13* 



in 17J9, 

 1799, 

 1808, 



The reports of consumption, in other parts of Great Britain, correspond, in a 

 great degree, with the accounts of its prevalence in London, and, therefore, ren. 

 der this ascription of its causes and origin unsatisfactory. 



Dr. Lettsom, however, in a letter to dr. Hosack, on the diseases of London, 

 (Amer. Med. and Phil. Reg. vol. 2) says, " Whilst the phthisis pulmonalis is 

 rapidly increasing in America, and in the european continent, it is diminishing 

 here. The croup is less fatal, in consequence of the immediate and free use of 

 the lancet, and of leeches, with purgatives, than heretofore ; nor is angina 

 scarlatina either so frequent or so fatal. The typhus is almost extinct, and the 

 cholera morbus is anfrequent ; and, as far as my experience extends, the syphilis 

 is milder, or easier cured ; and, lately, such has been the prolongation of health 

 and life as to lessen the premiums of insurance considerably." 



Out of 19,954 deaths, in London, in 1808, 5,220 are ascribed to the consump- 

 tion. The christenings, in that year were 19,906, nearly equal to the burials. 



In 1809, the healthiest year which London ever enjoyed, there were 16,680 

 deaths, 4,570 of which were produced by the consumption ; the number of 

 Christenings was 19,612, making the excess of births above the deaths nearly 

 ',000. (See the London Annual Medical Review and Register, for 1808 and 

 1809.) 



Dr. James E. Smith says, tliat " In Italy, consumptions are found to be very 

 Contagious, though less evidently so in England. 1 ' It is intimated, if my memo- 

 ry serves me, in that excellent work, the Emporium, that the general use of cot- 

 ton shirts, etc. may have a pernicious influence iu producing this disease. Its 

 increased fatality in Europe, as well as in America, is, probably, owing to a 

 complication of causes ; and, indeed, the periodical prevalence and disappear- 

 ance of certain diseases, must be classed among those arcana whick providence 

 has concealpd from man. 



Salubrious as the climate of Madeira is generally reckoned, we find, that even 

 there pulmonary diseases cut off a great number of the inhabitants. Of the va- 

 rious districts of North America, New-York has been considered, by many, as 

 being especially favoured with regard to the mildness of its seasons ; and the 

 changes of its weather were referred chiefly to the difference in the prevailing 

 winds. Among a series of interesting remarks on the climate and diseases of 

 New- York, made by lieutenant-governor Colden, about seventy years ago, and 

 inserted in the American Medical and Philosophical Register, vol. 1. this 



