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LUNATIC HOUSES.

A RETURN of the Number of Licensed Houses within the Bills of Mortality, and also within the County of Middlesex, and of the Number of Lunatics contained therein, in each Year from 1813 to 1824, both inclusive.

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QUARANTINE LAWS.

they have collected which would induce them to dissent from that opinion. It appears from some of the evidence, that the extension and virulence of the disorder is considerably modified by atmospheric influence; and a doubt has prevailed whether, under any circumstance, the disease could be received and propagated in the

climate of Britain. No fact whatever has been stated to shew that any instance of the disorder has occurred, or that it has ever been known to have been brought into the lazarettos for many years: but your committee do not think themselves warranted to infer from thence that the disease cannot exist in England, because, in the first place, a disease resembling in most respects the plague is well known to have prevailed here in many periods of our history, particularly in 1665-6; and further, it appears, that in many places, and in climates of various nature, the plague has prevailed after intervals of very considerable duration.

Report from the Select Committee of the House of Commons appointed, in 1819, to consider the Validity of the Doctrine of Contagion in the Plague, and to report their Observations thereupon; together with the Minutes of the Evidence taken before them to the House. YOUR committee being appointed to consider the validity of the received doctrines concerning the nature of contagious and infectious diseases, as distinguished from other epidemics, have proceeded to examine a number of medical gentlemen, whose practical experience or general knowledge of the subject appeared to your committee most likely to furnish the means of acquiring the most satisfactory information. They have also had the evidence of a number of persons whose residence in infected countries, or whose commercial or official employments enabled them to communicate information as to facts, and on Your committee would also observe, down to the principle and efficacy of the laws of quaran- the year 1800, regulations were adopted which tine; all the opinions of the medical men whom must have had the effect of preventing goods your committee have examined, with the ex-infected with the plague from being shipped ception of two, are in favour of the received directly for Britain; and they abstain from g doctrine, that the plague is a disease communicable by contact only, and different in that respect from epidemic fever; nor do your committee see any thing in the rest of the evidence

ing any opinion on the nature and application of the quarantine regulations, as not fail, az within the scope of inquiry to which they nave been directed; but they see no reason to ques

tion the validity of the principles on which such ceptible goods in the lazaretto, until orders regulations appear so have been adopted.

14th June, 1819. Substance of Communications received from his Majesty's Consuls in any of the Ports of the Mediterranean or elsewhere, or of any Representations made by Foreign Ministers, or others, to the British Government on the Subject of the proposed Relaxation in the Quarantine Laws, so far as relates to the Foreign Office and the Board of Trade.

should be received from the sagra consulta on the subject; and that the sagra consulta subsequently approved of the step taken by the magistrate of health, but delayed giving positive instructions as to the period of quarantine until it was known what was done at Trieste, from which health office no communication had been received.

A letter from Mr. Consul-general Lushington to Mr. Secretary Canning, dated Naples, 14th A despatch from his excellency viscount Gran- May, 1825, states, that in consequence of inforville to Mr. Secretary Canning, dated Paris, mation received by the Neapolitan board of 12th May, 1825, encloses a copy of a letter from health from that Marseilles, that the quarantine Mr. Turnbull, his majesty's consul at Marseilles, regulations in England had been lately dispensed dated May 3, 1825, stating that a British vessel, with in respect to vessels coming from the which arrived at that port direct from Bristol, after Levant laden with cotton, the Neapolitan goa passage of twenty-one days, was placed under vernment had thought proper to increase the ten day's quarantine, and that on his inquiring quarantine of all vessels direct from England. into the cause of so unusual a proceeding, he Copy of a note from count Ludolf to Mr. was informed that England was not now con- Secretary Canning:-" The undersigned has the sidered "sain," on account of information hav-" honour to state to his excellency Mr. Canning, ing been received from the French consul-general" &c., that the question discussed in the two in London, that by recent regulations relative" houses of parliament respecting the contagious to quarantine, all vessels arriving in England," disease, and the measures to be adopted for mofrom any part, with clean bills of health, were "difying and abolishing the laws of quarantine immediately admitted to pratique. "established in England, have occasioned the A letter from Mr. Consul Stirling to Joseph" most lively alarm in the Mediterranean; and Planta, junior, esquire, dated Genoa, 3d May, "the rumour of a large quantity of cotton from 1825, reports that the board of health of that" Egypt having been lately landed at Liverpool city had put in quarantine four British vessels " without any of the usual sanitary precautions, which arrived there on the preceding day from" has induced the magistrates of health at Genoa, England, under the pretext that 12,514 bales of "Marseilles, Leghorn, and Trieste, to establish cotton were landed in Liverpool, between the "a rigorous system of quarantine in regard to all 25th of February and the 5th March, in free" vessels and goods coming from British ports. pratique, immediately on its arrival there from "The same precautions, which are of so much imAlexandria. portance for the preservation of public health, Another letter from Mr. Consul Stirling to "will be, or have already been, taken at Naples. Joseph Planta, junior, esquire, dated Genoa," The government of his Britannic majesty will 9th May, 1825, states that the board of health“ doubtless afford, and the undersigned is directed had imposed a quarantine of fifteen days on all" to request satisfactory explanations upon a subBritish vessels from Great Britain, and to dis-"ject at once momentous and delicate, as also charge the cargo in the lazaretto, when, if sus- "concerning its intention not to interfere with ceptible goods, the produce or manufacture of "laws enacted with so much wisdom, in order to the Levant, were found, a quarantine of thirty-" quiet the alarm and avoid the severe measures five days was to be imposed. "which it must become necessary to adopt, to

