Chapter II: Part 2

I could send many more instances; but the compass of a letter will not admit of it: and I should be afraid of having tired you already, did I not know, that it must give you pleasure to hear of its extensive utility. I am, Sir,

Your most obliged
humble Servant,
J. Wall.

IV. _An Account of the_ Carlsbad _Mineral Waters in_ Bohemia: _In a Letter to the Right Honourable the Earl of_ Macclesfield, _President of the R. S. by the Rev._ Jeremiah Milles, _D.D. F.R.S._

[Read Jan. 20, 1757.]

My Lord,

MR. Watson having favoured the Society with an Account of Dr. Sprengsfeld’s treatise on the Carlsbad waters, I have taken the liberty to submit to your Lordship some observations on the same subject, which I made during my stay in that place; together with some specimens of different sorts of incrustations, which are formed by those waters.

Carlsbad is a small town, situated on the confines of Bohemia, at the distance of 14 German, or 28 French, leagues west of Prague. It is remarkable for its warm mineral springs, which are said to have been accidentally discovered, in the year 1370, by the Emperor Charles the IVth, as he was hunting; from whom they received their present name of Carlsbad, or Charles’s bath. These waters soon growing into repute, occasioned the building of a small neat town, consisting chiefly of houses calculated for the accommodation of the company, who frequent this place in the summer time. There are two warm springs, which rise in the middle of the town, very near each other: and tho’ they are supposed to be of the same quality, yet, as one is much warmer, it is thought likewise to be more efficacious than the other. The former of these, called the Brudel, rises very near the bed of the small river Tepel which runs thro’ the middle of the town, and is sometimes overflowed by it. The water issues with great force from the bottom of this spring, rising in a considerable body to the height of six feet perpendicular; and would force itself much higher, if it were confined within a narrower compass. The spring is inclosed with a square wall, within which are fixed three wooden pipes, which convey the water from the bottom of the spring into a reservoir; which distributes it into a number of small troughs, communicating with the several bathing-houses, which are built on both sides of the river for the use of the patients. This spring is so impetuous, that they are obliged to pave and ramm the bed of the river, lest it should force itself up in the channel: and I observed one place on the river side, where it had burst thro’ the rock; and they had been obliged to confine it, by fastening down a large stone on the orifice.

The water of this spring is so hot, that you cannot bear your hand in it; and the inhabitants make use of it for scalding their pigs and their poultry.

The water, when put into a glass, has a bluish cast, not unlike that of an opal: and tho’ I could not discover, that in 24 hours it had deposited the least sediment, yet there was a thin whitish scum collected on the surface; and I observed the same in the baths, where it was much thicker; and was of the colour, and almost of the consistence, of a wafer. It has a salt taste when first taken from the water, and is made use of by the inhabitants for cleaning of teeth and scouring silver: it is called Baden Flaum.

Tho’ this water does not deposit any sediment, yet it is remarkable for the speedy and strong incrustation of all bodies, which are put into it. Little plaister figures are sold here, on purpose to verify the experiment; which, tho’ perfectly white when put into the spring, are, in eight-and-forty hours, entirely covered with a yellow incrustation. The same effect is observed on the pipes and channels, thro’ which the water is conveyed. If care were not taken to clean them four or five times a year, they would be intirely choaked up; and in some parts, where it has not been necessary to clean them so often, I have seen them covered with an incrustation two inches thick. In surrounding and covering these wooden pipes, they do not change the nature of the wood; but it is observable, that they add great hardness and solidity to it: so that it is affirmed a piece of deal will last a hundred years in this water. The head spring is cleared out once in 30 or 40 years, with a very great expence: at which time they are obliged to break off all the stony incrustation, which had been made by the water since the last cleaning; and if neglected would (as it has sometimes actually done) choak the passages, and oblige the spring to find vent in some other place. The incrustations formed by these waters are of different kinds: that, which is made in the troughs and pipes, thro’ which the water is conveyed after it comes above ground, is of a light sandy nature, of a loose contexture, and a bright yellow. It is used by the inhabitants as a gentle corrosive for eating off proud flesh. There is another of a darker colour, and a much harder nature, which is found at the very mouth of the spring, where it bursts out of the rock. There are other sorts taken out of the subterraneous cavities of the spring at the time it was cleaned. In what manner they are formed, is not so easy to determine; unless there were an opportunity of observing in what manner and direction they lie within the spring. They seem to be an alabastrine spar, and are beautifully marked with strait veins of different colours, which may be supposed to have received their tinge from the different colour of the spring-water at the time when this sediment, or rather scum, was formed upon it. They find pieces of this kind most beautifully variegated; and some of them large enough, by fineering to make tables: these polish very well, and are not much inferior to jasper in appearance. It is a part of the manufacture of the place, to work this sort of stone into snuff-boxes, cane-heads, and sleeve-buttons.

There is likewise another sort of incrustation different from all these, which was found some years ago, in digging for the foundations of the new parish-church, which is about 300 yards distant from the Brudel spring. They found there the same kind of water; but it did not rise with so great force as in the other spring: and they discovered in the cavities large masses of a stony concretion, which were a sort of pisolithi, most of them in a globular, but some in an oval form, from the smallest size to the bigness of a nutmeg; the former sort lying in masses, the latter generally single and detached: they are perfectly white, hard, and smooth, and appear to consist of a great number of lamellæ formed round a small nucleus. This sort of incrustation has been found in no other place; but there are some of a browner sort, and more irregular shapes, which are taken out of the Brudel.

