Sailing and Steam- Vessels. 169 



which undoubtedly arises from their passing so great a por- 

 tion of their time in the open air. Still, numerous examples 

 even from that class might be given, to shew the importance of 

 a regular supply of pure air between decks, and the constant re- 

 novation of that which has been vitiated. I need hardly allude 

 to the extreme cases of direct poisoning from asphyxia by the 

 fumes of mephitic gases, it being well known that many persons 

 have perished from suffocation, by shutting themselves up in 

 close cabins with stoves.* But the general evil is the slow un- 

 dermining of the constitution, the debility, relaxation, and in- 

 jury to health, often a proximate cause of fever engendered by 

 confinement in, or breathing continually, noxious, tainted, 

 and unrenewed air. In warm climates, these evil results are 

 aggravated tenfold. The following remarks by a very intel- 

 ligent naval friend on the African coast, contained in a letter 

 which I recently received, describes the subject in forcible 

 terms, and proves that even the insalubrity of the atmosphere 

 from miasmatic influences, may be rendered more noxious 

 from deficient ventilation. 



" On the lower deck of our little craft, were stowed away 

 109 persons, ship-stores, eook*'s coppers, &c. Never did I be- 

 fore feel so much the importance of a thorough ventilation. 

 To sleep in such an atmosphere is next to impossible, and 

 when exhausted nature sinks into repose, it awakes with that 

 sickly and feverish sensation, which betokens the derangement 

 of your physical system, and that you have been inhaling a 

 poison which is slowly but surely preying on the vitals of your 

 constitution. To you who have devoted so much attention 

 to this subject, it cannot excite surprise. That disease and 

 death should be frequent, is only what every rational and scien- 

 tific person would expect. Climate is blamed for every disease 

 that appears in foreign stations, but I have not the slightest 

 doubt that the want of a thorough method of ventilation on 



* Several instances are mentioned by Dr Andrew Combe in his Elements of 

 Physiology. In a large steam-ship I lately examined, I found eleven men and 

 three boys in a cabin below, about 12 feet by 8 feet, — and no air or light admit- 

 ted but by the fore hatch, which measured 3 feet by 2 feet ! It is high time 

 the comforts of seamen in the mercantile marine were more attended to, which 

 would raise the status and increase the efficiency of this useful class. 



