A letter addressed to His Excellency the Right Honorable General the Earl of Chatham, K. G., governor of Gibraltar &c., relative to the febrile distempers of that garrison / by W.W. Fraser, Esq., inspector of hospitals and medical superintendant of quarantine at Gibraltar.

  • Fraser, W. W. (William Wemyss)
Date:
1826
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A letter addressed to His Excellency the Right Honorable General the Earl of Chatham, K. G., governor of Gibraltar &c., relative to the febrile distempers of that garrison / by W.W. Fraser, Esq., inspector of hospitals and medical superintendant of quarantine at Gibraltar. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

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    abstained from entering into controversy on the subjects con- nected with epidemic visitation, will be received as some proof, tliat I iiave no individual desire of entering into or dis- cussing the Doctor's assertions, beyond those limits which are marked by official situation. Doctor Jackson arrived in Gibraltar in January 1820, apparently on an accredited mission from our Government, to investigate the nature and causes of those Epidemics, which infest the northern shores of the Mediterranean;— and a person of higher talent, or one more accustomed to write on disputed points of fever, could scarcely have been selected from the department. The Doctor presented his reports to the Earl Bathurst; and subsequently, laid a more leisurely and extensive com- pilation before the public. Actual experience in Gibraltar, having, in many points, led me to conclusions totally at variance with this pub- lication, I feel inclined to lay before your Lordship a few brief notes concerning the appearance of epidemic disorder in this Garrison since it became a British possession, and following Doctor Jackson's official reports, to notice— First, The question of the communicable properties of the malady, id est, whether contagious or not, in the general ac- ceptation of the term. Secondly, Some of its peculiarities : especially that of the exemption afforded from second attack. Thirdly, To present the result of the reports made by the most recent and most able practitioners, in regard to blood- letting in the cure of the distemper. Fourthly, To add a cursory view of the most remarkable diseases which have occurred amongst the troops in this Garrison since 1814, and to submit what appear the most notable points for observation, or precaution, in conducting Ihe health department of this command.