322 On Malaria. 



rich and beautiful than the Elysium of the poets : but the charms of 

 a fragrant atmosphere, the effulgence of an unclouded sun moderated 

 by bowers of foliage, the rich verdure chequered by flowers of every 

 hue, the clustering vine and loaded fig-tree, invite the passenger to 

 linger in the scene of enchantment, only that a deadly poison may 

 insinuate itself into his veins. Near the sea, on the west of the Via 

 Appia, is a garden of Prince Doria, the flowers and trees of which 

 have so long grown wild, that the tangled shades form a receptacle 

 of miasmata ; and a deep fertile valley the property of Prince Chighi, 

 shaded with elms, and possessing every variety of rural elegance and 

 beauty, has long been abandoned to the dominion of nature and the 

 seasons ; deer and birds are the only objects of moving life, which 

 disturb the frightful repose. 



These will suffice for examples of neglect, and will shew how it is 

 co-operating with natural causes, to depopulate one of the fairest 

 portions of the globe : and as like causes produce like effects, Rome, 

 while gathering up her glories, and her mighty deeds for the shroud, 

 and passing to the silence, and solitude of Paestum, and Volterra, 

 may alarm the inhabitants of other cities, and teach them to guard 

 against the approach of similar dangers. 



III. First among all measures for the purpose of subduing the causes 

 of malaria, it is recommended to drain or fill up wet grounds, and to 

 prevent the collection of pools, and standing water where vegetation 

 flourishes. Next in importance, are cleanliness and ventilation. Upon 

 a smaller scale are various local defences, when the pestiferous ex- 

 halations can neither be prevented nor extinguished. These are, 

 groves of trees, walls, fences, fires, moderately warm clothing, uni- 

 formity of diet and exercise, and a most scrupulous guard against 

 exposure to the evening air. 



Treatises have been written, and many experiments have been 

 made, to ascertain the best methods of reclaiming wet lands for til- 

 lage ; and so generally are they understood on the ground of profit, 

 that I need not occupy your pages in repeating many of them : but I 

 hope the great additional motive for prosecuting such improvements, 

 as that of preventing epidemic pestilence, will arrest the attention of 

 every class of citizens. 



As malaria employs its deadliest energies in Italy, from the united 

 results of political, moral, and physical causes, so the beneficial ef- 

 fect of any remedy operating there, ought to be conclusive of its 