The medicinal virtues of these waters have been treated of by German authors. They are esteemed to be particularly efficacious in removing obstructions, and in cases of the stone and gravel; of which the treatise lately produced to the Society contains many remarkable proofs. They are much frequented in these and in other cases; so that they have generally 200 persons in a season drinking the waters. The season begins in May, and ends in August. They drink them in the following method. They begin with a purge; and assist its operation with ten or twelve chocolate-cups of the water, taken within five minutes of each other. The day following they take the waters in the same quantity, and at the same intervals, keeping themselves all the time in a warm room; which, with the warmth of the waters, occasions a most plentiful perspiration. This is repeated for seven or eight days, increasing daily two or three cups of the water, till they come to drink 25 or 30 cups a day. The operation continues from eight of the clock in the morning till noon. Some bleed once in the middle of the course, others not at all. After they have finished this course of drinking, they bathe two days successively, continuing in the bath half an hour, or longer, as their strength permits them, or their case requires. This is the whole course; which is repeated two or three times, or oftener, as they find necessary. The whole is concluded with a gentle purge, tho’ the waters themselves are of a laxative nature.

There is another spring in the town of the same nature, but not so warm, as the Brudel: it is called the Mill-spring, and is only tepid. Those of a warm or weak constitution make use of this instead of the other, both for drinking and bathing.

There are likewise several chalybeat springs in the neighbourhood of Carlsbad; one at half a mile, and the other at two leagues distance from the town. Both of them seem to resemble the water of the Pohun spring at Spa; but are not near so strong. They do not use them medicinally on the spot; but they are brought to Carlsbad, and sold, in order to be drank with their wine. I am,

My Lord,
With the greatest respect,
Your Lordship’s
Most obedient humble Servant,
Jeremiah Milles.

Grosvenor-street, Jan. 19th, 1757.

V. _An Essay towards ascertaining the specific Gravity of living Men. By Mr._ John Robertson, _F.R.S._

[Read Jan. 27, 1757.]

SOME time last autumn I had occasion to draw up a few examples on the use of a table of the specific gravities and weights of some bodies. Among other things, that occurred then to me, I thought it might be useful to know the specific gravity of men. In order to make some experiments on this subject, I got a cistern made, of 78 inches in length, 30 inches wide, and 30 inches deep: it was constructed as near a parallelopiped as the workman could, to prevent tedious operations in computing the horizontal sections of the cistern by the surface of the water. I then endeavoured to find ten persons, such as I proposed to make the experiments withal; namely, two of six feet high, two of five feet ten inches, two of five feet eight inches, two of five feet six inches, and two of five feet four inches. One of each height I proposed should be a fat man, and the other a lean one; but I could not succeed in procuring such men; and, after waiting till near the middle of October, I was obliged to put up with such, as would submit themselves to the experiment at that season of the year. They were all labouring men, belonging to the ordinary of Portsmouth yard, and, except one or two of them, who were middling sized men, were for the most part very thin and slim made persons. I had also provided a sliding measure to take their heights, and scales to weigh them in. Every thing being prepared, each man stript himself in an adjoining room, and put on a pair of trowsers for decency’s sake: his height was first taken, then his weight, and then he immersed (fortified with a large dram of brandy). A ruler, graduated to inches, and decimal parts of an inch, was fixed to one end of the cistern, and the height of the water noted before a man went in, and to what height it rose when he ducked himself under its surface; and of these several observations is the following table composed.

+---+--------+-----+---------+---------+--------+---------+-------+
| | | |Ht. Water|Ht. Water| Water | |Weight |
|Nº.|Heights.| Wt. | before | when | raised.| |Water. |
| | | |immersed.|immersed.| |Solidity.| |
| |Ft. In. | Pds.| Inches. | Inches. | Inches.| |Pounds.|
+---+--------+-----+---------+---------+--------+---------+-------+
| 1| 6 02 | 161 | 19,30 | 21,20 | 1,90 | 2,573 | 160,8 |
| 2| 5 10⅜ | 147 | 19,25 | 21,16 | 1,91 | 2,586 | 161,6 |
| 3| 5 9½ | 156 | 19,21 | 21,06 | 1,85 | 2,505 | 156,6 |
+---+--------+-----+---------+---------+--------+---------+-------+
| 4| 5 6¾ | 140 | 19,17 | 21,21 | 2,04 | 2,763 | 172,6 |
| 5| 5 5⅞ | 158 | 19,13 | 21,21 | 2,08 | 2,817 | 176,0 |
| 6| 5 5½ | 158 | 19,09 | 21,26 | 2,17 | 2,939 | 183,7 |
+---+--------+-----+---------+---------+--------+---------+-------+
| 7| 5 4⅜ | 140 | 19,05 | 21,06 | 2,01 | 2,722 | 170,1 |
| 8| 5 3⅛ | 132 | 19,01 | 20,86 | 1,85 | 2,505 | 156,6 |
| 9| 5 4⅛ | 121 | 18,97 | 20,76 | 1,79 | 2,424 | 151,5 |
| 10| 5 3¼ | 146 | 18,93 | 20,66 | 1,73 | 2,343 | 146,4 |
+---+--------+-----+---------+---------+--------+---------+-------+

