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HEALTH AID MORTALITY
Sifaj of ^etyplite,
FOB THE TEAR, 1858.
BY CHARLES TODD QUINTARD, M.. D,
EAGLE AND. ENQUIRER STEAM PRESS.
          1853.
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A  REPORT,
ON THE
HEALTH  AND  MORTALITY
OF THE
€ITY OF MEMPHIS, TENN.,
FOB THE TEAB 1952:
BY CHARLES TODD QUINTARD, M. D.
 "I hare mads it my business neither to quit or follow any authority in the ensuing discourse: Truth
has been my only aim; and wherever that has appeared to lead, my thoughts hare impartially followed,
without minding whether the footsteps of any other lay that way or not. Not that I want a dne respect
'to other men's opinions; bat, after all, the greatest reverence is due to Truth."—Lockb.








                 /.:^'] c /a ^

                MEMPHIS, TENN.:
MOSELBY, FINNIE & PRVOR—EAQUE AND ENQUIRER STEAM PRESS.

                     1853. 
 
EXTRACTS FROM THE RECORDS OP THE MEDICAL SOCIETY OF MEMPHIS.
    At  a meeting of the Society held on the  10th  of  February,  1853.
it was
    Resolved — That the Address of Dr. Merrill be referred to a  Com-
mittee of Five, who, after an examination of it, shall report to the Society.
    The President appointed Drs. Wm.  V.  Taylor, John Pitman, C.
T. Quintard, Zeno Harris and T. McGown.
    At  a special meeting of the  Society held on the 15th of March, the
reading  of the Report of the  Committee  being called for, the Chairman
presented the following :
    " The Committee to whom was referred the address of Dr. Merrill
in reference to the Health and Mortality of Memphis, for the year  1852,
beg leave to submit the paper prepared by Dr. Quintard, as their report."
    Subsequently to the reading of Dr. Quintard's paper it was
    Resolved, That 1500 copies of the Report be published at the expense
of the Society.
  On motion,
  Resolved, That  the thanks of this Society be tendered to  Professor
Q,uintard for his very able and satisfactory report on the  vital statistics
and sanitary condition of Memphis.
    The above is a true abstract of the Proceedings of the Society.
                             THOMPSON McGOWN, M. D.,
                                              Recording Secretary.
    Memphis, March 16th, 1853. 
 
REPORT.
    There can be no  problem presented to the mind of a
medical philosopher, of profounder interest, than that which
relates to the  conditions of man's  existence.*  In the con-
stitution of  external nature, adapted not less to man's moral
than his physical character, the  ordinary  agents  of  life
may be so modified as to act prejudiciaUy upon his  organi-
zation.  There is a  combination  of  external influences,
which is most favorable to  his  perfect  development, and
there  is another combination  of external  influences unfa-
vorable  to  his  existence.  The  determination  of these
influences, their nature and habitudes is the point to which
all our investigations converge.   Experience has taught us
what some of these are, and science has added materially
to the stock of our knowledge.    The influence of the air
we breathe, of light and  heat,  and electricity, though
subtle, are occasionally the most  powerful agents of nature,
and  are continually operating upon vegetable  and  animal
existence under  what form soever it may be developed.
So numerous and intricate are the  links that connect man

   *We do not here refer to the simple conditions of animal life resulting
from nutrition, or to the changes which are  impressed upon matter in its
proper passage to a state of static equilibrium in the animal economy, nor
to the conditions of chemical or vital forces, but to all, and every agent
that acts upon the functions and procepes of the human organism. 
6        HEALTH AND MORTALITY OF MEMPHIS,

to the rest of animated nature, that we can scarcely contem-
plate him for a single moment as an insulated being.  He
is in one sense a cosmopolite—and yet a  comparison of ra-
ces teaches us that his  existence is  so powerfully modified
by external agents, that all situations are not equally favor-
able to his development.  Differing widely as  do the Pate-
gonians, from the Mexicans  and Peruvians,  yet, says Dr.
Morton, "I  can  aver that sixteen  years of almost  daily
comparisons have only  confirmed me in the conclusions an-
nounced in my Crania Americana, that all the American na-
tions, excepting the Esquimaux, are of one race."   It is a
subject of familiar remark that the inhabitants  of  our own
country are  found to vary according to the physical peculi-
arities of the sections they respectively inhabit.  While the
physiology of the human  race  is thus influenced by exter-
nal agencies, these agencies are even more manifest in the
types and forms of disease that are found to prevail in dif-
ferent regions.  Perhaps no man has more fully  illustrated
this fact, than  our distinguished countryman, Dr. Samuel
Forry, in his work  on the climate  of the United  States.
Having at  his command quarterly  reports of all cases of
sickness and of the number of deaths, in  a mean strength
of 40,000, stationed in various parts of the  land, during
twenty years; and collating and comparing  these with the
calm and rigid scrutiny of a truly inductive philosopher, he
succeeded in establishing some of the most splendid gener-
alizations  that have ever graced the annals  of medicine.
Speaking  of Catarrhal diseases, he  observes,  "on the  New
England coast, as the ocean modifies the atmospheric  tem-
perature,  the  annual  ratio  treated per  1000  of  mean
strength is as low as 233;  on  the great lakes, where a  simi-
lar modifying influence is in operation, it is 300; while the
third class, [parts remote from the ocean and  inland seas "I
characterized by the extreme  range of the thermometer
has a ratio as high as 552.  But let us follow more narrowly
the isotheral and isocheimal  lines [representing the mean 
BY CHARLES TODD QUINTARD, M. D.         7
temperature  of summer  and winter] which describe four
curves within the same space, presenting alternately a mild
and an excessive climate.   As these  lines on the  coast of
the Atlantic present comparatively little deviation from the
terrestrial parallel, the ratio of catarrhal diseases is low; ad-
vancing  into the interior, the line  of equal summer rises
and that of winter sinks, and the ratio increases proportion-
ally;  proceeding into the  region of the lakes, the lines again
converge beneath the  controlling power  of the waters, and
the ratio of Catarrh and  Influenza is modified accordingly;
again advancing into the  interior beyond these ocean-lakes,
the average rises in proportion as the isotheral and isochei-
mal curves tend to opposite directions."   And in regard to
Pleuritis and Pneumonia he establishes the fact that the aver-
age number of cases is much lower in the cold and variable
climate of our northern and eastern states, than in the mid-
dle and south-western regions of the United States.  At
the south-western parts the annual ratio  is 92, whilst on the
coast of New England it  is only 41."   That the relations
of man to the external world in every phase of his being
are very intimate, can be denied by no one—and that the
laws of these relations and the  modifications of them may
be determined and fully and accurately established,  no one
can doubt  who examines the history and rapid progress of
the arts—of philosophy and the sciences.  There is another
truth that forces itself upon the mind in this connexion—
and it is the fact that the insalubrity of  a country or section
may  be diminished, or destroyed by the progress of civiliza-
tion,  and a proper application of the arts and sciences to the
exigencies  of human existence.  To this we are in a great
measure to refer the increased average duration of life.  A
distinguished professor, in a  recent  lecture before the Me-
chanic's Institute of  Cincinnati,  says,  "that in the latter
part  of the  16th century, one-half  of all  that were  born,
died  under five years of age, and the average longevity of
the whole population was but 18 years.   In the 17th centu- 
 8       HEALTH AND MORTALITY OF MEMPHIS.

