Climate : its influence in the production and prevention of phthisis and other disease / by John Parkin.

  • Parkin John, 1801-1886.
Date:
1882
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Climate : its influence in the production and prevention of phthisis and other disease / by John Parkin. 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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    and B, formed from the data contained in these Reports, the proportion of cases and of deaths from Phthisis, on each station, and in different climates, may be ascertained at a glance; and a comparison drawn with the result obtained in England. (Yide Appendix.) By an examination of these tables it will be seen, that Phthisis prevails in all climates and in every latitude—in warm, the same as in cold, countries—at least with English- men, and with the two classes now under consideration. More than this, its prevalence and its fatality are actually greater, in some of these localities—and particularly in intertropical regions—than in the much abused climate of England. Judging from the facts thus presented to our notice, we should conclude, that removal to a warm climate is neither a preventive nor a cure for Phthisis. It may ]be said, however, that the victims, in these instances, carried the seeds of the disease with them, and hence the results observed. But this hypothesis will fall to the ground, if it can be shown, that Phthisis prevails among the natives of these different regions, as well as with strangers and visitors. That such is the fact, in the majority of the instances referred to, it will not be difficult to prove. Passing over the Mediterranean Station, which will be considered hereafter, we may proceed at once to the West Indies, where sufficient data exist to enable us to form an accurate conclusion on the subject—the sickness and mor- tality in the native corps having been duly registered and preserved by the authorities in England. According to one of these returns, the general rate of mortality with the black troops, from 1817 to 1836, averaged 40 per 1,000. Of these 40 deaths, 16, or nearly half, were from affections