Chapter XIX: Part III (1)

It has been suggested to me, that it would add to the utility of this Work to subjoin a list of the remedies best suited to the practice of physic at sea, with their quantities, and to give a set of formulas for the direction of young practitioners. I have accordingly made out a gross computation of the requisite quantities of the most useful and necessary articles of the Materia Medica, and also a few of the most commodious and simple forms of administering some of the most efficacious remedies for the most common diseases.

It is of consequence every where, but especially on board of a ship, to simplify practice, as much as possible, with regard to the number, the preparation, and the administration of medicines. Where a great number of compound medicines are given, it is extremely difficult to ascertain, by accurate and satisfactory observations, what are their real effects; and as there are not conveniences at sea for great pharmaceutical nicety, the plainest forms should be adhered to. And as all operations are rendered more practicable and easy by being reduced to a stated method, this is an additional inducement for studying plainness and simplicity in preparing and administering remedies. This uniformity is more attainable in the public service than in private practice; for in the former all the patients are of one sex, they are all adults, and they are generally of robust constitutions.

In the list hereto subjoined the articles are distinguished into PRINCIPAL and SECONDARY; and when a surgeon considers how limited his funds are, I hope he will not think that I have made a disproportionate assortment in reducing the number and quantities of the latter, my view in this having been that he may better afford an ample proportion of such medicines as are really efficacious and indispensable in the cure of diseases. It may be affirmed, without vanity or arrogance, that the printed list of articles with which the navy surgeons are enjoined to supply themselves is very injudicious considering the present improved state of the medical art; and it is of great importance that the due proportion of each article should be ascertained as nearly as possible, that no unnecessary expence may be incurred, and that the chest may not be encumbered with unnecessary articles.

There are no simple distilled waters in the following list, as they are very corruptible, and too bulky to carry to sea. Their place is supplied by a small quantity of oil of mint, which may be occasionally added to common water, in the proportion of a drop to an ounce. There are no tinctures inserted, except laudanum, the traumatic balsam, and compound spirit of lavender, as the surgeon, having a proper supply of spirit of wine or rum, may make them on board of the ship.

In the following list the surgical articles are not enumerated. There is a new article which I beg leave to recommend, as it has lately been found extremely useful, and is now used in large quantities in the hospitals in London. This is linseed meal for poultices. The surgeon should also be provided with a sufficient quantity of linseed oil, as it has been found to be one of the best ingredients in dressings for scorches. See page 540.

The quantity of each article is adapted to an hundred men for one year, so that a calculation can easily be made for any number of men, and for any length of time.

ASSORTMENT OF MEDICINES

TO BE

CARRIED TO SEA,

FOR

ONE HUNDRED MEN, FOR ONE YEAR.

PRINCIPAL ARTICLES.

Peruvian bark, ten pounds, and if the ship is destined for a hot climate, twenty pounds. This article should be provided by the Public. See p. 359.--Calomel, two ounces and a half--_a_ Emetic tartar, one ounce and a half--Ipecacoanha, four ounces--Opium, one ounce--_b_ Purging salts, ten pounds--Senna leaves, two pounds.

SECONDARY ARTICLES.

Aloes, half an ounce--Ammoniacum, two ounces--Balsam of copaiva, three ounces--_c_ Traumatic balsam, four ounces--Camphor, three ounces--Cantharides, one ounce--Capsicum, three drachms--Castor, an ounce and a half--Chamæmile flowers, or hops, two pounds--Cinnamon, an ounce--Prepared chalk, or oystershells, six ounces--Conserve of roses, half a pound--_d_ Cordial confection, two ounces--_e_ Cathartic extract, half an ounce--Extract of hemlock, three ounces--Extract of logwood, one ounce--Gentian, five ounces--Ginger, three ounces--Gum arabic, four ounces--Gum guaiacum, three ounces--Powder of jalap, one ounce and a half--_f_ Laudanum, four ounces--Linseed, one pound--Magnesia, six ounces--Manna, eight ounces--Whole mustard seed, half a pound--Myrrh, four ounces--_g_ Crude mercury, two ounces--

_Names in the last Edition of the London Pharmacopœia._

_a_ Antimonium tartarisatum.--_b_ Either Glauber’s salts, natron vitriolatum, or sal catharticus amarus, magnesia vitriolata. Glauber’s salt answers better in a hot climate, being less deliquescent from the heat and moisture of the climate.--_c_ Balsamum benzoes compositum.--_d_ Confectio aromatica;--_e_ Extractum colocynthidis compositum.--_f_ Tinctura opii.--_g_ Hydrargyrus.

_a_ Corrosive sublimate, an ounce--Nitre, eight ounces--Oil of almonds, one pint--_b_ Castor oil, half a pint--Linseed oil, three pints--Essential oil of mint, one ounce--_c_ Jamaica pepper, four ounces--_d_ Blistering plaster, ten pounds--Quaffia, eight ounces--Salt of hartshorn, two ounces--_e_ Salt of steel, half an ounce--_f_ Salt of wormwood, ten ounces--Castile sope, half a pound--Sarsaparilla, three pounds--Serpentary, four ounces--Spermaceti, four ounces--Rectified spirit of wine, one pint--_g_ Weak spirit of vitriol, half a pint--_h_ Volatile aromatic spirit, half a pint--_i_ Spirit of Mindererus, two pints, or the volatile salt and vinegar may be kept separately, and added occasionally--Spirit of turpentine, four ounces--Dried squills, half an ounce--Flowers of sulphur, one pound--Golden sulphur of antimony, half an ounce--Cream of tartar, one pound--Vinegar, six pints--_j_ White vitriol, six drachms--Wormwood, one pound--_k_ Flowers of zinc, two drachms.

NECESSARIES _to be put in charge of the Purser, and served out to the Sick in place of the common sea provisions. See page 358._

BARLEY, three hundred pounds--Eggs, greased and put in salt, twenty dozen--Extract of spruce, twelve pounds--Lemon juice clarified, and preserved by adding to it a small proportion of ardent spirits, five gallons--Raisins, fifty pounds--Rice, two hundred pounds--Coarse sugar, one hundred pounds--Sago, twenty pounds--Salep, ten pounds--Portable soup, fifty pounds--Tamarinds, ten pounds--Best white wine, three hundred gallons--Best red wine, one hundred gallons.

_Names in the last Edition of the London Pharmacopœia._

_a_ Hydrargyrus muriatus.--_b_ Oleum ricini.--_c_ Pimento.--_d_ Emplastrum cantharidis.--_e_ Ferrum vitriolatum.--_f_ Kali præparatum.--_g_ Acidum vitriolicum dilutum.--_h_ Spiritus ammoniæ compositus.--_i_ Aqua ammoniæ acetata.--_j_ Zincum vitriolatum.--_k_ Zincum calcinatum.

FORMULÆ QUÆDAM

MEDICAMENTORUM

IN MEDICINA FACIENDA APUD NAUTAS

ACCOMMODATIORES.

IN FEBRE CONTINUA.

PULVIS EMETICUS COMMUNIS.

℞. Pulveris radicis ipecacoanhæ grana decem, antimonii tartarisati grana duo, misce.

MISTURA CATHARTICA COMMUNIS.

℞. Foliorum fennæ uncias sex, aquæ ferventis libras sex. Macera donec pene refrixerit & adjice vel natri vitriolati vel magnesiæ vitriolatæ libram unam cum semisse. Dein cola & admisce tincturæ sennæ uncias octo. Dosis est ad uncias tres.--Interdum conducit adjicere singulis dosibus, vel pulpæ tamarindo um semunciam, vel mannæ semunciam, vel antimonii tartarisati semigranum, vel pulveris jalapìi grana decem.

