UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
ME®
WASHINGTON, D. C
GPO  16—67244-1 
 
 
OF THE
          ORIGIN
          ^  OF THE

      eltoto  jfrtier,
       IN PH&X'DELPKIA & KENSINGTON,
        ''  IN THE YEAR I797> FROM
     DOMESTIC EXHALATION ;
         *}     AND
FROM THE FOUL  AIR OF THE SNOW NAVIGATION,
           FROM MARSEILLES:
            flf AND
FROM THAT OF  THE SHIP HULDAH, FROM HAM-
    /.__        BURGH,

         IN TWO LETTERS,
 Addrejfed to the Governor of the Commonwealth of
             Pennfylvaniay
 BY THE ACADEMY OF MEDICINE OF
         PHILADELPHIA.   •  , .. ~
             PjflaDelpIjte:
PRINTED BY THOMAS & SAMUEL F. BRADFORD,
        N°. 8. SOUTH FRONT STREET.
             t♦♦»♦♦•♦«»»»<»t»
               1798. 

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P1EFACE.
    /N fubmitting  the  following  letters  is ihs
public eye, the  Academy of  Medicine  have  been
influenced   by  a  sense  of what  they conceive1
to  be their duty,  not  only  to  the?nselves,  but to
their  fellow-citizens.    Persuaded,  that,  where
candour  and good temper  prevail,  a  collision of
sentiments is  by no means unfavourable to the dis-
covery of  truth,  they  have ventured,  with the
less  reluclance,  to  controvert the opinion  of the
College ef Physicians,  respecting  the origin of our
late  Epidemic*

     In support  of all the fads, principles, and
opinions,  which  their  letters contain,  the  Ac a-
demy are possessed of ample and  satisfactory docu-
ments.  Of these,  they  have  not  thought  it neces-
sary to publish  any, except  such  as  relate to  par-
ticular points, which have,  unfortunately,  become
subjects of misrepresentation.   To remove the errors
and prejudices resulting from this occurrence, the
publication ofa few cf their documents was found to
L-e essential. The rest are carefully preserved among
thv  records of ihs A-adcmy, and will,  if called 
                PREFACE.   v,
fit", by the circumstances of any future emergency,
be, in like  manner,  submitted to the  examination
 of the public*

    The  Academy  are  unwilling  to  negleCt the
present opportunity, of begging  the  College of Phy-
sicians to be ajured, that,  in the following  inves-
tigation, they  have been aCtuated by no  sentiments of
unkindness towards  them, either in their associate or
individual capacity.  Their  only  motive  has been,
in  common,  as  they presume,  with that of the
College,  an earneji  wifh for the ascertainment of
truth, on a subjeCl,  in  which the interests of both
are equally involved.  Notwithstanding, therefore,
the difference of opinion which prevails between
them on several  important  particulars,  it  is the
desire of the  Academy  still to cultivate and main-
tain  with  that  learned body,  such  a degree  of
good  understanding aud harmony,  as ought ever
to  characterize both societies  and individuals, en-
gaged in  the promotion of, the same branch of
science. 
                  PROOFS
                     OF THE
©rtgtn  of  tfje   felloto jfrijer,
                IN PHILADELPHIA, &c.
Letter  from Thomas  Mifflin, Efq.   Governor  of
 the State of Pennfylvania, to Dr. BENJAMIN RUSH.

                  Philadelphia,  6th  November,  1797.
         Sir
   I  AM defirous  to obtain, for the information  o£
       the Legiflature, the moft  correct account of the
origin, progrefs, and nature of the difeafe  that has
recently afflicted the city  of Philadelphia, with a view
that  the  moft efficacious fteps fhould be taken to pre-
vent a recurrence of fo dreadful  a calamity.   I have
requefted the opinion of  the College of Phyficians on
the fubj,e£t  \ but,  as I understand that you and many
other learned  members of the Faculty do not attend
the deliberations of that institution, the  refult of my
enquiries cannot be perfectly fatisfa£tory  without your
co-operation and  affiftance.   Permit  me,  therefore,
Sir,  to beg the favour of you, and  of fuch  of your
Brethren as you fhall be pleafed to confult, to ftate,  in 
anfwer to this letter, the opinion which your refcarches
and experience have enabled you to form  on the im-
portant object of the prefent inveftigation.
                   I am, refpeclfully, Sir,
                       Your  moft obedient,
                            Humble Servant,
                           THOMAS MIFFLIN.
  Dr.  Benjamin Rush.
              Anfwer  to  the foregoing.
         Sir,
      IN  compliance with your requeft, the fubfcribers
      have  devoted themfelves to  the inveftigation of
the origin,  progrefs and nature  of the fever  which
lately prevailed in our city, and wc have now the honor
of communicating  to  you the refult ot our enquiries
and obfervations.

  We conceive the fever which has lately prevailed in
our city,  commonly called the yellow fever, to be the
bilious remitting  fever of warm climates excited to  a
higher degree of malignity by circumftances to be men-
tioned hereafter.

     Our reafons for this opinion arc as follows:
  I.  The  famenefs of their origin ; both  being the
offspring  of  putrefaction.  Of this there  are   many
proofs in the hiftories of the yellow fever in the  Weft-
Indies.   Where there  is no  putrefaction, the  Weft- 
                     (   3.)
■India  iflands  enjoy a perfect  exemption  from that
difeafe in common with northern climates.

