted  his  bed.  My  little  mulatto  boy,  of 
eleven  years  old,  was  the  only  perfon  in  my  fa- 
mily vvho  was  able  to  afford  me  the  leaft  affif- 
tance.  At  eight  o^clock  in  the  evening  I  finifhed 
the  bufmefs  of  the  day.  A  folemn  ftillnefs  at  that 
time  pervaded  the  ftreets.  In  vain  did  I  ftrivc 
to  forget  my  melancholy  fituation  by  anfwering 
letters,  and  by  putting  up  medicines,  to  be  diftri- 
buted  next  day  among^  my  patients.  My  faithful 
black  man  crept  to  my  door,  and  at  my  requeft 
fat  down  by  the  fire  j  but  he  added,  by  his  filence 
and  dullnefs,  to  the  gloom  which  faddenly  over- 
jx)wered  every  faculty  of  my  mind. 

Frdm  this  time  I  declined  in  health  and 
ftrength.  All  motion  became  painful  to  me. 
My  appetite  began  to  fail.  My  night  fweats 
continued.  My  fliort  and  imperfeft  lleep  was 
difturbed  by  diftreffing  or  frightful  dreams.  The 
fcenes  of  them  were  derived  altogether  from  fick 
rooms  and  grave  yards.  I  concealed  my  forrows 
as  much  as  poflible  from  my  patients ;  but  when 
alone,  the  retrofpecl  of  what  was  paft,  and  the 
profpeft  of  what  was  before  me,  the  termination 
of  which  was  invifible,  often  filled  my  foul  with 

the 


483 

the  moft  poignant  anguifh.  I  wept  frequently 
when  retired  from  the  public  eye ;  but  I  did  not 
weep  over  the  loft  members  of  my  family  alone. 
I  beheld  or  heard  every  day  of  the  deaths  of  ci- 
tizens ufeful  in  public,  or  amiable  in  private 
life. 

I  have  faid  before,  that  I  early  left  off  drinking 
wine  J  but  I  ufed  it  in  another  way;  1  carried  a 
little  wine  in  a  phial  in  my  pocket ;  and  when  I 
felt  myfelf  faint,  after  coming  out  of  a  fickroom, 
or  after  a  long  ride,  I  kept  about  a  fpoonful  of 
it  in  my  mouth  for  half  a  minute,  or  longer,  with- 
out fwallowing  it.  So  weak  and  excitable  was 
rny  fyftem,  that  this  fmall  quantity  of  wine  re- 
freflied  and  invigorated  me  as  much  as  half  a 
pint  would  have  done  at  any  other  time.  The 
only  difference  was,  that  the  vigour  I  derived  from 
the  wine  in  the  former  was  of  fliorter  duration 
than  when  taken  in  the  latter  way. 

For  the  firft  two  weeks  after  I  vifited  patients  iii 
the  yellow  fever,  I  carried  a  rag  wet  with  vine- 
gary and  fmelled  to  it  occafionally  in  fick  rooms : 
but  after  I  faw  and  felt  the  figns  of  the  univerfal 
prefence  of  the  contagion  in,  my  fyftem,  I  laid 
afide  this,  and  all  other  precautions.  I  refted 
myfelf  on  the  bedfide  of  my  patients,  and  I  drank 
milk,  or  eat  fruit  in  their  fick  rooms.  Beftdes 
being  faturated  with  the  contagion,  I  had  ano- 
ther fecurity  againft  being  infe£ted  by  my  pa- 
tients y  and  that  was,  I  went  into  fcarcely  a  houf^ 

I  i  2  "which 


484 

which  was  more  infcfled  than  my  own.  Moft  of 
the  people  who  called  upon  me  for  advice  left 
a  portion  of  contagion  behind  them.  Four  per- 
fons  died  next  door  to  me  on  the  eaft  ;  three 
a  few  doors  above  me  on  the  weft ;  and  five  in  a 
fmall  frame  houfe  on  the  oppofite  fide  of  the 
ftreet,  towards  the  fouth.  On  the  north  fide,  and 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  from  my  houfe, 
the  fever  prevailed  with  great  malignity  in  the 
family  of  Mr.  James  CrefTon.  But  this  was  not 
all.  Many  of  the  poor  people  who  called  upon 
me  for  advice,  were  bled  by  my  pupils  in  my 
(hop,  and  in  the  yard,  which  was  between  it  and 
the  ftreet.  From  the  want  of  a  fufiicient  number 
of  bowls  to  receive  their  blood,  it  was  fometimes 
fuffered  to'flow  upon  the  ground.  From  all  thefe 
fources',  ftreams  of  contagion  were  conftantly 
poured  into  my  houfe,  and  conveyed  into  my 
body  by  the  air,  and  in  my  aliment.  Thus 
charged  with  the  fuel  of  death,  I  was  frequently 
difpofed  to  fay  with  Job,  and  almoft  without  a 
figure,  to  "  corruption,  thou  art  my  father;  and 
to  the  worm,  thou  art  my  mother  and  my  fifter." 

The  deaths  of  my  pupils  have  often  been  urged 
as  objefilions  to  my  mode  of  treating  the  fever. 
Had  the  fame  degrees  of  labour  and  fatigue 
which  preceded  the  attack  of  the  yellow  fever 
in  each  of  them,  preceded  an  attack  of  a  common 
pleurify,  I  think  it  probable  that  fome,  or  per- 
haps all  of  them,  would  have  died  with  it.  But 

when 


485 

when  the  influence  of  the  concentrated  contagion 
which  filled  my  houfe,  was  added  to  that  of  con- 
ftant  fatigue  upon  their  bodies,  what  remedies 
could  be  expe8ed  to  fave  their  lives  ?  Under  the 
above  circumilances,  I  confider  the  recovery  of 
the  other  branches  of  my  family  from  the  fever 
(and  none  of  them  efcaped  it)  with  emotions, 
fuch  as  I  fhould  feel,  had  we  all  been  revived 
from  apparent  death  by  the  exertions  of  an  hu- 
mane fociety. 

For  upwards  of  fix  weeks  I  did  not  tafle  ani- 
mal food,  nor  fermented  liquors  of  any  kind. 
The  quantity  of  aliment  which  I  took,  inclufive 
of  drinks,  during  this  time,  was  frequently  not 
more  than  one  or  two  pounds  in  a  day.  Yet  upon 
this  diet  I  poiTefTed  for  awhile  uncommon  afitivity 
of  body.  This  influence  of  abfiinence  upon  bo- 
dily exertion,  has  been  happily  illuflrated  by  Dr. 
Jackfon,  in  his  directions  for  preferving  the  health 
of  foldiers  in  hot  climates.  He  tells  us  that  he 
walked  an  hundred  mile§  in  three  days  in  Jamaica, 
during  which  time  he  breakfafled  on  tea,  fupped 
on  bread  and  fallad,  and  drank  nothing  but  le- 
monade or  water.  He  adds  further,  that  he 
walked  from  Edinburgh  to  London  in  eleven  days 
and  an  half,  and  that  he  travelled  with  the  moft 
eafe  when  he  only  breakfafted  and  fupped,  and 
drank  nothing  but  water.  The  fatigue  of  riding 
on  horfeback,  is  prevented  or  leffened  by  abfti- 
nence  from  folid  food.    Even  the  horfe  fuffers 

leait 


486 

leaft  from  a  quick  and  long  journey,  when  hq  is 
fed  fparingly  with  hay.  Thefe  fa6ls  add  weight 
to  the  arguments  formerly  adduced  in  favour  of  a 
vegetable  diet  in  mitigating  the  action  of  the  con- 
tagion of  malignant  fevers  upon  the  fyftem.  In 
both  cafes  the  abftraction  of  ftimuli  removes 
the  body  further  from  the  reach  oiindired  debility. 

Food  fupports  life  as  much  by  its  ftimulus,  as 
by  affording  nourifhment  to  the  body.  Where 
an  artificial  ftimulus  a£ls  upon  the  fyftem,  the 
natural  ftimulus  of  food  ceafes  to  be  necelfary. 
Under  the  influence  of  this  principle,  I  increafed 
or  diminiftied  my  food  with  the  figns  I  difcovered 
of  the  increafe  or  diminution  of  the  contagion  in 
my  body.  Until  the  15th  of  September  I  drank 
weak  coffee,  but  after  that  time  I  drank  nothing 
but  milk,  or  milk  and  water,  in  the  intervals  of 
my  meals.  \  was  fo  fatisfied  of  the  efficacy  of 
this  mode  of  living,  that  I  believed  life  might 
have  been  preferved,  and  a  fever  prevented,  for 
many  days  with  a  much  greater  accumulation  of 
the  contagion  in  my  fyftem,  by  means  of  a  total 
abftinence  from  food.  Poifon  is  a  relative  term, 
and  an  excefs  in  quantity,  or  a  derangement  in 
place,  is  neceffary  to  its  producing  deleterious 
effects.  The  contagion  of  the  yellow  fever  pro- 
duced iicknefs  and  death  only  from  the  excefs  of 
its  quantity,  or  from  its  force  being  increafed  by  the 
addition  of  tkofe  other  ftimuli  which  I  have  elfewhere 
called  exciting  caufes. 


