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AN ACCOUNT 
 
 ORIGIN, SYMPTOMS, AND CURE 
 
 INFLUENZA 
 
 EPIDEMIC CATAERH? 
 
 WITH SOME HINTS RESPECTING 
 
 COMMON COLDS 
 
 INCIPIENT PUJLMON ART CONSUMPTION. 
 
 /* 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 HENRY H. PORTER. PUBLISHER. 
 
 Literary Rooms, 121 Chesnut St. 
 
 T. Tov.-::, Printer. 
 
 1852 
 
1 
 
 ■r 
 
 
 ENTERED according to the Act of Congress, in the year 183i ? 
 by Henry H. Porter, in the clerk's office of the District Court of 
 the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 
 
ON THE 
 
 INFLUENZA, $c, 
 
 It has been well remarked by a celebrated writer,* 
 that "to make any thing very terrible, obscurity 
 seems, in general, to be necessary. When we know 
 the full extent of any danger, when we can accustom 
 our eyes to it, a great deal of the apprehension van- 
 ishes. " This sentiment finds ample confirmation in 
 the history of epidemic diseases. On their first ap- 
 pearance they create great dread among the people 
 at large, who making fear a guide to ignorance, 
 anticipate the most frightful consequences from a di- 
 sease, merely because its origin and nature are un- 
 known to them. And yet, as if to illustrate another 
 principle of human nature, that novelty, just enough 
 to excite curiosity, is always preferred to known and 
 appreciable facts, people seem averse to engage in that 
 patient inquiry which would lead them to a true know- 
 ledge of epidemic diseases, and which, by enabling 
 
 * Burke. 
 
them to discover the means of prevention and cure, 
 would free them from the terrors its first appearance 
 had inspired. It would seem as if excitement of the 
 feelings even of a morbid nature were preferred to the 
 healthy exercise of intellect. Obscurity affects the 
 passions: clearness and demonstrative knowledge af- 
 ford them no aliment; but create simply an intellec- 
 tual pleasure, and that one of a secondary nature to 
 mankind in general. If there be an apparent excep- 
 tion to this principle, it proceeds from another cause, 
 viz. the. effects of habit People may, after a time, 
 cease to dread an epidemic disease, because they 
 have in a manner become familiarized with its lead- 
 ing features ; but let there be any notable change in 
 them and their alarm is renewed. So long as they 
 are ignorant, they are swayed by contending emo- 
 tions and driven to a course of conduct as absurdly 
 timid in the first instance, as it is criminally indiffer- 
 ent and heedless in the second. 
 
 Even if explanations are offered, those which excite 
 wonderment, and continually work on their fears, 
 are preferred by the people at large to those which 
 are based upon the known and admitted laws of ex- 
 perimental philosophy. When Fracastrious, physi- 
 cian to the council of Trent, was persuaded to frighten 
 the prelates composing it, in order to have their sit- 
 
tings removed to Bologna, under the papal jurisdic- 
 tion, he proclaimed the disease at that time prevailing, 
 to he contagious ; and among other wonderful tales, he 
 told of a leather cap, which was the bearer of a conta- 
 gious principle, and which worn by twenty-five Ger- 
 mans in succession, caused the death of each. So again, 
 the marvellous account of the origin of the plague, 
 which ravaged Malta in 1813, met with more ready 
 credence than a more natural and common explanation 
 would have done, it was said that the disease was in- 
 troduced into the chief city of that island by means 
 of a piece of morocco leather, which a cobbler had 
 smuggled on shore, by the agency of a friend, from 
 on board a vessel in the harbour. 
 
 On this principle of a love of the marvellous, the 
 ancients supposed the visitation of an epidemic di- 
 sease, to be the infliction of punishment by some one 
 of their offended deities ; and hence the advice as 
 we find it in the Iliad : 
 
 " Let then some Prophet, or some sacred sage, 
 Explore the cause of great Apollo's rage 5 
 If broken vows the heavy curse have laid, 
 Let altars smoke and hecatombs be paid: 
 So, Heaven aton'd, shall dying Greece restore. 
 And Phoebus dart his burning shafts no more." 
 

 
 The Turk prays to Mohamed and resigns him- 
 self to disease without enquiry, not caring whence it 
 originates nor how it maybe arrested in its course, 
 or mitigated in its severity. The Franks, or peo- 
 ple of Christendom, and we may add the inha- 
 bitants of the United States, while pitying the 
 ignorance and apathy of the Turks, plume them- 
 selves on their superior science and knowledge in de- 
 vising and carrying into effect a system of quarantine 
 regulations, and restrictive sanitary laws* Perhaps, 
 were a rigid analysis to be made of the true value of 
 these regulations, we should find them to be rather a 
 display of learned folly than of real wisdom ; and that 
 men submit to the onerous restrictions which they im- 
 pose, more on account of the mummery which is call- 
 ed into action on the occasion, than from any real 
 conviction of their utility. Reliance on them leads, we 
 believe, to an apathy more philosophical in theory, 
 but fully as dangerous in fact as the Turk's fatalism* 
 
 After all, when we consider the extensive spread 
 and rapid progress of epidemical diseases, and 
 the very great mortality with which many of 
 them are attended, it must still seem surprising 
 that so little desire should be exhibited by those 
 out of the medical profession to become ac- 
 quainted with the history of their origin and propa- 
 
gation. The whole of these diseases, however 
 varied may be the character they assume, or the 
 danger by which they are attended, present a close 
 relation to each other, in the circumstances of their 
 sudden appearance, often after seasons of uncommon 
 health, in their rapidly sweeping over a large tract of 
 country, if not the entire surface of the globe, and 
 finally, in the suddenness of their cessation. As we 
 are unable to ascertain a priori, the period or point 
 of their attack, any more than the limits at which their 
 progress shall be stayed, few subjects present them- 
 selves of greater interest to the community at large. 
 Every member of it is liable, sooner or later, to 
 become their victim, and hence, a knowledge of 
 their nature and of the phenomena by which they are 
 preceded and accompanied, is to all, of the very 
 first importance. 
 
 An acquaintance with the principal facts connected 
 with the rise and spread of epidemics, is not only 
 necessary as a means of promoting personal security 
 and comfort during their visitations; but it is also es- 
 sential for the direction of those, who in their legisla- 
 tive capacity, are called upon to devise measures 
 calculated to inspire confidence in the public, and to 
 guard effectually against the invasion of disease. 
 Ignorance in this particular has given rise to bur- 
 
thensome and unnecessary restrictions upon the free- 
 dom of commercial intercourse between nations, and 
 to the imposition of long and vexatious quarantines, 
 by which the interests of all parties have been mate- 
 rially affected. The same ignorance and the fears 
 which it engenders have, in private life, increased the 
 number of victims to the reigning malady, and aug- 
 mented to the highest degree the danger, privations 
 and sufferings of the sick. These causes have, in 
 times of general distress, such as always attends the 
 general prevalence of severe disease, rendered torpid 
 the charities of our nature, and led to a disregard of 
 the most solemn duties of life, 
 
 " Dependants, friends, relations, love itself 
 
 Forget the tender tie, 
 
 The sweet endearments of the feeling heart." 
 
 Self-presevation from imaginary dangers engrosses 
 every thought, while the sick, the dying, and the 
 dead, are alike subject to desertion. A very slight 
 attention given to the study of epidemics and to the 
 general laws by which they are governed, would 
 banish from our statute books, enactments which in 
 the present enlightened age, reflect not a little discredit 
 upon the nation by which they are upheld, and would 
 render every one in those periods of universal gloom, 
 
9 
 
 when our cities become literally the dwelling places 
 of pestilence and death, capable of forming a correct 
 estimate of his own danger, and of performing with- 
 out fear, the duties which he owes as well to those of 
 his own household as to the community at large. 
 
 But it is not our intention in the present essay to 
 enter upon the general subject of epidemics. We 
 propose merely to give a short history of the influ- 
 enza or epidemical catarrh, which during the present 
 winter, has spread so extensively over nearly the 
 whole of the United States ; to describe its symptoms, 
 and to offer a few remarks upon its proper treatment. 
 
 The influenza presents a most striking illustration 
 of what is meant by an epidemical disease, while 
 the phenomena connected with it, place in a very 
 clear light the difference which exists between a 
 disease dependent solely upon some general morbid 
 cause, to which all are equally exposed, and one 
 which is propogated by a contagion communicated 
 from one individual to another, or which being pro- 
 duced by some local cause, affects those only who 
 come within the narrow limits to which this cause is 
 capable of extending itself. 
 
 We shall at the same time take occasion to direct 
 
 the attention of our readers to the following points : 
 
 1st. The illustration which this catarrh affords of an 
 2 
 
10 
 
 epidemical, in contrast with a contagious disease. 
 2d. The precautions which it is proper to adopt 
 under the circumstances — precautions, by the way, 
 which will be found useful beyond the present sea- 
 son, and long after the present livery of disease shall 
 be changed. 
 
 Except in its greater diffusion, and attacking at 
 the same time such a number of persons, scattered 
 over a vast extent of country, the influenza exhib- 
 its no symptom nor set of symptoms, distinct from 
 common catarrh, or a cold, as it is called in popu- 
 lar language, unless, perhaps we admit a greater ten- 
 dency to gastric distress, and occasionally disturban- 
 ces of the biliary organs. Of its depending on the state 
 of the air, we are not allowed to doubt; since this is the 
 only common agent or cause to which people other- 
 wise so differently circumstanced are exposed. The 
 disaf.se cannot have a local or terrestrial origin . 
 otherwise we should find it in particular districts and 
 exposures, to the exclusion of others. It is, there- 
 fore, strictly epidemical ; that is, it attacks a great 
 number of persons at the same time, and extends 
 over a whole country. It is not endemical, since 
 it has not a fixed or stated cause, peculiar to the 
 country. Nor does it remain without change or va- 
 riation for many years, or for a particular season in 
 
11 
 
 many years ; as in the examples of remittent and 
 intermittent, or of yellow fevers. The disease in ques- 
 tion, or the influenza, is not contagious ; for although 
 it is common for members of the same family to be 
 attacked by it in succession ; at other times they are 
 simultaneously affected, or in such rapid succession as 
 to forbid the supposition of one person communicating 
 the disease to another. Sometimes all the members 
 except one in a family are assailed ; sometimes one 
 alone is affected, and the others enjoy exemption 
 from its attack. A contagious disease, on the other 
 hand, can have but one specific origin, viz. the ap- 
 plication of the morbid matter to the living body ; it 
 is nearly uniform in its symptoms and progress, at- 
 tacking always the same order of parts, and in a cer- 
 tain mode of progression. Its operation may be 
 quickened by other causes ; but no one or all of 
 them can produce it, unless the specific cause or mor- 
 bid matter be applied ? -— as of small-pox, &c. 
 
 Of all the known epidemics, the influenza is the 
 one which extends itself the most quickly and to the 
 greatest extent. In all its various visitations it has 
 either occurred simultaneously over a whole conti- 
 nent, or has spread with an amazing rapidity from one 
 country to another, until finally every portion of the 
 habitable globe is included in its circuit. Passing 
 
12 
 
 the widest seas, it has attacked the inhabitants of 
 opposite continents, who had not the slightest inter- 
 course with each other. Its effects have also been 
 traced at sea as well as upon land. At the same time 
 that the inhabitants of the country from which he 
 has sailed, or to which he is destined, are attacked 
 with the disease, the sailor in the midst of the ocean, 
 thousands of miles from any shore, feels its influ- 
 ence. 
 
 In 1782, the fleet of Lord Anson sailed for the 
 coast of Holland, and that of Admiral Kempenfelt 
 for France. The crews of both fleets were in perfect 
 health at the time of sailing, but in the same month, 
 almost in the same week, both were attacked very 
 generally with the influenza, so much so that the 
 latter fleet was obliged to return home for want of 
 hands to man it. 
 
 Analogous examples of the extent and sameness 
 of atmospheric constitution, are furnished in other 
 epidemics. At Malta and at Waliachia, in the 
 northern part of Turkey, in 1813, the plague began, 
 increased, declined, and ceased, at similar periods ; 
 the former having police and quarantine establish- 
 ments of the most perfect kind, and the latter none. 
 The greatest mortality occurred at both places in the 
 months of July, August, and September. And it 
 
13 
 
 may be mentioned here, as a remarkable circum- 
 stance, concerning the epidemic (yellow fever,) of 
 Spain in 1804, that in three of the principal towns, 
 Cadiz, Gibraltar, and Alicant, the greatest mortality 
 happened upon the same day, viz. the 9th of Oc- 
 tober. 
 
 In 1781 and ? 82, the influenza appears to have 
 shewn itself first in China, and to have spread through 
 Asia into Europe, from whence, crossing the Atlan- 
 tic* it extended itself, in the ensuing year ? to America, 
 the whole continent of which it traversed, from the 
 Canadas to Peru, illustrating another observation 
 respecting epidemics, that in countries subject to 
 them, the vitiated atmosphere is often in an ascer- 
 tained direction. The fever which in 1809, 1810, and 
 1811, afflicted the districts adjacent to the Fylney 
 mountains in the East Indies, travelled with a certain 
 degree of regularity in one quarter from north to 
 south, and in another quarter from south to north. 
 
 In its several visitations in this country the epi- 
 demic has generally made its appearance in one of 
 the eastern states, and has extended southward along 
 the sea board with more or less rapidity. In 1807, 
 however, it appears to have shewn itself first in New 
 York, spreading thence, as from a centre, in every 
 direction. It reached Canada in October, and ex- 
 
14 
 
 tended to the western and southern states, and even 
 to Havanna, in the course of three months. The 
 amazing rapidity with which it diffused itself over 
 the whole country, resembled more the fleetness of 
 the wind than the natural course of a disease ; al- 
 most the entire population of a city, town, or neigh- 
 bourhood, became in a few days subjected to its in- 
 fluence ; and as it seldom incapacitated those affected 
 by it from pursuing their ordinary occupations, it 
 was common to observe in every street and place of 
 resort, such coughing, hawking, and wheezing, as to 
 interrupt conversation 5 while in public assemblies 
 the voice of the speaker, itself scarcely audible from 
 the hoarseness produced by disease, was completely 
 drowned by the coughing concert kept up by his 
 auditory. In its occurrence during the present win- 
 ter, nearly the same phenomena have been observed ; 
 very shortly after it made its first appearance in Phi- 
 ladelphia, most of the inhabitants of the city and 
 surrounding country, were affected by it to a greater 
 or less extent, while subsequently it has attacked the 
 inhabitants of nearly every part of the United States. 
 Some months previously to its appearance here, it 
 prevailed extensively in a very severe form in London 
 and various other parts of England. 
 