   II. The  yellow fever makes its appearance in thofe
months chiefly in which the bilious fever prevails  in
our country, and is uniformly checked and deftroyed by
the fame caufes, viz. heavy rains and trofts.

   III.  The fymptoms of  the bilious and yellow fever
are the fame in their  nature.  They differ only in their
degree.  It is no objection to this aflertion  that there
is fometimes a deficiency or abfence of bile in the yel-
low fever.   This fymptom is the effect only of a torpid
ftate  of the liver, produced by the greater force of the
-difeafe  acting upon that part of the body.  By means
of depleting remedies this torpor is removed and the
difeafe  thereby made to aflume its original  and firriple
bilious  character.

   IV.  The common bilious and yellow fever often run
into each other.  By depleting remedies the moft ma-
lignant yellow fever  may be changed  into a  common
bilious  fever and by tonic remedies, improperly applied,
the common bilious  fever may be made to  aflume the
fymptoms of the moft malignant yellow fever.

   V.  The common bilious and yellow fevers are alike
contagious, under certain circumftances of the weather
and of  pre-difpofition in the body.  That the common
bilious fever is contagious, we aflert from the obfervati- 
                      (   4   ';
 ons of fome of us, and  from the  authority of many
 Phyficians,  who  have long  commanded the higheft
 refpect in  medicine.

   VI.  The yeHow and mild bilious  fevers  mutually
 propagate each other.  We  conceive a belief in  the
 unity of thefe two ftates of fever, to be deeply intereft-
 ing to humanity, inafmuch as it may lead patients to an
 early  application  for medical aid, and Phyficians to
 the  ufe of  the fame remedies for each of them,  vary-
 ing thofe remedies only according to the force of the
 diforder.  It is no objection to this opinion, that that
 #ate  of bilious fever called the yellow fever,  is a modern
 appearance  in our country.   From certain revolutions
 in the atmofphere as yet obferved only, but not account-
 ed  for  by  Phyficians,  difeafes have In  all  ages and
 countries alternately rifen and fajlen in their force and
 danger.   At  prefent a constitution of the atmofphere
 prevails in the United  States  which difpofes to fever
 of a highly  inflammatory character.  It began in the
 year  1793.   Its duration in other countries has  been
 from one to fifty years.  L is not  peculiar to the com-
 mon  bilious fever  to have put on  more inflammatory
 fymptoms than in former years.   There is  fcarcely a
 difeafe which has not been affected in a  fimilar way by
 the late change in our atmofphere, and that does not call
 for a greater force  of depleting remedies than were re-
 quired to cure them before the  year 1793.
  VII. And Lastly.   The  yellow fever  affects the
fyfteni more than once, in  common with the bilious 
                      (   5   )
<€ever.  Of this there were many inftances during the
.prevalence of our late epidemic.
                          <
   The fever which lately prevailed in our city appears
from the documents  which  accompany this letter to
 have been derived from the following fources.

   I. Putrid exhalations from the gutters, ftreets, ponds
and marfhy grounds in the neighbourhood of the  city.
From fome one of thefe fources we derive a cafe attend-
ed by Dr. Caldwell on the 9th of June—one attended
by  Dr.  Pafcalis  on the 22d July,  and  two  cafes
attended by Dr. Rufh and Dr. Phyfic on the 5th and
.15 th of the fame month ; and alfo moft of thofe  cafes
of yellow fever, which appeared in the northern  parts
cf the city,  and near Kcnfington bridge, in the months
:of Auguft, September  and  October.  We are  the
more fatisfiedof the truth of this fource of the fever,
from the  numerous  accounts we have received of the
prevalence of the fame fever,  and from the fame caufes,
during the late  autumn in New York, and in various
parts of New-Jerfey, Pennfylvania, Maryland, Virginia
and  South Carolina, not  only in fea ports,  but  inland
towns.   The peculiar difpofition  of thefe exhalations
to produce difeafe  and death, was evinced  early in the
feafon by  the mortality which prevailed among the  cats,
and  during every part of the  feafon,  by the  mortality
which prevailed in many parts  of our country among
horfes.  The difeafe which proved fo fatal to the latter
animals, is known  among the farmers by the name of 
                     (   6   )
the Tellow Water.  We  conceive it to be a modifi-
cation of the yellow fever.

   II.  A fecond fource of our late fever appears to have
been derived from the  noxious air emitted from the
hold of the fnow Navigation, capt. Linftroom, which
arrived with a healthy crew  from  Marfeilles on the
25th of July, and difcharged her cargo at Latimer's
wharf after a paflage  of eighty  days.   We are  led to
afcribe the  principal part of the difeafe which prevailed
in the fouth end of the city  to this noxious air, and
that for the following reafons.

   1. The fever appeared firft on board this veffel and
in  its  neighbourhood,  affecting a  great  number  of
perfons nearly at the fame time, and fo remote  from
each other that it could not be propagatedby contagion.

   2. There was in the hold of  this veffel a quantity of
vegetable matters, fuch as prunes, almonds, olives, ca-
pers,  and  feveral  other articles,  fome of which were
in a date of putrefaction.
   3.  A  moft  offenfive  fmell  was emitted from this
veffel,  after fhe had difcharged  her cargo, which was
perceived  by perfons feveral  hundred  feet from the
wharf where fhe was moored.

