1824.] 



moderate cliaige is demanded, than 

 where admission is wholly gratuitous. 

 And, if, arguinj; on the result in similar 

 cases, the produce of such contrihutions 

 would be maturialiy greater than any 

 sum which parliament would wish lo 

 levy for this purpose ; and not only a 

 supply for the establishment, hut, in 

 time, provision also for the further ex- 

 tension of it, and for the encouragement 

 of artists, miglit be thereby acquired ^ 

 — assuredly it does appear, that whether 

 ill aid of the funds, or as the main 

 resource, this plan does offer advan- 

 tages, that may in all fairness be 

 secured for the National Institution, 

 sanctioned moreover as it is, by the 

 concurring practice of all public bodies, 

 and all classes of individuals in this 

 country. 



For the Monthly Maganine. 



WEMOIR OU the FUMIGATION of LEVTt.RS, 

 by BEKNANDINO ANTONIO DE JOMEZ, 

 (^"LISBON'. 



I^HE contagion of the plague differs 

 . from that of tlie ordinary cada- 

 verous exhalation; otherwise, the plague 

 would be as frequent throughout all 

 Europe as animal putrefaction. In 

 fact, there would not he any objects 

 insusceptible of contiigion ; as, in my 

 experiments, I have observed that 

 wheat, barley, &c. are impregnated 

 with, and retain, the cadaverous odour. 

 The experiments made with the cada- 

 verous gas are, consequently, not more 

 rigorously applicable in their results to 

 tlie contagion of the plague ; and can- 

 not, for that reason, sufficiently indicate 

 the efficacy of the anti-contagious pro- 

 cesses. 



Under these circumslanccs, I exa- 

 mined the iiature of those agents of the 

 j)estilential disinfection, which expcri- 

 ence acknowledges as the most power- 

 ful. I found that they were vinegar, 

 sulphur in combustion, and nitric acid. 

 I then reflected, that the manner in 

 which these acids act in destroying in- 

 fection, was not positively demou- 

 slrated, because it is not known if they 

 act by oxygenizing, burning, or neu- 

 Iraliziiig; yet, as in their clieinical qua- 

 Jity, that is, as acids, being iiolhing more, 

 it is beyond all doubt ttiat they act in 

 their quality of acids, I considered that 

 their access, and their activity in all 

 places where the pestilential contagion 

 might be found, woulcl sullieit'iilly indi- 

 CHtc their anti-contagious action. I'he 

 change of the blue colour of the turnaol 



Memoir on tht Fumigation of Letters. 



into red, being a properly common to 

 all acids, it was my belief that th« 

 paper dyed with that colour, and en- 

 closed in the letters, would indicate, in 

 a higher degree, the activity and the 

 advantages of eveiy anti contagious 

 process, than the odour of the putrcfieil 

 flesh. 



In consequence thereof, in the ]2lh 

 experiment, I performed the fumigatioa 

 according to the process of M. Morveau, 

 on different letters, in each of which I 

 put a piece of paper, dipped in turnsol, 

 of two inches long, and one inch and & 

 half broad. I tried the fumigation ac- 

 cording to different methods, and I 

 observed that the odour of the chlorine 

 was perceptible in the letters without 

 the blue colour of the paper being en- 

 tirely changed. But, when any change 

 took place in the colour of the writing 

 of the address of the letters, either frum 

 placing them too close to the fumigating 

 ■vessel, or from repeating the fumigiition, 

 or from a prolongation of the operation; 

 in these cases, thi-re was also a decided 

 change in the blue colour of the paper. 

 This circumstance demonstrates, that 

 the acid had penelrated sufficiently to 

 produce disinfection ; and, as in the pro- 

 cess of M. Morveau, the change of 

 colour in the writing of the address is 

 the criteiion of disinfection. 



Consequently, in llie process of dis- 

 infection according to this method, it 

 must be repeated, until the change in 

 the writing of the address be observed. 



In order lo judge of the advantage or 

 disadvantage of this fumigating process 

 over those which are practised in seve- 

 ral lazarettoes; I performed the following 

 experiments. 



Thirteenth experiment. — I enclosed, 

 in half a sheet of white paper, another 

 half sheet in form of a letter. I made 

 two incisions in it, an inch and a half 

 each, and I immersed it in the vinegar, 

 until the envelope was on the point of 

 tearing. On opening the letter, I 

 observed that the greater part of the 

 paper enclosed in the envelope, and a 

 part even of the envelope itself, had not 

 been tinctured by the vinegar. 



Fourteenth experiment. — I took a 

 small piece of wool, iidected with the 

 cadaverous gas, and I soaked it in the 

 vinegar. Two hours afterwards, my- 

 self. Dr. Seixas, the servant of the Ela- 

 boratory, and C;ipt. de Taro, who was 

 accidentally in the Elaboralory, were 

 still sensible of the cadaverous smell, 

 conjointly with that of the vinegar. 



Th« 



