182 Lifects of Mercurial Vapour. 
boats of the ship were sent to her assistance, and about one 
hundred and thirty tons of the quicksilver were saved and 
carried on board the Triumph. The mercury, it appears, 
was confined in bladders, the bladders in small barrels, and 
the barrels in boxes. ‘The heat of the weather was at this 
time considerable, and the bladders, having been wetted in 
the removal from the wreck, soon rotted, and the mercury 
to the amount of several tons was speedily diffused through 
the ship, mixing with the bread, and more or Jess with the 
other provisions. The effect of this accident was soon seen, 
by agreat number of the ship’s crew, as well asseveral of 
the officers, being severely effected with ptyalism. In the 
space of three weeks from the mercury’s being received on 
board, two hundred men were afflicted with ptyalism, ulcera- 
tions of the mouth, partial paralyses in many instances, and 
bowel complaints. New cases occurring daily, Rear-Admi- 
ral Pickmore, on recommendation of the surgeons of the 
squadron, sent the Triumph to Gibraltar, to remove the pro- 
visions and purify the ship by ablution. The order was strict- 
ly attended to, by the removal of the provisions, stores, and the 
shingle ballast on shore, and afterwards by frequent ablution. 
On restowing the hold, every man so employed, as well as 
those in the steward’s room, were attacked with ptyalism ; 
and during the ship’s passage, and on her return to Cadiz, the 
fresh attacks were daily and numerous, till the 13th of June, 
when the Triumph sailed for England. After their departure 
from Cadiz, they experienced fresh breezes from the N. E. 
and the men being kept constantly on deck, and the ventila- 
tion of the ship being particularly attended to, a sensible de- 
crease in the number daily attacked soon become apparent; 
but nevertheless, many of those already affected became 
worse, and they were under the necessity of removing twenty 
seamen, and the same number of marines, with two sergeants, 
and two corporals, to a sloop of war, and the transports in 
compaay. On their arrival in Cawsand Bay, near Piymouth, 
on the 5th of July, not one remained on the list for ptyalism. 
The effects of the mercurial atmosphere were not confined 
to the officers and ship’s company ; almost all the stock, con- 
sisting of sheep, pigs, goats, and poultry, died from it; mice, 
cats, a dog, and even acanary bird, shared the same fate, 
though the food of the latter was kept in a bottle closely 
corked. The surgeon, Mr. Plowman, saw mice come into 
