An essay on the nature and treatment of the malignant contagious ulcer, as it generally appears in the British Navy / by James Litle.

  • Litle, James, active 1792-1839.
Date:
1809
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An essay on the nature and treatment of the malignant contagious ulcer, as it generally appears in the British Navy / by James Litle. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    oply the hatchways to supply them with fresh air; we might naturally conclude disease would be almost inevitable. There are, however, some compensating circumstances. The rolling of the ship has a powerful effect in ventilating, or keeping up a constant circulation of fresh air; and this motion is fortunately always most pre- sent when it is requisite to keep the ports shut, A particular instance of the salutary effect of attending^ to ventilation I can not forbear men- tioning. Whilst in the year 1803, attending the practice of the obstetric art, at the Lying-in- Hospital in Dublin, one of the most extensive institutions of the kind in the British dominions, I was much struck, upon examining the records of the hospital, to find the deaths from puerperal fever diminished nearly one half to what they were at its first institution, and also a great di- minution in the deaths of children, judging from an equal number in the two periods of time. But upon inquiry, I found that so salutary an effect arose only from a more perfect ventilation of the wards. At its first institution, the doors and windows were kept generally shut, and little-attention was paid otherwise to have the wards ventilated. The deaths, consequently, from puerperal fever, were proportionably very great, and continued