   4.  A fimilar fever has been  produced from  fimilar
caufes, in  a variety of inftances : we fhall briefly men-
 tion a few of them. 
                     (  7   )
  At Tortola, a fever was produced in the month of
June, in the year 1787, on board the fhip Britannia,
capt. James Welch,  from the noxious  air  generated
from  a few bufhels of potatoes, which deftroyed the
captain, mate and moft of > the crew, in a few days.,

  Two failors were affiled  with a malignant fever,
on  board the----; capt. Thomas Egger, in the month
of  March,  1797, from the  noxious air produced by
wine that had putrified in the hold of the fhip, one of
whom died foon after her arrival at Philadelphia.

   In the month of June, 1793, the Yellow Fever was
generated by  the  noxious air of fome rotted bags of
pepper on board a French Indiaman, which was car-
ried into the port of Bridgetown, by the Britifh letter
 of  marque Pilgrim.   All the white men and moft of
 the negroes employed in removing this pepper, perifhed
 with the Yellow Fever,  and the foul atmofphere af-
 feded the town, where it proved fatal to many of  the
 inhabitants.

  - On board the Bufbridge Indiaman, a Yellow Fever
 was produced in the month of May,  1792, on  her
 paflage from England to Madrafs, which affeaed above
 two hundred of the crew.   It was fuppofed to be de-
 rived from infeaion, but many circumftances concur
 to  make  it probable that it was derived from noxious
 air.  The abfence of fmell in the air does not militate
 againft this opinion, for there are many proofs  of the 
                     (   8   )
moft malignant fevers being brought on by airs which'
produced no impreffion on the fenfe of fmelhng.  This
is  more frequently the cafe when  the  impure air has
paffed  a confiderable diftance from its fource,  and be-
comes diluted with the purer air  of the atmofphere.

   Several cafes are related by Dr. Lind, in his treatife
upon fever and infeaion  of  the Yellow Fever, origi-
nating at  fea under circumftances  which  forbade  the
fufpicion of infeaion, and which can only be afcribed*
to the impure air generated from putrid vegetables.

   So well known, and fo generally admitted is this
fource of  Yellow  Fever in warm  climates,  that Dr.
Shannon* a late  writer  upon the means of preventing
the  difeafes of  warm  climates, in  enumerating  its
various caufes, exprefly mentions « the putrid effluvia
« of a {hip's hold."

   We wifh due attention  to be paid to  thefe faas, not
only becaufe they lead to the certain means of prevent-
ing one of the fources of this fever, but becaufe they
explain the  reafons, why  failors are fo often its  firft
viaims, and why from this circumftance the origin of
the  difeafe has been fo haftily, but  erroneoufly afcribed
folely  to importation.

   The fever which prevailed along  the  fhore of the
 Delaware, in Kenfington, and  which proved fatal to-
 Mr. Jofeph  Bowers and two of his family, we believe 
                     (   9   )
originated from the noxious air emitted from the hold
of the  fhip  Huldah,  Capt. Wm.  Warner.  This air
was generated by the putrefaaion of coffee, which had
remained there during her voyage from Philadelphia to
Hamburgh, and back  again, (a)

   In the courfe of our enquiries, we were led to fufpea
one fource of our late fever, to be of foreign origin. The
fails of the armed fhip Hinde,  on board cf which feve-
ral perfons had died of the Yellow Fever, on hei paf-
fage from  Port au Prince, and which arrived on  the
4th of Auguft, were fent to  the fail ftore  of Mr.
Moyfe.  Four perfons belonging to the loft were foon
afterwards affeard with fymptoms of a bilious  Yellow
Fever.  We fhall not decide pofitively upon the origin
of the fever in thefe cafes 5  but the following faas
render it probable  that  it was  not derived from  the
perfons who had died of it on board the fufpeaed veffel.

   1. The fails emitted an offenfive fmell;.  2. three of
the cafes of the perfons affbaed in the fail loft were
of a mild  grade of the  fever ; 3. the fever was  not
propagated  by contagion from any one of them •, 4.
the fail loft was within the influence of the noxious air,
which  was emitted from the hold of the fnow Naviga-
tion, being not more than fifty yards,  and was in  the
direaion of the wind which blew at that time over her.
The extent of this air has not been accurately afcert-nn-
               (a)  See appendix letter  A.
                         C 
                     (   io   )
 cd, but many analogies give us  reafon to believe that
 it may be conveyed by the wind, in its deleterious ftate
 from half a mile, to a mile.

   In fupport of the opinion we have delivered of the
 origin of our late fever,  we muft add further, that in
 that part of the city which  lies  between  Walnut and
 Vine ftreets, and which appeared to be  free from the i
 effeas  of exhalation and the noxious air of the  fhips,
 there were but few cafes of the fever which  appeared
 to fpread by contagion, even under the moft favourable
 circumftances for that purpofe.

   Having pointed out the  nature and  origin  of our
late fever we hope we fhall be excufed in mentioning
the means of preventing it in future. Thefe are,

   First, A continuance of the prefent laws for pre-
venting the importation of the difeafe from  the  Weft-
Indies,  and other parts of the world  where it ufually
prevails.