 ry, one half of the population died under twelve.  But in
 the first sixty years of the 18th  century, one half of the
 population  lived  over twenty-seven years.   In the latter
 forty years, one half exceeded thirty-two years of age.  At
 the beginning of the  present century,  one-half exceeded
 forty years;  and  from 1838  to 1845,  one-half exceeded
 forty-three.  The average longevity of these successive pe-
 riods has been  increased from eighteen years in the 16th
 century  up to 43.7 by our last report.   The  readers  of
 Macaulay's History of England will recollect evidence pre-
 sented on the same point, in reference to the health of Lon-
 don.  As some are disposed to doubt whether much, if any,
 of this improvement is due to the actual progress of medi-
 cine—let us refer to the following table, illustrating the pro-
 gressive decrease in the per centage of mortality during a
 period of twenty-four years, in one  of the largest and best
 conducted general hospitals in  the world—the Hotel Dieu
 of Paris.  Anterior to   the  great  French  Revolution, the
 records of this institution show that the  number of deaths
 to cases treated was  as one in three and a half—or nearly
 thirty per cent.  In the year 1816,  they were reduced to
 one in four and a half,  and the  diminution of mortality  is
 progressive to 1840, to which time the tabular returns are
 completed.
  So far as we  ha"
 cords of American
 gressive improvement,  both in the  diminished  per  centage
 of mortality,  and in the length of treatment.   In the Belle-
vue Hospital of New York—with the records of which we
have had every opportunity of being acquainted—having in
the early part of our  professional career been one of its
medical staff—there has been  quite as great,  if not greater
improvement than  is exhibited in the following table:
b had ^Bwunity to  examine  the re-
Hospitals^fcy  exhibit the  same  pro- 
BY CHARLES TODD QUINTARD, M.  D.           9
                          TABLE,
Showing the number of Patients, Duration of Treatment, and Mortality, at the
        Hotel Dieu of Paris, from the Year 1816 to 1840, inclusive.
years.
1816..
1817..
1818..
1819..
1820..
1821..
1822..
1823..
1824..,
1825..
1826..,
1827..,
182S..,
1829..,
1830..,
1831..,
1832..,
1833...
1834...
1835...
1836...
1837..,
1838...
1839...
1840...
number of ad-
  missions.
 7.090.
 7.276.
 7.117.
 8.796.
10.248.
11.163.
10.689.
11.383.
11.170.
12.583.
11.530.
11.485.
17.861.
13.649.
14.320.
14.559.
15.357.
16.992.
17.753.
17.429.
17.289.
17.980.
17.467.
17.583.
11.130.
    MEAN
TREATMENT IN
    DAYS.
40.  ,
40.  ,
36.25.
29.25.
26.54.
26.06.
25.23.
26.96.
28.50.
23.73.
26.01.
23.56.
21.29.
24.16.
23.36.
24.01.
18.37.
19.60.
19.20.
19.20.
17.43.
17.55.
19.64.
18.06.
17.61.
PROPORTION OF
DEATHS TO AD
  MISSIONS.
1 in	4.47...
1 "	4.42...
| (<	5.35...
1 "	6.07...
I "	6.50...
| a	7.10...
1 "	6.82...
1 ££	6.54...
1 "	7.11...
1 "■	6.95...
1 *'	6.81...
1 "	6.88...
1 "	6.8:J...
1 "	6.33...
1 "	6.87...
1 "	8.53...
1 "	5.12...
1 "	9.93...
1 "	11.03...
1 "	10.14...
1 "	9.35...
1 "	8.93...
1 "	9.12...
1 .-	9.08...
1 <t	9.13...
REMARKS.
Cholera.




Influenza.


Being rebuilt.
   This same table  shows  likewise,  says Dr.  F. Campbell
 Stewart,  from whose writings I have taken it, that while the
 proportion of deaths has been diminished nearly two-thirds,
 the  duration of treatment, or the time required for effecting
 a cure, has been abridged just  one  half; forty  days being
 the  average time  in 1816,  and less than twenty  days in
 1838.  Among the manifold causes that have operated det-
 rimentally upon the human organism, there is none that can
 in the least  degree compare  in  the extent of the influence
 that has  been attributed to it, with  Malaria.   Long before
 the time  of Lancisi,  it was  known  that various localities
were affected with diseases  traceable to the peculiarities of
geological and  physical structure.    Cicero  tells  us that
Romulus, seeking a healthy spot, built his city in a region of
pestilence; "Locum delegit in regioni  pestilenti  salubrem." 
   10      HEALTH AND MORTALITY OF MEMPHIS,
!i  Livy shows us how the  Roman soldiers, before the invasion
 j  of Hannibal, were in the habit of contrasting the sickly and
   arid Campagnia di Roma with the  Campagnia Felix of Na-
I'  pies.  There  are certain states of the earth's surface  which
ij  are attended  by the prevalence  of periodic diseases—and,
!!  there are conditions of the atmosphere, that give origin to
i;  other forms of disease, and states of terrestrial magnetism,
 !  influencing the  forces  and functions  of  the  body.  Some
 I  of these are as yet very little understood;  but  because we
   are unable to comprehend the whole, it is manifestly unwise
   to reject that which  experience and observation has demon-
   strated.   We shall be the better able to learn what are the   j
   causes of disease, when the forms and types are thoroughly
   understood, and inductive science has investigated the ef-
   fect of  changes—electrical, magnetic, terrestrial and at-
   mospheric.  We are for  the present concerned with the
   types and forms of disease which prevail in our city.   Let   j
   us see what they are.  There  is, unfortunately, no way of   |
   arriving at an exact  knowledge of the diseases  which have
   prevailed in Memphis during the past year.  A record of the
   diseases is kept by the Board of Health, but the members of
   the Board have no means of knowing the causes of death, as
   no certificate  is required from the attending physicren.   All
   is vague and  uncertain, and it is worse than folly for any
   man to pronounce upon the character of the diseases preva-
   lent in the city, from  data furnished by  the books of the
   Board of Heath.  We have drawn  up a table which we be-
   lieve to be an exact transcript of the record as kept by the
   Secretary,  he not being accountable for  the  very peculiar
   nosology.   The following table, prepared  from the records
   of the Board  of Health,  exhibits the diseases  that  have
   been fatal in and about Memphis: 
BY  CHARLES  TODD QUINTARD, M. D.
11
TABLE.
Diseases.
Cholera,  -
Dysentery,   -
Diarrhoea,    •-
Inflammation of Bowels,
Enteritis, -
Gastro-Enteritis,- -
Cholera Infantum, -
Cholera  Morbus,  -
Cramp Colie,  -
Ulceration^ Bowels,
Colitis,   -
Phthisis Fulmonalis,
Bronchitis,   -
Pneumonia,   ....
Pleurisy, -
Pulmonary Apoplexy,
Haemorrhage of Lun^s, -
Hydrothorax. -
Croup,   -
Fever,   -
Typhoid  Fever,  -
Typhus Fever, -
Billions Fever,          -
Congestive Fever, -
Intermittent Fever, -
Puerperal Fever,   -
Congestion ot Brain,
Hydrocephalus,    ...
Inflammation of Brain, -
Coup de Soliel, -   -   -  -
Convulsions,  ....
Trismus, -
Trismus Nascentium,
Apoplexy, -
Fright,   -
Congestive Chill,   -
Intemperance, -
Hepatitis, -
Affection of Kidneys,
Disease of Womb and Kidneys,
Black Jaundice,   ...
Intersurception,   -
Marasmus.   -
Bleeding at Naval,  -
Worms,  -
Scrofula, -
Dentition,   -
Measles,  -   -
Cancrum Oris, •   -
Suffocation,       -
Dropsy,  -
ErysipelaB,   -
Gangrene of L«g,  -
Hasmorrhage. -  -   -  -
Accidental Death, -   -  -
Drowned,           -  -
Wound of Perineum,
Killed,   -   -   -   -  -
Still Born,   -
Child-Bed,    -
Old Age,  -
Complication of Diseases,
Rheumatism,  -  -   -  -
Chronic Diarrhoea, -
Unknown.   -   -   -  -
Total,
   This exhibit of the  record  of the  Board  of Health  is
evidently not reliable.   We  have  very good reason for not
believing  that  fifty-seven persons  have  died of Phthisis Pul-
monalis.   We  may say the same  of the thirty  deaths attri-
buted  to Inflammation  of the  Brain—since both these num-
bers bear  a disproportion to other diseases—as  observed in 
12       HEALTH AND MORTALITY OF MEMPHIS,

