on  Air , 8cc. 
Hence  I do  not  hefitate  to  declare,  that  in  jails,  hofpi- 
tals,  and  other  crowded  places,  we  ought  not  by  any 
means  to  eftimate  their  wholefomenefs  by  the  abfenee  of 
difagreeable  fmells  alone.  The  principle  of  difeafe  may 
lurk  therein  unperceived  by  our  limited  fenfes.  The 
method  ufed  in  thefe  experiments  is  the  only  true  one  by 
which  we  may  judge  with  fome  degree  of  fafety. 
The  crowding  together  of  a number  of  men  in  camps, 
hofpitals,  jails,  lick  rooms,  8cc.  will  prefently  generate  a 
moft  malignant  and  infectious  fever;  and  in  a very  fhort 
time,  efpecially  if  the  place  be  clofe,  unventilated,  and 
the  weather  hot,  the  moft  fatal  effects  will  follow.  Of 
this  we  have  a moft  remarkable  example  in  the  affair  at 
Calcutta. 
Mr.  holwell  and  one  hundred  and  forty-five  more 
people,  in  perfect  health,  were,  by  order  of  the  vice-roy, 
fhut  up  in  a place  of  confinement,  at  feven  o’clock  in  the 
evening.  The  place  was  1 8 feet  by  1 8 feet,  containing  324 
fquare  feet,  fo  that  there  was  a fquare  for  each  perfon  of 
a 6j  inches  by  12  inches,  which  was  fufficient  to  hold 
them  without  preffing  violently  upon  each  other.  The 
weather  was  extremely  fultry,  and  the  place  of  confine- 
ment having  only  one  fmall  grated  window  to  the  Weft, 
the  air  within  could  neither  circulate  nor  be  changed.  In 
lefs  than  an  hour  after  their  being  inclofed,  many  of  the 
D d z unhappy 