   Secondly, Removing all thofe  matters from our
ftreet,  gutters,  cellars, gardens, yards, ftores, vaults,
ponds,  <xc.  which by putrefaaion  in  warm weather
afford  the moft frequent remote caufe of the difeafe,
in  this  country.  Fbf this purpofe we recommend the
 appointment of a certain number of Phyficians  whofe
bufinefe-.it ihall be to infpea all fuch places  in the city,.
the Northern Liberties and Southwark, as contain anv 
                    (   ii   ;
matters  capable by putrefaaion,  of  producing  the
difeafe and to have them removed.

  Thirdly,  We  earneftly  recommend the frequent
wafhing  of all impure  parts of the city in warm  and
dry weather,  by means of the pumps,  until the water
of the Schuylkill can be made to wafh all the ftreets of
the city ; a meafure which  we conceive promifes to
our citizens the moft durable exemption from bilious
fevers of all  kinds, of domtftic origin.

   Fourthly, To  guard againft the frequent fource of
Yellow Fever from the noxious air of the holds of fhips,
we recommend the unlading all fhips,  with cargoes
liable to putrefaaion, at a diftance from the city, during
the  months   of June, ]uly, Auguft, September and
Oaober.  To prevent the generation of noxious air in
the fhips, we conceive every  veffel fhould be obliged
by law to carry and ufe a ventilator, and we recommend
in a particular manner the one lately contrived by Mr.
Benjamin  Wynkoop.—We believe this invention to
be one of the moft important and  ufeful, that has been
made  in modern times, and  that it is  calculated to
prevent  not only the decay  of fhips and cargoes,  but
a very  frequent fource  of peftilential difeafes  of all
kinds, in commercial cities.

   In thus deciding upon  the  nature  and  origin of
 our late fever, we expea to adminifter confolation to
 our fellow citizens upon the caufe of our late calamity^. 
                    1   I?   )
for in pointing  out its origin to the fenfes, we are en-
abled immediately and certainly  to  prevent  it.   But
while the only fource of it is believed to be from abroad,
and while its entrance into our city is believed to be  in
ways fo numerous and infidious, as to elude the utmoft
poffible  vigilance of health  officers, we  are led  in
defpair  to confider the difeafe  as Removed beyond the
prevention of human power or wifdom.   It has been
by adopting  meafures,  fimilar to thofe we have  de-
livered for preventing peftilential difeafes, that moft of
the cities  in Europe,  which are fituated in warm  lati-
tudes, have become healthy in warm feafons, and amidft
the clofeft  commercial intercourfe, with  nations and
iflands  conftantly afflicted with thofe difeafes.  The
extraordinary cleanlinefs of the Hollanders was origi-
nally impofed upon them, by the frequency of peftilenti-
al fevers in their cities.  This habit of cleanlinefs has
continued to charaaerlze thofe people, after the caufes
which produced it, have probably ceafed to be known.

  In thus urging a regard to the domeftic fources  of
the Yellow Fever, we are aauated by  motives of a
magnitude far beyond thofe  which determine ordinary
queftions  in  fcience.   Though we feel the  ftrongeft
conviaion that the value of property, the increafe  of
commerce and the general profperity of our city,  will
be eminently forwarded by the adoption of the fore-
going propofitions, yet thefe are but  little objea^  in
our view, when compared with the prevention of the
immenfe  mafs of diftrefs,  which never fails to accom- 
                  (   '3  )
pany a mortal  epidemic.   We  confider  ourfelves
moreover  as deciding  upon a  queftion, which is to
affea the lives  and happinefs, not only of the prefent
inhabitants of Philadelphia,  but of millions yet unborn,
in every part of the  globe.
       We are with the greateft refpea,
           Sir,
                Your very humble fervants,
                     BENJAMIN RUSH,
                     CHARLES CALDWELL,
                     WILLIAM DEWEES,
                    JOHN  REDMAN  COXE,
                     PHILIP SYNG PHYSICK,
                     JAMES  REYNOLDS,
                    FRANCIS BOWES SAYRE,
                     JOHN C. OTTO,
                     WILLIAM BOYS,
                     SAMUEL COOPER,
                    JAMES STUART,
                     FELIX PASCALIS,
                    JOSEPH STRONG. 
(   »4   )
     MEMORIAL OF THE  COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS.


To the  Senate and  Honfe  of Reprefentatives of the Com-
  monwealth of Pennfyhania, the Memorial of the College
  of Phficians cf Philadelphia  refpeclfully reprefents :

   ^"""■HAT your Memorialifts, deeply affeaed with
    ,1    the  calamities produced by the difeafe which
has recently  occurred amongft us,  are impelled by  a
fenfe of  duty to their fellow  citizens and themfelves,
to inform you, that they  confider the laws which were
enaaed for the  purpofe  of preferving  this city from
malignant,  contagious  diforders, as very imperfea.

  The  fubjea  being of  immenfe importance, they
hcpe to be excufed  for  ftating their fentiments with
refpea to it at large.

  They are of opinion, that the difeafe which produced
fo much mortality and diftrefs  in the year 17931  was
imported into this  city from the AVeft-Indies ; and they
are confirmed in this fentiment, by the circumftances
attending the difeafe of this year, which they confider
as of the  fame  nature,  and  derived from  the fame
fource.

   Some of their moft important reafons for this opini-
on, are as follow :-—The  difeafe in queftion is efientially 
                    (   '5   )
different from  the  fevers that occur in this climate,
and  which originate from domeftic caufes.  This dif-
ference particularly regards the general progrefs of the
fymptoms, and the  mortality, as is evident upon  a
comparifon  of its hiftory  with that of the ordinary
difeafes of this city.

