TABLE OF CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION.Epidemics—Their mysterious character—Distinction between endemics and epidemics—Malaria, where chiefly met with—Is it of one kind or several?—Author’s long residence in amalaria-producing countrypp.1–3CHAPTER I.The question as to there being several kinds of malaria, further examined—Theory of Macculloch, tracing to a malaria, chiefly generated by man himself, all forms of disease, from the plague to a common neuralgia—This theory now accepted, and to a certain extent acted on by the British Government—Experiments of the Board of Health—Results to be seen at Luton, Birmingham, and Londonpp.4, 5CHAPTER II.The history of epidemics adverse to the theory of Macculloch—Results of confounding drains with sewers, and of converting drains into drain-sewers—Influence of the external world (earth, air, and water) over man, first examined by Hippocrates in his celebrated treatise, “De aere, aquis et locis,”1but with other views—Influence of modern chemistry over physiology—Men now expect from chemistry a solution of some of the great problems of physiology and pathology still unsolvedpp.6–14CHAPTER III.The great plague in the time of Justinian—View as to its African origin, and strictly contagious nature, adopted by Gibbon—Admits, however, the necessity for an insalubrious condition of the atmosphere, in addition to the presence of the poison—Its reappearance at present in Northern Africa (Bengazzi)—Modern theories as to its origin and mode of propagation, refuted by the histories of plague, cholera, and typhus—Murrainspp.15–25CHAPTER IV.View of nature acted on by the Hollander and Brabanter—Their struggle to overcome the difficulties of their position—Rise of the Dutch Republic, and of the School of Mechanical and Practical Science of Holland—Its influence over Europe and the world—Drainage of the Lake of Haarlem—Practical instances of the truth of the principle, that “when man interferes with nature, he must carry through the work to an issue”—How to convert a peat-bog into a healthy meadow, a dreary waste into a profitable, cheerful farmpp.26–30CHAPTER V.Sources of malaria—Various medical hypotheses refuted by Colonel Tulloch—Intermittents and remittents as they appear on the Western Coast of Africa and in Canadapp.31–43CHAPTER VI.Extent of life on the globe as proved by the microscope—Theory of Cuvier as to the nutrition of plants and animals—Vast extent of the microscopic living world—The “blooming of plants”—Results of disturbing the muddy banks of rivers—Sources of the bad odours of certain marshes and rivers—Remarkable influence of a change in temperature over the products of fermentation—Parasite theory of putrefaction, fermentation, and disease, refuted by Liebig,pp.44–54CHAPTER VII.Decomposition and metamorphosis of animal beings—Influence they exercise over the soil as a habitation for man—Disposal of the excreta and remains of animals and vegetables—Danger of these when accumulated—Immunity of savage tribes—Scurvy amongst the white troops at the Cape of Good Hope, the healthiest climatein the world—Metamorphoses of organic remains—Influence of oxygen, of nitrogen, and ammonia—Source of the inorganic principles—Fluate of lime in fossil bones—Danger to man of putrescent sea-water—Man’s incessant struggle with nature—Fatality of the climate of Riopp.55–65CHAPTER VIII.Earth, air, and water, in relation to man—How modified by him—Results of that modification—Action and reaction—Antagonism of man to nature—Effects of human labour on the soil—How man protects his dwelling—Distinction between a drain and a sewer, a distinction first practically denied in England—Chemical elements of animal bodies—Nourishment of plants—Exhaustion of the soil in Virginia—Value of farm-yard manure—Agriculture in China—Effects of clearing the primæval forests of America—Causes of the hay-fever, typhus and typhoid fevers—Effects of bad ventilation—Importance of the infusoria in nature’s great scheme—Origin and action ofhumus—Functions of thehumusand of the leaves—Means adopted in Holland for the conversion of a bog or morass into a polder—Antediluvian vegetation—Elements which require being restored to the soil—Belgian agriculturists—Statistics of Queteletpp.66–88CHAPTER IX.On poisons, miasms, and contagions—Difficulties besetting the questions as to their essential nature and origin—Poison of typhus, of yellow fever, and of the remittent fevers of hot countries—Their appearance at uncertain and distant periods in an aggravated form—Statistics of the recurrence of remittents in the West Indies—Light thrown by chemistry on the subject—Fermentation and putrefaction—Peculiar poisons—Distinction between a miasm and a contagion—Odour perceptible in sick chambers—Ozone,pp.89–98CHAPTER X.On the servitude of rivers—Practical knowledge of the ancients—Early Roman history a fable—The great social problems ofraceandclimatein some measure unknown to the Romans—First mooted in the reign of Justinian—Present phases of human society—How affected by these two problems—Influence of civilization over the earthpp.99–110CONCLUDING CHAPTER.Author’s theory of malaria—Has malaria a real existence?—Action of ferments on the blood—A malarious air not dislodged by storms—Quality of the air over ditches, &c.—Experiments by the Author on microscopic mollusca—Influence of chemistry over physiology—Ammonia—Its volatility and universal prevalence in the air—Its sources and action on living bodies—Danger of drainage-works during summer—Spread of plants through the air—Appearance of strange plants in a country—Conclusion—Various phases of sanitary science—laws of decomposition and composition—Results to man of a false position in naturepp.111–128Appendixpp.129–136
INTRODUCTION.
