( 307 ) 



XIX. On the Quarantine Classification of Substances, with a mew to the Preven- 

 tion of Plague. By JOHN DAVY, M.D., F.R.SS., L. & E., Inspector-General of 

 Army Hospitals, L. R. 



'.'\ 



(Read 4th April 1842.) 



To all those who have paid any attention to the subject of quarantine, it is 

 well known that certain articles are held to be susceptible of conveying the con- 

 tagion of plague ; that certain others, in regard to this property, are considered 

 doubtful ; and that others are held to be unsusceptible of retaining and commu- 

 nicating it. 



Are these distinctions accurate ? Are they founded on well-established facts ? 

 On these questions I shall have the honour of submitting some remarks to the 

 Society, with the hope of drawing attention to a subject of much importance, and 

 hitherto, in a scientific point of view, strangely neglected. 



Let us first consider the kind of articles which are held to be incapable of 

 conveying the virus, or contagious matter of plague. They are chiefly the fol- 

 lowing : 



1. Different kinds of grain, flour, bread, starch ; fresh and dried fruits and 

 conserves ; honey, oil, lard, cheese ; salted, dried, and smoked meats. 



2. All kinds of wood and charcoal ; cordage, provided it is completely tarred ; 

 rush and broom, and cordage made from them. 



3. All the metals, with two or three exceptions, depending on the metal being 

 newly wrought ; all minerals, fossils, earths, and salts. 



4. Money and medals ; glass and pottery ; substances used in painting and 

 dyeing ; and all articles solely composed of substances which have a place in the 

 non-susceptible class. 



It might be supposed, that good reasons could be assigned by those who have 

 been concerned in framing this class of bodies, including substances so numerous, 

 so miscellaneous, and differing so widely in their nature and properties, that it 

 would be founded on extensive and careful experience, and the result of accurate 

 and rigid induction. 



The answers received to the inquiries I have made to endeavour to learn in 

 what way, on what principles, this classification has been framed, have been alto- 

 gether unsatisfactory, equally so in Malta and in Constantinople ; the former one 

 of the oldest quarantine stations in Europe, the other where the system of quaran- 



VOL XV. PART II. 4 O 