   A difeafe which refembles  the  fever of 1793  and
of this year, in many important points,  has long been
known in the Weft-Indies,  and thofe parts of Ameri-
ca fituated between the tropics ; and in feven or eight
different  inftances  in which a fimilar difeafe has oc-
curred in the United States, in the  courfe  of this
century,  there is  good  reafon to believe that it  was
derived from thofe countries.  In moft of the inftances,
the  original hiftory of the difeafe contains the informa-
tion that it was imported.   In fome cafes, the infeaion
can be traced to the imported clothing of  perfons who
died in the Weft-Indies.   In moft of the cafes  where
the  importation cannot be  ascertained,  the firft ap-
pearance  of  the  difeafe has  been, as in the other in-
ftances, hi  the  neighbourhood of the  fhipping,  or
among perfons conneaed with veffels.
   The circumftances attending the fever of this  year
zx-z extremely in point ; and  the narrative which ac-
companies this, will, we truft, fatisfy you that it was
imported.
   The difeafe  in  queftion,  commences  invariably in
our fea-ports,  while  inland towns, equally expo fed 
                      (   16   y
 lb the  ordinary  caufes of fever,  efcape ; and in the'
 two  laft inftances of its  occurrence  in  Philadelphia,
 the  fuburbs  and the country  adjacent, were  more
 healthy  than  ufual  at the  fame  feafon; and at the
 commencement of the difeafe,  all the parts of the city,
 excepting the fmall fpaces to which  it  was confined,
 were remarkably  healthy.

   It exifts in the Weft-Indies,  particularly  in time of
 war,  when great numbers of ftrangers are to be found
 there ; and reference to dates will  fhew,  that in moft
 of the inftances of the occurrence  of the difeafe in
 the United  States, there has been  war in the Weft-
 Indies.

   Your  Memorialifts are  aware, that cafes  may  be
 adduced  where the difeafe has  occurred  in  perfons,
 who were  not known to have  been  expofed  to  im-
 ported contagions,  but fuch is  the  fubtile nature  of
 this power,  that it  often exifts  unfufpeaed; and
 fimilar   difficulties occur  refpeaing   the fmall-pox,
 and other contagions,  allowed  by all to be of foreign
origin..   There alfo occur, although very rarely,  Soli-
 tary cafes of malignant remitting fevers, the fymptoms
 of which' refemble fo much the  difeafe  in queftion,
that they '.are often fuppofed  to  be the  fame ; but
there  is  this  eflential  difference,  that  a malignant
remittent fever has never  been  to our knowledge con-
tagious in this climate. 
(   17   )
  The difference  of fentiments  among  phyficiansj
now fo much regretted, refembles that which almoft
always takes place,  when  the plague is  introduced
into  any of the civilized parts of Europe,  where it io
not  well  known.  The identity of the  difeafe,  its
origin and its contagious nature have  been often the
fubjea of controverfy.  Some phyficians  have  confi-
dered it as of domeftic origin ;  but proper health laws,
ftriaiy enforced, have latterly proteaed the commer-
cial  parts of Europe from its ravages.

   With thefe fentiments of the  nature of the difeafe,
your memorialifts cannot but regard a proper law re-
fpeaing the fubjea, as a matter of the greateft impor-
tance, and although they  are perfeaiy fenfible of  the
imperfeaion of the  fcience  of medicine,  yet from a
conviaion  that  phyficians  are  the beft  informed, as
well as the moft interefted in the fubjea, they approach
you with that refpea which is due  to your legiflative
authority,  and declare  their  belief, that  the exifting
health laws of this Commonwealth are not fuch as are
beft calculated to obtain the defired end,  and that they
ought to be improved.

   Having lately communicated in  writing to the go-
vernor their ideas refpeaing the beft methods of pre-
 venting the introduaion of contagious  difeafes, they
 beg  leave   to  refer   you  to  that   communication.
 At the fame time they tender you  their profeffional
                           D 
                    (   i.8   )
affiftance in framing an efficient law for this purpofe ;
and  thus  having performed  their duty,  they  hold
thcmfelves difcharged from all refponfibility, on  ac-
count of the evils which may  arife  from  the prefent
imperfea ftate of the  legiflative arrangements refpea-
ing this Important fubjea.
                         By order of the College,
Attcfl,               JOHN  REDMAN, Prefdent.
   Thomas  C.   James,  Secretary.
                       Philadelphia,  Dec. $th  179 7.
Narrative of Fails  relative to  the prohahle Origin,  and
  Progrefs,  of the Malignant  Contagious Fever ivhich
  lately appeared  at  the juntlion of  Penn and Pine
  Streets.

  THE fhip  Ai-ethufa, Captain Keith, failed about
June  1,  1797, from  Port Royal  in Jamaica for the
Havannah, with ilaves ; during the paflage  two men
died  with  a  fever, which Mr.  Stephen   Kingfton,
a gentleman  of this  city,  who was  a paffenger on
board, and  has frequently feen  the  difeafe,  believes
to have been the  Yellow Fever, one having the black
vomit.  After remaining fome days at the  Havannah,
the veffel  proceeded for   Philadelphia, and  arrived
in the ftream oppofite to Pine Street, July 23, 1797.
At  the Capes of Delaware fhe took on board a Pilots
and performed a  quarantine of five days at State Ifland» 
                    (   '9   )
The Pilot was attacked with a fever, the day of their
arrival at the city, and went  on fhore the  fame  day,
when he was vifited by  Dr. Currie,  who has been
much  converfant with  the  Yellow  Fever,  and was
fo fenfible of the refemblance of his fymptoms to thofe
of that difeafe, that he mentioned the cafe as fufpicious,
to one of his friends.

