The influence of tropical climates on European constitutions ; to which is now added, an essay on morbid sensibility of the stomach and bowels, as the proximate cause, or characteristic condition of indigestion, nervous irritability, mental despondency, hypochondriasis, &c. &c. preceded by observations on the diseases and regimen of invalids, on their return from hot and unhealthy climates / by James Johnson.

  • Johnson, James, 1777-1845.
Date:
1827
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The influence of tropical climates on European constitutions ; to which is now added, an essay on morbid sensibility of the stomach and bowels, as the proximate cause, or characteristic condition of indigestion, nervous irritability, mental despondency, hypochondriasis, &c. &c. preceded by observations on the diseases and regimen of invalids, on their return from hot and unhealthy climates / by James Johnson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

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    the system came under the influence of mercury, gentle purgatives being administered the while. Venesection was a third time necessary to mode- rate excitement and promote the action of the mercurials. The enlarged gland in the groin did not run on to suppuration, but continued hard and the same size as at first.—On the fifth day, this patient was out of danger, being in a state of ptyalism. It was about three weeks before he was able to resume his duty. The fourth man had a slight indisposition ; but not of any consequence or decided character. Every precaution was taken to prevent the diffusion of the disease on board the vessel, by cleanliness, ven- tilation, fumigation, white-washing, &c. and no farther sickness occurred. >> We think the foregoing document (from official records) will satisfy the most sceptical that putrid ajiimal matters, may, under certain circum- stances, produce fever, and that of so malignant and fatal a character as to closely resemble plague itself. No little credit is due to Mr. Hamilton and the other medical officers, for the zeal and ability manifested in the dissection of the fatal cases, and treatment of the man who survived.” Of what this contagious matter consists, we are totally igno- rant, as it is perfectly incognizable by the senses, and incapable of being submitted to chemical analysis. Many people have de- clared that they felt an indescribable taste in their mouths, and sensation over their frames, together with a peculiar odour im- pressed on their olfactories, at the moment of imbibing the poi- son ; but it cannot be ascertained whether these were produced by the contagion itself, or by any effluvium accompanying or con- veying it. With the laws which govern contagion, we are fortunately bet- ter acquainted. It does not appear to be much under the control of the seasons, since a full dose of it will produce the specific ef- fect at any time of the year. As warm air causes a greater exha- lation from bodies, it might, a priori, have been expected that this contagion would spread most in the summer \ and the popular opinion to this day is, that hot weather is prejudicial to patients labouring under typhoid fevers. We find, however, that it is in winter that these diseases are most prevalent. The reason ap- pears to be simply this :—the freer ventilation of summer dilutes and dissipates ‘the exhalations from the sick, rendering them in- nocuous ; while the confined air of small apartments among the poor, in winter, tends to condense, as it were, the febrific efflu- via, and embue the bedding, &c. of the sick with the same; form- ing a fruitful source for the dissemination of the disease by means of fomites, a form in which the matter of contagion is eminently powerful. Experiments have proved that this contagion, when diluted with pure atmospheric air, becomes harmless at the dis- tance of a few yards—perhaps of a few feet; and hence the surest means of preventing its dissemination are, cleanliness and ven- tilation. Indeed, it is only where these cannot be procured, that the process of fumigation need ever be resorted to ; and I firmly believe that if the latter ever checked the spread of contagion, it