Effecbtal Means of Fumigating Letters. 397 



great importance, without tlic most 

 iiiiiiutc examination. I therefore pro- 

 posed that goveniincnt shouhl he rc- 

 <|iicste(l to siispeud the execiilion of 

 its decree, until it were determined, by 

 the experiments intended to he made, if 

 my observations and fears were well 

 founded. 'J'ho Junta agreed to my pro- 

 position, and governmcDt giving a new 

 proof of the prndenco which charac- 

 terises it, coniphcd inm^ediately with 

 tl)c petition which was addressed to it. 

 In couseqncnce tiiercof, his excellency 

 the Maninis do Foucas, M. Ic Desem- 

 bargardor BarthQlomco Giraldc-s (first 

 secretary of the Jnnta), Lniz Antonio 

 Rebcllo, doctors Josei)h Piiil'.ciso de 

 Fieitaslonres, Henry Xavier Baeta, 

 Ignatius Xavier, and myself, repaired to 

 the chemical lahoralory of the Mint, 

 where the two following experiments 

 were made. 



First experiment. — Some opened let- 

 ters were placed perpcndicuiariy in a 

 stove ofBanme, and they were exj)Osed 

 for five niintitcs to the action of the 

 chlorine, developed according to the 

 process of M. Morveau. On takhig . 

 them from tiie stove, it was found, that 

 the characters which were most prox- 

 imate to the fumigating case, had as- 

 sumed a yellowish hue, and t!:c letters 

 had a strong scent of the chlorine or 

 iifimialic acid. 



Sca^jicl f.rperiment. — On treating a 

 single letter in a similar njaimcr, in 

 which three parallel incisions were 

 made, each ai. inch long, it was ob- 

 served, that not only the envelope, but 

 also the letter which had been tahcu out 

 of it, always emitted the odour, Mhich 

 tlie fumigation iiad comnumicatcd to it, 

 still less, however, than in the first cx- 

 perimeiit. 



Having conveyed these letters to my 

 Iiouse, I observed that tlicy preserved 

 for a long time the odour of llie fumi- 

 gation ; and that this odour, in the letter 

 enclosed in the envelope, was stronger 

 for a few days, which followed that on 

 which the cN|)erimcnt was i^crformed, 

 than on the day itself. 



Tliese two experiments, contrary to 

 my expectation, ap|)car('d to support 

 the resolution taken by the government ; 

 because the odour « liicli was observed 

 in the cii<;los<d letter, indicated that it 

 had penetrated to it, and the greater 

 int(^nsity of the odonr in the opened let- 

 ter, indicating, that tin; disinfecting pro- 

 cess is mor(? cllicacious in the letters 

 being opened, justifies, in a great mea- 

 sure, the order which was given to 

 i'umigat* 



1816.] 

 tain patterns of articles susceptible of 

 the infection, which should be also fu- 

 jnigat/'d by a wholly diil'erent process ; 

 and, in those cases in which the letters 

 do not contain articles susceptible of 

 infection, experience proves, thatj.not 

 beins: opened, they are not well pene- 

 trated by the vinegar. I''ur these rea- 

 sons, and considering that vinegar is 

 aicknowledgod the most powerful of all 

 anti-epidemics, the Jmita concluded, 

 that it was necessary to open the let- 

 ters, and to soak them in viiiegar, in 

 conformity to the regulations of health. 

 One of the members of tlic Junta,difter- 

 ing in opinion, considered that it was not 

 necessary to open the letters, and that 

 it was sufficient to make them undergo 

 fumigation, according to the anti-con- 

 tagious process of M. 3 Jorveau. 



Under these circumstances, the go- 

 vernment, entertaining the highest 0])i- 

 nion of the process of iVF. Morveau, and 

 to which he is well entitled by his suc- 

 cessful treatment of miasma of different 

 contagious maladies; and. desiring at 

 the same time to avoid as much as 

 possiide the violation of (he secrets of 

 letters, decreed, that letters, received 

 from infected and susp.ecled places, 

 shonld be fumigated according to the 

 process of M. ^lorveau, by opening 

 those of the infected places, and simply 

 making incisions in tliose from suspected 

 countries. 



This resolution appeared to me, on 

 the first view, to be fraught with danger, 

 as it might one day be attended with 

 most melanchol}' consequences; be- 

 cause, indeiicndently that I could not 

 at that time recall to my memory any 

 observation, or decisive experiment, 

 which proves practically, that the anti- 

 contagious povier of the chhn-ine ex- 

 tends also to the ])lagne; it might hap- 

 pen, that letters infected with the plague 

 might arrive from suspected places, 

 before it was ascertained that the jilagne 

 lias actually th<;rc shewn itself; and that, 

 in submitting those letters to fumiga- 

 tion which have not been ojiened, but 

 merely slavlied, it appears improbable 

 that the gas would penetrate by the in- 

 <isions, as it tends rather to (;vapo^ate, 

 than to iienetrale laterally into spaces, 

 occupied by an air of greater density; 

 where vinegar, a licpiid still heavier, 

 pcjietrati's but impcrfet-tly, 



Notwithstanriing these rcnections, 

 against which my learned colleague has 

 not established any thing decisive, I 

 was not disposed to adoj)t, nor reject 

 ally o])iniou w halcvcr on a matter of so 