ENEMA COMMUNE.

Aquæ marinæ tepidæ uncias duodecim.

POTUS COMMUNIS.

Decoctum hordei.--Conveniat adjicere singulis libris pro re natà, vel pulpæ tamarindorum unciam dimidiam, vel crystallorum tartari drachmam unam, vel nitri scrupulum unum, vel acidi vitriolici diluti guttas decem, vel succi limonum unciam unam, vel gummi arabici scrupulos duos, vel vini uncias quatuor, vel frustum panis tosti.

VINUM EMETICUM.

[136]℞. Antimonii tartarisati scrupulos duos, aquæ ferventis uncias duas, vini albi uncias octo. Solve antimonium in aquâ & adde vinum. Assumatur drachma una omni quadrante horæ, donec vel vomitus cieatur, vel alvus moveatur. Deinde assumatur semi-drachma sextâ quâque horâ.

PILULA FEBRIFUGA.

℞. Pulveris antimonialis, (Pharm. Lond.) vel pulveris febrifugi Dris. James drachmam unam, conservæ rosæ quantum latis sit. Simul contunde & divide in pilulas duodecim. Deglutiatur una quartâ vel sextâ quâque horâ.

MISTURA SALINA ET ANTIEMETICA.

℞. Kali præparati drachmam unam, succi limonum, vel aceti, vel acidi vitriolici quantum satis sit ad saturandum salem, aquæ puræ uncias sex. Bibatur tertia pars ter die.--Conducit pro re nata adjicere, vel pulveris antimonialis grana quinque, vel acidi vitriolici diluti guttas quinque, vel cretæ præparatæ scrupulum unum, vel aquæ menthæ semunciam.--Interdum conducit sumere hanc misturam statim postquam Kali & succus limonum mixta fuerit, scilicet in ipsâ ebullitione. Hoc imprimis utile est quando vomitus vel nausea molestus sit, & licet adhibere magnesiam vice Kali, & acetum vice succi limonum.

[137]PILULA DIAPHORETICA.

℞. Opii purificati grana duodecim, antimonii tartarisati grana sex, conservæ rosæ semi-drachmam, farinæ glycirrhizæ, vel tritici quantum satis sit. Contunde simul & divide in pilulas viginti quatuor. Devoretur una horâ somni. Interdum prosit dare unam bis die.

[138]MISTURA SEDATIVA.

℞. Misturæ camphoratæ uncias sex, tincturæ opii guttas viginti Misce. Bibatur tertia pars ter die.--Aliquando conducit admiscere singulis dosibus aquæ ammoniæ acetatæ drachmas tres, vel vini emetici guttas triginta.

[139]BOLUS SEDATIVUS.

℞. Confectionis aromaticæ scrupulum unum, opii purificati grani quartam partem, castorei Russici grana decem, tincturæ opii guttas quatuor. Misce. Assumatur sextâ quâque horâ.

BOLUS SERPENTARIÆ COMPOSITUS.

℞. Pulveris serpentariæ Virginianæ grana decem, camphoræ grana quatuor, confectionis aromaticæ quantum satis sit. Assumatur ter die.--Interdum conducit addere pulveris corticis Peruviani drachmam dimidiam, vel superbibere decocti corticis Peruviani uncias duas.

ELECTUARIUM AD CONVALESCENTES.

℞. Pulveris corticis Peruviani, florum chamæmeli, singulorum unciam unam, pulveris zinziberis scrupulos duos, syrupi quantum satis fit. Dosis est circiter drachma ter die.--Interdum adjiciantur vel rubiginis ferri drachmæ tres, vel pulveris terpentariæ Virginianæ drachmæ duæ.

IN FEBRE INTERMITTENTE.

Adhibeantur in initio eadem medicamenta ac in initio febris continuæ. Deinde

Sumatur corticis Peruviani drachma una, secundâ vel tertiâ quâque horâ, vel etiam singulis horis, absente paraxysmo febrili.--Interdum confert dare singulas doses ex spiritûs vini tenuis (_rum_ dicti) unciâ unâ.

Si cortex frustra adhibeatur fauste adhiberi possint medicamenta infra præscripta.

[140]℞. Zinci calcinati semi-drachmam, conservæ rosæ quantum satis fit. Contunde simul & divide in pilulas quindecim. Sumatur una ter die, augendo dosim si premerit morbus & si ferat ventriculus.

Vel,

℞. Zinci vitriolati grana duodecim aquæ puræ uncias tres Sumatur tertia pars ter die augendo dosim si opus fuerit & si ferat ventriculus.

Vel,

[141] ℞. Tincturæ rhabarbari uncias duas, tincturæ sennæ drachmas sex. Misce. Sumatur paucas horas ante paroxysmum.

Vel,

[142] Cortice Peruviano frustra dato, aliquando conferat dare ægro quotidie, vel calomelanos, vel pilularum ex hydrargyro quantum & quamdiu sufficiat ad levem ciendum ptyalismum, & deinde instituere curam de integro cum cortice Peruviano.

Vel,

[143] Sumantur tincturæ

IN DIARRHŒA SIMPLICI.

BOLUS AD DIARRHOEAM.

℞. Cretæ præparatæ scrupulum unum, pulveris rhabarbari grana quindecim, pulveris corticis cinnamomi grana sex, opii purificati granum dimidium, tincturæ opii guttas quinque, syrupi quantum satis fit. Semel sumatur.

℞. Misturæ cretaceæ (Pharm. Lond.) cum duplici gummi arabico libram unam, tincturæ opii guttas decem. Absumatur totum partitis vicibus nychthemero, incipiendo duodecim horas post datum medicamentum novissime præscriptum.--Interdum adjiciatur tincturæ cinamomi uncia dimidia.

IN CHOLERA MORBO.

℞. Decocti hordei vel avenæ libras tres, pulveris gummi arabici unciam unam cum semisse, tincturæ opii guttas triginta. Hauriatur quam primum libra una, & deinde libra dimidia omni horâ usque ad levamen mali.--Si parabilis fuerit caro vitulina, vel pullus, jusculum tenue ex altero utro factum vice decocti supra dicti adhibeatur.

IN DYSENTERIA ACUTA.

Sumat æger quamprimum emeticum commune.

℞. Decocti hordei libras duas, salis cathartici unciam unam cum semisse, antimonii tartarisati grana duo. Misce. Hauriatur tepide primò libra dimidia, & deinde unciæ quatuor omni horâ donec alvus copiose & iteratim dejecerit.

℞. Pulveris ipecacoanhæ grana duodecim, conservæ rosæ quantum satis fit. Contunde simul & divide in pilulas duodecim. Sumatur una ter die. Si æger vehementer febricitârit satius erit dare ter die vini emetici drachmam unam ex cyatho amplo decocti hordei tepidi.

[144]℞. Pulveris ipecacoanhæ grana duo, pulveris opii purificati exsiccati granum unum, nitri grana octo. Misce. Sumatur horâ somni.

ENEMA EMOLLIENS.

℞. Amyli unciam dimidiam, aquæ puræ uncias decem. Coque ad idoneam spissitudinem.

Vel,

℞. Seminum lini drachmas sex, aquæ puræ uncias duodecim. Coque per quadrantem horæ & cola liquorem pro enemate.

ENEMA ANODYNUM.

℞. Enematis emollientis uncias quatuor, tincturæ opii guttas quadraginta. Misce.