other localities—and from the manner  in  which the  name
of the disease is obtained by the Sextons.  "In a large ma-
jority of cases," says Dr. Merrill in a  recent report, "they
have given the names of diseases of deceased  persons, ei-
ther from their own uncertain knowledge, from  common re-
port, or from information obtained from nurses and servants
—and the age, sex and color, when stated at all, have been
derived from no better authority.  It  is not nrobable that
more than  one-half—perhaps not  over one-third—of the
diseases are correctly reported."   Professor Merrill goes on
to say that "the  only two points  in  the mortuary records
which can be considered even as approximations to the truth,
are the number and date of the deaths."  From a compari-
son of the books of the Sextons with those of the Board of
health, we find  that there is a discrepancy in this particular
also, and there  is one case recorded, in which the only re-
cord of it is as  follows: "18—Typhoid  Fever."
  As to the character of the diseases  that have proved fa-
tal, some indefinite idea may be formed by the table—but
for obvious reasons it will be proper to produce all the infor-
mation possible.   We therefore append  a brief report, made
to this Society by Dr. W. T. Irwin, on  the "Prevalent Dis-
eases of the Quarter ending 30th June, 1852."   Dr. Irwin
says, "during the earlier  part of the  quarter, our city was
remarkably exempt from any disease  of an  epidemic cha-
racter.  The Measles, which had prevailed extensively du-
ring the preceding quarter, seemed almost totally to have
disappeared;  and the  few cases still occurring were  of the
mildest character.  The reports  of the Secretary  of the
Board  of Health, from the 1st of April to 15th  of May,
show an average mortality of from not more  than 7 to 9
per week—many of them not legitimately under control  of
the physician—such as deaths from wounds, drowning still-
born, &c, while the diseases which proved fatal to the bal-
ance, were as various  almost as the causes.   About the mid-
dle of May, the Cholera made its  appearance on the  river 
          BY CHARLES TODD QUINTARD, M. D.        13

both on the plantations  and on board boats traversing its
waters—while  an  occasional case appeared in our  midst.
The Measles, for awhile dormant, again raged with increased
violence,  and its sequelae partook strongly of the choleroid
tendency  of all the diseases  of  the time.  From  the 3d to
the 5th day after the disappearance  of the eruption, diar-
rhea  almost  universally  supervened,  and unless met with
promptitude, and treated with skill, soon assumed  all the
characteristics  of cholera—rice water discharges—large and
copious—rapid prostration and collapse.  In addition to the
above, there  were  a large  number of cases of dysentery,
severe in character, but manageable by the  usual methods
of treatment.  I have come to the conclusion from my ob-
servation  this  season  only that  the  dysenteries, though
more painful and harrassing, are not really as dangerous in
this climate during the spring  and earlier part of summer
as the diarrheas  prevalent at that time.  Perhaps the cause
may be traced to the fact that the pain and annoyance  of
the former induce persons to apply at an earlier period for
medical aid, while the simple diarrhea is either neglected in
hopes that "it  will get better of itself," or its severity is in-
creased by the patent  or domestic  remedies which every-
one considers himself competent  to  administer,  until the
disease reaches a stage  where the skill of a physician may
be rendered nugatory."
   The next table we  present  exhibits the  mortality per
month for the  years 1851 and 1852. 
14
HEALTH AND MORTALITY OF MEMPHIS,
               TABLE,
Showing interments for each month for 1851 and 1852.
Months.
January,...
February,..
March,.....
April,......
May,......
June,......
July,......
August,....
September,.
October,...
November,.
December,.
Total.
fe l m
 22
 26
 37
 37
 70
145
 86
 61
 73
 72
 38
 50
   12
    4
14 I  7
 8!  7
16 j 11
36  29
37  23
11 ! 13
is; 13
12 i 18
14  10
16 i 13
3642021151 717 339 206 160
 38
 32
 30
 35
 55
119
104
 58
 67
 64
 56
 47
705
  In reference to this table it is proper to remark that it is
of necessity incorrect, since the sex  of children is seldom
stated on the record of the Board of Health.   By compar-
ing the  mortality for the  two years, it  will  be found that
364 males died in 1851; 339  males in  1852; or twenty-
five white  males less  in the latter than the former year.
There were four deaths more in  1852, than 1851, among
the white  females.   There  were rune deaths more among
the black population in 1852 than   1851, leaving twelve
deaths less in 1852 than  1851.   Now although  it is not at
all to be relied on, it  may be interesting to examine the
character of diseases;  and we find the following results:
     Diseases located in Digestive System,............205
        "       "     " Respiratory  " ................99
        "       "     « Nervous      " ................66
        "       "     " Cutaneous    " ................44
     Febrile  Diseases,...........................................100
     Child Bed and Still Born,................................14
     Accidental Deaths,............................................15
     Various  Diseases,............................................51
     Unknown  Diseases,.......................................Ill
Total,-
■70^ 
            BY CHARLES TODD QUINTARD, M. D.        15

