very little information. He seems impressed with the idea, that it was necessary to write on every subject connected with South-Carolina, and that all were of equal importance. But if we should grant for the moment that his information was worth publishing, we would confine him to those subjects to which he seems competent, and to those tables which may serve hereafter as useful documents. Instead of throwing light upon his subject, he frequently renders it obscure by attempting to show his learning. Ilis language is sometimes incorrect. Be is constantly used for are, and substantives receive a gender,when they are not meant to be personi fied. His style is sometimes obscure, and frequently turgid, particularly when he aims at the sublime. We shall conclude our review with a quotation from his description of the Catawba falls. "They are situated a little above Rocky Mount; and the approach to them is over hills which line the sides of the river. On either side the rocks are piled up in a wall of many feet high, and hills, rising above them in sharp conical summits, nod over the rupture below. Now the Catawba is arrested in its course, and from a width of one hundred and eighty yards, this river is forced by the hills and rocks on either side to shoot down. the gulph in a channel of only ninety-five yards wide. Collecting its waters, impetuous and noisy, it thunders down the falls; tumbling: over massy rocks, and foaming. from shore to shore; wheeling, its large whirlpools, and glancing. from rock to rock with maddening. fury. Nor ceasing its troubled waves, until it has overleaped twenty falls in the distance of two and an half miles, and has precip itated from its height, a depth of ninety feet. Here, below Rocky Mount, it begins to subside; and spreads over a channel three hundred and eighteen yards wide; but is not composed. For miles below, rocks are scattered in its way; at times irritating its waters, and provoking the rapidity of its stream. So a proud and haughty disposition cannot bear control; but rushes onward with unabating violence, scorning all opposition which is surmountable, repossessing its tranquillity by slow degrees; and becoming again incensed with whatever rises in its way." ART. 18. An account of the malignant fever, son. IT is well known that a diversi ty of opinion has prevailed among things, charged as the domestick sources of the disease, and at the same time to subject to quarantine all persons and things coming from suspected places, at certain seasons. physicians respecting the origin, nature, and treatment of Yellow Fever. The question has been agitated in a manner not the most calm and dispassionate, among gentlemen of the faculty; at the same time, many of their fellow citizens have chosen their sides, and their co-operation has not tended to diminish the zeal and ani-ed the establishment of a board of mosity, with which the controversy has been supported. It has thus been rendered unpleasant for those who sought truth only to canvas the subject. From one party we are told, that the disease has been owing to the filth of our cities, and to the nauseous exhalations from our docks; and, in some instances, they have even pointed to the particular heaps of dirt, in which the poison has been generated. They seem almost to have seen the miasmata, with so much familiarity do they talk of them. The other party consider all this as an unjust charge of the evil to a country too new and pure, and unadulterated, and peaceable, to be the mother of a disease so strong ly marked, and of which the character is so malignant. They consider the reputation of the country, and, in many instances, of the particular city in which they reside, as injured by the suggestion, that this disease is of domestick origin; and these considerations do not make them listen with the more patience to the statements and arguments of their adversaries. As facts have been stated by the different parties, they have, oftentimes, been so coloured by the prejudices on both sides, that it has become almost impossible to discover their true complexion. Meanwhile, to guard against the great calamity, the judicious have endeavoured to remove all those Such has been the conduct of the legislature of the state of New York. They have authoris health, in their metropolis, with powers to guard against every supposed source of the disease. The powers of this board appear to be ample; and it cannot be doubted that they must feel disposed to use every exertion to save themselves and their fellow citizens from this common scourge. Notwithstanding their efforts, the disease did prevail there the last autumn. During its prevalence, the board of health was necessarily the centre of information, respecting its origin and progress. The book before us was written by the secretary of that board. It was surely in his power, probably more than in any other man's, to command all the materials for such a work. If, therefore, he has not told the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, his crime must be considered nothing less than perjury. We