 Some idea of the quickness with which the disease 
 
15 
 
 extends itself from place to place, may be formed 
 from the foregoing statements, and the following ad- 
 ditional facts. 
 
 In 1732, the influenza made its appearance in Ed- 
 inburgh, about the 17th of December, having pre- 
 viously been epidemic in Saxony, Hanover, and the 
 neighbouring states of Germany in the month of No- 
 vember. 
 
 In 1733, it commenced at London and iu Flanders 
 during the first week of January; at Paris, about 
 the middle of the same month, and in Ireland, to- 
 wards its termination ; at Leghorn, about the mid- 
 dle of February, and at Naples and Madrid, near 
 the end of the month. This same year it made its 
 appearance in America, about the middle of October, 
 being, as usual, first observed in the New England 
 states. It was soon afterwards prevalent in the 
 islands of Barbadoes and Jamaica, and in a few 
 months is said to have extended to Mexico, and to 
 Peru. 
 
 In 1789, the influenza made its appearance first 
 in New- York, in the month of September, and was 
 prevalent during the same month in Philadelphia; 
 soon after, it spread over the whole of the eastern and 
 southern states, and to the army in the north-western 
 erritory, under the command of General Wayne. 
 
16 
 
 The first appearance of the disease in the island of 
 Jamaica was, on the 20th of October, about one 
 month after its occurrence in Philadelphia. At Gre- 
 nada it appeared in November, and at St. Lucia, 
 towards the close of December. But it is not neces- 
 sary to pursue these details ; all that we wish to im. 
 press upon the reader's mind, is the celerity with 
 which the disease spreads itself over immense tracts 
 of country. This, and the simultaneousness with 
 which the greater part of an immense population 
 experience its effects, are the striking features which 
 distinguish it from endemical diseases, or those which 
 are confined exclusively to the inhabitants of parti- 
 cular districts. These diseases are, very generally, 
 traceable to some local cause, connected either with 
 the soil, the prevalent winds, or exposure from the 
 occupations and habits of the people. But endemi- 
 cal maladies again, are not, as we have already said, 
 to be confounded with contagious ones, or those com- 
 municated, from the sick to those who come in im- 
 mediate contact with them. The former may, it is 
 true, affect at once all who come within the sphere 
 of the morbid influence upon which they depend. 
 Unlike epidemics, they are never, however, widely 
 spread 5 and never extend to the neighbouring places 
 much less to distant countries ; though they may be 
 
17 
 
 generated at various points, provided the same mor- 
 bid cause be present there. 
 
 Contagious diseases, are still more limited in their 
 spread. They invariably commence at one or two 
 points, and are slowly diffused among the community 
 by means of persons actually attacked, and who 
 sicken in succession after the contact or touch of 
 the healthy with the diseased. The contagion is 
 active only within a few feet of the individual in 
 whom it is evolved, beyond that, it is perfectly 
 inert. When diseases of this class are propogated 
 to distant parts, it is always by the removal thence 
 of an individual labouring at the time under the di- 
 sease ; or by the conveyance of the poison, as in th© 
 case of small-pox virus, which may be occasionally 
 effected by its being combined with clothing or arti- 
 cles of merchandize; though few contagious diseases, 
 are, we believe, capable of being conveyed to any 
 distance in this manner. The decomposition which 
 the poison undergoes, unless care be purposely 
 taken to prevent it, renders it in a very short time 
 incapable of communicating disease. 
 
 We then find, that in the case of endemical ma- 
 ladies they may be effectually avoided by removal to 
 a short distance from the infected district, and may 
 
18 
 
 often be completely eradicated by removing the 
 local causes to which they owe their origin ; and 
 in case of diseases strictly contagious, avoiding 
 contact with the sick, or the chambers in which they 
 are confined, is an effectual security against their 
 attack. These latter, may, likewise, be effectually 
 excluded from a city by preventing the admission of 
 persons labouring under them, or of merchandize and 
 articles which may be suspected to be imbued with the 
 matter of contagion. But none of these facts are true 
 in relation to epidemics. Flying from the place where 
 they now prevail may postpone, but will not certainly 
 prevent their attack. Thus had any one, in order to 
 escape the influenza in the present year, quitted 
 London, during its prevalence there in the autumn, 
 for New- York or Philadelphia, he would have found 
 that the disease had preceded him, and if he took up 
 the line of march until he had encompassed the 
 globe, in all probability, he would find no greater 
 safety. So also, in regard to a system of non-inter- 
 course, or of quarantine regulations, the most strictly 
 enforced, either or both would be perfectly ineffec- 
 tual in keeping out the unwelcome visiter. 
 
 The influenza has been noticed by medical wri- 
 ters, from a very early period, though from some 
 
19 
 
 trifling variations in the symptoms by which it was 
 accompanied at different times, it has received a 
 variety of names. From the time of Hippocrates to 
 that of Sydenham, who wrote in the latter part of 
 the seventeenth century, it was generally denomina- 
 ted by physicians, the epidemic cough, or the epi- 
 demic catarrhal fever. The term influenza, by which 
 it is now so generally known, was appropriated to it 
 by the Italian Physicians, from a supposition that it 
 owed its origin to planetary influence. 
 
 The disease has occurred and spread over nearly 
 the whole of Europe upwards of twenty different 
 times, between the years 1510 and 1826. In Ame- 
 rica, the disease, is known to have occurred as early 
 as 1674, and it was again epidemic in New England 
 in June of the succeeding year ; while in the years 
 1733, 49, 61, 89, 90, 91, and 93, and in 1802, 3, 7, 
 16, and 26, it extended over the greater part of 
 North America. 
 
 Although the influenza, like other catarrhal affec- 
 tions, has occurred most frequently towards the latter 
 end of autumn, during the winter or in spring, some 
 of its visitations have nevertheless happened during 
 midsummer. Its ordinary course has been from north 
 to south; though occasionally it has spread from east 
 
20 
 
 to west, and vice versa. Its continuance in one 
 place has varied from a few weeks to several months. 
 It has been said that the same individual is not liable 
 to be twice attacked with it during the same epide- 
 mic ; this, however, is incorrect, as we have known 
 in many instances a decided attack to recur. 
 
 Dr. Parr describes the influenza, which was so 
 prevalent in Great Britain in 1782, to have commenced 
 in Exeter, the place of his residence, the 22d or 23d 
 of May, and continued until the 14th of July. Such 
 excessive minuteness, by the way, respecting the in- 
 vasion of a disease like the one in question, may lead 
 to suspicions of its accuracy. 
 
 In regard to the precise nature of the cause by 
 which the influenza is caused and propogated, there 
 exists much obscurity. Epidemics have elicited a very 
 great deal of attention from the first dawn of medical 
 science up to the present period ; the phenomena by 
 which they are preceded and accompanied, have been 
 noted with more or less care and minuteness; the 
 laws which govern their rise and extension, are by 
 many supposed to be accurately ascertained, but into 
 their efficient cause no one has as yet been able to 
 penetrate. The influence of the moon and the other 
 planets has been referred to as explanatory of their 
 
21 
 
 production by some ; meteoric causes and terrestrial 
 exhalations by others ; electricity by a third ; while 
 a fourth, and large class, believe them all to be de- 
 pendent upon some occult change in the constitution 
 of the atmosphere, inscrutable to our senses, and to- 
 tally inexplicable in the present state of our know- 
 ledge. In reference to the epidemic under considera- 
 tion, Weber, a German physician of some note, be- 
 lieves that he has traced its production to a state of 
 negative electricity in the air, and in accordance with 
 this belief, he recommends the whimsical expedient 
 of socks to the feet, composed of the most powerful 
 non-conductors, as a certain preventive against its 
 attack. 
 
 In support of the belief in the agency of elec- 
 tricity in causing epidemics, we are told that they 
 have often immediately preceded or followed earth- 
 quakes, to the production of which, great elec- 
 trical changes in our globe and the circumambient 
 air, do w T e know, largely contribute. The great 
 earthquake in South America, in 1730, was soon 
 succeeded by a pestilential fever. The destruction 
 of Port Royal in Jamaica, in 1692, was, also, soon 
 followed by a virulent fever in all parts of the island. 
 At Yenice, in 1343, the plague was speedily followed 
 by an earthquake. Confirmatory of the supposition of 
 
22 
 
 abnormal electrical changes ia the atmosphere, dar- 
 ing pestilential periods, are the appearances of me- 
 teors or celestial lights, in the shape of blueish fiery 
 globes, falling stars, flame, &c. 
 
 Each of the foregoing explanations of the produc- 
 tions of epidemics, is supported by many highly 
 ingenious arguments ; but however much of plausi- 
 bility we may be inclined to allow to many of them, 
 they all completely fail in explaining satisfactorily 
 the occurrence, spread, extent, and sudden cessation, 
 of this class of diseases. 
 
 "When we consider the peculiar features of the 
 epidemical catarrh, as they have already been de- 
 scribed, — its simultaneous occurrence in places wide- 
 ly separated from each other ; the number of persons 
 attacked by it at one and the same time : its quick ex- 
 tension from one country to another, they all prove, 
 we conceive, very clearly, that it depends for its origin 
 in the first instance, as well as for its subsequent pro- 
 pogation, upon some cause connected with the atmos- 
 phere. It is evident that the disease must depend 
 upon something which is common to an entire popu- 
 lation, or to an entire continent, and we know of 
 nothing that is so, save the air we breathe. We 
 are not all exposed at the same time to other causes* 
 which might be presumed sufficient to produce the 
 
23 
 
 disease in question, nor are we subject to them in all 
 circumstances and at all times — it is the air alone 
 which surrounds us all externally, and which is ta- 
 ken in by all in respiration.^ 
 
 In regard to this doctrine of an atmospheric intem- 
 peries as the cause of influenza, as well as of other 
 epidemics, a word of explanation is necessary. We 
 are not by any means to imagine that the morbid 
 change, whatever it may be, takes place at the same 
 time throughout the whole extent of the earth's at- 
 mosphere, nor even that the same morbid portion of 
 the atmosphere which gives rise to the disease in one 
 place is transported to, and propogates the disease in 
 each of the places at which it is observed. It is 
 more probable, and better accords with known 
 facts, to suppose that the intemperies of the air 
 occurs successively in the different districts over 
 which the disease passes. 
 
 But, it may be asked, even admitting that a mor- 
 bid change in the condition of the atmosphere is the 
 cause which produces influenza, in what does that 
 change consist ? Is it in the combination with the air of 
 a deleterious miasm or a morbid principle of a spe- 
 cific nature, independent of any change in the pro- 
 portion and combination of its proper elements ? or ; 
 
 * Galen. 
 
24 
 
 does it depend upon certain sensible changes in the 
 properties of the air ? To neither of these questions 
 we candidly confess are we able to give any positive 
 reply. In relation to both of them our information is 
 far from being satisfactory. It appears to us how- 
 ever, that too many difficulties attend the first of the 
 suppositions to permit of our adopting it. Indeed al- 
 most every physician of the present day concurs in its 
 rejection. The last hypothesis is far more plausible. 
 Notwithstanding that the influenza has occurred at 
 all seasons of the year, whether hot, cold, damp, or 
 otherwise, in every state of the barometer and hy- 
 grometer, yet if we cast our eyes over the various his- 
 tories of its different visitations in Europe and Ame- 
 rica, it will be found that the weather immediately 
 preceding or during its occurrence was extremely un- 
 seasonable, or was marked by sudden alternations 
 from cold to warm, or from dryness to moisture, or 
 the reverse. Thus in 1675, we are informed by Sy- 
 denham, that the disease made its appearance in the 
 end of October, at which period, the weather which 
 had before been unusually warm, became suddenly 
 cold and damp. In the winter of 1729, Dr. Gil- 
 christ states, that at the time when the influenza oc- 
 curred, the weather was thick, warm, and rainy. In 
 1762, according to Monro, the disease appeared in 
 April, after a sudden change of weather from cold to 
 
25 
 
 extreme heat In 1789 the weather preceding the visit 
 of the influenza, is stated by Dr. Carrie, of Philadel- 
 phia, to have been calm, misty, and warm, and in the 
 month of August, just as the disease made its appear- 
 ance, we are told by Dr. Mush, it changed suddenly to 
 a degree of cold uncommon at that season of the year. 
 In 1790, according to the last mentioned writer, the in- 
 fluenza appeared during an extremely variable winter, 
 the weather suddenly changing from cold to warm, 
 and the reverse. In 1807, we are informed by Dr. 
 Currie, that the influenza made its appearance du- 
 ring a season marked by sudden changes of tem- 
 perature, but throughout more wet and cold than usual. 
 The period of its visit in 1816 was marked by very 
 variable weather, and a winter of little severity. In 
 1826 it occurred towards the close of winter, during a 
 thick, damp, and unusually mild state of the atmos- 
 phere, following a degree of cold but seldom experi- 
 enced in this part of the country : and we know that 
 the present epidemic was preceded by very great va- 
 riations of atmospheric temperature, followed by an 
 unusually early winter. "Van Swieten in his Com- 
 mentary on the 1407 aphorism of Boerhaave, men- 
 tions the dependence of influenza upon a thick, 
 vapory state of the atmosphere, and so far as we 
 
 have been able to consult accurate accounts of the 
 4 
 
26 
 
 weather during those years, and seasons when the 
 influenza has prevailed, we have found invariably 
 that its character was that of variableness and mois- 
 ture, or that it was marked by sudden transitions 
 from a degree of unusual heat to the opposite ex- 
 treme, or the reverse. Many have supposed that 
 while the occult morbid constitution of the atmos- 
 phere gives the predisposition to the disease, the 
 catarrhal and febrile symptoms are occasioned by 
 the sensible properties of the air, particularly fre- 
 quent and rapid changes in its temperature. Whether 
 we admit or not that the latter are alone sufficient to 
 account for the production of influenza, it cannot be 
 doubted that they at least increase the number of those 
 affected by it, and augment very materially its intensi- 
 ty. That during the season in which influenza prevails, 
 particular winds and atmospherical vicissitudes are 
 alone capable of producing the disease cannot, howev- 
 er, be doubted. In the account of the influenza, which 
 prevailed in England in 1803, by Dr. Carrick, we learn 
 that the inhabitants of that side of Richmond Terrace, 
 on Clifton Hill, near Bath, which fronted the east, 
 were universally attacked with the disease, while on 
 the south side, the great majority both of persons and 
 families, in ail other respects similarly circumstanced, 
 escaped it entirely. Here the east wind was the di- 
 
27 
 
 reel exciting cause of the influenza. The same may 
 be said of the exposures which are followed by an 
 attack of common cold. 
 