( 


487  1 

In  addition  to  low  diet,  -  as  a  preventive  of  the 
difordcr,  I  obviated  coftivenefs  by  taking  occa- 

Ibnally  a  calomel  pill,  or  by  chewing  rhubarb.  ; 

On  the  ninth  of  October,  I  vifited  a  confidcr-  | 
able  number  of  patients,  and  as  the  day  was  ] 
warm,  I  leffened  the  quantity  of  my  clothing. 
Towards  evening  I  was  feized  with  a  pain  in  the  ^ 
back,  which  obliged  me  to  go  to  bed  at  eight 
o'clock.    About  twelve  I  awoke  with  a  chilly  fit.  ; 
A  violent  fever,  with  acute  pains  in  different  I 
parts  of  my  body,  followed  it.    At  one  o'clock  ] 
I  called  for  Mr.  Fifher,  who  flept  in  the  next 
room.    He  came  inftantly,  with  my  affe£lionate  ' 
black  man,  to  my  relief.    I  faw  my  danger  paint- 
ed in  Mr,  Fifher's  countenance.     He  i^/ed  me  I 
plentifully,  and  gave  me  a  dofe  of  the  mcrctirial  \ 
medicine.    This  was  immediately  rejefted.  He 
gave  me  a  fecond  dofe,  which  likewife  aQ:ed  as 
an  emetic,  and  difcharged  a  large  quantity  of  bile  | 
from  my  ftomach.    The  remaining  part  of  . the  ] 
night  was  pafled  under  an  apprehenfion  that  my  ' 
labours  were  near  an  end.    I  could  hardly  fuf-  j 
pe£l  to  furvive  fo  violent  an  attack  of  the  fever,  •: 
broken  down,  as  I  was,  by  labour,  ficknefs,  and  ; 
grief.    My  wife  and  feven  children,  whom  the  i 
great  and  diftreffing  events  that  Were  paffing  in  j 
our  city,  had  Joftled  out  of  my  mind  for  fix  or  \ 
feven  weeks,  now  refumed  their  former  place  in  i 
my  afFe6lions.    My  wife  had  ftipulated  in  con-  | 
fenting  to  remain  in  the  country,  to  come  to  my  \ 

affiftance  | 

) 
1 


I 


488 

afliftance  in  cafe  of  my  ficknefs ;  but  I  took  mea- 
fures,  which,  without  alarming  her,  proved  efFec- 
tual  in  preventing  it.    My  houfe  was  a  Laza- 
retto, and  the  probability  of  my  death,  made 
her  life  doubly  neceflary  to  my  family.    In  the 
morning  the  medicine  operated  kindly,  and  my 
fever  abated.    In  the  afternoon  it  returned,  at- 
tended with  a  great  inclination  to  fleep.  Mr. 
Fifher  bled  me  again,  which  removed  the  fleepi- 
nefs.    The  next  day  the  fever  left  me,  but  in  fo 
weak  a  ftate,  that  I  awoke  two  fucceffive  nights 
with  a  faintnefs  which  threatened  the  extinction 
of  my  life.    It  was  removed  each  time  by  taking 
a  little  a.liment.  My  convalefcence  was  extremely 
flow.   I  returned  in  a  very  gradual  manner  to  my 
former  habits  of  diet.    The  fmell  of  animal  food, 
the  firft  time  I  faw  it  at  my  table,  forced  me  to 
leave  the  room.    During  the  month  of  Novem- 
ber, and  all  the  winter  months,  I  was  haraUed 
with  a  cough,  and  a  fever  fomewhat  of  the  hec- 
tic kind.    The  early  warmth  of  the  fpring  re- 
moved  thofe    complaints,   and  \   now  enjoy, 
through  divine  goodnefs,  my  ufual  ftate  of  health. 
In  fpeaking  of  the  comparative  effefts  of  purg- 
ing and  bleeding,  it  may  not  be  amifs  to  mention, 
fays  Dr.  Ruth,  that  not  one  pregnant  woman  to 
whom  I  prefcribed  them  died,  or  fuffered  abor- 
tion. Where  the  tonic  remedies  were  ufed,  abor- 
tion or  death,  and  in  many  inftances  both,  were 
nearly  univerfal. 

Many 


489 

Many  whole  families,  confiding  of  five,  fix, 
and  in  three  inftances,  of  nine  members,  were 
recovered  by  plentiful  purging  and  bleeding.  I 
could  fvvell  this  work  by  publifliing  a  lift  of  thofe 
families  ;  but  I  take  more  pleafure  in  adding,  that 
I  was  not  fmgular  in  my  fuccefs  in  the  ufe  of  the 
above  remedies.  They  were  prefcribed  with 
great  advantage  by  many  of  the  phyficians  of  th;e 
city,  who  had  for  awhile  given  tonic  medicines 
without  efFe£t.  I  ftiall  not  mention  the  names  of 
any  of  the  phyficians  who  totally  renounced  thofe 
medicines,  left  I  fliould  give  offence  by  not  men- 
tioning them  all.  Many  large  families  were  cured 
by  fome  of  them,  after  they  adopted  and  pre- 
fcribed copious  purging  and  blood-letting.  One 
of  them  cured  ten  in  the  family  of  Mr.  Robert 
Haydock,  by  means  of  thefe  remedies.  In  one 
of  that  family,  the  difeafe  came  on  with  a  vomit- 
ing of  black  bile. 

But  the  ufe  of  the  new  remedies  was  not  di- 
rected finally  by  the  phyficians  alone.  The  clergy, 
the  apothecaries,  many  private  citizens,  feveral 
intelligent  women,  and  two  black  men,  prefcribed 
them  with  great  fuccefs.  Nay,  more,  many  per- 
fons  prefcribed  them  to  themfelves  j  and  as  I  fliall 
fay  hereafter,  with  a  fuccefs  that  was  unequalled 
by  any  of  the  regular  or  irregular  pra£titioners  in 
the  city. 

It  was  owing  to  the  almoft  univerfal  ufe  of 
purging  and  bleeding,  that  the  mortality  of  the 

difeafe 


490 

difeafe  diminiflied,  in  proportion  as  the  number  of 
perfons  who  were  affe61ed  by  it  encreafed,  about 
the  middle  of  October,  It  was  fcarcely  double 
of  what  it  was  in  the  middle  of  September,  and 
yet  fix  times  the  number  of  perfons  were  proba- 
bly at  that  time  confined  by  it. 

The  fuccefs  of  copious  purging  and  bleeding 
was  not  confined  to  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  Se- 
veral perfons  who  caught  the  difeafe  in  town,  and 
fickened  in  the  country,  were  cured  by  them. 

Not  lefs  than  6,000  of  the  inhabitants  of  Phi- 
ladelphia probably  owe  their  lives  to  purging  and 
bleeding  during  the  late  autumn. 

I  have  faid  that  the  clergy,  the  apothecaries^ 
and  many  other  perfons  who  were  uninftru6led  in 
the  principles  of  medicine,  prefcribed  purging 
and  bleeding  with  great  fuccefs  in  this  diforder. 
Neceffity  gave  rife  to  this  undifciplined  feft  of 
praftitioners,  for  they  came  forward  to  fupply  the 
places  of  the  regular  bred  phyficians  who  were 
fick  or  dead.  I  fhall  mention  the  names  of  a  few 
of  thofe  perfons  who  diftinguilhed  themfelves  as 
volunteers  in  this  new  work  of  humanity.  The 
late  Rev.  Mr.  Fleming,  one  of  the  minifters  of 
the  Catholic  church,  carried  the  purging  powders 
in  his  pocket,  and  gave  them  to  his  poor  pa- 
rifhioners  with  sreat  fuccefs.  He  even  became 
the  advocate  of  the  new  remedies.  In  a  conver- 
fation  I  had  with  him  on  the  22d  of  September, 
he  informed  me,  that  he  had  advifed  four  of -our 

phyficians. 