IN DYSENTERIA CHRONICA.

BOLUS CATHARTICUS.

℞. Pulveris rhabarbari grana quindecim, calomelanos grana quinque, conservæ rosæ quantum satis fit ut fiat bolus. Mane sumendus, & repetendus post paucos dies si opus fuerit.--Vice hujus interdum conducat dare misturæ catharticæ communis uncias duas.

SOLUTIO CAMPECHENSIS.

℞. Extracti ligni Campechensis drachmam unam cum semisse, tincturæ cinamomi unciam unam. Tere simul & admisce aquæ puræ uncias quinque. Sumatur uncia una ter die.

DECOCTUM AMARUM.

℞. Corticis simaroubæ vel quassiæ drachmam unam, aquæ puræ libram unam cum semisse. Decoque ad libram unam. Absumatur totum quotidie tribus vicibus. Adjici possint singulis dosibus pro ratione symptomatum, vel cretæ præparatæ scrupulus unus, vel pulveris ipecacoanhæ granum unum, vel tincturæ cinamomi drachmæ duæ, vel tincturæ opii guttæ quinque.

[145]In casibus rebellibus confert illinere quotidie hypogastrium unguenti ex hydrargyro drachmâ dimidiâ.

Sit pro potu communi in hoc morbo aqua pura, frusto panis recens tosti adjecto, & pauxillo spiritus vini tenuis (_rum_ dicti) admixto. Sit pro victu communi salab, vel farina tritici in pulmentum tenue ex aquâ purâ cocta.

IN INTESTINIS INFLAMMATIS.

[146]SOLUTIO SALIS CATHARTICI.

℞. Decocti hordei libram unam, magnesiæ vitriolatæ uncias duas. Misce ut fiat solutio. Bibatur, post sanguinis missionem, uncia una omni semihorâ donec alvus bis dejecerit.

Adhibeantur hypogastrio cucurbitulæ cruentæ, vel hirudines plures. Applicetur ibidem epispasticum satis amplum. Injiciatur enema cum oleo & pauxillo sale cathartico.

IN ILEO, vel COLICA PICTONUM, vel morbo in regionibus æstuosis _DRY BELLY ACHE_ dicto.

[147]PILULÆ CATHARTICO-ANODYNÆ.

℞. Extracti colocynthidis compositi drachmam dimidiam, opii granum unum & dimidium, olei menthæ guttam unam. Contunde in massam & divide in pilulas decem. Sint pro una dosi. Paucas post horas, si alvus non rite responderit, exhibeantur misturæ catharticæ unciæ duæ, vel[148] olei ricini uncia una, & repetantur ut opus fuerit.--Interdum in hoc malo divexat vomitus cui auxilio est, mistura antiemetica. Vide page 551.

Perfricetur hypogastrium oleo tepido.

Ineat æger in balneum tepefactum ad 93° therm. Fahren. per horam unam vel etiam diutius.

Denique suffletur in anum fumus nicotianæ.

Vel,

℞. Nicotianæ drachmas duas aquæ puræ ferventis libram unam.--Fiat infusum & cola pro enemate.

IN HÆMORRHÖIDE.

BOLUS HÆMORRHOIDALIS.

℞. Florum sulphuris drachmam dimidiam, conservaæ rosæ, vel pulpæ tamarindorum quantum satis fit. Assumatur bis die.

Si sanguinis ex ano profluentis magna fuerit vis, & præcipue si ex alto fonte effluxerit, valde proderit medicamentum infra præscriptum.

[149]℞. Olei lini recens expressi drachmas sex, tincturæ rhabarbari drachmas duas. Misce. Sumatur bis die.--Vice olei lini adhibere licet olei amygdalæ unciam dimidiam, cum mucilaginis gummi arabici drachmis duabus.

IN ALVO ASTRICTA.

PILULÆ LAXANTES.

℞. Aloes socotrinæ drachmam unam, syrupi quantum satis sit. Contunde & divide in pilulas viginti. Sumantur duæ pro re natâ.--Aliquando conducit adjicere vel pulveris zinzberis vel pulveris capsici grana quindecim, vel olei menthæ guttas decem.--Vice aloes licet adhibere extractum colocynthidis compositum.

ELECTUARIUM ECCOPROTICUM.

℞. Pulveris jalapii unciam dimidiam, pulpæ tamarindorum unciam unam, pulveris zinziberis semi-drachmam, syrupi _melasses_ dicti quantum satis sit. Sumatur circiter drachma pro re natâ.--Interdum prosit adjicere crystallorum tartari drachmas duas.

IN CATARRHO.

LINCTUS.

℞. Conservæ rosæ unciam unam, mucilaginis gummi arabici unciam dimidiam, olei amygdalæ drachmas duas, succi limonis, vel acidi vitriolici quantum satis sit ad gratum saporem conciliandum. Misce. Sumatur pauxillum sæpius.--Interdum adjiciatur vel salis nitri drachma una, vel tincturæ opii guttæ decem.

Sit pro potu communi decoctum hordei in quo coquatur uvarum passarum uncia una, & sub finem cocturæ seminum lini drachmas duas pro singulis libris decocti.

Si febricitârit æger, sumantur mistura salina & pilula febrifuga ter die.

IN PLEURITIDE ET PERIPNEUMONIA.

℞. Decocti hordei libras duas, pulpæ tamarindorum quantum satis-fit ad gratum saporem, nitri drachmam unam. Misce. Hauriatur affatim pro potu communi. N. B. Si tamarindi moverint alvum sæpius quam semel aut bis die adhibeatur vice ejus syrupus _melasses_ dictus.

Sumatur mistura salina & pilula febrifuga sextâ vel quartâ quâque horâ.

IN HÆMOPTÖE.

Hauriat æger infusi rosæ uncias tres quater die. Interdum adjiciatur vel tincturæ opii guttæ quatuor, vel nitri grana decem.

HAUSTUS OLEOSUS.

[150]℞. Olei amygdalini, aquæ menthæ simplicis singulorum unciam unam, manræ drachmas tres. Misce. Sumatur ter die. Sæpe conducit adjicere singulis dosibus tincturæ opii guttas quatuor vel quinque.

IN TUSSI ASTHMATICA.

PILULÆ PECTORALES.

[151]℞. Gummi ammoniaci drachmas tres, saponis Hispaniensis drachmas duas, pulveris radicis scillæ grana sex opii purificati grana tria, syrupi _melasses_ dicti quantum satis sit. Contunde simul & divide in pilulas quadraginta octo. Sumantur quatuor bis die.

IN ASTHMATE A DIATHESI HYDROPICA PROVENIENTE.

PILULÆ SCILLITICÆ.

℞. Radicis scillæ aridæ grana duodecim, conservæ rosæ quantum satis sit. Contunde simul & divide in pilulas duodecim. Sumatur una vel duæ bis vel ter die.

Vel,

[152]HAUSTUS DIURETICUS.

℞. Aquæ puræ unciam unam & dimidiam, pulveris scillæ aridæ grana duo, tincturæ lavendulæ compositæ guttas trigintæ, kali præparati grana decem. Misce. Sumatur bis vel ter die.--Interdum adjicere liceat haustui vespertino tincturæ opii guttas viginti.

Vel,

BOLUS CÆRULEUS CUM SCILLA.

[153]℞. Pilularum ex hydrargyro grana quinque vel usque ad decem, pulveris radicis scillæ grana duo. Misce. Sumatur horâ decubitûs, per tres vel quatuor noctes consequentes.

IN RHEUMATISMO ACUTO.

