An essay on the non-existence of malaria : especially as a cause of intermittent and remittent bilious fevers : read before the Central Medical Society of Georgia, December 3, 1828 / by Alexander Jones.

  • Jones, Alexander, 1802-1863.
Date:
1829
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An essay on the non-existence of malaria : especially as a cause of intermittent and remittent bilious fevers : read before the Central Medical Society of Georgia, December 3, 1828 / by Alexander Jones. 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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    ^vhen the disparity between the temperature of the days Mid nights becomes \ery great, and dews and fogs more considerable, in consequence of the in- enasrd coolness of the nights, and nearly summer heats of the days; evaporation gomg on as rapidly in the day, while condensation at night is much greater, then it is febrile Hseases i ommitthe grea est ravages among us.(j) I would, in reference to the foregoing, ask the miasmatist a few questions. If miasma be the uniform, general, or remote cause of fevers, why is it not as virulent and active in the day, as at night l(k) Why are persons, in the cooler motith of (Ictober, exposed in savng fodder, or in any other night employment, remote too from all collections of water, or vegetable putrifaction, so ve y liable to int»rmittent fevers, (I) which I have often witnessed in my practice1? Again—Why are persons engaged over, or around fire, or smoke, such as, blacksmiths, bakers, cooks, &c. less liable to intermittents, if it is not owing to the air being rendered drier by the operation or presence of fire] (m) In other words, if malaria be the cause, how does fire, and other pro- tectees against moisture, prevent its engendering fever ? How do you account for the occurrence of intermittents in broken tracts of country, where \ou can disco er no traces, local or general, < f a source from which you can suppose malaria to emanate 1 (n) You may also ask, how I account for them in such places where moisture is likewise absent, supp* sing it to be the cause \ I answer, that the air is in no place, perhaps, on the globe, destitute of moisture, even where it never rains, nor at the driest seasons. Deliquescent salts will always detect moisture in the air every day in the year. Wh n we, therefore, speak of a dry atmosphere, we mean, it is only relatively so (o) We know, in those countries where it never rains, vegetation is nourished by copious dews and fogs, which readily accounts for sickness in such places when it occurs. We are pretty certain, that fhose countries which possess, relatively, the driest