Some account of the last yellow fever epidemic of British Guiana / by Daniel Blair, surgeon general of British Guiana ; edited by John Davy, inspector general of army hospitals, etc.

  • Blair, Daniel.
Date:
1852
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Some account of the last yellow fever epidemic of British Guiana / by Daniel Blair, surgeon general of British Guiana ; edited by John Davy, inspector general of army hospitals, etc. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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

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    mixture of the Colonial Hospital was found too depressing and violent for the patients, and had to be disused. When the ratio of humidity is high, drastic purgatives should be avoided, and at such times mercurial preparations should be used with caution, from their unusual liability to induce ptyallsm. During such weather, diminished thirst and increased secretion of the kidneys are observed, and If it persist long, local congestions, indicated by headaches, di-owsiness, and sopor or coma, or watery alvme secretions, become complications among hospital patients. New Eain, as the first showers of the season are often called. Is liable to induce Bronchitis, with sibilant rhonci, Pleuritis, ^demltls, and Diarrhoeas, ^demitis ( Eose) is chiefly of the lower extremities, and affects, for the most part, the bare-footed. The diarrhoeas (frequently with gripes) are supposed to arise chiefly from the internal use of the rain water, which is medicated by the washings of the roofs and the lead-work of the houses.* In the depth of the great rainy season, when the air is close, the skin macerated, and the clothing saturated with condensed and unevaporated perspiration — the depurating functions become embarrassed. These effects are very evident in the large and crowded Colonial Hospital. There, the ulcers also become dark and aguish In appearance, and the moaning of the sick is distress- ingly increased. If, after a day or two of such weather, a clear sky, hot sun, and strong breeze supervene, the ulcers become again florid, — but Intermlttents, with a well-marked first stage, become numerous among the hospital inmates, and relapses, even after cinchonismf, are met with. As already referred to, the transition out of the great rainy season is attended with continued fevers, and frequently with typhoid symptoms. There Is a difference in the quality of the rain, in regard to the comfort of the colonists. Some showers, from the union of immense masses of cumuli, descend in large heavy drops, leaving the sky clear and blue, and the air dry and pleasant; other showers, descending in small elongated drops, * [The unwholesome effects may be owing to infusoria. Pond water that is, stagnant water, — in Barbados and other of the West India islands, IS considered very deleterious, and even poisonous, after heavy rain, when a greenish scum appears on the surface. Under the microscope this scum I have found to be comjiosed of extremely minute infusoria.] —Ed. t [A term brought mto use in British Guiana, to denote the specific effects of quinine used medicinally. (See Appendix.)] —Ed.