A letter on the cholera as it occurred in Cincinnati, Ohio, in October 1832 : addressed to Dr. Short of Lexington, Ky. / by John F. Henry.

  • Henry, J. (John), 1793-1873.
Date:
[1832?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A letter on the cholera as it occurred in Cincinnati, Ohio, in October 1832 : addressed to Dr. Short of Lexington, Ky. / by John F. Henry. 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 subject deserves a more deliberate consideration than my engagements at this time will permit. The attempts that are making, all along the river bank, to eke out the wharf, and thus scoop an additional foot of land from the bed of the river, cannot fail, in their immediate re- sults, to injure the health of that portion of the city; and the sinuosities left in the margin of the bank, have been, and are yet, the receptacles of every species of decaying and offensive material. The brick-yards to the west of the city, occupying the flats of Mill creek, as well as some of the more elevated ground, have been greatly extended during the present year, and they furnished no doubt their full share of the pestilential influence. The ravine of Deer creek has long been a place of deposit for shavings, refuse articles of food, and all other things which were offensive and useless. These remarks are intended for that portion at the eastern termination of Harrison, Sixth, and New streets, the only part of the border of this ravine which is densely settled, and there it is notorious that the ravages of the pestilence were frightful. An exception exists in relation to this ravine, but it is apparent merely. About sixty Germans were enga- ged in excavating, embanking and building locks, for the purpose of extending the canal to the river; they continued their operations during the whole period of the epidemic, and escaped without the loss of a single man. Similar ex- emptions have heen observed elsewhere, under circumstan- ces, which, at first view, appear to be promotive of disease. But the cause of their exemption is easily understood. They were working below the surface of the river, in mud and water up to their ancles. They moved among it with perfect impunity, because, the excess of moisture prevented that decomposition which generates disease. Similar anomalies are mentioned by Prin- gle, in his account of the diseases of the British Army, in the Low Countries; a, very wet year was always accompanied with universal health; a dry one was the harbinger and cause of devastating pestilence. Another circumstance in relation to these Germans should be remembered: they continued their