   The Arethufa  was moored at Mr. Jofeph  Ruffell's
wharf, outfide of two veffels  which lay there when fhe
arrived,  her crew left her immediately after fhe was
moored, and the next day returned for their cloathing,
&c. when they croffed and re-croffed the above men-
tioned fhips.   Two boys only and the captain (who was
on board occafionally) compofed the crew of the  out-
ermoft fhip,  or that  immediately  contiguous to the
Arethufa ; but the innermoft veffel, the brig  Iris from
Oporto, had a  crew of  the ufual number.  On the
twenty ninth day of July, five men of this crew were
taken ill  with fever, and attended by Dr.  J. Stuart,
who  ftates  in his report to the  College of Phyficians,
that the fymptoms were  fimilar in all,  tho' varying
 in the degree of violence ;  four of thefe recovered,
but one died with unequivocal marks of the  malignant
Yellow  Fever.   A  fervant  of George  Latimer,  Efq.
who  lived about ieo yards to the north  of this veffel,
 and was frequently on the wharves,  was attacked,  July
 rto, with a fever which was highly contagious and ma-
 lignant, of which he died in a few days. 
                    (   20  )
   Mr. N. Lewis, who kept a compting room which was
 about the fame diftance  from the Arethufa, was attack-
 ed  about the fame time, and died alfo in five days,  of
 a fever  which was fuppofed to be of the fame nature,

   Mr. Dominick Joyce, who was much   engaged  on
 board a  fhip  near  the   Arethufa,   was attacked,
 Auguft 3d. with a  fever  of the fame  kind,  but re-
 covered.   A man who lived in a More on the South
 fide of Pine Street,  about 150 yards  from  fhe  river,
 was attacked with a malignant fever about  this  time,
 and died in a few days.

  About the fixth of Auguft, Mr. Fergufon,  whofe
 yard  adjoined the wharf where the Areihufia and Iris
 by, was attacked  with a  malignant fever, and the
 fame  day Mr.  John  Plankinghorn's  girl,  who lived
 nearly oppofite  to IvTr. I'crgulon's acrofs Penn Street,
 and' vorked in  a yird whijh wa.-.  fk.ai.ed  very  near
 to the , '-nvc mentioned Itcrc  in Pii;;  fireet, was  alfo
 attacked wich fever, ti._y both died  on the fifth  or
 fixt' '^ ait.T the attack,  I,Ivs.  Fergufon  with  very
 fufpicious,  and Mr.  Pir.nkinghorn's girl,  with  com-
 plex  and tuK-qvii  ocal fy.optoms of the Yellow Fever.
 In  this manner the difraie continued to fpread, fo that
 by the middle of Av-uil, or wiihin three weeks from
the arrival of the Arei/u.ia, above ten perfons had died,
who enher lived or were  engaged in  bufinefs within
 300 yards  of  the  Arethufa, and  this at a rime wheri
 the other parts of the city were fo healthy, that  it  is 
                    (   •«■)
probable all the  other deaths which occurred  in it
were  not  equal  in number to thofe which occurred
in this fmall diftria.   After this the difeafe gradually
extended itfelf to  Southwark, and  at the  fame time
became  thinly  Scattered  through the city, where its
deftruaive  effeas are but too well known.

     December 26th, 1797.


   Fails relative  to  the fickly flaie of the fhip HlND.

   It  appears  from the depofitions  of  Francis Tow,
Nicholas  Benfon, and William  Cooper,  feamen on
board the armed fhip Hind, taken before Chief Juftice
M'Kean, that about the beginning of July 1797,  the
Hind failed from  Port-au-Prince, bound to Philadel-
phia, with a cargo of fugar and  coffee, and with 43
paffengers; of  which number 23  were  whites  and
twenty coloured perfons, that they touched  at Cape
Nichola  Mole,  where they remained eight days  and
difcharged a part of their cargo,  in lieu thereof taking
in a quantity of  ftone ballaft ; during the time they lay
at the Mole the  paffengers were occafionally on fhore.
It would appear t>~ t they  left the Moie between the
12th, and  i^h, of July, and arrived at this port, af-
ter a  paffage  of twenty  or tvcnty one days.   About
three or four dc.ys  after their  departure  from  the
Mole, five or fix white perfons and one negro of the
paffengers  were  attacked with fever, the white perfons
fo  attacked were obferved to become very  yellow* 
(  22  )
 During the paflage four other coloured perfons and
 five of the crew fell ill of fever: one  or two of the
latter number, after the veffel entered the capes of
Delaware ;  but only a coloured boy and  child died
during the paflage, and were thrown overboard after
the veffel  entered the river.  Upon the arrival of the
veffel oppofite the Marine Hofpital, in confequence of
orders  from the captain, four fick perfons were fecreted
and did not come under the infpeaion of the Phyfi-
cian of the Port ; exclufive of  thefe, two women were
fick in the cabin.  After palling the Fort one of the
feamen was taken ill, went  on fhore, and was  after-
wards  carried to the Marine Hofpital; and two  other
and perfons were taken on fhore  fick.  So  far ^o
the depofitions.

