CHAP. XXVI.] YELLOW FEVER. 107 



wall of Dr. Hamilton s house. Its fragrance is de 

 licious, more like that of our bind-weed than any 

 other scent I could remember. It had not been in 

 jured by the late frost, although the thermometer at 

 Mobile had been eight degrees below the freezing 

 point. 



The citizens are beginning to flatter themselves 

 that the yellow fever has worn itself out at Mobile, 

 because the hot season of 1845 was so healthy both 

 here and at New Orleans. Some medical men, in 

 deed, confessed to me, that as the wind blew for 

 many weeks from the north, passing over the marshes 

 north of the city during the summer, without giving 

 rise to the usual epidemic, all their former theories 

 as to the origin of the pestilence have been refuted. 

 It may still hold true, that to induce the disease, 

 three causes must concur, namely, heat, a moist 

 ground, and a decaying vegetation ; but it seems clear 

 that all these may be present in their fullest intensity, 

 and yet prove quite inoccuous. The dangerous 

 months are July, August, and September, and great 

 is the anxiety of those who then remain in the city. 

 It is fearful to witness the struggle between the love 

 of gain, tempting the merchant to continue at his 

 post, and the terror of the plague, which causes him 

 to stand always prepared for sudden flight. In 1839, 

 such was the dismay, that only 3000 out of a popu 

 lation of 16,000 tarried behind in the city. Dr. 

 Hamilton, one of those who staid, told me that he 

 knew not a single family, a member of which was 

 not attacked by the disease. Out of the 3000, 800 



F 6 



