330 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



ground is low, marshy, and composed of decayed vegetable products ; or, 

 again, sudden changes from hot to cold — from an atmosphere dry and 

 absorbant to one saturated with moisture, and more especially when these 

 changes bring with them obscure aches and pains, and a sense of uncom- 

 fortable restlessness, which is popularly, and probably correctly, attributed 

 to electrical influence — would produce a class of diseases radically different 

 to those found in a climate the characteristics of which are an equable 

 temperature, a moisture-bearing, and, as experience seems to prove, a 

 "germicide" wind, fogs, and an infrequency of electrical manifestations. 

 This latter contrast* is presented on comparing the climate of the valley 

 with that of the coast, separated by a range of hills parallel to and distant 

 from the ocean five to twenty miles. There has been no systematic series 

 of observations on the influence of coast climate over disease, and the first 

 attempts in that direction will necessarily be crude. The foundation of 

 facts so far collected is small, and while the inductions drawn from them 

 may be faulty as to detail, yet I am fully persuaded that future observa- 

 tions will prove the general outline here given to be correct. 



There is a direct influence exerted over those diseases which are sup- 

 posed to be caused by external morbific agents ; erysipelas and influenza 

 being at times endemic, while other general diseases, such as typhoid, 

 relapsing, scarlet, malarial, and puerperal fevers, variola, and diphtheria 

 are either unknown or appear in a mild form. This statement holds good 

 for the region directly along the coast, over which the winds have full play; 

 yet there are some factors which, in certain localities, tend to vary it. The 

 most important of these are filth, decaying vegetation, and impure water. 

 When the population is dense, especially in made ground with faulty 

 drainage, filth diseases are found. 



The peculiar influence exerted by climate is well illustrated by a study 

 of the diseases prevalent in Crescent City and the region surrounding. 

 Crescent City is situated directly on the coast, many of the houses having 

 been occupied as dwellings over thirty years. Sanitary precautions are 

 absolutely ignored : consequently filth of all kinds is abundant. Few 

 houses have drains extending further than the back door. A large colony 

 of Chinese are, as usual, located in the center of the town, and the effluvia 

 from their dens is sickening. They so drain their water and filth as to 

 form cesspools in the streets. Water is found at from five to ten feet 

 beneath the surface, and, being only a few yards from the ocean, is brackish. 

 The inhabitants depend altogether on these wells for their water supply; 

 and, being sunk in porous soil and surrounded by cesspools and deposits 

 of filth, they must contain water saturated with organic impurities. The 

 sense of smell will often detect these, and the rudest tests prove their 

 abundant presence. 



From these hygienic surroundings, the a priori deduction would neces- 

 sarily be that every essential feature of a death-trap is present ; in fact, it 

 would appear that the most diabolical ingenuity had been exerted to assure 

 large mortality reports ; still, I venture to assert that a more healthy town 

 cannot be found upon the face of the earth. Though the population is 

 over one thousand, during the last five years but four children under five 

 years of age have died, nor could their deaths be attributed to those dis- 

 eases peculiar to children. 



The adult mortality is equally light, most of the deaths being the result 

 of diseases of the heart, liver, stomach, lungs, and apoplexy. 



This immunity from the diseases enumerated cannot be attributed to 

 accident. They are the products of filth, and follow, with unerring cer- 

 tainty, the footsteps of civilization. Where there are a few houses col- 