In making of these experiments, I remarked some inconveniencies, which I did not at first advert to, and which, at that time, I could not prevent. I intended, that each man should have got gently into the water, immersed himself all but his head, and so have staid until the motion of the water had ceased; then he was suddenly to have ducked his head under, and have continued to a few seconds of time, until I had noted the rise of the water; and, after his leaving the cistern, another was not to go in until the water was free from motion. Could these things have been done, as I projected, I could have recommended the foregoing table as sufficiently complete: but I must observe, that beside the men’s being of different sizes from what I had desired, they were in too much haste to be dismissed (with another dram after dressing); so that the water was not quite still when they got into the cistern: neither could I persuade all of them to lay themselves down gently, much less to keep their heads under water so long a time as one second: so that, in most of the observations, the surface of the water was far from being quite so still, as to render the measures perfectly exact, I being obliged to catch them, as it were, by taking the mean height between the librations. Moreover, the great area of the cistern was no inconsiderable bar to the accuracy I expected. However, as I do not recollect experiments of this kind any-where recorded, these, perhaps, may give some satisfaction to such persons, who may have the curiosity to desire some knowlege on this subject. Were I to make any more observations of this kind, I would chuse an upright parallelopiped, not above 18 or 20 inches in the side of the square; into which the person should let himself down by steps nailed to the side: for in so small an area the motion of the water would sooner subside; neither would the librations be any thing near so large as on a smaller surface.

One of the reasons, that induced me to make these experiments, was a desire of knowing what quantity of fir or oak timber would be sufficient to keep a man afloat in river or sea water, thinking that most men were specifically heavier than river or common fresh water; but the contrary appears from these trials: for, excepting the first and last, every man was lighter than his equal bulk of fresh water, and much more so than his equal bulk of sea-water: consequently, could persons, who fall into water, have presence of mind enough to avoid the fright usual on such accidents, many might be preserved from drowning; and a piece of wood, not larger than an oar, would buoy a man partly above water so long as he had spirits to keep his hold. Some things herein advanced will perhaps more readily appear from the following relation.

The Lords of the Admiralty have appointed, for the exercise of the scholars belonging to the royal academy at Portsmouth, a small yacht; wherein, during the summer months, those young gentlemen are taught the practice of working a vessel at sea, under the directions of one of the master-attendants, assisted by eight or ten seamen. The last time this yacht was out, which was about the beginning of last October, one of the scholars was ordered to heave the lead. The youth was about thirteen years old, small of his age, and far from being fat; as he was stepping on the gunnel, he fell over-board: the sea was rough, and the yacht had great way; so that he was presently at a considerable distance from the vessel. The skiff was immediately let down; but the painter not being fast, the rope run an end, and the skiff went adrift. One of the seamen jumpt over-board, got into the boat, brought her along-side the vessel, took in another man, and then went after the youth, whom they recovered, after he had been in the water more than half an hour. The young gentleman, relating the affair, said, that as he could swim very little, and judging he should sink if he strove against the waves, he turned on his back, and committed himself to their mercy. He kept himself perfectly calm; and observed, when a wave was likely to break over him, to hold his breath, and to spurt out the water forced into his mouth. His hat, which happened to be tied by a piece of string to one of his coat button-holes, he often held up with his hand, as a signal where he was. Just before the boat came up to him he began to be faint, his eyes became dim, and he thought himself on the verge of sinking. This youth, who, by his prudence, saved himself from drowning, must, at that time, have been specifically lighter than water.

VI. _An Instance of the Gut_ Ileum, _cut thro’ by a Knife, successfully treated by Mr._ Peter Travers, _Surgeon, at_ Lisbon. _Communicated by_ John Huxham, _M.D. F.R.S._

[Read Jan. 27, 1757.]

Lisbon, August 3d, 1756.

ANtonia Josée da Costa, one of the King’s messengers, was attacked by two men, and, after receiving two blows on the head, was stabbed with a knife in the right hypogastric region, about three fingers breadth above the os pubis; the external wound being larger, as the knife was drawn obliquely towards the navel, and might be an inch and half in length, the perforation thro’ the peritonæum about three quarters of an inch; the intestine ileum hanging out about ten or twelve inches, and quite pierced thro’, the wound in the gut being large enough to admit my fore finger. After clearing the grumous blood with warm water and Hungary water, the uninterrupted suture was made on both perforations; then dilating the common integuments of the belly, the intestine was reduced, leaving the ends of the two threads at the superficies of the wound; and the external incision was sewed up by the interrupted suture, and common dressings of lint and bandage applied. A clyster was given him immediately after the above operation, of oil of olives, the yolk of an egg, and warm water.

4th. This day I found he had passed in the most excruciating pains, attended with continual vomitings: his fever very high, pulse full and irregular: he was bled ten ounces this morning, and the like quantity this evening. The clysters were continued thrice a day, with a decoction of wormwood and camomile instead of the warm water, and an anodyne mixture of mint-water, liquid laudanum, and sugar, to be taken occasionally; also three ounces of syrup of rhubarb, with an ounce of the fresh-drawn oil of sweet almonds, to be taken, a common spoonful every two hours.