49^ 

phyficians,  whom  he  met  a  day  or  two  before, 
to  renounce  the  pride  of  fcience,  and  to  adopt 
the  new  mode  of  praftice,  for  that  he  had  wit- 
nelfed  its  good  effefts  in  many  cafes."    Mr.  John 
Keihmle,  a  German  apothecary,  has  affured  me, 
that  out  of  314  patients  w^hom  he  vifited,  and 
187  for  whom  he  prefcribed,  from  the  reports  of 
their  friends,  he  loft  only  47  (which  is  nearly  but 
one  in  eleven),  and  that  he  treated  them  all  agree- 
ably to  the  method  which  I  had  recommended. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Schmidt,  one  of  the  minifters  of 
the  Lutheran  church,  was  cured  by  him.  I  have 
before  mentioned  aninftance  of  the  judgment  of 
Mr.  Connelly,  and  of  his  zeal  in  vifitjng  and  pre- 
fcribing  for  the  fiek.    His  remedies  were  bleed- 
ing and  purging.    He  moreover  bore  a  conftant. 
and  ufeful  teftimony  againft  bark,  wine,  lauda- 
num, and  the  warm  bath,    Mrs.  Paxton,  in  Car- 
ter's Alley,  and  Mrs.  Evans,  the  wife  of  Mr.  John 
Evans,  in  Second-ftreet,  were  indefatigable ;  the 
one  in  diftributing  mercurial  purges,  compofed 
by  herfelf,  and  the  other  in  urging  the  neccffity 
of  copious  bleeding  and  purging  among  her  friends 
and  neighbours,  as  the  only  fafe  remedies  for  the 
fever.    Thefe  women  were  the  means  of  faving- 
many  lives.    Abfalom  Jones,  and  Richard  Allen, 
two  black  men,  fpent  all  the  intervals  of  time,  in 
which  they  were  not  employed  in  burying  the 
dead,  in  vifiting  the  poor  who  were  fick,  and  in 
bleeding  and  purging  them,  agreeably  to  the 

directions 


492 

(lireftions  which  had  been  printed  in  all  the  newf- 
papers.  Their  fuccefs  was  unparalleled  by  what 
is  called  regular  prafticc.  This  encomium  upon 
the  practice  of  the  blacks,  will  not  furprife  the 
reader  when  I  add,  that  they  had  no  fear  of  pu- 
trefadion  in  the  fluids,  nor  of  the  calumnies  of  a 
body  of  fellow  citizens  in  the  republic  of  medi- 
cine, to  deter  them  from  plentiful  purging  and 
bleeding.  They  had  befides  no  more  patients 
than  they  were  able  to  vifit  two  or  three  times  a 
day.  But  great  as  their  fuccefs  was,  it  was  ex- 
ceeded by  thofe  perfons  who,  in  defpair  of  pro- 
curing medical  aid  of  any  kind,  purged  and  bled 
themfelves.  This  palm  of  fuperior  fuccefs  will 
not  be  withheld  from  thofe  people,  when  I  ex- 
plain the  caufes  of  it.  It  was  owing  to  their 
early  ufe  of  the  proper  remedies,  and  to  their  be- 
ing guided  in  the  repetition  of  them,  by  the  con- 
tinuance of  a  tenfe  pulfe,  or  of  pain  and  fever. 
A  day,  an  afternoon,  and  even  an  hour,  were 
not  loft  by  thefe  people  in  waiting  for  the  vifit  of 
a  phyfician,  who  was  often  detained  from  them 
by  ficknefs,  or  by  new  and  unexpected  engage- 
ments, by  which  means  the  precious  moment  for 
ufing  the  remedies  with  eifeft,  pafled  irrevocably 
away.  I  have  ftated  thefe  fa£ts  from  faithful  in- 
quiries, and  numerous  obfervations. 

From  a  fliort  review  of  this  account,  reafon,  and 
humanity,  awake  from  their  long  repofe  in  medi- 
t:ihe,  and  unite  in  proclaiming,  that  it  is.  time  to 

take 


493 

t^ke  the  cure  of  peftllential  fevers  out  of  the  handd 
'of  phyficians,  and  to  place  it  in  ihe  hands-of  the 
-people.  Let  not  the  reader  ftartle  at  this  propo- 
fjtion.    I  fliall  give  the  following  reafons  for  it : 

1ft.  In  confequence  of  thefe  peiUlential  fevers 
affefting  a  great  number  of  perfons  at  one  time, 
it  has  always  been,  and  always  will  be  impoffible 
for  them  a//  to  have  the  benefit  of  medical  aid, 
more  efpecially  as  the  proportion  of  phyficians  to 
the  number  of  fick  is  generally  diminiflied  upon 
thefe  occafions,  by  defertion,  ficknefs,  and  death. 

2d.  The  fafety  of  committing  to  the  people  the 
cure  of  peftilential  fevers,  particularly  the  yellow 
fever  and  the  plague,  is  eftablilhed  by  the  fimpli- 
city  and  uniformity  of  their  proximate  caufe,  and 
of  their  remedies.  However  diverfified  they  may 
be  in  their  fymptoms,  the  fyftem  in  both  difeafes 
is  always  at  firft  under  a  ftate  of  indired  debility, 
and  in  all  cafes  requires  the  abftratStion  of  ftimuli 
in  a  greater  or  lefs  degree,  either  in  a  fudden'or 
gradual  manner.  There  can  never  beany  danger 
of  the  people  injuring  themfelves  by  miftakingany 
other  difeafe  for  a  yellow  fever,  or  plague,  for  no 
other  febrile  diforder  can  prevail  with  them. 

3d.  The  hiftory  of  the  yellow  fever  in  the  Weft 
Indies,  proves  the  advantage  of  trufting  patients 
to  their  own  judgment.  Dr.  Lind  has  remarked, 
that  a  greater  proportion  of  failors  who  had  no 
phyficians,  recovered  from  that  fever,  than  of 
thofc  w^ho  had  the  beft  medical  afllftance.  The 

fj-elh 


494 

frcfli  air  of  the  deck  of  a  fliip,  a  purge  of  fait 
water,  and  the  free  ufe  of  cold  water,  were 
found,  fays  he,  to  triumph  here  over  the  cordial 
juleps  of  phyficians. 

4th.  By  committing  the  cure  of  this  and  other 
peftilential  difeafes  to  the  people,  all  thofe  circum-' 
Itances  which  prevented  the  univerfal  fuccefs  of 
purging,  and  bleeding  in  our  late  epidemic,  will 
have  no  operation.  The  remedies  will  be  ufed 
the  moment  the  difeafe  is  felt  or  even  feen,  and 
the  contagion  generated  by  it  will  be  feeble,  and 
propagated  only  to  a  fmall  diftance  from  fuch  pa- 
tients. There  will  then  be  no  difputes  among 
phyficiam  about  the  nature  of  the  difeafe  to  dif- 
tra6t  the  public  mind>  for  they  will  feldom  be 
confulted  in  it.  None  will  fuffer  from  forbodinji 
fears  of  death,  or  defpair  of  recovery,  to  invite  an 
attack  of  the  difeafe,  or  to  enfure  its  mortality. 

The  fmall-pox  was  once  as  fatal  as  the  yellow 
fever  and  the  plague.  At  prefent,  it  yields  as 
univerfally  to  a  vegetable  ^iet,  and  evacuations, 
in  the  hands  of  apothecaries,  the  clergy,  and  even 
of  good  old  women,  as  it  does  in  the  hands  of 
doftors  of  phyfic. 

They  have  narrow  conceptions,  not  only  of 
the  Divine  goodnefs,  but  of  the  gradual  pro- 
grefs  of  human  knowledge,  who  fuppofe  that  all 
peftilential  difeafes  (hall  not,  like  the  fmall-pox, 
fooner  or  later  ceafe  to  be  the  fcourge  and  terror 
of  mankind. 

The. 


495 

The  informatwn  derived' from- Dr.  JaGkfon  of 
the  Britilh  army,  affords  ftrong  teftimony  oh  this 
fubje£l,  viz.  "  that  he.  had  cured  19  out  of  20,  of 
all  the  foidiers  whom  he  attended,  by  copious 
bleeding,  provided  it  was  performed  within  fix 
hours  after  the  attack  of  the  fever.  Beyond  that, 
period  it  mitigated  its  force,  but  feldom  cured. 
The  quantity  of  blood  drawn  in  this  early  ftage 
of  the  difeafe  was  always  from  20  to  30  ounces." 

It  was  our  Englifli  Hippocrates,  however,  who 
firft  taught  this  dofctrine.  I  am  of  opinion,  fays 
Sydenham,  that  the  plague  is  a  truly  inflammatory 
difeafe.  If  this  opinion  of  mine  fliould  appear 
to  any  one  unfatisfaftory,  let  him  confider  the 
feveral  particulars  attendant  on  it ;  as  for  inftance:* 

ift.  The  colour  of  the;  blood  taken  away, 
which  plainly  refembles  that  taken  away  in  pleu- 
ritic and  rheumatic  diforders. 

2d.  The  dark  livid  colour  of  the  carbuncles, 
not  unlike  the  mark  left  by  an  aftual  cautery. 

3d.  The  buboes,  which  are  equally  difpofed 
to  inflammation,  as  other  tumours  of  any  kind, 
and  terminate  by  way  of  abfcefs,  as  mofl:  inflam- 
mations ufuallv  do. 