     Memphis is located in lat. 35 deg. 08m. North, and Ion-
   90 deg. 06m. West, on a bluff whose elevation above  the
   surface of the river at low water, is one hundred and twenty
   feet, and over the gulf of Mexico, four hundred.  Its  site
   is a bed of loam, belonging to the cretaceous formation.  It
   occupies a gently undulating plain, admirably arranged for
   drainage.   The  bayou Gayoso,  which empties  into Wolf
j   river at its mouth, extending through the suburbs of the city,
   is  a perfect natural sewer, which,  with  other natural  ad-
!   vantages, is capable of rendering this  the best drained city
|   in the southern  section of the Union.   Dr. Drake, in his
!   work on the Valley of North America, (page 134,)  says its
■!   site  is more exempt  from  topographical causes of  fever,
   than many other towns on  the jMississippi."  The city of
1   Natchez, which,  during recent  years has,  we are informed,
!!   been remarkably healthy, is situated in north lat.  31 deg.,
   33m.,  37s., and west Ion. 91 deg., 28m., 22s.  Its elevation,
   according to Mr. Nicollet, is two hundred and sixty-four feet
   above  the sea, and one hundred and  seventy-eight  above
   the  river, at low water, which consequently is eighty-six feet
i   above  the gulf of Mexico.  Memphis, therefore, enjoys a
   much greater elevation than Natchez.  While the  country
|   immediately around Natchez is  high and deeply cut by ra-
|   vines—which, destitute of water in dry weather, convey tor-
   rents during the rainy season, the country  around  Memphis
   is undulating.   Memphis has never been visited by an epi-
   demic yellow fever.  Dr.  Drake says that "it is the highest
   point up the Mississippi,  and the greatest elevation above
   the  sea at which yellow fever has yet occurred in the inte-
   rior valley; and it has appeared here but once, which was in
   the  year 1828,  when it  prevailed  as a mortal epidemic."
   After  carefully investigating the subject, we are obliged to
   conclude that Dr. Drake was  misinformed.   We have care-   I
   fully searched the records at the Mayor's office'—the trans-   !:
   actions of  the city council,* and a number  of  MSS. belong-   ■ j
     *It is a little singular that the only reference made to the sanitary con-   j I 
16       HEALTH AND MORTALITY OF MEMPHIS,
ing to the late  Mr. Rawlings, and we can  find  no evidence
that yellow fever has ever prevailed in Memphis  "as a mor-
tal epidemic."  Indeed, Major  Winchester, who was Mayor
of the city during  that  year, assures us that it  did not pre-
vail, and  never has prevailed as an  epidemic.
   The population of Memphis on the 1st  Jtsae,  1850, was,
according to the census, 8,840.  To this,  Dr. Grant, in his
report of the sanitary condition of Memphis for 1851—read
before this society  on  the  5th Feb.,  1852—added 20  per
cent for increase during the year  1851,  or up to January,
1852'—making a population of 10,608.  Now, as Dr. Grant
thinks this a large  estimate and says "it is a rate  of increase
which  ought  to satisfy the most  strenuous advocates for
large estimates,"   we  shall not add  20  per cent  on  Dr.
Grant's total  of 10,608, but  shall  add 40 per cent to the
census returns of 1850 for  the increase of 1851 and 1852
—making a  population on  the 1st  July, 1853,  of  12,376.
As there  were 705 deaths in '52, we have a per  centage of
5.7-10.   If to this 12,376,  we add  a suburban population of
1,500,* we have a total of 13,876,  giving  a per  centage of
5.1-10.   Or if to the  12,376  resident population,  we add
the transient  population of  flat-boats, as given by Mr.  Wolf,
the wharf master, for 1852, we have a total of  17,530, or a
dition of the city, is one  in favor of the vegetable origin of  miasm.  Dr.
Merrill, in his address, says:  "It were an easy matter to multiply cases in
which periodic fevers have appeared, independent of the influence of de-
composition.  *  *  *  *  Many of you have observed,  particularly in
regions further south, that large masses of cotton seed  are suffered to lie
and rot near dwellings and negro  quarters, and are finally carted away
upon the fields for manure, without evil consequences.   Negroes are seen
working in  these heaps of fetid seed for weeks together, without a case of
fever occurring  among  them."  On the 6th October, 1827, the Common
Council passed an ordinance to the following effect:  "Whereas,  the prac-
tice of throwing cotton seed  out from gins  and exposing the same to rot
and decay, is considered prejudicial to the  health of the  citizens  of this
town, Be it therefore ordained," &c.
  *It is proper for us to state, that Mr. Guion, who took the last  census of
the county, concurs in  the  opinion  expressed by  Dr. Shanks as to the
number of the suburban population, viz: that there are quite 3000. 
BY CHARLES TODD QUINTABD, M. D.         17
per centage of 4 1-4.  If now we add all  these together, it
gives us a population of 19,030, or a per centage of 3 7-10.
Or adding the 114 deaths at the Hospital, it gives us a mor-
tality of a fraction over 4 per cent.   These are plain figures;
and we are satisfied that there is a population of over 19000,
that add to our mortuary  returns—and that  the true  per
centage of the city mortality  is  less than  3  per cent.  It
will be perceived that no mention is here made of the deaths
furnished us from  steamboats.   Now it  is certainly a little
singular that Dr. Merrill in his calculations should place our
population that furnish the 705 deaths  for 1852, below Dr.
Grants estimate for 1851, and state in his  address that "in
1851 there were 197 deaths of persons  whose diseases were
not named at all;  and in 1852, there were 106, (there were
111,) while it is probable that one-half the diseases reported
in both years were incorrect.  Of course," he continues, "we
can make no legitimate deductions  from such a mass of  er-
ror as is thus  presented to us,"  and yet proceed in his cal-
culations, as though there  were no  "errors,"  and  arrive
at the strange conclusion—which certainly  cannot be called
a "legitimate deduction"—that the diseases, whether named
correctly or not, all have their origin in the one sole cause
of street grading.   We fully concur with our learned friend
that the  grading  of the streets  is  detrimental  to  health,
but let him examine the table more carefully, and see if the
deaths have not resulted from causes incident to a river pop-
ulation.
   In his address,  Dr.  Grant  gives  us the per centage of
mortality among  1131  members  of the  nine Protestant
churches, and itjs found to be but 2.29.   This, it will be
perceived, supports the conclusion we have arrived at in ref-
erence to the  mortality of our  actual resident  population.
We wish here to  return  our thanks to Dr.  Grant for his
kindness in placing in our hands the replies received by him
from the clergymen to whom he  addressed  his letter.  We
exceedingly regret that we have been unable to obtain satis- 
18      HEALTH AND MORTALITY OF MEMPHIS,
factory information from  all the  clergymen to whom we ad-
dressed ourselves  for information.  Such information, how-
ever,  as we  have obtained,  may be worth consideration.
The Rev. J. H. Gray replies to  the question, "How many
souls are attached to your cure?" as follows: "About 500—
but if you include the children and servants, the number is
greater."  By this we understand  that there are 500 adult
white persons under his pastoral  influence.  During the past
year, three deaths  have  occurred  among  the  adult whites.
The Rev.  Dr. Porter states that there are from 600 to 700
attached to his cure,  and during 1852, there  was but one
death among the  adult whites.  To  his  congregation there
were 85 souls added by removal  during the year 1852.  He
has attended the funerals of 3 strangers.
   The Rev. B. F. Chew says:  "We estimate our whole popu-
lation at 400 souls.  There were  20 added by removal during
1851,  and 15 during 1852.  ■ During the past year  there
have  been 4  deaths among the adult whites—2 within the
city limits, 2  without."
   The following is the report furnished by Deacon Hender-
son, of the 1st Presbyterian church:   -
   "Number of souls  in the families of those who  belong
     to the congregation of the  1st Presbyterian church
     in the city  of Memphis  on the  31st of December,
     1851,..................................................................462
   Number of adults who died in  1851,....................8
   Number of children under 2  years of  age,........4

