m SUMMER AND FALL OF 1822; TOGETHER WITH, AN ACCOUNT r.¥ rise and progress ' OF tHE - • .* .. ^^-Ifcl*® • a • * • WHICIJ APPEARED DURINflJ. JTHATiSEASOK, 9 SEVERAL DOCUMENTS" - itf RELA^lCftJ TO IT, ' t. WHICH. WERE LAID BEFORE" THE BOARD. PUtfLlSHED BY ORDER OF THC BOARD OF HEALTH* ■-':-.!lljo .■ ■ P. & H. VAN PELT, PRINTERS, No. 87 Nassau-street. 1823. WW 0 /'J-Js '..:$iJL"iS6-j0-$ Note to page 123. Since (h« address of the eleventh of November was written, it has been ascertained that the United States Brig Enterprise, arrived at the quarantine on the eighth of July, and not on the seventh as stated in the address. It has also been ascertained, ihat on the foorteenth of June, she had touched at the Bavanaa, and was three days" •ff the Moro Castle. 0 9 B'rom the year 1805 to 1819, a period of fourteen years, this city* was exempt from the prevalence of Yellow Fever, during this period the progress of improvement, and consequently the increase of population and wealth, Were unprecedentedly great. Previous to 1805, a large portion of the city, now com- prising the eighth and tenth wards, was vacant and unpro- ductive, except such parts as were occupied as gardens for the raising of vegetables for the use of the citizens; and there are many houses now standing in the upper parts of the city, that were erected as places of retreat, in the event of pestilence, for the temporaroy residence of the families of the proprietors. These buildings were then considered as countiy houses, being in a great measure insulated, and at a distance from the settled parts of the city, but are now in a neighbourhood of dense and compact population Why this city should have been exempted from this dreadful calamity for fourteen years in succession, is a ques- tion that we shall not attempt to answer; but it has been remarked as a well authenticated fact, (as we believe,) that in no instance has the Yellow Fever prevailed here, except in those years, when it had first made its appearance at some one of the West India Islands, or at some port to the south and west of us. In the year 1819 the disorder was prevalent in several of the West India Islands, and the fears of the Board of Health began to be excited that year, early in July, by the arrival at quarantine of several vessels that had lost some •f their men bv Yellow Fever. The French ship La Fie- 4 J rentine arrived at the quarantine establishment from Saint' Pierres, Martiniqe, where the Yellow Fever prevailed at the time of her departure, and where she had lost one of her crew. This vessel was put under quarantine for thirty days 2 and during that time, she underwent all the ordinary puri-« fications, such as white-washing, fumigation, &c. &c. and on the the twenty-fourth day of August, the Health Officer reported her to the Board of Health as clean, safe, and free from infection, who directed her to be anchored in the stream three hundred yards from tlie wharyes of the city. Nothwithstanding this vessel had undergone all *he usual means for purifying vessels for thirty days, she nevettheless had two of her crew taken down with Yellow Fever on the third or fourth of September, when she was again ordered to quarantine, where she laid a few days and then went to sea; but having met with adverse weather, she returned on the twenty-fifth of September, having lost her captain by Yellow Fever during the time she was out. The brig Eliza, arrived at the quarantine on the thir- teenth of August, in six days from Charleston, with one sick person on board, who died on the day of her arrival. She also performed a quarantine of thirty days, during which time wind-sails were kept in her hatchways, her hold and forecastle were three times white-washed, her limbers were taken out and cleaned, and she was otherwise purified, when on the sixteenth of September, she was allowed to come to the stream, three hundred yards from the wharves ; yet, after all this cleansing, her captain died of Yellow Fe- ver on the sixth of October, and on the seventh, one of her crew sickened with the same disease. Doctor De Witt, the Health Officer, contracted the dis- ease while in the performance of his duty in examining, in- fected vessels at the quarantine establishment, and died«bn the eleventh of September, being the fifth person out of seven, who lost their lives while in the performance of the duties of this hazardous office. About this period, the Yel- low Fever made its appearance in the city, and several cases occurred m the vicinity of Old-slip, and began to ex- 5 tend to Pearl, Water and Front-streets. Immediate meas- ures were adopted to clear the sickly district of its inhabi- tants, and to fence up the avenues which led to the seat of infection. These measures, together with the lateness of the season in which the disorder made its appearance, were the probable cause that fewer cases occurred, than at any former period when the city had been visited by a similar malady. The whole number of cases was supposed to be about one hundred, and the deaths sixty; but there were only sixty-three cases reported to the Board of Health, and forty-three deaths. The last case reported was on the thir- teenth of October, and on the nineteenth of that month, the Board of Health invited the citizens who had removed, to return to their homes. In eighteen hundred and twenty, a disorder of a suspi- cious character made its appearance in Bancker-street. The first case which occurred was on the twenty-first of August, and was reported to the Board of Heaith as a case of malignant fever. There were twenty-eight cases during the prevalence of this disease, reported to the Board, all of which were visited by Dr. Hosack, the then Resident Phy^ sician, and declared to be Bilious Fever. A large portion of the persons who sickened with this disease were blacks, and it would have been by no means surprising, had the mortality among them been much greater than it was, or that a malignant disease should have visited that part of the city periodically, during the hot months; for the inhabitants of that section of the city, with a few exceptions, are crowd- ed together, often ten or twenty in a single room or cellar, and are at the same time, the most wretched and dissipated persons imaginable. The Physicians who attended and reported the cases of sickness alluded to, persisted in the opinion that the dis- ease was malignant, if not Yellow Fever, and they pub- lished a history of the disorder, with a view of substantiat- ing the doctrine, that the Yellow Fever may originate in this city, particularly in a season of extraordinary heat, and in situations similarly situated to that of Bancker-street* 6 The difference of opinion among medical men, on the sub- ject of importation, domesticorigin, and the contagiousness of the Yellow Fever, has been the cause of serious evils to the city, and has so far prevented the advance of knowl- edge, as to the true nature and proper treatment of the dis- ease, as to make it appear that the faculty in this city are as deficient in this important particular, as they were twen- ty years ago. The fears excited by these reports of the existence of Ma- lignant or Yellow Fever, were soon dissipated by the fact, that the fever whatever might have been its type, was con- fined to Bancker-street and its immediate vicinity, and its attacks were principally on the black population of that part of the city, together with a few white persons of the most abandoned character and dissipated habits. In the latter part of July eighteen hundred and twenty- one, information was received by the Board of Health, that the Yellow Fever had appeared in Baltimore, and the ne- cessary measures were accordingly adopted by quaran- tining the vessels from that port, and such other restrictions as were deemed proper, for the purpose of preventing its in- troduction into this city. On the third day of September a storm of uncommon vio- lence occurred in this city and its neighbourhood, the rain fell in torrents, which together with the great rise of the tide inundated all the low grounds and cellars on the east and north rivers. Measures were immediately adopted by the Board of Health, to have the water carried off, and the cellars ventilated and cleansed, in order that no injurious effects might be experienced by the inhabitants, or the health of the city impaired by this event. The effects of this storm on the surrounding country were very destruct- ive, both on the land and on the water. At the quarantine establishment (Staten Island) a number of vessels were driven on shore and stranded, and it became necessary to permit some of them to come up to the ship yards in the city, in order that they might repair damages, although their full term of quarantine had not expired. 7 About this period, several cases of Yellow Fever oc- curred in the city, and created some alarm in the minds of the inhabitants. On the eighth of September, there were two cases reported to the Board, one at two hundred and seventy-nine Front-street, and one at eighty Wall-street. The first case was that of James Van Allen, second mate of the ship Hebe. This ship had arrived from New-Or- leans on the fourth of July, with the loss of three of her pas- sengers by sickness, one on the seventh, and two on the fourteenth of June. Two of them were reported to the Health Officer, as having died of Consumption, and one of Diarrhoea. Mr. Van Allen had entered on board of this vessel two or three weeks before he sickened. He had been for several days engaged in the hold of the ship, stow- ing her cargo, and was so engaged until the third of Sep- tember, the day on which he was taken ill. The second case was Seth Wait, who arrived in the Lucy Ann, from Havanna, on the twentieth of August. The vessel was put under quarantine for thirty days, but owing to the damage she had received in the late gale, she was permitted to come up to the city to repair, and arrived at the Ship Yards, near Corlear's Hook, on the seventh of September. Wait complained of being sick while the vessel was coming up, and on her arrival, took board at eighty Wall-street. Both of these persons were sent to the Marine Hospital, where they died. Two more cases of Yellow Fever were reported to the Board of Health on the twenty-seventh of September; the first, Thomas C. Hawley residing at fifty-eight Oak-street, but doing business at eleven, west side of James-slip ; and the second, David Collis, residing at thirty-six Bancker- street, but worked as a blacksmith, at two hundred and thirteen Water-street, adjoining in the rear, the place where Hawley did business. They both died on the fourth or fifth day of their illness. Shortly after the gale which was the cause of so much damage to the vessels at quarantine, accounts were recived from the Health Officer, that several cases of Yellow Fe- 8 ver had occurred among the men employed in and about the stranded vessels; two or three persons sickened on board of the Lucy Ann after her return to the quarantine ground, and subsequently several others who were at work in repairing the public dock. A number of the inhabitants of the vicinity were also attacked with the disorder, al- though they resided several hundred yards from any of the stranded vessels. The Rev. Mr. Hardenburgh, who was on a visit to the Island, contracted the disease, of which he sickened and died at the village of Greenwich, the place of his residence. The disorder continued it ravages on the Island, among those who were exposed to the infection, until the middle of October, when it ceased, the number of persons who took the disease was about forty, of whom twenty died. On the eighth of October, there was a case of Yellow Fever reported to the Board of Health, at sixty-eight El- dridge-street, this was Henry S. W. Lee, a clerk in the store forty-eight Water-street, he died on the same day he was reported, There were also several suspicious cases that occurred in Stone-street, but the Resident Physician declared them the ordinary Bilious Fever of the climate, although several Physicians persisted in the opinion, that they were cases of Yellow Fever. We have thus far endeavoured to give a brief account of the occurrences of each year since eighteen hundred and five, in which indications of the Yellow Fever were per- ceptible, and shall now proceed to give a detailed account of the proceedings of the Board of Health, both previous and subsequent to the appearance of the epidemic which prevailed in eighteen hundred and twenty-two. STEPHEN ALLEN, ") RICHARD RIKER, \ r ... r . GEORGE ZABRISKIE, I C°mmf™g the JACOB B. TAYLOR, [Board of Health. HENRY I. WYCKOFF.J 9 tiistory of the proceedings of the Board of Health of the City of New-York, during the Summer and FalloflZZZi The Board of Health commenced their session for eigh- teen hundred and twenty-two, on the tenth day of June, when the following persons were chosen officers for the ensuing year, viz. Stephen Allen, President, William Paulding, jr. Treasurer, Jacob Morton, Secretary. The members composing the Board, agreeably to an ordi- nance of the Common Council who possess the authority to appoint were as follows : Stephen Allen, Mayor. Richard Riker, Recorder. Henry I. Wyckoff, Alderman. Elam Williams, do. James Fairlie, do. William Paulding, jr. do. Robert Mc Queen, do* As a Mann, do. Gerard Depeyster, do. Jacob B. Taylor, do. Henry Mead, do. Nicholas I. Quackenbos, Resident Phisiciam Jacob Dyckman, Health Commissioner. Josehh Bayley, Health Officer. "The following address prepared for the purpose, was pre- sented to the Board, and directed to be published. Address of the Board of Health of the City of New-York, to their fellow citizens* The Board of Health beg leave to call the attention of their fellow citizens, to the means provided by law, for B 10 guarding against the introduction and spread of infectious and pestilential diseases in this city. These means have been amply tested by the occurrences of the last year, and although the observance ©f them, is attended with much inconvenience to the pursuits of mercantile men, it must nevertheless be admitted, that a strict and persevering ad- herence to our system of quarantine, under the blessing of divine providence, has not only preserved our citizens from disease and death, and the awful consequences of pestilence stalking abroad, but has established this important fact, that nothing short of an exclusion from the city of all vessels coming from unhealthy ports, will preserve to us the bless- ings of health and the means of enjoying it. It is of the utmost importance also, that local causes of disease, whereever they may exist, should be promptly re- moved. Cleanliness, both in the persons and dwellings of our citizens, is essential to the preservation of health; and the Board, therefore, earnestly call upon them, as they value this inestimable blessing, to observe and practice a requisite so necessary; and if any thing calculated to contaminate the atmosphere, or offend the senses, shall exist in their neighbourhood, that immediate information may be given to the proper authorities, in order to its prompt removal. The various duties of the Board of Health are arduous and important, but they will not shrink from the performance of them; and they sincerely hope, that their fellow citizens will not only submit with cheerfulness to the several require- ments of the law, but that they will assist with zeal and per- severance, in enforcing the observance of its provisions, upon all who shall attempt to disobey or evade them. The several laws and regulations, enacted by the com- petent authority, for the security of the public health, con- stitute a code of external and internal measures, well cal- culated to guard against foreign and domestic causes of disease, and are comprised in the following brief summary. IHerejollowed a summary of the provisions of the Health Law, and the Law for the correction of nuisances, which it is unnecessary here to detail.] 11 The foregoing is the substance of the Laws enacted by the State and City authorities on this important subject, and from long and practical experience, the Board are decided- ly of the opinion, that a due observance of their provisions, will be the means, under the protection of Almighty God, to avert from our beloved city the dreadful scourge of malig- nant and pestilential disease, and they are therefore deter- mined to enforce their observance upon all offenders, with the utmost firmness and rigour. But the Board are at the same time perfectly sensible, that the strict observance of Laws, be they ever so salutary, must in a great measure depend on the good sense of the community for their ulti- mate effect, and they must therefore rely (and they do it with confidence) upon the co-operation of their fellow-citi- zens, whom they earnestly request, whenever any violation shall come to their knowledge, to lodge the necessary in- formation with the Board of Health, or the Health Com- missioners, at their office City Hall, where constant attend- ance will be given at the usual hours, for that purpose. By order of the Board of Health. STEPHEN ALLEN, President. J. Morton, Secretary. On the adjournment of the Board in the fall of eighteen hundred and twenty one, the assistants, Doctor Hicks and Captain Mills, were instructed to commence an examination of every lot of ground and premises on the east side of the city, and to report all privies, sunken lots and cellars con- taining stagnant water or in a state of nuisance, to the City Inspector, in order that ordinances might be passed for their correction, and at a meeting of the Board, on the fifthteenth of June, the following report was presented on that subject. 12 June 10th 1822, The Hon. the Board of Health. Gentlemen, Your assistants beg leave to report, that according to in- structions they did strictly examine all that part of the city which lies south and east of Whitehall, Pearl, Broad, Nas, sau, Chatham, Division and Pike-streets, from November lo April, and reported besides verbal orders, eight hundred and fifty six cases of nuisances, which were all ordinanced by the Hon. the Board of Corporation, these were all re?in- spected in April and May, and found to be corrected. Your assistants would further beg leave to report, that this arduous duty was performed without giving the least offence, or commencing one solitary suit at law. Your assistants further beg leave to report, that since the first of June they have examined several complaints of nuisances and gave orders for their correction, that they have with attention examined most parts of the city, and are happy to state they never saw it so clean (at this season) before. They also beg leave to observe, that they are now con- stantly employed in watching the wharves, as a number of Merchants are of full impression, they have a right to land their Cotton on the same ; your assistants would wish the instruction of the Hon. Board respecting the same,all which is duly submitted by Your very humble servants, B. Hicks, Geo. Mills. At a muting of the Board on the twenty-fourth of June, the President presented the following communication. The Mayor together with a committee of the Board of Health, visited Bancker-street one day last week, and found »t in as good order generally as could be expected. There 13 were but three persons sick in the street, and they are now convalesent. A nuisance of some magnitude exists in Collect-street, the removal of which cannot be completely effected, ex- cept by the extending of the sewer up to Franklin-street. The committee recommend for the present, that the as- sistants be directed to cause the gutter to be cleared and the filth removed, from the mouth of the sewer, as far up Franklin-street, Whereupon, it was ordered, that the proper officer be di- rected to correct the aforesaid nuisance. The following Report was received from the Assistants to the Board. 24th June, 1822. The Hon. the President of the Board of Health, The Assistants beg leave to report, that they have atten- tively examined the different stores containing Cotton and Provisions. That a number of reports have been sent in during the past week, but they have great reason to believe that a great quantity yet remains unreported. They also report the melting houses in Elizabeth-street, owned by the Tallow Chandler's Company, and the one owned by Mr. Hull, on the corner of Elizabeth and Hes- ter-streets, they have been several times complained of by the inhabitants, and are very offensive, Bancker-street is in better order than it has been for se- veral years. No sickness at present. The complaint against No. 68, was not correct, as it has but four occu- pants, but your Assistants believe it to be a house of great resort of the worst characters, it is kept by a Mrs. An- derson. The city in general healthy. Your Assistants beg leave further to observe, that the Oystermen are in the habit of fringing large quantities of Oysters in the city, and more 14 particularly on the Sabbath day—would wish instruction on that point. B. Hicks, G. Mills. Ordered, That measures be adopted to correct the evils complained of in the foregoing report. July 8, 1822. The following Report was received from the Assistants to tin Board. July 8, 1822. The Assistants of the Honorable Board, beg leave to re- port that they have examined all the lower parts of the city, and ordered such cellars as had water in to be cleansed— they have met with several obstructions in the landing of Cotton and Provisions, which they ordered on board or to be taken back to Brooklyn,—a quantity of dama-^d Wool now lies on Pier fourteen,—also a quantity of damaged Moss on south side of Old-Slip. Collect-street has been cleansed, but the Contractors removed the manure and left the sand. The nuisance arcund the market is occasioned by the offal, bones, heads, feet, &c. Bancker-street has been strictly examined this day, and the following persons found sick : Susanah Jackson, at No. 77, with Fever, free black. Elizabeth Johnson, at No. 132, do. do. George Smith, Intermittent Fever, white. The cellar at the corner of Bancker-street and Nelson's- Alley has a great number of tenants, and has some water in—cellar not tenantable. B. HICKS. r^^T^f^^^^^ and Mosfb^forLith removedout of thecity, and that the necessary measures ^ enfold for c earing the cellar corner of Bancker-street and Nelson's Alley, of its inmates. 15 TJie following Preamble and Resolutions were presented by the President, and ordered to be published. Board of Health, July 8, 1822. It having been stated that an opinion is entertained that the Law applied for by the Board of Health, to authorise the landing of Cotton on the wharves of this city, for the pur- pose of weighing and repairing, had been enacted into a Law, therefore Resolved, that the Clerk give notice through the me- dium of the public papers that the said Law was not acted on by the Legislature, and therefore, it is unlawful to bring any Cotton into the city south of Spring-street, on the North River, and Walnut-street, on the East River; but that sound Cotton and sound Hides may be brought by water only, to be immediately taken on board of some vessel at the wharves, for exportation or transportation out of the said city; and that all Cotton, Hides, &c. that may be landed or brought into the city, contrary to the aforesaid provision, will be sub- ject to seizure, for the benefit of the Marine Hospital. By the Board of Health. J. Morton, Secretary. The U. S. Brig Enterprise arrived at quarantine on the eight day of July, from a cruise, via Charleston. Twenty four days previous to her arrival, she had been three days off the Moro Castle, Havanna, and she remained eight days at Charleston. Lieut. Coxe was taken ill with Yel- low Fever the day after her arrival at Charleston, and died on the first of July. Ten persons were sick of Yellow Fever on her arrival here. On the ninth of July there were thirteen cases of Yellow Fever, received from the En- terprise into the Marine Hospital. On the tenth Midshipman Piatt and Corporal Cooper died, and Doctor Tilly's life was despaired of. On the eleventh, the number of cases had increased to twenty, and it was concluded to bring all the men on shore, and to have the 16 Brig thoroughly white-washed and cleansed, and her hold daily fumigated with nitrous oxide gas. On the thirteenth, there were two new cases; and the Health officer was fearful, if the men were kept on shore, that cases would daily occur, it being impossible to prevent the use of liquor among them, from which much disorder ensued. They had broken through the enclosure, and could not be prevented from proceeding to the city while on their drunken frolic. On the fourteenth, the men on shore were ordered on board of the Brig. Doctor Tilly and two men died this day, and one new case of fever occurred. On the fifteenth, another of the crew belonging to the Enterprise died. On the seven- teenth, another death occurred, but there had been no new case since the fourteenth. On the twenty-third, there were four new cases of Yellow Fever received from the Brig, which was the first since the return of the men to the ves- sel, and a pretty conclusive proof, of the difficulty of disin- fecting a sickly vessel. On the twenty-sixth, two additional cases were received from on board the Brig, and it was concluded that the only chance of arresting the progress of the disease, was to re- turn the men again to the shore; and in order to prevent abuses, a guard of six marines was ordered from the navy yard, with directions to permit none of the crew of the En- terprise to depart from the assigned limits. On the twenty-ninth, the Health Officerstated to the Board, that three new cases were received, and that one fourth of the men who were sent on board the vessel, after enjoying a pure atmosphere for a few days, had taken the disease; and that too, after she had been thoroughly cleansed and white- washed ; and that none of them had sickened until six or seven days after they were sent on board. Two men died on the twenty-eighth, one of them the gunner, and both had black vomit. On the twenty-ninth, there was one new case of Yellow Fever, and on the thirtieth, two deaths occurred with the usual fatal symptoms. 17 On the second of August one man died, which was the last death from that vessel. Stated meetings of the Board of Health, were held every second week, on the same days on which the Common Council met, but the President was authorised to call ex- tra meetings, whenever in his opinion it might be deemed ne- cessary. The present law authorises much important busi- ness to be transacted by the Health Commissioners, inde- pendent of the Board of Health, and it was, therefore, only on extraordinary occurrences, that an extra meeting was called. Early in July, reports were circulated that several cases of Bilious Fever existed in the city; and on the seventeenth of that month, Doctor Daniel D. Walters, called on the Mayor, and stated that he had under his care patients, resi- ding at the foot of Rector-street, who w'ere labouring urder fever of a very suspicious character. This information was communicated to the Resident Physician forthwith, with a request that he would visit the persons afflicted; he did visit them, and reported to the Mayor, that the disorder was un- equivocally the ordinary Bilious Fever of the climate; at the same time the assistants were directed to examine that part of the city, and to correct without delay any nuisance which might be detected in the neighbourhood, and they were further directed to ascertain the character of the ves- sels lying at the wharves in the vicinity of Rector-street, and to report them to the Mayor. At a special meeting of the Board, on the twenty-second day of July, the following Report was received from the Assistants. July 22} 1822. Hon. S. Allen, President of the Hon. Board of Health. Sir, Your assistants beg leave to report, that they have exam- ined the lower part of the city and found the same in good C 18 order. Bancker-street remains in the same state of good health. Several vessels from the wharves on the North River, near Rector-street, have gone to sea or removed, the only vessel from any dangerous port now near Rector-street is the Schooner Nile, from JMatanzas, she has been lately cleansed and graved, and now ready to take in her cargo ; your assistants report a cistpool in the alley adjoining eleven Rector-street, in a bad state, the property of Mr. A. H. Lawrence. B. HICKS, G. MILLS. Whereupon it was ordered " that the cistpool reported by the assistants as a nuisance, be and hereby is directed to be filled up with good and wholesome earth, and that the lots, the waste water of which are emptied in the said cistpool, be so regulated and filled, as to cast the water into the street." The assistants also reported the following list of vessels that had recently laid at the wharves, in the vicinity of Rec- tor-street. Date. June 18, June 20, June 20, June 25, June 25, June 25, July 6, July 15, July 17, Name of Vessel. Ship Chase, Brig Patriot, Schooner Edgar, Schooner Florida, 5 Ship Shamrock, Ship Gen. Carrington Brig Fanny, Ship Elias Burgher, Schooner Nile, Wharf. No. 3 N. River, No. 3 do. Edgar's Bason, bet. Carlisle and Rector-sts. No. 7 N. River, No. UN.River, No. 3 N. River, No. 3 N. River, No. 7 N. River, Where From. St. Croix, Curacoa, Augustura, Havannah & Florida Cape, Matanzas, New-Orleans, ' Curacoa, St. Croix, P. Prince, Term of tine. 4 Days. 4 do. 4 do. ^ 4 do. 4 Days. 4 do. 4 do: 4 do. 10 do. The cases of sickness in the vicinity of Rector-street ha vmg increased in number, during the recess of the Board of Health, it was deemed indispensable/that the subject should be speedily brought before them, in order that measures might be adopted to stop the progress of the disease, and that the citizens might be apprised of the extent of its rava- ges, and their own danger. 19 i special meeting was accordingly convened on the thirty-first day of July, ichen the folloicing Report was laid before the Board. Board of Health, July 31, 1822. The following statement of facts made to the Board by the President, was ordered to be published. On the seventeenth of July eighteen hundred and twenty- two, Dr. Walters informed the President of the Board of Health, that there were three of his patients, children of Martin Reeder, at twenty-six Rector-street, labouring un- der a severe attack of Fever—that he did not report them as Yellftw Fever cases, but requested that the Resident Physician might visit them. On the eighteenth July, the Resident Physician reported, that he had visited the children of Mr. Reeder; that Caro- line,agednineyears,had sickened on the tenth of July; Aman- da, aged eleven years, aiso sickened on the same day; and John, aged fifteen years, sickened on the sixteenth, and that their disorder was Bilious Fever. Caroline died the same day; John died on the twenty-second, and Amanda reco- vered. The Resident Physician also reported, that he was inform- ed that Andrew Thomas, a clerk in a grocery store at the cor- ner of Washington and Rector-streets, immediately opposite to Mr.' Ileeder's, was taken sick on the twelfth of July, and carried to the New-York Hospital, where he died on the sixteenth of the same month. On the twentieth, the Resident Physician visited Miss Rose, at the corner of Greenwich and Rector-streets, and reported that she was seven years of age, had sickened on the sixteenth of July, and had Bilious Fever. This child died on the twenty-fourth inst. On the twenty-first, the Resident Plrysician visited John Whaley, a baker, twenty-six years of age, residing at the corner of Cliff and Ferry-streets; he sickened on the twen- tieth with Bilious Fever, and on the twenty-sixth was con- valescent. 20 On the twenty-fifth, the Resident Physician visited Mr. Butler and his apprentice, residing in Rector-street, between Greenwich and Lumber-streets, and reported them conva- lescent, On the twenty-sixth he visited Euphemia Dobson, aged thirty-eight years, at ten Beaver-street, she sickened on the twenty-fourth, and removed from the house of Mrs. Rose, at the corner of Greenwich and Rector-streets, where she had assisted in nursing the child that died on the twenty- fourth. He also visited Mrs. Edwards, aged forty-six years, sister to Mrs. Rose and a resident in the same house: she sickened*on the morning of the twenty-fifth, with Bil- ious Fever. Also Leonard W. Archer, aged twenty-three years, nephew to Mrs. Rose, and residing in the same house : he sickened on the morning of the twenty-fifth, and has Bil, ious Fever. The Resident Physician was also informed that a Mrs. Waters, aged fifty-eight years, had likewise sicken. ed at the house of Mrs. Rose, on the evening of the twenty- fourth, but was afterwards removed to Brooklyn. She had been indisposed for the last three months, and died on the evening of the twenty-ninth, with very malignant symptoms. This person was riot seen by the Resident Physician. On the twenty-ninth, the Resident Physician reported that he had visited another child of Mr. Reeder's, who was sick with the same disorder as those reported before; that he had also visited Susan Buck, aged eleven years, residing at twenty-four Rector-street, opposite the house of Mr. eeder; that she sickened on Friday with Bilious Fever. ^n the thirtieth, he visited Mrs. Jones, at one hun- .ed and fifteen Washington-street, who sickened on the twenty-seventh, and has Bilious Fever—He also visited John Hamilton, a cartman, whose stand was in the vicinity of Rector-street; he resides at twenty Howard-street, and sickened on the twenty-seventh, with Bilious Fever. Onthethirty-first, Dr, JohnNeilson, reported to the Board of Health, two cases of Yellqw Fever, viz. Leonard W Archer, and Mrs. Edwards, both at the house of Mrs. Rose* comer of Greenwich and Rector-streets, On the Monday 21 previous, Dr. Neilson had appeared before the Board, and de- clared these two cases to be Bilious Fever. The Resident Physician visited these patients again this day, and reports them as Bilious Fever. There have no cases of fever occur- red in that vicinity, within the knowledge of the Board of Health, for the last four days. By order of the Board of Health, STEPHEN ALLEN, President. The following proposition was also submitted to the Board by the President. The Board of Health to their fellow citizens. Board of Health, July 31, 1822. There has been reported to the Board of Health by Doc- tor John Neilson, two cases of Yellow Fever, viz. Leo- nard W. Archer and Mrs. Edwards, both at the house of Mrs. Rose, corner of Greenwich and Rector-streets. In consequence of the foregoing report, and the fatal ter- mination of several cases of fever, in that immediate neigh- bourhood, the Board of Health have determined, to fence up the avenues leading to the seat of the disease, and at the same time to advise, that all persons residing, or doing busi- ness in Rector-street, between Lumber and Washington- streets, or its vicinity, to remove therefrom immediately; and it is hereby directed, that no vessel shall be brought to lay at any of the wharves, included within the fence when erected, and that those which are now there, be forthwith removed. By order of the Board. STEPHEN ALLEN, President. This measure, howewr, was postponed for the present, and laid on the table. It was resolved that the Board should hereafter meet dai- ly, at the Mayor's Office, City-Hall. 22 August 3, 1822. A report was received from the assistants, that an old Brewery, at the corner of Washington and Harrison-streets, was in a state of nuisance ; also, a water closet at the cor- ner of Broad and Bridge-streets. This report was referred to the City Inspector. August 5, 1822. Thefollowing Report was presented by the Resident Physician. Board of Health, Aug. 5, 1822. A report from the Resident Physician, of August fourth, 1822, five o'clock P. M. was received as follows : The Resident Physician reports Mrs. NaphthaU Phillips, sick with Yellow Fever, at the corner of Broadway and Cham- ber-street. The family of Mr. Phillips resided at ninety-eight Greenwich-street, the fourth door north of Rector-street, from whence they removed on Tuesday the thirtieth ult. to the corner of Broadway and Chamber-street. Mrs. Phillips sickened on Thursday thefirstinst. and died on Monday morn- ing the fifth inst. By order of the Board, J. MORTON, Clerk. "ITie following Address was presented by the President and directed to be published. A number of cases of Fever having occurred in Rector- street, and its immediate vicinity, and it being the opinion of the Board, that the atmosphere of that section of the city is un- favorable to the health of its inhabitants and others who may resort to it, they hereby advise and recommend, that all per- sons residing or doing business in Rector-street, between Lumberand Washington-streets, oV its vicinity, remove there- from forthwith, and that they and all others abstain from re sorting to the aforesaid district; and it is further recommend. 23 ed, that the citizens generally cause lime to be thrown in their privies, and also in the gutters in front of their respective houses, and use every means in their power to remove from their premises every cause of nuisance and infection, and to keep their cellars and yards dry and clean. By order of the Board of Health. STEPHEN ALLEN, President. The Committee to whom the subject had been referred, reported, that they had rented of Mr. John Gelston, a house at Kip's Bay,for the accommodation of such poor persons as the Board may deem it necessary to remove from the city. Whereupon the following Resolution, proposed by Alderman Fairlie, was adopted. Resolved,Thatthe Superintendantof the Alms-house, cause the house hired by this Board near Kip's Bay, for the re- ception of such sick persons as it may be necessary to re- move from the city into the same, to be put in such order and supplied and furnished in such a manner as he may deem proper for the accommodation of the sick, and that Physi- cians from the Alms-house attend the sick who may be sent to the said house, and that he also provide nurses, for the same. A resolution was also adopted, instructing the Mayor to request of his Excellency the Governor the use of the build- ings at Fort Richmond, Staten Island. The following Report was received from the City Inspector on the subject referred to him by the Board. The City Inspector respectfully reports to the Board of Health, that he examined the Distillery, corner of Harri- son and Washington-streets : in the yard are two vats or reservoirs filled with offensive swill or vegetable matter; there are also other vats within the building of a similar de- scription, and a deep and extensive excavation or cellar emitting noisome exhalations: the building itself is in a 24 ruinous state, threatening to crush the passing inhabitants by its fall. The City Inspector is informed that an applica- tion will, this day, be made to the Grand Jury, who, no doubt will indict the premises as a dangerous nuisance, in the meantime, he has prepared an ordinance to cover the vats with timber, on which is to be placed a quantity of charcoal as a temporary expedient, unlil the building shall be removed and the warm weather shall have passed by. He has also seen the water closet corner of Bridge and Broad-streets, and will present an ordinance, this evening to the Corporation, directing it to be securely closed on the fourth and third stories, also to alter the reservoir in the cellar so as freely to conduct the water into the lateral pipe, this arrangement, together with the cleansing and white- washing of the cellar, will, it is presumed abate the nuis- ance. * Respectfully submitted, GEORGE CUMING, City Inspector. August 5, 1822. The Assistants to the Board made the following Repott. August 3, 4, and 5. 1822. The Honorable President of the Board of Health. The Assistants of the Board beg leave to report, that they examined the brig Commerce, which they declare in an offensive state, the situation in which she lies, danger- ous. & They also report the Ink factory in New-street-it is not so offensive at present, as other factories of the same kind but from its central situation, ought to be removed They also inspected the factory of Spermaceti Oil and Candles, in the same street, and declare the same in a good t* rfT„S? T^^/^andFish St0resin th* vicini- ty of Coenties-shp, and found them in good order excent teT Ttl ^ f ^ ^ A8h W°rk*> ™L South! street, which they ordered cleansed and limed. 25 They also visited the neighbourhood of Rector-street, every day, and have not been able to discover any new case of Fever. B. HICKS, G. MILLS. Orders were accordingly issued for correcting the several matters complained of in the foregoing report. August 6, 1822. The President read the following Correspondence with the Health Officer. Mayor's Office, Aug. 3, 1822. Dr, Joseph Bayley, Dear Sir, You have no doubt seen by the public papers, that there have occurred in Rector-street, and its vicinity, a number of Fever cases,and several deaths. The Resident Physician, who is our legal adviser on this subject, has uniformly pro* nounced these cases Bilious Fever, and they have been so stated to the public by the Board of Health ; but there are other Physicians of repute, who have differed with him, and have declared them to be Yellow Fever cases. Every means have been taken to ascertain whether any local cause- exists in that neighbourhood for the fatality alluded to, but nothing satisfactory has been discovered. The only apparent nuis- ance existing there, was a cistpool, in which the wash of three lots, or yards, was emptied, and that has some time since, been corrected. Those, however, who pronounce the disorder Yellow Fe- ver, believe they have discovered a cause in the permission given to the schooner Nile from Matanzas, the ship Sham- rock from the same place, and the schooner Florida fi om Cape P'lorida and Saint Mary's, to come to the wharves near the foot of Rector-street. The first <;{ these vessels howvver same there after the occurrence of the sickness, and the D 26 other two were reported clean by the Inspector previous to their hauling to the wharves. I incline much to the opinion, that no vessels from the West Indies, &c. ought to be permitted to come to our wharves between May and November, and I should be pleased if you and the commissioners would confer on this subject, and hereafter refuse permission to all vessels from suspected ports, to come to the wharves of the city south of Spring and Walnut-streets, or some other line that may be deemed more suitable. I am, with much respect, Your obedient servant, STEPHEN ALLEN. Quarantine Ground, Staten Island, Aug. 5, 1822. Dear Sir, I have been so busily engaged yesterday, in visiting ves- sels, that it has been out my power to reply to your letter of the third instant. But if the fever which has prevailed in and near Rector-street is from a foreign source, it cannot in my opinion, be ascribed to any of the vessels mentioned.