 Several medical writers of the last century and a 
 few among those of the present, are unwilling to al- 
 low that the origin and propagation of the influenza 
 can be explained, except by its being referred to a 
 specific contagion, emanating from the bodies of the 
 sick, and applied to those subsequently affected. 
 They maintain, that, however wide the spread of the 
 disease, it always takes place successively from place 
 to place, and never simultaneously ; that its appear- 
 ance among a community is invariably preceded by 
 the arrival of one or more persons actually labouring 
 under it, or coming direct from other parts where it 
 was extensively prevalent. An eminent writer of our 
 own country has attempted to shew that the spread of 
 the influenza in several of its visits to this country 
 during the present century, was occasioned by the 
 dispersion of persons attending on courts of justice, 
 the Friends assembled in yearly meeting, and the 
 members of the several State Legislatures. It is use- 
 less to enter into a refutation of a statement so unsup- 
 ported by facts: even were we to admit that the spread 
 of the disease corresponded exactly with the dispers- 
 ing of the several assemblages here alluded to, it must 
 
28 
 
 be recollected that the disease does not extend from 
 place to place at the slow rate which marks our ordi- 
 nary means of travelling. It has been often diffused 
 throughout the continent with a rapidity greater than 
 that with which any individual could pass over the 
 same space, with all the facilities now afforded him 
 by steam boats, canals, and rail roads. Let us re- 
 collect, also, the time which would be necessary 
 to infect a large population even from numerous 
 foci of contagion; whereas on the same day, almost 
 at the same moment, many thousands feel the effects 
 of influenza who are known to have had no inter- 
 course with each other, nor with those already la- 
 bouring under the disease. We might with the same 
 propriety attribute the cold we all feel in winter when 
 in the open air, or the heat in summer, to a morbid 
 sensation communicated by a few individuals to the 
 whole mass of the population, as to ascribe the influ- 
 enza to a specific contagion emanating from the bodies 
 of the sick. 
 
 There are few epidemics which affect so indiscri- 
 minately persons of all ages, classes, constitutions 
 and habits, as the influenza. The same general cause 
 which gives rise to the disease, would seem to be all 
 that is required either to predispose the system to its 
 occurrence or to excite it into action. The utmost 
 
29 
 
 care has failed, in a large number of instances at least, 
 in warding off an attack. Seclusion within doors, 
 comfortable rooms, warm clothing and the most 
 scrupulous regard to diet and regimen, have not, 
 with any uniformity, been successful in preserv- 
 ing the system from the prevailing affection. Ltt it, 
 however, not be supposed that all precautions are 
 useless — that they are capable of producing no good 
 effect. On the contrary, although the disease attacks 
 nearly all, it does so with an intensity varying in differ- 
 ent cases, and usually proportioned to the neglect of 
 precautionary means ; and hence its violence may be 
 greatly mitigated, and its continuance very materi- 
 ally shortened by suitable attention. 
 
 Of persons in the enjoyment of an ordinary degree 
 of health, those who are the greatest sufferers from 
 an attack of influenza, are the aged, on the one hand 
 and young children, on the other. In the first, the 
 disease is attended with symptoms of very consider- 
 able violence, and by its being liable to produce 
 in such persons, an effusion of a particular kind 
 into the lungs, it often results very speedily in 
 death. In children the catarrhal symptoms frequent- 
 ly run very high, being attended with fever, and 
 occasionally slight delirium. The same epidemic 
 cause also induces at this period of life an inflam- 
 
30 
 
 mation of the lungs, or that dangerous affection well 
 known to parents by the name or Croup. 
 
 Persons who, either from imprudence, from the na- 
 ture of their occupations, or from poverty, are expo- 
 sed to cold and damp air, badly lodged, and but im- 
 perfectly cloathed. are very subject to severe attacks 
 of the disease, which often terminate fatally. They 
 likewise, who are predisposed to rheumatism and af- 
 fections of a similar character, commonly suffer much 
 from attacks of influenza. To the consumptive it is 
 a highly dangerous affection, either exciting into im- 
 mediate action the seeds of that disease, which under 
 other circumstances might have remained quiescent 
 for years, or when the affection of the lungs has made 
 some progress, hurrying with great rapidity the fatal 
 termination. 
 
 During the present winter, while the influenza was 
 prevalent at New- York, the deaths in that city 
 amounted in one week to 187, a number very Unusual 
 at this season of the year, and seldom equalled in 
 the most sickly periods. In the last five years, the 
 greatest number of deaths in any one week, was 
 204. The average number throughout the year, is 
 about 100, On referring to the Inspector's returns, 
 we find that the unusual portion of the deaths, during 
 the week alluded to, were caused by diseases of the 
 
31 
 
 lungs and throat ; only 11 are set down to the credit 
 of Influenza, but there were 43 from Consumption, 
 17 from Inflammation of the Lungs, 13 from Croup, 
 and others by different diseases, liable to be generat- 
 ed or aggravated by influenza, sufficient to still fur- 
 ther swell this class. 
 
 In the following week, or that from December 17th 
 to the 24tb, the deaths were 203, of which but 8 are 
 reported as from influenza, while there are 38 from 
 consumption, and 45 from other diseases of the lungs, 
 to say nothing of small-pox, the deaths from which 
 were 16, nor scarlet fever, the mortality by which was 
 10. There were 8 deaths reported as from intem- 
 perance. 
 
 In Philadelphia, we find the deaths in one week, 
 from the 10th to the 17th December, a period when 
 the influenza was very rife, to have been 175. Of these 
 about 70 were from various forms of inflammation of 
 the lungs, or of its membranes, such as bronchitis, ca- 
 tarrh, consumption, hooping-cough, croup (hives,) in- 
 flammation of the lungs, influenza, measles, and 
 pleurisy; without including eleven deaths from scarlet 
 fever, some of which are doubtless referrible to the 
 present atmospheric constitution. During the follow- 
 ing week, from the 17th to the 24th of December, 
 the deaths were 189, of which 97 were from the di- 
 
32 
 
 seases above enumerated ; besides 7 from old age, 
 some of which were owing to the present con- 
 stitution of the atmosphere. In the first of these 
 two weeks there were 23, and on the second, 27 
 deaths, from consumption of the lungs. During the 
 fortnight there were 10 deaths of persons between 90 
 and 100 years of age ; and 38 deaths of those between 
 
 70 and 100. During this same period, (two weeks,) 
 there were but 19 deaths from influenza, so called. 
 The average weekly mortality for a period of ten 
 years, ending 1st Jan. 1830, was rather more than 
 
 71 persons. 
 
 In Boston we learn that more deaths took place du- 
 ring the week, included in the same period as the first 
 mentioned above than have occurred in that city, any 
 one week for the last twenty years. 
 
 As the influenza is strictly an inflammatory com- 
 plaint, every thing that overloads the blood vessels or 
 heats the system, such as high living, rich food, and 
 stimulating drinks, has a tendency to augment its 
 violence and duration, while an abstemious course of 
 living — the use of simple diluents and bread, has 
 always a contrary tendency. 
 
 Upon the broken down constitutions of the drunk- 
 ard and the intemperate generally, almost any disease, 
 however trifling it may be under ordinary circum- 
 
33 
 
 stances, produces always very serious and fatal in- 
 roads. We have known an apparently very light 
 attack of influenza, to be followed, in persons of this 
 description, by an almost immediate extinction of life. 
 
 Wet feet, sitting exposed to a draft of cold air, 
 sleeping in damp beds or apartments, or an impru- 
 dent exposure to the night air, when the body is in a 
 state of perspiration from dancing, or from the heat 
 of a crowded assembly, are so many causes which 
 augment the violence of an attack of influenza, and 
 which by inducing inflammation of the lungs or 
 throat, may lead to death. 
 
 We find that although the influenza, like other 
 epidemic diseases, exhibits a general resemblance 
 of symptoms in most of those attacked, yet there 
 is not by any means a complete uniformity, much 
 less that identity which we see in contagious diseases. 
 Thus, the predisposition caused in a given number of 
 persons by the peculiar condition of the atmospheric 
 air, will, after similar exposure to cold and humidity, 
 be converted into disease which shall affect each per- 
 son differently from his companion in exposure. One 
 will have, after a severe chill, a sore throat and pain 
 in the head; another a slight hoarseness and change 
 of voice ; a third a hard cough, with pain and fever ; 
 a fourth will complain of his back and limbs, as if 
 5 
 
34 
 
 they had been severely beaten. Sometimes, though 
 more rarely, the digestive system will be the part 
 chiefly affected, and the sufferer will complain of 
 soreness and cramp, as if he were seized with colic, 
 or will have vomiting. On occasions, the first symp- 
 toms of influenza will yield to a regular attack of 
 rheumatism — pain and swelling of the joints, in those 
 who are subject to this disease ; and we have seen 
 a slight fit of gout follow the cough, and other symp- 
 toms of the catarrh. Recently we have met with 
 cases in which soreness of the skin and pain of the 
 bones, especially at the joints, were complained of, 
 without any external redness or swelling. Jnfact, in 
 many respects there is no small resemblance between 
 this malady and the dengue or dandy fever of late 
 years : a resemblance the more natural from the pre- 
 sumed identity of causes. 
 
 The proper measures to be pursued during the 
 prevalence of the disease, in order to lessen its vio- 
 lence and duration will be evident to the reader, from 
 the foregoing enumeration of its causes and symp- 
 toms. 
 
 In many individuals, after frequent attacks of or- 
 dinary catarrh or cold, the sympathy between the 
 vessels of the surface and those of the lining mem- 
 brane of the nostrils, throat, and respiratory tube, 
 
35 
 
 becomes so remarkable, that a cough attended with 
 an expectoration of thin gleety mucus, is immedi- 
 ately brought on by the least cold or dampness ap- 
 plied to the feet, by sitting for a few ^minutes in a 
 damp apartment, or one a slight degree cooler than 
 ordinary, or even by a very slight decrease in the 
 thickness of the clothing usually worn. Such per- 
 sons are said to be very liable to take cold, and they 
 are among the first and most severe sufferers from 
 the influenza. They in particular, during its preva- 
 lence, should guard against exposure to cold or wet, 
 by a proper amount of clothing, woollen stockings, 
 thick water-proof boots, and flannel next the skin. 
 
 It is to be remarked, also, that a person labouring 
 under, or just recovered from an attack of catarrh, 
 whether epidemic or of the common kind, is always 
 more liable to suffer from exposure to trifling degrees 
 of cold, and slight transitions of weather, than an 
 individual in health. Imprudent exposure, under such 
 circumstances, very commonly aggravates the symp- 
 toms already existing, or when the disease is on the 
 decline, brings it back with increased violence, or 
 converts it into an inflammation of the chest or 
 lungs, of the most aggravated character. This fact 
 should be constantly kept in mind by those affected 
 with the influenza — for, as the disease in the majo- 
 
30 
 
 rity of instances does not prevent the patient from 
 going about or attending to his ordinary business, 
 a trifling affection may, without care, be converted 
 into a very serious malady. 
 
 The influenza, and every species of catarrh, is too 
 often considered to be rather a troublesome and disa- 
 greeable than a serious or dangerous complaint. Ask 
 a person, labouring under the disease, whether it 
 has originated from exposure to cold or during the 
 prevalence of influenza, what ails him? and he will 
 most generally reply, oh — nothing ! 1 have only a 
 very severe cold, or I have got this fashionable 
 complaint. Do you take nothing for it? Not I— it 
 must have its own course — 1 suppose it will go as it 
 came. Never was there a greater error than that 
 upon which such language is founded: by leading to 
 a careless disregard of present symptoms, and an 
 improper freedom of living, life itself has been sa- 
 crificed, or the ^qw remaining years of existence have 
 either been deprived of usefulness or filled with suf- 
 fering. 
 
 No disease to which the human frame is liable can 
 be strictly considered as trifling. For although it may 
 be unattended with symptoms of any great severity 
 and readily removed by an appropriate treatment; 
 yet when neglected or mismanaged, it may either di- 
 
37 
 
 recily or indirectly be as certainly fatal as the yellow 
 fever or the plague. Whenever disease is present, 
 prudence and a timely resort to appropriate remedies 
 will be the course pursued by the wise man. It is 
 the fool alone who waits, before applying for advice, 
 until it becomes worse ; that is, until the chances 
 against its perfect removal are multiplied. 
 
 The influenza consists then in an inflammatory affec- 
 tion of the lining membrane of the nostrils, the cavities 
 which communicate with it, seated within the bone 
 above the eyes, on each side of the forehead, the exter- 
 nal membrane of the eyes, the posterior part of the 
 throat, and the glands which are there situated, and 
 of the lining membrane of the principal branches 
 of the wind pipe. The inflammation is not, however, 
 as already stated, thus extensively spread in every 
 case of catarrh. In some it is confined to the mem- 
 brane within the nose and frontal cells, and that of 
 the eyes, in others it is almost exclusively confined 
 to the throat, and in others, to the wind pipe and its 
 branches. 
 
 In the first case it is marked by a sense of dryness, 
 fulness, and heat in the nostrils, with frequent sneez- 
 ing, a dull deep-seated pain in the forehead, redness 
 and weeping of the eyes, and more or less fever al- 
 ternating with slight chills ; all of which symptoms 
 
38 
 
 increase towards evening ; subsequently there takes 
 place an increased discharge from the nostrils, at first 
 of a clear watery fluid, which irritates the parts over 
 which it passes, but becoming, as the disease de- 
 clines, less in quantity, thicker, and of a white yel- 
 lowish and opaque appearance. 
 
 When the disease is chiefly seated in the throat, 
 the leading symptoms are pain, and a sense of dry- 
 ness and fulness in this part 5 frequent hawking, at- 
 tended with the discharge of a small portion of frothy 
 mucus, difficulty of, and pain in swallowing; hoarse- 
 ness of the voice and a slight cough, and in more vi- 
 olent cases, difficulty of breathing and sense of suf- 
 focation. This form of the disease is also attended 
 with more or less fever. 
 
