A treatise on the diseases of negroes, as they occur in the island of Jamaica : with observations on the country remedies / by James Thomson.
- Thomson, James, active 1814-1820.
- Date:
- 1820
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A treatise on the diseases of negroes, as they occur in the island of Jamaica : with observations on the country remedies / by James Thomson. 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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![pable of discriminating her most trivial operations, regards th# debilitating powers of a warm climate on the mental and physical, constitution of the inhabitants. The African race, in common with others, are by these people designated as indolent, weak, and unhealthy, incapable of bodily exertion, passing their miserable ex- istence in sloth and inactivity. jjjMi^UtWt1 fi]m W*m sli '■ !M> ~tl: ,Jt! 01 br.iiti nam If we survey die productions of a tropical Climate, we find every. where the most striking examples of stupendous animal organiza* tion and magnificence of vegetation* Nature seems throughout to act in the excess of vigour. The quickness of her operations causes a varied scene on each successive day. It is man alone, therefore, proceeding from the immediate hand of his Maker, that is doomed in these trackless regions to suffer misery amidst this general exultation. The impiety of such an idea would form of itself a sufficient refutation, if the facts were not at variance with the opinion of such superficial observers* jdahn Ji Janic^n sioraad o;uV»9rnuuni oil) ^niubtfaa ni.obam ea?Tg The fiercest ray that can dart from a vertical sun is as neces- sary to the developernent of the constitutional peculiarites of the African, as the gentle breeze is to the enjoyment of the European- climate. Where do we find a more active race of beings than the IB Arabs ? They traverse with unabated speed the wildest deserts, and endure a succession of fatigues that no European durst at- tempt : The broadly-expanded chest, the brawny shoulders and well-turned limb, which every day present themselves in the per- son of the negro, are not the attributes of one destined to pass his days in listless inactivity. In a natural state they enjoy an unin- terrupted state of health : Many tribes are said not to have in their language a word expressive of fever. In all the numerous dissections of the body their viscera have exhibited the marks of unimpaired organization. The glandular system has been re- marked as uniformly free from disease. Arguing falsely from {he eTects of heat on our own system, we imagine that the liver should be found vitiated in structure in the negro: The very reverse w](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21159336_0019.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