MISTURA DIAPHORETICA.

℞. Aquæ puræ uncias tres, aquæ ammoniæ acetatæ unciam unam & dimidiam, pulveris antimonialis grana quindecim. Sumatur tertia pars ter die.--Interdum adjiciantur nitri grana quinque singulis dosibus.

Bibatur affatim decoctum hordei tepidum, cum nitri scrupulis duobus in singulis libris.

HAUSTUS SUDORIFICUS.

℞. Misturæ camphoratæ unciam unam & dimidiam, aquæ ammoniæ acetatæ unciam dimidiam, vini emetici guttas quadraginta, tincturæ opii guttas viginti. Misce. Sumatur horâ somni, vel etiam sæpius sed cum dimedia tinctura.

IN RHEUMATISMO CHRONICO.

℞. Tincturæ guaiaci volatilis drachmas duas. Sumatur ex cyatho potûs communis ter die. Vel sumatur gummi guaici semidrachma super bibendo haustum ex salis cornu cervi serupula aquæ unciis tribus.

℞. Pulveris ipecacoanhæ compositi (Pharm. Lond.) scrupulum unum. Sumatur hora somni alternis noctibus.

In casibus rebellibus pro remedio efficaci compertum est dare quotidie calomelanos granum unum vel grana duo.

IN HYDROPE.

PULVIS HYDRAGOGUS.

℞. Crystallorum tartari unciam dimidiam, pulveris jalapii grana quindecim, pulveris zinziberis grana quinque. Misce fiat pulvis, fumatur alternis diebus.

MISTURA DIURETICA.

℞. Infusi gentianæ uncias decem, spiritus vini tenuis uncias duas, kali præparati drachmam unam. Misce. Hauriamur unciæ tres bis die.[154]Vice infusi gentianæ licet adhibere infusum absynthii.

TINCTURA SCILLÆ. Pharm. Lond.

Sumatur drachma una bis die ex haustu potûs communis.

PILULA EX ELATERIO.

℞. Elaterii grana duodecim, syrupi quantum satis sit. Dividatur in pilulas sex. Sumatur una bis die.

[155]Ægro licet, imo prodest hoc morbo laboranti bibere ad libitum ex liquore aliquo siti extinguendæ accommodato, veluti aquâ hordei cum crystallis tartari.

IN ERYSIPELATE.

[156]℞. Pulveris corticis Peruviani drachmam unam. Sumatur omni horâ vel interpositis duabus vel tribus horis.

IN MORBO VENEREO.

1. IN GONORRHOEA.

Hauriatur ad libitum infusum lini, vel decoctum hordei cum gummi arabici drachmis sex in singulis libris.

Sumantur calomelanos grana duo quotidie per viginti circiter dies.

[157]℞. Aquæ puræ distillatæ uncias octo, hydrargyri muriati granum unum. Misce. Injiciatur pauxillum in urethram bis vel ter die.

IN GONORRHOEA BENIGNA.

℞. Balsami capaivæ drachmam unam, tincturæ lavendulæ compositæ guttas triginti. Misce. Sumatur bis die.

2. IN ULCUSCULIS.

In initio feliciter adhibetur causticum.

℞. Calomelanos drachmam dimidiam, conservæ rosæ quantum satis sit. Contunde in massam & divide in pilulas triginta. Sumatur una quotidie, vel interdum dimidia ter die, ut cieatur ptyalismus modicus. Perstet æger in usu medicamenti hujus per dies acto postquam sanata fuerint ulcuscula.

Pro medicamento topico, utile erit inspergere ulcusculum cum pulvere hydrargyri nitrati.

3. IN BUBONE.

Illinatur artus lateris affecti infra inguen cum unguenti ex hydrargyro drachmâ dimidiâ quotidie.

Si abierit bubo in ulcus mali moris omittatur pro tempore usus hydrargyri & sumatur quotidie [158]opii purificati granum unum primo semel, dein bis, denique ter die vel etiam sæpius, & pulveris corticis Peruviani drachma una ter quaterve die.--Interdum conducit sumere pulveris sarsæparillæ drachmas duas ter die, vel extracti cicutæ grana tria ter die, augendo paullatim usque ad grana decem.

4. IN VERA LUE, anginâ scilicet osteocopiis, exostosibus & defædatione cutis.

Illinantur membra quotidie cum unguenti ex hydrargyro drachmis duabus quotidie usque dum cieatur ptyalismus[159] per dies triginta ad minimum vel donec evanuerint symptomata.--Interdum vice litûs adhibere conveniat vel calomelanos granum unum ter die, vel pilularum ex hydrargyro grana quinque bis die, vel

℞. Hydrargyri muriati grana octo, spiritus vinosi tenuis libram unam. Fiat solutio, & sumatur uncia dimidia bis die. In ulceribus tonsillarum pernotabili est auxilio suffitum ex cinnabare in fauces inhalare semel vel bis quotidie.

Si ulcera mali moris exorta fuerint in quavis corporis parte, eadem, ut jam de bubone dictum est, fiant.

IN SCORBUTO MARINO.

Sumat æger quotidie succi limonum unciam unam ter quaterve die.

℞. Aquæ puræ paullulum tepefactæ congios triginta, syrupi _melasses_ dicti libras sedecim pondere, extracti pini uncias octo pondere, spumæ vel fæcis cerevisiæ libras duas mensurâ. Misce & agita valide cum baculo, dein sinatur abire in fermentationem, ut fiat cerevisia, deinde servetur in vase clauso. Ut diutius servari potest, proderit admiscere spiritûs vini tenuis Gallici, vel qui _rum_ dicitur, libras duas aut tres. Si infirma fuerint viscera adjicere juvabit vel lupuli vel summitatum absinthii vel quassiæ, vel zinziberis quantum satis sit. Hauriat æger libras duas quotidie.

℞. Farinæ avenaceæ libras tres, aquæ puræ congios quatuor. Misce. Macera donec liquor fiat acidulus, dein effunde dimidium & adjiciatur par copia aquæ puræ, & coque ad idoneam spissitudinem, ut cogatur in pulmentum. Sit pro victu assiduo cum vini & sacchari non purificati, vel syrupi _melasses_ dicti quantum sufficiat ad gratum saporem conciliandum.

Ad alvum solvendam commode adhiberi potest electuarium eccoproticum cum crystallis tartari. Vid. p. 556.

THE END.

INDEX.

A.

ABSORBENTS useful in fluxes, 491, _& seq._

_Action_, close, the advantages of it, 103, _& seq._

_Air_, superiority of that at sea, 225.
--Noxious effects of it at land in a hot climate, 227.
--Extent of its influence, 228.

_Alcide_, sickly on the passage to America, 36.
--Subject to various forms of fevers, 39.

_Aliment_, want of proper, chief cause of scurvy, 300.
--Increases the vigour of the body in two ways, 510.

_America, North_, hotter in summer than the West Indies, 30.
--Fleet goes there to avoid the hurricanes, 35, 146.
--Uncommon season there, 156, _& seq._

_Amputation_, the number that died of it at Barbadoes, 190.

_Amputation_, Mr. Alanson’s method of performing it, 543.

_Antimonials_, best adapted to bilious fevers, 420.
--A caution with regard to them, 422.

_Army_ at St. Lucia, diseases in it, 127.
--Mortality in it, 27, 228, _& seq._

_Asthma_, climate in the West Indies favourable to it, 97.

B.

_Barbadoes_, more refreshments at it than any other island, 27.
--Ravaged by a hurricane, 41.
--Composed of coral rock, 89.
--Conjecture concerning its origin, _ibid._

_Barfleur_, fevers on board in consequence of recruits from a French
jail, 142.

