401 



did formerly, but that they do not cure it bet- 

 ter : that heretofore the patient was left to die 

 slowly, taking no other remedy than an infusion 

 of tamarinds ; and that in our days a more ac- 

 tive practice carries him to the grave in a more 

 direct and expeditious manner." 



This opinion is not founded upon an accu- 

 rate knowledge of what was done formerly in 

 the West India islands. The voyage of Father 

 Labat sufficiently demonstrates, that in the 

 beginning of the 18th century the physicians of 

 the West Indies did not suffer the sick to die 

 so tranquilly, as seems to be supposed. They 

 did not then kill by emetics, bark, and opium, 

 employed in too large doses, and unseasonably ; 

 but by frequent bleedings, and the abuse of 

 purgatives. The physicians indeed seemed so 

 well aware of the effects of their treatment, 

 that they had the candour " to present them- 

 selves at the bed-side of the sick, accompanied 

 at their first visit by a confessor and a notary." 

 At present, in neat and well conducted hos- 

 pitals, they often succeed in reducing the num- 

 ber of deaths to eighteen or fifteen in a hundred, 

 and even a little less. But whenever the sick 

 are crowded together, the mortality increases 

 to one half, or even to three quarters, of which 

 the French army in St. Domingo afforded an 

 example in 1802. 



I found the latitude of La Guayra to be 



VOL. III. 2 D 