Epidemics—Their mysterious character—Distinction between endemics and epidemics—Malaria, where chiefly met with—Is it of one kind or several?—Author’s long residence in amalaria-producing countrypp.1–3
CHAPTER I.
The question as to there being several kinds of malaria, further examined—Theory of Macculloch, tracing to a malaria, chiefly generated by man himself, all forms of disease, from the plague to a common neuralgia—This theory now accepted, and to a certain extent acted on by the British Government—Experiments of the Board of Health—Results to be seen at Luton, Birmingham, and Londonpp.4, 5
CHAPTER II.
The history of epidemics adverse to the theory of Macculloch—Results of confounding drains with sewers, and of converting drains into drain-sewers—Influence of the external world (earth, air, and water) over man, first examined by Hippocrates in his celebrated treatise, “De aere, aquis et locis,”1but with other views—Influence of modern chemistry over physiology—Men now expect from chemistry a solution of some of the great problems of physiology and pathology still unsolvedpp.6–14
CHAPTER III.
The great plague in the time of Justinian—View as to its African origin, and strictly contagious nature, adopted by Gibbon—Admits, however, the necessity for an insalubrious condition of the atmosphere, in addition to the presence of the poison—Its reappearance at present in Northern Africa (Bengazzi)—Modern theories as to its origin and mode of propagation, refuted by the histories of plague, cholera, and typhus—Murrainspp.15–25
CHAPTER IV.
View of nature acted on by the Hollander and Brabanter—Their struggle to overcome the difficulties of their position—Rise of the Dutch Republic, and of the School of Mechanical and Practical Science of Holland—Its influence over Europe and the world—Drainage of the Lake of Haarlem—Practical instances of the truth of the principle, that “when man interferes with nature, he must carry through the work to an issue”—How to convert a peat-bog into a healthy meadow, a dreary waste into a profitable, cheerful farmpp.26–30
CHAPTER V.
Sources of malaria—Various medical hypotheses refuted by Colonel Tulloch—Intermittents and remittents as they appear on the Western Coast of Africa and in Canadapp.31–43
CHAPTER VI.
Extent of life on the globe as proved by the microscope—Theory of Cuvier as to the nutrition of plants and animals—Vast extent of the microscopic living world—The “blooming of plants”—Results of disturbing the muddy banks of rivers—Sources of the bad odours of certain marshes and rivers—Remarkable influence of a change in temperature over the products of fermentation—Parasite theory of putrefaction, fermentation, and disease, refuted by Liebig,pp.44–54
CHAPTER VII.
Decomposition and metamorphosis of animal beings—Influence they exercise over the soil as a habitation for man—Disposal of the excreta and remains of animals and vegetables—Danger of these when accumulated—Immunity of savage tribes—Scurvy amongst the white troops at the Cape of Good Hope, the healthiest climatein the world—Metamorphoses of organic remains—Influence of oxygen, of nitrogen, and ammonia—Source of the inorganic principles—Fluate of lime in fossil bones—Danger to man of putrescent sea-water—Man’s incessant struggle with nature—Fatality of the climate of Riopp.55–65
CHAPTER VIII.
Earth, air, and water, in relation to man—How modified by him—Results of that modification—Action and reaction—Antagonism of man to nature—Effects of human labour on the soil—How man protects his dwelling—Distinction between a drain and a sewer, a distinction first practically denied in England—Chemical elements of animal bodies—Nourishment of plants—Exhaustion of the soil in Virginia—Value of farm-yard manure—Agriculture in China—Effects of clearing the primæval forests of America—Causes of the hay-fever, typhus and typhoid fevers—Effects of bad ventilation—Importance of the infusoria in nature’s great scheme—Origin and action ofhumus—Functions of thehumusand of the leaves—Means adopted in Holland for the conversion of a bog or morass into a polder—Antediluvian vegetation—Elements which require being restored to the soil—Belgian agriculturists—Statistics of Queteletpp.66–88
CHAPTER IX.