__ A more probable cause may be found in the cargoes of in- fected vessels, which have been taken to that neighbour- hood. I will immediately collect the facts and communi- cate them to you, in a day or two. In haste—as the boat is about leaving here, * I remain your much obliged and very humble servant, JOSEPH BAYLEY. Quarantine Ground, Staten-Island, Aug. Dear Sir, I coincide with you in the opinion contained in your lette- of the third inst. that no vessel arriving here from a port suspected to be sickly, ought to be permitted to come to any wharf of our city, south of Spring-street, |on the north river, or Walnut-street on the east, between the twentieth of May and the tenth of October; and that all such vessels which 27 have arrived before the former period, remaining at any wharf south of said line, should be ordered on that day to the above mentioned limits. As I do not remember that, the Yellow Fever has ever prevailed in our city before the first of June, or commenced after the beginning of October, there does not appear to be any urgent necessity to subject the merchants to the expences and losses, always attending quarantine restrictions, other than those now exacted by the health law for the rest of the year. The Health Officer is entrusted with the great power of directing where the cargoes of infected vessels shall be con- veyed, by the sixth section of the health law; if he was to exercise it to the extent, he might deem necessary for the public health, he would not only very much embarrass, but might probably ruin the merchant, by placing the cargoes for twenty or thirty days, in the stores here for purification. I have for some time considered this measure necessary, and it has caused me much anxiety, but as those cargoes have hitherto been carried up in lighters, without any evil being ascribed to them, I have directed only such as are damaged or such as are supposed most likely to retain infection, to be landed here. Some plan could probably be devised to have those cargoes purified, that would prove equally as safe for the health of the city, and not as oppressive to the mer- chants as landing them here, where he cannot dispose of them, as no persons are admitted into the public stores, to examine them. You mention that as yet no local cause has been discovered, which will satisfactorily explain the origin of the fever, which has occurred in and near Rector- street ; and that those who consider the disease to be Yellow Fever, ascribe it to a foreign cause. I am of opinion that none of those vessels, mentioned in your letter will be judg- ed infected, when the condition is candidly examined, for they had no sickness of any kind on board, or were in any port which was sickly while they remained in them. If the cause is a foreign one, may it not with more probability be found in the one thousand eight hundred and eighty-six box- es of Havanna Sugars, brought in the Brigs Spanish Soldier, 28 Ambuscade and Abeona, and the ship Eliza Jane, all of which wmo landed in the neighbourhood of Rector-street, between the t wen ty-eighth of June and the tenth of July, they were taken immediately from those vessels, during the ex- treme warm weather in decked lighters, and about an hour after those lighters were at the wharves of the city. It may be well to observe, that Havanna Sugars have also been lan- ded in the same manner in other parts of the city, but there has not been one fourth of the quantity, in the same space of time landed at any place, and there may be other circum- stances unknown to me, that might cause the difference, viz: why those places have not been infected in the same man- ner as Rector-street. The Ship Shamrock, sailed from Ha- vanna in ballast to Matanzas, May ninth, and arrived here from that port in twelve days, June eleventh, remained at quarantine four days, her crew consisted of eleven persons, and ten passengers came in her ; not one person was sick from the time that she sailed from Wiscasset, until she left here, what occurred after that time I am ignorant of; both ports were healthy while she was in them, as will appear from the following examination, which I have made of all the vessels which arrived here from Havanna in May last, amounting to twelve vessels, navigated by one hundred and twenty-three persons, having on board fifty-eight passengers, all of whom were in health during the whole voyage, except one boy belonging to the Brig Mary Ann, who had Diarr- hoea, and it will further appear, that the city of Havanna was healthy mMay, by the enclosed certificate from the U S. commercial agent. Eleven vessels also arrived here in May and June, from Matanzas, navigated by one hundred and two persons, with thirty-six passengers, all of whom were in health the whole voyage, excepta seaman of the Brig Prize who died of Consumption in the Hospital, at Ma- tanzas, March thirty-first; such ample proof of the health of those two ports, together with the uniform health of the crew and passengers 0f the Ship Shamrock, must exempt *hat vessel from the charge of giving disease in Rector-streeV 29 The Schooner Florida, Capt. Charles Johnson, sailed from New-York, Nov. twenty-six, to St. Mary's, he was once at Havanna, in February, for one day, but he has been engaged in wrecking all the time between Florida Reef and St. Mary's, and when he arrived here, his crew were in per- fect health, and no person that belonged to her, during the voyage had been sick; he had very little cargo, consisting of old junk, old copper, iron and snuff, all of which had been taken out of the water at Florida reef. The only reason why he came here, was to repair his vessel, for she leaked so much that she kept them constantly employed to keep her free; this vessel arrived June twenty-first, and was dis- charged from quarantine June twenty-fifth. The Schooner Nile, as you observe did not haul to the wharf until the seventeenth of July, seven days after the fever began, but she was a healthy vessel, and the port she came from was said to be healthy ; she was kept nine days at quar- antine, discharged all her cargo here, and was well cleansed. From the foregoing statement of facts, you will be able to form an opinion, which of the above sources, has most prob- ably given rise to the fever, (should no others be brought for- ward,) if it is to be attributed to a foreign one. With great respect, I remain Your very humble servant, JOSEPH BAYLEY. August 7, 1822. The President proposed the following preamble and ordi- nance, which was adopted by the Board, and ordered to be published. • Board of Health, New-York, August 7, 1822. The Board of Health having expressed an opinion that the atmosphere in Rector-street and its vicinity, was injuri- ous to the health of its inhabitants, and others resorting to chat part of the city; and believing that the preservation of 30 the public health, and the opinion of then fellow citizens, call for the measure, they have ordered that the several avenues leading to the infected district be forthwith fenced up. And it is further ordered, That all vessels at the wharves, within this district, be removed to such place as the President of the Board and the Health Commissioner shall direct; and that no vessel be permitted to come to, or lay at any of said wharves, until the further order of the Board, under the penalties of the law, in such case made and provided. It is also ordained, that the following be the limits of the District to be enclosed, viz. Rector-street, at intersection of Lumber-street, and at intersection of Green- wich-streets ; Washington-street, between Piers three and four, including Pier four; Greenwich-street, from intersec- tion of Carlisle-street, and Washington-street, from inter- section of Carlisle-street. By order of the Board of Health. J. MORTON, Secretary. The following Letter, addressed to the Governor, together with the answer, was read. Mayor's Office, New-York, Aug. 1, 1822. His Excellency De Witt Clinton, Governor of the State of New- York, Sir, The inhabitants of this city appear to be much alarmed at the occurrence of several cases of Bilious Fever in Rector- street and its immediate vicinity; and the Board of Health, fearing that the disorder may assume a more unfavourable aspect, have instructed me, to request of you, the use of the buildings at Fort Richmond, Staten Island, for the pur- pose of an Hospital, should they be required as such, or for the use of such of our citizens who may be unable to pro- vide a place of refuge for themselves, should it become necessary to remove them. 31 Will you be so good as to favour me with an answer te this request, by return of mail, if convenient. I am, sir, your most Obedient servant, STEPHElY ALLEN, President of the Board of Health. Albany, August 3, 1822. Sir, I received your letter of the first instant this afternoon, on my return from a journey to the north. I have no hesitation in complying with the application of the Board of Health, and they have full permission to use the buildings and grounds belonging to the State at the Nar- rows, on Staten Island, for any purposes that they may con- sider important to avert the dangers or mitigate the evils of malignant disease, subject only to the necessary restrictions for the preservation of the public property, and for the ac- commodation of the agent who is charged with its safe keeping. While I deeply regret the alarm which appears to prevail on this subject, I assure you that it will afford me the highest satisfaction to aid the municipal authorities of New-York in all proper measures for the preservation of the public health. I have the honor to be Your most obedient servant, DE WITT CLINTON. The Mayor of New-York. The following Report was received from Dr. Hicks, one of the Assistants to the Board. August 7, 1822. The Honorable the President of the Board of Health. The Assistants beg leave to report that they have discover- ed no new case in the infected district, since last report. 32 B. Hicks visited Mrs. Wilmert, removed to sixteen Fletcher-street, from Rector-street, Dr. Neilson's patient--- also Patrick Price, eleven Roosevelt-street, a passen- ger from on board the Empress, Captain Sutton, from Charleston, Intermittent Fever, sent to the New-York Hospital—also Christopher Blockberger, tin worker, at fifty- seven Rutgers-street, Bilious Fever, Dr. Helme's patient. Also Henry Millspard, corner of Houston and Sulivan- streets, a labourer who worked in the stores at the foot of Rector-street, in Washington, and assisted in unloading a number of lighters, laden with sugar, Dr. Blatchly's patient, who calls his disease Bilious Fever, (suspicious)—he also visited several persons in Thompson-street, labouring under typhus. B. HICKS. A letter was received from Dr. Burden, requesting o» behalf of the Board of Health of Philadelphia, information respecting the prevailing sickness, and the President was re- quested to prepare an answer accordingly. August 8, 1822. The"following Letter from Dr. Burden was again read, tt- gether with the letter in answer prepared by the President. Mansion House, New-York, Aug. 7, 1822. To the President and Members of the Board of Health of the City of New- York. Gentlemen, Being authorised by the Board of Health of Philadelphia to ascertain the nature and extent of the disease now exist- ing in your city, I respectfully request information on the following points. 1. What is the nature of the disease of Rector-street • how many cases have occurred since its appearance ; and what the number of deaths ? 33 2. Have any cases of the same disease been reported, in any other part of the city, if so, can they be traced to Rec- tor-street ? 3. What is the opinion of the Board as to its origin ? 4. What measures have been adopted to arrest the pro- gress of the disease ? The Board of Health of Philadelphia are anxious to as- certain the real state of the case, that such measures may be taken as may prevent the introduction of disease to their city, with the least possible inconvenience or injury to New- York ; it is therefore hoped, that you will communicate all tiie information you possess connected with the disease. I have the honor to be, Respectfully, yours, J. R. BURDEN. August 8. 1822. /. R. Burden, M. D. Sir, Before answering your several queries on the subject of the fever at Rector-street, it may be proper to observe, that it has always been held as a cardinal point with the Board of Health of this city, to give the public, at all times, the earliest and most authentic information in their possession, of the state of the public health; and it might therefore be sufficient, as a general answer to your inquiries, to refer you to the Official Reports of the Board made on the thirty- first day of July, and the sixth day of August, in the pre- sent year; but as something more appears to be required of us, we will endeavour to answer your queries severally, in the order they are stated. And first, as to the nature of the disease, it may not be improper to observe, that the Board of Health of this city are not composed of medical men, but of persons in the ordinary walks of life, and they do not there tore pretend to determine the nature of diseases. How should thev undertake to decide when medical men differ so E 34 Widely on this subject? They only know that an unusual number of persons have sickened in a very limited space, and they therefore believe, that the atmosphere in that vicini- ty is unhealthy to its inhabitants, and believing this, it be- came their duty to apprise their fellow citizens of the fact, and to adopt the usual measures to prevent its deleterious effects. The number of cases that have originated in Rec- tor-street and its vicinity, which have come to the knowledge of the Board of Health, are seventeen, and the number of deaths are eight: of these seventeen cases, only three have been reported to.the Board as Yellow Fever, viz. two by Doctor Neilson, and one by Doctor Quackenbos, the Resident Physician, of which, two died, and one recover, ed. It may be proper to mention however, that the Physi- cian who attended the children of Mr. Reeder. has slated it as his private opinion, that their disorder was Yellow Fever, although he has uniformly declined reporting them as such to the Board; and that the Physician who attended Mrs. Waters, has also stated to the same effect. Fourteen of these cases have been repeatedly visited by the Resident Physician, and except in one instance have been declared by him to be cases of Bilious, and not Yellow Fever. The law constituting the Board of Health, has provided that there shall be at least three medical men belonging to it, viz. the Health Officer, the Health Commissioner, and the Resi- den tPhysician ; the last of which has always been consi- dered the only legal medical adviser of the Board, and his expressed opinion is, that sixteen cases out of the seventeen were the ordinary Bilious Fever of our climate, and not the Yellow Fever. You have all the facts, however, and may draw your own conclusions. Second. There have been several cases of sickness report- ed to the Board in different parts of the city, principally by the neighbours of the sick, and two or three by the attend- ing Physician, none of which have been traced to Rector- street : one of them had rheumatism, one typhus, one an affection of the brain, and two or three bilious cases ; in action to these, there were six out of the seventeen cases 35 mentioned above, who had been removed from Rector- street, four of whom died ; one at the New-York Hospital, one at Brooklyn, one in Howard-street, and one at the corner of Chamber-street and Broadway, and two re- covered. Third. The Board can form no opinion as to its origin. No nuisance of any moment has been discovered in the dis- trict, but on the contrary its situation has always been deemed one of the most healthy. There have been several vessels from the West Indies and southern ports k at the wharves and piers, but they were such as required a deten- tion at quarantine of four days only, and previous to their hauling there, had been examined by the Inspector, cleans- ed, and reported free from infection. There had also been landed there the cargoes from several vessels at quarantine, from the Havanna, consisting principally of sugar in boxes, &c. Fourth. The measures which have been adopted are, first, to correct every appearance of nuisance in the neighbour- hood ; second, to advise the citizens to remove with their families out of the infected district; and, third, to fence up the avenues leading to it; and such further measures will be adopted as the exigency of the case may appear to require. If our bills of mortality are any criterion to judge by, the city may be said to enjoy its usual degree of health at least; indeed, in every part of the city, if we except the infected district, and even there no case exists at present, an unusual degree of health is enjoyed. The last case of the disease, within the knowledge of the Board, was on the first instant, and they are in hopes, that the measures they have adopted, by the assistance of Divine Providence, will be the means of arresting its progress, and finally eradicate it from our city. I am, with much respect, Your obedient servant, STEPHEN ALLEN. 36 Aug. S, 1822. The following Report was received from the Assistants. The Honourable President of the Board of Health. The Assistants beg leave to report, that they examined the whole of the infected district, and could not discover any person sick of fever; there is no vessel within the limit- ed district, except one or two sloops filling in the new dock with stone. On the outside of the limits is Brig Clarissa, Pier one, Brig Levant, Pier twelve. The report of a nuisance in the rear of six, Albany-street, is two privies, one wants three feet of being full, and the other about two feet; the yards are clean. Your Assistants examined several streets in the lower part of the city, and found the gutters in some places in a state of nuisance—ordered them cleansed and limed. B. HICKS, G. MILLS. Augubt 9, 1822. The following Report was received from the Resident Physi- cian. The Resident Physician reports Mr.---------Mills- paugh, sick with Yellow Fever at the corner of Sulivan and Houston-streets. This case appears to be mild—he sickened on the evening of the fifth instant, and had been employed as a labourer in a store at the corner of Washing- ton and Carlisle-streets. The Resident Physician also re- ports Miss Roberts, sick with Yellow Fever at thirty-four Lumber-street, directly in the rear of the Trinity Church. She is attended by Doctor Boyd, from whom the following statements were obtained this morning in relation to others. Dr. Boyd was called to see Miss Machett, who sickened with fever on the morning of the seventh instant, at the cor- ner of Lumber and Rector-streets. She went yesterday to Newark. Dr. Boyd was also called to see Miss Keyler, who sickened with feveron the night of the seventh instant in Rector, nextto 37 the corner of Greenwich-street towards Lumber-street. She went yesterday to Harlem. Dr. Boyd was called this morn- ing to see Miss Myers, who sickened last night with fever in Lumber-street, third door south of Rector-street. She is about to leave the city. Dr. Boyd states that all these per- sons are attacked in a similiar manner, which leaves no doubt their disease is Yellow Fever. From the above facts, it appears evident that the cause or causes, which at first were only sufficient to produce bilious fever, have now became concentrated, and as the disease is now progressing towards Broadway, I suggest and recommend the propriety of en- larging the present enclosed limits, so as to include Grace and Trinity Churches, thereby preventing any collection of persons in those places. (Signed) NICH'S J. QUACKENBOS. A report was also received from Dr. Cyrus Perkins, of the 9th of August, of a case of Bilious or Yellow Fever, at thirty-six Lumber-street (Mr. Ward,) in the rear of Trinity Church. A report was also received from Drs. Hosack and Fran- cis, dated the ninth instant, of Mrs. Van Winkle, ill of Yel- low Fever, at thirty-five Warren-street. She was removed from the vicinity of Rector-street, on the afternoon of Tues- day last. The symptoms to-day indicate a favourable re- sult. A report was also received from Dr. Conger, of the ninth instant, of James Turner, at a hundred and forty-five Orange- street, sick of the Malignant Fever. He is a labouring man, and had been at work on board of the lighters, at the foot of Rector-street. Agreeably to the suggestion of the Resident Physician, it was resolved, that Rector-street be fenced up at. the inter- section of Broadway, and Lumber-street at the intersection of Thames-street. 38 A Letter from the Health Officer to the Health Commissioner, was read as follows; Quarantine Ground, Aug. 12, 1822. Dr. J. Dyckman, Health Commissioner, Dear Sir, You ask my opinion on the subject of keeping all suspicious vessels, altogether from the wharves during the hot months, by which I understand that all vessels from the West Indies, are embraced under this head, which in my opinion, is much more extensive than can possibly be requisite, for many vessels arrive here from ports even from the Island of Cuba, where there are only a few scattered houses, in some places not to exceed six or eight, where they enjoy uninterrupted health thoughout the year, while the Havanna, St. J ago de Cuba and Matanzas, may justly be considered suspicious during the great part of the year. Our Health law, makes a distinction between vessels from healthy and unhealthy, or even suspicious ports, and requires the latter to be detained here thirty days, and then reported to the Board for their final decision, no vessel strictly of this character, ought to go to the cdmpact part of our city, and it would be a prudent mea- sure, to order zMfour days vessels to airy parts of the city, and oblige them to be at the end of the wharves, after they had been reported by the Inspector of Shipping. The Islands of St. Thomas, St. Martins, St. Croix, Curracoa, Porto Rico, St. Eustatia and Bermuda, are generally and at this time very healthy. Aux Cayes, Jaquemel and Port au Piatt, in the Island of St. Domingo, Trinidad de Cuba, Xibara, Baga, St. Juan De los Remedios in the Island of Cuba, are also very healthy. New Orleans continued healthy at the last dates, and we have had no serious case of Fever from there this season, except one now here from the Phebe Ann, a Bilious Remittent. A great evil in my opinion, is the trans- portation of cargoes from infected vessels to the city, with- out their being placed for some days in a situation where they would be ventilated, some articles could be scrubbed 39 with water, such as hogsheads of Rum and Molasses, after which, they might safely goto the city immediately from the vessel, hut this precaution will, and has been lately attended to; but such a process could not be practised with Sugar in hogsheads, barrels and boxes, nor with Coffee, Cocoa, &c. as you required my answer to your letter for to-morrow's boat, I have been brief, hasty, &c. in my remarks. With sincere esteem, and regard yours, JOSEPH BAYLEY. P. S. Please to inform his Hon. the Mayor, that his re- quest shall be attented to as far as practicable, but any sick remaining at Fort Richmond, would be badly attended to from here, it would be much better to have them sent here, or we might send for them, as soon as information is given to us. In eighteen hundred and nineteen, three medical gentlemen were employed besides the Health officer, now there is but one. We cannot spare a nurse for we need one ourselves, Dr. Cutter promised to send one. N. B. The request alluded to ivas, that such medical aid as should be necessary, might be furnished from the Marine Hos- pital, to those whom the Board of Health sent to Fort Richmond. The following letter of inquiry from the Board of Health at Boston was received, Health Commissioner'sOffice, City of Boston, Aug. 5, 1822. Whereas it appears to this Board, from publications in the newspapers, that a Malignant Fever prevails in the city of New-York, but the precise character of the Fever, the extent of its prevalency or degree of malignity, does not appear, and this Board being desirous to ascertain those facts, before they adopt any measures that may interrupt or embarrass the intercourse, or commercial traffic between the two cities. Therefore ordered, That the Secretaiy of this Board forthwith communicate to the Board of Health 40 of the city of New-York, an attested copy of this order, with a request that the Honourable Board of Health of the city of New-York, would furnish this Board with informa- tion as to the character, degree and extent of the Malignant Fever, now stated to be prevalent in their city, that this Board, may be enabled to adopt all such measures for the safety of the city, as will be proper, without interrupting that intercourse between the two cities, so essential to the prosperity and happiness of both, further than necessity re- quires. (Attest.) JOHN WINSLOW, Secretary. City of Boston, August 6, 1822. Gentlemen, Agreeable to the directions of the Board of Commission- ers of Health, I have the honour to furnish you the proceed- ing order, copied from their records and passed on the day of the date thereof, and respectfully request that you will have the goodness to afford the desired information. Your obedient humble Levant, JOHN WINSLOW, Secretary. To the Honourable Board of Health, city of New-York. The President stated that he had prepared an answer to the above letter as follows. New-York, August 8, 1822. John Winslow, Esq. Sir, It will afford the Board of Health of this city sincere pleasure, should they be enabled to communicate to the Health Commissioners of the city of Boston, such facts as will enable them to arrive at " the precise character, extent of prevalency, or degree of malignity," of the fever which prevailed in Rector-street and its vicinity. It has been a settled practice with this Board, at all times, to communicate to the public, the earliest information of the existence of malignant disease ; and they therefore, doubt, whether any further light can be shed on the. subject of in- 41 qtiiry, than what will appear from a reference to their Official Reports of the thirty-first day of July, and the sixth day of August of the present year, which was ordered to be pub- lished in all the newspapers printed in this city. It may not be improper, to apprise the Health Commissioners of the city of Boston, that the Board give no sanction to the remarks of the Editors of newspapers, on the subject of the public health, or to the detailed accounts of their pro- ceedings ; and they therefore hope, that nothing which may appear in the public papers, may be viewed as official, ex- cept it be signed by their President, or Secretary, or both, as the case may be. The first knowledge communicated to the Board of Health of this city, that suspicion was attached to the fever in Rec- tor-street, was on the seventeenth of July last; on which day, a Physician reported, that he had three patients sick in one house in Rector-street, with fever, and requested that they might be visited by the Resident Physician. They were accordingly visited on the same day, and on the lol- lovving, reported to the Board of Health as cases of Bilious Fever. Since that period to the present time, there has been reported, or otherwise brought to the notice of the Board, seventeen cases, including the three first mentioned; all of whom sickened, or had resided in Rector-street, or its immediate vicinity. Eight of these persons died—two in eight days—two in seven days—two in six days, and two in five days (varying a few hours) after their first illness ; and nine of them recovered. Of these seventeen cases, only three were reported to the Board as Yellow Fever, viz : two by Doctor Neilson, and one by the Resident Pysician; two of the number died, and one recovered. In order, however, ■that the Health Commissioners of Boston, may be possessed of all the facts within our knowledge, it may be proper to observe, that the Physician who attended the first three cases, has stated it as his private opinion, that their disorder was Yellow Fever; and the same in effect has been stated by the Physician who attended another case from the in- fected district, but who was subsequently removed to Brook- 42 lyn, opposite this city. Fourteen of the seventeen cases, have been repeatedly visited by the Resident Physician, (who is legally the medical adviser of the Board of Health) and except in one instance, he declares them to be the ordinary Bilious Fever of our climate, and not the Yellow Fever. The last case of the disorder that has occurred, so far as the knowledge of the Board extends, and they have no doubt of the fact, was on the first instant; since which, no case has been reported to them from any part of the city ; and they are in hopes therefore, that the means they have adopted, in cutting off all communication with that particular district, and recommending a general removal of its inhabitants, will put a stop to the further progress of disease, and avert from our city the evils of pestilence, and its concomitant effects. You will perceive by the foregoing statement of facts, that there is a considerable diversity of opinion among medi- cal men, as to " the precise character" of the disease; but there can be no difficulty in arriving at a just conclusion as to "the extent of its prevalency," or "the degree of its malignity," for the whole number of its subjects, to this day, is but seventeen; and the disease originated, or can be traced, to a district of less than two hundred yards in extent ; and its malignity may be justly measured by the fact, that eight of its victims died in the short space of between five and eight days from the time of their first illness, while nine of those who were affected recovered. It appears only necessary to add, that no new case has occurred in the infected district, or in any other part of the city for the last eight days ; and that generally, we enjoy a more than usual degree of health, as a reference to our weekly bills of mortality will testify. By order of the Board of Health, STEPHEN ALLEN, President. August 9, 1822. P. S. Since writing the above, the following reports have been received, which establishes the character of the disease foeyond controversey. It will be observed, however, that 43 all the cases as yet reported, have occurred in the vicinity of Rector-street; and as measures will be adopted to remove the remaining inhabitants from the infected districts, we are still in hopes that a stop will be putjo its ravages. Friday, August 9, 1822. The Resident Physician reports Mr. Millspaugh sick with Yellow Fever, at the corner of Sullivan and Housten- streets; his case appears to be mild; he sickened on the evening of the fifth instant, and had been employed as a la- bourer, in a store at the corner of Washington and Carlisle- streets. The Resident Physician also reports, Miss Roberts sick with Yellow Fever, at No. Lumber-street, directly in the rear of Trinity Church; she is attended by Doctor Boyd, from whom the following statement was obtained in relation to others. Doctor Boyd was called to see Miss Machett, who sickened with fever on the morning of the seventh instant, at the corner of Lumber and Rector-streets; she went yesterday to Newark. Doctor Boyd was also called to see Mrs. Keyler, who sickened on the night of the seventh instant with fever, in Rector-street, next to the corner of Greenwich-street, to- wards Lumber-street; she went yesterday to Harlaem. Doctor Boyd was called this morning to see Miss Myers, who sickened last night with fever, in Lumber-street, third house south of Rector-street; she is about to leave the city. Doctor Boyd states, that all those persons were attacked in a similar manner, which leaves no doubt but their disease is Yellow Fever. From the above facts it appears evident, that the cause, or causes, which at first were only sufficient to produce Bilious Fever, have now become so concentrated as to create Yellow Fever. Doctor John W. Francis, and Doctor David Hosack, reported Mrs. Van Winkle as sick with Yellow Fever; she removed from the vicinity of Rector-street. 44 Doctor Perkins reported Mrs. Ward as a case of Malig- nant Fever, at thirty-six Lumber-street, near Rector-stree.t. And Doctor Conger reported James Turner, sick with Ma- lignant Fever; he had worked on board of lighters, at the foot of Rector-street. The foregoing Reports are ordered to be published ; and the Health Commissioners of Boston, may rely upon the correctness of the information which may from time to time be officially published by this Board, and that nothing will be hid or extenuated, but the whole truth, so far as our knowledge extends, will be faithfully given. By order of the Board, STEPHEN ALLEN, President of Board of Health. Which was approved and directed to be forwarded to the Board of Health of the City of Boston. The number of cases and deaths which had been reported to the Board, up to this date, were as follows. By the Re- port made by the President on the thirty-first of July, there were sixteen cases and five deaths. By a Report from the Resident Physician on the fifth of August, there was one case and one death, and on the ninth of August, he reported five cases. There had also been reported during this period by others, six cases and five deaths, making the total num- ber of cases twenty-eight, and deaths eleven, up to this date. August 10, 1822. One case of Yellow Fever, reported this day. Two deaths occurred. 45 The following letter, written to Doctor Burden, by the Presi- dent, was read and approved. New-York, Aug. 10, 1822. J. R. Burden, M. D. Dear Sir, Since my letter to you of the eight inst. in answer to your several inquiries, on the subject of the Fever, prevalent in Rector-street and its vicinity, there have been reported to the Board of Health eight cases of the same disorder, all tracea- ble to that particular district of our city. A copy of the Re- ports as made to the Board, was directed to be forwarded to you by the Secretary, a summary of which are as follows. 1, Mr. Millspaugh, a labourer, corner of Washington and Carlisle-streets. 2, Miss Roberts, in Lumber, near Rector-street. 3, Miss Machett, corner of Lumber and Rector street, re- moved out of the city. 4, Miss Keylor, Rector-street, next to the corner of Green- wich, removed out of the city. 5, Miss Myers, Lumber-street, near Rector-street, will re- move from the city. G, Mrs. Van Winkle, removed from the vicinity of Rector- street. 7, Mrs. Ward, Lumber-street, near Rector. 8, James Turner, had been working at the foot of Rector- street. The foregoing cases, establish beyond controversy, the character of the disease; several of them however, are sta- ed to be mild in their operation, and it will be observed, that they are all distinctly traced to the infected district; we are not without hopes therefore, that by a general removal of the inhabitants from that vicinity, which will be strongly re- commended, and if necessary enforced, a stop may be put to the further spread of the disorder, and consequently, that all danger arising from the usual intercourse, between this city and others will be removed. The prompt manner in which our Board of Health, communicate all the informa- 46 tion in their possession on this important subject, will it is hoped, induce those at a distance from the city, to confide in their public statements, as a correct criterion, by which they may judge the extent and prevalence of the disease. With great respect your obt. servant, STEPHEN ALLEN. The following Letter on the same subject, appeared in one of the public papers. New-York, Aug. 9, 1822. Dear Sir, In reply to your request of this morning, I observe, that the disease you refer to, as having made its appearance in Rector-street and its vicinity, is the Yellow Fever. I have visited a sufficient number of cases to satisfy me as to the peculiar character of the disorder. I am happy however to add, that the cases are few in num- ber, that they are all referable to that part of the city where the Fever commenced, and since measures, interdicting communication with the infected parts of the town, have been adopted by the Board of Health, there is reason to be- lieve the evil will be relatively limited in its extent. As to the origin of the fever I have yet made no inquiries. On this subject I beg leave to refer you to the report of our Health Officer, Dr. Bayley, and the other constituted authorities. I cannot however but make the following re- marks, relative to the views of those who ascribe this pesti- lential form of Fever to domestic sources. 1st. That we have not experienced, in the present sea- son, the high degree or long continuance of heat, nor the quantity of moisture, which they deem necessary for the production of the disease. 2d. That it has appeared in a part of the town which has never before been visited by the fever-apart too admitted to be much m free from lQcal ^.^^ ^ ^^^ part, either of the western or eastern sides of the city. 47 3d. That at this moment many parts of our city are filthy and offensive in the extreme, and-yet proverbially healthy. Of this fact any person may be satisfied who will visit the streets in the north eastern part.s of the city, occupied by slaughter houses, where the air is loaded with the offensive vapours arising from the decomposition of blood, and the other offals of those establishments; yet you will be surpri- sed to be told, that those streets are remarkable for their sa- lubrity, and have in no instance, been the seat of pestilence, even when the disease was prevailing in the vicinity of our wharves. Our Board of Health, doubtless in due season, will direct their attention to the origin of the fever now existing in our city. I am, dear sir, with respect, Your humble servant, DAVID HOSACK. J. R, Burden, M. D, Secretary to the Board of Health of Philadelphia. His Hon. the Mayor, presented the following Preamble and Resolutions, which were adopted. Whereas, the Board of Health are now officially inform- ed, that the disorder prevalent in Rector-street and its vicin- ity, is Yellow or Malignant Fever, and being of opinion, that the removal of the inhabitants from that district of the city, has become indispensable, therefore resolved, that the May- or be, and he is hereby advised, to cause the removal of all persons who shall be found within the infected district, as now enclosed by fences, erected on the several avenues leading to the same. And resolved, that such of the inhab- itants of the infected district, who are unable to provide for themselves, be permitted to occupy either the buildings at the Narrows, belonging to the state, or the buildings provid- ed by this Board, at Kip's Bay, under the direction of the 48 Committee on that subject, and that the Commissioners of the Aims-House be instructed to furnish what may be deem- ed necessary for their subsistence from that establishment, should the circumstances of any require such assistance. Resolved, That no vessels from foreign ports, be permitted to come to the wharves of the city, without the permission of the President and Health Commissioners. Resolved, That the Vestries of Grace and Trinity Church- es, be requested to close their respective Churches, until the further direction of the Board. Adjourned until Sunday at twelve o'clock. (Signed) STEPHEN ALLEN, Mayor. J. Morton, Secretary. The Committee appointed, pursuant to the foregoing Res- olutions, were, Alderman Wyckoff, Taylor and Williams. August 11, 1822. One case of Yellow Fever reported this day. No death occurred. ■ August 12, 1822. One case of Yellow Fever reported this day. One death occurred. The Recorder moved the following Resolution. Resolved, That a committee be appointed by this Board, to inquire into the expediency of regulating or preventing the interment of the dead in Trinity Church Yard, during the continuance of the present epidemic. Referred to the following committee: the Recorder, Al- derman Hall, and Dr Dyckman. 49 August 13, 1822. Four cases reported this day. Three deaths occurred. The followjp.i{ Report was received, from the Sexton of Trinity Church. Interments in Trinity Church Yard, from the first day of May to the ninth of August. May. Adults,.....12 Children,.....13 r (Adults,.....29 Jllne'i Children,.....17 T , C Adults,.....24 July*j Children,.....30 A < Adults,.....9 Aug' I Children.....13 Total, 147 Note—Nine of the above Adults are interred in Vaults, and forty-eight of the Children are under two years of age. EDWARD COATES, Sexton. The following Report was presented and read. The Committee, to whom was referred a resolution of the Board of Health, directing them to inquire into the ex- pediency of regulating or preventing the interment of the dead in Trinity Church Yard, during the continuance of the present epidemic, respectfully Report. That they have ascertained, from the return of the Sexton of Trinity Church, that there have been buried in Trinity Church Yard, since the first day of May last, one hundred and forty seven persons. Your committee have also ascertained, from different persons, on whom they think implicit reliance may be pla- ced, that the vard of that Church is at times, offensive to G 50 persons in its vicinity, and that, in the evening especially, the exhalations are such as perhaps are dangerous to the health of the citizens in its immediate neighbourhood. It is proper too that the Board should take into considera- tion, that as long as funerals take place in that Church Yard, a crowd of persons will be collected very near the infected district, and, in many cases, not more than fifty feet from the residence of persons who have sickened with Yellow Fever. Your committee have also conferred with some highly respectable gentlemen of that Church, and they have ex- pressed a confident opinion, that any measure which this Board may deem essential for the preservation of the pub- lic health, will be cheerfully acquiesced in, by the Vestiy of Trinity Church. Your committee therefore recommend the adoption of the following resolutions. Resolved, That no grave be permitted to be opened or dug in Trinity Church Yard, until the further order of the Board of Health, under the penalty of one hundred dollars. Resolved, That any sexton or other person who shall per- mit any burial in the said yard, in violation of the above resolution, or assist in opening or digging any grave there, shall be liable for the said penalty, to be recovered by the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the city of New- York, before any Court having jurisdiction thereof. Resolved, That in case any vaults should be opened dur- ing the warm season for the interment of any person, it be, and hereby is recommended to the citizens not to follow it into the yard. All of which is respectfully submitted, R. RIKER, JAMES HALL, J. DYCKMAN, Ordered, that an Ordinance conformable to the foregoing Re- port, be prepared and presented to the Common Council at their next meeting. 51 August 14, 1822. Two cases reported this day. One death occurred. August 15, 1822. One case reported this day. Two deaths occurred. August 16, 1822. Three cases reported this day. One death occurred. August 17, 1822. Four cases reported this day. One death occurred. Dr. Dyckman Health Commissioner, submitted the following Resolution. Resolved, That in reply to the letter of the Health Officer of this date, that it is the opinion of this Board, that no part of the cargo of any vessel coming within the sixth section* of the Health Law, be permitted to be brought into this city, provided the Health Officer suspect that such cargo may convey with it infection or contagion. August 18, 1822. One case reported this day. Two deaths occurred. <* The liclU section relates to resieli, coming from sicjcly pofts. 52 The following Report was received from the Assistants, the subject having previously been referred to them. The Hon. the President of the Hon. Board of Health. Your assistants beg leave to report, that they have visit- ed Potter's Field on the eighteenth inst. and found the same in a good state. Mr. Magee, the keeper, buries all Yellow Fever patients in separate graves, and keeps graves dug for that purpose. The complaint made to the Board, arose from the yard belonging to the Baptist Society, a person dying with Yel- low Fever, being brought to the yard before the grave was dug, and was covered with loose sand for about two hours, when the corpse was interred. B. HICKS, G. MILLS. Aug. 18, 1822. August 19, 1822. Five cases was reported this day. Five deaths occurred. The following extract from a letter written by the Health Officer, icas read. Quarantine Ground, Staten Island, Aug. 17,1822. As the reasons upon which I founded my belief, why the cargoes from infected vessels, might be injurious to the pub- lic health, has been misconceived, (because it was not fully explained in my letter to the President) I beg leave to state, that I mentioned the number of boxes of Sugar, simply to relate the fact, without any reference to their contents, to convey the idea thg.t not less than twenty lighter loads (the cargoes of three vessels) were taken out of infected vessels and sent immediately from them to a particular part of the city, in a short period of time, from two to four loads daily; while those lighters were loading the weather was frequently 53 calm, so that their cargoes were very imperfectly ventilated, and a great part of them were put under deck, so that they could not get aired in passing from here to the city. If it is admitted that vessels from sickly ports contain infected air, which does attach itself to the smooth oak timbers and planks of vessels, that repeated white-washing, &c. is re- quisite to remove it, is it impossible for such infected air to adhere to rough sawed pine board boxes ? could not several lighters loaded with such cargoes, under such circumstances, contain a quantity of infected air, which when discharged with the cargoes at or near one place the same day, and for several days in succession, convey a sufficiency of contagi- ous air as to cause the Yellow Fever in the impure atmos- phere of a city, in the same manner as an infected vessela discharging her cargo along-side of a wharf ? such being my opinion, and I conceive it to be my public duty to have it expressed to the Board ; if they differ from me, by not think- ing it expedient to have the cargoes of infected vessels kept from the city, for a limited time, I will strictly conform to their determination. I shall not give permits for the Brig Lucy Ann to discharge except for the hides to be landed here, until I hear from you. Yours' very respectfully, JOSEPH BAYLEY. The President read a letter he had addressed to the Health Officer, on the subjects Contained in the foregoing extract. Mayor's Offioe, New-York, Aug. 19, 1822. Doctor Joseph Baylcy, Dear Sir, Your letter of the seventeenth instant addressed to the Commissioners, was read ot a meeting of tiie Board of Health, held on the day of its date, and a resolution was passed, expressive of their opinion on the important subject suggested for their consideration, of which you have no doubt been officially informed by the Secretary. 