Observations on the changes of the air, and the concomitant epidemical diseases in the island of Barbadoes : to which is added, A treatise on the putrid bilious fever, commonly called the yellow fever, and such other diseases as are indigenous or endemial in the West India islands, or in the torrid zone / by William Hillary, M.D. with notes by Benjamin Rush, M.D.

  • Hillary, William, -1763.
Date:
1811
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on the changes of the air, and the concomitant epidemical diseases in the island of Barbadoes : to which is added, A treatise on the putrid bilious fever, commonly called the yellow fever, and such other diseases as are indigenous or endemial in the West India islands, or in the torrid zone / by William Hillary, M.D. with notes by Benjamin Rush, M.D. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    This uncommon jaundice was generally carried off by gentle opening cathartics, and a few saponaceous medi- cines, with a few gentle, easy stomachics to restore the appetite after. After these rains the nervous fever ceased in the town and near it. The month of June was uncommonly wet, and more rain fell than any person living here could remember to have ever seen at this time, or any other time of the year; for we had several great floods which did considerable damage to several houses. The quantity of rain which fell this month was equal to 19.78 cubic inches deep. The low- est the thermometer was in the morning, was at 76, the highest at 80 ; the lowest it ever was at noon, was at 78, and the highest at noon was 85. The lowest the barome- ter, was at 29.8, and the highest was at 29.9. We had much thunder and lightning with these great rains. So much rain falling rendered the air cooler and moist- er than usual, and it was also pretty healthful; for we had no diseases which could be said to be epidemical, except a few pleurisies, some of them of the nothous kind, and some pleuro-peripneumonies, and some few who had an inflam- mation of the stomach, and of the intestines; but these were seldom inflamed in any great degree, nor the fever violent in any of them, therefore they were generally pret- ty soon relieved by bleeding, and the use of antiphlogis- tics internally and externally, and recovered pretty soon. The hooping-cough still continued among children in the north-west part of the island, and some adults had it there also, who had not had it before. In July we had frequent showers of rain, though not near so much as we had in the last month, nor so much thunder and lightning, though we had some about the middle of the month. The quantity of rain which fell in this month, was equal to 7.52 cubical inches deep. The lowest the thermometer was in the morning, was 76, the highest was at 80 ; the lowest it was at noon was at 81, and the highest at noon was 86. The lowest the barom-