392 



APPENDIX. 



Experiments on the D'sinfecting Powers of Increased Temperatures, 

 ivith a view to the suggestion of a substitute for Quarantine ;* by 

 William Henry, M. D. F. R. S. he. 



To tho Editors of the Philosophical Magazine and Annals. 



/, Manchester, Oct. 14, 1831. 



Gentlemen — Several years have elapsed since I was requested, by 

 an eminent merchant of this townf extensively concerned in the im- 

 portation of Egyptian cotton, to take into consideration, whether any 

 effectual method could be devised of guarding against the introduc- 

 tion of the Plague into this country by means of that raw material, 

 without incurring the serious commercial sacrifices, which then at- 

 tended the enforcement of the quarantine laws on large cargoes of 

 that article. J Chlorine might have been proposed for the purpose ; 

 but it was evidently inapplicable, not only on account of its chemical 

 activity on vegetable substances, but of the necessity of washing and 

 drying the cotton, in order to free it from any adhering portions of 

 that powerful agent, the smallest remains of which would be injuri- 

 ous to the spinning machinery. In proposing any new method of 

 destroying contagious matter, it was represented to me as quite es- 

 sential that it should be incapable of impairing, by its chemical ac- 

 tion, the tenacity of the fibre, as this would unfit the raw material 

 ■for the operations through which it has subsequently to pass. 



By this restriction, the ground for experiment was considerably 

 narrowed ; and after giving much attention to the subject, no means 

 occurred to me of effecting the object in view, but that of applying 

 to the raw cotton such a degree of heat as, while it should do no in- 

 jtiry to the staple of the article, might yet be sufficient for the de- 

 struction of any contagious virus which it might have imbibed. 



* A revised copy of Dr. Henry's paper having been just received, (Dec. 28, 1831,) 

 from the author, with additional remarks in the foini of notes, the whole is now print- 

 ed, instead of an abstract of the original paper by Mr. Griscom, which was already 

 in type. — Ed. t William Garnett, Esq. 



I The evils of quarantine are much greater than is generally supposed. Cargoes 

 of cotton, from the Mediterranean, have been detained three months at Milford Ha- 

 ven, to the great injury of the owners. Nor is the evil compensated by any secu- 

 rity whatsoever, for the cotton is not unpacked, as it is at the lazarettoes on the con- 

 tinent of Europe. 