        Total,........................................................12
   Number of souls in same congregation, December 31st,
     1852,..................................................................536
   Number of adults who died in 1852,................3
   Number of children under 2 years of  age,........5

        Total,..........................................................8
   The above is exclusive of the colored members of families."
   It will be perceived that while  this congregation has been 
        BY CHARLES TODD QUINTARD, M. D.           19

increased by the addition of 74 persons, the deaths  were
one-third less  during 1852 than 1851.   One fact is evident
in all the letters we have received, and it is that all the con-
gregations have been considerably increased by the removal
of families to the city.   This  assertion is supported by the
report -of the Rev. T. L. Grace,  of the Roman Catholic con-
gregation, in which  the  increase  is reckoned  by the number
of baptisms.   In 1842, there were  14  baptisms, and the
number was gradually increased up to 86 in 1851, and to 102
in 1852.
   In the Episcopal congregation there are atiout 500 souls;
9  deaths occurred among the adult whites, several of which
were without the city limits.
   These  items are  presented, not  because  they  form any
basis for accurate calculation, but as interesting points, well
worthy the consideration of the society.
   Tire tables we have presented exhibit an increased mortal-
ity for 1851 and  1852.  As to  the causes of this increased
mortality:—It is an  admitted fact that there is a constitutio
aeris, that may be endemic or epidemic in its influence.  It
may be  confined to a comparatively small region of country,
or it may traverse  lines  of great  dimensions.  What this
peculiar constitution of the air is, we cannot say; but it may
exist independent of those causes which originate malaria,
and independent of the minute  and local,  as well as the
general characteristics which distinguish  the geography of a
country.  Has there been  any*such vitiated state  of the at-
mosphere to which a portion of the diseases of this city and
vicinity may be traced?  We  believe there has, and that it
has not  been confined to this  region, but has been diffused
generally over the United States, particularly the southern
and western portions of the Union.  It will be remembered
that in  1849 the country suffered from a fearful visitation of
cholera.   There both preceeded and followed the epidemic a
class of diseases which  by general consent of the medical
faculty have been attributed  to atmospheric changes, or ra- 
20       HEALTH AND MORTALITY OF MEMPHIS,

ther to vitiation of the atmosphere.  Professor Jackson says
of the epidemic, "a well  founded suspicion  may  be enter-
tained that the extensive prevalence  of dysentery has had
some connection with cholera."   Thus  in Philadelphia du-
ring 1849, the cholera year, the number of deaths  from Dys-
entery were 578; in 1850, 432;  in 1851, 386.  In Alaba-
ma, in 1851,  Dysentery  prevailed extensively  as an  epi-
demic.  "It began," says Dr. Mabry, of Selma, "in the latter
part of February, and  continued to prevail as an epidemic
till the middle of August."   He further remarks, that it is
the first time the disease has ever prevailed to  any consider-
able extent in  the  place.  Dr. Gordon, of Perry county?
says the disease began late in the year  1850, and reached
its maximum in June, 1851.   Dr. Pierson, of Pickens co.,
Ala.,  says:  "the epidemic finally, without regard to local-
ities, proved equally fearful and fatal  upon the highest and
formerly healthiest  situations, impressing us  with the idea
that its origin depended more upon the condition  akd victsi-
tudes of the ATMOSPHERE, than  to any  local conditions re-
ferable to  malarial origin:" In 1849  and 1850,  Cincinnati
suffered severely from Cholera, and on the 23d June, 1851,
the Board of Health report a few cases, but say^ it does not
prevail as an epidemic.  On the  3d of July, the  Board re-
port 43 cases;  on the 10th, 19 cases;  on the 17th, 17 cases;
and on the 24th, six.   After this, the Board  made no fur-
ther report.  Dysentery prevailed to a considerable extent.
Cases were frequent during and following the cholera, and says
the Committe  of the American Medical Association on the
epidemics of Ohio.   "Its  connection  with Cholera here has
been uniform, and leads us irresistably to the conclusion that
they have their origin in a common  cause."   The experi-
ence of physicians nearer home  has been to the same effect.
So far as we have been able to learn—and we  have consult-
ed many of the most intelligent members of the  profession
in various .sections of Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee
—diseases of the same type and character have prevailed 
BY CHARLES TODD QUINTARD, M. D.        21
 as those which have proved fatal in this city.   Nearly one-
 third of the diseases that have proved fatal in Memphis, are
 attributed to the digestive  apparatus; and the facts we have
 brought forward force us to the conclusion that they, in a
 great measure,  depend  upon some  vitiated state of the at-
 mosphere, which both precedes and  follows epidemic Cholera
 —that where co-existing causes are sufficiently  active, epi-
 demic Cholera is developed.   To this constitution of the at-
 mosphere, whatever it may be, we feel assured that much of
 the disease that has prevailed in our city is due.
   But when we attribute all that the most liberal estimates
 will permit to non-local causes, we have still to consider how
 strictly local ones have affected the vital conditions of our
 city.  The mode  of life  among the lower classes is such as
 to render them  easy victims of disease.   In one house that
 we have visited, cases of Typhoid Fever, there were sixteen
 beds in one room,  and  these sometimes occupied by double
 that number of  persons.  All manner of filth was  collected
 in the room, the  occupants not even observing  the cleanli-
 ness which  nature requires.   The whole house,  from the
 ground floor to  attic, was impregnated with a  compound of
 villanous smells—so  pungent,  that at the present moment
 they do not at all remind us of the sweets of  Hymettus.
   This is but one, of  many similar abodes of  poverty in our
 midst, that add not  only to the sickness but mortality of
 Memphis.   The want of cleanliness  in such  dwellings, at
 once strikes the observer with the conviction  of  its being
 detrimental to health.  Let him turn  his steps from such a
 place, and observe the streets of the city,  Are they cleanly?
 Is the scavenger's  cart ever met with?  We are obliged to
 reply in the negative.  Memphis is favorably located for
 drainage, and yet it is not drained.   The streets have been
 so leveled and  graveled that it is absolutely impossible for
 the water that falls to run off.  It remains in the streets and
 gutters until it either  evaporates or  is absorbed.  The gut-
ters  are so constructed that  they readily fill up with filth and 
22      HEALTH AND MORTALITY OF MEMPHIS,

