32 On the Telloiv- Fever of Charleston. 



ing it to the physicians, nurses, or attendants, but 

 that people from the countr_v, strangers to our atmo- 

 sphere, on coming to town, often sicken on their way 

 home, and die in houses on the road; yet, in no one 

 instance, hath the disorder been transferred to any of 

 the individuals of the family who received them in. 

 This, in my opinion, is an undeniable and con- 

 vincing proof of the non-contagious nature of yellow- 

 fever. Indeed, I strongly doubt whether any dis- 

 ease, originating from vegetable or marsh miasma, 

 can be contagious, for, as yet, it has never been de- 

 monstrated : while, on the other hand, I am inclined 

 to believe, that animal., perhaps it would be more cor- 

 rect to say human., efflitma, under certain modifica- 

 tions, prove the source of all such diseases as are of 

 a contagious kind ; and the operation of this conta- 

 gion is not, as happens in the case of yellow-fever, 

 confined to the autumnal months, but will exist at 

 any season. This may, perhaps, serve, in some mea- 

 sure, to discriminate between epidemic and contagi- 

 ous disorders; the last making no distinction between 

 whites and people of colour, or strangers and old in- 

 habitants, but affecting the systems of all, equally 

 alike, as is the case in measles, small-pox, jail, and 

 other contagious febrile diseases. 



While I so freely express my doubts, or rather my 

 convictions, respecting the filth of cities, &c., not 

 being the causes of yellow-fever, you must not sup- 

 pose that I am an advocate for neglecting the cleanli- 

 ness of our streets, fee. : on the contrary, I am de- 

 cidedly of opinion, that the removal of all such nui- 