54 It appears to me by no means improbable, that the large quantity of merchandise brought immediately from the holds of infected vessels, and landed in the vicinity of Rector- street, may have been the cause of the pestilence now pre- vailing in that part of the city; and as it is clearly your opinion, that a sufficiency of contagious air, may be, by this means, introduced into the impure atmosphere of a city, so as to cause Yellow Fever, it follows of course, that this cause ought to be prevented, by prohibiting the introduction of any part of the cargo of an infected vessel, until it shall have been landed and properly"ventilated. If it is probable then, that infection may adhere to the rough boards of the packages constituting the cargo of an infected vessel; and admitted, that it will continue in the holds of such vessel, after all the ordinary means have been used to expel it, may not some of this infection have been disseminated by the vessels alluded to in my letter of the third instant ? That vessels will contain this infected air, after they have been white-washed and ventilated, has been ^sufficiently proved by the occurrences of the last year, in the instances of the Lucy Ann, Ann Maria, Lyon, and L'Hirondelle ; and in one thousand eight hundred and nineteen, by the ship Florestine, on board of which, some deaths by Yellow Fever occurred, after her discharge from quarantine, and in the present year, by the United States Ship Enterprise. There have been a number of West India vessels at the wharves near Rector-street, but those which I suspect the most, are the Ship Shamrock, and the Schooner Florida,* alluded to in my letter of the third instant. The Shamrock left Matanzas on the first day of June last, and was at the Havanna early in May preceding, both of which ports are now sickly, and may have been sickly at the time they left them, without being known to the Captains of the vessels • for our own experience confirms the fact, that the Yellow • The Ship Shamrock arrived on the eleventh, and the Schooner Florida, on Aw tweaty-first of June. They were both put under quarantine for four days. 55 Fever generally prevails for several weeks at a place, before it is officially announced. To the Florida, I attach much suspicion: she is said to have left this place in November last, for St. Marys, thence to St. Augustine, and from thence to the Havanna, then to Florida Reef, and from thence back to St. Marys ; so far the report made by the Captain. But I am led to believe, there is some omission by the Captain, in the detail of his report, and I strongly suspect, that this is the same Schooner Florida, mentioned in a letter, which Doctor Hicks one of the Assistants to the Board of Health, informs me he received from Mr. Walter Smith, dated at St. Augustine, some time last winter, stating that the Yel- low Fever was introduced at that place by the Schooner Florida, Captain Johnson, from Havanna. The Shamrock was permitted by the Commissioners, to haul to the wharf at Rector-street, on the twenty-fifth of June, and the Florida on the same day her quarantine expired, and they both con- tinued there until their departure for sea. The question is, from which of these sources has the pres- ent sickness proceeded ? Was it from the cargoes of infected vessels landed in the vicinity of Rector-street, or from the vessels alluded to above ; or was it from the combination of both ? That it proceeded from any local cause in that dis- trict of our city, appears to me totally out of the question, since none can be pointed out that has not an existence in al- most every other part of the city. We have doubtless much to learn on this important subject, and for myself, I have no hesitation in acknowledging my lack of information. My only guides in these matters are, experience and observation, and from these I draw my conclusions. The sickness of eighteen hundred and nineteen conld not be traced satisfactorily to a cause; neither could that of eighteen hundred and twenty-one, which caused the death of Van Allen, Collis, and Hawley; but they both occurred in the vicinity of the wharves, and although it could not be ascer- tained that any infected vessels had lain in the neighbourhood el the place wl^re those persons had sickened, yet there was 56 not a doubt, indeed it proved on examination to be the fact, that several vessels from West India por.s, not considered sickly, had been permitted to haul to the docks at the Old Slip, in eighteen hundred and nineteen, and at Roosevelt- street and James' Slip, in eighteen hundred and twenty- one, and it is by no means improbable, that the cargoes of infected vessels had been landed at both these places, as the practice then was, as now, to pemr' it to be brought to the city in lighters, immediately on its ci^char^e from the vessel at the quarantine. There is in my opinion, therefore, suffi- cient cause to fear the evil coi ^e-.-uerxes of permuting, during the hot months, vessels mr'er the follow? Lg circum- stances, to come to the wharves of the city. That is to say; All vessels which at any time of the year, have been at those ports where the Yellow Fever annually prevails; or vessels that have been trading among the West India ports during the year, or during the winter months, and have not experienced the renovating influence of frost, to expel the infected atmosphere of that climate from their holds. Neither ought the cargoes of infected vessels to be landed in the city, until it shall be properly ventilated and cleans- ed ; and if the provisions of the present law are not sufficient to authorise the aforesaid measures, it ought to be so amend- ed as to meet the object proposed. It is admited that much inconvenience would result to a portion of the mercantile community, from r strict enforce- ment of the aforesaid measures, but it is behoved, that the loss of property in the aggregate will be much greater, if our citizens shall be compelled annually to flee from the pesti- lence, than would result from a system of strict quaran- tine, duly observed, and rigidly enforced. I am well persuaded that it is the interest of this city, that every facility should be given to commerce, consistent with the health of its inhabitants; and in order to mitigate the inconvenience to which the owners of vessels trading to sickly or suspected ports, may be subjected by restrictive measures, and in order that the detention of the cargoes of infected vessels may be 57 attended with the least possible disadvantage lo the owners or consignees, I am of opinion, that store houses ought to be erected at Staten Island, and at other places out of the city, m for their reception, at the public expense. The length to which I have extended this letter, requires an apology, but I can only plead the importance of the sub- ject, in my vie*/, as an excuse, which I pray you to accept. With great respect, I am, your obedient servant, STEPHEN ALLEN, August 20, 1322, Four cases reported this day. One death occurred. The following was received from the authorities of the village of Brooklyn. Brooklyn, Aug. 19, 1822. 9 To the Board of Health of the City of New- York. Doctor Hunt who has been appointed by us as a Health Physician for our village, Reports, that the following per- sons are sick on board of the Brig Almira, from Savannah, now lying at our wharves, viz. Joseph Small, John M. Kelly, seamen, and Alexander Lord, mate, and that the disease of the first and last of these persons are so doubtful and suspicious, that he recommends their removal from this village, he has also reported that one of the crew, of the name of J. O'Conner, is dead, and we have had him buried; we therefore recommend that the said vessel and crew should he remanded to the quarantine. Respectfully, yours, AMIEJ.BARBARINE,> T .. * 4ltdt *>,„„ JOHN GARRISON. 5 Jusilces of the Peactt H 58 Measures were immediately adopted to remove the afore Said persons to the Marine Hospital. August 21, 1822. Seven cases reported this day. Four deaths occurred, August 22,1822. Three cases reported this day. Three deaths occurred. August 23,1822. Five cases reported this day. One death occurred. The following Report was received from Drs. Bliss and Stevens. To the Honourable Stephen Allen, President of the Board of $ Health. Sir, The case of Fever at the corner of Wall-street and New- street, respecting which our suspicions were expressed yes- terday morning, has now so far developed its character as to leave no doubt of its being Yellow Fever. The patient states that he does not recollect to have been in Broadway or west of it since the ninth instant, when on his arrival from the country, after an absence of — days, he walked up Courtlandt-street, and down Broadway to his place of resi- dence. We have the honour to be, &c. &c. JAMES C. BLISS, ALEX. H. STEVENS. 59 Mr. Bayard appeared before the Board in behalf of sun- dry merchants, and requested to know whether room could be provided in the City-Hall for the accommodation of the Custom-House, if the Collector would consent to remove thither. The Board, so far as they possessed influence or power in relation to the subject, signified their acquiescence to the proposal. August 24, 1822. Six cases reported this day. Two deaths occurred. The following notice was submitted by the President and direc- ted to be published. Board of Health, Aug. 24, 1822. The Board of Health are desirous that their Assistants should examine and ascertain whether any noxious or im- pure article has been left in any of the storehouses orpremi- ses within the fenced district, and in order that this object may be effected, they request the occupants of stores with- in the said district, either to inform the President of the Board at what place their keys may be found, or to leave them at the Mayor's office, properly labelled. Care will be taken that no person shall enter the said premises, except the As- sistants to the Board, and the keys will be safely returned to the owners of them. By order of the Board of Health, STEPHEN ALLEN, President. J. MORTON, Secretary. August 25,1828. Five cases reported this dayi Two deaths occurred* 60 The following communication from Dr. D. W. Kissam, Juu<, together with the opinion of Dr. Hosack, given at the re- quest of the president, was read. To the Honourable Stephen Allen, President of the Board of Health. Sir, I saw through the medium of the Evening Post, of Thurs- day, August twenty-two, that you were desirous of adopting measures (should there be any substance known that would have that effect) for the prevention of the impending danger that we are subjeeted to at this time by the prevailing epi- demic. I would suggest to the Board of Health the use of the pyroligneous acid, which is the most powerful antiseptic or corrector of animal and vegetable decomposition, that is at present known. Experience in this as well as in other cities, particularly in Europe, has proved its efficacy in sur- gical cases. Sinks and otherplaces, where putrefaction was going on and very offensive, have been instantaneously cor- rected, and made sweet by it. Many gentlemen in this city have used it in their privies, always with the same happy ef- fect. I have ascertained that this acid may be procured in any quantity that may be required, at twenty-five cents per gallon, and from a calculation as to the probable quantity that will be wanted, the result is as follows; if applied in the same manner that our streets have been watered for the last few years. One hogshead containing one hundred and seven- ty gallons of the acid will wet a street of three hundred feet in length, and twenty-five in breadth, equal to seven thou- sand five hundred feet, and the whole number of feet that will particularly require to be wet with this acid, by a partial cal- culation will amount to about one hundred and fifty thousand, which will require two thousand seven hundred and forty gal- lons of the acid, attwenty-five cents per gallon, will make the triflingsum of seven hundred and thirteen dollars. If it requir- ed twice, or even five times that quantity (provided it should check the epidemic) what, let me ask every phylanthropic mind, would it be in comparison to the lives of so many of our 61 fellow-citizens ? I hope for the honourof science, and the safety of the citizens this may be made the subject of close investi- gation ; at least an experiment might be made immediately at the pleasure of the Board, by recommending the use of it on board of such vessels, that arrive at quarantine with Yellow Fever. This is very respectfully submitted to the consideration ©f the Board of Health. DANIEL W. KISSAM, Jr. M. D. P. S. The acid can be obtained at the lead manufactory, Broadway. New-York, August 25, 1822. The Hon. Stephen Allen. Dear S r, In your favour of this morning, you do me the honour te ask my opinion relative to the advantages to be derived from the use of thepyroligneoue acid, in counteracting the progress of the disease with which our city is afflicted. The acid in question, it is well known to chemists, bears a very near resemblance to the acetous acid, or acid of vine- gar; the former containing an empyreumatic oil, not exist- ing in the latter. It is also well ascertained, that the pyro- ligneous acid, is the most powerful agent that has been discovered, for preserving animal and vegetable substances from the putrefactive state, and to a certain extent of restor- ing them when impure. In as far, therefore, as it is calcu- lated to arrest the putrefactive fermentation, I entirely con- cur in recommending the use of it, as suggested by the wri- ter of the communication you refer to, for the purpose of washing impure ships at quarantine, and of correcting the of- fensiveness and impurities of sewers, privies, Src. For these purposes the pyroligneous acid is doubtless a cheap and effi- cacious antiseptic. But as this substance does not readily assume the state of vapour, so as to be diffused through the atmosphere; and as we possess no evidence of its operation upon the air, its ef- m fects as a means of destroying contagion, and of purifying the infected district of our city, are in my opinion too doubt- ful to justify the experiment of conveying it through our streets, in the manner that has been proposed. Allow me, however, in this communication, as connected with this subject, to call the attention of the Board of Health to the means of purification, which 'have been long since sanctioned by experience ; I refer to the nitrous and oxymu- riatic acid fumigations, recommended as early as seventeen hundred and fifty, by Dr. Johnston, of Worcester, and which have been so successfully employed at Dijon, in France, by the celebrated Guyton de Morveau, and at Winchester, in England, by Dr. Carmichael Smyth, and for which the lat- ter after the most mature investigation of their efficacy, by a board composed of a great number of the most respectable medical men of Great Britain, received a Parliamentary re- ward of ten thousand pounds sterling. Should the Board of Health, resolve to adopt the mea- sures recommended, and which will be attended with very inconsiderable expense, I can refer them to a gentleman of science and great practical skill in conducting chemical processes, who is in all respects qualified to carry into ope- ration the wishes of the Board on this subject. With the hope that these means may prove successful in arresting th« progress of the pestilence with which we are visited. I am dear Sir, with sentiments of great regard, Respectfully yours, DAVID HOSACK. August 26, 182?. Four cases reported this day. Three deaths occurred. 63 The following Letter from the President, to the Health Offi- cer, together wAth his answer, was read. New-York, Aug. 26, 1822. Dr. Josetii Bayley, Dear Sir, Our Boatman has represented to me, that he can obtain no assistance from your people, in conveying from the boat to the Hospital, the sick persons sent down by us; you will please inquire as to the truth of the aforesaid representation, and if any difficulty exists on the subject with the persons now employed, you will please engage additional hands, at the expense of the Board of Health. The Board desire me to request, that you will furnish them with a daily statement, designating the disease with which each person we may send to the Marine Hospital is afflicted, aSd that whenever any death may occur, that it may be announced to us. With much respect, Your obt. servant, STEPHEN ALLEN. Quarantine Ground, Staten-Island, Aug. 27,1822. Dear Sir, Your boatman has misrepresented us in want of atten- tion to aid him in taking the sick to the Hospital; the truth is, he woufd not render any himself, and informed me that his agreement was, neither to help the sick, in or out of his boat; although he promised me last evening when he brought Edward Boulanger, that he would assist our orderly man in bringing him up, yet he would not aid him. The orderly man and steward are the only men attached to the Hospi- tal, and they generally attend to this duty; but heretofore the boatmen who brought the sick from the city, always as- sisted in bringing them to the Hospital; if this practice is to be discontinued, 1 will procure more help, so that no diffi- culty may occur hereafter. 64 I will attend to the desire of the Board, and inform them of the state of those persons sent here from the city and Fort Richmond. The death of three men was stated in the weekly reports, since then Maiy Atkinson, from forty-nine Greenwich-street, died last night, and Edward Boulanger, (we do not know vahere from, for he has not been able to in- form us) will probably die this night; Mrs. S. White, from Lumber-street, and Polly Wood, from Dr. Floyds, Green- wich-street, convalescent; Margaret Vanderwater and Henry Vanderwater, from forty-nine Cedar-street, last from Fort Richmond, the first recovering, the second symptoms favorable at present; Anthony Zargable, from seventy-eight Cedar-street, symptoms unfavourable, and Richard Todd, from six Beaver-Lane, not as ill as Zargable, they were both received this evening; those are all the cases of Yellow Fever that we have received from the city. * Ann Mc Coy, who was sent from two hundred and fifty- two William-street, was not a case of Yellow Fever, but the consequence of intemperance, she is now well. William Cook, seaman, sent from the Schooner George, lying at Peck-Slip, had an affection of his lungs, with Bilious Re- mittent Fever, he is convalescent. Mrs. Bostwick from the corner of Beaver-Lane and Washington-street, and the sister to Kearney, was taken sick at Fort Richmond, August twenty-third, and may be considered as a suspicious case, although the irritable state of her stomach, is the only lead- ing symptom of that disease which she has as yet. She is suffering under mental distress in consequence of the loss of her brother, &c. The above are all the cases we have re- ceived from the city, except three or four seamen from ves- sels from Savannah, with Bilious Remittent Fever, who are generally doing well. With great respec* I remain, Your very humble servant, JOSEPH BAYLEY. In consequence of the information contained in the fore* going letter, the boatman employed by the Board of Health, was discharged, and a fit person employed in his stead. 65 August 27,1822. Four cases reported this day. Four deaths occurred. August 28, 1822". "Six cases reported this day. Six deaths occurred. August 29, 1822. Six cases reported this day. Four deaths occurred. The following Resolution was adopted. Resolved, That the physicians who report to the Board persons as ill of Yellow Fever, be requested in case of the ileath of such persons, to report their names, with the time of decease to the Board. . August 30, 1822. Four cases reported this day. Four deaths occurred. The following communication was received from Dr. S. Ack- erly, read and ordered to be published. New-York, August 29, 1822. To the Hon. the President and the Members of the New- York Board of Health. Gentlemen, I have taken the liberty of attending several meetings of your honourable body, and have listened to the propositions of those gentlemen, who have given their opinions, as to the best method of purifying the atmosphere in that part of the I 66 oity afflicted with a malignant disease. Observing that the communications on this important subject, were referred to a committee, with powers to institute an experiment if they should deem it expedient, I most respectfully solicit the at- tention of your Board, to a few observations, touching these points as connected with the health of our city. 1 Of Pyroligneous Acid. The proposition to sprinkle the city with this acid, in the infected district, appears to arise from the idea that the cause of the disease which alarms the city, exists in the open streets and along the gutters, and hence, if this great antiseptic was thus applied, the cause of the disease would be removed and the sickness cease. It is supposable from the nature of the proposition, that large quantities of putrefying materials, animal or vegetable, remain there, and that the putrefaction is to be arrested by application of the acid. If such materials are not there the acid will do no good; vine- gar will not pickle where it is not applied, so the pyrolig- neous acid will not arrest putrefaction unless applied to the substances in that condition. It is well known to your honourable body, that pyroligneous acid is a kind of vinegar distilled from wood, and is a powerful antiseptic or preserv- er of animal and vegetable substances from putrefaction. It is a fuliginous or smoky acid, combining the properties of charcoal and vinegar. It is an admirable preserver of ani- mal substances when properly applied. If however animal er vegetable substances in an impure state are not to be found in the streets, but are found in other parts of the sick- ly district and supposed to be the cause of the disease per- vading that part of the city, they must be collected together and immersed or repeatedly sprinkled with the pyroligneous acid, in order to correct the evil; if they cannot be collected or are not found in the compass of a small space, this acid cannot be advantageously applied; if the cause of disease exists in the atmosphere, independent of local contamina- tion, the pyroligneous acid, would be equally inefficacious; from this view of the subject, it appears that the plan and manner of employing the pyroligneous acid or vinegar qf 67 wood is wholly inadmissible, and would be attended with a great unnecessary and useless expense. 2 Nitrous acid and oxygenated muriatic acid fumigations. It has been proposed to the Board of Health to purify the atmosphere of the city by fumigation of nitrous acid, and by the oxygenated muriatic acid; should the Board think pro- per to adopt this method of purification, it will only reward their anxiety and exertions by failing to produce the desired effect. These fumigations are recommended on the high au- thority of Guyton de Morveau, a French Chemist, and Dr. Carmichael Smyth, of England ; but let us not be carried away by high authority without reason. Their practice arose from the assumption of a false hypothesis, and hence their reasoning and deductions were illusive. The objects of these gentlemen were sought to be obtained by chemical changes produced upon the infectious atmosphere, by expelling or neutralizing the supposed contagion therein contained. Their reasoning was good if their premises had been correct, but as their assumptions were untrue, their deductions were false. Acid fumigations wrere recommended some forly or more years ago, when chemical science was less advanced than at the present time. They were recommended upon the presumption of the alkaline nature oj contagion. Hence as acids are opposed to alkalies, the former it was thought would consequently counteract the infectious state of the atmos- phere, and its inherent contagion, which caused malignant and fatal diseases. These observations apply to all the acids when used as preventives by way of fumigation. The princi- pal which have been used are the sulphuric acid, or oil of vitriol; the nitric acid, or aqua fortis; and the muriatic acid, or spirit of sea salt. These acids I venture to say, will pro- duce no more effect in the manner recommended, than sprinkling the streets with vinegar, scattering snuff into the air, or holding camphor to the nose. One other assumption has been stated as a reason for the use of acid fumigation. It was considered as a fact, that whenever the atmosphere was contaminated, and malignant 68 or contagious diseases were generated, that there the air was deprived of a part or the whole of its vital portion or oxygen. That this assumption is incorrect, we may satisfy ourselves, by consulting the works of Priestly on air, Morveau him- self on infected air, Alibert on malignant intermittents, Doctor Sybert in the medical museum of Philadelphia, of Nicholson's journal, &c. That these factitious airs, gases or acid fumigations, are useless, we have the testimony both of Morveau and Doctor Carmichael Smyth. Doctor Smyth has condemned the oxygenated muriatic acid fumigations of Morveau, and the latter has treated Smyth's nitrous acid fumes as inert and defective. (See Morveau on infected air, and the New- York Medical Repository, volume six, and the new series of the same volume two.) Doctor Trotter, a celebrated British Physician, affirms that " Dr. Smyth's prevention is the very substance that every intelligent officer is hourly employed to drive from the decks of his Majesty's ships." (See Trotter's Medicina Nautica.) In this work is contained a formal com- plaint against fumigations with nitrous acid fumes. He states, that one of the experiments held up to public view is a " de- ception from first to last.'''* So little faith have the British (medical) public in this remedy, that it has been abandoned, or not generally adopted, and no reliance of late placed up- on it. Even in 1809, when the British army at Walcheren suffered so much from infectious diseases, nitrous acid fumi- gations were not employed. (See new series Medical Re- pository, volume two.) I consider it worse than useless to adopt the employment of these acid fumigations long since abandoned and proved to be inefficacious. But if they were good, powerful and salutary in checking or purifying the infectious air of a ship, a prison, a church, or an hospital, how could the remedy be applied to the infected district of this city ? In all the in- stances recorded by Smyth, Morveau, and others, the acid fumes were employed and confined to a single ship, prison, church, or ward of an hospital. (See Smyth on jail distem- per, and Morveau on infected air.) We cannot then em- 69 ploy the acid fumigations in the streets, because their authors never employed or recommended them in the open air. If they are used in the houses, the infection still remains in the external atmosphere, and their employment would be nuga- tory. The instance of the Cathedral of Dijon, referred to in a communication to the Board, was that of a Church in France, which produced a malignant disease in the congre- gation from the putrid bodies of the persons buried in the vaults of the Church. The disease ceased after the Church was ventilated and fumigated. The cure was attributed _, to the fumigation, but the sepulchral vaults were secured, and the source of infection occluded, and nothing more was ne- cessary. The famous Winchester experiment was made in seven- teen hundred and eighty, and after laying dormant for fii teen years, the British Admiralty ordered an experiment on board the Union Hospital Ship, in seventeen hundred and ninety-five, with the vapours emitted by salt-petre when un- der decomposition, by means of the sulphuric acid. Dr. Smyth in his letter on the subject to Earl Spencer, gives a flattering account of the experiment, "the sick were made to breathe for some time the airs extricated from the nitre, while the ship's ports and scuttles were intentionally closed up to confine the medicated steams," but this was not all, the Surgeon took care to have " the dirty linen immediately immersed in cold water on deck, and rinsed out before it was carried to the wash-house;" also, in paying due atten- tion to cleanliness and ventilation, and in having seven noi- some privies removed from the inside of the lower deck, and two from the inside of the middle deck to the outside of the ship. In these cases there appears to be a deception in the use of acid vapours, and the authors have overlooked the ef- fects of cleanliness, ventilation and the removal of the caus- es of an infectious atmosphere. I have infringed upon the time and indulgence of your honourable body, and hope the facts and observations pre- sented, will receive the consideration which the importance TO of the subject demands. But it is also hoped, that the Board will not sanction at the public expense a futile experiment with acid vapours. If however, there are persons who have faith in the recommendation, let them try the experiment at their own expense, under the direction of one of the med- ical officers of the Board. We have a Resident Physician, a Health Commissioner, a City Inspector and an Assistant to the Board of Health, who are Physicians, and must be capable of conducting and directing such experiments. In this way the public cannot be imposed upon. The method employed by Dr. Smyth to produce the ni- trous acid gas is not dfficult. If the board choose to sanction it in this way, and if any of the citizens should wish to know the process, they have only to take some nitre or salt petre, place it on a dish, apply a hot iron and shut the doors and win- dows for a while to keep in the fumes. This was Dr. Smyth's first method. His improved process was to pulverize the nitre, put it in a dish or earthen cup and pour on a little oil of vit- riol or sulphuric acid, and so continue until the nitre is de- composed. The earthen vessels were sometimes placed upon a chafing dish of coals, that the heat might hasten the che- mical action and extrication of the vapours. These however are about as good as the fumes produced from exploding gunpowder. The oxygenated muriatic acid gas, is pungent and irritating to the lungs, producing a cough and other unpleasant and sometimes dangerous symptoms. Its use is therefore objec- tionable in inhabited dwellings. If desired it may be pro- duced after the following manner. Mix two parts of com- mon salt, with one of black oxyde of manganese, and pour upon it two parts of sulphuric acid ; and the fumes of oxygenated muriatic acid gas, will arise therefrom. (See Thompson's Chemistry.) Having commented upon the inutility of pyroligneous acid sprinkled in the streets, and of acid fumigations, it may be thought that some other preposition is due : the following is therefore, with due deference, submitted to your honourable body. 71 Whatever may have given origin to the first cases of the; malignant disease in the lower part of the city, whether they were imported or not, it is evident to all that there must be something in the infected district which contaminates the air and propogates the disease. I am willing to suppose (for argument sake) that the first case of disease might have been imported, but as it does not appear to propogate itself by contagion, there must be local causes to engender and renew it. The laws under which the Board of Health act, recognise both importation and domestic origin, and the measures pursued by your honourable body indicate that filthy streets, noisome privies, improper burials, &c. may be causes of malignant fevers. The disease which has been heretofore confined to a small district, is gradually extending its influence as the continuance of heat increases the noxious exhalations. What then is the state of the case ? We have had a season of long continued heat, acting up- on a dense population in a small district, which has been long settled with narrow streets, small lots, many privies, bad well-water, and one of the largest burying grounds in the city. Other causes, may possibly be found which added to these, may keep the air in an unhealthy condition. If this malignant disease was propagated by communication with the sick, there would be no need of removing or counter- acting these local evils, since as Doctor Carmichael Smyth himself says, that, " contagion being constantly generated, it requires to be as constantly destroyed. (See Morveau on infected air, page 56.) But as the Yellow Fever out of the infected district of this city, does not spread from one to another, there is strong grounds to suspect that some local cause or causes may have an agency in impregnating the at- mosphere with noxious exhalations. The means then that I propose to counteract these exhalations, are common and well known antiseptics, to be applied to the sources of foul emanations. They are, lime, ashes, charcoal, and taji er oak- bark. 12 lime. Lime is well known and is already in use by advice, and under the authority of your honourable body, and needs no comment. ASHES. The healthiness of the soap boilers employment has been Jong established and is owing to the potash or vegetable alkali contained in the ashes, the antiseptic quality of which pre- vents decomposition and preserves the fat or oil with which it is combined to make soap. CHARCOAL, The antiseptic quality of charcoal is also established be- yond dispute. It will preserve meat fresh, and even restore putrid flesh. Its preservative qualities are well known but not much used. The distiller is well acquainted with its power to remove impure tastes, and smell from liqour, and to rectify whiskey into neutral spirits. There are some other uses to which it is applied, and it demands attention on the present occasion. TAN OR OAK-BARK. The principal contained in oak-bark, and which acts in preserving hides in the tan vat is called tannin. Every tan- ner and currier is acquainted with this powerful antiseptic. Without it the hides in the vat would putrify, and the em. ployment would be a very unhealthy one, but the tan toge- ther with lime used by the trade, preserves the hide and pre- vents disease. Now let these antiseptics be used in sufficient quantity separately and in combination. Cover the cart-ways in the infected district (as yet but limited) with tanners' bark, such as is employed to prevent the noise before a sick house, or the fresh bark if it can be procured. This expense will not be all lost, as the bark may be afterwards collected for fuel, and sent to the Alms-house for the poor. The privies should be rendered innoxious by a sufficient quantity of lime, ashes, charcoal, or if you please by the vinegar of wood (pyrolig* 73 neous acid.) The yards of the houses may be purified by a mixture of charcoal or ashes (or both) mingled with a little clay, that it may not be too readily blown away by the wind, if the weather continues hot and dry. The case of the Cathedral of Dijon already cited, is a proof that noxious exhalations may arise from dead bodies; and that such exhalations may arise from Trinity Church Yard, we have a report from your honourable body that ex- cites apprehensions in the public mind, that disease is to be apprehended there. That ground has been one hundred and twenty-four years receiving the dead, and the evil day has at length arrived. To strike at the root of this evil, no further interments should be allowed there. The graves might be levelled and covered with a body of clay, upon which a layer of lime, ashes and charcoal should be placed, and the grave stones laid flat, that the rain may run off and not penetrate the soil to hasten putrefaction and increase the exhalations. From a hasty view of the subject these measures appear to be adapted to the nature of the case, and are respectful- ly submitted by your fellow-citizen and humble servant. SAMUEL AKERLY. August 31, 1822. Five cases reported this day. Two deaths occurred. September 1, 1822. Four cases reported this day. Six deaths occurred. Septembbr 2, 1822. Five cases reported this day* Seven deaths occurred. K 74 The following Resolution was passed by the Board. Resolved, That the Health Committee be authorised to employ such number of persons as a Water Watch, as in their opinion may be necessary, for the effectual protection of the property of our fellow citizens, in the lower parts of the city. September 3, 1822. Three cases reported this day. One death occurred. The following notice was issued by the Health Committee. NOTICE. The Board of Health have determined to establish a Watch on the East and North River, for the purpose of guarding from depredation, both by day and night, that portion of the city evacuated by the inhabitants. It is ex- pected that at least two vessels, of forty or fifty tons bur? then, will be required to be anchored at a convenient place in each river, with row boats of a proper size attached, and a sufficient number of men for the necessary relief. Any person owning vessels of the above description, and disposed to engage in the aforesaid business, will receive all neces- sary information by applying to the Committee, at the old Alms House, in the rear of the City-Hall. All persons employed as private Watchmen, are reques- ted to call on the Committee of the Board of Health, at the old Alms House, and give in their names, and shew the au- thority under which they act; otherwise they will be con- sidered as having no right to act as Watchmen, but be sufr ject to be taken up by the City Watch. By order of the Committee, HENRY I. WYCfcOFF, Cfaiwtw. 75 September 4, 1322. Nine cases reported this day. Four deaths occurred. The following Communication was presented by the Mayor, and ordered to be published. " The Mayor begs leave to inform the Board of Health that the following stores and premises have been examined .by the Assistants, and reported to him as containing no artir cle injurious to the health of the city, and particularly, that there are no hides stored therein, viz:—numbers 59, 65, 67, 71, 73, 81, 91, 97, 101, 103, and 109 Washington-street.— Also the store corner of Marketfield and Washington-streets, and 126 Liberty-street. As it is desirable that every store in this district, not included in the above list, should be ex- amined, in order that the public may be satisfied whether any noxious or putrid articles are deposited within them; it is recommended that the owners of stores who have omitted to leave their keys agreeably to the notice of the Board of Health, issued on the twenty-fourth ultimo, be again re- quested to comply with the aforesaid notice. The Assistants have also examined a number of dwelling- houses, at the request of the owners. The doors and win- dows of the following numbers were found shut and secure, and the property within them in good order, viz : 35, 48, 52, 62, 67, 70, 97, 104, 110 and 113 Greenwich-street; also the house and store corner of Broadway and Pine-street, 20 Broad-street, 5 Bridge-street, 3 and 15 Rector-street, 105 and 142 Washington-street, 148 Broadway, 118 Lumber, and 86 Liberty-street. The following houses have been broken open, and some articles of furniture, &c. wantonly destroyed by the villains who entered them, viz :—numbers 43, 58, 66, 68, 94, 96. 98, and 106 Greenwich-street—numbers 1J 4 and 117 Washing- ton-street—numbers 20 and 25 Rector-street—number 5 Albany-street, and number 4 Dey-street The piooerty stolen, so fur as can be ascertained at present, does not ap- 76 pear to be of great value, and it is therefore believed that the perpetrators of the aforesaid acts, are youths or boys, two of whom are apprehended and have been convicted by the Court of Sessions. The doors and windows of all the houses examined have been properly secured, and it is believed that the vigilance of the watch which has been ap- pointed to guard that part of the city, will prevent in future a repetition of similar offences." September 5, 1822. Ten cases reported this day. Four deaths occurred. The following Address was presented by the President, and ordered to be published. September 4, 1822. The Board of Health are sorry to learn, that after ex- hausting every measure of persuasion, and, in some instances, compulsion, for the purpose of removing the inhabitants from the infected district,, that there are persons, on whom neither the penalties of the law, the preservation of their own lives, nor the duty they owe the public as good citizens, will pre- vent from frequenting that part of the city considered infect- ed. The Board have been led to hope, that the measures they have adopted in fencing that portion of the city to the west of Liberty-street, including Broadway, at its intersec- tion with the aforesaid street, would not only have induced the inhabitants in the vicinity of the fences to remove, as well as those within them, but would have been a warning to every person to avoid approaching the prescribed district and its vicinity; and consequently, that a stop would have been put to the occurrence of new cases of fever in the city. This well founded hope, however, has not been realized; for, although it is twenty-nine days since the Board publicly advised the inhabitants of Rector-street and its vicinity to remove with their families, and twenty-five since the fences 77 were erected, still they are daily receiving reports of cases, brought on through the temerity of the subjects, either by continuing ft reside in the infected atmosphere, or entering it, contrary to the advice and prohibition of the public authori- ty of the city. The Board have deemed it proper again to caution their fellow citizens generally, and all others, against approach- ing that part of the city included within the following limits, that is to say: Beginning on the Hudson River, at the pier of number nineteen, at the foot of Dey-street, running up Dey-street to Broadway, down Broadway to Maiden-lane, clown Maiden-lane to William-street, down William-street to Beaver-street, along Beaver-street to the Bowling-Green, crossing the Bowling-Green to Marketfield-slreet, and along Marketfield-street to the Hudson River. The Board have reason to believe, that the aforesaid dis- trict may be deemed infected, and, therefore, that there is great danger in approaching it, particularly by those citizens who have retired from their stores, or c^vellings, to a heal- thy situation ; and in order that every person may be ap- prised of the consequences of entering the proscribed limits, it is hereby made known, that orders have been issued to the persons appointed as day and night watchmen, to bring before the competent authority all persons found within the same. The Board announce to their fellow citizens, with per- fect confidence, that all that part of the city to the east and north of the City-Hall, and which contains three-fourths of the population, is perfectly healthy, and may be frequented with the utmost safety; and they have no reason to doubt, that all the other parts of the city, not included within the infected bounds, as above described, is also free from dis- ease and contagion. By order of the Board. STEPHEN ALLEN, President. J. Morton, Secretary. 78 September 6, 1822. Two cases reported this day. One death occurred. September 7, 1822. Six cases reported this day. Two deaths occurred. The following Notice was issued by the Health Committee. By a resolution of the Board of Health, the Committee were directed to station Guard Boats in the East and North Rivers, for the protection of property in the lower parts of the city. Agreeably to the above resolution, the Commit- tee give notice to their fellow-citizens, that they have enga- ged two vessels wjfh a suitable number of men and row- boats; one of which vessels will be stationed in the stream of the East River, midway between the Battery and Maid- en-lane ; and the other between the Battery and Washing- ton Market, on the North River, to take their stations this morning. In order to carry into full effect the intentions of the Board of Health, the committee have instructed the commanders of the guard vessels not to permit, during the night, any boats to enter in or depart from the district under their charge, but to detain all such persons as shall be found violating the notice now given; and during the day, to per- mit no boats to pass without strict examination, and to de- tain all such as may appear suspicious. And in order to avoid inconvenience to the persons owning property depos- ited on the east side of the city, it is recommended that ap- plication be made to the committee for permits, whenever a removal by water is required. By order of the Committee, HENRY I. WYCKOFF, Chairman, 79 September 8, 1822. Five cases reported this day. Eight deaths occurred. September 9, 1822. Six casos reported this day. Two deaths occurred. September 10, 1822. Six cases reported this day. Four deaths occurred. Septembee 11, 1822. Ten cases reported this day. One death occurred. The following Resolution, proposed by the Recorder, was adopted. Resolved, That a special committee be appointed by this Board, for the purpose of adopting such means as in their judgment may, by possibility arrest the further extension of the prevailing epidemic in our city: Provided, that the said committee shall not, in all the experiments to which they may resort, expend more than seven hundred and fifty dol- lars. ' The committee appointed pursuant to the foregoing reso- lution, were—His Hon. the Recorder, Alderman Hall anil Alderman Mc Queen. September 12, 1822. Seven cases reported this day. Three deaths occurred! 