soil, and it is an exceedingly rare thing to find running wa-
ter in them.  Any person who will examine  our two princi-
pal streets—Front and Main'—will soon be convinced of the
truth  of this  assertion.   Indeed we have all had, for some
months past, evidence enough in the  quantities of creamy
mud, through which all pedestrians have waded laboriously on
their business  or pleasure.   We may  also refer to the fact
that in the very heart  of the  city—on the  most public
street—ten livery stables add their quota to the ills our citi-
zens are obliged to  endure.  It is true that  some of these
are admirably  conducted—are  very  cleanly—but some of
them  are far otherwise'—and heaps of manure, particularly
about the  lower market, have accumulated to such a degree
as to be offensive in more ways than one.
  The filth that has been so abundant in our streets, and
alleys, and gutters,  and by-ways  must be reckoned among
the local  causes of disease.  Indeed, the  impure air thus
generated in filthy lanes and alleys has always been looked
upon as a  cause of disease.  From it may arise typhus and
typhoid and bilious fevers, and, under certain circumstances,
yellow fever.  There is reason for the belief that the pesti-
lential visitations, of which we read in Roman history, were
nothing else than malarious epidemics rendered contagious,
no  doubt, by  the crowded state of the city, the narrowness
and filth of the streets and the wretchedness of the plebei-
an population.   Our streets are  abundantly wide, and with
proper paving we should  have tolerable drainage with our
present gutters.   The best  paving is  that which prevents
sub-soil evaporation, and will most readily convey away the
water.  Both these can be secured by planking the streets.
At present we are obliged to coincide with Dr. Grant, and
reiterate his assertion "that abundant sources for contamina-
ting the atmosphere exist in our city."  In the development
of local causes of disease, there are  two agents  which co-
operate in the production of a vitiated state of the  atmos-
phere.  The first essential pre-requisite is an  elevated tern- 
          BY CHARLES TODD QUINTARD, M.  D.          23-

perature.   A hot sun is the great  operating power in the
generation of a diffused atmospheric pollution.   The second
co-existent agent is the  material to be  operated on.   All
agree that a hot sun is essential to the production of febrific
miasmata;  and  this  general agreement among observers
arises from the fact  that diseases which have been attributed
to a vitiated atmosphere never prevail except  in  tropical cli-
mates, or during the hot summers  of temperate  climates.
As to the material  upon which the solar  influences operate,
as we have already stated, there is still some degree of doubt.
Furgurson, before quoted, says, "putrefaction  and the matter
of disease are  altogether distinct and independent elements
—that  the one travels beyond the other without producing
the smallest bad effect—and that however frequently they
may be found  in company, they have no  necessary  connec-
tion."  The views of this distinguished  writer  must be re-
ceived with limitation,* for if we reject the many corrobora-
tive' proofs afforded by various medical writers of the great-
 est accuracy of observation and fidelity of narration as re-
gards the generation and evolvement  of  miasmata  from ve-
getable and animal decomposition, we must harden our minds
into a state  of incredulity and scepticism, amounting  to an
 abandonment of the best established medical truths.|   We
   *The history of disease in the valley  of the Mississippi, during the sum-
 mer and autumn of 1829, is in direct opposition to  the opinion of Dr. Fur-
 gurson.  That season was distinguished by an  abundance of rain.  It was
 perhaps the wettest experienced in the west since its first settlement. No
 near approach to aridity prevailed during any portion of  it.  Yet it was far
 from being, as, on the Doctor's hypothesis, it ought to have  been, the most
 healthy.   On the contrary, it was marked by a greater  amount of bilious
 fever, than had exi/ed previously for many years.— Caldwell on Febrile Mi-
 asms.— Boylston Prize Essay.
   .proceeding up the Mississippi and its tributaries, a valley of secondary
 formation and alluvial soil, we find that malarial diseases still prevail; and
 on the prairies of the far west, and even the  table-lands of  Ohio, the sum-
 mits  of whose highest hills are rich in organic remains, but more especially
 along the margins of streams, the same class of  diseases  are dominant.
 Moreover, if further evidence  were necessary to establish  the connection
       n organic remains and  what have been classed as malarial diseases 
  24       HEALTH AND MORTALITY OF MEMPHIS            !

  are compelled, ex necesitate, to admit the operation of this
  agency among the active causes of disease.                   I
     The bayou Gayoso, too, demands a word.   This "natural   !
  sewer" is at times a source of evil.  When the Mississippi   j
I  continues high—as, according to Dr. Shanks, it did in 1851,
  till  the middle  of August—then the backwater in it over-
  flows  its banks and covers a large surface.   This  surface?
  with all the  vegetable matter floating upon it—is acted upon
I  by the summer sun, with  a mean temperature of 85  deg.;
'  and thus is generated local causes of disease.  This, howev-
  er, admits of remedy, by  straightning the bayou, and thus
  reclaiming the low grounds that are now occasionally  over-
  flowed; and by placing a levee sufficiently high  to  confine
  the water to a proper boundary.
     It is not necessary to dwell longer upon the causes of dis-
  ease that we find  in our streets and about our city.  We may
  refer to one fact that  increases  the mortality in no slight
  degree, viz:  imperfect medication.  We find that previous to
  April, 1851, no record was kept of the  physicians in atten-
  dance on the sick.  From  August, 1851, to January, 1852,
  such a record was  kept by the Secretary  of the Board of
  Health, and the following is the result*—Of the  250 deaths,
  but 110 are recorded as having been attended by physicians
  —leaving us to presume that 140 were without medical at-
  tendance.   From January to October, 1852, three hundred
  and fifty-two are recorded  as having been attended by physi-
  cians.  Two hundred and  thirty-four are recorded as having
  died without medical aid.  Now it  is certain that many of
  in the foregoing pages, {Forry on Climate of the United States,) it is only
  necessary to refer to the fact that even in  the malarious region of the great
  lakes, «those posts which have  a dry and sandy soil, as Forts Brady and
  Mackinac are almost  exempt from these diseases; and so upon the Atlan-
  tic Plain, we find a similar exemption at Forts Monroe and Moultrie—each
  situated upon a sandy tongue of the sea coast.  Lastly, the  history of the
  Augusta, Ga., Arsenal, which was removed from the Savannah river to the
  "Sand Hills"—a distance of only two miles—illustrates the  same law."—
  {Vide "Clim,ate of the United States,'" by Samuel Forry, M. D.,page 363. 
H            BY CHARLES TODD QUINTARD, M. D.        25   I