  From information obtained  from the Health  Of-
fice, it appears, that the Hind was examined at  the
Fort on the Second,  and arrived at  Philadelphia on
the fourth of  Auguft •,  and that Mr.  Doughty, one
of the Infpeaors of  the Health  Office,  fent to  the
Marine Hofpital  on the 13th of Auguft, Peter Malo-
fio,  one  of the  crew of the Hind then refiding  in
Love Lane,  and on  the  14th a Portuguefe from
near the junaion of Penn  and  South  Streets, who
had been landed there;  and that another perfon was
fick of a fufpicious fever at  Mrs. O'Connor's, in Al-
mond near Front Street.  Both thefe were from on
board the Hind, and the Portuguefe above-mentioned
had been vifited by  Dr.  Currie, who declares  his
iifeafe to have been Yellow  Fever. 
(   23   )
Letter from the ACADEMY OF MEDICINE to THOMAS
 MlFFLIN, Efq. Governor of the State ofPennfytvania.
          Sir,
         THE Phyficians,  who anfwered your letter o£
          the  fixth  of November, refpeaing the origin
and nature of the epidemic fever which-lately prevailed
in the city of Philadelphia, having, with others of their
medical  brethren,  aflbciated   themfelves  under  the
name of " The Academy of Medicine of Philadelphia,"
beg leave, in  that capacity, to addrefs you again up-
on the interefting fubjea of the faid letter.

   The  Academy have feen,  with regret, a memorial,
 from the College of Phyficians of the city, to the legisla-
 ture,  accompanied with  a " narrative of faas" in-
 tended to eftablifh an opinion contrary to that,  which
 the fubfcribers  of the  anfwer to  your letter, conceive
 they had therein proved in the moft irrefragable man-
 ner.

    As the opinion  appears to us replete with  danger
 to the lives of our fellow citizens, and to the profperity
 of our city, we deem ourfelves bound by the principles
 of humanity, and the obligations of patriotifm, to make
 9.  few remarks upon it •, and  to Shew that it is founded
 upon partial  investigations, and miftaken ideas of the
 nature  of  the  Yellow Fever. 
(   *4   )
   The College have  afcribed the  origin of the lafd
epidemic to the fhips Arethufa,  captain Keith, from
Havanna, and  Hind, captain Patot,  from Port-au^
Prince.   The memorial fets forth that,  tf the fhip Are-
«  thufa, capt. Ke:Lh, fail-? I  about  the fir ft of June,
"  from  Port Roy-il in  Jarn„ic,i, for the Havanna with
"  flaves •, during the p^Tige two men died with a fever,
"  which  Mr.  Stephen  Kingfton, a gentleman  of
"  this city who was :• pafucnger  on board,  and has
"  frequently Seen the difeafe, believes to have  been
"  the Yellow Fever,  one having the   black  vomit.'
Admitting :he fa£t, which refts merely upon  the  be-
lief of a perfon net medically educated,  yet the argu-
ments hereafter to be adduced,  it is prefumed, will
deftroy the  probability of its being  introduced by this
fnip.  That the iflaud of Jamaica  was healthy at the
time  the Arethufa failed, appears  from  the  anfwers
given by the captain of the faid fhip, to the official in-
terrogatories filed in  the Health-Office relative to this
fubjea •,  and from thofe of  capt. Henry  Latimer, of
the Bri"- Maria,  who failed from the above port about
the fame  day.  That the difeafe of which the meri
died was not contagious  is  rendered  probable by its
not having fpread  union ^  the paffengers or  crew who
amounted to feventv, all  of  whom  arrived  in good
health at  the  Hav enr.a on   the twenty-firth of June*
But fuppofing the difeafe to have been of a contagious
nature, the  precautions taken after the deaths, would
have been Sufficient  to have deftroyed  any remains  o* 
                       (  *5  )
 the  contagifcn.  From  Mr. Brien's  depofition  k ap*
 pears,  that  " The  cloathirg, bedding  and articles
 4t  belonging to the deceafed were thrown overboard,
 "  and their  births cleanSed and well  Sprinkled with
 "  vinegar."  And we are authorized further to  affert,
 that the fhip underwent fuch a complete  cleanfing
 while at the Havanna, after landing the flaves, as pru-
 dence would diaate to a Ship-mafter, in every fimilai?
 caSe.   The Ship, moreover, after lying at the  Havanna
 fourteen  days, during which time all on board remain-
 ed well,  arrived oppofite the Health-Office  on State
 ifland,  on the eighteenth of July.   During the whole
 of this paffage her hatches were conftantly open, where-
 by the  rribft ample  means for a free  current of air were
 afforded,  which could not fail to diffipate any remains
 of contagion which could poffibly have continued after
 her former  purifications.  The fhip performed five
 days quarantine oppofite the  Health-Office,  on State-
 Ifland,  during which time the bedding was every day
 expofed upon  deck  and was once wafhed  by  a  rain.
 The crew moreover remained well, except the captain,
 who was  affeaed  wiui  a rheumatifm,  and the mate,
 with a lax, both of whom foon recovered.  The pilot
 who coriduaed this fhip was attacked on the twenty-
 third of July,  ami allowing three days for the time he
 had been  expofed to the contagion before  his fever
 appeared,  there  will remain forty  fix days from the
time the Ship left Kingfton till her arrival in our river,
 From the known laws of the contagion of the Yellow
                         E 
                    (   26   )