know not the character of Mr. Hardie, nor have we looked for information on this subject from any other quarter, with which his may be compared. For the present we must rely on the general complexion of the work, as the ground of an opinion. From this we are induced to believe, that Mr. H. is exceedingly well qualified for the task he has undertaken, and that he has executed it with accuracy and impartiality. The first chapter of this work contains an account of the establishment of the board of health, at New York, of the powers with which they were invested, and of the measures they adopted to prevent, and afterwards to restrain and mitigate the disease. In this chapter, therefore, we find an account of the first appearances of any alarming cases of fever; and it also informs us of the extreme caution, with which the board proceeded, before they gave a publick alarm, as well as of their fidelity in reporting truly the existence of danger, when that was duly ascertained. From that time they published faithful reports; and while the rich were warned to remove from the city, an asylum was opened for the poor. The propriety of such conduct needs not be displayed. It appears that the first case, which was called yellow fever by any person, occurred on the 8th of June. From the 9th to the 24th of July three other cases occurred, which were believed, by many, to be of the same nature. The first case, which was acknowledged by both parties to be yellow or malignant fever, was that of James Dougherty. This occurred on the 24th of July, and was followed by a few cases in August; but the disease was not epidemick till September 5th. Respecting Dougherty, it appeared, that he was at the quarantine ground on the 3d or 10th of July. This gives room for suspicion, that he contracted his disease there; but on August 7th, it is asserted by the health officer," that no case of yellow fever has existed either at the hospital, or on board the shipping at the quarantine ground since the first of July last, except those sick persons who have been sent from the city of New York." If, as was afterwards asserted by Dr. Hosack, there was an almost unlimited intercourse between the quarantine ground and .the city, it must have been practicable to detect the health officer, had his assertion been unfounded. If it was true, we must inquire whether those persons sent from the city really had the yellow fever, and, if they had, whence its origin. We had intended to examine the evidence on this subject at large, but this would lead us too far for the limits of a review. To state the evidence with sufficient precision,we must copy a great part of the work before us. To this therefore we refer, and it should be consulted by every man interested in this subject. The evidence is far from sufficient to decide the general question in controversy; but we believe that every impartial reader will agree, that, in this case, the domestick origin of the yellow fever is rendered most probable. We cannot pass over this chapter, without noticing a very handsome communication, which it contains, addressed by Dr. Sir James Jay, to the board of health. In this he proposes, in order to ascertain facts, and to narrow the ground of controversy, that the board should adopt the following method. "Desire the leaders of each party to give you in writing an accurate history, or description of yellow fever, mentioning particularly those peculiar symptoms attending its commencement, progress, and termination, which distinguish yellow fever from any other fever. These descriptions of yellow fever will be a kind of standard for you and other gentlemen to judge by, of all doubtful cases that may subsequently occur. When you have obtained such a history from each party, whenever a suspicious case appears, let a physician of each party visit the patient, and if they disagree as to the disorder, let them give you an account of the symptoms attending the case; from whence, by comparing it with the standard, you may be able to judge whether it is yellow fever or not; and whether the sick person should be removed, or not, to the marine hospital." Practitioners will see difficulties in this plan, and that it could not at once be carried into effect in the most perfect manner; it would however be gradually improved, and is certainly worthy to be adopt ed. Wherever medical men wish to attain truth, they might in this method succeed; at the same time, the lovers of controversy would be, in some measure, restrained by the limits they would prescribe to themselves. The second chapter contains an address from the board of health to the citizens of New York, dated Nov. 13. This gives a general account of their proceedings, and of the extent of the late disease. It displays feelings and principles, which do them honour. The contents of the 3d and 4th chapters are sufficiently expressed in the title. The documents they contain are very valuable. In the 5th chapter we have the "opinions of several eminent physicians respecting the cause of malignant fever, in several differ ent parts of the United