   these latter were ministered to; but it is a significant fact,   j
   calling urgently upon the Corporation, the profession and the   |
   citizens  of Memphis, to do something for the relief of the   j
   sick poor.  A clinique is held regularly, at 8 o'clock, A. M.,
   at the Medical College, where, during the two months that
   have elapsed since it went  into operation, 124 cases of va-
   rious diseases have been prescribed for.  This clinique lasts
ji  &Rt one hour, and that  from 8 to 9 o'clock.   Now, if over
   100 suffering poor have been able to leave their  abodes to  jj
 ,  seek medical aid, how many, is it fair to presume, have been
   unable to seek such assistance.   There is philanthropy, and  j;
   humanity and charity enough in Memphis, but it needs con-  ji
   centration.  It is a shame  and a reproach  that Memphis  I;
   has no city  hospital—no  dispensary,  where  the poor can
   command medical assistance in their need.   But  again the
   mortality of Memphis has  been increased by deaths occur-  ij
   ring among persons left here from steamboats.   Now,  I am   j
   fully aware that, as Dr.  Grant suggests, "the same is true of
   every other city in which  mortuary statistics are kept;" but
(   we doubt much whether the relative mortality of any  other
   point on the river is so greatly increased by this means, as
   is that of Memphis.  According to the Register kept by A-
   B. Shaw & Co., we find  that 9 steamboats stop at this  point
   daily, making a total of 3285 per year.  If we give to each of  |
   these 100 souls, which is alow estimate, we have our popula-
   tion   increased  in this  way by the  addition of 328,500-
   From the records of the Wharf-master, Mr. Wolf, I find that
   in 1851, 886  flat boats visited our port, containing on an
   average 6 persons per  boat—a  total  of  5,316.   In 1852,
   there were 857, with the same average; or a total of 5,154.
   Adding the number of persons who visit  us on steamboats,
   with the number on flat-boats for 1852, and we have a total
   of 333 654.  As to the fact of our mortuary returns being
   increased by this  immense floating population, it is scarcely
   necessary to offer a word of proof.   We  may just mention
   however, that we have been informed by A. B. Shaw, Esq., 
26       HEALTH AND MORTALITY OF MEMPHIS,

that the  highest number buried in  any single week, during
1851, by A. B. Shaw & Co., from their wharf-boat, has been
14.   That the highest number buried in any one week du-
ring 1852, has been 6.   Within the past  few weeks it has
occurred that one corpse was  landed—two  men died imme-
diately on being landed, and two others who were sent up to
town died in a short time.  It is true that not all these are
placed on the Record of the Board of  Health—but many of
them are.  We find names of persons recorded on the books
who have died on steamboats—have been brought here for
interment—and their  deaths have been published by the
Board of Health, without note or comment.   This we have
discovered by comparing  the records of the Board with the
books of the  Sexton.*  These persons died, according to
the books of the Sexton, on steamboats; but, according to
the record of the Board,  had  been  for some time residents
of our city.  Of what use, then, is this record, in arriving at
the exact statistics of the mortality of Memphis.   It does
indeed furnish  us a  goodly  number  of names  of  per-
sons who have found a grave  here;  but it  is  not a true in-
dex, as it purports to  be, of the mortuary condition of the
town.
   The conclusion  we arrive at is,  that the records of the
Board of Health are valueless, as exhibiting the mortuary
condition of the city.  When, we  consider the fact of the
important interests involved of a fair, candid and just exhibit
of the vital statistics and Hygiene  of the town—that the
interests of our city are deeply involved,  it becomes us to
consider just what are  the local causes of disease—just what
will most easily and readily remove them.   Memphis is just
now assuming a position.  It is  getting to be looked upon
as a point of great commercial importance, as the terminus
of a Pacific Railroad; or, at all events, as a point whence
must eminate  a vitalizing influence.  It becomes the sub-
  *In the reading of the Report, a number of names were mentioned, but
they are omitted for obvious reasons. 
              BY CHARLES TODD QUINTARD, M. D.       27
   stantial men of Memphis—those who are interested in the
   improvements of the town to  inform  themselves on these
i   subjects; aud it  becomes all who propose to reside in the
   city to make their influence felt through the ballot  box.
   How near  soever our figures may approach the true  vital
   condition of the town, it is very evident that much may be
   done in the removal of filth,  and in  adopting very many
   items of importance, that one  embraced in a well adjusted
!i   and effective system of medical police.   There is one broad
|j   fact that should be borne in mind, and it is this:—Memphis
'I   may be rendered as healthy, if not healthier, than any town
   in the  great Mississippi Valley; and the means  of this im-
'   portant end are within the reach of the citizens.   If the ge-
11   ographical position of the city is such as to open before her
   "a manifest destiny"-—so brilliant that the  mind is lost in
   contemplating it—it does seem that measures  should be
   adopted that will ultimately secure to her citizens the salu-
   brity indicated by her topography and meteorology.   This
   is no small matter—no subject for trifling—it is a vital in-
   terest, and one which the citizens themselves should inves-
|   tigate.  Let us have facts, and draw wise conclusions from
;   them.   "To conceal our true condition  would," as Dr. Grant
   has justly said, "bring down upon us the scorn and contempt,
   not only of the moralist and the philanthropist, but of sen-
I   sible and reflecting minds everywhere;  and after a few years
   more of suffering from existing  evils,  would tell upon the
i!   interests of the place with ten-fold force."   If local causes,
   and removeable causes of disease can be ascertained by the
   combined efforts of enterprize, science and wealth, whatever
|   may be the cost, their removal will be cheap in the end; for
|   nothing can be permanent without healthiness.
      Dr.  Barton, in  his very admirable report to the Louisiana
i   State Medical Society on the Meteorology, Vital Statistics
!|   an(j Hygiene of the  State of Louisiana,  says, "the insalu-
   brity of New Orleans, is mainly owing to
      1st,  Bad air, 
28       HEALTH AND MORTALITY OF MEMPHIS,

