A brief history of epidemic and pestilential diseases: with the principal phenomena of the physical world, which precede and accompany them, and observations deduced from the facts stated ; in two volumes (Volume 2).

  • Webster, Noah, 1758-1843.
Date:
1799
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A brief history of epidemic and pestilential diseases: with the principal phenomena of the physical world, which precede and accompany them, and observations deduced from the facts stated ; in two volumes (Volume 2). 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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    are the food of flies, but the feafons mofl: favorable to putrefac- tion, do not always produce flies in the greateft numbers. In fliort, it is not poflible to account for the myriads of in- fers which appear in particular years, on any known principles of the animal economy, or any vifible properties of air and wa- ter. If unufual numbers of a particular infed appear periodical- ily, as in cafe of the canker-worms, tho I have not fatisfadory evidence of the regularity of their appearance, in uniform peri- ods, we {hould naturally conclude fuch animals to pafs through other forms of exiftence, and to re-appear in a particular noxious form, at the end of definite intervals of time. But were this the faft, it would ftill remain a problem of a moft embarraffing difficulty, to difcover the reafon of their appearance in unhealthy periods only. For fuch is the fadl, with mofl: of the infedls, and their tranfmigration, if admitted, will not in the leaft help us to account for their exiftence, in thofe times only when the flate of the air is unfriendly to human life. But in truth, as to mofl: of the noxious infedts which mark pe- riods of epidemic difeafes, we know them not to change their forms of exiftence, nor are the times of their appearance, peri- odical. On tlie other hand, we obferve they appear in lickly pe- riods ; and in unufual numbers, at no other time. We conclude therefore that a ftate of the elements, unfriendly to the health of man, is favorable to the generation of noxious infeds, but with- out attempting to explain the particular properties of the elements, which pofTefs that prolific power.* All I contend for, by thefe fadts, is, that the peftilential principle, whatever may be its na- ture or properties is a general principle, affedling all the elements of life, and that to this general caufe are we to afcribe the delete- rious difeafes which, at times, fpread over extenfive regions of the earth. Under this juft and philofophical view of the fubjeft, in- fedion fmks to a very trifling confideration, among the caufes of epidemic diftempers. The order in which infefts and difeafes appear, is not uniform; but it ufually happens that the infefts are the firft in order of time. This was the fadt in 1770, when the ilies clouded the heavens in * May it net be the efFc<St of excitement, owing to unufual elc<ftrical fttmuLus i