_Bark, Peruvian_, its effects in preventing fevers, 230, _& seq._
--When useful in continued fevers, 390, _& seq._, 402, 422, _& seq._

_Bark, Peruvian, red_, some account of it, 457.

_Barricading a ship_, what meant by it, 21.

_Bath, warm_, of use in the dysentery, 480.
--In the locked jaw, 522.
--Its proper temperature, 535.

_Battle_, the ardour of, favourable to health, 22, 77, 101.
--Number killed in, 209.
--Loss in those of April, 1782, 520.

_Bedding_, utility of airing it, 260.

_Bile_, a defect of it in the worst cases of yellow fever, 429,
_& seq._
--Theoretical disquisition on its influence in fevers, _ibid._

_Bile_, the marks of a redundance of it in dysenteries, 477.
--Its tendency to prolong fluxes, 483, _& seq._

_Blindness_ from the scurvy, 24, 501.

_Blisters_ of use in the ship fever, 399.
--For removing irritability of stomach in the yellow fever, 453,
_& seq._
--Of service in dysentery, 480, _& seq._

_Blood_, a remark concerning the buff upon it, 450.

_Bloodletting_, cautions with regard to it in ship fevers, 388.
--In bilious fevers, 418.
--In the yellow fever, 450.

_Butter_, objections to its use, 310.

C.

_Calomel_, in certain cases, the best purgative, 421.

_Camphor_, estimate of its virtues, 407.

_Catarrh, epidemic_, one in Europe affected men at sea, 157.
--Communicated by strangers not affected with it themselves, in one
of the Western Islands, 244.

_Causes_, a combination of them necessary to produce diseases, 126,
_& seq._

_Chronic complaints_ brought on by hardship, 218.

_Cleanliness_ the principal means of health, 254, 337.

_Clothing_, its great influence upon health, 238.
--Advantages and disadvantages of it, 334, _& seq._

_Cocoa_ substituted, with advantage, for butter, 311.

_Cold_ favourable to infection, 258.

_Cold_ hurtful in all climates, 297.

_Colica pictonum_, forms of medicines adapted to it, 555.

_Coma_, a symptom in the ship fever, 373.

_Commission, Ships long in_, most healthy, 54, 79, 93, 167.

_Constitution_, the great variety of it, 294.
--Regard to be had to it in practice, 406.

_Coppers_, cautions with regard to them, and instance of poison from
neglect of them, 317, _& seq._

_Cordials_, a caution with regard to them, 410.

_Crowding_, bad effects of it, 192.

_Cruises_ to windward of Martinico, 48, 180.
--Near Jamaica, 120.
--How long they ought to be continued
consistent with health, 148, _& seq._
--A long one off St. Domingo, without the scurvy appearing, 154,
_& seq._

_Cullen, Dr._, his opinion of the origin of nervous fevers, 237.
--His great merit, 445.

D.

_Delirium_, a remarkable symptom in the ship fever, 373.
--Explanation of it, _ibid._, _& seq._
--Means of removing it, 398, _& seq._
--Sudden and violent in bilious fevers, 416.

_Diaphoretic_, what safest and best, 395.

_Diet_, a table of the daily allowance of it in the navy, 311.
--A method of providing what is suitable to the sick, 335.

_Diet_, a caution with regard to it in convalescent fevers, 358.

_Diet_, what best in fluxes, 494, _& seq._

_Dilution_, the great advantage of it, 391, _& seq._

_Discipline_, advantage of, to health, 348, 355.

_Diseases_, list of all those on board of the fleet, 94.
--What sorts seamen are most subject to, and most exempt from, 216.

_Diseases_, acute, tend naturally to wear themselves out, 70.
--Imputed anciently to supernatural influence, 220.
--Owing to neglect, _ibid._

_Dropsy_, medicines adapted to it, 558.

_Dysentery_ depends on the same cause as fevers, 36.
--Arises in the Prince George from cold weather, 79.
--More fatal in its acute state in a cold than a hot climate, 155.

_Dysentery_, appearances upon dissection, 471, _& seq._

_Dysentery_, forms of medicines adapted to it, 553.

E.

_Earthquakes_ frequent in the West Indies, 88.

_Effluvia_, what kind of them produce diseases, 134, _& seq._

_Elephantiasis_, peculiar to Barbadoes, 235, _& seq._

_England_, health of the fleet there compared to that in the West
Indies, 67, _& seq._
--Fleet there more sickly at particular periods than in the West
Indies, 208.

_English_, their cleanliness only of modern date, 282.

_Erasmus_, his account of the causes of pestilential diseases in
England, 282.

_Erysipelas_, Peruvian bark the best medicine in it, 558.

_Exercise_, the advantage of it, 343.

_Exercise_ in the sun very pernicious, 233.

_Expeditions_, list of, frustrated by disease alone, 214.

_Explosions_ of gunpowder, frequent and destructive, 539.
--Means of preventing them, 540.

F.

_Fatigue_ tends to shorten life, 346.

_Fevers_ depend on the same cause as fluxes, 36, _& seq._
--More prevalent in port than fluxes, 113, 127.
--Assume a different type upon the importation of infection, 182.
--Difference of its infection from that of some other diseases,
244, 249.

_Fever, ship_, description of it, 371.
--Treatment of it, 386.

_Fever, inflammatory_, principal symptoms of it, 384.

_Fevers, intermittent_, some unusual remedies for them, 456, _& seq._
--Forms of medicines adapted to them, 552.

Fires, the most effectual means of sweetening the air of a ship, 117.
--The most powerful means of destroying infection, 276, _& seq._

_Flour_ preferable to bread for exportation, 307.

_Fluxes_ depend on the same cause as fevers, 36, _& seq._
--Prevail least when fevers most violent, 44, 113.
--Apt to arise in ships soon after their arrival in the West Indies,
19, 84, 183.
--More frequent at sea than in port, 113.
--More frequent in ships that have been subject to fevers, 183.
--Why so frequent and fatal at West India hospitals, 192, _& seq._
--Observations on them, 466.
--Treatment of them, 473.

_Formidable_, extraordinary degree of health on board of her, 107,
128, 365.
--Causes of it, 72, 108.
--Fever arises in her from men lent to another ship, 128.
--From pressed men, 161.

_French ships_, their discipline and œconomy inferior to British, 114.

_Frigates_ more healthy than ships of the line, causes of this, 54,
_& seq._
--More healthy when their fire place was between decks, 287.
--A contrivance for ventilating them, 292.

_Fumigation_, method of performing it, 270, _& seq._

G.

_Gibraltar_ relieved by Lord Rodney, 19.
--Admissions and deaths at the hospital there, 187, 205.

_Gibraltar_ man of war, account of her, 53.

_Grosislet Bay_, description of it, 28.

_Gunpowder_, accidents from it, 190, 539, _& seq._

_Guthrie, Dr._, his observations on infection in Russia, 279.

H.

_Habit_, effect of it in resisting infection, 294.

_Hæmorrhages, internal_, oil and tincture of rhubarb of eminent
service in them, 486, _& seq._

_Hæmorrhage_, a limb sometimes carried off without any ensuing, 542.

_Hæmorrhoids_, medicines adapted to them, 555.

_Hardship_ impairs health and shortens life, 218.

_Heat_ communicated to the hand, a symptom of the ship fever, 378,
_& seq._

_Hemisphere, Northern_, a cold summer general all over it, 157.