 When the disease alfects the lining membrane of 
 the respiratory tube, it usually commences with a 
 sense of lassitude over the whole body, a sensation 
 of cold or shivering, especially when the patient is 
 exposed to an atmosphere somewhat colder than or- 
 dinary. A hoarseness of the voice speedily occurs 
 with a sense of roughness and soreness in the throat 
 and wind pipe, and some difficulty in respiration; 
 there is also a feeling of tightness in the chest, and 
 more or less cough, which seems to be excited by 
 some irritation felt at the back part of the throat. 
 The pulse generally becomes more frequent, and the 
 
39 
 
 skin hot and dry, especially towards evening. In- 
 deed, all the symptoms increase at this period, and 
 from the restlessness and augmented frequency of the 
 cough, the patient is often prevented from sleeping 
 until towards morning, when a diminution in all 
 the symptoms usually occurs. The cough is in gene- 
 ral, at first dry, and causes pain about the chest, 
 particularly within its cavity along the front part or 
 on one side. Pains resembling those of Rheumatism, 
 are also frequently experieneed in the muscles of 
 various parts of the body, particularly about the 
 neck, head, breast and back. The appetite is impair- 
 ed, and there is a greater degree of thirst than usual. 
 
 In the progress of the disease the cough is accom- 
 panied with a discharge of mucus, which is at first 
 thin, and brought up with difficulty, but gradually be- 
 comes thicker, and is discharged more copiously, and 
 with less frequent and violent coughing. The hoarse- 
 ness and soreness of the throat, as well as the other 
 symptoms abate at the same time, and the disease 
 soon ceases entirely. Such is the general course of 
 an attack of severe catarrh, which under ordinary 
 circumstances is commonly neither tedious nor dan- 
 gerous. 
 
 Very generally the disease commences with a 
 sense of duluess, an affection of the eyes and nos- 
 trils, and dull pain in the forehead, which after a 
 
40 
 
 time are succeeded by hoarseness; cough, pain, op- 
 pression of the chest, and fever. 
 
 The foregoing description has reference particular- 
 ly to the common forms of catarrh. When it occurs 
 epidemically the disease is generally very sudden in 
 its attack. Many patients complain of a sense of con- 
 siderable soreness within the thorax, or chest, and a 
 severe pain on coughing, especially in the forehead 
 or in the eye-balls. The eyes are usually very red, 
 and inflamed, suffused with tears, painful when mo- 
 ved, and somewhat intolerant of light. Some cases 
 are attended with extreme pain of the muscles 
 of the back, loins, and limbs, accompanied with 
 great lassitude or a feeling resembling fatigue from 
 over exertion. When the disease is attended with 
 acute pain or stitches in the side, the cough is usually 
 very distressing and almost incessant, and the expec- 
 toration scanty, consisting of a white tough mucus, 
 often streaked with blood. In other cases, however, 
 when there is merely a feeling of soreness or of dull 
 pain in the breast* the cough is less violent, occurs at 
 longer intervals, and is accompanied with a copious 
 discharge of fluid. Frequently the principal symp- 
 tom observed, has been a soreness of the throat ; in 
 some instances, however, a considerable inflamma- 
 tion and swelling of the glands of the throat takes 
 place, attended with a difficulty of swallowing and of 
 articulation, impeded respiration and tumor on the 
 
41 
 
 side of the neck externally, terminating in many in- 
 stances in the formation of an abscess, which breaks 
 in the throat. The discharge from the nostrils is 
 either very copious or is almost entirely suspended^ 
 according as the affection of their lining membrane is 
 trifling or extreme. Frequent sneezing is a very com- 
 mon symptom. In very old persons, the disease 
 not unfrequently commences with a degree of lethar- 
 gy and prostration of strength, which no remedy 
 will relieve, or it is attended, almost from the first, 
 with great difficulty of breathing, short wheezing respi- 
 ration, and great anxiety of countenance, which symp- 
 toms are quickly followed by death. Limbs suffering 
 from neglected, or badly treated sprains, during an at- 
 tack of influenza, are very generally the seat of con- 
 siderable pain. In some cases the disease has assumed 
 the form of genuine pneumonia (inflammation of the 
 lungs,) or of pleurisy; in others of diarrhoea or dys- 
 entery. The attacks in children are frequently in 
 the form of croup, and, as we have already remarked, 
 in those predisposed to, or affected with consumption, 
 there is a development or aggravation of the symp- 
 toms of that disease. Nearly all chronic maladies un- 
 der which the patient may labour at the time of the 
 attack, are liable to be increased by the influenza. 
 Yery generally the fever is of a more violent grade 
 6 
 
42 
 
 than that usually observed in common catarrh, and is 
 frequently ushered in by a decided chill. 
 
 From the foregoing sketch of its symptoms, it will 
 be perceived how very various is the degree of violence 
 which the disease assumes in various cases. We have 
 known it in many instances to evince symptoms of so 
 slight a character as to produce but little inconvenience 
 to the patient, and to disappear in a day or two, even 
 though no precaution, nor the most trifling remedy had 
 been taken; while in other cases, from the very first mo- 
 ment of its attack, it has occasioned so much suffer- 
 ing as to confine the patient to his bed for upwards 
 of a week, and to be with difficulty controlled by 
 the most prompt and active treatment — in many other 
 cases again, it has resulted speedily in death. 
 
 Much of this difference in the character of its 
 symptoms, arises from the greater degree of expo- 
 sure to cold and variations of temperature to which 
 one class of patients are liable, than another. A 
 difference in its violence is also caused by the greater 
 degree of predisposition presented by some individu- 
 als to inflammation of the chest, the lungs and throat, 
 than by others, in consequence of which, when ex- 
 posed to the same exciting cause, the former will be 
 seriously indisposed, while the latter will either en- 
 
43 
 
 tirely escape or be affected with only a slight disease. 
 Sex and age, as we have already remarked, influ- 
 ence also, the extent of the symptoms and the danger 
 by which they are attended. 
 
 All these morbid affections may be induced at any 
 season by obstruction of the functions of the skin ; 
 chiefly from unaccustomed cold and moisture. We 
 see very clearly from these details, that except in the 
 greater diffusion of the predisposing cause, there is 
 nothing specific or peculiar in influenza, by which it 
 differs essentially from common catarrh or cold. Per- 
 sons exposed at other seasons than the present to the 
 common causes of cold or catarrh, will be variously 
 affected according to their temperament, or natural 
 constitution, or their acquired one from prior disease. 
 Thus of three men exposed to recent cold at any 
 season, one may have a fit of the gout, another 
 a common cough, and the third great disorder and 
 inflammation of the digestive organs. 
 
 From all this it is easy to infer, that the same pru- 
 dential maxims, obedience to which would guard us 
 against catching cold, are equally requisite and pro- 
 per to protect us against influenza ; and that as a 
 slight cold is to be dreaded by a person far advanced 
 in life, or by one liable to spitting of blood or to con- 
 sumption, so is the influenza to be still more sedulously 
 
44 
 
 shunned by them. Hence in both cases, of common 
 as well as of epidemic catarrh; or influenza, to keep 
 the feet warm and dry, to preserve an equable tem- 
 perature of the skin, by clothing of suitable texture 
 and quantity, to shun sudden transitions from heat 
 to cold, are necessary means of prevention. If una- 
 voidably exposed in this way, or by getting wet and 
 chilled, to use a warm foot-bath or a general warm 
 bath, and to keep at rest in-doors and use a very 
 light regimen, are also important precautions. Should 
 the influenza have made its attack in due form, it 
 may, like a common cold, be generally kept in sub- 
 jection by rigid abstinence — mild herb teas, toast 
 and water, barley or rice water, being the only arti- 
 cles used for either food or drink. The irritation of 
 coughing will be greatly mitigated by flax-seed tea, 
 with the addition of a little lemon juice and sugar, 
 or by gum Arabic, in water. 
 
 If other means be used, in the absence of a physi- 
 cian, we would particularly caution against those of 
 a heating nature, such as spirituous liquors, in the 
 various combinations of hot toddy, whiskey punch, or 
 spices and condiments. More or less fever is always 
 present with the cold or influenza 5 and which will 
 be greatly aggravated by stimulating or exciting re- 
 medies. Saline medicines in moderate doses, or even 
 
45 
 
 a bleeding from the arm, will generally prove of 
 much greater avail. We mention this practice not 
 with a view to recommend it indiscriminately, but 
 simply to say that it is incomparably safer than the 
 heating or alexipharmic one, and ought, when re- 
 commended by a physician, to be had recourse to, 
 without fear or demur. Opium, in its various forms 
 of administration, should not be heedlessly or hastily 
 had recourse to, especially in the first or more fever- 
 ish stage of the disease ; indeed we should recom- 
 mend that it be only used under the direction of a 
 physician. But after all, the chief hopes of relief, 
 and means of avoiding future ills, the consequences 
 of protracted influenza, will be in a cooling regimen, 
 abstinence at first, and afterwards simple food, 
 light and easy of digestion, such as the farinaceous 
 articles, stewed fruits, &c. ; and finally, though with 
 caution, plain animal food in small quantities. Hav- 
 ing thus sketched the outlines of the treatment of 
 influenza, we proceed to give the requisite details. 
 
 The fact that the influenza is modified in its cha- 
 racter in different individuals, and varies in its in- 
 tensity in different cases, shews the impossibility of 
 subjecting those affected with it invariably to the same 
 treatment. A very common enquiry of the physician 
 during the prevalence of the disease is, "What 
 
46 
 
 is good, Doctor, for the influenza?" To this a 
 prompt and satisfactory reply is expected — not only 
 by the ignorant, but by persons whose characters for 
 good sense and judgment, rank deservedly high. 
 The querist overlooks entirely the fact, that for the 
 treatment to produce any good effect; in order, in- 
 deed, that it shall not increase the symptoms under 
 which the patient labours, it must be cautiously adap- 
 ted to the violence and character of each case, and 
 be variously modified, according to the age and con- 
 stitution of the sufferer, the period of the malady 
 and a host of other circumstances, all of which must be 
 taken into the account, and carefully weighed, in 
 order to ensure the success of any remedy adminis- 
 tered. It is the mere vender of drugs that offers to 
 the public his unfailing syrups, mixtures, and lozen- 
 ges, adapted to every case and stage of the " pre- 
 vailing cough" — the veriest empiric who asserts that 
 his panacea can be taken with perfect impunity, and 
 with a certainty of success by all who are labouring 
 under this or any other disease. It is true that there 
 is a general plan of treatment adapted to the influen- 
 za, but to apply properly this general plan to indivi- 
 dual cases, requires judgment and skill. Many cases 
 occur during every visitation of the epidemic, which 
 call for no internal remedies whatever; while in 
 
41 
 
 others the safety of the patient requires that active 
 remedies be not neglected. Between the two extremes 
 there is an infiuity of shades in the disease, each 
 calling for a particular modification of treatment. 
 To decide upon the necessity of these modifications 
 is the province of the scientific physician. Neither 
 the patient, nor yet his friends, however honest these 
 latter may be in their desire to afford relief, are in 
 any degree competent to the task. 
 
 Impressing solemnly upon the reader's attention this 
 important truth, we shall now proceed, not to lay down 
 the treatment of influenza, in all its details, but to re- 
 view the remedies ordinarily demanded, and to offer a 
 few cautionary hints in relation to each. To our medi- 
 cal readers we do not promise much novelty, but rather 
 a convenient summary of the course which they will 
 find it convenient to pursue. Upon the subject of 
 regimen and diet we shall be more explicit ; for by 
 an attention to these on the part of the patient, much 
 may be done, even without the employment of medi- 
 cine, while by their neglect, the best concerted medical 
 treatment will prove of little avail. 
 
 Bleeding. — In proportion to the violence of the 
 disease and the robust and plethoric frame of the pa- 
 tient, will the loss of blood be called for in influ- 
 enza. Whenever the disease is attended with much 
 
48 
 
 fever, oppression of respiration, severe pain in the 
 head or chest/.the immediate loss of a sufficient quantity 
 of blood will always be found to afford very great re- 
 lief. Bleeding is a remedy, however, which can sel- 
 dom, if ever, be employed with advantage, excepting 
 under the direction of a physician. By the patient or 
 his friends, it is very apt to be resorted to at an im- 
 proper period of the disease, and to be either carried 
 too far, or not to a sufficient extent. To derive 
 from it all the benefit it is capable of affording, the 
 loss of blood must be properly timed and adapted 
 in quantity to the existing stage and violence of the 
 disease, as well as to the age and constitution of the 
 patient. It is too often the practice to employ in the 
 first place a variety of remedies more or less impro- 
 per, and then as a last resort, to try the effects of 
 bleeding, at a period when the relief obtained from it 
 will be far less than it would have been, had it been 
 resorted to in the commencement, or even at an 
 early stage of the attack. Let then the physician 
 decide when bleeding will be proper. 
 
 Purging. — When the bowels are costive, that is 
 when an evacuation from them has not occurred for 
 a day or two, some gentle laxative, as castor oil, or 
 a seidlitz powder, will be proper ; but excepting in 
 certain cases of influenza, in which the head is vio~ 
 
40 
 
 lently affected, purgatives do not form a remedy well 
 adapted to the treatment of the disease. Purgatives 
 are among those medicines of which the greatest 
 abuse is made in domestic practice. They are con* 
 sidered by many almost a specific in all cases of 
 fevers, cold, and inflammations generally ; and very 
 often, by their imprudent use or frequent repetition, a 
 trifling complaint is converted into one of long conti- 
 nuance and considerable severity. Yiewed by pa- 
 rents as a very innocent remedy, they are adminis- 
 tered in the diseases of children with a profuse hand; 
 the very suffering which the good nurse or officious 
 mother in this manner produces, is commonly made a 
 plea for the still longer continuance of the purgative 
 system. 
 
 Whenever gentle laxatives or more active purga- 
 tives are considered necessary in the management of 
 influenza, every prudent person will resort to his 
 physician for directions as to the article to be em-* 
 ployed, its dose, and the periods of its administration* 
 Addressing ourselves for the moment more particu- 8 
 larly to our medical brethren, we should say, that 
 where bleeding has been premised in the more violent 
 form of the disease, or where we meet with milder 1 
 cases, marked however, by general oppression and la* 
 borious breathing, a mercurial purge will be attended 
 with a good effect, and prepare very well for the use of 
 
50 
 
 antimonials in minute doses, either alone or combined 
 with opium. In what may be called the bilious varie- 
 ties of influenza, or where there is a predominance of 
 nausea, with loaded tongue, some pain and tightness 
 about the lower ribs on each side, or the hypochondria ; 
 calomel followed by salts, or the compound powder 
 of jalap, will be of essential utility. The inhabit- 
 ants of the southern States evince most frequently, 
 when attacked with the disease, the bilious compli- 
 cations. 
 