80 September 13, 1822. Four cases reported this day. Six deaths occurred. September 14, 1822. Four cases reported this day. Three deaths occurred. The following Address was presented by the President, and ordered to be published. The Board of Health to their Fellow Citizens. The Board have learnt with regret, that great excitement and alarm has been manifested by that portion of their fel- low citizens who have removed, or reside in the upper parts of the city; arising as they are informed, from the opinion, that the persons who have removed from the infected dis- trict, with the prevailing disorder upon them, and have loca- ted themselves in that neighbourhood, may be the means of spreading the infection in that part of the city. The Board believe that the present alarm is unfounded, for as yet, there is no instance within the knowledge of the Board, among the numerous removals which have occurred, where any part of the family, or the attendants of the sick, have contracted the disorder out of the infected district; and it is therefore concluded, that the present disease (so far at least) is not infectious in a healthy atmosphere. The Board have nevertheless used every means compatible with propriety, for the removal of the sick to the places provided for that purpose, out of the city; and consequently, all persons who ceuld be brought to consent to the measure, all transient persons, and all those without families or friends, have been removed. The Board feel every disposition to do all acts that they may be called upon by duty or propriety to per- form, which will tend to allay the apprehensions, or mitigate 81 the afflictions of their fellow-citizens ; but they c&nnot con- sent to exercise an authority, (without the most cogent ne- cessity) that shall tear from their friends or relatives a person suffering under disease, when there is no proof as yet deve- loped, that there is danger to be apprehended by the neigh- bourhood, or even by the inmates of the house, in which the sickness prevails. The Board have no manner of doubt, that on reflection, the candour and good sense of that portion of their fellow- citizens who may differ with them on this subject, will in- duce such to acknowledge, that a compulsory removal of those whose friends and relatives have provided for them an asylum in the healthy parts of our city, would be a measure so repugnant to every feeling of humanity, under present circumstances, that it ought not to be resorted to. By order of the Board, STEPHEN ALLEN, President* J. MORTON, Secretary. September 15, 1822* Eleven cases reported this day. Two deaths occurred. The following Address was published by the Special Commit-' tee, on measures for arresting the progress of the epidemic. TO THE PUBLIC. The special committee appointed by the Board of Health, for the purpose of adopting such means, as in their judg- ment, may, by possibility arrest the further extension of the prevailing epidemic in our city, respectfully request, that. the officers to whom the several churches within the city have confided the direction of their affairs, will be pleased, without delay, to cause the burial places attached to their L 82 respective churches, to be covered 'thickly with lime, or charcoal, or both. The Committee also request, the proprietors of all manu- factories, in which filth or impure air may be collected, to order such manufactories to be thoroughly cleansed with lie, lime or potash. And the Committee most earnestly call upon their fellow citizens at large, to cause ashes, lie, hmc, potash or charcoal, to be freely used in their yards, privies and gutters. They also recommend to them, after they close their houses at night, to slack in their kitchens and cellars, a small quantity of lime. This, it is believed, will contribute to purify the air within doors. The Committee also beg leave to remind their fellow citi- zens, whose stores or cellars are situated near the margin of either river, that they ought at this season of the year, to I anticipate the possibility of a heavy storm, and a consequent rising of the tide, which may be attended with very perni- cious effects, if means should not have been previously pro- vided to avert the consequences. Such citizens as have not taken the precaution to meet such an event, are requested to attend to it, or, if they be fearful of going into the infected district, if they will send their keys labeled and numbered, to the President of the Board of Health, the necessary meas- ures will be resorted to, under the care of the Assistants of the Board. The Committee regret the trouble, to which a compliance with the above request must subject many of their fellow citizens. It will, however, the Committee hope, be ascribed to the solicitude they feel for the general safety. The Fever has greatly extended its original limits, the weather from its extreme heat is deemed to be unpropitious. During the present month, it has been several degrees hot- ter than it was in September, seventeen hundred and ninety- eight ; that year the Fever continued its ravages until the tenth of November. On the first of November eleven per- sons died of Fever; on the second, seven; on the fourth, seven; and on the fifth, four. Hitherto no agent but frost has been known to destroy Yellow Fever. If no other 83 agent can be found, we have no alternative but in patiently submiting to all the evils and inconveniences, that must of necessity afflict the multitudes of families driven from their homes. The Committee are not however, without their hopes. Experience has shown that one of the most awful diseases which ever threatened the life of man, has yielded to a mild antidote. The small pox is now harmless. The reason why vaccination is a preventive, we are not permitted to know. We know the fact. This knowledge is the result of human labour, and it ought to teacli an enlightened and pious com- munity, that they have no right to give themselves up to despair. The committee have adopted upon an extended scale, some of the methods which have been recommended, to ar- rest the further progress of the disease; other means will be used. On their part nothing shall be omitted. They rely with confidence upon their fellow citizens to second their efforts. The Committee are fully sensible of the difficulties they have to encounter. The Fever is widely diffused; the heat of the weather is great; the means they employ are uncer- tain ; the faculty of the healing art are divided in their opin- ion. Your Committee, however, ask a prompt compliance with their recommendations, and they trust, under the fa- vour of divine Providence, that they will be enabled to pre- vent the disease from reaching the yet healthy parts of our city. R. RIKER, JAMES HALL, ROBERT M'QUEEN. New-York, Sept. 14, 1822. September 16, 1822. Eight cases reported this day. Two deaths occurred. 84 September 17, 1822, Thirteen cases reported this day, Two deaths occurred, ,The following Resolution was agreed to at the Common Council last evening. In Common Council, Sept. 16, 1822. Resolved, That in case any of the city watch who may be employed by the Corporation in the infected district, shall be taken sick, upon application to the Board of Health or the President thereof, a physician shall be employed to at- tend each watchman, at the expense of this Board. Resolved, That the additional sum of one quarter of a dollar each night shall be allowed to all the night watch stationed in the first watch district, until the further order of the Board. J. MORTON, Clerk. September 18, 1822. Five cases reported this day. One death occurred. The following letter from the President, to the Health officer, together with the one alluded to from Mr. Humbert, and the one in answer from the Health Officer, were severally read. Mayor's Office, Sept. 18, 1822, Doctor Joseph Bayley. Dear Sir, Three cases of fever have occurred at number four Lom- bardy-street, which has excited considerable alarm in the east part of the city, and we are unable to trace them to the infected district. Our fears have been excited therefore, lest some new infection, from an unknown source, has insinuated 85 it self into this district, and caused the sickness and deaths which have occurred. The first person who sickened at the aforesaid house, was George W. Mott. He was removed on the eighth instant to Hempsted Harbour, Long-Island, where he died on the thirteenth. The second was Mrs. Cary, who died on the twelfth; and the third, Mrs. Snow, who died on the sixteenth, both at the house number four Lombardy-street. It is said that the young man, 'Mott, arrived here the lat- ter part of the month of August, in the ship Superior, from New-Orleans; that he lodged at this house until he sicken- ed and removed to the country; that his bedding was brought here from on board the aforesaid ship, and the clothes that he wore during the passage, were washed there. The report of this vessel is not to be found on the files kept in the office of the Commissioners, and I will therefore thank you for a copy of it, together with such other infor- mation, touching the situation of said vessel and her crew; to what ports she had been on previous voyages, and where she was during the last winter, &c. as you may be enabled to furnish. It may be proper to observe, that only one of these per- sons was seen by the Resident Physician, and she was in the last stage of disease, and was likewise in a peculiar si- tuation, being in the seventh' month of pregnancy. I have this moment received the enclosed letter from Mr. Jonas Humbert, relative to the subject I have noticed above. You will please return it, with such observations as the information communicated may merit. With much respect, Your obedient servant, STEPHEN ALLEN. Stephen Allen, Esquire, President of the Board of Health. New-York, Sept. 18, 1822. Sir, I deem it a duty to communicate, hastily a few lines on some particulars connected with the sickness located in Lorn- 86 bardy-street, agreeably to information from a person residing in the neighbourhood of that place. At an early period of the sickly season there was a person who died at quarantine ground, who had the Yellow Fever; a day or two after his death, his clothes, bedding, &c. came up, and was deposited nearly in the rear of the house where the persons recently took sick. It is submitted to the Board whether this circumstance merits investigation. Again, a young man lately came to Lombardy-street from a southern port, the vessel having performed a short quarantine only; himself, Mr. Mott, his mother and sister sickened simultaneously, if 1 may use the expression. I did not learn any thing concerning this young man's bedding or clothes. As this case may in some measure be considered topical, contrasted with a large portion of this side of our city, the Board of Health will render an essential service to the inhabitants in this vicinity, by instituting an immediate inquiry concerning these cases, and the circumstances just mentioned. The sickness of these people has excited very great alarm in my neighbourhood, as yet (thank heaven) very healthy. My motives, respected sir, are not at all grounded upon the disputes concerning importation, or domestic origin. Whether imported or not, there is, I humbly conceive, suf- ficient reason for a strict examination. If it be true that bedding, &,c. came up, only a day or two, after death by Yellow Fever, then our quarantine regula- tions are very loosely attended. My information I believe to be correct; and the short quarantine of the vessel which brought the young man to this city ought to awaken more at- tention. Inquiry may possibly, bring out some facts con- cerning sickness frem whence she came, and whether any hands had been sick, or died, or whether any infected clothes had been on board said vessel, during his residence in her. With sentiments of perfect respect, I am sir, your most obedient servant, JONAS HUMBERT, 87 Quarantine Ground, Staten-Island, Sept. 18, 1822. Dear Sir, I have enclosed a copy of the report of the Ship Superior, agreeable to your request, by which you will perceive, that two months have elapsed since her arrival, and only one case of Intermittent Fever occurred on the voyage from this port to New Orleans, until her return again. As persons sicken frequently while they are detained at quarantine, I have examined our Hospital Register to see if any person has been admitted into the Marine Hospital after her arri- val, and find that William Davis was received as a patient, August eighteenth ; his disease is marked Remittent Fever. This is the same person referred to in the Captain's state- ment, mentioned as Intermittent, and no other person from that vessel was received into the Hospital. The city of New Orleans was healthy while the Superior was there, and if we are to credit the officers of the Custom-House, who issue bills of Health, it continued so as late as the twenty-third of August, as appears by a bill of Health, brought this day by the Ship Asia. From Mr. Humbert's communication it would appear, that the young man, who came in the Superior, sickened at the same time as Mr. Mott and others, and this was the eighth inst. making a pe- riod of fifty days since his arrival; this fact in my mind, pre- cludes the possibility of his disease being received from that vessel, or his clothing or bedding brought from her. Mr. Humbert mentions that the clothing and bedding of a per- son who died of Yellow Fever, early in the sickly season, were deposited near to four Lombardy-street; what particu- lar period he alludes to, is not sufficiently explicit; if the name of the person who died here was stated, I would then be able to state the particulars. But I can assure you, that the first person who died here this season of Yellow Fever was Ebenezer Hunter, from the Brig Helicon, July third! and his clothing has not been removed from here. From that period until the fifteenth of August, when William White 88 (sent from Fort Richmond, but removed from Lumber. street) died, there were no deaths of Yellow Fever, except those from the United Slates Brig Enterprise ; none of the crew of this vessel were permitted to go to the city before the thirteenth of August, when they were all discharged, and their clothing and bedding were well cleansed under the inspection of one of their officers, and that part which I saw on board of the Steam-Boat, was perfectly clean. From that time to the present, no clothing of any person who has died here of Yellow Fever, (and they are all from the city) has been taken from here to New-York. Much good may result from an impartial inquiry into the nature and origin of the disease, at four Lombardy-street, and I shall always be ready to transmit any particulars, which can be afforded from this department, that can in the least contribute to such an investigation. 1 have personally vi- sited every vessel subject to an examination by the Health Officer, since the first of June, which enables me to state the particulars of each, without much trouble. With great respect, I remain Your much obliged, and Very humble servant, JOSEPH BAYLEY. September 19, 1822. Seven cases reported this day. Seven deaths occurred. The following Letter from a Committee of the Trustees of "the Free School Society" was received and read. New-York, Sept. 18, 1822. The Hon. Stephen Allen, Mayor of the City of New-York. Sir, At a meeting of the Board of Trustees of "the Free School Society of New-York," specially convened this day at their School House in Hudson-street, the undersigned 89 were appointed a Committee, to make a tender to you of a room in either of the buildings belonging to the Society for the accommodation of the Board of Health, and of the Common Council, during the prevalence of the epidemic, with which our city is at present visited, if it shall be thought necessary to discontinue their meetings in the City-Hall. We would have had the honour of waiting on you personally to make this communication, but were informed, that you are only in the city while necessarily engaged in the ardu- ous duties of your office. With great respect, We are your obedient servants, SAMUEL BOYD, BENJAMIN CLARK. Whereupon it was ordered, That the President be request- ed to signify to the Committee, that the Board would avail themselves of their offer, should circumstances hereafter make it necessary. The following answer was returned accordingly. Mayor's Office, New-York, Sep. 19, 1822. Samuel Boyd, and Benjamin Clark, Esqrs. Gentlemen, The offer made by you, in the name of "the Free School Society of the City of New-York," of a room in either of their buildings, for the accommodation of the Board of Health and Common Council, during the prevailing epi- demic, communicated by your letter of the eighteenth inst. has been duly received, and was laid before the Board at their meeting this morning. I am directed by the Board of Health, to acknowledge the receipt of your friendly communication, and to inform the Society through you, that should it at any time during the present calamitous season, be deemed necessary to discon- tinue the meetings of the Board at the City-Hall, they will with pleasure accept of the offer you have so liberally made them in behalf of the Society whom you represent. M 90 1 beg leave to state, that you have been misinformed as to the time I am engaged in the duties of my office, for du- ring the whole of the sickness, myself, together with'a Com- mittee of the Board of Health, have constantly attended Without the loss of a single day, at the City-Hall, and old Aims-House, from half past eight o'clock in the morning, until half past four o'clock in the afternoon, and we shall continue thus to attend, so long as our health is spared us, and the present necessity exists. With great respect, I am your obedient servant, STEPHEN ALLEN. September 20, 1822. Twelve cases reported this day. Six deaths occurred. The President presented the following Address to the citizens, which was adopted, Board of Health, Sept. 24, 1822. Several cases of Yellow Fever having recently occurred in Lombardy and Cheapside-streets, near Catharine-street, it has been deemed necessary by the Board of Health, to recommend a removal of the inhabitants of that vicinity; and it is therefore earnestly recommended to all persons re- siding in the vicinity of number four Lombardy-street, or number twelve and eighteen Cheapside-street, to remove therefrom, preparatory to such other measures as the Board may deem it necessary to adopt, to interdict the intercourse with that district of the city. Should any of the families residing in the neighbourhood of the infection, be so circum- stanced as to be unable to provide a place of refuge for them- selves, every facility within the power of the Board will be given them, of which they may be informecl by application 91 to the Committee, at the old Aims-House, in the rear of the City-Hall. By order of the Board of Health, STEPHEN ALLEN, President. J. MORTON, Secretary. The following letter from Doctor Jackson, addressed to General Morton, Secretary to the Board, was submitted and read. Philadelphia, Sept. 18, 1822. Mv Dear General, I have been intending to write to you for some days past, in consequence of perceiving by the papers, that your Board of Health have undertaken some experiments, with a view to disinfect the atmosphere of your city. The result of my experience in this respect, may afford them some hints that may be interesting. In eighteen hundred and twenty, I proposed to our Board, to fumigate the infected district at Walnut-street, with chlo- rine gas.* A resolution was accordingly passed, authoris- ing me to put the process in operation. I was delayed a week in consequence of my sickness. It was not until about the third or fourth of September, that I was able to commence the business of fumigation. For this purpose, 1 had a number of chaffing dishes of large size made, each holding about a quarter to half peck charcoal. The muriate of soda and powdered manganese, previously mixed, were placed in stone ware pans. (As I could not get a sufficency of this kind, I made use of earthen pans, but they were soon destroyed.) Diluted sulphuric acid was added to the mixture, and the charcoal was lighted. Assistants were constantly engaged in renewing the materials and keeping up the fire. In this manner the district was fumigated for a week or ten days, during which chlorine was kept constant- ly discharging into the air, from early in the morning until * Sometimes called oxymuriatic acid gas.—-Editor of the Evening Poitt 92 late at night. From eight to ten of the apparatus were ranged in each square; they were placed in the alleys, and yards of houses, and along the wharves, from Chesnut-street to the dock. The atmosphere was completely filled with the gas, so as to be perceptible, when the wind blew from the south east and east, at some distance from the enclosed dis- trict, in which the disinfecting process was carried on. One of the men engaged to watch in the infected district, of the name of Davenport, took ill with the fever on the sixth or seventh September, and died; but after that period, no one who frequented the district was taken sick. I do not feel disposed to attribute, with absolute confidence, the exemption from disease to the fumigation. More experi- ments, and additional observations, are necessary to enable us to determine with certainty. It has, however, made a strong impression on my mind; and of the schemes that have been yet suggested to your Board, there are none that promise to be of equal efficacy. If numerous vessels dis- charging chlorine are placed in the vicinity of Rector-street, which appears to be the focus of the disease, the gas will be wafted by the north west winds, that still continue to be the prevalent winds in the course of the malaria or poison by which the disease is produced. I have scrawled in great haste these few suggestions, in or- der to be in time for the mail. Should you think the experi- ment made by our Board in this city, in eighteen hundred and twenty, of any value, you can communicate it to the Committee appointed by your Board, to put in operation some means for purifying the atmosphere of your city. Believe me sincerely yours, S. JACKSON. September 21, 1822. Three cases reported this day. Three deaths occurred. September 22, 1822. Eleven cases reported this day. Eight deaths occurred. The following Report, from the Committee on Measures for Arresting the Progress of the Epidemic, was presented and read. REPORT. The Special Committee appointed by the Board of Health, for the purpose of adopting such means, as in their judgment, may, by possibility, arrest the further extension of the prevailing epidemic in our city, respectfully report: That they are led to believe, that some of the means which have been employed to check the advance of Yellow Fever, have been attended with beneficial results. The epidemic was known to be in Fulton-street on the eleventh inst. as on that day Mary Dugan was reported to have sick- ened of that disease, in Fulton-street, on the east side of Broadway; and other circumstances concur to show, that it must then have been there before. The materials used by the Committee, of which they will hereafter give a detailed account, were applied in parts of Beekman, Fulton, Barclay, Dey and Courtlandt-streets, and Broadway, Maiden-lane, and down Rector-street to the river. The chief agents employed by the Committee, to arrest the disease, were unslacked lime, charcoal and tanner's bark. Auxiliary measures were also resorted to, which will be particularly explained in their future report. The Committee are of opinion, that the experiments should be pursued with unabated rigour. And they would earnestly urge, that a full and fair trial be made of several of the acid fumigations, which have been proposed by expe- rienced and scientific men. Some of those acid fumiga- tions may, in the opinion of your Committee, be of benefit. They have been used with success, and are strongly re- commended by gentlemen entitled to our confidence. 94 It is now certain, that the fever has broken out in Lom- bardy, Bancker and Cheapside-streets. This calamity, af- fords an opportunity to test the efficacy of the means used by your Committee. The thickness of the population, the narrowness of the streets, and the filth which is there col- lected, leave us no hopes, if the epidemic be left to take its course, that any thing but frost will stop it. Your Commit- tee are anxious to assail this infected spot. Your Committe also wish to make experiments upon ma- ny cellars and houses, in different parts of the city, which are known to be filled with the poisonous infection. They believe, that such trials will be satisfactory to their fellow citizens, and may eventually lead to a discovery, which will enable us to arrest an evil, which more than any other, threatens the future greatness and prosperity of our city. Your Committee, therefore, recommend for a purpose so important, a further appropriation of----dollars. R. RIKER, ROBERT M'QEEN. September 23, 1822. Twelve cases reported this day. Five deaths occurred. September 24, 1822. Eight cases reported this day. Eight deaths occurred. September 25, 1822. Eight cases reported this day. Three deaths occurred. 95 The following Letter, addressed to the President of the Board of Health, was read, and ordered to be printed. Quarantine Ground, Staten Island, Sept. 25, 1822. Dear Sir, The magistrates of the town of Brooklyn, sent last night, from that place to the Marine 1 hospital, Samuel M'Isaacs, who is ill of Yellow Fever. As you have taken every op- portunity to examine into the alleged cause of Yellow Fever, and as it is of the utmost importance, that every cir- cumstance which can, in the smallest degree afford any in- formation on the interesting subject of Yellow Fever, should be impartially investigated, I take the liberty of sending you the statement obtained from the said Mr. Isaacs, which I conceive to be worth examining into. His memory is some- what impaired by disease, which may cause some inac- curacy in the dates, but the facts are probably correctly stated. He is a journeyman blacksmith, and lived with Mr. John Davis, the foreman of Mr. Quick's shop, (coachmaker in. Broad-street,) at number forty-two Washington-street; and he removed with Davis's family to Brooklyn, about the twelfth of August, to number seven Poplar-street, in that town, but he continued to work daily at Mr. Quick's, until the shop was closed about four weeks ago. He went with Davis in a boat to his house in Washington-street, about the third instant, and again to New-York in Beaver-street, the sixth instant, and remained there about a quarter of an hour. This was the last time he was in the city. Davis sickened on the ninth or tenth, and died the thirteenth. Nicholas Baisley, aged about twenty-two years, and his sister Antoi- nette, aged about eleven years, inhabitants of Brooklyn, who occupied with their family, the same house as Davis, died of Yellow Fever the twenty-second instant. The young man had been often to the city, but Mr. Isaacs could not say to what part of it he had gone. He was inclined to believe that the sister had not been there. The inhabitants 96 were removed from the house yesterday, by order of the magistrates. If this account is correct, is it not probable that Davis has introduced the disease into that dwelling ? If the sister of Baisley has not been to the city, and her dis- ease was Yellow Fever, in what manner did she contract it? I do not think it improbable that Mr. Isaacs has taken the disease from Davis, although there are instances of thir- teen days, having elapsed after exposure to the infected air of Yellow Fever, before the disease shows itself, yet they are very rare, as you have noticed this season. The most frequent, has been from four to seven days after removal from the infected district. Mr. Isaacs assisted Davis's wife in attending him, and he was the only person who laid him out, and six days after he sickened, on the nineteenth instant. Although Baisley's family did not visit Davie when he was sick, yet they were exposed to his bedding, which was put into the yard immediately after his death, and kept there some days. With great respect, &c. JOSEPH BAYLEY. September 26, 1822. Twelve cases reported this day Three deaths occurred September 27, 1822. Eight cases reported this day. Three deaths occurred. 97 The following Letter was received from Doctor Pascalis, and the subject was referred to the City Inspector. Pearl-Street, Sept. 26, 1822. To the Honourable President of the Board of Health* Sir, Having attended and being one of the reporters of two cases of Yellow Fever in Bancker-street, (the late R. Scott, at one hundred and twenty-two, and Mary Mosier, at one hundred and twenty-five,) hearing also that a third case, Rebecca Wheeler, had been reported from the immediate vicinity, I took the trouble this morning to visit and inspect the premises, in order to ascertain to what local and imme- diate cause, the existing cause of infection could be assigned. Doctor I. T. Howe and I have found sir, that the family of the frame house, number one hundred and twenty-five (half a lot, scarcely fifty feet deep) resort to an overflowing privy, which is one of three other privies, opened on the same sink, for the accommodation of three houses, one of which is number eleven Birmingham-street. In order to check the overflowings from this horrid sink, the people therein, have been obliged to bank the borders with dirt, which becomes itself an additional filth, allowing the contents of the sink to ascend still higher above the ground. In the yard of number eleven Birmingham-street, I observed a small drained cistern, which no doubt empties its water in the above sink, this is also still more clogged by the waters of the adjacent yards. I have been told that no less than fifty persons are resort- ing to the sink and privies. My motives for informing of it, are that of procuring if possible, some correction by authori- ty of the above nuisance, and that of assisting the inquirers after or into the origin of the fever in Bancker-street. I remain, respectfully, sir, Your humble servant, FELIX PASCALIS. N 98 September 28, 1822. Four cslses reported this day. Six deaths occurred. The President stated, that the City Inspector had sug- gested to him, the propriety of extending the prohibition of emptying sinks and privies to the first day of November, in- stead of October; and that he had prepared a resolution on the subject, which was submitted and adopted as follows; Board or Health, Sept. 28, 1822. Whereas, by an ordinance of the Common Council of this City, passed the twenty-third day of July, eighteen hundred and twenty two, the owners or occupants of any lot of ground in the said city, are prohibited from emptying the contents of any sink, between the first day of May, and the first day of October, in any year, without being ordered or permitted so to do, by the Board of Health. And whereas, the Board of Health have conceived k pro- per, under present circumstances, that the time limited by said ordinance, should be extended to some future day. Therefore Resolved, That if the owner or occupant of any lot of ground in this city, shall empty, or cause or suffer to be emptied or removed, the contents of any sink, from the same, at any time before the first day of November, without being ordered or permitted by the Board of Health, such owner and occupant shall respectively forfeit and pay the sum of twenty-five dollars, for every such offence. By order of the Board of Health. STEPHEN ALLEN, President. J. Morton, Secretary. 99 The following Report ivas received from the City Inspector, on the subject referred to, in Dr. Pascallish Letter to the Board. The City Inspector respectfully reports on the case of a privy, one hundred and twenty-five Bancker-street, yester- day referred to him. Upon examination he found the privy full, notwithstand- ing it had been ordinanced and complied with last March; as the privy is used by three families, and one of them nu- merous, it is presumable that this circumstance, together with a leaky cistern in one of the yards, has caused the un- pleasant event. The City Inspector thought it right, to direct the nailing up of all the doors of the privy, and tubs used in lieu thereof, which has been acceded to, until it can be with safety emp- tied after the sickness, and such other means then used as will prevent the recurrence of the evil. GEORGE CUxMING, City Inspector. September 28, 1822. September 29, 1822. No cases reported this day. Three deaths occurred, The President read a note he had addressed to the Health Officer, relative to the Fever existing at Cheapside and Lombardy-streets, together with the answer of the Health Officer, that moment received. New-York, Sept. 28, 1822. Dr. Joseph Bayley, Dear Sir, There appears to be some diversity of opinion as to the true character of the Fever, now prevalent in Cheapside 100 and Lombardy-streets, and doubts have been raised, wheth- er some of the cases at least, may not be similar to the Fe- ver of eighteen hundred and twenty, known by the name of the Bancker-street Fever. I have deemed it proper there- fore, to request, that you will strictly examine the sick per- sons which may be sent to the Marine Hospital, from that neighbourhood, and communicate to me your opinion as to the nature of the disease. I am, with much respect, Your obedient servant, STEPHEN ALLEN. Staten-Island, Sept. 29, 1822. The Honourable Stephen Allen, President of the Board of Health. Dear Sir, I have been particular in attending to the progress of dis- ease in Mrs. Bailey and her sister. They informed us that they had taken an emetic soon after they sickened, and they have not been able to retain any thing since. Mrs. Bailey died this day at noon. Black vomit occurred last evening, and continued until her death. Her sister's symptoms are similar, except black vomit, which has not as yet taken place, but she sickened a day after. Whatever has pro- duced this fatal fever, it is the same disease as we received here from Havanna. But it is not improbable as you suggest that some cases which have occurred, may have been simi- lar to the Bancker-street fever of eighteen hundred and twenty. William Wood who was received last night from forty-three Bancker-street, is convalescent, his case may be termed suspicious, from the yellowness and redness of his eyes, and those are the only appearances remaining, but as he is a labourer along shore, such circumstances may have arisen from his habits. Yours with great respect, JOSEPH BAYLEY. 101 September 30, 1822. Nine cases reported this day. Five deaths occurred. The President stated that several of the provisions of the Health Law would expire on the first day of October, and suggested the propriety of their being extended to some fu- ture day. Whereupon a resolution was proposed and passed, advis- ing the Mayor to issue his proclamation extending the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and eighteenth sections* of the " Act to provide against the introduction of pestilential disease," to the first day of November 1822. The following was accordingly issued: By Stephen Allen, Mayor of the City of New- York. PROCLAMATION. Whereas, the Board of Health have advised the Mayor to issue his proclamation, extending to the first day of November next, the provisions of the 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 18th sections of the act of the Legislature, to provide against infectious and pestilential diseases, passed the fourteenth day of April, eighteen hundred and twenty. Now therefore, I, Stephen Allen, Mayor of the City of New-York, pursuant to the authority vested by the thirty- sixth section of the said act, and the advice of the Board of Health, do publish this my Proclamation, and I do hereby * There sections relate to vessels arriving at this port between the thirty.first of May and first of October. Section 3. Vessels from the West Indies to be quarantined four days. Sxctior 4. Vessels from ports south of the equator, two days, Siction Si Vessels from ports, in the passage from which, they must pass south of Cape Henlopen, to stop for examination. Section 6. Vessels from sickly ports, or having deaths on board during their passage, &.c. to be quarantined thirty days. Section 18. Prevents cotton from being brought into the city, and if from a sickly ressel or port, to be landed at the quarantine establishment. 102 declare and make known, that the provisions contained in the 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 18th sections of the act to provide against infectious and pestilential diseases, the duration of which are limited to the first day of October, are, and the same are hereby extended to the first day of November, en- suing, and all vessels arriving at the port of New-York, be- tween the first day of October and the first day of Novem- ber aforesaid, are hereby required and directed to proceed to the place assigned for quarantine, in conformity with the provisions of the law, as extended by this proclamation; and I do hereby give public notice to all and every person, that they will be liable to fine and imprisonment, if they contra- vene or violate the provisions of the lawr as set forth by this proclamation. And all magistrates, officers and ministers of justice, in the City of New-York, and all commanders, pilots, and others, having charge of any vessel arriving in this port, are hereby enjoined and required to be aiding and assisting in the execution and enforcement of the law, in conformity with the tenor and true intent of this proclama- tion, by every means in their power. Given under my hand at the City-Hall, of the City of New-York, this thirtieth day of September, A. D. 1822. STEPHEN ALLEN. October 1, 1822, No cases reported this day. One death occurred. October 2, 1822. Four cases reported this day. No deaths occurred. 103 October 3, 1822. Three cases reported this day. Three deaths occurred. The President proposed that the following Address be pub- lished, which was agreed to. New-York, October 2, 1822. The Board of Health to their Fellow Citizens. The report of Yellow Fever cases for several days hav- ing greatly diminished in number, it is to be feared that some of those who have removed from the infected part of the city may be induced to return, without duly reflecting on the consequences that may result to themselves and fam- ilies. Years of experience confirm the fact, that hereto- fore nothing has effectually eradicated the Yellow Fever, after it has once commenced its ravages, except the appear- ance of black frost; and that those, who have been so thoughtless and imprudent, as to return to the city before the occurrence alluded to, have dearly paid for their temerity by the sickness, and notunfrequently the death, of some part of their families. To prevent this catastrophe, the Board of Health have deemed it their duty, earnestly to entreat their fellow citizens who have retired from that part of the city known to have been infected, not to return to their dwell- ings, stores, or other places of business, until officially noti- fied, that the danger has entirely ceased. The Board are fully sensible of the privations experienced by their fellow citizens in being driven from their homes, and the comforts of their several establishments, and they will not delay one moment, when it can be done with propriety, to inform them of the termination of the disease, and the cessation of danger; but in the mean time, they beg leave again to en- treat them, as they value the blessings of health, to bear with patience and fortitude, the inconvenience of their pres- ent situation, until they are officially informed that they 104 may return in safety, and be enabled to pursue their several avocations without fear of the renewal of the calamity, which has been the cause of their removal. By order of the Board of Health, STEPHEN ALLEN, President. October 4, 1822. Two cases reported this day. One death occurred. The following Resolution presented by the Recorder, wax adopted by the Board. Resolved, That the Special Committee, appointed by the Board of Health, for the purpose of adopting such means as in their judgment may, by possibility, avert the further extensionof the prevailing epidemic in our city, be authorised to continue their endeavours, and for that purpose to expend a sum not exceeding four hundred dollars. October 5, 1822. Seven cases reported this day. Four deaths occurred. October 6, 1822. One case reported this day. Three deaths occurred. October 7, 1822; Eight cases reported this day. Seven deaths occurred. 105 October 8, 1822. Three cases reported this day. One death occurred. October 9, 1822. Seven cases reported this day. No deaths occurred. October 10, 1822. Six cases reported this day. Four deaths occurred. October 11,^1822. Two cases reported this day. One death occurred, _, October 12, 1822. One case reported this day. One death occurred. October 13, 1822. Two cases reported this day. No death occurred. October 14,1822, One case reported this day. Two deaths occurredi 0 106 A Communication from the Health Officer was read, re- commending that all vessels which had arrived at quarantine, and had been purified, according to the regulations prescrib- ed, for twenty days without any sickness on board, should be permitted to come up to the city. A resolution conform- able thereto, was submitted and passed. October 15, 1822. Four cases reported this day. Three deaths occurred. October 16, 1822. Two cases reported this day. Five deaths occurred. October 17, 1822 Ten cases reported this day. Four deaths occurred. October 18,1822. Six cases reported this day. Four deaths occurred. October 19, 1822. Nine cases reported this day. Three deaths occurred. 107 October 20, 1822. Four cases reported this day. Five deaths occurred. October 21, 1822. No cases reported this day. One death occurred. October 22, 1822. Three cases reported this day. Three deaths occurred. The following Resolution was proposed and adopted. Resolved, That in the opinion of this Board, the neces- sity for the operation of the provisions of the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and eighteenth sections of the Act to provide against infectious and pestilential diseases, have ceased, ex- cept so far as they relate to vessels coming from sickly ports, and the Mayor is accordingly advised to revoke his Procla- mation of the thirtieth ultimo, in conformity with this reso- lution. Whereupon, the President read the following Proclama- tion, which was adopted and ordered to be published. PROCLAMATION, By Stephen Allen, Mayor of the City of New-York. Whereas, by my proclamation, dated the thirtieth -:f Sep- tember last, the operation of the 3d, 4th, 5tn, 6th urd 18th sections of the Act to provide against Infectious and Jfr.sti- 108 lential Diseases, was extended to the first day of November ensuing. And whereas, the Board of Health have expressed then opinion, that the necessity for the operation of the aforesaid provisions have ceased, and accordingly advised me to re- voke the Proclamation extending and enforcing them, ex- cept so far as it respected vessels arriving for sickly ports: Now, therefore, I, Stephen Allen, Mayor of the city of New-York, pursuant to the advice of the Board of Health, and the authority vested by the said Act, do revoke and an- nul my Proclamation of the thirtieth of September, eighteen hundred and twenty-two; and I do hereby declare and make known, that the force and effect of the said proclamation will cease and discontinue from and after this date. Pro- vided, nevertheless, That every vessel arriving in the port of New-York, prior to the first day of November ensuing, from any place where malignant or any other pestilential fever existed at the time of her sailing thence, or if during the voyage, any person has died, or been sick on board such ves- sel, every such vessel shall proceed to, and be anchored at the place assigned for quarantine, and shall be subject to the examination of the Health Officer, and to such regula- tions as he shall deem expedient, notwithstanding the revo- cation of the aforesaid Proclamation. Given under my hand, at the City-Hall of the City of New-York, this twenty-second day of October, A. D. eighteen hundred and twentv-two. STEPHEN ALLEN. October 23, 1822. Two cases reported this day. Two deaths occurred. October 24,1822. Two cases reported this day. Two deaths occurred. 109 October 25, 1822. Two cases reported this day. No deaths occurred. The following Communication was received and read. Philadelphia, October 22, 1822. Gentlemex, The dreadful disease which still prevails in New-York, induces me to present to your notice, some successful expe- riments made by me a few years ago, in relation to its cure. I shall proceed to relate the fact, and to show the reasoning which led me to the discovery. During my residence in the Colonies of Guadaloupe, Martinique and others, where new comers from Europe and other temperate climates are constantly exposed to the at- tacks of Yellow Fever, I too often heard it avowed by Physicians of the first standing, that this fatal disorder tri- umphed over all the means which could be brought against it, solely on account of its rapid progress to putrefaction. Reflecting therefore Ihat this disease attacked only new comers, and comparing the constitution of these with that of the Creoles, I was led to liken the latter to indigenous plants. Their temperament or constitution is in a certain degree modified by nature, to fit them for the climate which they inhabit; and the constitution of Europeans and others is not less modified, but it is fitted for their native country, and when they come within the torrid zone, a change so sudden cannot but produce disastrous consequences. The excessive heat operates on the animal economy of these persons, as it does on all bodies solid and fluid. On fluids, its action is greater and more remarkable; in the human body their volume is so considerably augmented, that their respective vessels cannot contain them, whence results a general overflowing and derangement in the system, which give rise to the Yellow Fever: for all the fluids which enter 110 into our composition, the bile the soonest undergoes the process of fermentation, and in this state proceeds from its reservoir already possessed of corrosive properties.