APOPLEXY AND TYPHUS. 10G1 



bus. At New York, where the extremes of tem- 

 perature are greater than in Europe, the mortality 

 during the severe winter of 1 795, exceeded that of 

 the following mild winter in the ratio of 52 to 31 ; 

 and it is proportionally greater during the hottest 

 part of summer than in spring, autumn, or even 

 a mild winter. We have also seen from the recent 

 Reports of the Registrar General, as digested by 

 Mr. Farr, that the mortality from apoplexy and 

 paralysis has been from 30 to 50 per cent, greater 

 in London during winter than summer, which is 

 always comparatively mild in Great Britain, 

 where typhus fever is also more prevalent and 

 fatal during winter than any other season. This 

 is more especially the case in Ireland, where, 

 owing to the want of suitable nourishment and 

 clothing among the poor, about one fourth of the 

 whole mortality is caused by typhus, which in 

 nearly all cases is brought on by the immediate 

 influence of cold, according to Dr. Mac Cormack. 



cholera, and the more malignant forms of intermittent fever, which 

 are ushered in with the same congested state of the brain, viscid 

 condition of the blood, coma, and loss of sensibility. The numb- 

 ness of ague must also be regarded as a mitigated and temporary 

 species of paralysis, which is often brought on by exposure to 

 cold alone. That apoplexy is owing to congestion of the brain, 

 and not to an increased flow of blood to that organ, is evident from 

 the experiments of John Hunter, who found on opening the tem- 

 poral artery during a fit, that the blood was dark and viscid, as 

 in cases of obstructed respiration from exposure to the mephitic 

 gases, immersion under water, and strangulation; but gradually 

 changed to a bright hue as respiration became more free. 



