Report on yellow fever in the U.S.S. Plymouth in 1878-'9 / prepared under the direction of Philip S. Wales.

  • Bureau of Medicine and Surgery
Date:
1881
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report on yellow fever in the U.S.S. Plymouth in 1878-'9 / prepared under the direction of Philip S. Wales. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    its plates are secured to each other. The strong aucl destructiv^e affinity of fat acids for copper presents also a theoretical objec- tion which it would be well to consider. Yarious experiments ux^on the impregnation of timber with carbolic acid ( Burnettizing) and with barium sulphate (the Thilmany process) with a view to its preservation, are now being prosecuted in the IsTavy, concerning which it would be pre- mature to offer an opinion, further than to declare that just so far as they tend to the preservation of the timber from decay they will tend to the prevention of yellow fever and to the improvement of the health of ships' companies. We are informed by Constructor Pook that the Vandalia, which had been Burnettized, has not suffered from de-cay in the four years or more that she has been in commission. The recom- mendations relating to construction, thus far X3resented, are all being carried out in the Lancaster, now being rebuilt, in a manner that meets with our hearty approval. Furthermore, we recommend as a measure of prevention that a code of sanitary regulations be drawn ux) with especial reference to yellow fever, and a]3plying to all vessels cruising within the yellow-fever zone, in a similar manner to the application of the regulations for vessels cruising on the west coast of Africa. Such regulations should, as we suggest, reasoning from the facts already jjresented, include the following points, with such others as the experience and wisdom of the officers appointed to pre- pare them may supply: a, Restriction of liberty on shore to the hours between sunrise and sunset. &, Restriction of articles received on board, in ports where yellow fever is epidemic, to provisions only. c, Careful investigation of the subject of coal supply in ports, usually infected, and of its probable bearing upon the introduc- tion of disease. d. Authority to commanding officers to leave infected ports, without communication with the department, upon recommen- dation by the medical officer of the ship.* *Sucli authority has already beeu granted by the department in particu- lar cases. See order dated December 20, 1875, quoted by Med. Inspector B. F. Gibbs, Hyg. and Med. Eeps. 1879, p. 244.