4th.  The  feafon  of  the  year  in  which  an  epi- 
demic plague  arifes  feems  likewife  to  flrengthen 
my  opinion,  for  at  the  fame  time,  namely  be- 
twixt Spring  and  Summer,  pleurifies,  quinfies, 
and  other  inflammatory  difeafes,  ufually  prevail  5 

and 


49^ 

and  I  never  knew  thefe  more  frequent  than  they 
were  for  feme  weeks  preceding  the  beginning  of 
the  late  plague  at  London*. 

But  here  perhaps  it  may  be  afked,  allowing  the 
plague  to  be  an  inflammatory  difeafe,  how  it  hap- 
pens that  heating  medicines,  as  mod  alexiphar- 
raics  are,  iLouId  be  fo  fuccefsfully  ufed,  both  for 
prevention  and  cure.  To  this  I  reply,  that  thefe 
medicines  only  relieve  by  accident,  inafmuch  as 
this  depends  upon  their  procuringyw^^/^,  whereby 
the  inflamed  particles  of  the  blood  are  exhaled 
and  expelled ;  but  if  they  fail  of  raifing  a  fweat, 
as  it  frequently  happens,  the  blood,  being  more 
inflamed  by  this  additional  heat,  foon  manifefts 
the  bad  effefts  of  fuch  kind  of  remedies.  As  to 
prevention,  I  am  well  aware  how  much  the  ufe  of 
warm  antidotes  is  generally  commended,  but  with 
what  advantage  has  not  yet  appeared.  Too  free 
an  ufe  of  wine,  and  the  taking  of  other  ftrong 
prefervatives  every  day,  at  fet  hours,  have  occa- 

*  Sydenham,  however,  elfewhere  obferves,  that  the  air  figni- 
fies  nothing,  unlefs  there  is  contagion  ftalking  abroad  ;  for  the 
very  fame  year,  fays  he,  which  proved  fatal  to  fo  many  thou- 
fands,  was  otherwife  very  mild  and  healthy,  and  that  fuch  as 
efcaped  the  plague  never  enjoyed  better  health;  and  likewife, 
that  thofe  who  recovered  were  not  fubjeft  to  a  cachexy,  and 
other  indifpofitions  ufually  arifing  from  the  foul  remains  left  by- 
preceding  diftempers  ;  and  farther^  that  impofthumes  and  car- 
buncles, though  of  the  largeft  fize  after  the  inflamed  particles, 
together  with  the  fanies.  was  difcharged,  were  eafily  cured  by 
tlie  common  chirurgical  methods. 

fioncd 


497 

fibhed  this  difeafe  in  numbers  of  perfons,  who 
btherwife  might  probably  have  efcaped  it. 
■  As  to  the  cure  of  thefe  fevers,  fome  perhaps 
tvil]  accufe  me  of  pfefumption  and  imprudence 
for  undertaking  to  treat  thereof,  as  having  hved 
af  fdme  diftance  from  the  town,  during  the 
greateft  part  of  the  time  the  late  plague  prevailed, 
and  confequently  being  not  fuf&ciently  furniflied 
with  obfervations  relating  thereto.  But  fmce 
fome  phyficians  of  greater  abilities,  who  coura- 
geoufly  flayed  in  town  at  the  peril  of  their  lives, 
whilft  the  plague  raged,  have  yet  had  no  inclina- 
tion to  publifli  what  they  have  learnt,  by  frequent 
obfervation,  refpefting  its  nature,  it  is  hoped 
every  good  man  will  excufe  me  for  communi-r 
eating  my  Jentiments  of  it,  founded  on  a  few  of 
my  own  obfervations. 

And  firft,  the  indications  of  cure  are  to  be  con^ 
fidered^  which  muft  always  be  direfted  either 
(l)  to  affift  nature  in  expelling  the  difeafe,  keep- 
ing clofely  to  her  method  of  procedure  herein ; 
or  (2)  diftrufting  the  method  flie  ufually  takes  to. 
overcome  the  inteftine  enemy,  to  fubftitute  a  dif- 
ferent and  fafer  method  from  art. 

Since;  then  it  appears  quite  unfafe  to  follow 
nature  in  her  method  of  curing  this  difeafe,  we 
are  in  the  next  place  to  confider  in  what  manner 
the  fecond  intention  is  to  be  anfwered,  which 
Gonfifts  in  attempting  the  cure  by  a  different  one.- 
And  this  I  conceive  is  only  to  be  effe61;ed  by 

Vol.  IV.  Kk  bleeding 


498 

Heeding  or  fweating.  As  to  tlie  former,  1  am 
well  aware  that  it  is  generally  condemned  in  this 
difeafe ;  but,  fetting  afide  vulgar  JirejndiceSy  I  fliall 
here  briefly  and  equitably  examine  the  reafons 
ufually  brought  againft  it. 

And,  firft,  I  appeal  to  the  phyficians  who  con- 
tinued in  town  during  the  late  plague  for  an  an- 
fwer  to  this  quefl:ion.  Whether  free  and  repeated 
bleeding,  before  a  fwelling  appeared,  was  ever 
obferved  to  prove  fatal  to  any  of  the  infefted  r 
But  it  is  not  at  all  to  be  wondered  at,  that  bleeding 
in  a  fmall  quantity,  or  after  the  appearance  of  a 
fwelling,  fliould  always  be  prejudicial :  for  in  the 
former  cafe  the  management  of  the  cure  is  taken 
out  of  the  hands  of  nature,  who  ufed  all  her  en- 
deavours to  raife  a  tumour,  without  fubftituting 
in  its  ftead  any  other  fufficiently  effettual  method 
to  expel  the  morbific  matter;  and,  in  the  latter, 
bleeding,  by  attracting  from  the  circumference 
to  the  center,  occafions  a  dire£lly  oppofite  mo- 
tion to  that  of  nature,  which  is  made  from  the 
center  to  the  circumference.   And  yet  nothing 
is  more  frequently  urged  as  a  capital  argument, 
by  thofe  who  condemn  bleeding  in  general  in  this 
difeafe,  thaQ  the  mifchief  of  bleeding  in  this  im- 
proper manner;  as  may  be  collefted  from  Diemer- 
broeck,  and  other  writers  of  obfervation.  But  for 
my  own  part  I  cannot  affent  to  their  reafonings, 
till  I  know  what  anfwer  they  will  make  to  the 
queftion  above  propofed;  for  I  am  well  aware 

.        .  that 


499 

that  feveral  writers  of  great  character  have  judged 
bleeding  proper  in  the  plague  >  the  principal  of 
which  are,  Ludovicus  Mercatus,  Joannes  Cof- 
taeus,  Nicolaus  Mafia,  Ludovicus  Septalius^Trin- 
cavellius,  Foreftus,  Mercurialis,  Altomarus,  Paf- 
chalius,  Andcrnachus,  Pereda,  Zacutus  Lufitanus, 
Fonfeca,  &c.  But  Leonardus  Botallus,  a  cele- 
brated phyfician  of  the  laft  century,  is  the  only 
one  I  know  of  who  places  the  whole  of  the  cure  in 
as  copious  bleeding  as  we  demand,  I  fliall  tranfcribe 
his  words,  that  I  may  not  be  judged  fingular  in 
this  pradlice. 

"  Briefly,  fays  our  author,  I  conceive  there  is 
no  plague  wherein  bleeding  may  not  prove  more 
*'  beneficial  than  all  other  remedies,  provided  it  be 
"  feafonably  lifed,  in  due  quantity  ;  and  am  of  opi- 
"  nion  that  the  reafon  of  its  having  fometimes 
"  done  no  fervice,  proceeds  either  from  having 
"  had  recourfe  to  it  too  late,  or  the  too  /paring  ufe 
"  thereof,  or  to  fome  error  in  both  thefe  particu- 
"  lars."  And  a  little  farther  he  fubjoins,  "  that 
if  our  apprehenfion  be  fo  confiderable  as  to 
*'  prevent  our  taking  away  enough  blood,  how  is 
"  it  pofiible  to  judge  exaftly  what  good  or  mif- 
"  chief  bleeding  may  do  in  this  difeafe  ?  For  if 
*'  a  difeafe,  in  which  four  pounds  of  blood  are 
"  required  to  be  taken  away,  in  order  to  its  cure, 
"  and  yet  but  one  is  taken  away,  deftroys  the  pa- 
"  tient,  it  does  not  therefore  prove  defl:ru6live 
"  becaufe  bleeding  was  ufed,  but  becaufe  it  was 

K  k  2  "  performed. 


