1802. ] 
number of them gafped in it, and died in 
a fhort time. There was fo much animal 
excrement accumulated in one of the fhips, 
that the health-officer detained. her at the 
quarantine ground as poifonous and pefti- 
lentia], and refufed to let her come up to 
the city. By the pukings and purgings, 
and by the urinary and perfpiratory dif- 
charges of thefe miferable creatures, lite- 
rally wallowing in their own filth, ‘the 
bodies of many of them were befmeared 
and incrufted, forming a layer of excre- 
mentitious grime from head to foot. 
Their clothing and their bedding were im- 
pregnated with as much of thefe excre- 
mentitious matters as they could wipe 
from the bodies of the paffengers and ab- 
forb. And with fuch coverings, vile, of- 
fenfive and peftilential in the higheft degree, 
were they furrounded. And thefe excre- 
ments, infefting every thing in the neigh- 
bourhood of the fick, underwent the ufual 
chemical changes in a heat nearly or quite 
equal to that of the human body, and turned 
to feptic acid, or to fome other feptic and 
poifonous matter, which forms the ex- 
citing caufe of fever. Of the fever fo ex- 
cited, between thirty and forty from one 
fhip died in croffing the Atlantic, and 
were thrown overboard. The furvivors 
arrived in a ftate of uncleanline(s, ficknefs 
and want, feldom feen in America, but 
among the emigrants from that unhappy 
couniry, who make fo large a number of 
the poor in American hofpitals and aims- 
houfes. So thoroughly contaminated with 
their own corrupting excretions were the 
clothes and beds of thefe fufferers, that 
the feptic exhalations from them poifoned 
the air of the Marine Hofpital, on Staten 
ifland, and the medical attendants and 
mirfes fickened in the difcharge of their 
humane attentions, Mr. Baytey, the 
helth-officer of the port of New York, 
catfed the fick, after janding, immediately 
to be diftributed or feparated from each 
othr as widely as the circumftances would 
allov, that their peftilential exhalations 
migt be diluted, and waft<d off. He or- 
derd their naity clothing and bedding to 
be arried away from thei perfons, and 
thatpart of both which was too poifonous, 
ragged and rotten to be worth the clean- 
aM be burned or thrown into the Bay. 
He drefted the bodies of the fick to be 
purifid by careful ablution and {crubbing 
with dfolution of foap in water; and even 
the heds of fome of them to be fhaven. 
After) thefe things were done, the fick 
were furnifhed with clean clothing and 
beddi 
af th hofpital. were repeatedly white- 
( 
Literary and Philofophical Intelligence. 
from the public ftore. The walls. 
265 
wathed with lime, and the floors and uten- 
fils ferubbed with alkaline ley of poteath. 
So offenfive and intolerable were many of 
thefe languifhing creatures, that they were 
accomnmodated under large tents, for the 
benefit of more complete airing. And it 
was remarked that the ground on which . 
the tents were pitched grew too unfafe, in 
a few days, to be dwelt upon any longer, 
and the tents were removed, and. erected 
on freth portions of earth. In fuch cafes 
the envenomed and deferted {pot was re- 
guiarly fpvinkled ever with lime. The 
health-officer, knowing that hard or bar- 
feap was made of foda, and contained, 
withal, as manufactured in New York, a 
large quantity of turpentine, which only 
added to its weight, without increafing its ‘ 
virtue, procured for the ufe of the wath- 
houfe a ftronger foap, made of the more 
powerful alkali, pot-afh, combined with 
ju enough of animal fat to leflen its 
caufticity fo as to bear handling. With 
this very eficacious foap, and not with 
the common mixture of turpentine, flafh 
and foda, inthe fhops, were the remain- 
ing clothes cleanfed and alkalized. The 
confequence of this management was, 
that as foon as thefe regulations could be 
earried into effect, the peitiential vapours 
were difperfed through the furrounding 
atmofphere—a vivifying air was admiited 
into the lungs—the peftilential matter ad- 
hering to the bodies and clothes was al- 
kalized and overcome, and poifonous ef- 
fluvia iffued from them no longer. It is 
worthy of being remembered, that emi-- 
grants from Ireland, landing immediately 
in the city, inftead of being detained at 
the Marine Hofpital, filled New York 
with death and terror'in 1795. The edi- 
tors of the Medical Repofitory add ta 
this ftatement the following reflection. 
‘< ‘The benevolent and philolophical gen- 
tlemen of Ireland, wouid be worthily em- 
ployed in preventing thefe calamities, if 
poffidie, among their countrymen, and 
thereby relieving the United States from 
fuch fhocking {cenes.” 
Auxother inftance of peffilencse engendered 
in a foip crowded with paffengers from Ire- 
land,copred from a fubfequent number of the 
Medical Repofitory.— Phethip Nancy,Capr. _ 
.j- Herren, was chartered by a commercial 
houfe at Siigo, to carry paflengers from 
that port te New York.» She failed from 
Sige on the 12th of July, 18012, and ar- 
rived, after a paffage of 77 days, at the. 
port of New York, on the 27th of Septem- 
ber following. This thip, of the burthen 
of 2092 tons, received on boaid 417 paffens»— 
gers, aud was navigated by nine feamen. 
Thess 