* By its accumulation and retention in the stomach and intestines, it becomes the cause of vomiting and black fetid dejections; it soon corrupts and deteriorates the chyle which being car- ried into the circulation, decomposes the blood and pro- duces the yellow, livid, black, or purplish hue, as well as the hemorrhages of corrupted blood from the nose, eyes, and sometimes from the ears. The most eminent Physicians in the Colonies with whom I have been acquainted, agree in dividing the Yellow Fever into three stages. The first stage is distinguished by a sense of oppression and by a general prostration before the patient is obliged to take to his bed. The second stage is gene- rally inflamatory, but so rapid in its progress, that blood letting can rarely be employed with advantage. The third and last stage is that of putrefaction. The disease usually terminates fatally in three days, but sometimes it is pro- longed to the seventh or ninth day, and when such is the case, there is hope of saving the patient. The curative means generally employed in the Colonies are, blood-letting, bathing, blisters, the bark in large doses, emetics and cathartics. Nothwithstanding these remedies appear calculated to answer the indications, they seldom prove successful, and their failure, it strikes me, arises from their being insufficient to arrest the progress of putrefaction. Reasoning from analogy, I asked myself if there was not in use to this day, a substance, which externally applied, was found capable in all cases of arresting the progress of corruption. The almost miraculous effects of charcoal pre- sented themselves to my view. You are well aware of the great efficacy of this remedy in many cases, when applied to foul ulcers, and of its power of arresting gangrene. You know that meat is preserved by it from putrefaction, and that even when tainted, or in a putrescent state, the application * See Note, page 113. Ill of the same, restores it, in a great measure, to its original sweetness. In fine, that water which is fetid and in a state of decomposition, becomes sweet and wholesome, by being passed through a charcoal filter. From these well known facts, I concluded that charcoal internally employed as an antiseptic, anti-putrid, or anti-gangrenous remedy, ought to prove specific in Yellow Fever, and putrid diseases in general. Strongly impressed with the truth of this opinion, I re- solved to make a trial of the remedy, as soon as an oppor- tunity should offer. The first person on whom I employed it, was a young man in Guadaloupe, of the name of Bonna- fond, who had been in the place about three weeks. I had seen him on his arrival; and the full health he then enjoyed, made me fearful that his would be the usual fate of the youth who sought the destructive climate to which he had just come. I was intimate with him, and told him that if he fell sick, I knew of a remedy which would cure him. We had formerly met with each other at Bordeaux, and he knew that I was then a student in the Hospital de St. Andre, and attended the course of lectures there, as well as in Paris. This circumstance gave him confidence in my abilities, though at the time I did not practice medicine, preferring the profession of a Dentist, as more lucrative; I being the only one in the colonies. As I had foreseen, Mr. Bonnafond fell sick. He called upon me, and informed me, that for two days past, he had experienced lassitude and uneasiness, and had spent a very bad night. In short, he had a high fever, with great pain in the head and loins; his tongue was of a vivid red, and he was troubled with retchings. These symptoms were une- quivocal. I had by me some lime water, which I had pre- pared for a similar emergency, and 1 gave him a glass of the same, in which I mixed half an ounce of powdered char- coal. He rejected a part of it by vomiting; and in a quar- ter of an hour, 1 repeated the dose. The retchings ceased, but were succeeded by severe colic pains; whence 1 con- ceived it necessary to clear the bowels, as soon as possible, 119 of the offending matters contained in them. Accordingly, I administered two ounces of castor oil, and as soon as it began to operate, I continued the use of the charcoal; an ounce of which I mixed in a pint of lime water, sweetened with lemon syrup, ordering him to drink half a glassful every time he had a stool. The evacuations were very abundant; yellow, green, viscid, and even black; but they had nothing of the fetid odour peculiar to the disease. Towards even- ing, the mordicant heat of the fever had subsided ; the pa- tient passed a pretty good night, enjoyed some sleep, and perspired a great deal. His thirst was no longer distressing, yet 1 thought it expedient to give him frequently the lime water, with charcoal, as before. The next day I adminis- tered an ounce and a half of castor oil; the stools were more copious than before, but equally free from any fetid smell. The third day I omitted the cathartic, but continued the use of the charcoal and lime water in the same dose. The fourth day, as the tongue was still furred, though neither dry nor dark, I gave again an ounce and a half of castor oil. The evacuations were copious and unattended with pain. The alarming symptoms disappeared, and on the fifth day, the patient was entirely out of danger. His convalescence was very speedy. After this successful trial, which fully satisfied my expec- tations, and proved the truth of my theory, I had only two more opportunities of employing the same treatment, and in both cases the result was equally happy. The English hav- ing taken possession of Guadaloupe, I was among the num- ber of those who were obliged to leave the place. If, gen- tlemen, I had made numerous and recent trials, I should offer you my observations with greater confidence. One of the motives which has caused me to delay presenting the preceding facts to your notice, was the desire of making new experiments, but I finally concluded, that as I was not a practitioner of medicine, to say I had a remedy for Yellow Fever, would sound too much like quackery. Excuse me, therefore, gentlemen, that I have not sooner made this com- munication, and believe, that in pointing out a new mode of 113 treatment for that dreadful disease, and which I believe to be the only one capable of effecting a cure, I am influenced by motives of humanity, and not by a vain self-love. I have the honour to be, gentlemen, Your most obd't. humble servant, ANTONY PLANTOU, Surgeon and Dentist, No. 110 South-fourth-st. Phil. To the Honourable the President and Members of the Board of Health of the city of New- York. NOTE. * I hate often assisted at the autopsic examination of individuals who died of the Yellow Fever, in the hospital? of Guadaloupe and Ma-tinique. In every instance, I have observed on the stomach and intestines, gangrenous and sphacelated spots, more or less extensive. These 1 could attribute to the corrosive property only which the bile had acquired. The above appearance, in my opinion, imperiously forbids the use of emetics, especially those derived from the mineral kingdom, because their action cannot but increase the erosion already existing. I also consider castor oil the best cathartic we can employ in this disease, from its power of involving and blunting the corrosive matters, and sheathing the stomach and) bowels from their acrimony. My mode of proceeding, resembles the treatment em- ployed in cases of poisoning, and 1 believe it to be the more reasonable, from the fact that the effects produced by mineral poisons, and by that which 1 think may be justly termed animal poison, are almost the same, with this difference, that the former excites vomiting only, while the Utter, being spread over the whole alimentary canal, con- sequently produces both inking and vomiting. In both ases, the post mortem ex- amination shows, that the stomach and intestines have undergone the action of a vio- lent corrosive priuriple. The excessive heat is, as I have already observed, the primary cause of Yellow Fever in this country, as well as in the West Indies I consider it the primary cause for this reason; it promotes the decomposition of animal and vegetable substance*, audi the exhalation of the deleterious miasmata thenco arising, while at the same time it renders the animal economy more susceptible of tbeit destructive influence. Does not e*perience prove, that in this country, and in Sp,,in, where the Yellow Fever has so often made dreadful ravages, it has always made its appearance during the hottest months, and disappeared as soon as the cold became somewhat severe ? If such were not the case, Havana, New Orleans and Charleston, would, like the West Indies, be the constant seat of this terrific disorder. It is known almost to every one, that the Creoles of the Windward or Leeward Islands, as they are called, are not nihject to 1r"> Yellow Fever. T'>e reason ia evident; it is that custom is a second nature; they are born in an air impregnated with miasmata, and breathe it from the fir.st moment of their existence, wlience their constitution is very different from tbnt of the natives of temperate climates. They are in general enervated, Phlegmatic, and of a lax fibre, wb He strangers who go to that coantry are quite the reverse, and this it is, which forms the line of demarkatioa b* P 114 tween them. After a residence of some yean, however, this line or demarkati*! ceases to exist, for in that time the latter acquire the privilege enjoyed by the Creoles, either by having the Yellow F.jver, which is called taking the sickr.. *s of the country, and usually happens shortly after their arrival, or by becoming gradually seasoned to the climate and undergoing less dangerous disorders. But instances of tltis kind are alas! few. It is calculated that generally iu the space of five years, ninety out of one hundred, perish of the Yellow Fever, of violent Dysentery, or of other diseases, and that ten years after, five of the teu only remain. These it is true, may like some of the Creole, live to a great age. The difference between the climate of the West Indies and that of temperate coun- tries, causes the difference in the susceptibility of taking the Yellow Fever iu one place or in the other. If an individual in the West Indies has the Yellow Fever once, and recovers, he has nothing to fear from it afterwards, provided he continues to reside there. On the contrary, in this Country and in Spain, instances are not unfrequent of individuals recovering of Yellow Fever one year, and dying of it the next, or some years afterwards. The cause is, that the cold succeeding the heat, restores to the fibre and the whole frame that tone, which once lost in the West Indies, is never reno- vated, unless by a removal to a temperate climate. In saying that this disease is divided into three stages, I have confined myself to tbe observations of the learned Physicians, with whom 1 was acquainted in Guada- loupe, and Of whom 1 need only mention, Dr. Amic, at Basseterre, Dr. Barbes, at Pomt au Petre, and Dr. Gaubert at St Pierre de la Martinique. One period of the Yellow Fever as I have before said, is considered by these gentlemen inflammatory, but so rapid in its progress, that blood-letting can rarely be employed with advantage. I Bhould be happy to found the whole of my belief on the knowledge of the above dis- tinguished physicians; yet, though unknown in medicine, and almost ignorant of the Science, it is not impossible that my own opinion may be correct, when I make bold to express it as my belief, since the interests of humanity are concerned, that there is no inflammatory stage in this disease; that the redness of the face and eyes, the accelerated pulse, and the vivid colour of the tongue, are but the symptoms of a commencing cor- rosion, which is shoitly to be followed by putrefaction and death, if means are not immediately applied to the seat of the disorder, capable of arresting the former, and preventing the latter. 1 consequently infer, that blood letting should be utterly pro- scribed in the treatment of Yellow Fever. Not to appear wanting in deference to the opinion of practitioners who hold a contrary doctrine, 1 would beg leave to inquire, whether in any putrid disease they wauld employ blood-letting. Have they ever em- ployed it iu slight or in violent cholera morbus ? no. On the contrary, they have endeavoured to allay tbe irritation of the stomach and bowels, by a plentiful use of diluents. They have employed the most powerful anadoyues in large doses, and have in short correctly fulfilled the indications. Now, there are no two diseases more similar than the highest kind of Cholera Morbus and Yellow Fever. They are similar from their cause, which is the excessive heat, and from their effect, which is a violent irritation of the stamach and intestines, arising from acid and fermented bile, which corrodes those parts. The treatment of Cholera Morbus is well adapted, but for severe cases, the means employed appears to me not sufficiently energetic. I leave to future experiei.ee to decide, whether the treatment I have recommended for Yellow Fever, would net be applicable to Cholera. For in this disease, it will not do to attempt to arrive at oui object by circuitous routes, or for the practitioner to be a looker on merely; Death is at hand, and must be vigorously resisted, or nature will sink beneath its stroke. Although 1 have been fortunate enough to cure the Yellow Fever in three instances, I attribute my success entirely to the use of charcoal and lime, which being most 115 powerful antipr.ti id and antigangrencus remedies, decomposed and neutralized the cot^ rosive principles of the bile, correcting at the same time the effects of deletrious mias- wata. T'.e Castor Oil assisted in the cure by involving and evacuating the same cor. rosive principles. The dose of this must be proportioned to the urgency of the case if two ounces at first should not prove sufficient, the quantity might be increased until abundant evacuations are procured. It was by no means without design, that I employ- ed lime water as a vehicle for the administration of the charcoal. I choose it because it isitselfantemetic, tonic, and antiseptic, and augments by its combination with char- coal, the oxygen which the latter contains in abundance. To cure the Yellow Fever is doubtless very desirable, but to prevent it were still more so, and if charcoal ha9 the power of arresting putrefaction when it has com- menced, iits reasonable to suppose it will prevent it. 1 would therefore advise its use as a prophylactic, in thedoseof a drachm taken daily in the morning fasting, in water, or a little sweetmeats. This precaution may the more easily be taken, as this power- ful remedy cost6 almost nothing, is every where to be had, does not injure digestion as I have myself experienced, and has no unpleasant taste. In a word, iu summing up the uses of this medicinal combination, I think it serviceable in all malignr.ut diseases where the vital principle it soimminently endangered, and where the question is promptly to neutralize the cause and prevent ks effects. Consequently, 1 believe it equally useful in caees of poisoning, from metallic substances, as well as from mushrooms, to which case it is particularly adapted. I consider blisters very advantageous in all cases where the vital energy requires rai.-ing, but they should be applied to the thighs and legs only. One means which is at hand in this country, and which they have not in the West Indies, is ice, which may be used with the same intention as blisters, to cool the drinks, and as a powerful tonic application to the abdominal region. The sole nourishment 1 employed was rice gruel- I greatly approve the use of lime to disinfect places which exhale deleterious effluvia; but I think pounded charcoal would have a much more powerful effect, and that they ought to be employed together, wheu they are requisite for aqueous or humid situa- tions. Charcoal has the valuable advantage of preserving its antiseptic virtues, even after it has produced its effects, whereas the power of lime is momentary. The former may, in this respect, be compared to musk, which will exhale its odorous principles for years, without sensibly losing either weight or smell. October 26, 1822. No cases reported this day. ?Vo deaths occurred. The following Address was presented to the Board by the President, and after being read, was adopted and ordered to be published. October 26th, 1322. The Board of Health to their Fellow Citizens. The favourable state of the weather, the advancing sea- son of the year, and the reduced number of cases reported 116 to the Board for several days past, together with the conso- latory infoimation derived from the proper sources, relative to the general health of the city, have induced the Board of Health to believe that the calamity with which we have been afflicted, has in a great measure ceased, and they have therefore concluded, under certain limitations, to invite their fellow citizens who ha\e removed, to return to their homes. The Board are, however, of opinion, that it would he highly improper immediately to re-occupy the houses and stores in that part of the city which has been the seat of in- fection, or of any of the houses in which sickness or death by Yellow Fever has occurred. In order, however, that measures may be adopted to ventilate, cleanse and purify the buildings, yards and premises, and that no obstruction may be in the way of those who shall be employed for that purpose, in that part of the city enclosed by the fences, the Board have determined that tliey shall be removed. But it is hoped that these measures will not be viewed as an invi- tation to the inhabitants of that district to return, until some further time shall have elapsed. How long it will be neces- sary further to desist, must altogether depend on the state of the weather; and the only indubitable proof as yet afforded us, that the cause of the disorder is completely eradicated, is, such a temperature of the weather as will produce black frost or ice, in all parts of the city ; and it is therefore hoped, that such of our citizens whose habitations or places of busi- siness were in either of the sections, emphatically styled the infected district, will avoid a too speedy return. The Board have every reason to believe, however, that no danger can exist in those parts of the city, not tainted by infection, even if there should have been some cases of sick- ness in the neighbourhood, but which have been traced to one or other of the infected districts. The Board beg leave to recommend to their fellow citi- zens, as indispensable, that all the houses be ventilated pre- vious to their being occupied, and as a general measure of precaution to be observed by all who return to the city, the following rules are submitted: 117 1 st. That previous to any of the houses and stores being occupied, the doors and windows be left open for one or two days. 2d. That all the apartments be cleansed, and the walls be white washed. 3d. That every kind of filth be removed from the cellars, yards and premises; and if any of the cellars contain stag- nated water, that it shall be immediately removed. 4th. That quick-lime be strewed in the cellars, yards and privies. 5th. That fires be lighted in each apartment, and where there is no fire-place, that stoves be used for the purpose. Clh. In those houses where sickness or death by Yellow Fever has occurred, the Board recommend, in addition to the foregoing measures, that acid fumigations be used. The materials for this purpose, with directions for using them, wili be furnished by the Board of health, on application to either of the Assistants. To those who are unable to bear the expenses, the neces- sary materials for cleansing and purifying, such as lime, and the articles used in fumigations, will be furnished gratis, by applying as above. • Professor Griscom has kindly offered to instruct any one, who may wish it, how to use, in the most effectual manner, the materials for fumigation. He may be seen at his house, corner of Grand and Elm-street. The Assistants to the Board of Health, and the persons attached to the office of City-Inspector, are instructed to see that the houses and premises within the infected districts, are ventilated, cleansed and purified; and it is hoped that the direction of the aforesaid persons will be promptly com- plied with on the part of the citizens. The Board have deemed it unnecessary hereafter to con- tinue their daily reports; but should any death occur by Yellow Fever, they will be announced in the weekly re- ports of the City-Inspector By order of the Board of Health, STEPHEN ALLEN, President. J. MORTON, Secretary* 118 The following statement will show the number of cases and deaths by Yellow Fever in each street, by which the citi- zens may form some judgment to what extent the infection has existed in their particular neighbourhood. The cases enumerated in each street, are only of those who were considered as having their permanent residence there, and those enumerated under the head of frequenting the in- fected district, are only such whose residence was in a heal- thy part of the city, but who contracted the disease by fre- quenting the infected parts. It is computed that there are but six cases which have not been traced to the west and south of Fulton-street, and but two cases that have.not been traced to that part of the city included within the bounds of Catharine, Bancker and Pike-streets, and the river. STREETS. GO CO CO STREET to to a a Rector, - 19 11 Pearl, 13 8 Washington, 27 18 Water, 19 14 Greenwich, ■ - 22 11 Front, 5 4 Lumber, - 11 7 Old-Slip, - 2 2 Broadway, - - 33 20 Dujph, 6 2 Carlisle, - 3 1 Ann, - 1 1 Beaver-Lane, - 4 4 Ferry, 1 1 Albany, - - 2 2 Chamber, - 1 0 Thames, - 6 4 Frequented sickly Cedar, - 8 7 district, but re- Wall, - - 7 4 side in the upper Broad, 14 7 part of the ci- New, 3 2 ty; 65 34 Nassau, - 10 5 __ .__ William, 11 4 Total, 355 202 Pine, 2 1 UPPER DISTRICT. Liberty, 16 9 Cheapside, 11 6 Courtlandt, 12 8 Lombardy, 13 8 Maiden-Lane, - 10 4 Bancker, - 7 5 Dey, 1 0 Catharine, 4 3 John, 2 1 Lewis, Grand, 2 2 Fulton, 4 2 Frequented sickly Garden, 1 0 district, but re- Beaver, 5 2 side in the heal- Stone, - - 3 1 thy part of the Mill, 1 0 city, 9 4 Moore, - 2 0 State, - 3 1 Total, 46 28 119 RECAPITULATION. Cases in Lower District, Cases in Upper District, Total, Deaths in Lower District, . Deaths in Upper District, Total, 230 The foregoing exhibit includes several cases which have not been reported to the Board of Health, but they are only such as warranted a belief in the information received, that they were cases of Yellow Fever. By order of the Board, STEPHEN ALLEN, President. J. MORTON, Secretary. The Board then adjourned, subject to the call of the Mayor. November 1, 1822. The President stated, that he had called this meeting of the Board, in consequence of alarming reports having been propagated, that a great number of cases of the late fever still existed in the city. That he had endeavoured to as- certain the facts, but was led to the conclusion, that there was no foundation for the reports put in circulation. Where- upon, the subject was referred to a committee, who report- ed the following, as the result of their investigation, which was directed to be published. Board of Health, Nov. 1, 1822. In consequence of several rumors of the existence of new cases of Yellow Fever, since the last adjournment of the Board, it was deemed expedient to take the most careful 355 46 401 120 measures to ascertain the truth of these reports. The re- sult is, that no person has sickened with Yellow Fever, within the knowledge of the Board, since its last adjournment. Several deaths have occurred of those who were sick pre- vious to the meeting of the Board, on the twenty-sixth ult., which will be announced in the weekly report of the City Inspector. The Board express their opinion, that if the precautions be taken as recommended by them in their late address, no danger exists of a renewal of the disease with which we have been afflicted. By order of the Board, STEPHEN ALLEN, President. J. MORTON, Secretary. The following Letter ivas received and read. Willliam-street, Oct. 31, 1822. Sir, The two cases of Fever which recently occurred in Ann- street, and referred to by the Evening Post, require explana- tion. As I saw Mr, Reed, one of the cases referred to, several times during his illness, and have also seen the per- son who worked with him, I am enabled to transmit the following statement of facts. Mr. Reed came from the country the seventeenth of October, and on the eighteenth went to work at the shop of Dutch and Burrows, in Ann- street, with M'Cord. The weather was then warm, and the shop had been previously closed. They were both taken sick on the twenty-third, and Reed died the twenty-ninth. He repeatedly assured me, that he had not been lower down than Ann-street. His residence was at the corner of Grand and Forsyth-streets. They probably took the infection on the eighteenth, when first exposed, immediately after their return from the country, and eight days before the adjourn- ment of the Board of Health. I am very respectfully, Your obedient servant, JOHN STEARNS. Hon. the President of the Board of Health* 121 The following Report from the Assistant, Doctor Hicks, was presented. November 1, 1822. To the Honourable President of the Board of Health. B. Hicks, Assistant to the Board, begs leave to report, that he has made a very diligent search in both the infected districts, and is happy to find that no new case of Yellow Fever has taken place in those districts, since the Honour- able Board adjourned, except three doubtful cases; two in Water-street, and one in Fulton-street. The following persons have died of Yellow Fever since the adjournment: all sickened during last week and before. 1. Josiah Murray, twenty-six Front-street. 2. Samuel Devoe, nineteen Water-street. 3. Marston Lawrence, came into the shop of Doctor See, number three hundred and twenty-five Greenwich-streetj and died a few moments after. 4. John Reed, corner of Grand and Forsyth-street. 5. Henry Goodridge, sixty-eight Vesey-street. 6. Henrietta Jones, seven Cheapside-street. 7. Catharine Kelly, twenty-five 01d*slip. 8. Henry G. Wendall, corner Lombardy and Pike-streejr> 9. Belarmine Lelend, sixty-five Water-street. 10. John Dibbert, thirty-eight Pike-street. 11. Thomas Bower, seven Ferry-street. 12. Mary Carrol, Pike-street. November 11, 1822. The President informed the Board, that it had been the constant practice of their predecessors, on the termination of a prevailing fever in this city, to address their fellow citi- zens, by giving a brief account of the occurrences at the oommencement, and during the continuance of the disease^ a 122 and the means adopted to alleviate the suffering of the* afflicted ; and that he had accordingly prepared an addres3 for that purpose, and had called this meeting of the Board of Health, in order that it might be submitted to them. Tike following Address was then read, approved? and ordered to be published. Board or Health, Nov. 1 f, 1822. The Board of Health have deemed it proper, on the ter- mination of the malady with which we have been afflicted1, and in accordance with the precedent established by their predecessors, to address their fellow citizens, and to bring before them a brief statement of the events connected with the disease, and the means they have resorted to for the purpose of preventing the extension of its fatal effects, as well as to mitigate the sufferings of those who were exposed to its ravages. During the winter and spring of the present year, ener- getic measures were adopted for the purpose of removing every species of filth from parts of the city where any knowledge could be obtained of its existence, and when the authority vested in the Board, authorised compulsive measures. The Assistants to the Board of Health were accordingly instructed to employ every moment of their time in examining the lots and premises wherever nuisances were likely to exist, and to report all privies, sunken lots and cellars containing stagnant water, and every other nuisance of whatever description, to the City Inspector, in order that ordinances might be passed for their correction. These in- structions, it is believed, were faithfully complied with, and the ordinances passed by the Common Council, on the re- port of the Assistants, amounting to eight hundred and fifty six, were strictly enforced. Early in June, the Mayor, together with a Committee of the Board of Health, visited Bancker and other streets, with a view of having corrected, before the commencement of hot weather, such nuisances as might have been over- 123 looked by the Assistants. A report was accordingly made to the Board of Health, and the necessary measures adopt- ed for purifying, as far as practicable, those receptacles of filth and wretchedness. About this period, the Board received information that the Yellow Fever existed in several ports in the West Indies and other places, with which this city had frequent inter- course, particularly the Havanna, St. Jago de Cuba, and Matanzas ; and they were subsequently informed that Port au Prince, New-Orleans, and Pensacola, were sickly ports. The vigilance, industry and perseverance of the Health Officer, Dr. Bayley, in the discharge of his duty, left no doubt on the minds of the Board, that every measure, which prudence and a sound discretion could-dictate, would be put in operation to prevent the contagion from reaching our city through the means of infected vessels ; and the Board were determined, so far as they were legally autliorised, that no efforts should be wanting on their part to carry into effect the means provided by law, both internal and external, for guarding against the introduction and spread of infectious and pestilential disease among our citizens. On the seventh of July, the U. S. Brig Enterprize ar- rived at quarantine, from a cruise, via. Charleston, where she had stopped for about one week. This vessel had been at the Havanna in March last, and had not touched at any port except Charleston, until her arrival here. Lieutenant Cox had died of Yellow Fever during her passage from Charleston, and ten of her crew were sick on her arrival. The number of her sick continuing daily to increase after her arrival, it was deemed proper to land her crew, in order that they might be removed from the infect- •ed air of the ship, and a better opportunity afforded to cleanse and ventilate her. The landing was affected on the ■eleventh of July, and all the usual means were immedi- ately put in operation to expel the foul air from the hold of the vessel; but it was found that the men onshore conduct- ed with so much disorder, that it became indispensable again .to return them on board. The ship having under- 124 gone considerable purification, it was hoped that the infec- tion was so far destroyed as to insure the future health of the crew, but on the twenty-third of July there were three, and on the twenty-sixth, two cases of Yellow Fever which occurred on board of her, a strong proof of the difficulty which exists in disinfecting a sickly vessel. The Health Officer remarks " that seven of the crew of the U. S. Ship Enterprize have sickened with Yellow Fever since Tuesday last, about a week after they returned on board of the vessel, which was well whitewashed, and unslacked lime put in her limbers after they were cleaned out, and the ballast washed and whitewashed ; and during the whole process, several wind sails were constantly kept in her hatchways." The men were again brought on shore, and a guard to keep them in order and prevent their escape to the city was ob- tained from the Navy Yard. The number of sick was about thirty, of whom fourteen died; the last death was on the second day of August. On the seventeenth of July, indications of the disorder which was so much dreaded, made its appearance at the foot of Rector-street, near the North River. On that, and several succeeding days, information was received of per- sons being sick in that vicinity. They were uniformly vi- sited by the Resident Physician, who reported them as sick of Bilious Fever. In this stage of the disease, the Board di- rected a strict examination of the streets and yards in that neighbourhood, in order that they might ascertain whether any local cause existed for the sickness then prevalent, but nothing was discovered except a cistpool, in a state of nui- sance, which received the wash water from two or three lots of ground too low to carry it to the street. They were immediately filled up, and the nuisance was abated, but not the disorder. The first cases reported to the Board of Health as Yellow Fever, were reported by Dr. Neilson, on the thirty-first day of July, on which day the President laid before the Board a detailed account of all the cases of sickness which had oc- curred in Rector-street and its vicinity, from the tenth day 125 of July to the thirty-first, inclusive, together with the opinion of the Resident Physician as to the nature of the disease. On the fifth of August, the Resident Physician reported a person as a case of the Yellow Fever, who had sickened on the first, and died on the fifth, the same day on which he was reported. This being considered by the Board as the first official information that the Yellow Fever existed in the city, they immediately issued an address to their fellow- citizens, recommending their removal, and at the same lime requested that they would make free use of lime, by strew- ing it in their yards, privies and gutters; and on the seventh, public notice was given, that all the avenues leading to the infected district, would be forthwith fenced up. On the tenth day of August, the Board advised the Mayor to re- move all persons found within the fences, and a Committee was appointed, with authority to provide for the poor who might be ordered out, and to permit them to occupy the buildings at the Narrows, or at Kip's Bay, during the pre- valence of the disease. It was reasonably supposed that these measures would have the desired effect, of stopping the progress of the disor- der, and that its ravages would have ceased for the want of subjects; but the imprudence of some, the incredulity of others, and the interest of many, prompted them to visit the proscribed district, and, consequently, the disorder was ta- ken by several, and thus kept alive till its bounds could scarcely be traced, and a general removal of the inhabitants from the lower parts of the city was effected. At this period, the night watch in that part of the city de- serted by the inhabitants, was increased; a day watch was appointed for the district enclosed by the fences, and two vessels, with four barges, were engaged and stationed in the Eiast and North Rivers, with a sufficient number of men to guard the city between Fulton-street and the Battery, on the north, and Fulton-street and Whitehall-slip, on the east. On the eleventh of September, the Board appointed a Committee, with authority to adopt such means, as might, by possibility, arrest the further extension of the prevailing 126 epidemic. The means adopted by the Committee were such as are usually applied for the correction of nuisances, and recommended by medical men for that purpose. Whe- ther the effects were as salutary as those that might have been experienced from the use of other measures, strongly recommended by gentlemen of high attainments in chemical knowledge, the Board are unable to decide, but they have no hesitation in declaring it as their opinion, that the mo- tives of their Committee in adopting the means they had se- lected, were of the most pure and disinterested kind, and that the good effects of their labour were demonstrated in nume- rous instances. The Committee to whom was referred the general super- intendance of the concerns of the Board during their recess, was constantly in session at the old Alms House; by them the destitute were relieved, the poor removed from the seats of infection, the sick conveyed from the contagious atmo- sphere of their abodes, advice and instructions were given to the persons employed by the Board, and every duty required of the Committee was performed with fidelity to the public interest, and the perfect satisfaction of the Board of Health. On the sixteenth of September a new infection was disco- vered, in a part of the city hitherto deemed healthy; on that day the Resident Physician reported to the Board a case of Yellow Fever, at four Lombardy, near Catharine-street; and on the twentieth there were three cases reported in Cheapside-street, nearly in the rear of that which had oc- curred in Lombardy-street. The same measures adopted at the commencement of the disease in Rector-street, were resorted to in this instance, and the immediate removal of the inhabitants from the seat of infection was determined on. An order was accordingly issued for removal, prepa- ratory to such other measures as might be deemed necessa- ry to prevent the further spread of the disorder in that part of the city. These repeated removals caused considerable expense to the public; for although none were permitted to proceed to the places of refuge.provided by the Board, except such as 127 were poor and unable to provide for themselves, it was ne-» vertheless found that the number of applicants was much greater than could be accommodated, and we were conse- quently compelled to advance to several families small sums in cash, as their necessity required it; and others were per- mitted to abide at the Alms House until they should be ena- bled to return to their places of residence, and resume their usual occupations. The number of persons accommodated at the buildings at Fort Richmond, amounted to two hundred and nine, con- sisting of forty-four families, counting from two to ten per- sons each, and twenty-three single persons. There were twenty-six men, sixty-nine women, and one hundred and forty-four children. A portion of these children are left or- phans by the loss of their parents, who died of the fever, and have accordingly been taken to the Alms House until a sui- table provision can be made for them by their friends. In addition to these, there were twenty-eight persons accom- modated at a house rented by the Board at Kip's Bay, who, together with those sent to Staten Island, were regularly supplied with provisions necessary for their subsistence, at the public expense; and in some instances, even their cloth- ing and bedding were provided for them. There were also several sick families in the city, who were destitute, and to whom the necessary relief was afforded, both in food and raiment, together with the aid of medical advice and attend- ance during their sickness; and to those who were remov- ed to the Marine Hospital, consisting of seventy individuals, every exertion was used by the attending physician and nurses, to promote their comfort, aud to insure their reco- very. The reports of cases made to the Board of Health, were considerably less in number, than what actually took place. This may be accounted for, by the fact, that several persons who contracted the disease in the city, did not sicken until after their removal to the country; and there were some who both sickened and died without medical attendance. 128 The number of deaths reported,were still more deficient than the cases, and cannot be accounted for, only on the suppo- sition, that the request of the Board that they should be re- ported, was unknown to the physicians. It appears therefore by the daily reports, as published by the Board, that in July there were sixteen cases, in August seventy-nine cases, in September one hundred and eighty- two cases, and in October eighty-seven cases, making a total of three hundred and sixty-four, and the whole num- ber of deaths reported to the Board, were only one hundred and nineteen. The cases and deaths, however, that actually occurred, were as follows: in July, sixteen cases and five deaths; in August, ninety cases and fifty-eight deaths ; in September, two hundred and five cases and one hundred and ten deaths, and in October, up to the twenty-sixth of that month, ninety cases and fifty-seven deaths, making a total of four hundred and one cases and two hundred and thirty deaths; to which may be added, ten deaths that occurred between the twen- ty-sixth and thirty-first of October, and were not reported to the Board as cases, making the whole number of cases four hundred and eleven, and of deaths two hundred and forty. The mortality this year, has been much less, in pro- portion to the sick, than it was in eighteen hundred and nineteen, when the cases were sixty-three and the deaths forty-three; a difference in favour of this year, of more than ten per cent. The great dissimilarity in the number of cases which occurred in the two years may be accounted for by the fact, that the disorder made its appearance this year, nearly two months earlier than it did in eighteen hundred and nineteen. The Board are bound to acknowledge the countenance and assistance they have received in the discharge of their duty. They are under great obligations to the Governor, for the prompt manner in which he granted them the free and sole use of the buildings belonging to the state at Fort Richmond, Staten-Island. They are indebted to the Com- missioners of the Aims-House, for the assistance they have 129 afforded them, and particularly to Mr. John Hunter, the As- sistant to the Commissioners, for the prompt and unceasing attention he has given to the calls of the necessitous, the collecting of the necessary supply for the persons quartered at Fort Richmond, the interment of the deceased poor, and the various acts growing out of the peculiar situation in which we were placed. They are also much indebted to Doctor Charles Drake, the Visiting Physician of the Alms- House, for his voluntary services, and humane attention to to the sick poor sent to the building at Kip's Bay, several of whom had contracted the disorder before their removal, and owe the preservation of their lives to his skill and unre- mitted care. The Common Council have uniformly afforded the Board the most efficient co-operation, both in supplying the necessary sums required to defray the incidental ex- penses of the Board, and in delegating such powers as ena- bled them to cany into effect the measures deemed necessary and indispensable. The Resident Physician constantly met with the Board, and executed the important duties of his office with diligence and firmness. The Assistants of the Board, who were of necessity exposed daily to the infection of the most sickly parts of the city, have merited both the thanks of the Board, and the. approbation of their fellow citizens, for the zeal and perseverance in which they per- formed the duties incumbent on them. The Board acknow- ledge with gratitude the support they have received from their fellow citizens generally. The confidence they have placed in the Board, and the cheerfulness with which they have complied with their recommendations, has tended to lessen the calamity, and to give effect to the means which were employed for its extermination.. But above all, the Board in an especial manner are bound to acknowledge the merciful interposition of that Almighty Being, ichose mercy is over all his works, for the signal demonstration they have received of His favour, in preserving them from the pestilence that was spread over our land, and in returning to their homes so large a portion of their fellow citizens who had fled for R 130 safety; and finally, for averting the evil we have experi- enced, and restoring to our city its usual degree of health. By order of the Board, STEPHEN ALLEN, President. J. MORTON, Secretary. The following Letter from Doctor Drake, detailing the situa- tion of the sick placed under his care, at Kiph Bay, was received and read. New-York, Nov. 5th, 1822. Stephen Allen, Esquire, Mayor of the City of New-York. Sir, The building provided at Kip's Bay, for the reception of such of the inhabitants from the infected district, as could not provide themselves with a refuge, has been occupied by the following persons, viz. Hugh Manfred, from Rector-street, sick of Yellow Fever. He entered August sixth, recovered, and left the house August twenty-eighth. Jos. Devoe, from the neighbourhood of Rector-street, where he had been employed for two weeks previously in loading and unloading vessels. He entered August seventh, sick of Yellow Fever, recovered, and left the house in the latter part of the same month. Mary Cunningham, lately from Ireland, was brought to the house August tenth, from the lower part of the city, (what street couldjnot be ascertained) sick of Typhus Fever. She became convalescent on the twenty-third of August, and shortly after was removed to the Aims-House. Ann John, a black woman, from the lower part of the city. She entered August thirteenth, sick of Bilious Re- mittent Fever. She became convalescent on the twentieth of the same month, and was sent to the Aims-House shortly after. 131 Patrick Starr, brought from the city, August tenth, affect- ed with Marasmus, and died the next day. Mary Ann Roberts, from Lumber-street, entered August nineteenth. She had been ill of Yellow Fever, several days previous to her admission, and appeared at the time to be convalescing. David Roberts, brother of the above, from Lumber-street, entered August nineteenth, sick of Yellow Fever. His disease proved mild, and he shortly after recovered. These two, with the rest of their family, remained in the house during the remainder of the unhealthy season. William F. Coit, from Cedar-street, between Greenwich and Washington-streets, sickened with Yellow Fever on die twenty-third of August, and was brought to the house on the twenty-fourth. He recovered and remained in the house with the rest of his family, .during the remainder of the season. Emeline Coit, sister of the above, from the same place, entered August twenty-third, and sickened with Yellow Fever on the twenty-fifth. Recovered, Mrs. Coit, mother of the two preceding persons, from the same place, entered August twenty-third, sickened with Yellow Fever on the twenty-sixth, and died September the second- Frances Coit, eldest daughter of Mrs. Coit. She had lived for the last three or four days in Courtlandt-street; en- tered August twenty-seventh, and sickened with Yellow Fever on the same day. Recovered. Ellen Kearney, from Courtlandt-street, entered Septem- ber seventh, sick of Yellow Fever. She had been ill seve- ral days, and was perhaps at the time of her admission, re- covering. She remained in the house until nearly the end of the unhealthy season. Mary Kearney, sister of the above, from the same place, entered September seventh, sickened with Yellow Fever on die eighth, and died on the twelfth of the same month. Besides the above sick, the house has been occupied, dur- ing the nuhealtJiy season, by tlie family of Mrs. Roberts, 132 consisting of four persons; the family of Mrs. Thompson, of eight persons, and three children of the Coit family: all of whom have continued in good health, with the exception of two children of Mrs. Roberts, and two of the young Coits, who suffered from Intermitting Fever, which is, doubt- less, to be attributed to the low wet grounds in the neigh- bourhood of the house. Such of these people as required public assistance, were supplied from the Aims-House. I was assisted in my medical duties by Doctor Belden, the Resident Physician of the Aims-House, whose perse- verance and almost constant attendance at the bedside of the sick, as long as their cases were deemed hazardous, seeing that nothing was neglected or left unobtained, that could contribute to their safety and comfort, merit the highest commendations. Respectfully, CHARLES DRAKE. The following Account of the Persons sent to the Marine Hospital, was furnished by Doctor Bayley, the Health Officer. William White, received August thirteenth, from Fort Richmond, Narrows, died August fifteenth. Sarah White, August thirteenth, Fort Richmond, Nar- rows, discharged September sixth. John Kline, August fourteenth, twenty-seven Mulberry- street, died August fifteenth. Polly Wood, August fourteenth, one hundred and thirty Greenwich-street, discharged September sixth. Ann M'Koy, August twenty-third, two hundred and fifty- two William-street, discharged September fourteenth. Pamela Bostwick, August twenty-fourth, Fort Richmond, Narrows, discharged September fourteenth. Henry Vandewater, August twenty-fourth, Fort Rich- mond, Narrows, discharged September eleventh, Margaret Vandewater, August twenty-fourth, Fort Rich- mond, Narrows, discharged September eleventh. 