142 Miscellaneous Facts and Observations. 



important circumstance, that may serve to point out 

 the identity of the disease to Yellow-Fever. He says, 

 it " scarce continued to the seventh day, but com- 

 monly took them away the third or fifth day." 



What real connection the disease had with the lo- 

 custs may, perhaps, be doubtful. It seems probable, 

 that the same state of the atmosphere which was so 

 favourable to the appearance of such immense swarms 

 of these insects, was also favourable (perhaps by occa- 

 sioning a rapid putrefaction of animal and vegetable 

 matters, by a great increase of evaporation from the 

 marshes, stagnant ponds, Sec.) to the production of 

 the fever. Be this as it may, Gage has put us in 

 possession of facts sufficient to show, that a malignant 

 fever (in all probability the same as that which, under 

 the name of yellow-fever, has ravaged the cititfs of 

 the United-States, as well as the West-India islands) 

 was not unknown on the continent of America, before 

 the middle of the 17th century. The fever men- 

 tioned by Richard Ligon (see a preceding article) 

 was, doubtless, the same ; and yet, the Abbe Clavi- 

 gero asserts, that this disease is of very modern date, 

 in Mexico. " The vomito pricto (says this writer), 

 which appears to be an endemic distemper, is ex- 

 tremely modern, and is not felt except in some places 

 of the torrid zone, frequented by Europeans. The 

 first who were seized with it were the sailors of some 

 European vessels, who, immediately after the bad 

 diet they had during their voyage, eat greedily of 

 fruit, and drank immoderately of brandy. Ulloa 

 affirms, that in Carthagena, one- of the most unhealthy 