States." The first article is a letter from Dr. Pardon Bowen, of Providence, giving an account of the fever, which prevailed there the last summer. After detailing the facts, this very respectable physician infers," that the fever was the yellow or malignant fever, and that it had its origin, or stood somehow or other connected with one or all three" of certain vessels he had mentioned. We refer inquirers to the letter; but we beg them to attend to the "extremely offensive bilge water," which made some workmen in the neighbourhood sick, causing some of them to vomit; and which was 66 particularly offensive" to some persons who "had been much accustomed to the smell of bilge water." We do not mean to support the opinion, that the yellow fever derives its origin from the filth of our cities. Were we advocates for its domestick origin, we should not think it necessary to adopt this opinion. But justice requires us to remark, that in this instance, at Providence, the bilge water may as fairly be suspected to be the source of the disease, as any con tagion imported. The second article in this chapter is a communication from Dr. Hosack, which had been published in the Morning Chronicle. In this that gentleman refutes some calumnies, which it would seem had been thrown out against him. He also declares that the events of the last season tend to confirm the opinion he had held,-viz. that the yellow fever is not the product of our own soil or climate, but is always introduced from a broad." He says the intercourse between the quarantine ground and the city was almost unlimited, but he does not state how the disease was introduced into the quarantine ground; and from the work which is under review we are led to suppose, that there was not any cause for a belief that the quarantine ground was infected from abroad. Dr. H. however adds, that "it is unnecessary for him to go into details; that a clue to the investigation of the facts upon this subject is in the possession of the proper authority, &c." Till we learn to what circumstances Dr. H. refers, our final judgment upon this matter must be in some measure suspended. In the mean time we cannot read ily believe that Mr. Hardie could be ignorant of any important facts upon this subject; nor can we more readily suspect that any man in his situation would attempt to conceal facts, which must inevitably be brought to light at a future period. of August, one of them attended with the black vomiting. The writers add," it deserved to be remarked, that the circumstances of the cases preclude all suspicion of their having infected one another, or of the disease having arisen from any foreign or contagious source." These cases deserve to be thoroughly investigated. We hope, that the believers in importation at New-York will strictly, but candidly inquire into this matter. It is presumed, that the physicians to the state-prison would readily assent to such an inquiry, as it would not imply any doubts of them, except such as arise from the fallibility of all men. Dr. Hosack's communication is followed by a letter from Dr. Stuart of Grenada. This letter states some facts respecting the fever, which prevailed in Grenada in 1793, and expresses his conviction, that that disease was imported from Boullam in the ship Hankey. Dr. Stuart may have formed correct opinions respecting the origin of that disease, but surely his letteresting to readers in general, as ter does not prove that the yellow fever is always imported either into the West-Indies, or into this country. The fifth chapter is concluded by an extract from " a view of the climate and soil of the United States of America," by C. F. Volney. In this the subject of yellow fever is considered in a general way, and the Frenchman is seen in the discussion of it; but the extract contains many important remarks. Mr.Volney is decidedly of opinion, that the yellow fever may and actually does arise in the United States. The sixth chapter contains a letter from Richard L. Walker and N. I. Quackenbos, physcians of the state prison of New-York, to the board of inspectors of that institution. In this letter it is stated, that two cases of yellow fever occurred in that prison in the month Chapter seventh contains "desultory observations and reflections." These do much credit to the author, and will be found in well as to the faculty. In this chapter we are told that among more than twenty persons, exposed to James Dougherty, no one 66 received the least infection or contagion ;" and several analogous remarks are made. The eighth and last chapter on modes of cure is a valuable addition to the work. To our imperfect analysis we add, that the perusal of this work has afforded us much satisfaction, and we recommend it to general attention. Should unfortunately any of our cities be again visited by this malignant disease, we earnestly solicit persons, who may have similar opportunities for information, to publish similar works; and to remember, that fidelity and accuracy in the investigation and statement of facts will stamp on their productions the highest value. |