Notes and observations upon the contagion of typhous fever, and contagion generally / by William Fergusson.

Date:
[1832?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Notes and observations upon the contagion of typhous fever, and contagion generally / by William Fergusson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    fail to observe the decencies of civilization, or neglect the preser- vatives which reason teaches, and all governments ought to en- force. Happily for the continuance of our race, this infection, so easily generated, is essentially an infection of fomites alone,* * (al- lowing that the qualities of atmosphere can be so denominated,) incapable of transportation as a personal contagion, and requires the aid of its own contaminated atmosphere before it can be dif- fused as an epidemic disease; for it would otherwise open the widest outlet, and constitute the severest drain upon human life.j* I assume, then, for reasons which I shall now farther illu- strate, that endemic typhous fever is not essentially an infectious disease; that it'may be approached at all times with impunity under ordinary circumstances of ventilation and personal purity ; and that where those are observed, it cannot be carried or trans- ported by any sick, however ill, so as to affect others in a diffe- rent locality. To say that it has often spread to other inhabi- tants of the same locality or dwelling even, if it be incapable of transportation, does not constitute a contagion. It only amounts to a disease of locality, very frequently re- mittent or catarrhal fever, sublimed into typhous through neglect or improper treatment; and even should it infect visitors who choose to place themselves within its influence,—upon the same ground, that would be no proof of contagion, unless those visi- tors could also carry the infection so as to communicate it to others upon different ground at a distance; for to talk of conta- gion limited to one spot, is surely only saying that the spot of ground, and not the person of the patient, must be the source of the disease. ]; also arrived with a fatal yellow fever pervading the midshipmen’s berth alone, four of these young gentlemen having died in a very short time, without affecting a single other individual except the assistant surgeon in the same berth, and a ship boy. * The question of time in regard to the retention of infection by unpurified fo- mites, is a most important one. I think it may fairly be presumed, that the infec- tion will adhere to saturated woollen clothing and other absorbent substances, as long as the dried matter of small-pox can retain the powers and qualities of an ino- culator. | Gratitude and respect for the author of the Essay on Yellow Fever, that splen- did specimen of philosophic induction and freedom of inquiry, which dissipated at once the prejudices of a century, would make me diffident and cautious how I im- pugned opinions so well advocated and ably supported as his. But, inagh arnica veritas ; the experience of my life has so strongly impressed me with the contrary, and I esteem the truth of so much importance to the best interests of humanity, that, averse as 1 am even to friendly controversy, I have not hesitated, for the sake of the object, to enter its lists with a powerful antagonist, relying upon his tolerance and candour for a reconsideration of the subject, and the indulgence of a liberal mind to those who differ from him, on the open public ground of medical inquiry and sa- natory research. j This point has been well and ably illustrated by Dr Elliotson of St Thomas’ Hospital in his published lectures; and every attentive observer must have noted manifold instances of the same. One of these that occurred in the summer of 1830, was so remarkable as to induce me to call to it the attention of the Medical Society 4