 The remarks just made respecting the use of pur- 
 gatives, will apply to that of emetics, when the influ- 
 enza is complicated with bilious symptoms, so called. 
 Emetics. — The public generally appear to be 
 fond, either of secret remedies, or else of those which 
 have an immediate, active and visible effect ; hence 
 next to panaceas and catholicons, purgatives and 
 emetics rank high upon their list of materia me- 
 dica : few diseases occur in which one of these and 
 very generally both, are not at once prescribed. To 
 decide however upon the necessity for, and the proper 
 management of either, requires much judgment and 
 nice discrimination: thev should be left therefore, en- 
 tirely to the prescription of the physician. 
 
 In cases of influenza, on the first accession of the 
 symptoms, a mild emetic will produce often very 
 great benefit, rendering frequently, what threatened 
 
51 
 
 to be a serious, a very mild attack. At a later period, 
 also, circumstances may occur in which an emetic 
 may be proper ; generally, however, it is only in the 
 first period of the attack, that the propriety of their 
 use is free from ail doubt. In the subsequent stages, 
 the employment of the emetic articles, antimony and 
 ipecacuanha, in minute doses, is more beneficial 
 than when they are given so as to induce vomiting. 
 They constitute in this form an excellent addition to 
 the cough mixtures employed towards the decline of 
 the disease. 
 
 Antimonial wine, combined w r ith the syrup of 
 squills, is a very customary prescription in domestic 
 practice, for the influenza, or a cold occurring in 
 children. In many slight cases, this combination 
 may undoubtedly produce good effects, but it is by 
 no means one to be recommended under all circum- 
 stances. We object particularly to the frequent and 
 indiscriminate use in early life, of antimonial wine ; 
 its effects upon the stomach and bowels are often pre- 
 judicial. The fact is, colds affecting children, can- 
 not be safely treated by w r hat are called simjile reme- 
 dies, their management requires considerable skill ; 
 they being in general attended with far more danger 
 than when they occur in adults. 
 
52 
 
 Blisters.— The application of a blister will be 
 often adviseable, especially in those cases of influen- 
 za accompanied with considerable oppression of the 
 chest, a dry harrassing cough, and much pain of the 
 side or breast. They require, however, to be pro- 
 perly timed, and the system prepared for their action, 
 or they will be far more liable to be productive of 
 pernicious than of beneficial effects. For ourselves, we 
 are of opinion, that at a proper stage of the disease, 
 blisters may be employed with decided advantage in 
 a much greater variety of cases than those in which 
 they are usually resorted to. When the head and 
 eyes are much affected, a blister to the nape of the 
 neck will often produce immediate and very decided 
 relief. 
 
 PEDiLuviA.^—Bathing the feet in warm water? 
 and the use of the warm bath generally, require a 
 very great deal of management and caution, in order 
 to derive from their use, in cases of influenza and ca- 
 tarrh, any very decided advantage. The good old 
 practice, as it is termed, by a sad perversion of lan- 
 guage, of treating a cold by bathing the feet in hot 
 water, on going to bed in the evening, and then drink- 
 ing freely of some hot spirituous mixture, or strong 
 herb tea, is one of the most dangerous that can be 
 devised. J'or one individual who has by this means 
 
53 
 
 obtained the removal of his cold, we might enume- 
 rate hundreds in whom it has very considerably in- 
 creased all the symptoms, and caused the inflamma- 
 tion to extend itself to the breast or lungs. All at- 
 tempts to force a sweat, and particularly by heating 
 remedies, in this or any other febrile affection, are in 
 the highest degree pernicious. The moisture on the 
 surface which occurs towards the decline of such dis- 
 eases is generally, it is true, an indication of amend- 
 ment, but it is the effect and not as many suppose, 
 the cause of the favourable change in the malady. 
 One word, however, that we may not be misunder- 
 stood. When a person has been exposed to cold and 
 dampness of any extent, or for some hours, immedi- 
 ately to bathe the feet or the whole body in warm 
 water, and then, retiring to bed, to take freely of 
 some mild tepid drinks, is an excellent means of pre- 
 venting any bad effects resulting from the previous 
 exposure : it will often ward off a cold, but it will 
 rarely, if ever cure it when already present ; that is, 
 if its symptoms be of any violence. Stimulating 
 drinks will always do harm. 
 
 Opiates.— Various preparations of opium are re- 
 medies of great power in many cases of influenza: 
 but they do not admit of indiscriminate use in all cases 
 or in every stage of the complaint. It is only when 
 
54 
 
 the more violent symptoms have declined that they 
 are found invariably to relieve the restlessness and 
 cough, and to induce a quiet and refreshing sleep. 
 In children they must he used, in particular, with 
 great caution. Their administration in no case should 
 be attempted, without the advice of a competent phy- 
 sician. Now the reader must be informed that nearly 
 all the cough mixtures, syrups, and lozenges, of the 
 shops — the vegetable syrups and pectoral balsams of 
 the advertising quacks, are combinations of mucilage 
 or sugar, squills, antimony, opium, laudanum or 
 paregoric elixir, if they do not contain still more de- 
 leterious ingredients. Their use is always attended 
 with risk, from the want of any adaptation, in the 
 proportion of their several ingredients, to the age and 
 constitution of the patient, as well as to the violence 
 and stage of the disease. Taken late in the complaint, 
 when a harrassing cough is almost the only symptom 
 remaining, they often, it is true, afford prompt relief; 
 though even here injury is frequently produced by the 
 over proportion of some one of the more active articles 
 which they contain. At an earlier stage of the com- 
 plaint they are more apt to increase than to relieve 
 the difficulty of breathing, the fever, and the rest- 
 lessness. We can readily comprehend how these 
 articles obtain a fictitious reputation, Taken by one 
 
55 
 
 individual, at a period when opiates are indicated, 
 the relief he experiences from their use induces 
 others to resort to them, and perhaps, by many at 
 an improper period. But this makes no difference in 
 their estimation of this class of remedies ; one failing 
 to give relief, another is made use of, or the same one 
 is continued, in gradually augmented doses, until 
 finally discovering that their disease augments under 
 its employment, they do precisely what they should 
 have done in the first instance — that is, apply for 
 regular medical advice. 
 
 Mucilaginous Fluids. — These are confessedly 
 the safest and most effectual means for quieting the 
 cough that we possess, during at least the first stages 
 and height of the disease. They effect this too with- 
 out endangering irritation of the stomach, or an in- 
 crease of the inflammation or of the attendant fever. 
 Barley- water, a solution of gum Arabic in water, a 
 decoction of quince seeds, or even simple toast- water, 
 may be taken either plain or sweetened, and slightly 
 acidulated by the addition of lemon juice or other 
 vegetable acid, in small portions at a time, frequent- 
 ly repeated. They will be found almost iuvariably 
 to relieve the irritation and dryness of the throat, and 
 to diminish very considerably the cough. One of the 
 best of these mucilaginous preparations, is perhaps, 
 
50 
 
 the flaxseed tea, to which, after it is strained, a pof~ 
 tion of lemon juice and of sugar have been added* 
 Wheu this is not relished, the inner bark of the slip- 
 pery elin (ulinus fulva.) may be substituted for the 
 flaxseed ; when infused in the water, this produces a 
 very bland, and to many, a very pleasant mucilage. 
 Keeping a piece of rock candy, gum Arabic, or com- 
 mon molasses candy, constantly in the mouth, and 
 allowing it slowly to dissolve, is likewise an excel- 
 lent means of stilling the cough, and of abating the 
 irritation of the throat, upon which it depends. 
 These articles constitute the simplest, safest, and 
 therefore the best cough lozenges. 
 
 Inhalations. — The frequent inhalation into the 
 lungs of warm aqueous vapours : that is, of the steam 
 from warm water, is a remedy from which much ad- 
 vantage is often derived in the influenza, and all other 
 varieties of catarrh. Many persons imagiue that a 
 little vinegar, or a few chamomile flowers added to 
 the warm water, improves its virtues ; the truth of 
 this is, however, very questionable. Nevertheless as 
 the vapour, in consequence of this addition, feela 
 more grateful to the palate and lungs of certain pa- 
 tients, little injury will result from allowing it; pro- 
 vided always, however, that the quantity of vinegar 
 or chamomile flowers, be very small. The addition 
 
57 
 
 of any of the more aromatic herbs or substances 
 would be injurious ; they should always at least be 
 dispensed with, unless expressly directed by a phy- 
 sician. The method of usiug or of applying the va- 
 pour, is of very little importance: holding the face 
 over a large bason filled with hot water, or directing 
 the steam into the throat through an inverted funnel, 
 will answer in most cases fully as well, if not better 
 than a more complicated apparatus. 
 
 Various other remedies are required, or at least are 
 prescribed, in many cases of influenza, especially in 
 these marked by symptoms of unusual severity. The 
 foregoing list comprehends, however, those which are 
 most commonly administered without the direction of a 
 physician, and hence those in relation to the employ- 
 ment of which the greatest mistakes are daily com- 
 mitted. It is on this account that we have considered 
 it proper to offer a few remarks in relatiou to them ; 
 not, however, w r ith the view of teaching the public an 
 impossible task, in other words, of instructing then 
 in the mode of applying these remedies to the cure of 
 their own complaints, but, rather to point out to them 
 the difficulty attending their proper employment, ex- 
 cepting under the directions of a judicious and skil- 
 ful physician. It is from the lull conviction, that no 
 
 one out of the medical profession can, without the 
 
 8 
 
58 
 
 utmost risk, attempt to prescribe for this or any other 
 ailment, however simple, to which the human sys- 
 tem is liable, that we have purposely avoided enter- 
 ing iuto any account of the doses and several combi- 
 nations of those internal remedies best adapted to the 
 cure of influenza. By -so doing, we are aware, that 
 in the estimation of many, we have detracted largely 
 from the interest of the present publication. 
 
 It is for the physician to carry out the details 
 which his former experience and present observa- 
 tions shall find adapted to the peculiar circumstance 
 of each case. We believe that what we have said, 
 in the way of syllabus to the treatment, will not be 
 without its use to him ; certainly if it meet the eyes 
 of his patients, will inspire them with additional con- 
 fidence in his prescriptions and directions. 
 
 Diet. — An abstinence from meat, and all solid 
 and irritating food and stimulating drinks, is of the 
 first importance in every case of the disease. A diet 
 of thiu gruel, weak tea, or milk and water, and 
 dry toast, or stale bread, with flaxseed tea, le- 
 monade, apple and barley-water for drink, will 
 of itself, provided the patient at the same time re- 
 mains within doors for a day or two, remove a slight 
 attack; while, in the more violent ones, a similar 
 diet is essential to the successful operation of the 
 
59 
 
 strictly remedial measures that may be demanded. 
 Simple bland diluent drinks, whatever may be the 
 addition made to the water of which they are com- 
 posed, whether sugar, syrup, vegetable acids, cer- 
 tain of the farinacea, or mucilage, are demanded in 
 all cases of catarrh or influenza. Every stimulating 
 fluid, whether distilled or fermented, must be avoid- 
 ed: in any quantity it will have the effect of increas- 
 ing the fever, the cough, and the difficulty of breath- 
 ing. Even the languor and depression which in the 
 commencement Gf certain cases of the influenza, 
 would appear to many to call for its use, are aug- 
 mented by it, or if removed under its employment, 
 are replaced by symptoms of greater danger. 
 
 We have heard men boast of having cured them- 
 selves of an attack of cold, or of influenza, by high 
 living and a few additional glasses of wine, or of hot 
 whiskey punch, and seemingly claim some degree of 
 credit for their running counter to the wisest medical 
 instructions. But, it is only when the most consum- 
 mate folly shall be esteemed a proper subject of admi- 
 ration and of praise, that such conduct shall obtain 
 approval. The man who risks destruction, or endan- 
 gers his health, merely from whim or caprice, can 
 never be esteemed for his sense, his prudence, nor, 
 we had almos: said, for his morality. The only 
 excuse we can possibly make for one who thus acts, 
 
60 
 
 , is to suppose him ignorant of the imminent risk he 
 runs in the indulgence of his folly. 
 
 A common notion is entertained, that the drinks 
 taken in cases of catarrh, or influenza, should be 
 warm. This is an error, — the drinks should be 
 cool, and neither cold nor warm. 
 
 Confinement within doors, in a dry comfortable 
 
 chamber, is adviseable in all cases of the disease, 
 
 m 
 
 and in the more violent cases, cannot be dispensed 
 with. Care should be taken, that the air of the pa- 
 tient's apartments is preserved of an equal tempera- 
 | ture throughout the day; guarding alike against any 
 
 approach to chilliness, or too much heat. 
 
 It is often impossible or extremely inconvenient, 
 however, in slight attacks for the individual to keep 
 his chamber ; when this is the case, great caution 
 should be observed to adapt the clothing to the state 
 of the weather, so as to avoid the impression on the 
 system, of cold or damp. Flannel next the skin 
 will always be found of advantage, with woollen 
 stockings, and substantial boots, and over-shoes 
 whenever the season is wet or the streets sloppy. 
 After night, nothing but the most imperative neces- 
 sity should induce the patient to expose himself to 
 the open air, more especially if the weather be damp 
 or rainy. 
 
61 
 
 Hints respecting Common Colds and Incipient Con- 
 sumption. 
 
 We deem the present a favourable opportunity for 
 venturing a few remarks on common colds, in con- 
 nexion with pulmonary consumption : — and we shall 
 consider ourselves peculiarly fortunate if they should 
 prove the means of inducing a salutary and timely 
 caution on the part of those of our readers whose 
 weak chests render them liable to the attacks of this 
 dread malady. 
 