133 Mary Atkinson, August twenty-fifth, forty-nine Green- wich-street, died August twenty-seventh. Edward Boulangei-, August twenty-sixth, eighty-four Broadway, died August twenty-eighth. Richard Todd, August twenty-seventh, six Beaver-lane, died August thirtieth. Anthony Zargable, August twenty-seventh, seventy-eight Cedar-street, died August twenty-ninth. Samuel Ditchett, August twenty-eighth, eighty-two Broad- way, died September first. John Clark, August twenty-ninth, Fort Richmond, Nar- rows, discharged September seventh. Catharine Cato, September first, corner of Liberty and West-streets, received dead. John Cross, September first, corner of Liberty and West- streets, discharged cured September eleventh. Charlotte White, September second, died September sixth. William Powell, September third, twenty-five Thomas- street, discharged September eighth. John Rollinson, September fourth, twenty-three Wash- ington-street, died September seventh. Henry A. Stebbins, September sixth, ninety-four Broad- street, discharged October seventh. Laurence Mathewson, September sixth, New-street, died September sixth. William Suter, September sixth, one hundred and four Vesey-street, died September twenty-fifth. Flora Robinson, September sixth, seventeen Thames- street, discharged September twelfth. Abel Cotting, September seventh, corner of Pine and Nassau-streets, died September tenth. George Van Dyke, September eighth, Duane-street, died September tenth. William Shoe, September ninth, Fort Richmond, Nar- rows, discharged September fourteenth. Nancy Steward, September ninth, Fort Richmond, Nar- rows, died September fourteenth. 134 Catharine Hunn, September ninth, four Bowling-Green, died September thirteenth. Isaac Stoutenburgh, September twelfth, corner of Wash- ington and Courtlandt-streets, died September fourteenth. Martin Phelan, September twelfth, City-Hotel, died Sep- tember seventeenth. Jane O'Donnell, September thirteenth, Fort Richmond, Narrows, died September eighteenth. Charles Merritt, September thirteenth, sixty-nine Court- landt-street, discharged September twenty-fourth. Betsey Freelove, September thirteenth, eight Harrison- street, discharged October fifth. Thomas Davis, September fourteenth, one hundred and ninety-nine Fulton-street, died September eighteenth. Samson Shearman, September fourteenth, Spring-street, died September twentieth. Nancy M'Gowan, September fifteenth, two Orange- street, discharged September eighteenth. Sarah Anderson, September fifteenth, sixty-nine William- street, discharged September twenty-first. Dinah Taylor, September sixteenth, eighty nine Nassau- street, discharged September eighteenth. Edward Murphy, September seventeenth, three Mill- street, discharged October fourteenth. Sarah Green, September seventeenth, corner of Moore and Pearl-streets, discharged September twenty-second. Victor Bicker, September nineteenth, sixty-eight Bea- ver-street, died September twenty-third. Patrice Lanjois, September nineteenth, forty-three Court- landt-street, died September twenty-second. Mrs. Bennett, September nineteenth, forty-three Court- landt-street, died September twentieth. John Cowan, September twentieth, Murray-street, died September twenty-second. Ann Dickson, September twenty-third, Fort Richmond, Narrows, died September twenty-fourth. Robert Williams, September twenty-fourth, three Mar- ket-street, discharged October seventh. 135 Frederick Wys, September twenty-fourth, eleven Dutch- street, died September twenty-eighth. Andrew Dickson, September twenty-fourth, Fort Rich- mond, Narrows, died September twenty-sixth. Mrs. Elizabeth Bailey, September twenty-fifth, twenty- eight Orchard-street, died September twenty-ninth. Miss Eliza Bailey, September twenty-fifth, twenty-eight Orchard-street, died September thirtieth. Andrew Guelling, September twenty-fifth" seventy-nine Coffee-House-slip, discharged October seventh. Margaret Scott, September twenty-sixth, sixty Broad- street, discharged October seventeenth. Peggy Watts, September twenty-sixth, twenty-three Broad-street, discharged October eighteenth. William Woad, September twenty-eighth, forty-three Bancker-street, discharged October fourteenth. Daniel M'lllvaine, September twenty-ninth, forty-eight Front-street, discharged October fourteenth. Phebe Smith, September thirtieth, Fort Richmond, Nar- rows, died October sixth. Nicholas N. Gavelot, September thirtieth, Thomas-street, discharged October ninth. Margaret Richs, September thirtieth, sixty-six Pine-street, discharged October twenty-fourth. Mary M'Laughlin, September thirtieth, ten Dutch-street, discharged October tenth. John Dempsey, September thirtieth, eighty-eight Front- street, died October eleventh. John Garland, October sixth, forty-nine Water-street, died October seventh. Bryan Farley, October seventh, twenty-eight Lombar- dy-street, discharged October twenty-fourth. Michael Morris, October ninth, one hundred and twenty- five Anthony-street, died October tenth. Abraham Richardson, October ninth, thirty Thomas- street, discharged October twenty-sixth. Elizabeth Ball, October seventeenth, sixty-seven Water- street, discharged November fourth. 136 John Disney, October seventeenth, Water-street, dis- charged November twenty-second. William Nettle, October seventeenth, fifty Pearl-street, discharged November eleventh. Catharine Welsh, October eighteenth, Bridewell, died November nineteenth. Christopher Burns, October twentieth, forty-seven Pearl- street, died November twenty-third. Sophia Tayfor, October twenty-second, corner of Green- wich and Canal-streets, died November twenty-fifth. The following Letter from a Committee, representing the per- sons sent to Fort Richmond by the Health Committee, was received and read. Fort Richmond, Staten-Island, Nov. 1st, 1822. To the Hon. the Board of Health of the city of New- York. Gentlemen, Feeling, as we do, sincerely grateful for the asylum you kindly granted to us during the late lamentable sickness in New-York, we should deem ourselves unworthy, not only of the comforts we have enjoyed in this delightful retreat, but of the countenance of our fellow-citizens also, did we not, before our return tp town, beg your acceptance of our unfeigned thanks, for our timely removal from the various infected districts. Every article provided for our use, was really good, and the quantity sufficient. Here, health has been restored to those of delicate constitution, and with but few exceptions, additional strength to all. May Providence ever direct your councils, and facilitate your designs. We also beg leave, gentlemen, to communicate to you our perfect satisfaction in the treatment we received from Mr. Dustan and his son, Mr. James C. Dustan, whose gen- tlemanly deportment, and steady impartiality, gave univer- sal satisfaction. 137 In behalf of the persons removed from the various infect- ed districts in New-York. JOHN DUFFY, T WM. BUCKMASTER, i Committee. GEORGE P. PENROSE,! The following Report was presented and agreed to* The Committee to whom was referred the audit of the accounts of sundry persons against the Board of Health, and also to take into consideration the propriety of making some suitable acknowledgment to persons in the employ of the Board, for their perseverance and attention to the duties assigned them, and for the hazard by them incurred in the execution of their trusts, during the prevalence of the late malady with which our city has been afflicted, REPORT, That in conformity to their duty, they have carefully ex- amined and corrected the several accounts referred to them, and directed warrants to be prepared accordingly. Your Committee beg leave further to Report, that from the particular situation in which they were placed by the Board, they had an opportunity of daily witnessing, for near- ly three months, the arduous duties performed by Capt. Mills and Doct. Hicks, Assistants to the Board; and also of Mr. John Hunter, keeper of the old Alms House, who under the direction of the Commissioners and your Committee, pur- chased and forwarded to Fort Richmond all the supplies for the poor at that place, and also attended to sending the sick to the quarantine; and of Mr. Elting, his Assistant, who was constantly engaged at the office. Your Committee would also recommend to the consideration of the Board, Doct. Drake, and the two young gentlemen at the Alms House, Docts. Belden and Westervelt, who had charge of the house used as a Haspital, at Kip's Bay, in which were seventeen sick patients. ■S 138 After the most mature deliberation, your Committee are of opinion, and accordingly recommend, that the Board pre- sent to the following persons the sums affixed to each of their names, in testimony of their approbation of the faith- ful manner in which they have severally discharged the du- ties of their respective stations. Capt. Mills, one hundred dollars. Doct. Hicks, one hundred dollars, and a further sum of fifty dollars, for his professional services, in attending on se- venty-three sick patients. John Hunter, one hundred and fifty dollars. William Elting, fifty dollars. Dr. Drake, one hundred dollars; and to Docts. Belden and Westervelt, fifty dollars each. All which is respectfully submitted. HENRY I. WYCKOFF, JACOB B. TAYLOR, ELAM WILLIAMS. December 17, 1822. The President informed the Board that he had received two interesting communications, on the subject of the late fever, one from Dr. Bayley, the Health Officer, and the other from Dr. D. D. Walters, which he deemed proper should be laid before the Board of Health, and for that pur- pose he had called this meeting. They were accordingly read, as follows: To the Honourable Stephen Allen, President of the Board of Health. My time has been so fully employed with quarantine du- ties, and recently with the removal of my family to the city, that I have not had leisure until now, to examine the neces- sary documents which would enable me to state some facts, 139 and offer some observations, on the important subject con- tained in your letters; and I am persuaded that you will ac- cept of these excuses for my seeming neglect. In your high and responsible station of Chief Magistrate of this city, and President of the Board of Health, the cause or source of the deplorable calamity with which we have been afflicted, has deservedly claimed your unwearied at- tention and close investigation. The first vessel mentioned in your letters, as one of the probable sources of the late pestilence, is the ship Sham- rock. She arrived at the quarantine ground the eleventh of June, from Havanna via. Matanzas, and after the cargo had been discharged, and the vessel purified, she was haul- ed to the wharf at or near Rector-street, the twenty-fourth of that month. It is my opinion that this vessel was not the cause of the disease, for the following reasons. First. The crew was composed of eleven eastern seamen, who are more liable to the diseases of warm climates, than southern sailors; yet they enjoyed uninterrupted health from the time they sailed from Wiscasset, last February, until their arrival in this port; and I have not heard that any of them were sick while they remained here. Secondly. When this vessel was at Havanna in April and the first of May, that place was de- clared to be unusually healthy, which report was confirmed, by the fact, that of one hundred and ninety-two personsj the crews and passengers of thirteen vessels from Havanna, who arrived here in the month of May, only one person was sick during the voyage, and his disease was diarrhoea. Thirdly. The Shamrock sailed in ballast from Havanna, May ninth, to Matanzas, which place was also reported to be healthy : there she was loaded, and proceeded, June first, from thence to this port. An evidence of the healthiness of Matanzas, while the Shamrock was there, appears, from the circumstance of one person only being sick, out of one hun- dred and twenty-three, who came here in ten vessels from that port, in the months of May and June, and he died of con- sumption. J was also informed by one of our most respecta- 140 ble merchants, who had resided several months at that place, and who sailed from there and arrived here a few days after the Shamrock, that Mantanzas had been perfectly healthy for many months, and was so when he left there. These facts ought to convince us that this ship was not infected. The Schooner Florida is considered by many persons to have been the source whence the deadly malady arose; not that she was a sickly vessel on her late voyage, but because she is supposed to have introduced the Yellow Fever into St. Augustine the year before, after her return from Havan- na, at which place, or on her passage from there to St. Au- gustine, several of the crew were sick with that disease. Capt. Johnson, her present commander and owner, inform- ed me on his arrival here, a year ago, from St. Augustine, that the first persons taken sick with Yellow Fever at that place, were those who washed the clothing which he used during his illness, and who lived in the house where the clothing was sent. Now, admitting the foregoing circum- stances to be true, still we must allow that the frosts which occurred here from the eighth to the twenty-sixth of Novem- ber, while she was in this port, would eradicate the remains of any infection which might lurk in this small and shallow vessel. She is less then six feet deep in her hold, and only thirty-three tons burthen. The Schooner Florida sailed from New-York November twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and twenty-one, and arriv- ed here June twenty-first, eighteen hundred and twenty- two. While she was away, she was employed exclusively in aiding vessels wrecked on Florida Reef, from which place she made several trips to St. Augustinecand St. Ma- rys : she was also once or twice off the harbour of Havanna for a day or two, in February last, Capt. Johnson's only business there was to receive payment for transporting troops or emigrants from Florida to Havanna the preceding year, which did not require him to go with his vessel into port; he therefore left her out side of the harbour to avoid port charges. From the time that she sailed from New- York, until her return, a period of seven months, not a per- 141 son was taken sick during her absence, although the crew were changed more than once. This certainly is a strong proof that no infection remained in her, or it probably would have shown its effects, by causing sickness among her crews, as they had been on board several months while she was in a warm climate. Her cargo, which merely put her in ballast, consisted of a little old copper and iron, a small quantity of snuff, fruit and junk. Her hatches were off all the pas- sage, and her bottom was so worm eaten, that she required constant pumping. After the Florida was purified, she was hauled to the wharf near Rector-street, June twenty-fifth. The Schooner Nile has also been mentioned as a suspi- cious vessel; but as she did not arrive at the wharf near Rector-street, until ten days after the fever commenced, it is unnecessary to examine any further into her situation, than to remark, that she was so perfectly clean, that the most scrupulous could not find fault with her. None of the crew were sick during the voyage, and the port she came from was healthy while she remained there. These are the only vessels supposed to have been infect- ed, which were at the wharves near Rector-street, that I have heard of; if there are any others which have been at that place, whose condition you are desirous of having examined into, I will with pleasure give you all the infor- mation in my power. The local nuisances at or near Rector-street, to which pestilence has been attributed, are very limited in extent, when compared with very many parts of our city which have been totally exempt from the fatal fever of the present season. Its north-western exposure renders it some degrees cool- er than it is on the south-eastern side of the town. The made ground there is composed of the best materials; and that which was dug up to the depth of three feet a month ago, at the foot of that street, to connect the new pier erect- ed there to the bulk head, was, on close inspection, found to be clean gravel and stone cutters' chips, and entirely free from any offensive smell; although this is the very place 142 which many imagine was impregnated with the pestilential materials supposed to be conveyed in the rain water that falls on, and filters through Trinity church yard, and which being there deposited, have been the cause of the late pesti- lence* The peculiar nature of contagious or infectious air, has not yet been discovered: its existence in any place is known only from its effects, and from those alone we can at pre- sent fairly draw our inferences. The facts are numerous and indisputable, that the Yel- low Fever has been communicated to individuals who have visited vessels, on board of which one or more persons have had that disease, or which vessels came from a place where it prevailed; and they have imbibed the infection, not only while the cargoes were on board, but after they were dis- charged, and the vessels thoroughly cleansed. A noted instance of this fact occurred this year on board of the U. S. Brig Enterprize. After the sick had been re- moved to the hospital, the well were landed, that they might not be any longer exposed to the infected air of that vessel, and to afford an opportunity of purifying her, which was done by slacking lime in her limbers, and white-wash- ing her throughout, not omitting her iron ballast, in which operation three casks of lime were used, and she was well ventilated by four windsails hoisted constantly in her hatch- ways. The crew were so intemperate during the five days that they remained on shore, that we were under the necessity of sending them on board again. The Brig had been puri- fied in the interim, but it was soon evident that she was still an infected vessel; for in six days after the crew were sent on board, four men were taken sick with Yellow Fever, and in the course of five days, seven more had the same dis- ease, making a fourth of all the men on board; and five of the eleven taken sick died. Those persons must have been infected after their return to the Brig, and subsequently to her purification, otherwise the disease would have been ex- cited in them, as it was in the case of some of their ship* 143 mates, from their irregular living and exposure to the wea- ther, by lying on the ground at night. Those men were more predisposed to receive infection, after their return to the Brig, than they were previous to their landing, in consequence of having lived in a pure at- mosphere, and being debilitated by repeated intemperance. This fatal evidence of the cause of the disease still lurking in the Enterpize, induced us to have the crew brought on shore again, and recommence her purification, which was done by using two more casks of lime, by letting into her hold daily several feet of water, and keeping up windsails. Six men were left to take charge of her, whose duty it was to pump out.the water and turn the windsails, and they were directed not to sleep below in her hold. Twenty-five days after her arrival, and after repeated white-washing, letting in water, and constant ventilation, one of the sailors obtained permission of a Lieutenant, to take his wife on board : this woman was taken sick on the ninth of August, with Yellow Fever, after she had been se- ven days on board, and she died in the Marine Hospital on the eighteenth of that month. In the case of this vessel, we have a positive proof, that this disease comes from abroad, and that its infection conti- nues to act after an abundant use of lime, being ten times the quantity employed in white-washing a house of similar dimensions, besides the immense quantity of water let in and pumped out, and a constant supply of fresh air, con- veyed into her hold by windsails. Here no animal or vege- table matters were to be seen, or otherwise detected, whose decomposition could keep up this poisonous air, especially after she was first cleansed. It is asserted by many persons, that animal and vegetable decomposition, is the cause of the Yellow-Fever in the West-Indies; and as our climate is equally as warm in sum- mer as it is in those Islands, the same effects must follow like causes here as well as there, consequently the Yellow Fever will be also generated in our city. This reasoning is philosophical, and if the premises are well founded, we 144 should not hesitate to submit to the conclusions drawn from them. But for the sake of argument, I would ask, if there is no difference between the duration of heat there and here ? Does this circumstance not make a very material difference in the productions of the two countries, and why may it not make as great a difference in the products evolved in their decomposition ? Wherein the constituent parts of an infected atmosphero differ from a pure one, is unknown, until this mystery is de- veloped, and the gasses which arise from the decomposition of animal and vegetable substances here, are proved to be precisely similar to those which are supposed to generate the Yellow Fever in the West Indies, we cannot, for the reasons assigned above, consider them to be the same. This theory of the disease is not supported by the facts furnished even in our own city. If the reasons upon which it is founded are correct, the Yellow Fever should occur at the same time, in all those places of our city, where nui- sances exist, in the interior as well as along our wharves ; and especially at all the points where it had before com- menced, as the same materials which had once generated it, could not fail to reproduce it; and where receptacles of filth most abound, there the infection would be extended to a greater distance, and the virulence of the disease greatly increased. Seldom a year would pass without our being smitten with pestilence, and its annual return would be usually at or near the same time of the year, only a little varied by the previous state of the weather. It is well known to our inhabitants, that as often as we have been visited by that awful calamity, it has never com- menced at the same place, and never has it begun in the in- terior of our city. It has commenced its ravages in sea- sons nowise remarkable for their peculiarity, as early as June, and as late as September, while we have escaped the pestilence some years, when the combined action of heat and moisture have been excessive, which causes are univer- sally admitted to give increased activity to the decomposi- tion of putrescent substances. The present year, we have 145 witnessed its spreading over the highest, cleanest and most airy part of our city, far from the spot where it commenced; As it does not appear that the vessels above referred to, or the local causes that existed in Rector-street, afford a satisfactory explanation of the origin of the late pestilence, I beg leave to call your attention to another foreign source, that has hitherto received too little attention, but which, on close investigation, will probably appear more adequate to- its production, than either of the foregoing. It has been so repeatedly proved, that vessels from sickly ports have given rise to the Yellow Fever, where no local causes existed for its production, that even those who be- lieve in its domestic origin, admit that it may be imported. If then, pestilential air escapes from a vessel at the wharf, while the cargo is discharging, may not the cargo of such vessel immediately transported in lighters, under particular circumstances, retain a portion of pestilential air, and the cause of disease be conveyed to the city in this manner ? The following statement of the transportation of cargoes from sickly Havanna vessels, or which sailed from that port when Yellow Fever prevailed there, has been carefully compiled from the records kept by the revenue officers at quarantine. ■Tune 14. 3 Lighter loads from the Brig Rapid, containing 363 Boxes of Sugar; 15. 2 do. do. do. 189 do. 28. 1 do. Brig Spanish Soldier, do. 77 do. 20.' 1 do. do. do. 100 dfe July 1. 2 do. Brigs Abeona and do. do. 177 do. 2. 3 . do. do. Ambuscade, Abeona and do. 260 de. 3. 3 do. do. do. do. do. 181 do. 5. 4 do. do. do. do. do. 216 do. 6. 9 do. do. do- do. do. 384 do. 8. 4 do. do. da- do. Elica Jane 317 do. 9. 1 do. Ship Eliza Jane, 106 do. Aug. 5. 1 do. Brig Packet, 70 do. 6. 1 do. do. 70 do. 7. 2 do. do. 145 do. t. 1 do. do. 75 do. 34 2730 From the above particulars, it appears that two thousand seven hundred and thirty boxes of sugar were transported T 146 in thirty four lighters from several sickly Havanna vessel's, (and those not sickly were navigated by persons who had made frequent voyages to that port) between the fourteenth of June and eighth of August, and landed at the wharves within the limits of one hundred and twenty yards on each side of Rector-street. But the circumstance to which our attention ought chiefly to be directed, is the important fact, that more than two-thirds of the whole quantity, amounting to one thousand nine hundred and eighteen boxes, the entire Cargoes of the Brigs Spanish Soldier, Abeona and Ambus- cade, and part of the Ships Eliza Jane, were conveyed in twenty-four lighters, between the twenty-eighth of June and ninth of July, and even nineteen of the twenty-four, in the short period of six days, from the second to the-eighth of July. The lighters were generally loaded before noon, at which time the weather was frequently calm; consequently, the infected air adhering to those boxes could not have been completely driven off, in passing them from the hold of the vessel to the hold of the lighter. The average heat of the weather in the shade at Staten-Island, between the twenty- eighth of June and ninth of July, was above eighty degrees at 2 P. M. and upwards of seventy-seven at 8 A. M. and 6 P. M. and for the whole time between 8 A. M. and 6 P. M. more than seventy-eight degrees. It has been erronerously stated in some of the public prints, that it was my opinion, that the pestilence had been conveyed in boxes of sugar. I never entertained such an idea; but conceived it possible, that infected air, shut up in the hold of a vessel during a West-India passage, would as readily pervade, and be retained in the spongy texture of rough pine boards, (of which those boxes are made) as the more dense structure of smooth oak planks of which vessels are built; and that several lighters loaded with such car- goes, being discharged daily at or near one place, would probably convey as much pestilential air, as a single vessel discharging at the wharf, and which has been known to produce the disease. In the instance- before us, we have the cargoes of three vessels discharged at the same time, and near the same place. 147 It may be asked, if the cargoes from sickly vessels, or from sickly ports, have not been brought to other parts of our city, where no evil has been produced from them; and if pestilence can be conveyed in that manner, how could such places be exempt from it? To answer this question with impartiality, I have ascer- tained the amount of produce from Havanna, which has been landod at all parts of the city, other than was dis- charged near Rector-street, and find by the revenue officer's reports, that one thousand five hundred and sixty-five boxes of sugar, and three hundred and ninety hogsheads and one hundred and seven barrels of sugar and molasses, have been transported in twcnty-seyen lighters, between the twentieth of June and the eighth of August ;* after which time, np * The cargoes of the following vessels from Havanna, were discharged at all other parts of the city, ne*t at or ne'ar Rector-street. AT OID-SI.IP. .Tune 20. 1 Lighter Joad from the Sch. Retrieve, 60 Boxes of Sugar, 50 Bags Pine. 22. 2 do. do. 172 do. 30 hhds. 50 do. Coffee, 28. 1 do. Ceiena, 30 do. 26 do. 29. 1 do. do. 35 do. July 1. 1 do. do. 35 dp. AT FULTON-STREET WHARF. June 2i.; 22. ( 24. ( . 1 do. each day from the Brig VeDug, 246 do. Molasses. '*>■} AT STEVENS' WHARF. June 27. 2 do. from Sch, Virginia Packet, 135 do. 28. 2 do. do. 191 do. 29. 1 do. do. 82 do. July BETWHKN OLD AND COrFBB-HOLSt-SI.lfS. 12.1 13.5 iM 1 do. each day from Schooner ) onn Kenucbeck Trader, $ /0° do. 115 hhds. & barrels. AT OR NEAR OLD'SLIP. is. 1 do. from the Brig Fame, 108 do. 19. 1 do. do. 47 do. 20. 2 do. do1. 140 do. 22. 1 do. do. 106 do. 23. 2 do. do. 141 do. Aug. 1. 1 do. Brig Packet, 84 do. 5. 1 do. do. 67 do. 1565 boxes. 497 hhds. The Br>g VVnus lost one seaman, June seventh, whose disease Dr. R- Rfforre^ a passenger in the vessel, informed, was Bilious and not Yellow Fever. The crew* of the other vessels we;c healthy during the voyage. 148 cargo was immediately brought here from sickly vessels, except such as was purified, by washing the casks, &c. But the greatest number of lighter loads, landed at or near to one place in six successive days, did not exceed seven, which occurred only in a single instance, from the eighteenth to the twenty-third of July. These lighters conveyed the cargo of the Brig Fame, on board of which vessel, no person had Jjeen sick during the voyage ; whereas nineteen Kghter loads from three vessels were discharged in the same number of days near to Rector-street, from the second to the eighth of July, and the first cases of fever occurred a few days after. This, in my opinion, is an obvious difference ; for a small quantity of pestilential air may be inoperative, by mixing with a large portion of atmospheric air, while a greater quantity continuing in a more concentrated state, may prove fatal. The fever which took place at the quarantine ground in eighteen hundred and twenty-one, when many vessels were there driven on sh.ore, is an example directly in point. It was evident that the foul air issuing from those vessels at the same time, contaminated the pure atmosphere of the country, which occurrence never before happened from a small number at the wharf. Other circumstances that might make a difference between the cargoes which were landed at Rector-street and other places, could have been, ascertained when the vessels arrived here, if I had beeq aware that any such particulars would have been of any practical use; such as the place where the vessel laid in the harbour, (some positions being healthier than others) and whether the cargo came immediately from the country, or had been stored in a sickly part of the city. It is a well authenticated fact, that vessels coming from Havanna load- ed with molasses, are healthier than those loaded with dry sugar, although the bilge-water of the former is much more offensive than that of the latter. The reason of this differ- ence in the healthiness of their crews, is attributed to the circumstance, that the first are loaded at a village called the Regulars, situated on the opposite side of the bay to the city of Havanna, where it is generally healthy. 149 My object in this investigation, is not to support any the- ory on the subject, but to endeavour to come at the truth, and learn if any reason could be assigned, that would ac- count for the difference which appears to have been produc- ed by the cargoes landed at Rector-street and other places, Ihat measures may be adopted to guard us in future, if the disease has been introduced in this manner. Although the present law requires a permit from the Health Officer, be- fore the cargo of a sickly vessel can be brought to the city, yet it has never been the practice to detain any articles, ex- cept those generally supposed to be susceptible of retaining infection, or such as are damaged. The commerce of this port with sickly West-India ones, is so extensive, that all the cargoes brought here from thence cannot be stored at quarantine, without providing additional buildings; and the merchants could not examine them there, without being exposed to the foul air of damaged and in- fected articles; also to sickly vessels at the wharf. This would produce considerable embarrassment in their busi* ness, by impeding or preventing the sale of their property. It would, therefore, be proper to discriminate between arti- cles which come from ports where the Yellow Fever pre- vails, as they are more or Igss liable to retain infection, that those least liable might be stored at an intermediate place, between the city and Staten-Island, to be ventilated for twenty or thirty days before they are brought to the city, and where the merchants could have free access to them with little hazard. West-India produce, that comes coast- wise, and which has not been landed in the United States the same length of time, and which is not susceptible of pu- rification, except by ventilation, ought also to be taken to, the same place. I conceived it to be my duty to offer to you my views on this particular point, which may appear trivial to some, yet on this highly important and interesting subject, which is wrapped up in so much mystery, and in which the lives and prosperity of our fellow-citizens are involved, every circum- stance, which in the smallest degree can throw any light on 150 it, should be unreservedly communicated, particularly if it can be of any practical use. During the late pestilence, eighty-five persons were sent to the Marine Hospital, from the city and Fort Richmond, forty of whom died. Sixty-five had Yellow Fever, and of this number thirty-seven died, eighteen of whom had black vomit; from which it appears that the recoveries were in the same ratio as took place in the city. This fact ought to remove the erronious opinion entertained by the public, that the sick sustained much injury in being sent to Staten-Is- land. It is readily admitted, that sick persons, surrounded by their relatives and friends, and supplied with every com- fort, would be injured by their removal to any public insti- tution, especially to a Lazaretto, in consequence of the shock given to their feelings. Such, however, was not the happy situation of the persons sent to the Marine Hospital; they were generally destitute, without attendants, and living in the infected district; their removal to* a healthy place, where they could obtain what their condition so much re- quired^, could not fail to contribute to their comfort, and ia many instances, to their recovery. The characteristic symptoms of the disease, in those per- sons who were sent from the upper and lower infected dis- tricts, and those from the U. S. Brig Enterprize, were the same, with similar variations in acuteness, as are observa- ble in other febrile diseases. The first, or inflamatory stage, in those from the Enterprize, was generally more violent and longer protracted, than in those who were sent from the city, which probably was occasioned by their being more ro- bust and plethoric than the others, nearly half of whom were femalesi but we had not a frequent opportunity to judge how violent their fever was at its commencement, as most of them had passed the first stage before they were removed. We did not observe that the malignancy of the disease was in any degree lessened in those persons who contracted it at a distance from the place where it began, nor that its vio- lence was in any measure mitigated in those who were in- fected a short time before the pestilence terminated. 151 The more I see of Yellow Fever, the stronger is my con- viction, that it is a different disease from Bilious Remittent Fever. They are both diseases which prevail in warm cli- mates, and often exist at the same time in the same place, (but from different causes,) hence it is supposed that they have one common origin: and and this is the reason, no doubt, why the great majority of physicians view them as the same disease. It was formerly my opinion, but which has been long changed, by observing the symptoms and ter- mination of both diseases, at the Lazaretto. The one is brought from the West-Indies, the other is usually contract- ed in our southern ports, where extensive marsh exhalations abound, and it is unquestionably produced from that cause: this opinion is confirmed by its frequently terminating in an intermittent, which is the common disease of low and marshy countries. But of the fifty recoveries from Yellow Fever this year, not one of them had Intermittent Fever. To ascertain the relative proportion of deaths to recoveries, between these two diseases, at the Marine Hospital, I have examined the Register of that institution since it was open- ed at Staten-Island, in the year seventeen hundred and nine- ty-nine, to the present period, and find recorded five hundred and eight cases of Yellow Fever, two hundred and eighty- three of which terminated fatally, making the deaths as four in seven; and three hundred and eight cases of Bilious Re- mittent Fever, of which eighty-six died, making the deaths only two to seven. This very great disproportion in the fa- tal termination of the two diseases, is in itself a very obvious distinction : moreover, I have witnessed the greater part of those eighty-six: deaths, none of whom had the coffee-ground black vomit. Many persons who believe in the local origin of the Yel- low Fellow in our city, attribute it to the gass arising from the decomposition of animal and vegetable matters, generat- ed at some depth below the surface. It was readily per- ceived by those gentlemen, that if they ascribed it to the pu- trefactive process, which took place on the surface, then its 152 effects would be felt much earlier in the season than the las? of August or first of September, at which period the pesti- lence has often begun} for the heat of the wTeath*r was as great, and often greater, the two preceding months, than it was when the disease commenced, consequently the. nox- ious gass produced from such decomposition, must have been diffused in the atmosphere a much longer period, before its evil consequences are experienced, than facts will warrant tis in allowing. But to account for the continuance of the disease in autumn, from this Cause, was a difficulty of still greater magnitude, as the evolution of gasses, from the de- composition of putrescent substances on the surface, would be checked or prevented by cool weather. ■ Since then the gasses from the decomposition of animal and vegetable substances on the surface of the ground, do not satisfactorily explain the origin and continuance of the Yellow Fever, we were induced to examine into the more plausible theory, that the noxious gasses which are said to give rise to it, were produced at some depth below the sur- face of the ground, which would better explain why the dis- ease did not appear until the sun had been long acting on the earth, and imparted its heat to it, and why it continued after cool nights had checked decomposition on the surface. For this purpose we made a number of experiments, be- tween the eighteenth of September and the twenty-sixth of October, by burying4the thermometer in the earth from threw inches to seven feet, and letting it remain there from six to twelve hours. In thirty experiments, made on different days, at or near sunrise, the thermometer laying on the earth, stood at some point between thirty-five and seventy-two degrees, and when taken out of the ground, after having been buried twelve hours, at various depths of from three in- ches to seven feet, it stood at a point between forty-four and sixty-seven degrees. To the depth of nine inches, the tem- perature of the earth was altered by alternate changes of at- mospheric heat; but very little variation was observed in the thermometer when buried between one foot and seven feet, 153 although the change was considerable on the surface of the ground. For instance, when the thermometer, lying on the ground, was at fifty-two degrees on the twenty-fourth, and sixty-four degrees on the twenty-seventh of September, it was sixty-four degrees one foot below the surface on both those days. Also, on the fifth, ninth and eleventh of Octo- ber, when the instrument was laid on the ground, it was fif- ty-one, fifty-four and sixty-nine degrees, but when it was dug up from the depth of four feet the same days, and at the same time, it was at sixty-four degrees each day. In twenty-two experiments made in the same manner be- tween one and three o'clock P. M., the thermometer, laid on the ground, in the sun, stood at a point between seven- ty-six to ninety-one degrees; but when buried for six hours in the earth, at various depths between three and twelve inches, it varied from fifty-six to seventy-six degrees, ac- cording as it was placed near to or at a distance from the surface. For instance, on the eighteenth, twenty-first and twenty-third of September, the thermometer, laid on the sur- face of the ground, in the sun, at one o'clock P. M., stood at eighty-four to ninety degrees, but after being buri- ed six hours in the earth, and the sun acting all the time on the same spot, the instrument when taken up at one o'clock, on the same days, from the depth of three inches, stood at seventy-four, and at the depth of six inches, at se- venty degrees; but when placed below the depth of one foot, the thermometer was as little affected by the heat of the sun, as when buried in the shade, for it stood at sixty- three and sixty-four degrees at various depths between one foot and seven feet, while the instrument, laid on the ground, in the sun, varied from eighty to ninety-one degrees. From these experiments, made in ground not materially dilferent from that which I saw dug up at the foot of Rector- street, it appears, that the earth a foot below the surface, in the latter part of September and in October, varies very lit- tle in its temperature, when the sun-beams have been act- ing upon it for seven hours, or when it has been shaded by U 151 twelve hours night, the heat being about sixty-four degrees-* This is a much lower temperature than I have ever heard would give origin to the cause of Yellow Fever. The heat of the earth, one foot below the surface, not be- ing more than sixty-four degrees in September and Ootcber, we must therefore infer that the continuance of the disease in autumn, by the extrication of gasses from the depth of several feet in the earth, is not a more satisfactory explana- tion of the cause of it, than that of the noxious gasses emit- ted from the surface of the ground. We are not prepared to adopt this theory of the origin of Yellow Fever, unless adequate fermenting masses, producing internal heat, and sending off pestiferous gass, are proved to exist constantly in the neighbourhood where pestilence prevails. I have thus presented to you a plain statement of facts, upon which I have formed my opinion of the introduction of the cause of the late pestilence, and offered a few observa- tions connected with the subject, which I have been induced to do, from a persuasion that they may be of some practical utility, and contribute to the improvement of our quarantine system. With great respect, Your most obedient, And very humble servant, JOSEPH BAYLEY. New-York, December \Oth, 1822. *0n the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth of September, two thermometers which had been buried for twelve hours, to the depth of nine, twelve, fifteen and eighteen inches, when taken up at sunrise, stood at sixty-three and sixty-four degrees; although the in- strument lying on the surface was fifty-two and fifty degrees. But when the thermo- meters were buried at similar depths for seven rs, on the same days, with the snn acting on the same ground all the time, they stood at sixty-three and siKty-four de- grees, at two P. M.; although the instrument, laid in the sun, on the same place, was eighty and eighty-five degrees. 