ZOOLOGY. 375 



being 65, seems, of all the countries in the world, best fitted for the mitiga- 

 tion and arrest of consumptive conditions. Patients who come here live 

 three or four years longer than the ordinary duration of the disease in Eng- 

 land, and large numbers have resided in the island in perfect health, while 

 their brothers and sisters have fallen victims to the disease at home. Havre, 

 situated near the sea, with a free circulation of air, is nearly exempt from 

 the disease. At Rome about one twentieth, and at Naples one eighth of the 

 deaths occur from consumption. 



The theory that the sea sometimes acts as a preventive or palliative of con- 

 sumption is confirmed by statistics. Out of an aggregate English naval 

 force of 12,942, in the Bay of Bengal, in 1842, 39 were attacked and 16 died 

 of consumption. In an aggregate military force of 14,590, on the island of 

 Ceylon, in the same latitude, 78 just double the number were attacked, 

 and 51 died. From 1830 to 1836, of an effective total of 159,770 British sail- 

 ors, stationed in every part of the British dominions, from the Cape of Good 

 Hope to North America, the deaths by consumption were 1.7 per thousand 

 men. In the British army the number of deaths per thousand by consump- 

 tion is 4.09. , 



Dr. Caspar, from tables kept at Berlin, shows that the difference in mortal- 

 ity from consumption in various winters has no connection Avith the differ- 

 ence in temperature, in the coldest and warmest weather the mortality being 

 the same. In a table of 212,407 deaths from consumption in the principal 

 cities of the world, the deaths were, in the spring, 61,945; winter, 55,309; 

 autumn, 45,956. 



Consumption is not necessarily more prevalent in large than in small cities, 

 though the rural districts are less liable to its development. 



Consumption is a rare disease among African negroes, but the predispo- 

 sition is increased when they leave home. 



The proportion of deaths among gentry and professional men is 16, among 

 tradesmen 28, and among laboring men 30 per cent. Among pressmen in 

 printing offices 31 per cent, die of consumption, and of those confined in an 

 unvarying position 71 per cent. 



From the various facts presented, the speaker deduced the following con- 

 clusions : 



1. That climate is the most powerful agent in modifying and controlling 

 its prevalence. 



2. That there are certain varieties of climate inimical to the development 

 of consumption, and of these the most unfavorable are, first, those character- 

 ized by extreme and varying cold; second, climates characterized by a cool, 

 dry atmosphere ; third, those which have a very high temperature with but 

 a moderate amount of moisture. 



3. That those climates most favorable to consumption are those which have 

 a high temperature and moist atmosphere, and those which are characterized 

 by great variations in the dail) r temperature. Humidity seems most favor- 

 able and dryness most unfavorable to consumption. 



4. That the liability is increased by insufficient exercise and confined air. 



5. That it is more prevalent among females than males; on land than on 

 the sea; and that the period of its greatest mortality is between the ages cf 

 twenty and thirty. 