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A letter from Mr. Consul Parke to Mr. Secre- the signal prejudice of British commerce. tary Canning, dated Ancona, 20th May, 1825, states, that in consequence of communications from the magistrate of health at Marseilles and Leghorn of the decision of his majesty's privy" council to admit derivations from Turkey and Barbary in all the ports of England, when furnished with clean bills of health, and of the fact of a vessel from Smyrna having been admitted to free pratique on the day of her arrival, together with the opinion which now prevailed in England that the plague was not contagious, the magistrate of health had determined to take measures of precaution, by refusing to admit arrivals from England into any of the ports of the papal coast on the Adriatic, except that of Ancona, and to place them under formal and indefinite quarantine, with landing the sus

"The undersigned, &c. (Signed) "LUDOLF. "His Excellency Mr. Canning, &c. &c. &c. Gloucester Place, June 3, 1825."

A letter from the Trinity House to the board of trade encloses a report from captain Robinson, dated 16th July, 1824, relative to the fitness of Mostyn, on the river Dee, for a quaran tine station for vessels arriving from Egypt. Captain Robinson's opinion is, that Mostyn is not a fit, safe, or proper place for the purpose.

A petition to the board of trade from certain merchants residing in Liverpool and Manchester, suggests that Mostyn should be approved of as a fit place to perform quarantine. Annexed is the examination of several seafaring persons relative thereto.

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A letter from Mr. Samuel Briggs, dated" from the nature of their humid climate or Gould square, 4th November, 1824, encloses "from their cleanly habit, they evidently act extracts of various letters from Havre, Mar-" on the conviction, confirmed by a century's exseilles, and Amsterdam, and contains the fol-"perience, that the plague, like the yellow fever lowing passages :— or Walcheren fever, is owing to local causes, "From the first introduction of quarantine" and is not contagious in Holland, however "laws in France, all ships from the Levant" destructive it may be in certain latitudes and "bound to that country have performed qua-" circumstances, as it is found to be in Turkey "rantine at Marseilles alone. So great were "and Egypt. This is the obvious and natural "the prejudices on this subject, that no esta- "inference deducible from their conduct. "blishment for quarantine has ever existed in "In the present temper of the public mind any of the French ports out of the Mediter-" at Liverpool, and other parts of England, ranean. At length the advantages of the" where they have had but little experience in "cotton trade with Egypt have procured for" quarantine matters, it is by no means my wish, "Havre the same privileges as hitherto have" in adducing these examples, to see the Dutch "been enjoyed exclusively by Marseilles. For" practice too suddenly introduced into this "this purpose the French government is actually country. Some precautions may be advisable "engaged in building a land lazaretto, with a "until the public prejudices subside, or further "suitable port, within a league of Havre, so as "experiments prove that cotton wool from the "to admit of a direct trade between the north" Levant is just as innoxious in England as "of France and Egypt, without incurring the "cotton from the West Indies, New Orleans, "expense and delay of land-carriage, or of a or other places where the yellow fever pe"circuitous voyage. "riodically prevails, or as cotton from the East "But the French government has not merely" Indies, where the jungle fever and cholera "granted this indulgence, it has evinced the "morbus are fully as destructive to human "importance attached to this new branch of "life as the plague in Egypt or Turkey. But "trade by admitting Egyptian cotton at lower" while deprecating premature innovations of 66 custom duties than any other foreign cotton so decided a cast, feeling as I do deeply in"of the same description. This difference of "terested in the export trade of Egypt to Liver “duty in the customs more than compensates" pool as well as London, it is natural I should "for the delays and charges of quarantine, in-" as strenuously advocate a relaxation of the "cidental and direct; and therefore it is tan- "English quarantine system, and be reluctant 66 tamount to the repeal of all quarantine duties." to relinquish the natural advantages offered "The consequence of this policy is already" by the rivers Dee and Mersey for forming a "visible in the importations of Egyptian cotton "foul bill station near to the centre of the at Marseilles. By the enclosed extract from" cotton trade. Though nature may require "that place, it will be seen that the quantity" the aid of art in some degree to improve the "arrived between the 1st January and 7th "station, its defects can scarcely be put in eves"October was nearly 40,000 bags; and more "parison with the multiplied inconveniences "than twenty-five vessels were loading for that" and expenses attending the Milford or Maka 66 port at the date of the last advices from Alex-" stations. The apprehension that a floating "andria. The importations into England" lazaretto or vessel, while performing quaran"within the same period n:ay be estimated at "tine, may be driven on shore in the river Dee, "about 26,000 bags. In fostering this cotton "will be diminished materially when it is con"trade, the French are at the same time re- "sidered that it would be more a summer than "storing the nursery for seamen which they" a winter station, as the plague rarely occurs 66 possessed in the Levant before the revolution." in Egypt but in the months of March to June. "The practice of the Dutch, though less" But granting even the possibility of any ves"cautious, is equally lenient to the Levant" sel or lazaretto being driven on shore in a "trade, as it proved on the arrival at Amster-" hurricane, it is a contingency to which all "dam of two vessels from Alexandria loaded "ships are liable as they approach the coast "with cotton wool and linseed-the one with" from sea; and even were such an accident to 46 a clean, the other with a foul bill. In neither" occur, it would not necessarily follow that case was a bale aired or landed till it went" danger would ensue to the country, since we "into the merchant's stores; and both cargoes" have the experience of a whole century at "have been sold, distributed through the "Stangate Creek, that no infection has ever "manufacturing districts, and worked up," existed in any of the cargoes imported from "without producing the slightest sensation or "the Levant, and, consequently, that all the "injury. Such was reported to be the practice" precautions taken have, de facto, been totally "also in former times in the cotton trade with" useless, except to allay the imaginary fears of "Smyrna, and no bad consequences ever re- the people. The question, as affecting the "sulted. The expense on those vessels and "property of merchants and ship owners, in"cargoes has not exceeded six guineas each!"volves an expense of thousands, while a trial "Whether the confidence of the Dutch arises in the River Dee for one season could be