500 

performed  in  an  improper  manner :  but  male- 
"  volent  and  indolent  men  always  endeavour  to 
"  fix  the  failure  on  a  particular  remedy,  not  be- 
"  caufe  it  did  really  do  mifchief,  but  becaufe  they 
"  corruptly  defire  to  have  this  remedy  generally 
"  difcredited.  Or,  fuppofing  there  be  no  ma/ice 
•**  in- their  attempt,  they  cannot  be  excufed  from 

ignorance,  and  following  a  bad  cuftom  herein  ; 
"  both  which  are  doubtlcfs  pernicious,  but  the 
*' former  much  more  fo."  Then  proceeding  to 
confirm  his  reafonings  from  experience,  he  has 
thefe  words  a  little  lower  :  "  Thefe  particulars  be- 
*'  ing  attended  to,  no  fenfible  perfon  can  juftly 
"  cenfure  bleeding,  but  muft  rather  highly  efteem 

and  commend  it  as  a  divine  remedy,  and  pra£tife 
"  it  with  ajj'urance ;  which  indeed  /  have  done  for 

thefe  fifteen  years  pajl.  And  in  pefiilential  dif- 
"  ea;fes,  at  the  ficge  of  Rochel,  and  four  years 
"  ago,  at.  Mons,  in  the  province  of.  Henault,  at 
"  Paris  for  thefe  two  years,  and  the  preceding 
*^  year  at  Cambray,  I  found  no  remedy  quicker  and 
"  fafcr  in  its  effe6l  in  all  my  patients,  whofe  num- 

ber  was  very  confiderable,  than  plentiful  and 
"  feafonahk  bleeding."  To  thefe  remarks  the  au- 
thor adds  fome  in  (lances  of  perfons  cured  by 
this  method,  which  I  here  omit  for  brevity  fake  ; 
and  I  muft  beg  leave  to  relate  an  uncommon  hiftory 
of  a  fa£l,  no  way  foreign  to  our  prefent  fubje6t, 
which  happened  a  few  years  fince  in  England. 
At  the  fame  time,  when,  amongft  the  other 

calamities 


5or 

crilamltles  of  the  civil  war  that  fcverely  afIlI(?teGl 
this  nation,  the  plague  alfa  raged  in  feveral  places, 
it  was  brought  by  accident  from  another  place  to 
Dunftar-caftle  in  Soperfetfliire,  where  fome  of 
the  foldiers  dying  fuddenly  with  an  eruption  of 
fpots,  it  likewife  feized  feveral  others.    It  hap- 
pened at  that  time,  that  a  furgeon,  who  had  tra- 
velled much  in  foreign  parts,  was  in  the  fervice 
there,  and  applied  to. the  governor  for  leave  to 
aflifl  his  fellow  foldiers,  who  were  afflided  with 
this  dreadful  difeafe,  in  the  beft  manner  he  was 
able,  which  was  accordingly  granted.    His  me- 
thod was,  at  the  beginning  of  the  difeafe,,  and 
before  a  fwelling  could  be  perceived,  to  take  away 
Jh  large  a  quantity  of  blood,  that  they  were  ready  to. 
faint  and  drop  down;  for  he  bled  them  as  they 
floodj.in  the  open  air,  and  had  no  veffels  to  meafure 
the  blood,  which  falling  on  the  ground,  the  quan- 
tity each  perfon  loft  could  not  of  courfe  be  known. 
The  operation  being  over,  he  fent  them  to  lie  in 
their  tents ;  and  though  he  gave  no  kind  of  remedy 
ixfter  bleedings  yet,  of  the  number  that  were  thus 
treated,  not  a  fingle -per Jon  died* ,    I  had  this  rela- 
tion, 

■  *  We  have  the  following  curious  note  on  Sydenham,  by  Dr. 
Swan,  his  iranflator,  fo  bhnd  is  prejudice,  and  the  appreciation 
of  truth.  "The  fuccefs  that  attended  this  very  fingular  method, 
ivill,  in  all  probability,  be  no  encouragement  to  a  firudcnt  prac- 
titioner to  attempt  the  fame  upon  a  like  occafion,  nor  fcreen  the 
nuthor  from  the  cenfurcs  he  feems  juftly  liahle  to  on  account  of  his 
V lOLE^iT  and  iMVRovEK  MEASURES.    To  bleed  in  fo  irrer 

gular 


i. 


502 

tlon,  continues'  Sydenham,  from  Col.  Francis 
Windham,  a  gentleman  of  great  honour  and  vera- 
city, and  at  that  time  governor  of  the  caftle. 

I  fhall  now  attempt  to  fet  down  what  I  have 
met  with  deferying  notice,  with  refpeft  to  this 
fubjeft,  being  about  to  deliver  the  few  obferva- 
tions  I  was  enabled  to  make  whilft  the  late  Lon- 
don plague  prevailed. 

Whether  the  fever  under  confideration  deferves 
to  be  entitled  a  plague,  I  dare  not  pofitively  affirm; 
but  this  I  know  by  experience,  that  all  who  were 
feized  with  the  true  plague,  attended  with  all  its 
peculiar  concomitants,  in  my  time,  had  the  fame 
train  of  fymptoms  both  in  the  beginning  and 
courfe  of  the  difeafe.  But  when  there  was  dan^ 
ger  from  the  near  approach  of  the  plague  to  the 
houfe  wherein  I  lived,  yielding  at  length  to  the 

gular  and  extravagant  a  jnanner,  in  a  difeafe  that  is  generally 
accompanied  with  an  extreme  lownefs  of  fpirits  and  lofs  of 
flrength,  feems  a  very  irrational  and  unsafe  tractice  ; 
but  to  treat  a  number  of  perfons  thus,  vifithout  any  regard  to 
the  difference  of  conftitution,  the  different  manner  of  their  bc^ 
ingaflPefted,  and  other  circnmftances,  argues  great  rashness, 
uNSKiLFULNEss,  and  an  obstinate  attachment  to  a 
vagjit,  diforderly^  and  ill-ejiallijlied  empiricism.  Not  to  men- 
tion  that  fome  would  lofe  more  blood  than  others,  before  they 
became  faint,  which,  however,  appears  to  have  been  the  cir- 
cumftances  that  determined  him  to  I'top  the  bleeding  ;  and  that 
the  quantity  loft  muft  have  differed  coufiderably  in  particulars, 
as  the  orifice  happened  to  be  fmaller  qr  larger,  and  the  blood 
thicker  or  thinner ;  whence  again,  it  is  manifeft,  he  afted  ra- 
ther by  CAPRICE  and  humour,  than  found  and  deliberate 
judgment. 

felicitations 


! 

folicitatlons  of  my  friends,  I  accomi)anled  the  | 

vaft  numbers  that  quitted  the  city,  and  removed 

my  family  fome  miles  didant  from  it.    But  I  re- 

turned  to  town  in  fo  fhort  a  time,  and  whilft  the  j 

plague  yet  raged  fo  violently,  that  on  account  of 

the  fcarcity  of  abler  phyficians,  I  could  not  avoid  \ 

being  called  to  affift  the  infe£led  ;  and  trufting  to  ! 

my  own  experience,  as  a  guide  to  be  preferred  to  : 

all  manner  of  airy  notions,  I  fcrupled  not  to  di-  j 

reel  bleeding:,  as  I  had  formerly  done  in  the  like  ] 

cafes.  ; 

I  continued  this  pradlice  of  plentiful  bleeding,  ; 

along  with  the  ufe  of  a  ptifan  and  a  cooling  diet,  ] 

in  numbers  with  wonderful  fuccefs ;  until  at  length  ' 
it  failed  me,  through  the  objiinacy  of  the  patients 

friends,  who  were  fo  unreafonably  prejudiced  againjl  \ 
it,  as  not  to  let  enough  blood  be  taken  away,  to 
the  great  detriniient  of  the  difeafed,  from  whom, 

as  the  cure  turned  chiefly  upon  bleeding  either  a  j 

fuflicient  quantity  of  blood,  or  none  at  all  was  j 

to  be  taken  away.    Finding  my  endeavours  fo  ; 

warmly  oppofed,  I  judged  that  the  difcovering  ; 

another  method  of  curing  this  difeafe  would  be  of  ' 
eminent  fervice  for  the  future. 

I  fhall  here,  however,  relate  an  inftance  of  the  ^ 
mifchief  I  once  innocently  did,  not  by  bleeding,  j 
but  becaufe  I  was  hindered  from  taking  away  as  \ 
much  blood  as  I  judged  requifite.  I  was  called 
to  a  young  man,  who  had  been  feized  with  a  vio- 
lent ^ 
i 


504 

lent  fevci-  two  days  before,  attended  with  verllg'I- 
noLis  pains  in  tlie  head,  cxcenive  vomiting,  and 
other  fymptoms  of  a  like  i<.ind  ;  when  I  imme- 
diately directed  a  large  quantity  of  blood  to  be 
taken  away,  the  top  whereof,  when  cold,  refem- 
bled  corrupt  pleuritic  blood  ;  and  I  alfo  prefcrib- 
ed  a  ptifan,  and  cooling  jalaps  and  broths.  In 
the  afternoon,  bleeding  was  repeated  in  the  fame 
quantity,  and  again,  in  like  manner,  the  next 
morning.  Calling  upon  him  in  the  evening,  \ 
found  him  much  better,  neverthelefs  his  friends 
mightily  oppofed  farther  bleeding,  which  yet  I  in- 
iifted  on  again,  sflTuring  thern  that  only  a  fmgle 
bleeding  more  \vas  neceffary,  and  he  would  then 
be  out  of  danger,  but  that  if  they  continued  to 
oppofe  it,  bleeding  had  better  have  been  wholly 
omitted,  and  the  cure  undertaken  by  fweat,  add- 
ing, in  fliort,  that  otherwife  he  would  certainly 
die.  The  event  confirmed  my  prognoftic  ;  for  the 
difpute  about  the  operation  to  be  performed  laft- 
ed  fo  long  that  the  opporiunity  of  doing  it  zvas  lojl, 
and  the  patient  died. 

