Report by the Central Board of Health of Jamaica / presented to the legislature under the provisions of the 14th Vic. chap. 60, and printed by order of the Assembly.

  • Jamaica. Central Board of Health
Date:
1852
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report by the Central Board of Health of Jamaica / presented to the legislature under the provisions of the 14th Vic. chap. 60, and printed by order of the Assembly. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

    93/594 (page 79)
    PREVENTION OF EPIDEMIC, ENDEMIC, AND CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. For ihc Angel of D?at1» sprerid I'.is wings on the blast, And breathed in the f;u;e of the foe as lie passed ; And t!ie Eyes of the Sleepers waxed deadly and chill, And their hearts but onee heaved, and for ever grew still. Byron. In considering* v,hat simitary regulations are requi- site to be adopted for the prevention of epidemic, en- demic, and contag'ions diseased in tiiis island, it will be advisable to take a cursory view of the island, as regards its general features, its position, and climate. Secondly, To specify briefly the more common ex- citing causes of disease among tb.e inhabitants. Tliirdiy, To consider w liat are the prevalent dis- eases, more especially those which assume the cha- racter of epidemic and endemic. And lastly, To point out such means, the adoption of which, may seem necessary for the prevention and mitigation of such maladies, and for the general im- provement of the publ'c health. The island of Jamaica is situate between I7o 10' and U> 10' north latitude, and ]>etween 7G« 15' and 780 2-3' Nvest longitude, distant about thirty leagues south of Cuba, and about the same distance west of Saint Domingo. It is of an irregular oval form, lying indirectly east and west. Its length is computed to be aboul one hundred and fdty miles, and its breadth about fort>- five, containing, tiierefore, about three millions eight hundred and forty-two thousand acres. This island w»s discovered })y Christopher Colum- bus, in his second voyage to the new w orld. May ;^d, 1494. At the time of its discovery, it was inhabited by a race of Indians, who, the historiaii Martvr de» V