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TRAVELS IN BRAZILe 



taking cold, and excessive indulgence in carnal 

 pleasures, tend not only to relax the muscles, an 

 effect which the heat of the climate produces, 

 independently of other causes, but likewise bring 

 on a weakness of the nerves, and in consequence 

 of that, the hydrocele. It is therefore chiefly 

 remarked in the whites, the newly arrived Euro- 

 peans and North Americans, in whom the above- 

 mentioned unfavourable influences produce, if not 

 a total debility, yet a false direction of the action 

 of the lymphatic system, and a weakness of the 

 sexual organs. The physicians of this country 

 prescribe as preservatives and remedies, local 

 washings with rum and cold water, and the use of 

 the truss. A disease which is very common in 

 hot climates, called the Sarna, very frequently 

 occurs here also. This malady consists in an 

 inflammation of the glands, which ends in suppu- 

 ration, with a local swelling resembling St. An- 

 thony's Are ; its symptoms are chiefly heat, tension, 

 and intolerable itching. In persons of an irritable 

 temperament, it not unfrequently produces sym- 

 pathetic swellings of the inguinal and other glands. 

 The chief causes are not, as is often erroneously 

 supposed, uncleanliness and woollen clothing, but 

 overheating, checking of the perspiration, irregu- 

 larity in the gastric system, and obstruction of the 

 secretory vessels, which are acted upon by the 

 influence of the climate. The sting of myriads of 

 tormenting mosquitoes, which is still more intoler- 



