3825.] 
in a miasma of the most virulent na- 
ture. In this way, it is not only un- 
friendly to the natives of the place; 
but, ever since the English haye had 
possession of the Ionian islands, it has 
proved most fatal to our troops. Indeed, 
every station in these islands is unheal- ~ 
thy, from a concurrence, in a greater or 
ess degree, of such circumstances as 
increase the activity of marsh miasma, 
the sources of which are every where 
abundant. 
Although the remote cause of remit- 
tent fever has commonly an obvious 
origin, and in most instances may there- 
fore be modified, or entirely corrected 
—at least, we are warranted in thinking 
so, until it be shewn that a fair trial of 
measures necessary for that effect has 
failed ;—but as these means must, in 
every instance, be adapted to local cir- 
cumstances—these general observations 
- cannot, therefore, contain a systematic 
_or regular plan of preventive opera- 
tions; and can only offer such hints, gene- 
rally, as may be modified to particular 
circumstances. 
The commencement of preventive 
_ operations must be first directed to the 
paving and good order of the streets, to 
the state of the public sewers, so that 
__ their contents may pass freely off, and 
be discharged either into the sea, a 
river, or in some situation, at a distance, 
leeward of the town; and so covered 
that the matters are not offensive. 
Upon the same principle, the market- 
place, the streets, and particularly the 
gutters, ought to be swept at least once 
a-day, and the filth carried to a con- 
siderable distance, and deposited in 
some dry and sandy place. The out- 
lets of the water-closets and drains of 
every house should be made to lead into 
the common sewers, and no filth, or 
_ tubbish of any kind, be deposited within 
of near the precincts of thetown. The 
: gutters of the streets, the market- 
places, and every humid spot, ought 
to be covered with a quantity of quick- 
lime, every evening after being swept, 
_ during the warm season, until the win- 
ter fairly sets in. Quick-lime ought 
_ likewise to be thrown into the sink of 
every privy, every evening. In like 
manner, every stable and other offices 
ought to be kept~in the most perfect 
_ state of cleanliness, and the floors daily 
covered with a layer of quick-lime. 
he manure and sweeping of the offices 
ought, on no account, to be allowed to 
_ Femain any length of time within the city. 
“ 
Dr. Robertson on Remittent Fever. 
215 
Upon the same idea, burying within 
the walls of churches ought to be 
strictly interdicted: these should be 
frequently ventilated, and occasionally 
a fumigating machine should be placed 
to work within them. Places for tan- 
works, soap-works, shambles, dyers and 
such trades, as also burying-grounds, 
should be always selected at a remote 
and proper distance from the town*¥— 
and a quantity of quick-lime should be 
thrown in with every body that is in- 
terred. No doubt, a revival of the cus- 
tom of burning the dead would be con- 
ducive in preventing the appearance of 
remittent fever; and, at any rate, this 
practice ought to be followed, with the 
dead bodies of those animals that are 
now most commonly left exposed in 
the air, or buried superficially. In 
places liable to remittent fever, the 
burying-grounds, especially if situated 
within or near the town, ought to be 
frequently sprinkled with the liquor 
called chlorine; or, when this cannot 
be had, small portions of common salf, 
placed at short distances, and sprinkled 
with diluted vitriolic acid, will disen- 
gage a yapour capable of destroying 
the ftor and noxious qualities of the 
miasma arising from decaying ani- 
mal matter. This practice ought to be 
renewed at intervals of six or eight 
days; besides, it will be necessary to 
cover, from time to time, the surface of 
such places with a layer of fresh burnt 
lime; and, in these circumstances, it has 
been supposed that alternate layers of 
fresh burnt charcoal, in a coarse pow- 
der, would materially increase the pre- 
ventive powers of the lime. 
The tanks, so frequent in the penin- 
sula, for the washing of clothes, afford 
a continued source for the production 
of miasma. These should be frequently 
cleaned, as well as their precincts ; and, 
if possible, a current of water should be 
made to pass through them. 
In places subject to remittent fever, 
the humidity of the streets, in the hot 
season, ought to be carefully guarded 
against : therefore, water that has been 
used in washing, or for any other do- 
mestic. 
* These regulations especially, in refer-' 
ences to shambles, soap and candle makers, 
&c. will, we should hope, be incorporated, 
with the plans now so extensively in opera} 
tion, for the improvement of our perpetu-. 
ally enlarging metropolis. They ought to 
extend no less to the populous suburbs. 
—Eprz. Pisin dy bbl 