5th. The bleedings were continued twice this day, three ounces each time, and the clysters were administered as yesterday. His pulse and fever very high; he vomited some excrements; and towards night complained of a singultus.

6th. His bleedings and clysters were continued as before. Finding his singultus and vomiting so very troublesome, I ordered him Dr. Huxham’s tincture of the bark; which was taken, a tea-spoonful, six times a day, in a little mint-water; which indeed greatly relieved him: his singultus and vomiting became less frequent.

7th. I found his skin moist, and pulse softened. I remained with him about an hour, and found a plentiful perspiration throughout the body; on which I omitted his bleedings: the clysters were continued; and towards night he had a proper discharge by stool, very fœtid, and inspissated.

8th. I found, for the first time, he had slept last night, and seemed much in spirits: the symptomatic fever something lessened; and he had purged last night, and this day, eight times.

9th. He had five stools; his neausea much abated; and a gentle diaphoresis continued.

10th. The singultus ceased; his vomiting very little; his pulse low, accelerated, and thread-like in its stroke; his purging violent; and he greatly complained of a most acute pain of the wounded parts. A paper of the following absorbent powders was given him every three hours in rice-water. Crabs-eyes and red coral prepared, of each one drachm, crude opium two grains: these were made for three doses, and given as above.

11th. He slept well; less pain; pulse more equal; his diarrhæa much the same.

12th. The threads, with which I had made the suture of the intestine, came out of themselves: the wound well-conditioned; fever very little; his diarrhæa rather increased. He sent for me in the evening, being much alarmed, as he thought some liquids he had taken to have passed thro’ the wounded parts.

13th. Yesterday he complained of great pains in his belly: the discharge from his wound was laudable matter, and in good quantity.

14th. He rested well, and was seemingly well beyond expectation. His diarrhæa still continuing troublesome, he took the hartshorn decoction, with an addition of diascordium.

15th. I cut off the threads of the external wound, and continued dressings of digestive in the common method.

16th. He grew visibly better each day after; and on Sept. 7th I discharged him from any further attendance, his wound being intirely healed over, and he is in all respects very well, free from pain, or any inconvenience from the wound. He was kept seven and twenty days on chicken-broth, and never admitted to use any solids during that time: afterwards he was indulged with young chickens, &c.

VII. _An Account of a Visitation of the leprous Persons in the Isle of_ Guadaloupe: _In a Letter to Mons._ Damonville, _Counsellor and Assistant-Judge at_ Martinico, _and in the Office of King’s Physician at_ Guadaloupe. _By_ John Andrew Peyssonel, _M.D. F.R.S. Translated from the_ French.

[Read Feb. 3, 1757.]

+SIR+,

I Received the letter, which you honoured me with, and the order for visiting the persons afflicted with the leprosy. I was sensible of the misfortune of being ordered upon that commission: I say misfortune; for such you will perhaps think it, when you have read this letter.

It is now about 25 or 30 years since a very particular disease shewed itself in many persons in this island Grande Terre. Its beginning is imperceptible: there appear but a few livid-red spots upon the skins of the white people, and of a yellowish red upon the blacks. These spots in the beginning are not accompanied with pain, or any other symptom; but nothing can take them away. The disease increases insensibly, and continues several years in shewing itself more and more. These spots increase, and extend indifferently over the skin of the whole body. Sometimes they are a little prominent, but flat. When the disease makes a progress, the upper part of the nose swells, the nostrils are enlarged, the nose becomes softened; tuberosities appear upon the cheek-bones; the eyebrows are inflated; the ears grow thick; the ends of the fingers, and even the feet and toes, swell; the nails become scaly; the joints of the feet and hands separate and mortify: ulcers of a deep and of a dry nature are found in the palms of the hands and soles of the feet, which grow well, and return again. In short, when the disease is in its last stage, the patient becomes frightful, and falls to pieces. All these symptoms come on by very slow degrees, one after another, and sometimes require many years to shew themselves: the patient is sensible of no sharp pain; but feels a kind of numbness in his hands and feet. These people perform their natural functions all the while, eating and drinking as usual: and even when the mortification has taken off the fingers and toes, the only ill consequence, that attends, is the loss of those parts, that drop off by the mortification; for the wound heals of itself, without any application: but when it comes to its last period, the poor sick persons are horribly deformed, and truly worthy of compassion.

This shocking disease is observed to have several other unhappy characters; as, 1st, that it is hereditary, and that some families are more apt to be seized with it than others: 2dly, that it is infectious, being communicated _per coitum_, and also caught by keeping company with those so diseased: 3dly, that it is incurable, or at least that no remedy has yet been found to cure it. They have in vain tried mercurials, sudorifics, and every other regimen used in venereal complaints, under a notion, that this leprosy was the consequence of some venereal taint: but, instead of being of service, these methods rather served to destroy the patients; for, far from lessening the disease, the antivenereal medicines unlocked the distemper, the most dreadful symptoms appeared, and all those so treated perished some years sooner than the others, who did not take these medicines.