Having  frequently  met  with  fuch  perplexing 
obftacles,  I  folicitoufly  bent  my  thoughts  to  difr 
cover,  if  poffiblp,  as  efFe61ual,  and  at  the  fame 
time  a  Jefs  pbje6lionable  method  of  curing  this 
difeafe.  And  after  frequent  and  long  confidera- 
tion  of  the  matter,  I  pitched  upon  the  following, 
which  has  fmce  proved  always  ferviceable,  and 
every  way  complete. 


5^5 

FIrft,  if  a  fvvelling  has  not  yet  appeared,  I  hked 
moderately,  according  to  the  ftrength  and  conftitu- 
tion  of  the  patient,  after  which  a  fweat  is  readily 
and  expeditioufly  raifed,  which  otherwife  would 
not  only  be  difficultly  procured  in  fome  fubjefts, 
but  there  would  alfo  be  danger  of  increafing  the 
inflammation  thereby,  and  thus  driving  out  the 
purple  fpots.  And  the  immediately  fuccecding 
fweat  makes  abundant  a^nends  for  the  confidera- 
ble  mifchief  the  lofs  of  blood,  though  in  a  fmall 
quantity,  would  otherwife  occafion.  After  bleed- 
ing, which  \  direft  to  be  done  in  bed,  fo  foon  as 
all  things  are  in  readinefs  to  raife  a  fweat,  I  imme- 
diately order  the  patient  to  be  covered  over  with 
clothes,  and  a  piece  of  flannel  to  be  applied  to 
his  forehead,  which  laft  expedient  contributes 
more  towards  raifing  a  fweat,  than  one  would  eafily 
imagine.  Then,  if  the  patient  does  not  vomit,  I 
iidminifter  thefe  and  the  Ijke  fudorifics: 

Take  of  Venice  treacle,  half  a  dram  ;  the  elec- 
tuary of  the  egg,  a  fcruple ;  Gafcoigns  pow- 
der, twelve  grains  ;  cochineal,  eight  grains  ; 
faifron,  four  grains ;  and  the  juice  of  kermes 
enough,  to  make  the  whole  into  a  bolus  ;  to 
be  taken  every  fix  hours,  drinking  after  it 
fix  fpoonfuls  of  the  following  julap. 
Take  of  the  diftilled  water  of  cardials  benediEiiis^ 
and  compound  fcordium  water,  of  each  three 
ounces  ;  treacle  water,  two  ounces ;  fyrup 
of  cloves,  an  ounce  :  mix  them  together  for 
a  julap. 

I  remember. 


506 

I  remember,  that  when  I  was  defired  by  an 
apothecary  to  vifit  his  brother,  who  lay  dange- 
roufly  ill  of  a  peftilential  fever,  and  fpoke  of  giv- 
ing a  fudorificy  he  faid  he  had  already  given  feve- 
ral  ftrong  ones  without  effeft,  the  patient  having 
thrown  them  up  by  vomit.  To  this  I  made  an- 
fwer,  that  he  might  prepare  one  of  the  moft 
naufeous  of  thofe  that  had  been  exhibited,  and  I 
would  eafily  prevent  his  vomiting  it  up.  The 
.  event  verified  my  promife  ;  for  the  patient  having 
firft  fweated  moderately,  by  the  weight  of  the 
bed-cloaths  only,  fwallowed  and  kept  dov^Ti  a 
large  bolus  of  Venice  treacle,  which  caufing  him 
to  fweat  plentifully,  he  recovered. 

But  to  come  back  to  my  fubject :  I  dlre£l  the 
fweat  to  be  continued  for  twenty-four  hours,  by 
giving  draughts  of  fage  poffet  drink  between 
whiles  ;  ftrickly  cautioning  againft  wiping  off  the 
fweat,  and  not  allowing  the  patient's  linen  to  be 
changed,  however  moift  or  foul  it  be,  till  twenty- 
four  hours  after  the  fweat  is  gone  off :  and  this  I 
recommend  to  be  obferved  with  particular  care. 
For  if  the  fweat  vanifties  in  lefs  time,  the  fymp- 
toms  immediately  return  with  their  former  vio- 
lence, and  the  health  of  the  patient  is  left  expofed 
to  a  frefh  conflift,  which  by  a  longer  continuance 
of  the  fweat  would  have  been  out  of  danger. 

And,  in  reality,  I  wonder  much  at  Diemer^ 
broeck,  and  others,  when  I  confider  upon  how 
flight  a  pretext  they  are  induced  to  ftop  the  fweat, 

namely. 


507 

namely,  tojireferve  the  firength  of  the  JiaUent.  For 
(l)  that  the  patient  is  ftronger  whilft  the  fweat 
flows  than  before,  muft  have  been  obferved  by 
every  one  that  is  but  flenderly  acquainted  with 
the  treatment  of  this  difeafe.    (2)  I  fliall  not  fcru- 
pie  to  publifh  and  defend  what  praQice  and  ex- 
perience have  taught  me,  with  refpe61:  to  this  mat- 
ter.   Several,  who  by  my  advice  were  kept  in  a 
fweat  for  twenty-four  hours,  have  been  fo  far 
from  complaining    greater  zveaknefs  *  from  thence, 
that  they  have  declared,  that  in  the  fame  propor- 
tion the  fuperfluous  humour  was  thus  carried  off, 
they  perceived  their  ftrength  increafe.    And  to- 
wards the  latter  part  of  the  time,  I  have  often 
obferved  with  furprize,  that  there  appeared  a 
more  natural,  genuine,  and  copious  fweat  than 
the  former  occafioned  by  the  fudorific,  and  which 
gave  greater  relief,  as  if  it  were  truly  critical,  and 
terminated  the  difeafe.    (3)  Again,  I  do  not  fee 
what  inconvenience  would  attend  refrefliing  the 
patient  with  reftorative  broths  and  liquids,  when 
the  fweat  is  at  the  height,  and  then  the  obje£lion 
of  want  of  ftrength  to  bear  long  fweats,  vaniflies. 
If,  therefore,  a  faintnefs  be  perceived  towards 
the  end,  I  allow  the  patient  to  fup  a  little  chicken- 
broth,  the  yolk  of  an  egg,  or  the  like,  which, 
together  with  the  cordials  and  draughts,  ufually 
directed  to  keep  up  the  fweat,  fufficiently  fup- 

*  The  weaknefs  is  occafioned  by  the  difeafe,  as  this  is  re- 
jfjoving  the  weaknefs  vaniflies. 

port 


5o8 

port  the  ftrcnglh.  But  in  a  matter  of  fact  fo  evi- 
dent, it  is  necdlcfs  to  ufe  many  arguments ,  for 
what  clearly  Ihows  the  advantages  of  this  method 
is,  that  whilft  the  patient  continues  to  fweat,  he 
judges  himfelf  in  a  fair  way  of  recovery,  and  in 
the  opinion  of  the  attendants,  feems  in  no  farther 
danger  ;  but  as  foon  as  the  fweat  ceafes,  and  the 
body  begins  to  dry,  all  things  change  for  the 
worfe,  a  kind  of  relapfe  being  thereby  occafioned. 

For  twenty-four  hours  after  the  fweat  is  gone 
off,  I  advife  tlie  patient  to  be  cautious  of  catch- 
ing cold,  to  let  his  linen  dry  on  his  body,  take  all 
his  liquids  warm,  and  alfo  to  continue  the  ufe  of 
the  fage  poffet  drink.  Next  morning  I  give  the 
common  purge,  made  of  an  infufion  of  tamarinds, 
the  leaves  of  fena,  rhubarb,  with  manna  and  folu^ 
tive  fyrup  of  rofes  diffolvedin  the  ftrained  liquor. 
And  by  this  method  I  recovered  feveral  perfons, 
who  were  feized  with  a  peftilential  fever  ;  and  did 
not  lofe  a  Jingle  patient  after  I  began  to  ufe  it. 

Another  remedy,  which  comes  fanftioned  by 
authority,  is  that  of  the  cold  bath.  Of  the  ancient 
phyficians,  the  moft  copious  on  the  ufe  of  water, 
in  all  its  forms,  is  Galen.  He  not  only  ufed  cold 
drink,  but  immerfion  in  the  cold  bath,  in  burning 
fevers,  with  extraordinary  fuccefs.  His  relations 
appear  to  me,  in  general,  tedious  and  obfcure, 
but  not  deflitute  of  truth  ;  and  the  wearinefs  of 
perufmg  him  is  occafionally  relieved  by  the  plea- 
sure. 