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"The enlightened policy recommended by "the committee on foreign trade in its report on “quarantine, for exempting the Levant trade "altogether from the quarantine duty, abridging the detention both of ships and cargoes, "and amending the classification of enumerated "goods, will no doubt be a very material relief "to merchants and ship owners, if speedily "carried into effect. Even in this modified shape, the expenses inherent in the system, as regards cotton, and many other articles "with foul bills, will, by detention of the property, interest on capital, and other incidental "charges, still exceed two per cent at Stangate “Creek, and considerably more at Milford or "Malta. Inconvenient as Milford is found to "be, it is far preferable to Malta, which would "be as injurious to the cotton trade, as to make "Corsica a quarantine depot for Marseilles, or "Newfoundland for the West Indies."

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Substance of a Despatch from Lieutenant-General the Right Honourable Sir Thomas Maitland, to the Right Honourable the Earl Bathurst, K. G., dated Corfu, 8th of April, 1819, on the Subject of the Plague.

Sir Thomas Maitland having, as he states, had more practical experience on the subject than almost any other person, as he arrived at Malta in the middle of the plague, and had since witnessed the beginning and the end of three different attacks of the disorder, one in the island of Gozo, one in the island of Corfu, and one in the island of Cephalonia, declares it to be most decidedly his opinion that the plague is acquired only by contact, and not by infection; or, in other words, not by any particular temperature of the atmosphere or any local cause which may give to the human frame a predisposing tendency to the disorder. He expresses himself, therefore, perfectly convinced of the absolute necessity of adhering to the old system with respect to the treatment of the plague.

VACCINE ESTABLISHMENT. Report received by the Secretary of State for the Home Department, from the Board of the Vaccine Establishment, 12th February, 1825.

To the Right Honourable Robert Peel, Secretary of State for the Home Department, &c. &c.

Sir, The importance and value of this establishment is made manifest daily by the imme

diate and certain return it makes to all applications for means of protection against one of the greatest scourges, in the form of disease, which has ever afflicted mankind.

It belongs to the improvidence of the lowest orders of the people to remain careless and inactive so long as the hour of danger is distant and uncertain, and to become, perhaps, unreasonably alarmed when it arrives. Our calls, therefore, are generally accompanied by information, that the small pox is committing great ravages in the neighbourhood, and the demands for assistance are urgent and pressing. These remarks apply to our own country more particularly; but we have frequent applications also from abroad, and even from vaccine institutions established in foreign capitals, where it is admitted to be difficult to keep up the supply; and the request for matter is made under a conviction that that which is received from this establishment is more genuine and efficacious. Happily the arrangement which we have made enables us to supply every want, wherever, and from whatever quarter it comes to us, and we have sent out 77,800 charges of lymph since our last report.

It cannot be necessary now to enter upon an estimate of the comparative merits of vaccination and inoculation, as protectives against the small pox; but the board has been engaged in endeavouring to ascertain what proportion of persons vaccinated take the small pox afterwards. By the information which we obtain from our stationary vaccinators in the metropolis, it seems that not more than eighteen out of the 8000, which are vaccinated upon an average annually, are susceptible of the variolous disease afterwards. The returns from the corresponding vaccinators in the country are less favourable; but we are fully justified in concluding, that the number of those who take the small pox after vaccination, and pass through a safe and harm. less disease, is not greater than the number of those who die under inoculation. The estimate of this loss, where inoculation was greatly prac tised, was one in 300.

By the bills of mortality, we find that 725 per. sons have died of the small pox this year, within the range of those bills; but we have not been made acquainted with any fatal case after vaccination.

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