 When we reflect on the fearful mortality in tem- 
 perate climates annually, caused by the various di- 
 seases of the respiratory organs, under the names of 
 pleurisy, pneumonia, or inflammation of the lungs, 
 bronchitis, croup, asthma, hydrothorax or dropsy of the 
 chest, and last and chiefest, consumption of the lungs, 
 we shall find little cause to boast of the superior sa- 
 lubrity of those regions — illustrated though they be by 
 being the residence of the most civilized and intel- 
 lectual portion of mankind. We are startled at the 
 very name of yellow fever, and devoutly bless our 
 better stars, by which we are exempted from the 
 plague and the cholera: but, were we to consult the 
 simple annals of the poor, note their diseases and 
 examine the hospital records of the chief cities of 
 
62 
 
 Europe and of the United States, we should indeed be 
 amazed if not terrified, at the large outlet to human 
 life made by the host of diseases of the lungs, — 
 no small portion of which have their origin in what 
 is called << talcing cold." Even while we admit that 
 in our middle and northern latitudes, the mutations 
 of temperature and weather are so great and frequent 
 as to baffle the calculations of the most prudent, and 
 that penury and want, and a life of unremitting wo, 
 compel a large number to submit to exposures ruinous 
 to their health, and certainly destructive, in time, of 
 life, yet we cannot be insensible to the fact that much 
 extensive suffering from pulmonary diseases in gene- 
 ral, including more especially consumption, is the di- 
 rect result of voluntary folly, in vice, indolence, imi- 
 tation and fashion. True, the labouring poor are of- 
 ten greatly exposed to taking cold, from the very na- 
 ture of their employment, as well as on account of their 
 scanty clothing, and Ill-built and imperfectly warmed 
 habitations. Eut how often are they not thus ex- 
 posed by their want of common industry and thrift 
 to obtain the means of protection — how much oftener 
 again, are not they the victims of atmospheric dis tem- 
 peratures, in consequence of the morbid susceptibili- 
 ties to these agencies, created by intemperance in the 
 use of intoxicating drinks, carousing at late hours, &c. 
 
63 
 
 The waggoner, the ploughman, and the sailor, are 
 each, respectively, much exposed to the elemental strife, 
 the peltings of the pitiless storm — wind, and rain, 
 snow, and sleet; often are they drenched to the skin, 
 often seized with pains of pleurisy or rheumatism. 
 But were we to separate the list of attacks, which 
 begin with taking cold, caused by prior intemperance 
 or carelessness, or neglect of timely change of gar- 
 ments, from those which come on in despite of tem- 
 perance and an early use of dry and warm clothing, 
 after getting wet, we should find the latter bear a 
 small proportion to the former. 
 
 In like manner we shall find, that the exposures to 
 atmospheric vicissitudes productive of pulmonary 
 diseases of the man of business, the student, and 
 the professional man, are not so much in direct dis- 
 charge of their several duties, as in the observances 
 of absurd customs, addiction to unseasonable amuse- 
 ments and the like, or a neglect of the common means 
 of insuring in-door comfort. 
 
 The man, who from indolence or excessive stingi- 
 ness, neglects to have a broken pane of glass repla- 
 ced by an entire one, and gets in consequence a cold, 
 and its concomitants, cough, stitch in the side, &c. 
 ought not to blame the weather or his business for 
 the complaint under which he labours, any more 
 
64 
 
 than he would do who should sit shivering at 
 the desk, between doors imperfectly closed, and in 
 a room, which, had he chosen, it was in his power 
 to keep warm with a good fire. A youth of delicate 
 frame, who is peculiarly prone to catch cold, and 
 has been once or twice threatened with consumption, 
 determines to try a winter without flannel next his 
 skin : he takes little or no exercise to increase the ac- 
 tivity of his circulation, and eats but little, and that 
 irregularly ; thus depriving his system of one of the 
 means in a vigorous digestion and ready nutritibn, of 
 forming animal heat. Eire the experiment has been 
 long tried, he is seized with the influenza, and falls a 
 victim to that' disease. Ought we to attribute his 
 death to his own folly, or to the state of the weather 
 and season? But for the intervention of epidemic 
 influence, he might have survived, perhaps, until the 
 spring, and then would have sunk under the slower 
 march of consumption. 
 
 A man of business walks about in wet streets, and 
 amid showers of rain, with impunity — protected as 
 he is by thick-soled boots or shoes, and suitable over- 
 clothes and umbrella. In the evening, it may be a 
 clear and calm one, he puts on slender pumps with 
 silk stockings, in place of thick woollen ones, goes 
 to a large assemblage — a tea-party, or a dance, gets 
 
65 
 
 over-heated., and returns home, perhaps without an 
 over-coat, at any rate with his pumps on. Next 
 morning he awakes with hoarseness, soreness of throat 
 and fever. Prudence would now dictate the pro- 
 priety of his keeping in the house, omitting his 
 customary meals, and of using some simple drinks, 
 mucilagiuous or farinaceous, instead; but no, he 
 cannot, considerate and industrious soul that he 
 is, spare time from his business to lay by. And yet, 
 the evening before, he could forget his business, and 
 risk its interruption, perhaps entire breaking up, by a 
 still more violent attack of disease than that under 
 which he now labours, in competition with an uncall- 
 ed for vanity in a trifling article of dress. But mark 
 the results : — he goes out, perhaps the weather 
 may be bad, and after a day of toil, returns much 
 worse at night than he had been in the morning. He 
 forgot the relative effects of exposure, and that, what 
 had been innoxious to him the day before, when he 
 was in health, is decidedly prejudicial to him, now 
 that he is indisposed. Perhaps he may struggle on 
 another day, and at last takes to his bed, and it may 
 be, never to rise again. This person is then said to 
 have fallen a victim to his extreme attention to 
 business ; or, he is numbered among those who 
 are fatal sufferers from a variable climate, and the 
 9 
 
63 
 
 epidemic of the season. The man's death is the re^ 
 ward of his own folly. 
 
 Again, a young physician, with naturally a weak 
 chest, goes to settle in. a sickly country, in which, if 
 he is not carried off by consumption, he runs a good 
 chance of being destroyed by fever. On his return one 
 night late, after much exertion followed by copious per- 
 spiration, he has to cross a river ; he takes a short cut 
 below the usual ford, dashes into the water, gets tho- 
 roughly wet, and in the morning is awakened by a chill, 
 which is followed by inflammation of the lungs, and 
 death. Was this person returning from a professional 
 visit, which, without a derelection of duty, he could not 
 have refosed making? Not at all ; he had been to a 
 ball, and was dressed in very light pantaloons, thin 
 stockings, and pumps. 
 
 Of the heedless and yet voluntary exposures 
 to taking cold of the female sex, little need be 
 said here; their strange infatuation in this way 
 is proverbial. 13ut our mortification and griefs for 
 the sufferings which they bring on themselves, in 
 the varieties of pulmonary complaints, to which 
 they ultimately fall victims, are aggravated by 
 knowing that, even in the pursuit of pleasure and the 
 enjoyment of frivolous amusements, they need not 
 necessarily expose their persons to the sudden tran- 
 sitions of temperature, nor especially their feet to 
 
67 
 
 cold and moisture, and thus lay the foundation for a 
 long list of maladies ; among which, figures in the 
 foremost rank, pulmonary consumption. 
 
 Having spoken of the foolish practices by which 
 diseases of the lungs are so often brought on, we 
 shall next advert to the false theory by which they 
 are in part attempted to be justified. This theory is, 
 that delicate persons ought to expose themselves to 
 cold and the severities of the weather, in order to 
 harden themselves ; because, as it is alleged, they 
 whose employments require a life of toil, often in cold 
 inclement weather, are vigorous and resist disease. 
 The assertion is not true: a very large number of the 
 industrious labouring poor fall victims annually to 
 pulmonary disease, in its various forms, in conse- 
 quence of their exposure to cold and severe weather. 
 They whom we see remarkable for their robust 
 frames and bodily vigour, and who are at the same 
 time much exposed to the wintry cold, are not bene- 
 fitted by the latter; they remain healthy in spite of it, 
 Regular, active muscular exercise, in the open air, 
 plain substantial food, and regular hours, contribute 
 to give them an energetic discharge of all their func-- 
 tions, especially of digestion, respiration and circu- 
 lation, and in a measure, as a consequence of the 
 others, a free evolution of animal heat, and great 
 power of resisting cold. In extreme northern latK 
 
m 
 
 tudes, as in Russia, Sweden and Norway, consump* 
 tion is indeed less frequent, but the inhabitants of 
 those countries are far from acquiring an endurance 
 of cold by exposing themselves; they take every pos- 
 sible method of moderating its severity, by the warm- 
 est clothing, and having their houses furnished with 
 double windows and doors, and warmed by heated 
 air. Sheep-skin undressed for the peasant, and furs 
 for the wealthy and higher classes, are common arti- 
 cles of dress. 
 
 Cold is peculiarly unfriendly to the young and to 
 those in very advanced life; it is especially liable to 
 bring on scrofula in all its forms, including tuber- 
 culous consumption. Even the animals most nearly 
 resembling man, as those of the monkey tribe, when 
 brought into cold northern latitudes, are seized with 
 glandular enlargements and tubercles. 
 
 We meet with very notable differences in the sus- 
 ceptibility of persons to be affected by cold, and 
 especially by that most dangerous union, cold with 
 moisture. Some are by inheritance prone to have 
 sore throats, others croup, others catarrh, on the 
 slightest exposure—by getting the feet wet, or by any 
 atmospherical change, which suddenly chills and ob- 
 structs the functions of the skin. Now it will be found 
 that the exemption of such persons from these mala- 
 dies, will be, not in proportion to their persistence in 
 
69 
 
 the hardening process, but to their avoidance of the 
 causes already mentioned, by preserving as much 
 as possible the skin and extremities of a uniform 
 temperature. Nay, still more, as every fresh expo- 
 sure is followed by a fresh attack of disease, and the 
 chances of these increase, nearly in the ratio of their 
 former number, until a morbid habit is firmly esta- 
 blished ; so, on the other hand, will a prudential 
 course, prolong the periods between .the attacks, 
 and finally prevent their ever returning ; thus esta- 
 blishing a healthy for a diseased habit. 
 
 The physician who has read and observed on the 
 subject of pulmonary consumption, knows that, 
 however numerous and fatal are the various inflam- 
 mations of the lungs, for the most part brought into 
 play by taking cold, still these are not in any large 
 proportion, the cause of consumption ; although both 
 may be excited by similar exposures, such as to a 
 cold and moist atmosphere. The predisposition to 
 consumption is often inherited, and depends on a 
 peculiar structure of the lungs, by which, or the ap- 
 plication of the common causes of catarrh, new sub- 
 stances or bodies called tubercles are formed. These 
 tubercles vary in size and consistence, being com" 
 monly hard on their circumference, and having a 
 softer or caseous consistence in their interior. After 
 a time some of them open outwardly, that is, on the 
 surface to which the air is applied in breathing, and 
 
TO 
 
 their contents continue to be coughed up at intervals 
 during the progress of the disease, through fistulous 
 openings. Sometimes they suddenly burst and suf- 
 focate the patient. This is what is called true or 
 tuberculous consumption, and by many, if not most 
 physicians, is regarded as incurable. Laennec, how- 
 ever, in his valuable Treatise on the Diseases of the 
 Chest, and on Mediate Auscultation,, and Andral, 
 in his Clinique Medicate, have rendered it highly 
 probable, would seem indeed, to have demonstra- 
 ted the fact, that even the fistulous tubercles have 
 cicatrized and been dried up. But instances to this 
 effect are exceedingly rare. 
 
 In some cases so strong is the tuberculous predis- 
 position that causes apparently of the most simple 
 kind, will call it into confirmed consumption ; whilst 
 in others, with common prudence, a tolerably long 
 life may be enjoyed, without suffering from the as- 
 saults of the fell destroyer. Catarrh, and haemorrhage 
 from the lungs, often regarded as the causes and pre- 
 cursors of consumption, are, on occasions, merely 
 evidences that the tuberculous irritation lias become 
 fully developed. The same remark applies to most 
 of the varieties of inflammation of the lungs, which 
 may accompany, and sometimes excite into action, 
 the tuberculous state, but without, properly speaking, 
 causing it. 
 
71 
 
 Still we are not to overlook the fact, that common 
 Catarrh or bronchitis, if neglected, will eventually 
 end in disorganization and ulcers of the lining mem- 
 brane of the lungs, which simulate true pulmonary 
 consumption, and end as fatally as this latter. 
 
 When we hear of cures of consumption we are to 
 understand theni as chiefly of these diseases — chronic 
 catarrh or bronchitis. The varieties even of this di- 
 sease are numerous. A common and troublesome 
 one is inflammation, ending in ulceration of the lining 
 membrane of the upper part of the wind pipe, con- 
 stituting what some have called laryngeal phthisis. 
 This in the larger number of cases accompanies the 
 tuberculous disease of the lungs, and when present 
 to any extent, accelerates greatly the fatal termination 
 of the latter. The voice is affected in a morbid 
 manner in laryngeal consumption ; and the unplea- 
 sant sensations and irritation provoking to cough, 
 are distinctly referred to the upper part of the wind 
 pipe ; the same part which in children is the seat of 
 croup. Sometimes the first symptoms of this variety 
 of consumption coming on, are loss of voice, or a 
 muffled or husky voice, with dryness of the throat, 
 and frequent hawking, and a short hemming cough. 
 The application of leeches to the skin over the wind 
 pipe, and on each side of it, followed by a blister, 
 inhalations of simple aqueous vapour, living in air 
 
T2 
 
 of a moderate and equable temperature, and keeping 
 the feet very warm, together with a plain regimen, will 
 sometimes suffice to arrest the progress of this malady. 
 Conjoined with incipient as well as with confirmed 
 consumption, is gastritis or inflammation of the sto- 
 mach, both acute and chronic, and also ulcerations 
 of the intestines. The last are more common in the 
 advanced stages of the disease. 
 
 Farther details of the organic changes, which are 
 characteristic of, or which accompany, pulmonary 
 consumption would be incompatible with the pur- 
 poses of the present sketch. Our design is merely 
 to point out the chief causes of catarrh and consump- 
 tion, and the prominent varieties of the latter, in 
 order to better understand the value of the dietetic 
 and curative suggestions, with which we shall close 
 our remarks. 
 
 When we find a person with narrow chest, long neck 
 and inclined to stoop, who inherits from either parent 
 the predisposition to consumption, and who is pe- 
 culiarly liable to take cold and have a cough every 
 spring and autumn, or at any notable change in the 
 weather from warm to cold, our fears ought to be 
 awakened, and ail proper measures taken to prevent 
 an attack oF threatened consumption. Theory and 
 experience point out the propriety of attending, in a 
 
13 
 
 more especial manner, to the three important sur- 
 faces : viz. the skin ; the lining membrane of the 
 lungs, to which the air is applied in respiration; and 
 finally, the lining membrane of the stomach and 
 bowels, to the inner surface of which food, solid and 
 fluid, is applied, for the purposes of digestion and its 
 subsidiary processes. 
 