155 To the Honourable Stephen Allen, Mayor of the City of New- York, and President of the Board qf Health. Sir, I have written a diary of the first month of the late fever, as it appeared in this city, with some facts and obser- vations relating to the disease. Besides attempting to show whence the fever of this year originated, I had other objects in view. One of these was to throw in my mite towards the correction of public opinion on this subject; another was to prove that the Board of Health, as now appointed, is not organized on the best possible plan, and that the laws which regulate it, as well as those governing the quarantine establishment, are partly inadequate to the object, and more or less founded on erroneous principles. Another ob- ject to be answered by this communication, was to show, that although the Board of Health could not be off cially in- formed of the existence of pestilence, until a month after its appearance, yet that some persons did know the true cha- racter of the disease at its beginning. If this had been the first occurrence of the kind which had fallen under my own ob- servation, I should most likely have remained silent on the the subject. The same difficulties have happened, in a greater or less degree, several times before, and are even likely still to occur, until some radical change takes place in the organization of the Board of Health, and in the iaws regulating the quarantine establishment. Since the year seventeen hundred and ninety-eight, I have thought a communication of the kind here presented, due to the public interest: for in that year the same difficul- culties took place, with consequences shocking to humanity, and which beset the Board in so remarkable a manner dur- ing the first month of the late fever. The Board of that year, while feeling, no doubt, the most laudable concern for the sufferings of their fellow citizens, and actuated by the best motives for the public good, could not become officially informed of the existence of pestilence in the city, until its 156 ravages had spread far and wide beyond its control: its exertions were therefore of course paralyzed, and it did nothing except passing a resolve, for quieting the great alarm which existed at that time, " That the city was free from Yellow Fever." In order to bring the whole ground of difficulty before the public in the way best calculated for its correction, I have thought it best to proceed in the manner I have done ; that is, to give a detail of all the facts as they occurred daily, in connexion with my own relative proceedings, and for what- ever may appear to savour of egotism, my only apology is, that the public good seemed to require it. These sheets I now beg leave to submit to you, and through you, to the gentlemen who compose the Board of Health; because I have used some of their names with a little freedom. I have quoted some conversations which took place between them and myself. If I have misquoted any thing, I hope they will be so kind as to correct it, for with that intention it is laid before them; and if by any thing I have written, the interests of this city can be promoted, I shall consider my feeble exertions to be well rewarded. I have, Sir, the honour to be Your most ob'dt. and humble servant, DANIEL D, WALTERS, New-York, Dec. 17,1822. On the evening of Thursday, the eleventh of July, eigh- teen hundred and twenty-two, I visited Mr. Reder's daugh- ters, Amanda and Caroline, the former aged eleven, and the latter nine years. I found them both labouring under the general symptoms of a violent fever. Their mother in- formed me that they had sickened on the preceding evening. Mr, Reder resides in a neat, airy, brick house, two stories high, situated at the west end of, and fronting Rector-street, one door from Washington-street. This spot, in common with all the west side of the city, was always, until the pre- 157 sent season, justly considered remarkably healthy, and, in- deed, its local advantages in favour of health are certainly very great, as it lies entirely open to the cooling and venti- lating operation of the southerly and westerly winds which prevail nine-tenths of the time during our summer months. Friday the twelfth.-—I found my patients without any abatement of fever. Saturday the thirteenth, was a rainy day, and being my- self indisposed, I therefore did not visit them. Sunday the fourteenth.—1 saw then at ten o'clock in the morning, and found that all their feverish excitement had entirely subsided ; their eyes, necks and breasts had become tinged with yellow, and Caroline had black vomit. At this juncture it was not easy for one who had marked the symp- toms from their commencement with fever, to their present malignant change, to be mistaken with respect to the nature of the disease : I therefore, in a guarded and private man- ner, expressed my opinion to a few of my friends, for at this time I did not mean to give the alarm, in anticipation of the measures of the Board of Health, nor even to name the disease to the public, Monday the fifteenth.—I found Amanda much as on the fourteenth, but Caroline appeared to be fast approaching to the fatal termination of her malady. After visiting my pa~ tients on this morning, 1 called on Mr. Waldron B. Post, with whom 1 had some business. He resides in Greenwich, near Rector-street. I informed him that the Yellow Fever had appeared in his neighbourhood, and that the safety of himself and family required his attention to the circum- stance ; which I believe he immediately did, by looking out without delay for a place of retreat. Towards evening on this day, in a walk down Vesey-street, I met with Doctors Hosack and Francis ; I informed them that Yellow Fever had broken out in Rector-street. Dr. Hosack inquired, whether 1 had reported it to the Board of Health. I an- swered in the negative; he replied, " if I knew it to be Yel- low Fever, I would report it as such," 158 Tuesday the sixteenth.—On the morning of this day I found Amanda convalescing, and Caroline growing worse; but John, an interesting youth of seventeen years of age, had sickened during the preceding night. From the violence of of the first symptoms, I judged that his case would in its course become highly malignant. On my way from Rector- street, in Broadway, I met with Dr. Daniel W. Kissam, in company with a gentleman with whom I was unacquainted. I informed them that Yellow Fever had made its appear- ance in Rector-street. I now proceeded directly to the City-Hall, where I reported the cases nearly in the words of the following conversation, which took place between his honour the Mayor and myself: " Sir, there are three cases of fever under my charge, which I think demand the attention of the Board of Health." " What are the names of the persons sick, and where are they to be found ?" " They are the children of Mr. Reder, who lives in Rec- tor-street, next door to the corner of Washington-street." " What kind or description of fever do you think they have ?" " I think it such a fever as our soil and climate are not calculated to produce; a fever depending on the introduc- tion of foreign poison for its origin, an exotic in our coun- try, and such a fever as is likely to do great injury, if it be allowed to spread ; and 1 wish the Resident Physician may be requested to examine the patients and name the dis- ease : and I further wish, that neither Dr. Hicks*, nor any of the Assistants of the Board, be permitted to visit them at present. If, however, you think it would be agreeable to the Resident Physician, I will wait on him, and introduce him to the patients." The Mayor replied, " I will write him a note to that ef- fect, and request him to await your call at his own house, at four o'clock this afternoon." Agreeably to the above arrangement, I called, in com- pany with Dr. W. Miner, on the Resident Physician, at 159 four o'clock, when the following conversation took place between us: " Doctor, your patients in Rector-street have Bilious Fever." " Have you seen them, Doctor ?" " Yes, after receiving notice from the Mayor this morn- ing, I happened to be in that part of the city, and I thought it more convenient to visit them before dinner." " Well, I am glad you found the disease nothing worse. I fear, however, it will give you some trouble before you have done with it." After some other observations on the subject of our differ- ence of opinion, I left the Doctor, not at all offended at his having visited ray patients at an earlier hour than had been suggested to him by the Mayor. Wednesday the seventeenth.—On this day Caroline died, and John grew worse. The Board met at two o'clock, when the Resident Physician stated, " that he had no re- port to make." He had, to be sure, visited my patients in Rector-street, and found them ill with Bilious, but not Yel- low Fever. Finding the Board about to take no measures on the subject, and that, of course, not only my friends, but also the public in the neighbourhood of the disease, would be exposed to the danger of a spreading pestilence, I re- solved at once to throw off the caution which I had hitherto observed, and state, to every inquirer, my opinion on the whole matter. I accordingly lost no time in declaring to every member of the Board with whom 1 was acquainted, and to all its Assistants, that the disease in question was positively Yellow Fever. Among the members thus in- formed, were his Honour the Mayor,* Aldermen Fairlie and Hall, Doctor Dyckman, the Health Commissioner, General Morton, the Clerk of the Board, and the Assistants, Doctors Cutter and Hicks, and Captain Mills.* Three days after this, Alderman Taylor, of the eighth ward, with whom I * [The Mayor has no recollection whatever, of having received any direct matkm from Dr. Walters, that the cases alluded to were Yellow Fever.] 160 was unacquainted at the time, learned my opinion of the disease, in a conversation which he commenced in the Mayor's Office, as follows: " Doctor, we think it very strange, that you should tell )rour friends that there is Yel- low Fever in Rector street, when you have not reported it as such to the Board." My reply was, " I mentioned the existence of this fever to the Mayor, on last Tuesday morn- ing, in such terms as I thought might call the attention of the Board to it; but in that report, for particular reasons, I purposely omitted the use of the word yellow ; but I now tell you, that it is positively the Yellow Fever, and knowing it to be such, I consider it my duty to inform my friends of the fact, that they may be enabled to take care of themselves iu time. I am aware that the Resident Physician is of a dif- ferent opinion, but it is immaterial to me, as an individual, what either he or the Board may call the disease. The Al- derman replied, we think very highly of Doctor Quacken- bos; he was very correct in the year eighteen hundred and nineteen. As a man I think very highly of him too; but my conduct in this affair must be governed altogether by my own opinion of the nature of the fever in question." . Thursday and Friday the eighteenth and nineteenth. John's symptoms progressed from bad to worse, until Satur- day the twentieth, when black vomiting began. On the morning of this day the Resident Physician visited him, in company with Doctor Manley, who started a new opinion of the nature of the disease, by calling it " Savannah Fever," which, by the by, is a species of Bilious Fever, that is never communicated from vessels or goods to our shores, so as to become located, and to affect the inhabitants. But, by some means or other, it happened that Doctor Manley was employed to attend John with me, as consulting physician. We saw him together at twelve o'clock, and I observed the Doctor began to think his morning opinion not tenable; and at his evening visit, he stood perfectly corrected ; for, as we left Mr. Reder's house, we met Mr. Noah, the editor of the National Advocate, at the corner of Rector and Green- wich-streets, who made some inquiry of us touching the na- 161 ture of the fever in the neighbourhood; to which Doctor Manley replied in these words: " if I was obliged to give an opinion of this disease, under oath, I should say it is Yel- low Fever." And to an observation of Mr. Noah, " wre are in danger here, if that is the case," I answered, " yes; while standing on these paving stones, you may consider yourself as knee deep in pestilence." On Monday, the twenty-second, John died. The only family, besides that of Air. Reder, living in Rector, between Washington and Greenwich-streets, was that of Mr. De Lange. This man 1 advised to leave the neighbourhood, which he did on the twenty-second, but not early enough to escape suffering, as one of his sons had the disease severely, after retiring to Long-Island. A few days after this time, the Board met with closed doors, in the small room adjoining the Mayor's office. I happened to be in the Hall at the time, and was invited into the room before the assembled Board. The Recorder expressed a wish to hear what I had to say on the subject which had called them together. I slated, that " I had been compelled, by the symptoms of the disease in Rector-street, to consider it precisely that variety of Yellow Fever which overran this city in the year seventeen hun- dred and ninety-eight." During my attendance on Mr. Reder's children, after much inquiry, whether any other person had sickened in the neighbourhood, I learned that Andrew Thomas, a young Scotsman, had been sent sick, on or about the ele- venth, from the south-west corner of Washington and Rec- tor-streets, to the New-York Hospital, where he died on the sixteenth. I mentioned these circumstances to the sMayor, who caused inquiry to be made, from which it was clearly shown, that Mr. Thomas did die of strongly marked Yellow Fever in that institution, without greatly disturbing the quiet of its managers. As the Board seemed to feel itself bound to consider all information, not derived from the Resident Physician, incor- rect or unofficial, it of course continued to act in an unde- X 162 cided and hesitating manner, until the fifth of August, when the alarming progress of the disease forced that Officer to acknowledge its true character. Doctor John Neilson, to be sure, after a little disputation with the Board about that unmeaning word bilious, did, on the thirty-first of July, re- port two cases of this disease as Yellow Fever, the symp- toms of which he well described in a letter to the Board on the following day. His report, however, as it did not come from the right source, like the declarations which for two weeks previous I had daily made on the same subject, was insufficient and unavailing towards influencing the decisions of that assembly. The number of cases continued to increase daily until the ninth of August, when the Resident Piiysician seemed to think that the public mind demanded some little explana- tion, in order to enable it to account, in the most reasonable manner, for what was going on. This explanation he made in the following words: " From the above facts it appears evident, that the cause or causes, which at first were only sufficient to produce Bilious Fever, have now become so concentrated, as to create Yellow Fever." This puz- zling and unaccountable concentration of the cause or causes of this disease, if it really took place, was certainly a ma- noeuvre calculated to mislead the most discerning. We have, however, good reason to doubt the fact, as the num- ber of deaths before the announced concentration of the cause or causes, was fully equal to what happened after- wards, in proportion to the number who really had the dis- ease. From this time the Board met daily until late in October, manifesting the greatest solicitude for the public welfare; for all parties acknowledged that Yellow Fever really ex- isted.in town. The table of their chamber now daily teem- ed with speculations of the learned, on arresting the pro- gress of the disease, or destroying its cause. These propo- sitions, however, to say the least of them, came six weeks too late •, for by this time the infection had spread over a surface by far too wide to be controlled by human power. 163 A general removal, which took place from the lower parts of the city, was the only means of safety left the inhabitants; and the disease continued to spread until the twentieth of of September, when a. very heavy rain occurred, followed by a cold, strong, northerly wind, of two days continuance. Thij eiTcot produred on the progress of the fever, by this rain and wind was, in a high degree, striking and sensible* The out-of-door poison, or that part of it which had posses- sion of the streets, seemed to be entirely destroyed; the ex- tension of the infected district, which until this time had been gradual and well marked, ceased ; and in four or five days the cases diminished, until the eighth after the change of weather, when not one was reported to the Board. Short- ly afterwards, however, the poison again showed itself; but the subsequent cases appear to have arisen from infection remaining in the houses, and not to have been acquired in the streets, as was frequently the case before the storm. Having given above as much of the late fever, in connex- ion with the relative proceedings of the Board of Health, as I think due to the public interest, the public curiosity, or to my own reputation, I shall proceed to the consideration of the more important parts of my subject; and the first and most important question to be answered is, Where did the poison which caused the fever of this year, come from ? This ques- tion has been, and will continue to be, answered by the ad- vocates of different theories, in such a way as to give the most plausible support to their favourite opinion. The ex- clusive believers in home or local origin, will ever find an old sink, a cist-pool, a rotten potato, or a putrid mouse, or some other nuisance of the kind, sufficient, if one could believe their stories, to poison a world. These gentlemen, howe- ver, do not seem to recollect, that the nuisances from which they fear so much, are the hourly productions of nature, and abound every where, at all times, over all the earth, rarely causing disease among its inhabitants. I am willing to ad- mit, that under peculiar circumstances of confinement, or want of ventilation, accumulations of filth may excite Ty- pus Fever of a very malignant type: I, however, do not ad' 164 mit, but assert the contrary, that the exhalations from any or all these nuisances have the least influence on Yellow Fever, either to render it more or less malignant, or to retard or hasten its progress; for Yellow Fever is forever precisely the same disease, with its power to kill unimpaired, whether it appears in the healthy atmosphere of Middletovvn, in Con- necticut; the Wallabout, Brooklyn; the Quarantine Ground, or the more impure atmosphere of this and other large cities ; and all the stories, even admitted as true, related of church- es cemetries, sinks, jails, and processes of putrefaction, arc not worth a jot on the present question. They prove noth- ing; as the relaters of them have to show that they ever, in a single instance, have caused Yellow Fever. On the question of cleanliness, they are, however, of inestimable value, as they prove the absolute necessity of rigidly enforcing the observ- ance of that virtue. Dirty streets, yards, and damp, filthy, unventilated houses, not only originate several varieties of fever, but sensibly aggravate most diseases to which the hu- man frame is liable; and when these accumulations of filth happen to be assisted by the most vicious habits which idle- ness and drunkenness can engender, they frequently cause such a fever as appeared in Bancker-street two years ago, which killed negroes by the dozen, and desperately pother- ed some gentlemen of the faculty, setting them agog for en- demic Yellow Fever. Church, jail, and Bancker-street Fevers, are always caus- ed by a poison, generating and existing within the apart- ments in which the sick are found ; and to remove the cause and restore salubrity, it is only necessary to cleanse and ventilate, But with Yellow Fever the fact is otherwise; this is always caused by an out of door poison, which first gains possession of the streets, from which it enters with equal facility the palaces of the rich and the hovels of the most wretched, carrying to both the same power to destroy. Ventilating and cleansing are here of no avail, until the stor- my winds and low temperature of approaching winter have driven the enemy from the streets, 165 New-York has the reputation of being a dirty city, or at least, it has to my knowledge been constantly complained of as such, for the last twenty-five years ; some parts of it are, however, infinitely more dirty than others. The Col- lect and Swamp, for in lance, may be said to be natural cist-pools of very great extent, each of them containing many acres of made groun-i, and each of them receiving, from time immemorial, as in a place of deposit, the wash and filth of a large surrounding surface. Yet these places, although ten times as filthy as any other part of the city, have always been remarkably exempt from Yellow Fever. This fact is, however, easily accounted for, in the uniform manner of attack pursued by the disease in question, which is invariably on the wharves, by the side of vessels, and no where else : hence, it evidently appears, that if our city filth has any agency in producing Yellow Fever, it is only the filth on the wharves; for all the experience we have on the subject goes to prove, that this disease never made its first appearance in the interior of this or any other northern city. Before meddling with that fruitful bone of contention among the different theorists who speculate on this subject, to wit, the consideration of the causes in and about Rector* street, whether of foreign or domestic origin, which could have contributed to-the production of the late fever, I will proceed to make a few observations on what I deem an in- correct and unphilosophical habit indulged by too many, in forming their judgment of things altogether from external appearances, or on the sensible qualities of taste and smell. This habit appears to be partly natural and partly acquired, but regulated in some cases by our experience. Toads and spiders are charged by thousands with a high degree of venom, merely because their Creator, in his wisdom, did not think proper to give them an aspect corresponding with our notions of beauty; and even with our ample experience of the perfectly harmless natures of these little animals, we cannot look at them without feelings of hostility ; and a man ignorant of the effects of aloes and arsenic, would, on ac- count of its offensive taste, throw the former from his 166 mouth, as poisonous; while, without suspicion, from its in- sipidity, he would readily swallow in a dish of tea, enough of the latter to destroy him. In no way, however, has the mind been warped by prejudice, from correct and just con- clusions,- so strikingly and so frequently, as where offensive impressions have been made on the organ of smelling. This has been more particularly the case in this city, for the last twenty-five years. Prior to the commencement of that period, the people, like the inhabitants of the country now, could approach the offensive atmosphere of a putrid car- cass, a mud-hole, or a heap of manure, without ever once thinking of Yellow Fever. The frequent introduction, how- ever, of the invisible poison which causes that disease, in a way unaccountable to such as would not be at the trouble of acquiring correct information, has led thousands, and among that number some physicians, to ascribe this fatal malady to the nearest offensive object of the nuisance kind, that happened to exist at the moment on a neighbour's pre- mises. For, curious as it may appear, 1 have never yet been able to find a man who would acknowledge any nui- sance about his own house, however offensive, capable of producing disease; but when his family sickened, it was caused by spoiled provision in his neighbour's cellar, or by a mud-hole, or a broken sink on an adjoining lot. These people never once think of correcting tHeir opinions by past experience. If they did, by referring back to the half cen- tury preceding the year seventeen hundred and ninety-eight, they would learn that any or all these nuisances were never so mischievous in those days, as to cause Yellow Fever. Previous to the year above mentioned, too, no regulations of the least use had been adopted for keeping the city clean, and nothing was more common than to see dead cats, dogs, and even hogs, broken up by the cart-wheels, in every part of the streets. During a visit which I made a few days ago to the neighbourhood of Rector-street, 1 could not but observe the application of the foregoing reasoning to the particular subject under consideration. The inhabitants of that vicinity appeared to be divided into four classes, three 167 of which were altogether led by the nose, to make answer to this question, which 1 put to a number of highly respectable gentlemen; '• \\ hat do you think caused the late fever among you ?" First class. " We think it must have been caused by the cist-pool, for it emitted a very bad smell." Second class. " We think it must have been produced by some puddles of water and filth, which stagnated in the, gutters, and became, from the heat of the weather, very of- fensive to the smell." Third class. " We have no doubt but that it originated from the contents of the sinks, which were thrown into the streets about that time, for the stench of them was intolerable." And a fourth class, who had not been seized so unceremoniously by the nose, believed it to be derived from vessels or goods brought to the wharves. So great is the disposition of many, to ascribe mischievous powers in producing disease to ail substances of strong and offensive scent, that I should not be surprised to find some hereafter ranking assafcetida, hepar sulphuris. and other medicinal drugs, among the causes of Yellow Fever. It is, however, certain, that Yellow Fever has no necessary connexion with sensible smells; for, allowing the poison which causes that disease, to arise from nuisances of any kind, in a state of mixture with the materials of stench, the combination exists only for a very short time; as after every thing sensible to the nose has been driven off, and dispersed by the wind, the infection will continue for months to spread in every direction, as inodorous as it is invisible. The sources of mischief, in or near Rector-street, which have been spoken of by the different parties to this question, as having a supposed agency in causing the late fever, I shall divide into two kinds: first, those on shore, of local or home production; second, those at the wharves, derived from goods or vessels, and of foreign origin. Of the former kind there are three ; and, at the head of these, stands the cist-pool. As this is a word only very lately brought into use, and in bad company too, it is necessary to give a very particular description of the thing signified by the name, in order that no reader may attach to it some magical meaning 168 of horrid import. A cist-pool is, then, nothing more or Jess than a littte, paltry, dirty, artificial mud-hole. The cist- pool now to be particularly described, was situated two or three feet from the south end of an alley which, runs north from Rector-street, on the east side of Mr. Reder's ground, and across the rear of three lots which face Greenwich- street. It was placed there four years ago, when Rector and Greenwich-streets were raised above the adjoining land, to receive the wash and filth of the four lots bounding the alley in which it is contained. It was three feet deep, and four feet in diameter; planked up around the sides, and covered with an iron grate; and, like all other mud-holes, it was sometimes, during the heavy rains, filled to overflowing. Five months previous to the beginning of the fever, it was cleaned out, and about the beginning of July, the water which it contained was taken from it, and thrown into the street. Of the stench of this nuisance, I have spoken above; some of the inhabitants complained of it; others did not. Some time during the last week of July, it was particularly examined, by order of the Board of Health, by Doctor Hicks and two other persons, and found, though not very offensive, to contain a quantity of mud which had not been disturbed when the water was removed a month before. This mud was taken out by two men, put into a cart by a third, and the hole filled up by a fourth. Of the seven per- sons employed about this affair, not one of them contracted the fever. Before touching particularly upon the second source of offensive matter, which some persons have spoken of as having a supposed agency in producing disease, viz. several new and old sinks near Rector-street, it is necessary to say something of the nature of the ground in which they are located. All this shore of the city, west of Greenwich- street, is what is commonly denominated " made ground;" that is, it has been raised above the flowing of the tide- water, by earth, or some other material, brought from a dis- tance. The lot which runs from Greenwich-street to the water's edge, south of Rector-street, on which all the jakes 169 in question were located, was formerly occupied for many years, as a stone-cutter's yard and shop, and was altogether filled up with the chippings of marble and sandstone, in pieces of every dimension, from several pounds weight, down to the smallest grain of sand. Earth, as I shall call it, for want of a more appropriate name, thus made, is hard and very porous, and freely admits the flowing tide-water through it in every direction. The first pit made for a new sink, was directly in the rear of, and a few feet from, Mr. Bakewell's duck store. It was at first contemplated to make this pit ten feet deep; but from the inconvenience experienced and expected, from the free ingress of the tide, it was carried to no greater depth than seven feet. The earth taken from it, of the na- ture above described, had no offensive smell or appearance, and was thrown into Washington-street, where some hol- lows required filling up. The next pit made for a new sink, was thirty feet east of the one above described, in the same kind of earth, and the same difficulties were experi- enced from the ingress of the tide; but the circumstance which gave the labourers the most trouble, and the sink a bad name, as causing fevers, was, in consequence of the spot chosen for the pit, being so near to one which was in daily use on an adjoining lot, that when the workmen had descended to the depth of five feet, a part of the thin parti- tion of earth between the old sink and the new pit gave way ; thus permitting a small portion of the contents of the former to escape into the latter. This was necessarily re- moved with the earth, to the annoyance of some individuals in the neighbourhood. It was not, however, suffered, as some have stated, to lie in the street, but was carted to the battery, to fill up a dock in that vicinity. The number of persons employed, from the middle to the last of July, about this affair, were from twelve to twenty, not one of whom was attacked with fever. The third nuisance, mentioned by some as a cause of disease at this place, was the stagnant water which remain- ed in the gutters until it became offensive. Rector-street, Y 170 however, from its descent, will not permit water fo stand m any part of it in greater depth than two inches. The above enumeration includes every thing which has been spoken of as a cause of the fever on the spot where it first appeared. Some ingenious persons did, however, labour hard to prove that the source of the mischief was to be found in the burying-ground attached to Trinity Churclv. In order to confute every argument which they have ad- vanced in support of their opinion, it is only necessary to state the fact, that the poison which actually did cause the disease, was spreading daily in every direction, from the place of its first appearance, for one month befor it reached the vicinity of that church-yard. The second grand division of causes which were likely to originate the late fever in Rector-street, comes next to be examined. These, all of foreign origin, are to be sought after in suspicious vessels, which were permitled to come to the wharves in that vicinity, or in goods landed there from vessels known to be infected. The officers of the quaran- tine establishment for this city, have designated as four-day- vessels, a certain class, which are always to be regarded as suspicious, because, owing to a defect in the law, they are privileged to carry pestilence wherever they go; thusjeo pardizing the lives of thousands, and rendering all other quarantine regulations useless. To prove the above allega- tion, it is only necessary to state a few facts. First, it is well known, that the different Boards of Health of the cities and towns on our seaboard, are, five times out of six, among the last public bodies which come to the knowledge of pes- tilence in their respective districts. Hence, in almost every case where a pestilential fever appears in any city, from one to two months elapse before its Board of Health be- come officially informed of it. During this period, the pub- lic authorities of the place continue to issue clean hills of health to every vessel sailing from it* One of these vessels, though infected with the poison of Yellow Fever, may ar- rive at this port with a healthy crew, or one or two of her hands may have sickened or died on her passage, and the 171 wHipciv, as it is always their interest so to do, may disguise ■or conceal the real character of the disease. This vessel, on her arrival here, is liable to be stopped only four days at the quarantine ground, to undergo the too often useless operation of white-washing. She is then permitted by law, to come to our wharves, with a strong probability in favour of her kindling pestilence wherever she touches. Cases of the alxwe description are by no means of rare occurrence ; it is, however, unnecessary to mention more than one or two. The Ship Asia sailed from New-Orleans, some time in the month of August last, and arrived here on the eigh- teenth of September. 'She left three ;of her Old Exchange. 221 METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, Made in the Cupola of the Museum in the City of New-York, for August, 1798. m BAROMETER Thermometer WINDS. WEATHER. < Sun 2 P.M Sun 1 2 P.M. Sun Rise. 2 p.m. Rise. 29 70 Rise. 1 29 73 70 82 N. W. N. W. 2 29 80 29 83 68 80 E. S. Foggy. 3 29 93 29 91 72 80 W. S. E. 4 29 67 29 59 74 80 S. E. S. 5 2G 67 29 59 76 84 s. w. do. 6 29 59 29 63 74 84 w. N. W. 7 29 74 29 77 70 84 s. w. N. W. 8 29 7* 29 69 72 91 w. S. W. 9 29 60 29 52 76 96 s. w. do. Distant lightnings 10 29 47 29 40 78 90 s.w. S. in tbe evening. 11 29 40 29 47 78 89 s. S.S.E. Constant lightning 12 29 63 29 71 74 86 Variable. and thunder 43 W. 13 29 80 29 84 74 83 N. E. S. Heavy rains with 14 29 82 29 80 74 80 E. S. thunder. 15 29 80 29 86 74 82 Variable. H. showers & th 16 29 81 29 80 75 85 S. W. Small showers. %17 29 71 29 70 75 90 s. w. s. do. with thunder. 18 29 66 29 6b 76 90 s. Calms. 19 29 70 29 8w 72 84 N. E. s.w. 20 29 80 29 79 74 83 E. S.S.E. 21 29 72 29 67 77 87 8. W. S. 22 29 63 29 71 76 84 N. N. E. 'A fine shower with 23 29 92 29 92 65 76 N. E. E. lightning & thun. 24 29 82 29 71 66 80 S. W. S.W. 25 29 63 29 63 76 91 8. W. S.W. Distant lightning 26 29 62 29 59 79 93 do. do. at evening. 27 29 75 29 70 77 85 W. W. 28 29 61 29 60 69 76 W. S.W. 28 29 61 29 55 67 76 W. \. W. 30 29 62 29 58 i 67 80 s. ■?. W. 31 20 61 29 65 68 81 Variable. W. METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS New-York, September, 1798. BAROMETER. Sun ( Rise. 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 J7 18 19 20 21 22 2^ 24 25 21: 2'. 2H 29 30 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 £9 Z9 29 29 29 '9 .'9 76 8] ■80 62 39 43 38 60 66 67 76 97 90 77 75 75 72 78 78 78 60 68 03 62 31 70 60 61 75 82 2 P.M. 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 30 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 :9 29 29 -'9 29 Thermometer Sun Rise. 67 61 63 39j 69 43 66 60 60 66 67 76 00 83 73 75 12 74 78 78 78 67 68 62| 62 62 55 35' D2 08, 52 47| 61 50! 50 77: 50 771 40 64 63 60 63 66 63 61 63 68 70 69 70 73 70 74 59 2 p. a 80 77 71 74 74 71 73 70 70 77 77 71 73 76 79 80 82 76 79 79 76 72 74 64 74 65 71 59 52 Sun Rise. E. E. E. E. S.W. E. S. W. E. N. W. E. S. E. S. s. w. s. w. Varia. E. S. E. S. E. S. N.W. Calm. N. S. W. W. S.W. W. S. E. E. S. E. S. E. S.W. E. do. E. E. N. S. E. S. E. S. s. s. s.w. S.E. S. S. E. S.W. S.E. S.W. N.W. S. N.W. S E. N.W. N.W. S. W. WEATHER. [thunder. Some rain wh. heavy Distant lightning. Some rain. Foggy. A. small shower. Foggy. Foggy. [evening Fine shower in the Foggy. Heavy shower. A gale. Shower at night. 223 METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, New-York, October, 1798. V) BAROMETER. Thermometer WINDS. WEATHER. < Sun Sun Sun C Rise. 2 P.M. Rise. 51 2 P.M. Rise. 2 P. M. 1 29 90 29 91 67 S.W. S. 2 29 98 30 03 63 69 Calm. s. Foggy. 3 30 00 29 92 58 74 Calm. s. Do. 4 29 97 29 89 58 72 do. do. Do. 5 29 70 29 69 57 71 N. N. E. 6 29 66 29 58 61 71 N. E. N.E. Clear. 7 29 50 29 40 60 59 N. E. N. E. Plentiful rain. 8 29 37 29 38 55 59 N. E. N. 0 29 61 29 09 54 70 N.W. N. W Clear. 10 29 78 29 30 59 71 Calm. N.W. Foggy. 11 29 80 29 87 59 68 N. E. N.W. 12 30 02 30 05 57 62 E. E. Foggy. 13 30 12 30 12 47 58 E. E. Do. 14 30 10 30 04 50 59 N. E. N.E. Do. 15 29 95 29 90 48 61 N. E N. E. Clear. 16 29 84 29 80 50 66 N. W. S.W. Do. 17 29 67 29 75 56 71 N. E. Do. 18 29 71 29 81 56 76 E. E. Do. 19 29 90 29 88 51 56 N. E. N.E. Foggy. 20 29 80 29 71 50 57 N. E. j N. E. Small rain. 21 29 50 29 45 53 70 N.W. N. 22 29 59 29 43 55 70 Calm. ■S. Smoky air. 23 29 20 29 13 01 64 S. W. N.W. Foggy, small rain. 24 29 48 29 60 50 59 N.W. N.W\ 25 29 61 29 60 50 65 N. W. Calm. 26 29 58 29 50 50 72 N. VY. S.W. Clear. 27 29 55 29 54 00 60 b. N. W. Plenty of rain, foggy. 28 29 40 29 53 50 56 Calm. S.W. Small rain, do. 29 29 53 29 5 b 36 44 W. W. Clear. 30 29 50 29 34 29 3F W. w. Do. fro?t. 31 29 20 29 34 3! 40 w. N. W. Do. 224 METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, New-York, November, 1798. m BAROMETER. Thermometer WINDS. w < P SUI! Rise. 2 P.M. Sun Rise. 2 P.M. Sun Rise. 2 P.M. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 g 10 29 61 29 35 29 44 29 52 29 59 29 81 30 00 29 98 29 72 29 87 29 59 29 40 29 39 29 51 29 70 29 81 30 00 29 88 29 66 29 96 32 32 37 31 30 32 32 36 38 36 35 42 40 42 37 48 50 52 53 36 W. N. N. W. W. w. N. w. s.w. N.W- S. W. N.E N. W. N. W. N. W. W. Varia. W. S.W. N.W. Cloudy Do. Clear. Clear. Do. Do. Clear. Do. 225 METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, FOR JUNE, 1822. Made at the Nen-York Hospital, by Richard Pennel, M. D. > BAROMETER. THERMOMETER. WIND. M o s it O a a 7 2 9 7 2 9 2. WKATHKS* 7 A. M. Z P. M. 9 P. M. *• 'a. m. P.M. r. m. A. M P. M. P. M K X 1 30 20 30 20 30 16 68 84 70 S S s ~30 20 30 20 30 20 77 87 75 s 8 S 1.84 720 do. 7(30 20 30 10 30 10 78 92 75 N 8 s .18 736 do. 8|30 04 29 94 29 90 75 92 74 • w ■ W s w 748 do. 9 29 90 30 04 30 18 76 85 76 N W rt w K W 660 Clear. W.'iO 3330 33 30 31 73 91 80 K W s w S W 653 do. 11'30 30 30 22 30 16 77 85 76 s w s w s w 650 Variable. 1230 08 30 08 30 08 75 86 74 6 W ! w K W .34 710 Cloudy. 13J30 1030 10 30 00 76 84 72 N W N W N W .67 726 do. 14 30 00 30 00 30 00 72 88 78 S W 8 W s w 732 Variable. I.V29 96 29 98 36 06 78 87 72 S W S W w .11 730 Cloudy. 16 30 10; 30 18 30 24 72 88 76 w N W N W 700 Variable. 17i30 3030 30 30 30 70 87 77 N W N W S W 660 Clear. 18 30 30 30 30 30 30 75 92 79 8 W 8 W N .06 663 Variable. "_I 19 30 30 30 26 30 20 76 92 78 K s 8 665 do. 20 30 18 30 18 30 10 79 96 78 s w s w S W .04 656 Cloudy. 21 30 18 30 18 30 18 79 90 78 f w s w s w 645 Clear. 22 30 10 30 06 30 00 76 85 78 vr w s w 645 do. 23 30 00 30 00 30 00 76 90 76 s w 6 W s w .28 675 do. 24 30 00 30 00 30 00 78 88 71 8 W N N 655 Cloudy. 25 29 94 29 98 30 00 72 82 76 w w w 665 do. 26 30 08 30 20 30 26 68 80 70 w N W N W 630 Clear. 27 30 28 30 28 30 28 65 81 73 N W N W N W .32 645 do. 28 30 20 JO 20 30 12 70 88 75 s S N W .03 670 Cloudy. 29 30 10 30 26J30 26 73 83 73 N W N N 650 Clear. 30 10 40 10 4030 40 70 85 74 H E ■ 634 do. 31 30 47 30 47| 30 40 71 87 70 E 1 E E 650 do. The quantity of rain which fell this month, was five inches 66 100ths. This month was remarkable for its unusual humidity, and its numerous and heavy falls of rain. We were visited by thunder, lightning and rain, on the first, second, sixth, seventh, eighteenth, twentieth, twenty-fourth and twenty-eighth. There was light- ning on the evenings of the third, seventh and twenty-eighth. There was lightning on the third, seventh and twenty-eighth. The sun was totally obscured on the sixth. The rain on the twen- ty-seventh felt in the night. 227 METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, FOR AUGUST, 1322. Made at the New-York Hospital, By Richard Pmnel, M. D. BAROMETER. THERMOMETER. 1.30 40'30 40 2 33 30 30 22 30 16 30 03 29 !)0 30 10 30 38 «0 47 30 47 30 40 30 16 30 30 00 30 22 30 40 30 47 30 40 30 40 JO 30 30 30 30 301 O 28 30 23 30 32 15J30 !0 16|:J0 17 17 30 17 18 30 20 1930 15 20'30 — 211*0 - 22 30 08 23 30 25 24130 25 25130 36 26; SO 36 27J3-J 30 23,30 16 20 150 20 30130 40 31130 4030 40 30 20 0 32 30 10 30 17 30 17 30 20 30 15 30 — 30 — 30 10 30 2a 30 25 30 36 30 36 30 30 30 16 30 20 30 40 M. 30 38 JO 20 {0 10 29 80 10 10 JO 28 30 40 30 47 30 40 JO 31 JO 30 30 23 30 20 30 22 JO *0 17 JO 17 30 20 30 - 30 - JO — 30 18 30 25 30 25 30 36 50 30 30 20 30 16 30 20 30 40 30 40 7 ) 2 A. M.lr. M. 7 A. M. IS. P. M. E S W 3 N W N E E SE s w s s w N W s N W s w E E SE S E N E E S W s 9 r. M. 8 '.V N W N E 5^ E N E S W NW S s w N E S N W E NE S E N E S E N E S W s s w N E N W E N E S S E N E 647 643 638 645 650 645 648 652 670 02; 662 650 664 680 700 660 660 660 672 670 660 660 658 660 680 658 65B 03 656: Clear. 670JCloudy. 705 do. 698 do. 685 Clear. do. do. do. do. do. do. do- do. Cloudy. do. Clear. do. Cloudy. do. do. do. Variable. Cloudy. do. Clear. do. do. Cloudy. Clear. Cloudy. do. The quantity of rain which fell this month, is one inch and 8-100ths. This mouth attracts our notice for (he number of devastating tor- nadoes in different parts of the United States; its arid atmosphere, clear starry nights and moderate rains; fourth, clear morning, wind S : at 3 p. m. wind changed to N. W. it soon began to blow tremendously; the dust ascended in large quantities, so as to ob- scure some parts of the city; it laid prostrate a number of trees, and did considerable damage; it was accompanied with loud thunder, lightning and rains, which lasted until half past four p. m. We had likewise, thunder, &c. on the fifteenth and twenty- second. A beautiful double rain bow was seen in the toutji on the fifteenth, at 7 p. m. There was, likewise, lightning on the evenings of the fourth, fifteenth, nineteenth and twentieth. On the night of the ninth and tenth, I observed a number of shooting meteors. 228 METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, FOR SEPTEMBER, 1822. Made at the New-York Hospital, by Richard Fennel, M. D. THERMOMK- ■ BAROMETER. WINDS. K w d TER. fc «, s j t» 1i < WEATHER. ^ c 7 2 9 7 2 9 7 2 9 BS u U H A. M. 30 37 P. M. P. M. A.M. P.M. P.M. A.M. P.M. P.M. - s 1 30 ^0 30 22 70 85 74 SE SE SE o» 685 Variable. 2 30 10 30 04 30 — 76 81 70 S S NW 90 724 Cloudy. 3 29 90 30 — 30 — 69 87 74 s w s w s w 704 Variable. 4 30 08 30 20 .30 20 66 82 67 s w s w s w 684 Clear. 5 30 26 30 26 JO 26 62 81 69 S w s w s w 656 do. 6 30 26 30 26 30 26 65 82 71 N E S w s w 645 do. 7 30 26 3.) 26 30 15 68 88 76 s w S w s w 636 do. 8 30 15 30 15 30 15 70 88 75 N W s w s 638 Cloudy. 9 30 10 30 10 30 22 72 85 76 s w S w s 672 do. 10 30 20 30 20 M 20 70 90 76 s S s w 01 690 Clear. 11 30 14 30 14 30 14 75 94 78 9 W s w s w 687 Cloudy. 12 30 27 30 27 30 27 76 91 77 S W s w s w 660 Clear. 13 30 27 30 27 30 27 78 94 79 s w s w s w 634 do. 14 30 27 30 20 30 20 72 84 72 s w SE s w 31 695 Cloudy. 15 30 14 30 14 30 — 74 90 74 s w s w NW 670 Clear. 16 20 90J20 90 30 10 72 82 69 s w N W NW 633 do. 17 30 30 30 44 30 56 60 68 60 N W NW s w 622 do. 18 30 64|30 60 30 52 54 71 62 NW s w s w 619 do. 19 30 38 30 38 30 30 64 79 68 S \V s w N W 38 660 Cloudy. 20 30 — 30 — 30 — 69 75 69 SE NW NW 1.62 680 do. 21 29 90 30 — 30 12 65 72 62 s w s w NW 650 Clear. 22 30 36130 36 30 40 58 70 62 N W NW N W 645 do. 23 30 57i30 57 30 57 55 70 60 NW NW N W 642 do. 24 30 50 30 50 30 50 58 73 62 NTS E NE S W 648 do. 25 30 44 30 44 30 44 59 74 68 calm S W>S W 650 do. 26 30 44J30 30 30 30 64 75 73 S W s ws w 07 718 Variable. 27 30 30:30 16 30 16 70 77 74 S W s s 800 Cloudy. 28 30 16'30 16 30 — 73 83 75 S SE SE 03 832 do. 29 30 —30 - 30 — 73 78 72 S SE SE 834 do. 30 30 — 30 — 30 12 68 77 70 NW NW NW 750 Clear. The quantity of rain in this month, was three inches and 40-100ths. The thermometrical range for September, was considerably higher than for the same month in the preceding year. It was unusually moist, especially towards the latter part. Very thick fogs and light winds, on the mornings of the third, ninth, twenty-fourth and twenty-sixth. The autumnal equinox, made its appearance at 10 p. M. on the nineteenth, and continued until the evening of the twentieth. The sun was obscured, on the greatest part of the fourteenth, and completely so on the twentieth, twenty-sixth and twenty- seventh. The thermometer placed in the sun, on the sixth, at 2 p. m. stood at one hundred and six. Thunder, lightning and rain, on the second and fourth Lightning on the evenings of the eleventh and thirteenth. The rain on the first, tenth and nineteenth, fell in the night. 229 METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, FOR OCTOBER,1822. Made at the New-York Hospital, by Richard Pennd, M. D. 1 # j BAROMETER. THERMOME-TER. WINDS ! x a y < ■< WEATHER. c 7 | 2 9 7 2 9 7 2 9 : * z, 3 H \. MP. M. P. M. A.M. P. M P.M. A.M. P.M. P.M. 0 £ 1 30 27 30 27 30 27 58 65 56 N W w w V W 710 Clear. 2 JO 30130 30 30 46 53 58 54 N W N E V E 696 Cloudy. '■> 30 47 30 40 30 36 51 62 55 N E N K V E 690 Variable. 4 JO 3030 30 30 SO 54 72 62 N E N E »f E 687 Clear. 5 30 3030 30 ■r>0 30 58 73 63 N E N E V E 693 do. 6 30 30130 30 30 30 59 73 61 N E S E S E 710 do. 7 30 25 30 19 30 10 65 78 68 S E S E S E 724 Cloudv. 8 30 08;30 08 30 08 65 80 65 N W N W N W 0.7 730 Clear." 9 30 2030 20 30 18 55 73 63 N W s w 3 W 730 do. 10 30 15 30 15 30 10 67 75 70 S W s w S W .11 735 Cloudy. 11 30 04 30 — 30 — 70 78 72 S W s w s w .03 780 do. 121.50 —30 - 30 15 65 74 61 S W s w S W 825 do. 13i30 25 30 24 30 30 64 74 58 S W s w s w 770Clear. Ui.iO 3.3 30 45 30 45 51 66 56 N E N E N E 732iCloudy. 15J30 45 30 45 30 45 49 63 54 N W N W IV vv 686,Clear. l(J30 45 30 40 30 3-i 52 70 62 * W W 672!Cloudy. 17 30 22 30 20 30 20 56 73 62 w w s w 632!Clear. 18 30 20 30 14 30 10 59 73 67 s w s w s w 687 Cloudy. 1'J 30 10 30 — 30 -- 63 83 70 s w s w s w 725 do. 20 30 — 29 97 29 86 71 84 72' s w S W s' W 02 732 do. 21 29 75 30 — 30 20 71 68 62 s N W V w 686 do. . 22 30 26 30 34 30 40 52 75 49 Jn w N W iV w 680 Clear. 23 30 40 30 40 30 40 37 58 45 s N N 657 do. 24 30 40 30 34 30 22 43 54 44 w N N 632 Cloudy, 25 30 20 30 30 30 36 40 54 42 N E n r. V E 623 do. 26 30 40 30 40 30 40 3G 54 46 N E N E .V E 622 do. 27 30 35 30 ie 30 04 42 49 46 N E n y. N E 1.42 640 do. 28 29 68 29 60 29 60 49 55 46 N E IV W N W .67 655 do. 29 29 60 29 80 29 87 45 54 45 W W W 650 do. 30 29 95 29 90 30 03 41 54 48 w \V W 650 Clear. 