A very just fear of being infected with this cruel distemper; the difficulty of examining infected persons before the disease came to its state; the length of time of its lying concealed, by the care of the patients to keep it secret; the uncertainty of the symptoms, which distinguish it in the beginning; produced an extraordinary dread in all the inhabitants of this island. They inspected one another, since virtue and merit had no shelter from this cruel scourge. They called this distemper the leprosy; and consequently presented several memoirs to the generals and intendants, laying before them all these facts above-mentioned; their just apprehensions; the public good; the trouble, that this distrust caused in this colony; the complaints and hatred, that these accusations occasioned among them; the laws made formerly against such leprous persons, and their expulsion from civil society. They required a general visitation of all persons suspected of this distemper, that such, as were found infected, might be removed into particular hospitals, or into some separate places.

These memorials were sent to court, which, giving due attention to these just representations, issued orders for the required visitations in the most convenient manner, for the good of the public and of the state.

In the mean time, the post of physician-botanist become vacant in the island of Cayenne. The minister was pleased to name me for it; and altho’ this island was much more fertile in philosophical discoveries than all the others, he thought proper to change my destination, and sent me to this isle Guadaloupe; and did not forget the article of the leprosy in my instructions.

When I arrived at Martinico in 1727, Monsieur Blondel de Juvencourt, then intendant of the French isles, communicated to me both the orders of the court, and all the memoirs, that related to this affair. A tax was then laid upon the Negroes of the inhabitants of the Grande Terre, to raise a necessary fund for this visitation, thus made at the expence of the colony; and Mons. le Mercier Beausoleil was chosen treasurer of this fund.

Being arrived at Guadaloupe, the Count de Moyencourt, and Mons. Mesnier, ordinator and subdelegate to this intendance, communicated to me the order of the general and intendant. I began then to inform myself of the necessary instructions for acquiting myself of this dangerous commission, the disagreeable consequences of which I easily foresaw. I had so often heard of these leprous spots, that I judged it necessary to know, whether what was said was true: for I could not comprehend, that a disease, which has so dreadful an end, and the symptoms then so terrible, should continue ten or fifteen years without any other appearance than these simple spots; which, in themselves, had nothing very bad. I demanded an inquest to be made, in order to satisfy myself of this fact: several surgeons, as practitioners, and several honest inhabitants, as observers, were accordingly called together, who all proved the same fact in this inquest; which you, Sir, may, and must, have seen in the register of the subdelegation of this island. I am, most sincerely,

+SIR+,
Your most humble and obedient Servant,
Peyssonel.

August 10. 1748.

RESULT _of the_ VISITATION.

1st, NONE of the patients, whom we visited, had any fever; and they all declared, that they found no inconvenience nor pain; but, on the contrary, eat, drank, and slept well, performing every natural function; which was proved by their plumpness, which appeared even when the disease was most confirmed.

2. The disease began to shew itself in the Negroes by reddish spots, a little raised, upon the skin, being a dry kind of tetter, neither branny nor scabbed, and without any running, but of a livid-red, and very ill-conditioned. The Negroes sometimes bring these spots with them from their own country. The spots are constantly found upon every person troubled with this disease; and are in greater numbers, in proportion as the disease grows more inveterate.

3. Among the whites the disease shews itself at the beginning by spots of a livid violet colour, without pain; which are followed by little watery bladders, particularly upon the legs, which burst, and leave small ulcers with pale edges, and different in their natures from the common ulcers.

4. In proportion as the disease increased, the hands and feet grew larger, without any signs of inflammation; since neither redness, nor pain, nor any oedematous appearance accompanied it; but it was the very flesh, that increased in bulk. And this growth of the hands and feet was not attended with any sharp pain, but only a kind of numbness.

5. This bloated state of the hands and feet was succeeded by white deep ulcers under the skin, which became callous and insensible; and which emitted only a clear serous matter like water, and were but little painful. Afterwards the ends of the fingers became dry, the nails became scaly, and, I don’t know how, they were eaten away; the ends of the fingers dropt off; then the joints separated without pain, and the wounds cicatrized of themselves, without the least need of medicines. In the increase of the distemper hardnesses and lumps were formed in the flesh, the colour became tarnished, the nose swelled, and the nostrils grew wide: at last the nose softened like paste, the voice became hoarse, the eyes round and brilliant, the forehead covered with tetters and lumps, as well as the face; the eye-brows became very large, the countenance was horrible, the breath fœtid, the lips swelled, large tubercles were formed under the tongue; the ears grew thick and red, and hung down; and, such was the insensibility of all the parts, that we run pins thro’ the hands of several, without their feeling any thing of it. In short, we were assured, that these people perished by degrees, falling into a mortification; and the limbs dropt off of themselves, without any considerable pain, continuing still to perform well their natural functions.

6. These leprous people lived thus easy, if I may be allowed the expression, for several years, even fifteen or twenty; for the disease begins insensibly, and shews itself but very slowly.

7. Antivenereal remedies, which were ordered for almost every patient we saw, were of no service: if they sometimes palliated some symptoms, they very often hastened the progress of the disease: besides, we never found the parts of generation at all infected, nor any thing, that looked like the pox about them.

8. Some of these people had indeed particular symptoms. In some the hair fell off; which was replaced by a finer kind: in others, worms were found in their ulcers: want of sleep, or frightful dreams, afflicted some; while others quite lost their voice, or it became effeminate like that of eunuchs; and others, we found, stunk extremely.

