Clinical memoranda.

  • Joseph Jones
Date:
[1871?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Clinical memoranda. 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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    New Orleans enjoyed during eight years, 1859-GG, an exemp- tion, unexampled in her history, from yellow fever epidemics. Duriug four of these eight years, viz., 1859-60-G1--GG, the city suffered notoriously with its habitual filth, and during the four remaining years, viz., 1SG2-G5, it enjoyed an unusual degree of cleanliness. Therefore, what? Enough! quite enough to prove, that, even if Dr. Harris’ con- clusion were an absolute truth, yet such conclusion is not logically deductible from his own, much less from the true premises. To justify this conclusion at least one other fact must be introduced into the premises, viz., that a yellow fever epidemic never has prevailed in any place as clean as New Orleans was during the four years, 1SG2-G5. The student of yellow fever literature knows well that we have abundant assertions, and evidence as good as Dr, Harris’, to the contrary. The “ marble promontory ” of rock-bound Gibraltar suffered a terrible epidemic iu 1804, and also subsequently; Port du Passage, “remarkable for its sa- lubrity,” was devastated in 1823; etc. Can it be believed, that a'“sanitary police,” however efficient, could purify the air in New Orleans, as much as even unaided Nature accomplishes in these and other places where yellow fever epidemics have oc- curred ? Those who have adopted the views prevalent as to the exemp- tion of New Orleans from yellow fever epidemics during the war, and who are disposed to press the pertinent, but unanswerable question, why, being present did yellow fever not become epi- demic, especially in 18G4, have apparently omitted all considera- tion of the many previous non-epidemic years. Let this omission be supplied by furnishing, as one example out of many, the history of yellow fever in 1857, which is in some respects strikingly similar to that of 18G4. I submit brief extracts from the « Annual (official, published) Report, 1858, of Dr. A. F. Axson, President Board of Health, New Orleans.” “ It will not fail to be noticed that the mortality from yellow fever (1857) runs up to a figure of 199, against 74 in 185G, and 2670 in 1855. How this fever originated, whether from the operation of causes natural to our locality, or by its introduction from
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