 Aware that the impeded functions of the skin, 
 caused by cold and moisture, or the unequal appli- 
 cation of cold by currents of air to a part of the 
 body, preceded and caused the cough and distress in 
 breathing ; our first duty is to protect this surface 
 against similar accidents. With this view it is ex- 
 ceedingly important to make the invalid wear cloth- 
 ing of such texture and fashion as shall keep up a 
 uniform temperature, and also, the healthy customary 
 discharge of perspirable matter from the skin. If 
 we are to err on either side, let it be on that of warmth. 
 Frictions, used daily, night and morning, and the 
 occasional use of the warm bath, will contribute to 
 the same end. The next surface, or the pulmona- 
 ry, should be also guarded against air, either too dry 
 or untimely cold, as well as very hot. While cold 
 air is prejudicial both to the cutaneous and respira- 
 tory surfaces, there is this difference, that moisture does 
 not render it hurtful for breathing, whereas this ad- 
 ditional quality of air is much more apt to impede the 
 10 
 
74 
 
 functions of the skin. Hence a man may take exercise 
 in and breathe an air which he ought most sedulously 
 to prevent having any access to his skin, or at least, 
 to any part of it which is habitually clothed. To 
 be chilled through the skin might be fatal. To be 
 affected by it through the lungs is comparatively 
 harmless; and at times, during the inflammatory ac- 
 tion of these organs, may be very serviceable. 
 
 It is, however, very difficult to derive advantage from 
 such a kind of air in one way without its being very 
 detrimental in another, and at any rate, the sudden 
 changes of wind and temperature are very trying to 
 weak lungs. Hence have arisen the enquiry and 
 search after such a uniform state of atmosphere, as 
 shall prove grateful to the lungs, and at the same 
 time, be beneficial to the skin. 
 
 A climate in which the temperature is moderate, 
 rather inclining to warm, and the air rather moist, 
 with protection from keen north or north-westerly and 
 north-easterly winds, is that which in theory, is sup- 
 posed to correspond with our wishes. 
 
 Of course we cannot look for a location enjoying 
 these advantages in northern and middle Europe, nor 
 in our northern and middle states. The south of 
 France, parts of Italy and Spain, and the island of 
 Madeira, have been, severally, extolled as desirable 
 
75 
 
 residences for the consumptive invalid. At home we 
 have heard of much benefit being obtained by some 
 of the inhabitants of our eastern cities, thus afflicted, 
 who have spent the winter in Savannah. But more 
 relief is to be expected in pulmonary affections, by 
 living, during this season, at St. Augustine, in Flo- 
 rida, than from any other spot with which we are 
 acquainted, within the limits of the United States. 
 
 To a removal of the invalid from home, there are, 
 however, many objections — on the score of separation 
 from friends, deprivation of suitable attendance, and 
 the expenses of travelling. A sea voyage is produc- 
 tive of many discomforts and atmospherical expo- 
 sures, which are highly detrimental to a sick person: 
 — and on arriving at the destined spot abroad, there 
 may be a want of many minor comforts, and what is 
 still worse, of the solacing attentions of friends and 
 relatives, all which would more than countervail, by 
 their effects on the mind and temper of the invalid, 
 the benefits to be expected from the climate. We 
 would not be understood as dissuading, in every case 
 from travel, and residence for a period, in spots, the 
 climate of which has been proved sanitary and cu- 
 rative by long and ample experience. We are satis- 
 fied, on the contrary, that in many instances, much 
 good has arisen from a change ; but to derive bene- 
 fits from it, the journey ought to be undertaken under 
 
76 
 
 favourable auspices, with sufficient pecuniary means, 
 the company of some near and dear relative or 
 friend, and the enjoyment, to a certain extent, of 
 the society of the place. 
 
 Happily for the invalid threatened with consump- 
 tion, or who is already suffering under its first stage, 
 he can have recourse to means at home by which all 
 the benefits from air of a mild and equable tempera- 
 ture for breathing and living in, will be realized with- 
 out the drawbacks just adverted to. Our reference is to 
 apartments warmed by fresh air, which is first in- 
 troduced into a small chamber of brick or tile, 
 containing a stove or furnace, by contact with 
 which it is heated, and passes up through a pipe or 
 grated opening, into the room above. We have 
 said that the air is fresh, and this is a grand point. 
 It is that common pure atmospheric air which enters 
 into the brick chamber by a small opening at the 
 side, and which, so soon as it is rarefied by contact 
 with the stove or furnace, rises to the top and finds 
 entrance into the room to be warmed. The doors and 
 windows may be rendered air-tight 5 and thus all 
 currents or drafts of cold air from without, are exclu- 
 ded, and one chief means of contracting fresh catarrh 
 prevented. The escape of the air of the room, con- 
 taminated by the breathing of the invalid and others, 
 — friends or attendants, cau be readily obtained by 
 
an aperture through the fire-hoard of a chimney- 
 place, or by a contrivance in place of one of the 
 panes of glass in a window. 
 
 It would be still better for two rooms to commu- 
 nicate with each other, the warm air coming up 
 through the floor, at the door of communication. An 
 apartment would then be reserved for sleeping, and 
 another for recreation, by such gymnastic exercises 
 as might be thought adapted to the strength and 
 stage of disease of the invalid. Here, also, could he 
 receive the visits of his friends. The two grand re- 
 quisites of uniform warmth, and ventilation, can be 
 readily obtained by this arrangement, and the pa- 
 tient is also placed in the most favourable situation 
 for being benefitted by the medical treatment which 
 may be suggested by the physician, including the 
 inhalation of various vapours, the use of the warm 
 or vapour bath, and frictions of the skin. 
 
 They who are apprehensive that a person kept 
 during a winter, in this artificial southern climate, 
 would be unable to bear the open air afterwards, 
 would be greatly deceived. In respect to persons in 
 health, we find the Russians bear the cold out of 
 doors with impunity if not with pleasure, after leav- 
 ing their warm rooms; and we know from experi- 
 ence, that the invalids kept during the winter, in 
 apartments of uniform temperature, suffer less from 
 
78 
 
 the external cold when they go out, than they had 
 done before.* 
 
 The expense of fitting up a furnace and chamber, 
 for the heated air, in the cellar, and establishing a com- 
 munication between the latter and the rooms above, 
 would not be more than half of the passage money 
 to a European port, and even this sum might be 
 saved by the less call for medicines, and the visits of 
 a physician, during the winter season. 
 
 We cannot forbear, when on this subject, from 
 repeating the language of the benevolent Dr. Gr. Pear- 
 son, of London, as follows. It is strictly applicable 
 to the United States, as well as Great Britain. "But 
 a grand institution for the benefit of the invalid public, 
 and the sick in general, by the erection of a building 
 of sufficient space, for apartments and rooms of va- 
 rious dimensions, to afford warm and equal tempe- 
 ratures, is at this time especially, an object for the gra- 
 tification of the philanthropist, and in all probability 
 must be profitable to the proprietors. To such a fabric 
 as here proposed, should be attached variously dis- 
 posed, spaces for pleasure walks, for green-houses, 
 for baths, and for amusements. How many thousands 
 
 * The reader, curious of details on the method of warming 
 houses, as practised in Russia and Northern Europe, generally, 
 and beginning to be adopted in our public buildings and many pri- 
 vate houses, here at home, is referred to the Journal of Health, 
 Yol. II. p. 80 & 140. 
 
79 
 
 of persons, of all ranks, are at this time, living in 
 the United Kingdom, in a state of bad health, not 
 remediable, or even capable of relief, but by warm 
 fresh air, of suitable degrees of temperature ? Such 
 states of atmosphere are no where obtainable, except 
 perhaps, for a short time, in any climate. The most 
 temperate climates afford the required temperatures 
 during part of the year only, and the tropical lati- 
 tudes from the extreme heat, and existence of the 
 causes of disease, are scarcely preferable; some rare 
 cases excepted, to many parts of our own island. " 
 
 The third and last of the surfaces, to which the 
 attention of the physician is directed, in the preven- 
 tive, as well as curative plan for pulmonary consump- 
 tion, is, that of the mucous or lining membrane of 
 the digestive canal, or of the stomach and intestines. 
 Appetite, is too often made a criterion of the kind and 
 amount of food to be allowed to phthisical patients, 
 whereas, owing to the morbid irritation of the sto- 
 mach, so common with them, the appetite is a false 
 one, and craves often, substances which this organ is 
 utterly unfitted to digest. Andral, high authority 
 on such subjects, says, " the frequency of gastritis 
 (inflammation of the stomach,) in consumption, being 
 well proved, it follows, as a necessary consequence, 
 that it is only with the greatest care and attention, 
 
80 
 
 that we even venture to apply substances of an irri- 
 tating nature to the mucous membrane of the stomach. 
 Many of the inflammatory affections of this organ in 
 plethorical subjects, are aggravated and rendered per- 
 manent, by being overlooked and left to themselves* 
 merely because they give rise to no very prominent 
 symptoms." Dr. Forbes makes the following com- 
 mentary on this passage. " In reference to this com- 
 plication, 1 w T ould here merely allude to two very 
 opposite, yet very common plans of diet, recommend- 
 ed in this disease, one almost entirely of animal food, 
 with porter, wine, &c, and the other of milk and 
 vegetable and farinaceous matters. In such a com- 
 plication, the one (the latter,) must be proper, and if 
 it do not tend to cure the disease, cannot at least 
 accelerate its progress ; the other (the former,) must 
 be injurious in the highest degree, both in its present 
 operation and future consequences." We fully con- 
 cur, ourselves, in the opinion of Dr. Forbes, and we 
 believe that a similar distinction and choice, are to 
 be made in the use of medicinal substances, the 
 soothing and sedative, being preferable to the sti- 
 mulating and strongly periurbating. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
ORIGIN, SYMPTOMS, AND CURE 
 
 INF] I ENZ-A, 
 EPIDEM ATARRII: 
 
 cxJmmon col. 
 
 pient tion. 
 
 ad h. 
 
 uuld be in tree from and 
 
 the distil liscourses. — PhiLGaz. 
 
 This work is and will be read with 
 
 . — U. S. Gazettee. 
 Th< — the Office of the 
 
 Jourrn .sending it to general 
 notice. — Dai: 
 
 PORTE] Y ROOMS, 
 
 .No. 121, C PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 Journal of Health, -a small volume. 
 
 peranum. Trades and Professions 
 
 Journal of Geology and Natv^ri ' on Health and Longevity — a small 
 
 monthly, ' volun 
 Journal of Instruction, md Prevention of Sick- 
 
 r annum. J 1 
 Health Alman Mineral Waters— 1 
 
 be continued annually, v 
 
PORTER'S LITERARY ROOMS, 
 
 JYo, 121 Chesnut street, 
 
 PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 THE MONTHLY 
 
 AMERICAN JOURNAL 
 
 OF GEOLOGY A>'D STATU IIAL SCIENCE, 
 
 Conducted by G. W. Featherstonhaugh, Esq. 
 Is published on the first of every month — 
 Price $3 50 per annum, in advance. 
 
 PORTER'S CATECHISM OF HEALTH, 
 
 Or, plain and simple Rules for the Preserva- 
 tion of Health and Vigour of the Constitu- 
 tion, from hi fancy to old age. 
 Dedicated to the Youth of both sexes, 
 throughout the United States, as well as to 
 their Parents and Guardians. — Cheap edi- 
 tion — Price 37£ cents. 
 
 RECOSOIEXDATIONS. 
 
 The " Catechism of Health," is, in my 
 opinion, one of the most useful works of 
 that nature ever issued from the Philadel- 
 phia press. Its lessons are simple and con- 
 vincing; and, if duly regarded, will greatly 
 promote the temporal welfare of mankind. 
 Our youth, especially, should be induced 
 to adopt its rules, and to this end it would 
 prove an invaluable book for all our ele- 
 mentary schools. ROBERTS VAUX. 
 
 The " Catechism of Health" presents the 
 best views upon the most important subject 
 connected with the preservation of health. 
 A knowledge of its principles should be 
 considered an essential part of the educa- 
 tion of every individual, and- they cannot 
 be too early inculcated. 
 
 J. C. OTTO, M, D. 
 One of the physicians of the Pennsylvania 
 
 Hospital. 
 
 The public are deeply indebted to you 
 for your Journal of Health, and now for a 
 new TVork so eminently calculated to rescue 
 
 thousands of constitutions from ruin. The 
 precepts and rules are prescribed in a style 
 plain and familiar to all classes, and consti- 
 tute a system of inestimable value. 
 
 JAMES THACHER, M. D. 
 Author of various medical and historical 
 works. 
 
 After hastily examining the contents of 
 this work, I feel entire freedom to recom- 
 mend it as deserving the patronage of the 
 public. I have found it replete with sound 
 and valuable instruction, on the subject of 
 Health, conveyed in a style so familiar and 
 perspicuous, as to be readily understood by 
 the class of readers for whom it is profes- 
 sedly intended. 
 
 THOMAS HARRIS, M. D. 
 Surgeon in the U. S. Navy; Lecturer on 
 Operative Surgery, and one of the Sur- 
 geons of the Pennsylvania Hospital. 
 
 Extract of a letter from the Hon. James 
 Kent, late Chancellor of the state of New 
 York, dated May 12, 1831:— "I have read 
 through your Catechism of Health, and I 
 think it is a code of admirable precepts and 
 advice, which ought to be early and deeply 
 impressed on the minds of the rising gen- 
 eration." 
 
 Extract from a letter addressed to the 
 publisher of the Catechism of Health, by- 
 Professor Moses Stuart, of Andover, Mass. : 
 — "I wish that every man, woman and 
 child in our land, would study this Cate- 
 chism, imbibe its spirit, and practice its 
 principles. It is a bbok especially entitled 
 to the notice and patronage of all. Such 
 as are entrusted with the care and educa- 
 tion of youth; and most persons, of mature 
 years, will find in it much that is instructive 
 
2 
 
 and useful, in respect to the important sub- 
 ject of preserving" health." 
 
 This Catechism contains few, if any di- 
 rection, which have not been supported by 
 the experience of ages. If it should be 
 generally read, as an English Class Book, 
 in common and higher schools, it would be 
 likely to imbue millions with practical wis- 
 dom, and Would do much to promote the 
 bodily and mental vigour of future genera- 
 tions. EZRA STILES ELY, D. D. 
 Pastor of the Third Presbyterian Church, 
 
 and Editor of 'the Philadelphian. 
 