9. Almost all of them, being desirous of concealing their disorders, endeavored to deceive us, by alleging false excuses for the causes of their sores and ulcers: the greater part of them pretended, that the rats had eaten off their toes, and that burns had caused their ulcers. These were the figures, that every where presented to us.

10. We were confirmed in our opinions by experience, supported by verbal process, that this was the state of the diseased; that the distemper could neither be the pox, nor the effect of an inveterate one: that it had no symptom of that disease; but that it had every character of what the ancients called leprosy, elephantiasis, or such other names, as they were pleased to give it. So that we do not hesitate to pronounce, that those infected with this disease, as we have described it, ought to be treated as leprous persons, and subject to the ordinances, which his majesty was pleased to issue against such persons.

11. Again, we are well assured, from our observations, that the distemper is contagious, and hereditary; and yet the contagion is not so active, nor poisonous, as that of the plague, small-pox, nor even as the ring-worm, itch, scald, and other cutaneous disorders: for, if that were the case, the American colonies would be utterly destroyed; and these persons so infected, mixed as they are in every habitation, would have already infected all the Negroes, whom they come near.

12. We believe, that this contagion does not take place but by long frequenting the company of the infected, or by carnal knowlege. Besides, we have observed, that even such long frequenting, or cohabiting with them, are not always sufficient to communicate the disease; because we have seen women cohabit with their husbands, and husbands with their wives, in the distemper, while one is sound, and the other infected. We see families communicate and live with leprous persons, and yet never be infected; and thus, altho’ experience, and the information of the sick, prove the contagion, we are of opinion, that there must be a particular disposition in people to receive the poison of the leprosy.

13. As to what regards the distemper’s being hereditary, it is assuredly so. We have seen intire families infected; and almost every child of a leprous father or mother fall insensibly into the leprosy; and yet, in several other families, we have seen some children sound, and others tainted; the father has died of the disease, and the children grew old without any infection: so that, tho’ it is certainly hereditary, yet we believe it is of the same nature with those in families troubled with the consumption, gravel, and other hereditary distempers; which are transmitted from father to son, without being so very regular, as to affect every one of the family.

14. We could never find out any certain rule of judging, at what age the disease shews itself first in those, who were begotten by infected parents: but we have, as far as we could, observed, with regard to women or girls, that the symptoms begin with the menses, and continue slightly till they have lain in of one or two children: but that then more visible, and indeed more cruel, symptoms appeared. As to men, or infants, there is no rule to know it in them.

15. For the explanation of the causes, symptoms, and what we think the most likely means of cure, we refer to a particular dissertation. Let it suffice here to observe, that we do not imagine, that the air, water, or manner of living, can produce it; for we have found as many sick in the low marshy places, as in more airy saline places: and if many Negroes were infected in the Grand Terre, where they drink the foul waters of ponds and lakes, we see an equal number ill in places, where they have fresh rivers and running waters; but they may prove proper causes for unlocking, and disposing persons to receive, the disease.

16. We believe, and are persuaded, that the origin of this disease among the Negroes comes from Guinea: for almost all the Negroes from the country told us they came from thence with these reddish spots, the first and certain signs of the distemper begun.

17. As to the infected Whites and Mulattoes of this island, we were informed, that the disease was not known among the Whites till about 25 or 30 years ago; when, out of charity, they received a miserable object from the island of St. Christoper’s, whose name was Clement; who, about the year 1694, fled hither. It was the family of the Josselins, called the Chaloupers, that protected him; which family, as also that of the Poulins, we found infected by communication with this sick man, as old Poulin declared to us.

It is thought, that others were infected by communication with the Negro women, especially in the beginning, when the disease is much concealed, at a time when they did not mistrust one another; which is very probable, since we saw many Mulatto children, born of female Negroes, infected and leprous.

18. However this be, this distemper has had its progress; and in this visitation, which we made, we examined 256 suspected persons; that is, 89 Whites, 47 free Mulattoes, and 120 Negroes: among whom we found 22 Whites, 6 Mulattoes, and 97 Negroes, infected with the leprosy, amounting to 125. There were six Whites and five Negroes more, whom we could not visit, for reasons set forth in the verbal process. The remaining persons, which were 131, appeared to us very sound: not that we can answer for the consequences, especially with respect to the children, who are the offspring of leprous persons; whether declared such by us, or dead before the visitation, suspected of infection.

This is the opinion, declaration, and result of the visitation made by us, the physicians and surgeon appointed for that purpose. At Basseterre, the day above-mentioned.

PEYSSONEL.
LEMOINE.
MOULON.

A second visitation was made in October 1748.

VIII. _An Account of the late Discoveries of Antiquities at_ Herculaneum; _in an Extract of a Letter from_ Camillo Paderni, _Keeper of the_ Herculanean Museum, _and F.R.S. to_ Thomas Hollis, _Esq; dated_ Naples, Dec. 16, 1756.

[Read Feb. 10, 1757.]

IT is probable, that the first volume of antique paintings will be published at Easter; in which there will be fifty copper-plates, with observations by the academy lately established here for illustrating the antiquities.

Two volumes of the ancient papyrus have been unrolled. One treats of _rhetoric_, and the other is upon _music_; and both are written by the same author, Philodemus. Il Signor Canonico Mazzocchi, a very learned gentleman of this city, is now translating them from the Greek. There are two persons constantly employed in unrolling other volumes.