_Herodotus_, his account of the clothing and health of the ancient
Ægyptians, 284.

_Hospitals_ not so proper for the sick as their own ships, 60.
--Account of diseases sent to them, 185.
--At Gibraltar, 187.
--At Barbadoes, 189, 197.
--At St. Christopher’s, 195.
--At St Lucia, _ibid._
--At Jamaica, 198.
--At New York, 201, _& seq._
--General view of them all, 205.
--Proportion of deaths in them no criterion of the success of
practice, 195, 200.

_Hurricane months_, 28.

_Hurricane_, a violent one in the West Indies--its good effect on the
health of the inhabitants, 40, _& seq._

_Hypochondriac_ complaints do not affect the laborious part of
mankind, 219.

I.

_Jaw, locked_, account of those affected by it in the battles of
April, 1782, 520, _& seq._
--Its symptoms different from those of the tetanus, 526.
--Wherefore most frequent in hot climates, 529, _& seq._

_Indolence_ a cause of scurvy, 345.

_Infection_, the obscurity of and difficulty of investigating it, 238.
--Various ways in which it is introduced into a ship, 241.
--It may arise without the presence of fever, 242.
--Habit renders people insensible to it, _ibid. & seq._
--It never affects all indiscriminately who are exposed to it, 245.
--It does not pass from one species of animal to another, 249.
--How to prevent the production of it, 254.
--Means of eradicating it, 264.
--Method of guarding against it, 293.
--Less frequent in hot climates than cold, 276.

_Inflammatory_ complaints most frequent in ships where no infection,
172.

_Inoculation_, conjecture concerning the cause of its safety, 247.

_Intermittent fevers_ sometimes arise on board of a ship, 32.
--Some unusual remedies for them, 456, & _seq.q._

_Intestines_, great, the principal seat of the dysentery, 470.

L.

_Labour_ necessary to health, 217.
--Pernicious if in excess, _ibid._
--What diseases it tends to avert, 219.
--Scurvy prevented by it, 344.

_Land wind_ at Jamaica, 119.
--Not at the small islands, _ibid._

_Lemon juice_, extraordinary instance of its efficacy in scurvy, 86.
--The most effectual remedy in scurvy, 303.

_Lemons and limes_, their juice the best detergent in scorbutic
ulcers, 502, _& seq._

_Lientery_, a symptom in obstinate fluxes, 489.

_Limes_, instance of their great antiscorbutic effect, 56.

_Liver_, inflammation of it seldom known in the West Indies, 95.
--But appeared at New York in men belonging to the West-India fleet,
156.

M.

_Magnesia_, given with acids, removes sickness of the stomach, 452.

_Malt liquor_, the utility of it, 320.

_Malt, essence of_, a weak antiscorbutic, 57, 504.
--Of service in the beginning of scurvy, 146, 164.

_Manners, Lord Robert_, his death lamented, 520.

_Marshes_, their exhalations cause fevers, 43.

_Melasses_, method of using it, 305.
--Great utility of it, 308.

_Mixing of men_, bad consequences of, 252, _& seq._

_Moisture_, the bad effects of it, 288.

_Mortality_, method of calculating the proportion of it, 88.
--Greater at sea from the want of an hospital and of proper
diet, 143.
--In the fleets and hospital at different periods, 205.
--In the army in the West Indies, 206.
--In England, 207.
--Total in the fleet for three years and three months, 209.

_Mortification_, an uncommon instance of it in the shoulder, 83.

N.

_Necessaries_, Surgeons, their quantity very inadequate, 302.

_New York_, the fleet therein 1780, 38.
--in 1782, 150.

_Nyctalopia_, a symptom of the scurvy, 24, 501.

_Nymph_ frigate, account of her health, 164.

O.

_Oatmeal_, the abuse of it, 308.

_Observations_, the difficulty of making them, 9.

_Officers_, more affected by foul air than common men, 116, 137.

_Opium_, advantage of combining with antimonials, 392.
--With neutral salts, 395.
--Its use in continued fevers, 404, 408.
--Cautions and directions with regard to it in fluxes, 476, 479.
--Its use in ulcers, 504.
--The best method of giving it in the locked jaw, 532, _& seq._

_Osbridge_, Lieut, his ingenious contrivance for sweetening water,
331.

P.

_Pediluvia_ hurtful in inflammatory fevers, 397.

_Petechiæ_, a symptom in the ship fever, 377.

_Phthisis pulmonalis_, not so common in the West Indies as Europe, 97.
--but more rapid, _ibid._

_Phœnix_, Spanish Admiral’s ship, her excellent materials and
construction, 53.

_Pigeon Island_, remarkable proof of its healthiness, 228, _& seq._

_Plague_, its infection does not spread far, 298.
--Means of preventing it from spreading, _ibid._ and 299.
--Never known in tropical climates, 277, _& seq._

_Porter_, its effect in preventing scurvy, 320.

_Potatoes, raw_, a remedy for scurvy, 60.
--Proposed as an article of victualling, 309, _& seq._

_Prudent_, effects of soaking her timbers in pickle, 81.

_Pulmonic_ complaints, medicines adapted to them, 556.

_Putrefaction_, simple, effluvia of it may produce fevers, 134,
_& seq._

Q.

_Quick lime_, the best preservative of water, 326, _& seq._

R.

_Recruits_, new raised, the cause of sickness, 180.

_Returns_, intention of them, 6, 7.
--Specimens of them, 23.
--Method of forming them into tables, 24.

_Rheumatism_, forms of medicines adapted to it, 557.

_Royal Oak_, cause of her health, 80.
--Method of curing the scurvy on board, 81.

_Ruby_, remarkably healthy, 167.

S.

_St. Lucia_, woody, mountainous, and rainy, 27.
--Proportion of deaths at the hospital there, 195.

_Salt_, the good effects of it in diet, 314.

_Sandwich_, health of, on her first arrival, 19.

_Scorches_, great numbers killed and wounded in this manner, 190.

_Scurvy_, in a cruise to windward of Martinico, 49.
--In a cruise near Jamaica, 121.
--High degree of it in the Nonsuch, _ibid._
--On the passage to New York, 148.
--Why less of it in the ships last from England, 147.
--Its rapid progress in the latter part of a cruise, 148, _& seq._
--Method of curing it on board of the fleet at New York, 151.
--Numbers that died of it according to Sir Richard Hawkins, 214.
--In Commodore Anson’s Squadron, _ibid._

_Scurvy_, observations on it, 499.
--What meant by the latent state of it, 505.
--The best remedies for it, 506, _& seq._
--In what manner the nature of the diet induces it, 509.
--Whether it is infectious, 516.

_Seasons_ in the West Indies, account of them, 28, _& seq._

_Ships_, new, not more unhealthy than others, 19, 52.
--Disadvantage in changing their commanders, 80.
--Why large ones most sickly, 128, 133, 253.

_Shingle ballast_, the advantage of it, 289.

_Shoes_ of great use to seamen, 339.

_Sick_, what the best place for them in a ship, 262.

_Sickness_, method of calculating the proportion of it, 90.

_Situation_, effects of the difference of it upon health, 28.

_Small-pox_ very prevalent in the fleet, 85.

_Sope_ supplied on board of the fleet, 145.
--Its great utility, 151, 257.

_Sour krout_, manner of using it, 305.

_Splinters_ more destructive than balls, 103.

_Spices_ good against noxious air, 230.

_Spruce beer_, the great advantage of it, 320.

_Strangers_ communicate disease to each other without any apparent
previous disease, 243.

_Surf_, danger from it in watering at St. Lucia, 88.

