3^5 



of the miferable inhabitants of a yaw 



houfe. Congregated difeafe, crowded fuffer- 

 ing, and accumulated wretchednefs are fpec- 

 tacles common to the eyes of medical men ; 

 and I may add that they have been long familiar 

 to mine ! Yet the effect of this fcene was too 

 impreffive ever to be effaced from the eye of 

 my mind. Some of thefe difeafed and truly 

 pitiable objeds were crouching upon their 

 haunches round a fmoky fire, fome flood 

 trembling on their fadly ulcerated limbs, others, 

 fupporting themfelves by a large flick, were 

 dragging their wretched bodies from place to 

 place ; while many, too feeble to rife, lay 

 fhivering with pain and torture upon the bare 

 boards of a wooden platform. 



Unhappily for our fpecies, this mod 

 odious diftemper is contagious, and readily 

 communicated from one perfori to another ; 

 nor has it hitherto been found to be with! a 

 the power of medicine. It often exifts for 

 years, and even where it fooner yields, its 

 removal is more the effe£t of time and regi- 

 men than of medical treatment. 



When a negro is attacked with this cruel 