 On the Second Wednesday of September, 
 
 1831, was published, No. 1, of the 3d 
 
 Volume of the 
 
 JOURNAL OF HEALTH, 
 
 In addition to the various topics connect- 
 ed with the Preservation of Health, a.nd 
 promotion of Temperance, it is proposed, 
 in the present vol. to enter fully into the 
 subject of Physiology, or an account of the 
 structure and functions of the various or- 
 gans of the system; of Pvblic Hygiene, or 
 the means by which the health of cities and 
 communities is preserved: — This will of 
 course include a consideration of Climate, 
 Localities, and the causes of Epidemics, the 
 Construction of Dwellings, the Establish- 
 ment of Gymnasia and Public Baths, and of 
 Medical Police. A due attention will also 
 be paid to Medical Jurisprudence, or the 
 means of distinguishing accidental deaths 
 from those caused by the wilful infliction of 
 injuries, or the administration of Poisons. 
 The health of Mechanics and Manufactur- 
 ers, will likewise not be neglected. 
 
 TERMS — A Number of 16 8vo. pages, 
 is issued on the 2d and 4th Wednesday of 
 every month, price $1 25 cents per annum, 
 payable in advance. The postage on the 
 Journal of Health is the same as that on 
 newspapers. 
 
 RECOMMENDATIONS . 
 
 1 have read with much pleasure the first 
 eight numbers of a publication entitled the 
 Journal of Health. The manner in which 
 it is conducted, the principles which it in- 
 culcates, and the style in which they are 
 conveyed, in my opinion, entitle that work 
 to public confidence, while it remains in 
 the hands of its present Editors. 
 
 DAVID HOSACK, M. D. 
 Professor of the Institutes and Practice of 
 
 Medicine in Rutger's College, New York. 
 January 14, 1830. 
 
 I have also read the numbers already is- 
 aued of the above mentioned publication, 
 
 and unite in approving both of its object 
 and execution. JAMES MILNOR, 
 
 Beet or of St. Gecrge's Church, N. York. 
 January 15, 1830. 
 
 I cheerfully concur in opinion with the 
 two preceding gentlemen. 
 
 VALENTINE MOTT, M. D. 
 
 Professor of Surgery. 
 
 We are much pleased with the design 
 and execution of the Journal of Health. 
 The Editors wisely abstain from the discus- 
 sion of technical medicine, which can nev- 
 er be profitably entered into except by the 
 faculty. But the principles for the regu- 
 lation and preservation of Health may be 
 easily divested of all terms of art, and the 
 Disciples of Hyg-eia need repair to those 
 of Apollo only when they have violated 
 their own precepts. We wish the Journal 
 every success in the dispersion of those 
 principles, by which it has thus far been 
 characterized, winch coincide in the main, 
 with the efforts and wishes of every well- 
 disposed citizen. 
 
 JOHN W. FRANCIS, M. D. 
 Professor of Obstetrics and Forensic Medi- 
 cine, Bulger's College, New York. 
 
 I have perused some of the numbers of 
 the "Journal of Health," and while I am 
 far from being a competent judge of its 
 merits, have been instructed and gratified 
 by what I have read. Such a work, it ap- 
 pears to me, in the hands of able conduct- 
 ors, might be exceedingly useful; and es- 
 pecially, if it should aim at promoting a 
 good moral influence. 
 
 GARDINER SPRING. 
 
 New York, January 15, 1830. 
 
 After an examination of the first six num- 
 bers of the Journal of Health, it gives me 
 pleasure to express my* favourable opinion 
 of it, and my wish to see it extensively 
 circulated. J. P. SCHROEDER, 
 
 An Assistant Minister of Trinity Church, 
 
 New York. 
 January 18th, 1830. 
 
 New York, January \5th, 1830. 
 
 I have read some of the numbers of the 
 Journal of Health, with great pleasure. 
 To me it appears to be judiciously con- 
 ducted; and I have no hesitation in saying, 
 that in a moral po ; nt of view it will be 
 eminently useful. Of hV correctness and 
 utility, as a Meflical Treatise, I am not suf- 
 ficiently qualified to venture an opinion. 
 As far as regards myself, I am pleased 
 with it. J NO. POWER, 
 
 Rector of the Cathedral, and Vicar- General 
 
 of the Diocess of New York. 
 
New York, January 21, 1830. 
 Judging from the first nine numbers of 
 the journal of Health, I have formed a very 
 favourable opin ; on of its utility, as a popu- 
 lar work; and cheerfully recommend it to 
 the patronage of the public. 
 
 ALEX. H. STEVENS, M. D. 
 Professor of Surgery in the College^ of Phy- 
 sicians and Surgeons of New York. 
 
 I have read with much interest the first 
 nine numbers of the Journal of Health, 
 and it gives me pleasure to say, that, in my 
 opinion, it possesses more merit, and is bet- 
 ter calculated to enlighten the public mind 
 on the subject of health, without the haz- 
 ard of inculcating error, than any popular 
 work I have seen on the subject of Medi- 
 cine. A. W. IVES, M. D. 
 New York, Park Place, Jan. 11,1830. 
 
 We approve of the plan on which the 
 publication, entitled the "JOURNAL OF 
 HEALTH," is conducted, and believe that 
 it is calculated to be useful, by enlightening 
 public opinion on a subject of high impor- 
 tance to the welfare of society. The num- 
 bers which have appeared, evince talent, 
 and mav be viewed as a pledge of the con- 
 tinued usefulness of the publication, while 
 conducted by its present editors. We, 
 therefore, feel no hesitation in recommend- 
 ing it to public patronage. 
 
 Philadelphia, Oct. 13,1829. 
 
 N Chapman, M.D \ Profmn {n 
 Wm.P Dewees, MD f ^^ of 
 Thomas C.James, M.D ( 
 
 the 
 
 Wm. E. Horner, M.D. 
 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 John C. Otto, M. I). 
 Thomas T. Hewson, M. D. 
 Franklin Bache, M. D. 
 Rev. James Montgomery, D.D. Rector of St. 
 Stephen's Church. 
 
 William H De Lancey, D. D. Prorost 
 of the University- of P ennsvlvania. 
 
 B.B. Smith, Editor of the Philadelphia 
 Recorder, and Rector of Grace 
 Church. •■ . 
 
 G. T Bedell, Rector of St. Andrew's 
 Church. 
 
 James dbercromb>'e,Ti .~D. Assistant Mini- 
 ster of Christ Church and St. Peter's. 
 
 George TVeller. 
 
 Jackson Kemper, D.D. Assistant Mini- 
 ster of Christ Church and St. Pe- 
 ter's. 
 
 Thomas H. Skinner, D. D. Pastor of 
 the Fifth Presbyterian Church. 
 
 Wm. M. Engles, Pastor of the Seventh 
 Presbyterian Church. 
 
 John Hughes, Pastor of St. Joseph's 
 Catholic Church. 
 
 Michael Hurley, Pastor of St, Augustine 
 Catholic Church. 
 
 Wm. H. Furness, Pastor of the First 
 Congregational Church. 
 
 W. T. Brantley, Pastor of the,. First 
 Baptist Church and Editor of the 
 Columbian Star. 
 
 John L. Dagg, Pastor of the Fifth 
 Baptist Church. 
 
 Solomon Higgins, Pastor of the Metho- 
 dist Episcopal Union Church. 
 
 Manning Force, Pastor of St. George's 
 Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 
 Plymouth, March 17, 1830. 
 Gentlemen, — This work is in my opinion 
 fraught with interest to the community at 
 large, as well as to families and individuals. 
 It is well calculated to carry important in- 
 formation into the domestic circle .where it 
 must prove of the greatest utility. It dis- 
 seminates a species of knowledge of daily 
 application'in domestic life, which can sel- 
 dom be derived from any other source. The 
 work is well adapted to the benevolent pur- 
 pose of warning parents and other individ- 
 uals against the dangerous consequences 
 resulting from the use of ponderous medi- 
 cine in family practice, without medical ad- 
 vice. It will, I hope and trust, have a 
 salutary tendency to guard the public 
 against the horrid evils of empirical prac- 
 tice, charlatanry, and nostrum vending In 
 fact, I consider the Journal' of Health, a 
 work of considerable merit, honourable to 
 the benevolent association by whom it is 
 conducted, and deserving of the applause 
 of the public . I shall take pleasure in pro- 
 moting its diffusion in this quarter, by mak- 
 ing extracts from it for our newspapers. 
 JAMES THACHEK, M. D. 
 
 EFFECTS OF ARTS AND TRADES. * 
 
 The effects ofjhe principal Arts, Trades and 
 Professions, and of the civic, states, and 
 Habits of Living, on Health and Longe- 
 vity. 
 
 This work is expressly calculated for all 
 classes of mechanics, manufacturers, and 
 field labourers, as well as for the different 
 professions. Cheap edition: price 37% cents.* 
 
 TREATISE 03" BATHS AXD XIN'ERAX WATERS. 
 
 Just published, in one volume, 12mo. p. p. 
 
 532, a Treatise on Baths and Mineral 
 
 Waters, 
 
 Including an account of the influence 
 on health, and in the cure of disease, of 
 cold and sea bathing, warm, hot and vapour 
 baths, and of the chief Mineral Springs in 
 the United States, — Saratoga, Ballstown 
 —Bedford— White, Red, Salt, Sulphur, 
 Sweet, Warm and Hot Springs, Virginia — 
 Harodsburg, Kentucky, &c. &c, By John 
 BelL M. D. 
 
PORTER'S HEALTH ALMANAC, 
 
 fob. 1832; 
 Calculated generally for all parts of the 
 
 United States : containing 80 Quarto 
 
 pages. Price 12£ cents. 
 
 The Maxims and Rules for the preserva- 
 tion of Health, under the direction of the 
 Editors of the Journal of Health. 
 
 Porter's Health Almanac, for 1832. This 
 is precisely what its title specifies, and 
 more than a reader has a right to expect in 
 such a publication. It is the grand desider- 
 atum of the healthy, the sickly, the young", 
 and the old; the valetudinarian, and robust 
 epicure. We sincerely admire an Almanac 
 in which, when a man consults the stats or 
 the moon, the tides or the eclipses, he can 
 meet with an apt maxim that. will avert a 
 fever, a cold, an apoplexy, an ague, a gout, 
 or the gravel. Success we say to the Al- 
 manac of Health; it is the best Almanac in 
 the world, and it deserves the best circula- 
 tion next to the "circulation of the blood. " 
 Pennsylvania Whig. 
 
 From the Sunday School Journal of Not. 16, 1S31. 
 VALUABLE CLASS OF PERIODICALS. 
 
 Porter's Health Almanac for 1832/ the Jour- 
 nal of Health; the Monthly American Jour- 
 nal of Geology and Natural Science,- Cate- 
 chism of Healthy &c 
 
 The above are the titles of a series of 
 periodical publications from the Philadel- 
 phia press, for which our community, pri- 
 marily, are indebted to the enterprise and 
 ingenuity of a single individual, who is the 
 publisher of them all. 
 
 We needed exceedingly a kind of popu- 
 lar reading, which should avoid all irritat- 
 ing subjects, and at the same time cultivate, 
 ' improve, and purify public taste and senti- 
 ment. 
 
 Connected with the preservation or res- 
 toration of health is temperance, sobriety, 
 cheerfulness, and good habits of body and 
 mind. All these interesting and important 
 subjects may be discussed incidentally in a 
 popular form, and with much greater effect 
 than in elaborate treatises and discussions. 
 Facts and arguments that then commend 
 themselves instantly to our experience and 
 conscience and common sense, leave us no 
 time for doubt and speculation. 
 
 In the constitution of our nature it is pro- 
 vided by infinite kindness, that obedience 
 to the precepts of God's law shall most ef- 
 fectually promote our present peace and 
 comfort. Godliness "hath the promise of 
 the life that now is," as well as "of that 
 which is to come." Hence the connexion 
 between our moral and physical habits is 
 so close and complete, that irregularity in 
 either always produces irregularity in the 
 other. 
 
 The Journal of Health is a semi-monthly 
 
 publication, sixteen pages, 8vo. ; $1 25 « 
 year. The subjects on which it treats are 
 of the most interesting and popular cha- 
 racter, and the manner of treating them is . 
 simple and thorough. No one can read it 
 without interest and improvement; and it 
 can offend none, except those whose vices 
 and follies it censures, and would fain cor- 
 rect. The article on milk in our present 
 number, and the article on the eye in our 
 last, are fair specimens of the character and 
 style of the Journal of Health. 
 
 The Almanac is compiled with judg- 
 ment and taste, and contains a variety of 
 interesting articles of permanent value. 
 
 The Journal of Geology has reached its 
 fifth number. It is strictly scientific, though 
 not so stiff or technical as might be antici- 
 pated. 
 
 The Catechism of Health is a small volume, 
 18mo., fall of excellent matter, and suited 
 to the wants of the age. 
 
 We have noticed these publications, be- 
 cause we think their general circulation 
 would essentially advance the interests of 
 education, and because the manner of con- 
 ducting them is peculiarly fitted to improve 
 without offending the popular taste. 
 
 SICK HEADACHE. 
 
 JtrsT published and for sale by all the 
 principal Booksellers — Causes, Cure, and 
 Means of preventing the Sick Headache — 
 by James Mease, M. D. Member of Ameri- 
 can Philosophical Society, &c. &c. 3d Edi- 
 tion. This work has met with the most 
 'decided approbation of the public press,and 
 will be found a very valuable addition to all 
 family libraries. 
 
 VISIONS OF QUEVEDO. 
 
 In the Press and will be published on 
 Jan. 1,1832, Visions of Quevedo, translated 
 from the Spanish by Wm. Elliot, Esq. This 
 work will be found an interesting and in- 
 structive volume. 
 
 Contents. — Notice of the Life of Que- 
 vedo. Night First — The Demon. Night 
 Second — Death and her Palace. Night 
 Third — The Last Judgme nt. Night Fourth 
 The Country and Palace" of Love. Night 
 Fifth— The World. „*#ight Sixth— Hell. 
 Night Seventh — Reformation of Hell. 
 
 JOURNAL OF HEALTH, Vols.l and 2, 
 
 may be had in various bindings. 
 
 All the above works are recommended 
 by some of the first Physicians, Divines, 
 and Periodicals of the United States. 
 
 ORDERS, inclosing CASH, will be 
 promptly attended to. Any of the above 
 works will be put up in bindings, adapted* 
 to send by mail. 
 
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