In the month of April were found two fine busts of women, the subjects unknown. Also a young stag, of excellent workmanship, upon a base. The height of it, from the feet to the top of the head, is three palms and a half. Likewise its companion; but broken in many pieces; which however I hope to restore.

In May, a small young hog.

In October, a female statue, of middling workmanship. Also a Silenus, a palm and three inches high, standing upon a square base raised upon three rows of steps, which are supported at the angles by lions claws. He has a bald head, a long curled beard, a hairy body, and naked feet. The drapery about him is loose and flowing: the fore-finger of each hand is extended, and all the rest are closed. From his back arises a branch above the head, where it divides into two, which, twisting their foliage round it, fall and spread themselves below the shoulders, on each of which a stand is placed to fix a lamp. In the middle, betwixt the extremities of these two small branches, is a bird resembling a parroquet. The whole of this figure is in a very good taste. All these things above-mentioned are of bronze.

In November was discovered a beautiful marble Terminus, of Greek workmanship, as big as the life. It is drest in a chlamys; has a young countenance; and the head is covered with a Grecian helmet.

Many other things have also been found, as lamps, vases, and such-like, in bronze. And we have often met with paintings. If any farther discoveries are made, which are remarkable, you may depend on being informed of them.

At present my time is much taken up, in a work extremely difficult and tedious; which is this: When the theatre was first discovered, there were found in it, among other things, several horses in bronze, larger than the life; but all of them bruised, and broken into many pieces. From this sad condition they are not yet restored. But his majesty having expressed a particular desire to see that effected, if possible, with regard to one of them, I resolved to attempt it; and accordingly have set about it.

IX. _An Account of some Trees discovered under-ground on the Shore at_ Mount’s-Bay _in_ Cornwall: _In a Letter from the Rev. Mr._ William Borlase, _F.R.S. to the Rev. Dr._ Lyttelton, _Dean of_ Exeter.

[Read Feb. 10, 1757.]

Ludgvan, Jan 24. 1757.

Reverend Sir,

BEING an airing the other day with Mrs. Borlase, on the sands below my house, we perceived the sands betwixt the Mount and Penzance much washed into pits, and bare stony areas, like a broken causey. In one of the latter, Mrs. B. as we passed by, thought she saw the appearance of a tree; and, upon a review, I found it to be the roots of a tree, branching off from the trunk in all directions. We made as much haste down to the same place in the afternoon as we could, and with proper help to make a farther examination. I measured and drew the remains; and about 30 feet to the west found the roots of another tree, but without any trunk, tho’ displayed in the same horizontal manner as the first. Fifty feet farther to the north we found the body of an oak, three feet in diameter, reclining to the east. We dug about it, and traced it six feet deep under the surface; but its roots were still deeper than we could pursue them. Within a few feet distance was the body of a willow, one foot and a half in diameter, with the bark on; and one piece of a large hazel-branch, with its bark on. What the two first trees were, it was not easy to distinguish, there being not a sufficiency remaining of the first, and nothing but roots of the second, both pierced with the teredo, or augur-worm. Round these trees was sand, about ten inches deep, and then the natural earth, in which these trees had formerly flourished. It was a black marsh-earth, in which the leaves of the juncus were intirely preserved from putrefaction. These trees were 300 yards below full-sea-mark; and, when the tide is in, have at least 12 feet of water above them: and doubtless there are the remains of other trees farther towards the south, which the sea perpetually covers, and have more than 30 feet water above them. But these are sufficient to confirm the ancient tradition of these parts, that St. Michael’s mount, now half a mile inclosed with the sea, when the tide is in, stood formerly in a wood. That the wood consisted of oak, very large, hazel and willow trees, is beyond dispute. That there has been a subsidence of the sea-shores hereabouts, is hinted in my letter to you, p. 92; and the different levels and tendencies, which we observed in the positions of the trees we found, afford us some material inferences, as to the degree and inequalities of such subsidences in general; as the age, in which this subsidence happened (near 1000 years since at least) may convince us, that when earthquakes happen, it is well for the country, that they are attended with subsidences; for then the ground settles, and the inflammable matter, which occasioned the earthquake, has no longer room to spread, unite, and recruit its forces, so as to create frequent and subsequent earthquakes: whereas, where there are earthquakes without proportionable subsidences, there are caverns and ducts under-ground remaining open and unchoaked, the same cause, which occasioned the first, has room to revive and renew its struggles, and to repeat its desolations or terrors; which is most probably the case of Lisbon. I am, Sir,

Your most affectionate
and obliged humble Servant,
Wm. Borlase.

X. _Experiments on applying the Rev. Dr._ Hales’_s Method of distilling Salt-water to the Steam-Engine. By_ Keane Fitzgerald, _Esq; F.R.S._

[Read Feb. 17, 1757.]

ON reading Dr. Hale’s account of purifying salt-water, by blowing showers of air thro’, it occurred to me, that something of the kind might be applied with advantage to the steam or fire-engine, by increasing the quantity of steam, and consequently diminishing the quantity of fuel otherwise necessary.

As the strength of steam raised from boiling water is always in a fluctuating state, and, by the best experiments hitherto made, has never been found above ⅒ stronger, or weaker, than air; I was in doubt, whether steam, produced by this method, would be sufficiently strong for the purpose of the steam-engine.