509 

fure  of  refcuing  a  fa6t  that  was  buried  under 
maffes  of  falfe  theory, 

Mafuah,  fays  Bruce,  is  very  unwholefome,  as, 
hideed,  is  the  whole  coaft  of  the  Red  Sea  from 
Suez  to  Babel  Mandel,  but  more  efpecially  be- 
tween the  tropics.  Violent  fevers,  called  there 
Nedad,  2.rQ  vcxy  prevalent,  and  generally  termi- 
nate on  the  third  day  in  death.  If  the  patient 
Survives  till  the  fifth  day,  he  very  often  recovers 
by  drinking  water  only,  and  throwing  a  quantity 
of  cold  water  over  him,  even  in  his  bed,  where 
he  is  permitted  to  lie  without  attempting  to  make 
him  dry,  till  another  deluge  adds  to  the  firft. 

Fie  defcribes  the  fame  fever  as  prevailing  in 
Abyffinia,  efpecially  in  all  low  marfhy  grounds. 
"  It  is  really,"  he  fays,  "  a  malignant  tertian.  It 
"  always  begins  with  a  (hivering  and  head-ach,  a 
"  heavy  eye,  and  inclination  to  vomit.  The  face 
*'  affumes  a  remarkable  yellow  appearance,"  This 
is  doubtlefs  the  yellow  fever  of  the  Weft  Indies 
and  America.  The  praftice  of  ufing  cold  water 
internally  and  externally  in  this  fever  in  the  lower 
Egypt,  Nubia,  and  Abyffinia,  has  not  indeed 
been  interrupted  by  the  influence  of  a  falfe 
theory :  but  we  may  afcribe  its  continuance  in 
part  to  another  circumftance.  The  water  in  the 
fprings  of  thofe  uniformly  fultry  climates  is  never 
much  colder  than  the  air,  and  hence  the  fatal  ac- 
cidents from  the  improper  ufe  of  cold  drink  or 
the  cold  bath,  have  fcldom  if  ever  occurred. 

In 


5^^ 

In  page  225,  tljc  fame  author  gives  the  cafe  of 
a  captain  of  a  fliip  (a  man  of  credit),  as  related 
by  himfelf,  who  having  taken  fome  fallors  on 
board  affefted  by  the  plague  at  Conftantinople, 
caught  the  infeftion.  "  I  felt,"  fays  the  captain, 
"  an  excefiive  heat,  which  made  my  blood  boil, 
"  my  head  was  very  foon  attacked,  and  I  perceiv- 
"  ed  I  had  but  a  few  moments  to  live.  I  employ- 
^'^  ed  the  little  judgment  I  had  left  to  make  an  ex- 
*•  perlment.  I  ftripped  myfeif  quite  naked  and 
"  laid  myfeif  for  the  remainder  of  the  night  on 
the  deck :  the  copious  dew  that  fell  pierced  me 
to  the  very  bones ;  in  a  few  hours  it  rendered 
**  my  refpiration  free,  and  my  head  more  com- 
"  pofed.  The  agitation  of  my  blood  was  calmed, 
"  and  after  bathing  myfeif  in  fea-water,  I  re- 
"  covered." 

On  the  ift  of  Augufl,  1777,  fays  Dr.  Wright, 
I  embarked  in  a  fhip  bound  to  Liverpool,  and 
failed  the  fame  evening  from  Montego  Bay.  The 
mafter  told  me  he  had  hired  feveral  fallors  on  the 
fame  day  we  took  our  departure ;  one  of  whom 
had  been  at  fick  quarters  on  fbore,  and  was  now 
but  in  a  convalefcent  ftate.  On  the  23d  of  Au- 
guft,  we  were  in  the  latitude  of  Bermudas,  and 
had  a  very  heavy  gale  of  wind  for  three  days, 
when  the  above-mentioned  man  relapfed,  and  had 
a  fever,  with  fymptoms  of  the  greateft  malignity, 
I  attended  this  perfon  often,  but  could  not  prevail 
with  hira  to  be  removed  (Vom  a  dark  and  confined 

fituation. 


fituation,  to  a  more  airy  and  convenient  part  of 
the  fln'p ;  and  as  he  refufed  medicines,  and  even 
food,  he  died  on  the  eighth  day  of  his  illnefs. 

By  my  attention  to  the  fick  man,  I  caught  the. 
contagion,  and  began  to  be  indifpofed  on  the  5th 
of  September,  and  the  following  is  a  narrative  of 
my  cafe,  extraSled  from  notes  daily  marked  down: 
I  had  been  many  years  in  Jamaica,  but,  except 
being  fomewhat  relaxed  by  the  climate,  and  fa- 
tigue of  bufmefs,  I  ailed  nothing  when  I  embark- 
ed. This  circumftance,  however,  might  perhaps 
difpofe  me  more  readily  to  receive  the  infe6lion. 

Sept.  5th,  6th,  7th,  fmall  rigours  now  and  then, 
a  preternatural  heat  of  the  fkin,  a  dull  pain  in  the 
forehead,  the  pulfe  fmall  and  quick,  a  lofs  of  ap- 
petite, but  no  ficknefs  at  ftomach,  the  tongue 
white  and  flimy,  little  or  no  thirft,  the  belly  regu- 
lar, the  urine  pale,  and  rather  fcanty,  in  the 
night  reftlefs,  with  ftarting  and  delirium. 

Sept.  8th.  Every  fymptom  aggravated,  with 
pains  in  the  loins  and  lower  limbs,  and  ftiffnefs  in 
the  thighs  and  hams. 

I  took  a  gentle  vomit  in  the  fecond  day  of  this 
illnefs,  and  next  morning  a  decoflion  of  tama- 
rinds ;  at  ^ed-time,  an  opiate,  joined  with  anti- 
monial  wine,  but  this  did  not  procure  fleep,  or 
open  the  pores  of  the  Ikin.  No  inflammatory 
fymptoms  being  prefent,  a  drachm  of  Peruvian 
bark  was  taken  every  hour  for  fix  hours  fuccef- 
fively,  and  now  and  then  a  glafs  of  Port  wine, 

but 


^12 

but  with  no  apparent  benefit.  When  upon  decU^ 
tny  pains  were  greatly  mitigated,  and  the  colder 
the  air  the  better.  This  circumftance,  and  the 
failure  of  every  means  I  had  tried,  encouraged,me 
to  put  in  praftice  on  myfelf  what  I  had  ofteii 
winded  to  try  on  others,  in  fevers  fimilar  to  my 
own. 

Sept,  9th.  Having  given  the  neceflfary  direc- 
tions, about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  I 
ftripped  off  all  my  clothes,  and  threw  a  fea-cloak 
lodfely  about  me  till  I  got  upon  the  deck,  when 
the  cloak  alfo  \vas  laid  afide  :  three  buckets  full  of 
fait  water  were  then  thrown  at  once  on  me ;  the 
fliock  was  great,  but  I  felt  immediate  relief.  The: 
head-ach  and  other  pains  inftantly  abated,  and  a 
fine  glow  and  diaphorefis  fucceeded.  Towards 
evening,  however,  the  febrile  fymptoms  threaten- 
ed, a  return,  and  I  had  again  recourfe  to  the  fame 
method  as  before,  with  the  fame  good  effeft.  I 
now  took  food  with  an  appetite,  and  for  the  firft 
time  had  a  found  night's  reft:. 

Sept.  10.  No  fever,  but  a  little  uneafmefs  in 
the  hams  and  thighs — ufed  the  cold  bath  twice. 

Sept.  11th.  Every  fymptom  vaniflied  ;  but  to 
prevent  a  relapfe,  I  ufed  the  cold  bath  twice. 

Mr.  Thomas  Kirk,  a  young  gentleman,  paffen- 
ger  in  the  fame  fliip,  fell  fick  of  a  fever  on  the 
yth  of  Augufl:.  His  fymptoms  were  nearly  fimilar 
to  mine,  and  having  taken  fome  medicines  with- 
out experiencing  relief,  he  was  defirous  of  trying 
the  cold  bath,  whicli,  with  my  approbation,  he 

did 


5^3 

did  on  the  11th  and  12th  of  September,  and, 
by  this  method,  was  happily  reftored  to  heahh. 
He  lives  at  this  time  (Jan.  1786)  near  Liverpool. 

This  praftice  has  been  followed  up  by  Dr. 
Wright,  and  many  fince  the  publication  of  his 
cafe  have  adopted  the  plan,  but  more  particu- 
larly by  Dr.  Currie  of  Liverpool,  a  phyfician  of 
the  higheft  refpe£lability. 