31 30 65 30 — 30 — 42 68 56 s \\ 's W s w l 650 do. The quantity of rain which fell this month, is thirty-two inches, and 82-100ths. The weather, during the month of October, was for the most part, pleasant and dry, although the commencement was humid. The nights were gene- rally clear and starry. On the mornings of the fourth and eighteenth, there were heavy dews, with fogs and light winds. The same was observed on the second, eleventh, fourteenth, twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth. On tiie twenty-third, there was ice at the village of Bloomingdale, and at Hoboken, a few miles from this city; but the thermometer it will be seen, was at seven o'clock on the same morning, thirty-seven degrees, in a south east exposure. The rain, on the seventh, fell a short time before sun rise. 230 Professor Griscom addressed to the Board of Health dur- ing the prevalence of the Yellow Fever, several well writ- ten letters, recommending an experiment of the acid fumi- gation, for the purpose of putting a stop to the ravages of the disease. The following letter is the concluding one of the series. To the Board of Health of the city of New- York. As the Board of Health have thought proper to persevere in the application of lime, &c. to the pavements of our streets, and thus to confine themselves to one view only of the cause and progress of the disease, I have thought there might be some benefit, while the subject is still fresh upon the minds of our citizens, in once more turning their atten- tion to the fallacy and pertinacity of those objections that have been made against the application of acid vapours. To cover the pavement of a city with any substance whatever which emits no diffusible ernanation, for the cure of a dis- eased condition of the atmosphere, appears to me to be too much like the application of a plaister to the sole of the footj for a pain in the shoulder or a disease of the lungs. One plain conclusion must, I think, be formed in every unbiassed mind, who reflects a moment on the subject—that the most certain mode of changing a poisonous state of the atmosphere, would be to throw into such an atmosphere some substance, which spreading throughout the whole mass of air, would come in contact with the deleterious particles, and by the effect of chemical attraction, neutralize their acrimony and destroy their virulence. The only thing then to be desired, is to discover some substance, sufficiently active and appro- priate, and which, naturally existing in the form of vapour, can be transmitted through a given region of air, so as to fill with its pungent fumes, nearly the whole of that region. The ancient physicians knew nothing of any substance capable of such diffusion, except those which were pro- duced by the burning of certain combustible matters. To these they had recourse iu time of pestilence, but probably 231 without effect, a few of the vapours thus produced are pos- sessed of much activity. But the discoveries of Pneumatic Chemistry, have brought to light a number of airs or gasses, possessed of surprising energy, and which without any ex- travagant expense, can be produced in sufficient quantity to impregnate the air of a whole city. It was natural there- fore, for chemists to look to such substances as the likeliest means of correcting an infected atmosphere; and as far as it might be practicable for them, to spread and diffuse those corrosive gasses, it was as natural for tnem to presume that any serial poison they should meet with, would be altered or destroyed, as that mercury or antimony would change the poison of disease in the animal constitution. The first attempt on record to employ acid vapours in the way alluded to, was by Dr. James Johnson, who made use of fumigation by muriatic acid gas, in an epidemic fever which prevailed at Kidderminster, in England, in seventeen hundred and fifty-six. In this, it appears, he was success- ful, for in " an historical dissertation concerning that epi- demic, which he published in seventeen hundred and fifty- eight, he recommends the use of this remedy on all similar occasions. But public attention does not appear to have been much drawn to this process, until the year seventeen hundred and ninety-five, when the experiment made by direction of Dr. .Tames Carmichael Smyth, in disinfecting the Union Hos- pital ship at Sheerness, and a number of Russian ships just then arrived in England with an infectious fever on board, was so conspicuous and satisfactory, that upon a represen- tation of the benefits resulting, and likely to result from acid fumigations in such cases, a reward of 5000/. was granted to Dr. Smyth by Parliament. From the clear and candid statements of Menzies, surgeon of H. M. sloop Discovery, who at the request of Dr. Smyth, undertook the manage- ment of the experiment on board the Union, the following facts appear. From the third of September, seventeen hun- dred and ninety-five, when the fever first made it appear- ance on board the Union, it continued to spread with pro- 232 gressive malignity until the twenty-sixth of November, when the fumigations were commenced. Ten persons had been seized with the disease in September, eight in October, and twelve in November; in all thirty, of whom eight had died. From the commencement of the fumigation, till the twenty- fifth of December, (a whole month) " not one person on board was attacked with the fever. Their despondency was changed into joy, and their fear into confidence ; but as very great confidence is always dangerous, it proved so in the present instance. On the seventeenth of December, they imagined themselves so secure, that they discontinued the custom of fumigating the ship morning and evening, thinking that once a day was sufficient; the trial perhaps was worth hazarding, but on the twenty-fifth of December, one of the nurses suffered a slight attack, and on the twenty-sixth a marine, who for a week had been in a state of intoxica- tion, was seized with the fever, of which he died. These two accidents gave immediate alarm ; they returned again to the practice of fumigating twice a day, and from that time to the end of the disorder, there has not been an instance of a person suffering from contagion on board the ship. But the advantage of the fumigation was not felt by the ships company and attendants alone, whom it preserved from the baneful effects of the fever; the sick and convalescents de- rived almost an equal benefit from it. The symptons of the disease were ameliorated and lost much of their malignant appearance." (Smyth's account, p. 55.) It thus appears, that during a month after the commencement of the new process, not a single case occurred, and of the two that happened on the relaxation of the remedy, one was very slight, and the fatal termination of the other was in all probability the con- sequence of the vitiated state of the patients constitution from habitual intemperance. On the fourth of January, the surgeon wrote thus, " As a week has now elapsed since any person has been attacked with the disease, notwithstanding we daily receive patients in the same putrid petechial fever from the ships lately arivedfrom sea, I have every reason to expect our being once more a 233 whole ship." On the thirteenth of January, he states, " I have to acquaint you that since we began again to fumigate the ship twice a day, no one has been attacked with the fever, although there are several carpenters at work, in altering the Necessaries which are nearly completed on the lower gun deck, and are to be altered immediately on the other deck." On the third of February, his account is: "I have the pleasure to inform you that the contagion seems now to be totally extinct, no one having been attacked with the fever from the twenty-sixth of December last, and only two since the twenty-sixth of November, the time when the fumigation was begun. I therefore, now consider the ex- periment as complete, and containing sufficient, evidence to convince any one that the contagion in the hospital, on board the Union, has through Divine Providence, been destroyed by the fumigation you recommended. The sick bear itper- fectly well, and as the acid vapour keeps the ship sweet, it is my intention to continue it constantly, if I am permitted so to do. I most sincerely congratulate you on the success of this business." (Smyth's account, p. 34.) Attemps have been made to invalidate the result of this demonstrative experiment, by alledging that at the time the fumigations were made, extraordinary attention was paid to washing and ventilation. This, however, was not the fact; much praise on the contrary, is bestowed upon the Surgeon who had charge of the hospital, prior to the commencement of Dr. Smyth's process. Dr. Smyth, indeed, directed that the body-clothes, and bed-clothes of the sick, should as much as possible, be exposed to the nitrous vapour, and that all the dirty linen should be immersed in cold water, rinsed, dried and fumigated before it was taken to the wash-house. This appears to be the only additional charge relative to cleanliness, given by Dr. Smyth, except that the bedsteads were occasionally washed with diluted muriatic acid. It is true that, in the course of the fumigation, the Surgeon who had the direction of it, pointed out to the commanding officer, the unpleasant effect resulting from the form and position of the privies. "Seven of them on tlie lower deck, and two 234 on the middle deck, were made with small funnels that pierced the sides of the ship in a slanting direction, and gen- erally retained the soil, unless it was washed away, which troublesome and dangerous office fell to the lot of the nurses, and doubtless tended to spread the contagion among them." The correction of this evil has been urged also by the opponents of Dr. Smyth, as the cause of the relief which the sick experienced; but it happens that this salutary al- teration of removing the privies from the inside to the out- side of the ship, and cutting down the lower edge of the port holes to form entrances to them from the hospital, was not effected until after the middle of January; that is, nearly a month after the last case of fever occurred, and but a few days before the infection was pronounced to be extinct! It appears from the whole tenour of Dr. Smyth's apparently candid statement, that there is nothing on the score of cleanliness and ventilation, that can possibly be made to account for the striking and immediate change which took place in the condition of the marine hospital, except by those that are determined at all hazards, to laugh at a rem- edy which is at variance with their preconceived notion of the cause of infection, or of the means they have been ac- customed to employ to guard against its extension. Of this class, the only one among British medical writers worthy of note, is Dr. Trotter, an author of considerable ability and estimation. Either because (being himself a Physician in tlie British navy) he was animated by the spirit of rivalry and envy, or from motives which are not at this distance apparent, he appears to have armed himself in hostility to tlie process of Dr. Smyth, and endeavours, by chemical reasoning as well as by ridicule, to bring it into disrepute, and to outsmoke the fumigation itself. Nothing, however, can be more wretched than his chemistry, as eve- ry one acquainted with the science, who reads his Medicina Nautica, will be convinced. In his zeal against Dr. Smyth, he undertakes to shew in a letter to the admiralty, that the foul and infectious effluvium from a ship is "azote or mephi- tic air. This is of animal origin, and abounds whenever 235 the air is polluted by breathing animals, as between the decks of a ship. Now, this azote is the base of nitrous acid; they only differ in the degree of combination with oxygen, and in proportion to the quantity it attracts of this principle, it is calhd azote, azotic gas, nitrous gas, nitrous acid, nitric acid. In short, Dr. Smyth's preventive is the very sub- stance that every intelligent officer is hourly employed to drive from the decks of his majesty's ships" ! * If any young medical student should now write and pub- lish such reasoning as this, he would meet, in the eye of every scientific physician, a severe reprimand, and be sent back to his studies. The composition of the atmosphere had been then known for twenty years, and the nature and habitudes of azote for a dozen years, and yet it would seem that there had not been time for this knowledge to reach the understanding of Dr. Trotter. In the answer which he received by direction of the Admiralty, written and signed by Drs. Blair and Blane, (now Sir Gilbert Blane) he met with a deserved rebuke for his ignorance, and yet his vanity induces him to publish it, but with a salvo which involves his philosophy in a still deeper mist. "There is no great difference (he says in his excuse) between azotic gas and nitrous gas; and I contend that the latter, however diluted by common air, is in direct opposition to the purposes we intend by a free ventilation"! It is no wonder that such a, chemist as this, should say, as he does afterwards with a flourish of the pen, "For my own part I never see or hear of the operation for diffusing the nitrous gas in his majesty's ships, and the arrangement of the pipkins, but it brings to my remembrance the succession of images and crucifixes in Roman Catholic countries, which are carried about the streets by priests and friars, to deprecate Divine vengeance, during pestilence and famine, or some dreadful convulsion of nature." In fact, Dr. Trotter most evidently mistakes the nitric acid vapour, given out by Dr. Smyth's process, for nitrous gas, a substance entirely different in its affinities and applications. * Medieiua EautiS 3<---T7>4-€ Sept. 8 9 10 11 Mrs. R. Bogart, « Richard Welsh, . John Carney, . . Lorinda Wood, . Ouperre Christey, Alexander Deforest, William Taite, . Mr. Fisher, . . Abel Corton, . . George Van Dyke, William Jones, Peier Symers, Nathan Dusenberry, John Hertell, . . Catharine Hume, Nancy Stewart, . Mary Colfax, . . Mary Merritt, . . Thomas Peterson, Caroline Berault, Richard Parks, Catharine M'Gafferty, Mary Dugan, . . . ii i i ■ i iir ■ ■ m in Place of Residence in the Sickly Districts, &c =3C= i ir " " "....... Place qf Residence, or qf Removal. out of Sickly Districts. 14 Thames-street, . Had frequented the district, 5 Courtlandt-street, Broadway, 42 Courtlandt-street, Cor. Beaver & New streets, N. W. cor. Liberty & Nassau, Sugar house in Liberty st. Cor. Nassau & Pine-streets, Reed-street, near the river, Carrier to National Advocate Cor. Liberty & Nassau-sts. Cartman, staud foot Dye-st. 164 Broadway, 4 do. Residence unknown 69 Courtlandt-street do. Shop cor. M. lane &Wm. st. Broad, near Wall-street, City Hotel, . 4 Greenwich street, Fulton-st. near Broadway, Cor. Spring & Washington-sts Removed to the country, 81 Orange-street, . Saugatuck, Connecticut, 21 Orchard-street, . 69 Chrystie-street, Staten-Island, do. 3 Pike-street, 27 Orange-street, . Wooster, near Prince-street, Green, near Spring-street, Staten-Island, do. . 22 Vandewater-street, Bloomingdale, 152 Leonard-street, 514 Pearl street, 89 Nassau street, . Day on whick hey sickened. Day on whick they died- Aug. Sept. 31 Sept. 9 or Date of Report. PERSONS NAMES. Sept. 11 12 13 14 IS Nancy Low, . . Emilia A. Morse, William Shoe, Thomas Van Beuren Frederick Forsyth, Charles Merritt, . John Hulsbart, Mary Carney, . George G. Warren, D- Jaques, . • • Mary Ann Ragan, . George Davidson, Betsey Pheler, Ann Maria Walsh, Thomas Sharon, . Gideon Tucker, . Abraham Gordon, Thomas Smith, . John Gritman, George Hamilton, James Kewin, . . John Richards, Mrs. R. Bunn. Place of Residence in the Sickly Districts, &c. Place of Residence, or of Removal, Day on which Day od „.. «< f,'^/.i ni'rf«V/t. they sick eped. they ( Had frequented the district, Courtlandt-street, Washington-street, Had frequented the district, 69 Courtlandt-street, do. Night watch, . 5 Courtlandt-street, Broadway, Had frequented the district, 13 Broad-street, Broadway, near Courtlandt, 11 Dey street, 46 Broadway, Was at the foot of Reed-st. Had frequented the district, Day and night watch, 6 John-st. shop in Dey st. Day and night watch, Cor. WhitehaR & Stone-st. do. Broadway & Liberty-st. do. Liberty & Nassau-sts. 69 William-street. . out oj Sickly Districts. 22 Ferry-street, Hubert-street, Staten-Island, 22 Ferry-street, 6 Jefferson-street, Kip's Bay, City of Boston, New-Jersey, 2 James-slip, 28 Barclay-street, 8 Harrison-street, . Bloomfield, New-Jersey, Greenwich village, 5 White street, 71 Crosby-street, . Grand street, 49 Sullivan-street, 50 Mercer-street, 8 Thomas-street, North-street, Sept. Sepl 11 10 5 13 12 11 13 8 10 14 thick they died. Sept. * # # * *' 12 12 9 11 16 13 10 16 18 15 Date qf Report. 15 PERSONS NAMES. Sarah, a colored woman Ralph Smith, John Davis, . . John O'Donnel, . Isaac Stoughtenburgh Martin M'Phelan, 16 Fanny Snow, . . Mrs. Cary, . . George W. Mott, Michael Ferguson, Paul Spear, Mr. Lynch, John Stevenson, sen John H in ton, . 17 William Cisco, Charles Osborn, Mrs. C. Osborn, Mrs. R. Smith, Sarah Green, . James Monte e, James Watson, James H. Woodhull, Edward Murphy, r~ " ----J\ ■ '+ ,.*-ys— ■ - Place qf Residence in the Sickly Districts, &c. » 'i 'i -r >*—-------*>s.--------->\----------" Place qf Residence, or of RemovaU Day on which out of Sickly Districts. they gickeued. 69 William street, 22| Nassau st. 199 Fulton st. 28 Lumber st. Cor. Liberty &i Washington, City Hotel, 4 Lombardy at. do. do. . 44 Beaver st. 188 Greenwich-street, 3 Broad street, 11 Dutch street, Had frequented the district, do. 15 Stone st. . do. 22i Nassau st. Cor. Moore and Pearl st. 42 Broadway, 96 Broad street, 35 Maiden-lane, Mill street, Staten-Island, Staten Island, do. do. do. Long Island, Sullivan, near Houston st. 357 Broadway, 231 Church street, Cor. Charleton & Washington st Staten Island, relapsed, 61 Mott street, Sept. 14 14 Day on whio they died. Sept. 19 11 17 14 17 15 - 9 13 * 20 19 # 14 23 15* 15* lejoct. . 16j* *■ 16* 14^ 1 ;■ * Date qf Report. PERSONS MAMES. Sept. 17 18 19 20 23 Benjamin Archer, Peter Griffin, Amelia L. Adams, . Sarah Reeves, . Joseph Wyble, Catharine Parker, Mrs. Harris, James North, . Mrs. Daley, Peter Langois, . Mrs. Bennet, William Gray, . John Decker, second, Patrick Boyl, . Alexander Benthuysen Henry F. Jaques, Betsey Griffith, Joseph Nelson, . James Fowler, . Martin Hauser, . . Ellen M'Cormick, . Emeline Brown, . . [Hannah Brown, . . Place of Residence in the Sickly Districts, &c. Shop in John st. Worked in Wall st. . 197 Fulton st. 10 Old-slip, Worked in Fletcher st. 8 Beaver st. . Broad, near Beaver st. Cor. Nassau and Liberty st 23 Broad st. . 43 Courtlandt st. do. Was on board the sick boat, 4 Front st Worked cor. Wash. & Beav'r do. Wm. & Pine st 29 Pearl st. . 3 State st. Cor. Broad and Garden sts. Had frequented the district, Worked in Liberty st 124 Fly Market, 18 Cheapside st. do, . Place of Residence, or of Removal, out of Sickly District. Cor. Church and Canal st. 11 Anthony-st Charlton, near Hudson st. 19 Henry st. Greenwich Village, Newark, New-Jersey Staten Island, do. 76 Reed st. Day-watchman, 547 Pearl st. 195 Church st. 22 Walker st. 43 Harrison st. Stuyvesant st. 252 William st. Day on which thev sickened, Day on which they died. Sep. 131 i* iScpt. 17* 14* 15 19* 19 17 19 21 °2 22 20 IM 24 2G 20 19 PERSONS NAMES. Nathaniel Ward, Catharine Bayley, Murtagh Byrne, Amelia Willcox, Patty Benthuysen, . Reuben Bunn, Sophia Bunn, Miss Ward, John Conklin, . John Biterman, . . John Haywood, . Isaac Hadley, Richard Scott, . Diary Mosier, Mrs. Fraitus, Harman Hautman, . Daughter of C. Wilcox, Wife of C.Wilcox, . Daughter of B. Wilcox Henry Brush, . Moses Randolph, Ann Smith, Peggy Watts, Place of Residence in the Sickly Districts, &c. 20 Cheapside-street, 12 do. 124 Fly-Market, . 66 Pine-street, 124 Washington-street, 60 William-street, . do. 22 Cheapside-street, . 177 Fulton-street, . Sugarhouse, Liberty-8treet, 133 Wafer-street, . Broad, near Stone-street, Had frequented Maiden-lane, 125 Bancker-street, . Cor. Pearl and State streets, Sugar-house, Liberty-street, 66 Pine-street, do. do. Had frequented the district, Was at cor of Nassau &John, Liberty-street, 23 Broad street, Place qf Residence, or of Removal\ Day on which out of Sickly Districts. theysii:kened- 15 3 Crosby-street, 107 Mott-street, 122 Bancker street, # Bloomingdale, 117 Forsyth-street, Removed from 18 Broadway, do. do. Cor. Cherry and Pelham sts. 14 Thomas-street, Corner Cherry and Walnut sts Sept. Day on whick they died. Sept. 21 - 21 17 16 20 20 15 22 22i* 22:* 24 Date of Report. PERSONS NAMES. 23 John Murphy, . Martin Earl, . Marcus Earle, . Phillis Crogcr, Clara Morris, . John Cowen, . John T. Varian, Elizabeth Pike, 24 Mrs. (name suppressed,) Mrs. (do.) Alexander Murray, Eliza Holloway, Daniel C. Hopkins, Mary Mingay, Victor Bicker, . Mrs. T. Allen, Robert Williams, Frederick Wys, Andrew Murray, John Johnson, . iSarah Claar, \Mrs. E. Bayley, \Miss E. Bayley, Place oj' Residence in the Sickly Districts, &c. 48 Pearl-street, Had frerjueuted tbe district, do. 16 Cheapside-street, 15 Chapel-strewt, Murray-st. near the river, 67 Water-street, 90 Water street, Cor.Courtlandt &Greenwich Had been down Broadway, 35 Maiden-lane, 113 Chamber-st. Lewis, near Delancy-street, 3 State-street, U3 Beaver-street, Duane-st. near Broadway, Had frequented the district, 11 Dutch-street, 33 Nassau-street, do. Had been in the district, Nursed at 12 Cheapside-st. do. . Place of tlcsidence, or oj Removal] i;ay on win-i OUt Of Sickly Districts. I tn.y-'icU-ne.-i i*;iyon which ttiev died. 99 Vesey-street, do. 143 Orange-jtreet, Staten-Island, do. Bjohwick, Long-Island, do. City of Jersey, Said she had not been lower down Had only been to Pike-street, 69 Cliff-street, Staten Island, Hoboken, New-Jersey, . Staten Island, do. . 75 Cherry-street, Staten Island, do. Sept. 13 Sept. 22r 20 20 21 21 23 23 24 20 23 2 4 Date qf Report. Sept. 25 26 28 Gilbert H, Rodgers, John Smith, Andrew Gaillaig, William Winslow, Rebecca Whelan, . William Gautier's son, Henry Armstrong, John Williams, Andrew Dickson, Samuel M. Isaacs, John Davis, Nicholas Baisley, Matthew Pope, James Ransom, Sarah Caldwell, Jacob Vreeland, . Isabella Bulklcy, Ann Dickson, Ann Smith, John Robinson, A lad, (name unknown,) Harriet Woodhull, Margaret Scott, Place of Residence in the Sickly Districts, &c. 336 Pearl-street, . . Carted tan in district, 74 Coffee-house slip, Had been in the district, 8 Birmingham st. . 63 Nassau street, . 163 Washington st. 2Q Lombardy street, 15 Water street, 42 Washington st. do. Had been in the district, do. Was at fire in Catharine st. 30 Water st. Catharine, op'site Cheapside 31 Cheapside st. 15 Water st. 6 John st- Water st. 42 Broad st. 35 Maiden lane, 60 Broad st. , Place of Residence, or qf Removal, Day out of Sickly Districts. 6 Lewis st. 131 Delancy st. . Staten Island, Brooklyn, Long Island, Staten Island, do. do. Brooklyn, Long Island, do. do. 470 Grand street, 547 Greenwich st. 3 Varick street, 39 Bancker street, Staten Island, West Chester, 6 White street, Staten Island, Day on which Day on which they sickened. they died. Sept. 27 26 Sept. 24 # 24 * 23 * * 27 28 26 19 25 9 * 13 22 25 * 17 * 24 24 28 27 24 % 2f Dale of Report. PERSONS NAMES. Sept. 28 2G 30 7? Oct. Margaret Cowan, Gustavus Du Clare, No case reported, Solomon Day, Miss Murphy, . Mary M'Laughlin, James M:Curdy, Perry Brown, . Abraham Warner, Alfred Brightly, Polly Haywood, John Tjadda, No case reported, John Hull, Nancy Hull, Margaret Rich, Nicholas Gevlot, Moses Ward, Mr. Cochrane, James Philmore, Laura Lawler, . Edward Kerney, Mary Page, Place qf Residence in the Sickly Districts, &c. Place of Residence, or of Removal, out of Sickly Districts. Day on which they sickened. Day on wliich they died. ---------- Residence unknown, Ship Elb, Watchman, 51 Pearl-street, 10 Dutch street, 3 Moore-street, 11 Chesnut-street, . 41 Beaver-street, 80 Water-street, 138 do. 28 Lombardy, 50 Pearl-street, do. 66 Pine-street, 44 Maiden-lane, Had frequented upper district Cor. of John and Gold sts. Front, near Walnut-street, 50 Pearl-street, do. 12 Ferry-street, Staten Island, Washington, near Charlton st. Kip's Bay, Was in the upper district, Woodbridge, New-Jersey, A day and night watch, Staten Island, do. . Cor. Water & Scammel streets, . . , . Had worked at Gouverneur-st. Had not been from home, Oct. K * if Sept. 26:« 29J* 29 * * Sept. 30 30 30 30 29 Oct. 5 30 5 •* * 3 • 28 3 Oct. 2 * T ., Date qf Report Oct. € 9 PERSONS NAMES. Joseph Jones, William Thomas, Elisha Harris, . Catharine Dempsey, John Polhemus, . Philip Garnis, Letty Farly, John Voorhies, James Voorhies, William Roberts, jun Mrs. Hutchings, Agur Beach, Jsmes Morril, James White, John Garland, Mrs. Lyon, Sarah Eetchum, Josiah Balsdon, John Stroebel, James Thompson, Mrs. Davenport, Henry P. White, Ebeoezer T. Grant, Place of Residence in the Sickly Districts, &c. Place qf Residence, or of Removal, out qf Sickly Districts. 19 Garden-street, 97 William-street, 1 Old-slip, 88 Front-street, Day watchman, do. 28 Lombardy-street, Cor. John and Nassau-street, do. , 39 Maiden-lane, do. , 496 Grand street, Carted in the district, 10 Dutch street, 19 Water street, 11 Ann street, 29 Gold street, 5 68 Water street, 4ad frequented the district, terse-driver, Alms-house, Residence unknown, Had been in the district, do. New-Canaan, Connecticut, ... Green, near Broome st. 16 James st. Had not been in the districts, 7 Ludlow street, Staten Island, 44 Nassau street, 15 Augustus st. 69 Frankfort street, 205 William street, Day on which they sicken* d. Oct. Day on whick they died. Oct. 16 15 10 10 8 cc PERSONS MAME8. John Brisland, . Mrs. Mount, Mr. Kerr, Elisabeth Skinner, Michael Morris, Joel Hodges, . • Bryant Farley, Edward Ragen, »1 Catharine Dailey, Patrick Phelan, 12 John Ernring, . 13 Mary Laiddy, . John Dempsey, 14 Jane Wareham, 15 Thomas Stevens, Anthony Verhoef, , Thomas Pearson, Dennis Mahony, 16 Christian Nestell, George Whitty, ]7 Lorenzo Wendelker, Samuel Reed, Mary Kirkt • Date oj Report. Oct. 9 10 Place of Residence in the Sickly Districts, &c. 343 Water street, 60 William street, Had been low as Franklin sq 35 Lombardy street, Hackdriver, 125 Anthony st Cartman, (no case,) 28 Lombardy street, 52 do. 36 do. Cor. Front and Depeyster st Employed to distribute lime, 28 Lombardy street, 38 Front street, 67 Water st. d9 William street, . 1 Water st. 105 William street, do. 31 Catharine st. 118Banckerst Sugar-house, Liberty st \ city watchman, 90 Bancker st. ■-■ ■ it'- jr ■ if j- -1 ■ ji - -----> — Place of Residence, or qf Removal out of Sickly District. Worked along shore, Broome street, Bloomingdale, Staten-Island, 18 Spring street, . Remittant fever, 19 Cross street, • • • • Staten Island, Was a private watchman 33 Allen street, • . « • 263 Mott street, 115 Cherry street, . Cor. Vesey and Washington sts Day on which Uiey sickened. Oct 10 11 Day on which they died. Oct. * 10 10 14 12 11 15 17 16 14 16 17 22 17 crt * Date qf Report. PERSONS NAMES. Oct. 17 Isabella Blakeley, James Witty, . . Joseph Curiel, Martin Keougb, . Abraham Ball, David Willaon, . Ann Thorburn, 18 Etienne Vidal, Robert Smith, John Freeman, . Jane M'Cartney, . Christopher Burns, William Nettle, . 19 Israel Eldred, . . Patrick Denn, Warren Thompson, Mary Clark, . . Elizabeth Crawford, Clarissa Chappeau, Andrew Phelan, . Elizabeth Ball, . Catharine Welsh, . 20 Mary Richards, . Place qf Residence in the Sickly Districts, &c. Cor. Vesey & Wash'gton-st. 118 Bancker street, 349 Water-street. 343 do. 67 do. 116 Broadway, 96 Catharine-street, 32 William-street. 349 Water-street, 343 do. 45'r Nassau-street, 48 Pearl-street, 50 do. Visited Rector-st. «th Oct Was at 94 Broadway, Had frequented the district 31 Lombardy-street 128 Bancker-street, do. Cor. Front & Depeyster-st 07 Water street, Had frequented Lombardy 45* Nassau street, st Place of Residence, or of Removal. out of Sickly Districts. Worked along shore, Worked at the foot of Dover st. Worked along shore, do. Staten Island, Bloomingdale, 62 Barclay-street, Cor. Greenwich & Barclay sts 217 Chapel-street, Day on which they sickened. Staten-Island, do. Oct. 12 Day on wliics they died Oct 18 17 18 IS 16 16 15 19 20 18 23 19 22 20 20 20 19 21 Oct 20 William Gordon, Abigail Bradford, Alexander Rankin, No case reported, Sally Walker, Mathew Ferguson, Sophia Farfer, Catharine Jones, . Alexander Butler, Hannah Carpenter, Hannah M'Norton, Henrietta Jones, . William Sargeant, 26JNo cases reported, 21 22 23 24 25 =s; BC=3|t Place of Residence in the Sickly Districts, &c I nil ----------"----------'----------"----- Place of Residence, or of Removal, out qf Sickly Districts Cor. John & Williamsts. West, near Vesey-street, 48 Pearl-street, 67 Water-street, 37 Lombardy-street, Was twice thro' Broadway, 7 Cheapside street, Water, near Catharine-st. 51 Water-street, do. 7 Cheapside-street, 3 Moore-street, Had returned from the country, 48 Spring-street, Canal, corner Greenwich-st Staten Island, Day on which Day on which they sickened. Oct 19 21 21 22 they died * Oct. „ 22 22 24 24 23 * # 30 The following Cases were not Reported lo the Board. They all sickened, however, except John Macord, previa ous to the 26/A October, the day on which the Board of Health adjourned. Date of Report. Oct Nov. 27 28 29 30 31 4 PERSONS NAMES. Josiah Murray, . Samuel Devoe, Thomas Bower, . Mary Carrol, . Vlarston Lawrence, Catharine Kelly, Susan Archard, Henry Goodrich, John Reed, Henry G. Wendle, ftelarmine Leiand, John Macord, Place qf Residence in the Sickly Districts, & c. 3*$-e Place of Residence, or of Removal, out of Sickly Districts. 26 Front-street, 19 Water st. 7 Ferry st. Pike-st Found sick in the street, Old-slip, Kesidence unknown, 68 Vesey-st. Grand st. Pikest. Water st. Residence unknown, Day on which they sickened Day on which they died. Oct. Nov. 27 27 28 23 28 29 29 30 30 31 31 4 NOTE. The Names printed in italics, are those who contracted the diwase in Cheapside and Lombardy streets, and their vicinity, usually designated as the Upper District Those who recovered from tbe effects of the disease, are marked thus, ( *) opposite their names in the last column. A number of the cases were reported after the death of the persons had occurred; some of them several days after the event happened. 263 The following Communications were addressed to the Board of Health, during the sickriess of eighteen hundred and twenty-two, and are selected in addition to those in the body of the work, from a great number of similar import, as claiming the most interest; and also, as specimens of the various methods proposed by the gentlemen of the faculty, for the extermination of the supposed cause of the epidemic with which we were afflicted. New-York, August 27, 1822. To the President of the Board of Health of New-York, Sir. Your attention having been lately called to the pyrolig- neous acid, as the means of destroying contagion; permit me to state my opinions respecting its utility. Rely upon it, pyroligneous acid may do very well to wash down the infected walls of a house or hospital; but you must either be at an enormous expense, if you attempt to destroy the contagion of Yellow Fever, as it now exists in the city, or you will fail in your attempt. We are in possession of far greater antiseptics than it. One ounce of lunar caustic, put into twelve thousand ounces of water, will keep it from putrifying for ever. I however, merely mention this as a fact, without having the slightest intention of recommend- ing its being used on the present occasion. There is still one means of destroying contagion, which I do most sin cerely recommend to you, and that is muriatic acid gas. I appeal to every man of science, and physician in the city, that muriatic acid gas coming plentifully in contact with contagion destroys it. I admit, however, that while few will dispute its power when shut up in a house, many a one will be a good deal sceptical of its application out of doors. I also grant, that in the open air, its power of destroying contagion owing to its diffusing itself through the air would be greatly diminished. But in fumigating the gutters, (for they, and not the streets are the true source of contagion,) a very simple contrivance will prevent the muriatic acid 264 gas from passing into the atmosphere. I shall merely point out the principle. A piece of the very coarsest calico painted on both sides, of a sufficient breadth, is to be ex- tended along the gutters, as far as you please, held down on each side of the gutter, by bricks placed on it at small distances. This would for a mere trifle, form a complete awning, under which, pots containing common salt, and sulphuric acid poured over it might be placed, to give out the muriatic acid gas. In the infected district where the houses are shut up, the same mode of fumigation should be had recourse to. In streets and houses still occupied, nitre might be substituted for the salt; and in laying down the awning along the gutters, indeed during the whole of the process, those employed in carrying it into effect, should be surrounded with nitric acid gas, as it can be safely breath- ed. This subject is of the very highest importance, and de- serves your serious consideration, while this plan if pro- perly conducted, would in a few days eradicate the Yellow lever from the city. I am sir, your most obedient servant, ROBERT MUTER, M. D. To the Board of Health of the City of New-York. The Board of Health having evinced a desire to receive the suggestions of medical men and others in relation to the means of arresting the progress of the prevailing fever, and being about to make experiments, if I am rightly informed, with the pyroligneous acid, and the oxymuriatic acid gas. I beg leave to offer a few remarks on the subject. The noxious emanations by whatsoever term they may be designated must either arise from the surface of the earth or from some substances in a state of decomposition above it, and from whichsoever of these sources they may derive their origin, it would appear evident that the supply of them must be great, because their influence has pervaded a large ex- tent of atmosphere. 265 Placed in the responsible stations of guardians of the pub- lic health at this period of calamity, the Board of Health will no doubt deem it a duty to guard against every possible source of danger, and will not be satisfied to provide against those causes of disease which any one of the conflicting theories may contemplate. With these views of what the public expect of them, it will occur to the Board, that if, as some believe, the unknown something which causes the disease arise from the surface of the earth and mix itself with the atmosphere, it must in a greater or less degree be sub- ject to all the locomotive changes which that atmosphere is constantly undergoing. It must rise when the air in which it is ditfuss^d is lighter than that which surrounds it, and vice-versa ; and it must be carried along horizontally by every current of the air in which it floats. The tenacity with which this substance retains its noxious power, may be judged of by reflecting on the distance at which a foul ves- sel and other acknowledged centres of pestilential exhalation have excited the disease. Some cases in point mentioned by Dr. Bailey as occuring at Staten Island two years since, ami othrs with which the Board must be acquainted might be cued if necessary. Now if the corrective powers of the oxymuriatic acid gas be admitted to the full extent of what is contended for them, (and they have not been fully tested, so far as I am aware, except in connection with ventilation and cleansing,) still it would appear utterly impossible for it to be furnished in such quantities and so unremittingly, as to mix itself with and neutralize every infectious emanation that is rising from the earth diffusing itself through the atmosphere. More- over such a general fumigating process would render the dis- trict uninhabitable. An atmosphere highly charged with oxymuriatic acid gas cannot be breathed with impunity. If in connection with this fact we consider that no fumigating process of this kind can have the slightest tendency to pre- vent or arrest the escape of noxious emanations from the earth, it is difficult to conceive what possible advantage can be derived from it. If the Board believe or deem it right to IA 266 consult the feelings of those who do believe that the cause of the disease emanates from the earth, I can conceive of no effectual means of arresting it, except covering the surface from which it is supposed to emanate with some imperme- able substance, as a coat of mortar, sheet-lead, tarpaulingor something of the kind. Probably the statement of what is expected from the material to be employed will suggest to others something preferable to either of the articles enumer- ated. I am not prepared to recommend the adoption of either of these plans. I trust the inadequacy of the oxymuriatic acid gas, to correct noxious emanations from the earth has been made evident from the precedingremarks, and that some one may suggest the material that will answer the purpose. With respect to the use of the Pyroligneous acid for the same purpose, it is evident that it has this advantage over the former plan, that it acts on the source of the pestilence and not on the atmosphere which is its vehicle, and to judge how far it might be advantageously employed it may be pro- per to inquire first, what evidence there is of its powers, supposing it to be capable of being directly applied to the noxious materials, and next what probability there is that it can be so applied in a way that will be cheap and practic- able. If it be probable that noxious vapours arise from the surface of the earth, I hold it to be almost equally evident that they are not generated at or near the surface. Heat, moisture and decomposible animal and vegetable substances are acknowledged to be necessary for their production and the heat must not only be considerable but of several weeks duration. Vet the surface of the ground is heated probably by one weeks heat, especially if it be intense, as much or more than by many weeks of heat a little more moderate. On the other hand several weeks of cold (quite sufficient to reduce the surface of the earth below the temperature acknowledged to be necessary for the production of the disease) has little ap- parent effect in checking its progress, even when accompanied by heavy and cold rains; all which and other circumstances that might be mentioned, go to show that the sources of the 267 exhalation are deep in the earth, and probably beyond the reach of any reasonable quantity of pyroligneous acid. It will be seen that the objection to the use of the oxy- muriatic acid gas and to the pyroligneous acid which 1 have offered, do not apply to the use of the former in stores or vessels supposed to be infected, and of the latter to sinks and privies; but I venture toexpress my conviction that no means will be found adequate, that do not cover the surface of the earth, and I might add the sides of the wharves with a mate- rial impermeable to air, and that no ship or store containing infectious materials should be considered safe even after the most thorough fumigation, without long continued ventila- tion and repeated cleansings with lime and pearl ashes in the manner usually practised. Respectfully submitted, ALEXANDER H. STEVENS. Warren-street, 28/A Aug. 1822. New-York, September 3, 1822. Hon. Stephen Allen, President of the Board of Health. Sir, To the many able communications recommending means to suppress pestilential effluvia, the addition of the follow- remarks, I trust, will not be deemed irrelevant or obtrusive. If we admit the noxious miasmata to be the product of putrefaction, we naturally advert to the class of antiseptics for correctives. Although the admission of this principle may be contested, I shall not attempt to provoke a discus- sion, that can have no other tendency than to involve the subject in deeper obscurity. While the infectious matter is too subtile for analysis in the operation of chemical agents, no one can doubt the efficacy of means to destroy the source from which it emanates. It is equally apparent that the pyroligneous acid, possesses these highly antisep- tic properties for which it has been recommended. In the 263 instances of its failure, therefore, it probably never reached the source of putrefaction, or was too deficient in quantity or duration to produce its well known effects. To be suc- cessful it must be applied in quantities sufficient to pene- trate deep beneath the surface, until its contact with the putrifying materials has been well ascertained. For this purpose }t should be frequently repeated, and at times when it is least liable to evaporation. Pulverised charcoal, is also an antiseptic, perhaps not in- ferior to the acid, and possesses the additional advantage of greater permanency, and consequently of more durable ac- tion upon the putrescent materials. Lime and ashes are useful to purify from filth, and ought therefore to be liberally used in every part of the city, to prevent other emanations from giving additional virulence to the infection already in the atmosphere. Although fumigations of oxymuriatic acid cannot operate upon the putrescent materials on or beneath the surface, they are important to purify the superincumbent atmo- sphere, and are useful auxiliaries to other means. In de- vising means to arrest the fever, 1 find no one deriving any benefit from these operations of nature, which she has often proved to be effectual. Frost is the great sheet anchor of all our hopes. May not this natural process be success- fully imitated by covering the infectious surface with ice ? If frost operates by merely obstructing the degree of heat necessary to perpetuate putrefaction, and to elevate its product into the atmosphere, this substitute on a limited scale, aided by refrigerating chemical agents, might be ren- dered equally successful, particularly if applied during a cold night. It certainly deserves consideration In proposing these corrective measures, I am aware of the objections usually urged of the extent of the infectious district, the consequent expense, and the uncertainty of success. All these should never be urged, even admitting their cogency, in competition with the great benefit to be derived from their success. Ample remuneration would be found in the preservation of life, the restoration of busi- ness and prosperity to the city, and the certainty of possess- 269 mg a preventive against the recurrence of similar calam- ities. But I contend the objections are destitute of valid- ity. The origin of the fever and its exclusive limitation for a fortnight to a small space near the foot of Rector- street, prove incontestably that the source of all the infec- tion, now so extensively diffused, is confined to this neigh- bourhood. It is probably circumscribed by Greenwich- street, Carlisle-street, and the North River, and the alley on the south. If the experiments are effectually and speedily made upon this space, I have no doubt that it will immediately arrest the progress of Yellow Fever deriving origin from this source. But if it be permitted to continue and to ex- tend its poisonous effluvia, they may in time incorporate with other putrifying materials, and by assimilating with their products, diffuse their pestiferous virulence to every part of the city. In this communication I have merely exhibited a con- densed view of my ideas, aud avoided a detailed discussion which cannot conduce to any profitable result. I have the honor to be Very respectfully, Your obedient servant, JOHN STEARNS. Gravesend, September 9, 1822. The Hon. Stephen Allen, President of the Board of Health of the City of New-York. Sir, Having seen in the papers two or three plans to destroy miasmata in the infected district, by washing the streets, permit me to submit the following facts to your considera- tion. I was taken prisoner last war and sent to the Dart- moor depot, where I was attached to the hospital depart- ment ; under each wing of the hospital were a number of vaults, occupied as repositories for the clothes of sick and 270 dead prisoners, old hammocks, rugs, &,c. On a particular occurrence they were ordered to be cleared out; the men selected for that duty on entering the vaults found the air so very impure, that they were compelled to make a preci- tate retreat, they complained of giddiness, impeded respi- ration, and to use their own words, they felt as if there were balls in their throats. The vaults were fumigated with nitre and nitric acid, and subsequently with nitre and sulphuric acid ; after which the decaying contents were removed with perfect safety. One range of vaults was abundantly washed, the air in that range remained damp and deleterious, while in the other range, the air after fumi- gation was innoxious. From my observations in crowded prisons, prison ships, and hospitals, I am decidedly of opin- ion, that to purify impure or infected air, fumigation will do it more effectually than water or any solution; when the wind is from any point between north or west, fumigating vessels might be placed at the foot of Rector and other streets, and the wind would carry the vapours up and through the intersecting streets; or the vessels placed in the cellars of houses deemed infected, I believe with decid- ed benefit. During the time I was attached to the hospi- tal, small pox, pneumonia, and typhus were prevalent; a great number of the prisoners were vaccinated, and it is an incontrovertible fact, that not one who had been vacci- nated, was attacked while the system was under the in- fluence of the vaccine by the prevailing disorders; but sev- eral who had pneumonia, were vaccinated, when the dis- ease assumed a milder form, and was more under the con- trol of medicine. Whether vaccination would act as a preventive of the Malignant Fever now in New-York, or not, or that it could be introduced into the system of a fever patient, I do not pretend to say, but I think no bad results Would arise from a trial. I have the honor to be Sir, your obedient servant, BENJAxMIN MERCER. Gravesend, Long-Island. Nfo aft*' 1&p^"c^,E^n-awirrnzTZJ i^w*^... ire™"a ',; '''.'. * * £&*ft?' .fc.aufc^**^** ;***«•*:;■ - I&ftftAM^'*' 5ttr¥& v*K.fc.* M^ w^? V^^;-^' j^ft**fcA*4< ■^^rs^ka^ NATIONAL library of medicine NLM Q32AA7^b 7 NLM032887967