OF THE ISLANDS NEAR SINGAPORE, 587 
centrated opinions of many eminent men, sufficient has been shewn 
to warrant the following’ deductions. 
ls£. That living Coral when exposed to the atmosphere , or 
fresh water, or when covered with detritus, dies. 2nd. That an ef¬ 
fluvium passes from the said exposed coral, which , like all ejflu - 
ty of its sources. In warm countries, the localities enumerated above a- 
bound with dead animal bodies, and the exuviae of immense swarms of 
insects 5 and hence may be inferred the reason wherefore terrestrial ema¬ 
nations in these climates give rise to more severe forms of intermittent 
and remittent fever, depress more remarkably the vital powers, derange 
more the vascular system, and more sensibly affect the blood and secre¬ 
tions, than the miasmata inhaled in similar places in northern latitudes.” 
p. 771 “ The Putrifaction of Animal Substances has been supposed by 
many to occasion disease in those who come within the sphere of the ex¬ 
halations thus produced and even to generate a malady which has become 
infectious, and has partly thereby, and partly from other concurring causes, 
prevailed to an epidemic, or even pestilential extent. It is not however 
dead animal bodies, or considerable collections of putrid matter, but also 
heaps of filth exposed in the streets, animal excretions, and exuviae sub¬ 
jected to a warm and stagnant air, and neglect of domestic and personal 
cleanliness, that are thus injurious. Theselatter maybe less energetic agents 
than the foregoing, but they more frequently exist, and are more common 
concurrent causes. The injurious effects however of putrifjing animal 
substances have been denied by Dr. Bancroft and others, by a species ofar- 
gumentation more specious than solid, by a kind of medical special plead¬ 
ing, of which we have had more, since the commencement of this century, 
than is consistent either with facts, or with the advanced state of general 
science. Animal substances in a state of decay will produce effects, va¬ 
rying with the temperature and humidity of the air, with the concentration 
of the exhalations proceeding therefrom, and with the state of individuals, 
or of the community exposed to them. A candid appreciation of the facts 
which have occurred to most experienced observers, in connection with 
those recorded by creditable writers, will 1 believe warrant the following 
inferences: 
1 st. That in low ranges of temperature the exhalations from putrid 
animal substances will seldom be productive of marked effects, unless 
they accumulate or become concentrated in a stagnant atmosphere, unless 
they be assisted by imperfect ventilation. 
2 nd. That the combination of those exhalations, with those emitted by 
decayed vegetable matter, and by deep absorbent soils, gives rise to ef¬ 
fects of greater severity than those occasioned by either operating sepa¬ 
rately j and that the intensity of these effects will depend upon the tempe¬ 
rature, humidity and stillness of the air, and other concurrent circum¬ 
stances. 
3rd. That emanations from dead animal matter in the various states 
in which it is met w ith, are capable of causing even of themselves, serious 
effects, as shewn in the article Dysentery, and that when aided by high 
ranges of temperature and humidity, they are often productive of exten¬ 
sive disease, which usually assumes, especially in a crowded population, 
and calm atmosphere, infectious properties. 
4th. That even when they have not been the chief element or cause of 
the epidemic constitution, they have been not unfrequently concurring a- 
gents.” 
f 2 
