506 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No, 8 



taining an account of measurements made by 

 himself and others along the coast of Bothnia. 

 From these documents it would appear — 1st, that 

 along the whole coast of the Baliic (he water is 

 lower in respect to the land tlian it used to be; 

 2dly, that the amount of variation is not uniform. 

 Hence it follows, that either the sea and land 

 have both undergone a change of level, or the 

 land only; a change of level in the sea only will 

 not explain the phenomenon. A quarter of a cen- 

 tury has now elapsed since Mr. Von Buch de- 

 clared his conviction that the surface of Sweden 

 was slowly rising all the way from Frederickshall 

 to Abo, and added, that the rise miirht probably 

 extend into Russia. Of the truth of that doctrine, 

 the presumption is so strong, as to demand that 

 similar experiments and observations should be in- 

 stituted and continued for a series of years in other 

 countries, with a view to determine whether any 

 change of level is slowly taking place in those 

 also. The British Association thr the Advance- 

 ment of Science has already obeyed the call. A 

 committee has been appointed to procure satisfac- 

 tory data to determine the question as far as re- 

 lates to the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland: 

 and it is to be hoped that similar investigations 

 will also be set on foot along the coasts of France 

 and Italy, and eventually be extended to many of 

 our colonial possessions. 



From the Southern Agriculturist. 

 CAU.sk, AM) PREVENTION OF FEVERS. 



September 28th, 1838. 

 Mr. Editor. — The many and various observa- 

 tions made upon the change of climate, increase 

 of sickness, and the annual abandonment of our 

 plantations, you are no doubt as familiar with as I 

 am. Time was, when people could remain on, and 

 enjoy their estates all the year round, and with pro- 

 per management, I think we may in a few years 

 do it again. A writer in your journal, (I believe 

 it was) some time ago, ascribed the comparative 

 frequency of freshets to clearing of the land, and 

 justly in my opinion — but he overlooked a more 

 important consequene'e, the effect upon the health 

 of the country. I am of opinion, a litile reflection 

 will show the change of climate is identical, and 

 has kept pace with, that in the surface of the 

 earth. While in possession of the aborigines, 

 our whole country was comparatively pure and 

 healthy, and Dr. Rush states, that so late as 

 1782, "some country people of Bedford county, 

 Pennsylvania, travelled twenty miles to see whe- 

 ther it were possible for a German girl, who la- 

 bored under an intermittent, to be hot and cold at 

 the same time." In former times, fevers were 

 confined to the banks of rivers, creeks and ponds, 

 but the clearing? have opened just so many pas- 

 sages for swamp or marsh effluvia, and we find 

 levers prevailing in the interior, where they were 

 formerly unknown. This will always be the con- 

 sequence of clearing, without cultivating the 

 ground. While opening the country makes it 

 sickly, as I have already mentioned, cultivation, 

 that is, draining swamps, destroying weeds, burn- 

 ing brush, and exhaling the superfluous mois- 

 ture of the earth, by growing frequent crops of 

 grain, and vegetables of all kinds, renders it 



healthy. There are other causes of sickness, 

 which never can be entirely overcome, because 

 man has no control over the seasons; the healthi- 

 ness or unhealthines of a country, depending much 

 on the cold or heat, the dryness or wetness of par- 

 ticular periods. While rivers and creeks, are, 

 from uniformity of seasons, confined fo steady 

 bounds, there >vill be little or no exhalation of fe- 

 brile maismata from their shores. But when 

 swelled beyond their natural heights by a wet 

 winter and spring, they fall, and leave a very ex- 

 tensive surface of ground completely saturated 

 with water, exposed to the action of the sun, and 

 of course to tfie generation of, and exhalation of 

 febrile miasmata. A country is always free from 

 fevers during the overflow of its rivers — but sub- 

 ject to them after subsidence of the waters. It 

 may be remarked, that a wet season is often 

 heal'hy in the low, while it is sickly in the hill 

 country, and I think the reason obvious. In the 

 former, the rains cover all the moist ground en- 

 tirely, while in the latter, they fall only in a suf- 

 ficient quantity, to produce those degrees of mois- 

 ture which favor febrile exhalations. The rains 

 which fall in summer, are rendered harmless only 

 by covering the whole surface of the ground. 

 Fre(iuent, and heavy rains after the middle of Sep- 

 tember, are favorable to health, diluting, and thus 

 destroyincr as they do, the febrile miasmata that 

 were produced by the heat, and moisture of the 

 preceding summer. Man can do but little towards 

 preventino; the evil effects of drought upon the 

 health of a country, but he can do much to avoid, 

 or mitigate that which results from excess of mois- 

 ture ; by good culture of the earth, and draining 

 the low grounds. I befr leave to susrgest a few 

 hints for obviating and preventing fevers. For 

 this purpose, I would recommend that all trees 

 between settlements, and the quarters or points, 

 from which the summer and autumnal winds 

 blow, be suffered to remain, and become as dense 

 as possible, particularly if a river, creek, pond, or 

 moist expanse of country be to windward of 

 them. If the settlements have no forest defence, 

 cultivate one of the trees which will soonest at- 

 tain their growth, and not too far from the house 

 or settlement. The trees about each house, 

 should not be so close as to prevent a due evapo- 

 ration of redundant moisture from the ground. If 

 a reservoir or pond be near, allow the growth in it, 

 and on its borders to continue, and if necessary, 

 set around it additional trees. Trees to leeward 

 of rivers, creeks, and ponds, can never be too nu- 

 merous, or thick. Around a pond, they act in a 

 small degree, mechanically. By sheltering it from 

 the action of the sun, they lessen the exhalation, 

 as well as obstruct the passage of the vapors that 

 are raised, to the adjacent parts. But trees act 

 likewise chemically. It has been demonstrated, 

 that they absorb unhealthy air, and discharge it in 

 a highly purified state, in the form of diphlogisti- 

 cated air. The willow free has been proved to 

 purifv the air more rapidly than any other. The 

 rapidity of its growth, its early verdure, and the 

 late fall of its leaf, all seem to designate it, as 

 highly proper for this purpose. A second method 

 of preventing fevers, is to let the cultivation al- 

 ways keep pace with the clearing of our lands. 

 Nature has, in this instance, connected our duty, 

 interest, and health together. Let every spot co- 

 vered with moisture, from which the wood has 