_Surgeons_, a greater proportion of mortality among them and their
mates, 134.
--Advantage of encouraging them, 266.

_Sweating_ of use in curing the ship fever, 388, _& seq._
--In the dysentery, 475.

_Sweet vegetables_ more antiscorbutic and medicinal in their natural
state, 58.

T.

_Tables_, method of forming them, 90.

_Tenaculam_ recommended in amputation, 543.

_Thermometer_, general range of it in the West Indies, 29.
--Observations on it at Port Royal, 124.

_Thucydides_, his observations on the plague at Athens, 296.

U.

_Ulcers_ keep pace with scorbutic and feverish complaints, 132.
--Proportion of them, 150.
--Very frequent in the Barfleur, _ibid._
--Great effect of a cold climate in diminishing them, 156.
--Form a considerable part of sea complaints, 221.
--Apt to arise in scorbutic habits, 339, 500, 505.

_Uniform_ for common seamen recommended, 336.

_Union_ remarkably healthy, 167.
--Subject only to inflammatory complaints, 173, 297.

_Urine_, appearance of it in the yellow fever, 437, 440, _& seq._

V.

_Venereal disease_, the medicines best adapted to the various forms
of it, 559.

_Vernon_, Admiral, health of his fleet compared with Lord Rodney’s,
131, 198.
--The first who caused the spirits allowed the seamen to be
diluted, 324, _& seq._

_Victory_, 12th of April, 1782, 99.
--Its effects on the health of the men, 101, _& seq._

_Ville de Paris_, sickness and mortality on board after being
captured, 115.
--Foundered, 210.

_Vinegar_, use of it in the navy, 302.
--In the Roman armies, _ibid._

_Vitriol, white_, used as a remedy in intermittent fevers, 462.

_Vomit, black_, the most dangerous symptom in the yellow fever, 436.

W.

_Wall, Dr._ recommends opium in low fevers, 393.

_War_, why fleets most sickly in the beginning of it, 69.

_Warren, Dr._, his successful treatment of a case of the locked jaw,
532.

_Water_ of springs preferable to running water, 324.
--Quick lime the best preservative of it, 326.
--Various other means of correcting it, 329.
--Distillation from sea water recommended, 332.

_Watering duty_ dangerous and unwholesome, 88, 118.

_Well_ of a ship, great danger of foul air in it, 285.
--Method of preventing it, _ibid._

_Wind of a ball_, the effects of it, 537.

_Wine_, the great advantage of it in the French fleet, 322.
--Superior to spirits, 324.
--Its utility in continued fevers, 410.

_Women_, why not so subject to acute diseases in the West Indies as
men, 234.

_Wounds_, number that died of, 209.
--Account of those received in April, 1782, 520.

Y.

_Yams_ used in place of bread, 76.

_Yellow fever_, 425.

_Yellowness_ of the skin not always a symptom of malignity, 181.

Z.

_Zinc_, effects of it in obstinate intermittent fevers, 456.
--Cases in which it is proper, 461.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] These were the Conqueror, the Cornwall, and the Boyne, which were so damaged in the battles, that they were obliged to bear away for St. Lucia.

[2] The following may serve as a specimen of these returns:

STATE of HEALTH of His Majesty’s Ship ALCIDE. Carlisle Bay, Barbadoes, 1st June, 1781.

+--------------------+--------------------+----------------------+
| Sick now on Board. | Died in the course | Sent to the Hospital |
| | of last Month. | in the course of |
| | | last Month. |
+--------------------+--------------------+----------------------+
| Fevers 4 | Of Fever 1 | Ill of Scurvy 35 |
| Flux 5 | | |
| Scurvy 26 | | |
| Catarrh and } 7 | | |
| Rheumatism } | | |
| -- | | |
| Total 42 | | |
+--------------------+--------------------+----------------------+

REMARKS.

During the course of last month we had one hundred and fourteen of the men, who contracted the scurvy in the late long cruise, recovered by the use of limes, which were procured at Montserrat. A pint of wine, with an equal quantity of water, made agreeable with sugar and tamarinds, is served to each patient daily. The regimen is exactly the same as mentioned last month.

Since we came into port, very few have been seized with scurvy, but several complain daily of fluxes and feverish complaints, none of which seem at present to be of any consequence.

Four patients have last month complained of an almost total blindness towards evening, accompanied with head-ach, vertigo, nausea, and a sense of weight about the precordia. The pupil is then extremely dilated, but contracts readily when a strong light is presented to it. Two of them had the scurvy in a high degree, one of them slightly, and the other seemed entirely free from it. I am not well acquainted with the nature or cure of this disease, which I believe is called Nyctalopia by some systematic writers.

I gave those who were affected with it an emetic, which brought up a great deal of bile, and relieved the symptoms both of the head and stomach. This encouraged me to a repetition of it, which seemed also to be attended with benefit. I likewise applied blisters behind the ears, and gave bark and elixir of vitriol, with the antiscorbutic course, to those that required it.

I can form no probable conjecture concerning the cause of this disease. I have observed a dilation of the pupil in scorbutic patients, and they complained of a cloud before their eyes, with imperfect vision, which disappeared as the scurvy went off.

WILLIAM TELFORD.

To Dr. BLANE,
Physician to the Fleet.

[3] Although this hurricane, in itself and its consequences, was so destructive to the lives and health of men, yet, with regard to the inhabitants on shore, it had a surprising and unexpected effect in mending their health. I wrote an account of this hurricane to the late Dr. Hunter, who communicated it to the Royal Society, and the following passage is extracted from it:

“The consequences of this general tumult of nature, on the health of man, was none of the least curious of its effects. I made much inquiry on this head, not only of the medical gentlemen who had the charge of hospitals, and of the physicians of the country, but of the inhabitants, and every one had some cure to relate either of themselves or their neighbours, in a variety of diseases. Nor could I find that either those who were in health, or those who were ill of any disease whatever suffered from it, otherwise than by its mechanical violence; but, on the contrary, that there was a general amendment of health. This is a fact, which I could neither credit, nor would venture to relate, were it not supported by so many concurring testimonies. It had a visible good effect on the acute diseases of the climate. The chronic fluxes, of which there were then some at the naval hospital, were cured or much relieved by it. But the diseases upon which it had most evident and sensible effects, were pulmonic consumptions. Some recent cases of phthisis, and even the acute state of pleurisy, was cured by it; and in the advanced and incurable state of it, the hectic fever was removed, and remarkable temporary relief afforded. A delicate lady of my acquaintance, who was ill of a pleurisy at the time, and passed more than ten hours in the open air, sitting generally several inches deep in water, found herself free of complaint next day; had no return of it; and when I saw her a few weeks after, was in much better health and looks then usual. The people observed that they had remarkably keen appetites for some time after, and the surviving part of them became uncommonly healthy; some of both sexes, whom I had left fallow and thin a few months before, looking now fresh and plump.

It is very difficult to account for this, as well as every thing else in the animal œconomy; but it was probably owing in part, at least, to the very great coldness and purity of the air from the upper regions of the atmosphere. Great agitation of mind sometimes also produces a revolution in health; and we know that the effect of external impressions in general is very different when the mind is vacant, from what it is when occupied and interested by objects, whether of pleasure and satisfaction, or of danger and suffering.”

[4] In order to ascertain more exactly the degree of sickness in each month, a column was afterwards added to the form of the returns, expressing the number taken ill of the several diseases in the course of the month.

