A letter to William Wilberforce, Esq. M.P. &c. &c. &c. containing remarks on a pamphlet entitled An account of the discovery of the power of mineral acid vapours to destroy contagion, by John Johnstone, M.D. Published in London, 1803 / by James Carmichael Smyth.

  • Smyth, James Carmichael, 1741-1821.
Date:
1805
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A letter to William Wilberforce, Esq. M.P. &c. &c. &c. containing remarks on a pamphlet entitled An account of the discovery of the power of mineral acid vapours to destroy contagion, by John Johnstone, M.D. Published in London, 1803 / by James Carmichael Smyth. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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

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    to the Indian army in Egypt. Upon the sub* je6t of the plague, and the best means of obviating it, he says, ** Much is to be attributed td'the nitrous i( fumigation ; in several instances, it was “ attended with the best effe&s. The lamps “ with this were kept constantly burning in “ the observation rooms, and in the rooms “ from which the cases of the plague had (e come. Vessels, with materials for the fu* “ migation, were likewise placed under the “ beds, and in the corners of the rooms. “ When our stock of nitre was at length ex* “ hausted, we substituted marine salt for it; “ but this fumigation could not be kept up “ in rooms where the patients were confined, tQ “ their beds The preceding authorities is the only answer I shall give to the experiments of Dr. Joho Johnstone’s friends. That future experience may improve upon what has been already done I am ready to allow, but certainly in discovering the quali- ties of the nitrous vapour, or during the pro- secution of this subject, I was not indebted to Dr. Johnstone’s writings. I never even heard of his name until his son’s anonymous para-