   2nd, Privies, Cemeteries, various manufactories, stables,
 slaughter-houses, etc.
   3d, Bad water—stagnant water.
   4th, Bad Habits.
   5th, Bad Milk."
   We might, had we time, consider how trie health of our
 own city is affected by each of these causes of disease; but
 without an allusion to the others, we must content ourselves
 with quoting his remarks in reference to  the first of these,
 and leave the other items to your good sense.
   "Bad Air, etc.—The greatest sources of impurity of air,
 arises from privies, the offal from kitchens, stables, stores,
 markets, streets, manufactories, etc.
   It is estimated that a population of 130,000, (that of New
 Orleans at the time of his writing,) produces annually 5,633
 tons of night soil, 843,000  tons  of urine:—these may be
 doubled from domestic animals, and from other sources are
 at least as much more:—making  the frightful aggregate  of
 about 150,000 tons, (including more than 3,000 dead bodies
 buried in the  cemeteries of the city limits,) of organic mat-
 ter, submitted to the putrifactive fermentation every year."
 "It is in vain to say that the night soil is removed to the ri-
 ver, urine sunk into the soil, the offals earried a mile or two
 in the rear,and bodies  buried in vaults:—all are long enough
 exhumed to contaminate the atmosphere."   To  show what
 may be done by a proper system of policing, we will refer
 to the statistics of some of the towns of England.  In Charl-
 ton-upon-Medlock, the rate of mortality was,  according to
 the health commissioners, in  the first  class houses and on
 the first class  streets, one in  fifty-one,  and in the worst
 houses and on the worst streets, one  in twenty-five, being
 little more than double the number of deaths in the latter
 in proportion  to the living than the former.   In York one in
 47  1-2 died in the best and 28.82 in the worstv drained
 and ventillated parishes.  The average age in the former was
 35 7-8 years and in the latter 22 1-2 years. In Leicester the 
          BY CHARLES TODD QUINTARD, M. D.        29

average was 25 1-2 years in drained districts, and 17 years
in the undrained districts.
   In Preston in 1840,  1 in 14.6 died  in the worst streets
and only 1  in  29 through  the whole town.   The rate of
mortality differed from 1 in  41 in the best to 1 in 23 in the
worst wards—that is, for every 100 that die in  one, 177 die
in the other.  Now are not these significant facts?  Do they^
not appeal to the reason of every man within  the sound'of*
my voice?  And to what sort of drainage is reference here
made?   Think you it is at  all similar to the veby pecujjafcg
kind adopted  in  Memphis—such  as fining up gutterUfflr
all natural channels  with  filth, and  mud and soil?  Surely
not. But I have already detained you too long. In conclusion
allow us to  suggest the propriety  of the establishment of a
Board of  Health consisting,  not of medical men solely, but
of gentlemen, who appreciate the importance of the subject—
of any  and every  profession.  And in order to obtain that
accuracy so necessary to the cause of human  life and hu-
man progress, let it be made a penal offence for a sexton to
bury any person, white or black, without having a certificate
from the  attending physician ,and in cases where no physician
has been in attendance, let  the certificate be obtained from
the coroner of the name, age, place of nativity, length of time-
in Memphis, disease, date  of death,  &c;  this  certificate to
be deposited with the Secretary of the Board.  This custom
once established would add nothing to the labors of the
sextons, indeed it would decrease  them.  It is a plan that
has been adopted in all our large cities, and it is the only
plan that promises any success or safety to this city.
   In conclusion permit me  to say, that I entered upon the
duties assigned me by the committee, with the expectation
that it  involved only the examination of a few figures, but
so many items, of interest to the profession and the public,
came to  my  knowledge, I deemed it proper to draw up
what I conceive to be, at  least, an  approximation to the
true vital condition of the city for 1852.   If in  the prose- 
30       HEALTH AND MORTALITY OF MEMPHIS.

cution of the task  I should have arrived  at results and
conclusions somewhat at  variance with those of some of my
distinguished professional brethren, I can only plead hon-
esty of purpose, and submit to their scalpels, satisfied that
their dissections will be both courteous and scientific.
  NOTE.—We are authorised by Mr. L. R. Richards, who is at present
taking a census of the city, that the population is considerably over 12,000.
  An excuse must be found for want of connection in this report, in the
fact that after it was drawn up, the author left out some thirty pages, in
order to have it as short as possible. 
r
                    * ■
Meteorological Tables as kept at t\k Navy Yard, Memphis.
1851.	Thermotjeter J | in the shade Barometer me«pf Weather. and open air. ^ |									PrevaiMtag Winds, days.				---zz—-—-a Rain.	
Months.	S 3 a	S 3 B 'a	o! fcX3 a	a a o <u	a 3 a '1	a S3 a "S	1	oil	3 00	to	O '02	en 03	(V o 5r.	03 ei Q	03 o 1—1
January. Febr'y. March. April. May. June. July. August. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.	681751 76 24 52 80'28 52 80 32 48 8938 51 9158 33 93 58 35 95 65 30 93J40 53 82:29 53 74 24 50 65|l0 55			44'30 15'29 29 29 71 47 30 0429 27 29 66 53 29 32 29 87 29 60 58 29 80 29 24 29 53 65 29 66 29 29 29 46 75 29 67'29 3429 45 79 29 66 29 49 29 59 82 29 66,29 42 29 56 69 29 76 29 45 29 60 5729 80'29 19 29 50 4929 7329 1929 46 39 29 92|29 33|29 62				10 15 9 12 24 25 16 24 23 12 15	19 6 6 15 6 8 18 16	10 4 kg 6 6 7 3 4 7 8	10 10 10 12 14 12 5 9 9 5	5 6 8 5 6 9 12 11 8 11	6 8 7 7 5 3 10 7 6 7	3 8 3 3 7 1 4 8 8	1.39 8.77 2.07 .78 .70 2.32 .20 2.85 5.70 2.14
32.89
	Thermometer									Prevailing					
1852.	in the			shade	Barometer mean of			Weather.		Winds,				Rain.	
	and open air.									days.					
Months.	a 3 a	a 3 a 'S	03 a d erf	■3 c a eS	a 3 a H	i a "a	Monthly Mean.	Clear days.	Cloudy days. Easterly. Southerly.			•z 03 -t-J 03 03	03 o	03 Q	03 03 o C
January.	66'02'68			3131 00 29 23*29 91				12	19	6	10	6	9	4	1.60
Febr'y.	65 32 33			5929 79		29 21 29 52		10	19	5	8	7	9	11	6.14
March.	87 2562			6129 78		29 13,29 46		10	21	7	9	6	9	9	2.23
April.	85 37 48			68 29 56		29 08,29 36		11	19	5	10	7	8	9	1.68
May.	9145 46			71	29 72	29 3329 54		9	22	8 10		9	4	11	4.43
June.	95 5243			79	29 75	29 42j29 59		17	13	414		9	3	5	2.51
July.	99 6138			82	29 64	29 48|29 56		23	8	5,22		2	2	9	1.83
August.	9756 41			78	29 72	29 4129 57		17	15	4il3		9	5	8	4.28
Sept.	95 48 47			72	29 62	29 45^29 54		20	10	5 7		12	6	5	1.65
Oct.	88 40 48			67	29 71	29 26 29 49		20	11	6 12		9	4	4	1.98
Nov.	76 28 48			54	29 74 29 2029 47			9	21	8 7		8	7	10'4.15	
Dec.	70 28 42			48	29 841	29 32	29 61	11	29	9|10		8	4	10,7.65	
40.85

32.89
7.90 
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