Observations on the diseases of the army in Jamaica and on the best means of preserving the health of Europeans in that climate : also, Observations on the hepatitis of the East Indies / John Hunter.

  • Hunter, John, -1809.
Date:
1808
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on the diseases of the army in Jamaica and on the best means of preserving the health of Europeans in that climate : also, Observations on the hepatitis of the East Indies / John Hunter. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

    35/344 (page 13)
    m AMONG SOLDIERS AND EUROi-'lLANS. 13 cause, noxious exhalations from wet, low, and marshy grounds. That such vapoury are a cause of fever, has been confirmed by repeated experience and observation, in all parts of the world. Towards the production of such noxious vapours, there appears to be wanting the concurrence of three circumstances; heat, moisture, and decayed vegetable or animal matter. The heat of tropical climates, though generally reputed the cause of their unhealthiness, will not alone produce fevers, as is strongly exemplified in those living on board of ship, who remain free from fevers; and also in the inhabitants of certain dry sandy spots along the coast, in which the heat is uncommonly great, yet the situations are healthy, as Fort-Augusta, Port-Royal, and others. Simple moisture is harmless*, at least as far as relates to the production of fevers, of which the two last-mentioned places may likewise be given as examples, for they are nearly surrounded with water on all sides. It is true, the air is perfectly clear; yet it must * Vid. Med. Trans, vol. ii. p. ,'»21.