276 DISEASE IN CHANNEL FLEET FROM 



and Parry, been left for the same number of yeafs 

 to undergo the ordinary vicissitudes of life at home, 

 unrestrained in their inclinations and conduct by 

 the constantly operating and beneficent influence 

 of a superior mind, it is morally certain that dis- 

 ease and death would have made greater havoc 

 among \hern than actually occurred amid physical 

 privations and sufferings much greater than they 

 were likely to have encountered at home. Hence 

 the obvious and pressing necessity which exists of 

 diffusing widely among society that species of know- 

 ledge which has proved beneficial in the hands of 

 those who are fortunate enough to possess it. If 

 human health and happiness may be thus effectually 

 promoted by increased attention to the conditions 

 which regulate the vital and animal functions, no- 

 thing can be more useful than to communicate ta 

 every intelligent being such a measure of know- 

 ledge as will enable him to do that for his own 

 safety and improvement which government now 

 does for those whose services it requires. 



With these successful and cheering results of 

 knowledge, it will be instructive to contrast the 

 fatal influence of ignorance in a situation where 

 knowledge might have been effectual in preserving 

 life and sparing suffering. I shall take the example 

 from an early work of Dr. James Johnson,* wha 

 has devoted much attention to the subject of health 

 and the causes by which it is affected, and whose 

 work contains much valuable matter connected with 

 hygiene, as well as with the history and cure of dis- 

 ease. In treating of exercise, and the evils of its 

 excess. Dr. Johnson says, " I shall exemplify this 

 reasoning by an instructive lesson. During the late 

 war, it was observed, that in its earlier periods fever, 

 fluxes, and scurvy made the greatest havoc ; while, 

 in its middle and ulterior periods, these diseases 



* On the Influence of the Atmosphere on the Health and 

 Functions of the Human Frame, &c. 8vo, 2d edition, p. 193. 