[5] I was informed by Captain Caldwell, that when he commanded the Hannibal, of 50 guns, his crew was so much afflicted with the scurvy, in a passage of nine weeks from St. Helena to Crookhaven, in Ireland, that ninety-two men were confined to their hammocks in the last stage of that disease, though they had been supplied with sugar at St. Helena, and served with it on the passage. They remained three weeks at Crookhaven; at the end of which time every man was fit for duty: and though they had fresh provision, they had no fresh vegetables, so that their cure is to be ascribed to the use of lemons and oranges, which the Captain very humanely ordered to be purchased for them from on board of a foreign ship that happened to put into the same harbour.

[6] See Appendix to Part II.

[7] They were the Formidable and Namur, of 90 guns; the Arrogant, Conqueror, Marlborough, Hercules, and Fame, of 74 guns; the Yarmouth, Repulse, Prothée, Anson, and Nonsuch, of 64 guns.

[8] These were the Prince George, of 90; the Bedford, Canada, and Royal Oak, of 74; the America and Prudent, of 64 guns.

[9] This is a term in use for the different articles of seamen’s cloathing, particularly shirts and trowsers.

[10] The mortification in the shoulder, mentioned above, was somewhat singular. It happened to a man in the Yarmouth, who, after being for a week ill of a fever and flux, was one day, early in the morning, seized with a pain in the upper part of the right arm, which immediately began to mortify. He soon after became convulsed, and died the same day about two o’clock.

[11] Earthquakes are frequent in the West Indies, and perhaps proceed from a weaker operation of the same cause that originally produced the islands themselves, which seem all to have been raised from the sea by subterraneous fire. There are evident vestiges of volcanoes in them all, except Barbadoes; but there are other unequivocal marks of this island having been raised from the bottom of the sea; for it is entirely formed of coral, and other sub-marine productions, of which the strata are broken, and the parts set at angles to each other, as might be expected from such a cause. There is, perhaps, at all times in the caverns of the earth, elastic vapour struggling to vent itself, and when near the surface, it may sometimes overcome the incumbent masses of matter, and produce certain convulsions of nature. In the account of the hurricane which I wrote to Dr. Hunter, I gave reasons for believing, from the testimony of the inhabitants, that hurricanes are attended with earthquakes; and if a conjecture might be advanced concerning the cause of this, it might be said, that as the atmosphere is lighter at that time, by several inches of the barometer, the elastic vapour, confined by the weight of the incumbent earth and atmosphere, being less compressed, may exert some sensible effects, producing a sort of explosion.

[12] Since the publication of the first edition of this work I have been informed that this complaint is not so rare on shore as in the fleet, which may be partly owing to the greater coolness of the air at sea, and partly from the seamen not having been a sufficient length of time in the climate to be affected with this disease, as few of them had been more than two years from England. But as this affection of the liver was very common in the fleets and naval hospitals in the East Indies, it is evident that there is a great difference of the climates in this respect. It is worth remarking, that it sometimes breaks out in the West-India Islands like an epidemic. The complaint, for instance, was very little known in the island of Grenada, till about the year 1785, when it became very frequent in a particular quarter of the island; and the gentleman who sent the description of it to England alledged, that there were the most unequivocal proofs of its being contagious. It was most successfully treated by very copious bloodletting, and in exciting a salivation by mercury. See Dr. Duncan’s Medical Commentaries, Decad. 2, vol. I.

[13] Dr. Lind, on the authority of Mr. Ives, surgeon to Admiral Matthews.

[14] London Gazette, _June_, 1781.

[15] This is well illustrated by the manner in which Captain Nott, of the Centaur, was killed in Fort-Royal Bay. This brave man, having carried his Ship nearer the enemy than the rest of the line, but nevertheless at a great distance, had his signal made to keep the line, and having gone into his cabin, as it is said, to examine the import of the signal, a cannon ball struck him in the groin, and it was so far spent, that it stuck in his body. It tore away a whole plank of the ship’s side, the splinters of which killed a young gentleman, the only person near him.

[16] I have seen an account of the diseases of the army at St. Lucia for a whole year, kept by Mr. Everard Home, an ingenious gentleman belonging to the army hospital, and it appears, that, during ten months out of the twelve, the dysentery was the predominant disease. This seems to contradict the opinion, that the land air is more apt to occasion fevers than fluxes; but it is to be remarked, that the sickness of the soldiers on this island was not so much owing to the malignant influence of the air, the situation of the garrison being high and airy, as to the bad accommodations and provisions, together with hard labour.

[17] See Essay on the Yellow Fever, by Dr. Hume, in a Collection of Essays published by Dr. D. Monro.

[18] Campbell’s Lives of the Admirals, Vol. IV.

[19] The late Dr. William Hunter.

[20] See Appendix to Part II.

[21] Captain Samuel Thompson.

[22] As my own stay at different ports was short, and as my own knowledge could not extend beyond that period, Dr. Farquarson, First Commissioner of Sick and Wounded Seamen, very politely gave me leave to inspect the books of the different hospitals at his office, and I collected from them the fate of all the men that were landed.

[23] It is proper to mention, that the name of the disease in the hospital books being taken from the ticket sent on shore with each sick person, great accuracy is not to be expected, as this is frequently done in a careless manner. My returns were made with great exactness; and, in the latter part of the war, the hospital books may also be depended upon in this respect, the tickets, at my request, having been made out with accuracy.

[24] In this, and the other tables, the smaller fractions are neglected.

[25] See the last chapter of Part III.

[26] In the year 1741, the fleet under Admiral Vernon was at Jamaica at the same time of the year; and the following is the account of the men sent to the hospital in May and June:

+--------------------+-----------+-------+-------------+
| DISEASES. | Admitted. | Died. | Proportion. |
+--------------------+-----------+-------+-------------+
| | | | NEARLY |
| | | | ONE IN |
+--------------------+-----------+-------+-------------+
| Fevers | 957 | 255 | 3½|
| Fluxes | 267 | 73 | 3½|
| Scurvy | 314 | 41 | 7½|
| Other Complaints | 167 | 26 | 6 |
+--------------------+-----------+-------+-------------+
| Total | 1703 | 395 | 4 |
+--------------------+-----------+-------+-------------+

There was on board of this fleet about two thirds of the number of men that was on board of the fleet in 1782. I cannot ascertain how many died on board of the ships in Admiral Vernon’s fleet; but the deaths at the hospital alone are somewhat more than what happened to our fleet both on board and at the hospital.

[27] I was enabled, after coming to England, to ascertain the deaths in that part of the squadron from which I happened at any time to be absent, by having leave from the Navy Board to inspect the ships’ books deposited at their office.

[28] See Appendix to Part II.

[29] The mortality of the army in the West Indies is much greater; for it appears by the returns of the War Office, that there died in the year 1780, two thousand and thirty-six soldiers, which being calculated by the numbers on the station, and those who arrived in the convoy in March and July, the annual mortality is found to be one in four. The greatness of this mortality will appear in a still stronger light, when it is considered that those who serve in the army are the most healthy part of the community. When I was at the encampment at Coxheath in the year 1779, I was politely favoured with a sight of the returns, both of the general officers and physician, and it appeared that in an army of ten thousand and eighty-nine men, there died, from the 10th of June to the 2d of November, forty-three, exclusive of twelve who died of small pox. This being calculated, is equal to an annual mortality of one in a hundred and nine; and it was not half so much in the encampment of the former year. It appears by Mr. Simpson’s tables, that the mortality of mankind in England, from the age of twenty to forty-five, which includes the usual age of those who serve in the navy and army, is one in fifty.

[30] See Table II.

[31] See Table II.