To  thofe  who  oppofe  the  do£trine  of  ahJlrciElion 
of  fiimiili  in  the  early  ftage  of  fever,  let  them  fe- 
rioufly  confider  the  voice  of  nature  in  this  difeafe  ; 
for  a  perfon  is  no  fooner  attacked  with  fever, 
than  he  feels  a  defire  of  going  to  bed,  where,  by 
an  eafy  horizontal  pofture,  he  lefTens  the  ftimulus 
on  the  vafcular  fyftem,  which  arifes  from  the  ac- 
tion of  fuch  a  number  of  mufcles  as  muft  be  em- 
ployed in  an  ere£l  pofition  of  the  body  :  but,  in 
whatever  direftion  he  may  lay  himfelf,  particular 
mufcles,  by  being  kept  in  conftant  a£lion,  foon 
become  tired,  and  the  patient  feeks  for  a  new 
pofture  to  give  relief  to  his  wearied  mufcles ;  the 
fame  wearinefs  recurs  in  a  few  minutes,  and  gives 
rife  to  that  remarkable  reftleffiiefs  which  takes 
place  in  fevers.  I  have  already  taken  notice  of 
the  incapacity  of  the  fick  to  endure  any  great 
noife,  bright  light,  ftrong  fmell,  animal  food, 
or  whatever  ftimulates  their  fyftem,  which  expe- 
rience teaches  would  aggravate  this  difeafe.  All 
ftimuli  of  this  kind  they  avoid  in  the  moft  folici- 
tous  manner,  from  a  confcioufnefs  of  their  hav- 

VoL.  IV.  L  I  inff 


ing  ^tendency     increafp  their  (Jiforder;  but  an 
ardent  dsfirp  pf  drink  and  dilution,  which  ha§ 
fo  confider^bl<2  a  fliare  in  the  cure  of  fevers,  15 
flrqngly  pointed  out.    They  haye  likewife  the 
flrongefl:  defirp  for  acid  fruits  and  fpbacid  liquors. 
This  is  one  of  thofe  natural  appetites  beftowed 
on  us  for  anfwering  fonie  valuable  purpofe  in  the. 
ceconomy,  which,  in  the  prefent  cafe,  is  not  only 
the  corre^ion  of  a  putrid  eolluvies  in  the  primae 
viae,  but  an  abatement  of  the  putrefcency  of  the 
blood  that  every  day  inqreafes :  for,  whatever 
may  be  the  nature  of  the  fever  at  firft,  it  feldom 
fails,  in  fix  or  eight  days,  to  fliew  its  putrid  dif- 
pofition  by  a  variety  of  fymptoms.    This  is  the 
antiphlogiftic  method  of  cure  dif^ated  in  fuch 
ftrong  and  pathetic  expreflions  by  nature,  in 
eyery  putrid  fever,  and  ought  to  be  followed 
ftri£tly  by  us,  unlefs  in  cafes  of  debility  in  the 
more  advanced  ftage  of  the  difeafe,  when  cor- 
dials, ftiraulants,  and  antifpafmodics,  are  'exhi- 
bited with  advantage,  as  will  be  fliewn  in  the 
ng3{|  fe^tipn. 


PRACTICAL 


PBACTICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 


SECT.  LVIIL 

THE  SECOND  STAGE  OF  PUTlllb  FEVER. 

TiiE  efFe6ts  of  the  poifon  of  typhus  are  con* 
fonant  to  thof(^  of  other  poifons,  mucb  depend- 
ing upon  the  conftitution,  and  more  perhaps  oti- 
the  degree  of  virulent,  or  the  quantity  afFefting 
th^  fraiYie.  In  fome  infliancfe's,  as  ofi  the  open- 
ing a  bale  of  goods,  thfe  pOifon  has  KrHed  like' 
a  ftfokc  of  lightning  ;  and  it  is  obferved,  that^ 
the  body  becomes  immediately  purple,  and  ra- 
pidly putrid.  The  appearance  of  this  fliage 
mufl,  therefore,  depend  upon  the  above  circum- 
fiances  j  but,  in  g'eheral,  the  a£!ion  of  this  p'oi- 
fon  is  feen  in  a  leffer  degree,  and  the  putrid  fllage^ 
does  riot  come  on'  for  feveral  days. 

Some  pra£^itioners\vait  for  an  intermiffion  of  ihd 
feve^  before  they  throw  in  the  bark ;  but  the  fooner 
after  evacuations  have  been  eriiployed,  the*  ba'rk  is 
^friiniilered  the  better.  This  fortifies' the  habit, 
eliab'les  it  th'e  better  to  overcome'  tlie  viru^y  and, 
as- was  before  obferved  of  ague,  renders-  the  bloocf 
more  attraftive  of  oxygen,   which  tTiis  poifon- 

feems 


5i6 

fcems  to  confume  in  a  greater  proportion  than  it 
can  readily  be  received  into  the  frame. 

The  bark  fliould  be  adminiftered  at  regular, 
and  not  far  diftant,  intervals,  as  two  fcruples 
every  three  hours  at  firft,  waflied  down  with  an 
alkaline  draught  in  the  (late  of  effervefcence ; 
and  if  the  ftomach,  or  bowels,  are  much  de- 
ranged, inftead  of  the  effervefcing  draught,  porter 
fhould  be  taken,  or  wine,  with  twenty  or  thirty 
drops  of  vitriolic  acid  ,  and  as  the  vis  vitai  feems 
to  decline,  the  interval  muft  be  fliorter  j  viz.  every 
two  hours,  and  a  fcruple  of  ferpentaria,  and  twenty 
or  thirty  of  aether,  be  added  each  time  of  tak- 
ing the  bark. 

If  the  fever  remit,  with  perfpiration,  a  good 
night  procured  by  thirty  or  forty  drops  of  lau- 
danum has  been  found  of  the  higheft  fervice^ 
but  laudanum  is  a  medicine  carefully  to  be^ 
adminiftered.  Its  e'fre6t,  as  a  ftimulant,  when 
given  in  a  fmall  dofe,  has  been  before  explained  ; 
but  it  was  there  fhewn,  that  it  is  of  too  powerful  a 
nature  to  be  ufed  without  the  greateft  caution, 
and  that  porter,  wine,  and  aether,  with  ferpen- 
taria and  bark,  are  better  fubftitutes  where 
ftimulant  powers  are  required.  As  an  apology 
for  the  dofe  of  thefe  fomctimes  adminiftered,  let 
it  be  remembered,  that  the  irritability  has  been 
exhaufted;  and  the  frame  refembles  a  jaded 
horfe,  which  to  keep  up,  and  going,  requires 
not  only  the  fpur  but  the  whip. 

Blifters 


5^7 

BHftcFS  are  of  fervice,  as  exciting,  when  the 
power  of  life  are  very  ' low,  and  towards  the 
twentieth  day  ;  fo  are  muftard  cataplafms. 
.  .Madeira,  at  this  time,  even  to  the  extent  of 
two  bottles  a  day,  may  be  ufed,  under  the  idea 
that  the  a6tion  of  this  poifon  is  overcome  after 
the  twentieth  day,  and  if  the  patient  can  be  car- 
ried on  to  this  period,  the  fever  is  gone,  and 
that  he  refembles  a  fliipwrecked  mariner,  who, 
after  long  buffetting  the  waves,  is  within  the 
reach  of  Ihore,  fpent  and  exhaufted,  and  has  to 
make  but  a  few  efforts  more  which  bring  him  to 
the  wi(lied-for  haven. 

On  the  final  ceffation  of  the  fever,  the  conduft 
is  critical.  The  conftitiition  labours  under  the 
utmoft  Hate  of  indireft  debility,  and  many,  it  is 
apprehended,  lofe  their  lives  at  this  moment 
from  an  uncautious  conduct  in  the  pra£litioner. 
This  period  is  marked  by  conftant  dofing,  like  a 
new-born  child,  and,  upon  waking,  recourfe 
muft  be  had  to  food,  as  fago,  the  white  of  an 
egg,  fome  calves  foot  boiled  in  milk,  tapioca, 
and  medicine  mull:  be  differently  adminiflered 
and  chamomile  may  be  fubftituted  for  bark,  and 
taken  at  more  diftant  intervals.  No  exertion  muft 
be  now  ufed  *,  and  meat  be  given  fparingly,  with 
wine,  after  which  the  patient  will  find  he  has 

*  There  are  records  where  getting  the  patient  out  of  bed 
after  recovery  from  fever,  he  has  died  in  the  attempt. 

again 


51 8 

a^ain  to  learn  to  walkj  and  fliould  new  return  his 
thanks  to  an  all  powerful  Creator,  who  has  prc- 
ferved  his  life  thus  far,  and  reflefting'  on  paft  dan- 
ger, he  fliould  regulate  his  after  condu£i;  in  life. 
With  a  conftant  eye  towards  futurity,  in  grateful 
remembrance. 


END  OF  THE  FOURTH  VOLUME.