I made an experiment first on a small boiler, about 12 inches diameter, made in the shape of those commonly used in steam-engines, with a funnel at the top, of about 1 inch diameter, for the steam to pass thro’; the aperture of which was covered with a thin plate, fixt at one end with a hinge, and a small leaden weight to slide on the other, in the nature of a steel-yard, to mark the strength or quantity of the steam. A tin pipe made for this purpose, with several small holes towards the end, passed from a small pair of bellows, through the upper part of the boiler, to within about an inch of the bottom. The boiler was half filled with water, which covered the holes in the pipe about six inches. From the best observation I was capable of making with this machine, by blowing air thro’ the boiling water, it produced about ⅙ more steam than was produced by the same fire without blowing air thro’.

I then applied a machine of this kind to the engine at the York-buildings water-works, the boiler of which is 15 feet diameter. This is a patent-boiler, a section and plan of which is annexed. It has a double concave, with a kind of door-way or passage from one to the other, in order to let the flame pass, as it were, thro’ and round the water; by which means there is no-where above nine inches of water to be heated thro’, tho’ the boiler is so large; and which, by three years experience, has been found to require ¼ less fuel, than any other fire-engine of equal bigness.

I fixt a pipe of an inch and a half diameter to a pair of double bellows three feet diameter; which pipe reached about one foot under the surface of the water in the boiler; to the end of which are fixed horizontally two branches, each about eight feet long, tapering from one inch diameter to about ¼ of an inch. These branches are bent in a circular manner, as in the plan, to answer the form of the concave, and are perforated with small holes about four inches distant at the thickest part, and decreasing gradually in distance, to within ¼ of an inch, towards the small end. The reason of these branches being made taper, and the distance between the holes decreasing to the small end, was in order to give the greater power to the air forced by the bellows to discharge the water lodged in such a length of pipe; and I observed by this method, that the water was gradually forced thro’ the holes to the end of each branch, and seemed to throw an equal quantity of air thro’ the water.

The length of the pipe, to which the branches are fixed horizontally, is about 18 feet to the nosle of the bellows: notwithstanding which length, the steam, that passed thro’ the pipe into the bellows, was so hot before the water boiled, as to force thro’ the leather: but this I easily remedied, by fixing a brass cock of one inch and a half diameter to the pipe, which hindered the steam from ascending, until the engine was ready to work; and being opened, the air continually keeps it cold until the engine has done working; then the cock must be shut again.

The bellows is worked by means of a small lever, and pullies applied to the great lever of the fire-engine, which keeps a continual blast whilst the engine works; the strength of which is increased or diminished, by adding or taking off the weights on the bellows.

The effect produced, according to the best observations I could make, was, first, a very visible alteration for the better in the working of the engine. When the fire was stirred, as it must be every time fuel is added, the steam generally became too fierce, which occasioned great irregularity, and sometimes, if not watched, great damage to the engine; and when the fire abated, the stroke became immediately much shorter, or stopped intirely, if fuel was not soon added: whereas, by blowing air thus thro’ the water, it keeps, with any moderate care, an equal stroke to its full length, from the beginning to the end; and by that means discharges a considerably greater quantity of water. A proof of which was very evident, tho’ I could not ascertain the exact quantity: for the engine, before this improvement, supplied but two main pipes at once, which conveyed the water to the houses served by them; but since could not take off the quantity of water thrown up, part of which was obliged to be discharged into a third main.

As to the quantity of fuel, that may be saved by this method, it is not easy to determine from any experiment on this engine, the boiler and fire-place of which is made very different from all others, and the quantity of fuel already thereby greatly lessened. The fire-place, which may be said to be within the boiler, and is but barely large enough to contain a quantity of the roundest and strongest burning coals sufficient to work the engine, cannot in this be made less; and consequently will not admit such a saving from this model, as from one properly constructed for the purpose: a proof of which I made, by trying some coals of a weaker kind, which were also cheaper; but on trial were not strong enough to work the engine, and had therefore been laid by. These coals answered extremely well; and, as it was a slower-burning coal, I found the consumption, whilst they lasted, was between two and three bushels less in every six hours, which is about the time the engine works each day: and I am satisfied, if the person, who attends the engine, would take the proper care, more coals could still be saved. For at several different times, when I had the coals exactly measured, and marked the time, I constantly found, that it required half a bushel in the hour less than he generally used, and the engine threw up as much water.

As this method of blowing air thro’ boiling water, in order to increase the quantity of steam for a fire-engine, has, I believe, never before been attempted, and produces already a very good effect, I am in hopes it may be still further improved.

XI. _Extract of a Letter of Mr._ Abraham Trembley, _F.R.S. to_ Tho. Birch, _D.D. Secret. R.S. Translated from the_ French.

[Read Feb. 17, 1757.]

Hague, 1 Feb. 1757.

SIR,

I Wrote to you on the 26th of November last, concerning the earthquake felt some time before between the Rhine and the Meuse. I have been since informed by Professor Donati of Turin, that a slight shock had been perceived there on the 13th of August 1756, at a quarter after nine in the morning. It was likewise felt in other parts of Piedmont. He has also communicated to me an extract of a letter of a professor of Genoa, one of his friends, of which the following is a translation.