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Sect. XIV.] MEDICINE AND MEDICAL STATISTICS. 



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17 



after the sun has gone down. Should the instrument there- 

 fore be placed, as has sometimes happened, contiguo^is 

 to these, it ^^iil give an exaggerated view of the tempe- 



rature. The under surface of the deck planks also radiates 



heat 



be 



exposed to the rays of ^' o sun, consequently the ^^m- 

 perature of the cabins and between the decks of a ship 

 is sometimes greatly increased ; this, however, if conti- 

 nuous hi apposition with the heat in the sun's rays, and 

 in the shade, it would be desirable to place on record, 

 and also to state the influence it may be supposed to have 

 on the general health of a ship's company, w'^^:ther the 

 inference drawn be of a practical or a theoretical nnture. 

 In connexion with accumulated heat from these or other 

 causes, it would also be proper to state the space allowed 

 to each hammock : the number of hammocks berthed on 



one deck, ard in a general way t'-e dimen?^ions of the 

 deck, together with the size and disposition of the scuttles, 

 ports, and windsails. 



Acute inflammatory diseases and fevers have 



most 



unquestionably been induced by a current of external air 

 riTshhig from thi: lower orifice of a windsail on men 

 sleeping close to its exit Are we then to suppose, in the 



t r 



absence of all terrestrial miasmata, that these diseases 

 are the i^oult of the sudden abstracdon of heat from the 

 system? Simple immersion in the sea, or exposure to 

 the external air in a state of nudity, has not, generally 

 speaking, to the same extent, an equally deleterious effect- 

 These, and subjects of a like nature, are well deserving 

 the attention of every medical inquirer ; as there are still 

 few of the doctrines respecting the origin of disease, or 



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