An account of the yellow fever which appeared in the city of Galveston, Republic of Texas in the autumn of 1839 : with cases and dissections / by Ashbel Smith.

  • Smith, Ashbel, 1805-1886.
Date:
1839
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An account of the yellow fever which appeared in the city of Galveston, Republic of Texas in the autumn of 1839 : with cases and dissections / by Ashbel Smith. 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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    the miasmatic regions of the south. The few diseases that occur here, aie*for the most part of a moderately inflammatory character, and readily yield to the simplest treatment. The mild breezes that are wafted over us, bear no unseen deadly poison on their wings. When the South wind prevails, the transparent clearness of the skies and balmy softness of the atmosphere, realize all that poets have sung of the JEgean. The winds from the East and North East are more harsh, and when they blow for a considerable period produce an inelastic state of the atmosphere, and dispose to agues. The brisk Northers, coming from a point West of North, depress the mercury in the thermometer low- er than easterly winds, but are justly regarded as less prejudicial to health. The range of the thermometer in this climate is high during the warm season, but the bland breezes from the South, which prevail very con- stantly throughout this period, and are usually strongest at midday, render the heat very seldom oppressive.— They produce an elastic state of the atmosphere, the nights are cool, and a large portion of the citizens wear cloth the whole year. During the summer months, Northers are of rare occurrence ; they generally com- mence blowing moderately early in October. Frost commonly makes its appearance between the 1st and 10th of November. Galveston continued in the enjoyment of its general healthfullness, the present season, furnishing very few cases of severe disease, and these were mostly contract- ed elsewhere, until the latter part of September. A- bout this time a Mr. Tichenor, keeping a retail store on the Strand, died rather suddenly with well defined symptoms as was reported of Yellow Fever. This re- port, however, did not attract much attontion. Two or three days afterwards I was called to see a Mr. Lang in the Ten Fin Alley on the Strand, opposite Mr. Tich- enor's, presenting the prominent symptoms of the same disease. In the progress of this case blood oozed freely from the patients' gums for sixty hours. Ho nev- ertheless recovered promptly. At this time, Sept. 30th I was called to see in consultation H. Abrahams, who had been sick for three or four days. I found him with