Sketch of the operation and of some of the most striking results of quarantine in British ports since the beginning of the present century.

  • Milroy, Gavin, 1805-1886.
Date:
1853
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Sketch of the operation and of some of the most striking results of quarantine in British ports since the beginning of the present century. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    zon in 1845. Ere long, it became larger and more threaten- ing, and steadily advanced in its march of destruction west- ward, following pretty nearly the track of its former career, and setting at defiance all mechanical attempts at exclusion where these were again attempted. Again did the quaran- tine authorities of this country issue some detentive regula- tions against vessels arriving from infected or suspected parts on the continent; but these, as you will probably all remember, were promptly abrogated, upon the recommend- ation of the General Board of Health, then recently instituted. The policy of this step was fully recognised by the London College of Physicians, whose well considered opinion stands in the following words :—“ Cholera appears to have been very rarely communicated by personal intercourse; and all attempts to stay its progress by cordons or quarantine have failed. From these circumstances, the committee, without expressing any positive opinion with respect to its contagious or non-contagious nature, agree in drawing this practical conclusion, that in a district where cholera prevails, no appreciable increase of danger is incurred by ministering to persons affected with it, and no safety afforded to the com- munity by the isolation of the sick.” The Report of the Commissioners of Health in Ireland on the cholera epidemic of 1849-50 proclaims the same very important practical con- clusions; and the medical authorities in Scotland have, I believe, emphatically recorded their opinions to a like effect. After such concurrence of judgment among the medical profession in this country, it is unnecessary to allude to that of our brethren abroad. It is all but unanimous; except, perhaps, in Spain and the Italian States, where other motives, besides those of truth and conviction, are well known to influence the judgment of officials upon such matters. Nor is it undeserving of notice that, although these countries profess to place the greatest reliance on
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