A manual of the climate and diseases of tropical countries : in which a practical view of the statistical pathology and of the history and treatment of the diseases of those countries is attempted to be given : calculated chiefly as a guide to the young medical practitioner on his first resorting to those countries / by Colin Chisholm.

  • Chisholm, Colin, 1755-1825.
Date:
1822
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A manual of the climate and diseases of tropical countries : in which a practical view of the statistical pathology and of the history and treatment of the diseases of those countries is attempted to be given : calculated chiefly as a guide to the young medical practitioner on his first resorting to those countries / by Colin Chisholm. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    ihe eold and humid evaporations in the night, they are aUernately -exposed to, together with the large quantity of animal food which .enters into their diet, gives a manifold increased aptitude to suffer by endemic or imported causes of disease. Could, however, the exigencies of the state, and the situation of the colonies, during war, permit the indulgence of a few months of ease and tranquillity, with a cooling refreshing diet, to troops, on their arrival from Eu- rope, in an island wdiere enderaiccauses of disease are not common, such as Barbadoes, St. Christopher's, St. Vincent, and the higher situations in Grenada, and the other islands, not subject to irregu- lar temperature, there is no doubt a great deal might be done to prevent the danger in assimilating their systems to the climate. The situation of white European servants, on plantations and in count- ing-houses of merchants, is, in many respects, similar to that of soldiers on their arrival from Europe. They have, not unfrequently, the misfortune to be employed by inconsiderate masters, and are .consequently exposed to all the heat of a sun which raises the mer- cury of Farenheit's thermometer to 120° and 130° ; to sudden al- ternations of this heat with cold moisture, which, sometimes, sinks the same thermometer, in an instant, nearly 40°; to great fatigues ia occupations, the very opposite to their former habits, and perhaps totally uncongenial to their dispositions—and to uncomfortable ac- commodation, and heating irritating diet. When humanity and generosity, and I may add, the interest of sound policy, direct to a different treatment, assimilation goes on tranquilly, and they be- come capable of enjoying health, equal at least to what their native air might permit. The situation of persons in better circumstances of life, leaves it optional to themselves, whether they shall be healthy, or fall victims to their own imprudence and irregularity.— With respect to troops and men employed in the plantations, in commerce, or in the shipping, the words of the illustrious Pringle, the unequalled model and prototype of this species of writing, are very applicable, for it may be ti'uly said, that the whole amounts to this; considering all the hardships, and expositions to colds at- tending the easiest service, those troops will be best seasoned to undergo the fatigues of a second campaign, whose constitutions have been least weakened in the first. (Observations, p. 122.) In crossing the Atlantic to the West Indies, the change of tem- perature is gradual; and it is not till the 24° of N. latitude is reached, that the thermometer rises to a height varying from 72° to S0°, when the human body perceives itself materially affected by the heat. The difference between the heat in the shade and in the sun, is, in this latitude, almost never more than from G° to 8°.— At this period of the voyage, catarrhal complaints, and determina- tions to, and slight congestions in the lungs, the liver and head; together with eruptions on the surface, and a tendency to stupor and drowziness are felt, llie presence of these, and the degree of their violence depend altogether on the person's being accustomed to continued and uniform lieat, as well as on his temperament at