On poisons, miasms, and contagions—Difficulties besetting the questions as to their essential nature and origin—Poison of typhus, of yellow fever, and of the remittent fevers of hot countries—Their appearance at uncertain and distant periods in an aggravated form—Statistics of the recurrence of remittents in the West Indies—Light thrown by chemistry on the subject—Fermentation and putrefaction—Peculiar poisons—Distinction between a miasm and a contagion—Odour perceptible in sick chambers—Ozone,pp.89–98
CHAPTER X.
On the servitude of rivers—Practical knowledge of the ancients—Early Roman history a fable—The great social problems ofraceandclimatein some measure unknown to the Romans—First mooted in the reign of Justinian—Present phases of human society—How affected by these two problems—Influence of civilization over the earthpp.99–110
CONCLUDING CHAPTER.
Author’s theory of malaria—Has malaria a real existence?—Action of ferments on the blood—A malarious air not dislodged by storms—Quality of the air over ditches, &c.—Experiments by the Author on microscopic mollusca—Influence of chemistry over physiology—Ammonia—Its volatility and universal prevalence in the air—Its sources and action on living bodies—Danger of drainage-works during summer—Spread of plants through the air—Appearance of strange plants in a country—Conclusion—Various phases of sanitary science—laws of decomposition and composition—Results to man of a false position in naturepp.111–128
Appendixpp.129–136
ERRATUM.
Page 98, line 2 (note),should read“Hydrogen is the lightest known substance; its specific gravity is to that of air 732 to 10,000.”
AN INQUIRY
INTO
THE ORIGIN AND INTIMATE NATURE
OF
MALARIA.
INTRODUCTION.
In addition to the wide-spread desolating epidemics which appear from time to time, mysterious in their origin, progress, and cessation or disappearance—such, for example, as the plague of Athens, the plague of London in the time of Charles the Second of happy memory, the Indian or Asiatic cholera of modern times, and the disease called influenza, a frequent visitor to Western Europe during the last half-century—there exist localities unceasingly under the influence of a poison inimical to human life. This poison, since it may be so called, is known to haunt the deltas of large rivers, and seems to be always present there; but it is found also, if we may determine its identity by the identity of its deleterious influence on men, in other and very various localities: sometimes it shows itself—and this most commonly—in marshy and fenny countries, where no large rivers exist, at other times by the banks of fresh-water lakes; now it haunts the forest, and now the open plain, where marsh and fen, swamp and decaying vegetation, seem all but absent. As theinhabitants of such localities are especially afflicted with the fevers called intermittent and remittent, it is the most natural thing in the world to ascribe to the locality itself the origin of these diseases. When, however, we attempt to generalize and assign to the same cause in a more concentrated form those terrible fevers which render tropical countries the graves of Europeans, great difficulties arise, and numerous objections, which the best of statisticians, not to mention the simply medical observer, have failed to elucidate and remove. Thus physicians are not agreed as to the identity of the poison under all circumstances, or in other words, demonstrative evidence is still wanting to prove that the cause of fever on the western coasts of Africa is identical with that which has so often in the Antilles destroyed England’s chosen troops, decimated her fleets, crippled her power, annihilated her army, as at Walcheren, and broken up the health of many a sturdy yeoman by the banks of the Scheldt, of the Thames and its tributaries.
To this poison the term malaria has been applied—a word borrowed from the Italian. This malaria is presumed, whatever it may be, to be the cause (though not exclusively), on evidence almost amounting to a certainty, of the fevers marked by intermissions and remissions; it may also be the cause of the more terrible febrile diseases called the yellow fever, the black vomit, &c., of tropical countries. On this I do not insist. As regards intermitting and remitting febrile affections, we are all but certain that to such localities as I have just alluded to, their origin may be traced, however they may originate elsewhere. A long residence in Holland and Belgium (countries supposed by many to be in an especial manner the hot-bed and active parent ofmalaria) has enabled me to observe, I trust in an unprejudiced manner, some facts which may have escaped the observation of others. Long resident in that land, on which perished miserably the best equipped army (an army composed of veterans) which ever, perhaps, quitted England for foreign aggression; in that land on which perished the chosen garrisons of the mighty Napoleon; on that spot where they dragged on a miserable existence, or perished in the prime of life; the writer of this essay enjoyed the best of health. Even admitting the full influence of a vigorous constitution, and an innate vitality equal to the neutralization of all malaria, a something must still be ascribed to observation leading him to avoid the hurtful and insalubrious agencies at work around him—agencies ever active, ever seeking to destroy. This information the author has thought might be useful to others, and with this view he submits it to the public.2