Fever, and the difb.nceof time at which it ufually ap-
pears, after perfons have been expofed to the contagion,
the Academy conceive it fcarcely poffible,  if any porti-
on of contagion had been left by the before-mentioned
perfons, that it would have remained inaaive for above
forty  fix days, expofed as the crew were  to the ex-
citing  caufes of fatigue, night watching  and the
vicifitudes of the weather.  The perfea freedom from
difeaSe which all on  board enjoyed, muft  therefore
be admitted  as proof that no contagion did exift, and
confequently that the pilot and others could not have
derived their difeafe from- that Source.

  The College  further  State that  ci The pilot was
«  attacked with a fever,  the day of  his arrival with
l< the fhip at the city,  and went on fhore the  fame
« day, when he was vifited by Dr.  Currie,   who has
« been much converfant with the Yellow  Fever,  and
« who  was  fo  fenfiblc  of  the  refernblance  of his
« fymptoms to thofe of that  difi afe,  that he mention-
" ed the cafe as fufpicious to  one of his  friends."

  In addition to  the arguments, before adduced, for
Suppofing  that  the pilot could  not have taken his
diSeaSe from any  remains  of contagion  on board, the
Academy further remark, that the fource from whence
he  derived  his difeafe was  probably, and as he be-
lieves,  from  a current of cold air during the  night,
while fleeping m the  open cabbin of the fhip, after a
warm day,  which preceded  that on which  the qua- 
                     (   27   )
Tantine of the fhip was ended.  His indifpofition came
on the next morning,  and  fcon after  Ins  arrival in
this city, a violent fever  fucceeded,  of  a kind, which
we every year obferve in Philadelphia,  from  Sudden
changes of the weather, in the Summer and  autumnal
months, and efpecially from  fimilar  expofure on the
river.   It may be added, that he was but a  few  days
confined, and that none of his friends who nurfed him,
or others who daily vifned him were affeaed by him ;
neither were there any precautions taken  to avoid con-
tagion, nor the leaft intimation of danger given to thofe
who conftantly  attended him.   Under  all the circnen-
ftances which  have been mentioned,  it is  impoffible
to believe that  the pilot's  difeafe was derived from an
imported contagion.

   The College  In their memorial have infinuated that
the  crew of the  Brig  Iris were infeaed   with the
Yellow Fever by the crew of the Arethufa paffing acrofs
her deck to the  wharf. If this had been  true or  even
poffible,  it muft have been in one of the three follow-
ing ways:   ill. By the  aaual ficknefs of the  crew;
2d. By the contagion blowing off their cloaths in paff-
ing over the decks ; or, 3d. By the contagion, which
had  adhered to the  timbers of the  Arethufa, being
conveyed by the wind over two intermediate veffels to
the Iris.

  It is  not  pretended that any of the  crew of the
Arethufa were  indifpofed,  therefore the firft fupp.ofi- 
                    (   28   )

tion muft be rejeaed. They could  not have infected
fhe cr"\v of the Iris in the fecond mode,  becaufe it is
not ahedged that they flopped a moment when pafling
over her deck.  But  admitting they did,  it cannot be
believed, that a difeafe could be conveyed by  their
cloathsj to the crew of the Iris in the open air, when it
is well knov/n, that thofe cloaths when worn, and even
wafhed in confined lodging houfes afterwards, did not
infea a Single perfon, in  any part of the city.  Laftly,
it is highly irnprobuble the! the crew of the Iris could
have been  infeaed by the  timbers of the Arethufa,
becaufe, we have no  proofs  that the contagion of the
Yellow Fever ever adheres to wood ; but  admitting
this to be poffible, we rejea the probability of it, be-
caufe,  as we before obferved, the Ship had  been well
cleanfed and freely ventilated on her voyage from the
Havanna to Philadelphia.   We are  the more difpofed
to afcribe the deftruaion  of  contagion,  iS any had ex-
isted, to the pure air of the  ocean, from having  fo re-
peatedly obferved  the effects of country air in weak-
ening or deftroying it in  the Linked States. The Aca-
demy are moreover authorifed by Dr. Stewart to affert,
that none ot the family, with whom the five men  off
the Iris bo . .led, were 'nh*c}ed ', but that  they preferv-
cd  their health  the  whole  time of the prevalence  of
our late epidemic.
                                     V
   As the Iris lay at Pine-ftreet wharf, and entirely with-
in the limits of the exhalations from the fnow Naviga- 
                      (   *9   )
tion, to which we formerly referred, it is highly probable
that they were infeaed thereby, and that the,difeafe was
excited by their intemperance in the uSe of Port wine,
with which the brig was loaded, and by the praaicc of
bathing themfelves in the river while under the influence
of liquor, and heated by labour.  From this condua it
is conceived  by the  Academy, the peculiar violence of
their difeafes can  be accounted for,  as a fimilar caufe
is always  ranked among the moft powerful, in the pro-
duaion  of  malignant cafes of bilious yellow fever;
and Dr. Stewart authorifes the  Academy to  affert his
belief, that the Fever, in the cafes he communicated to
the College,  proceeded from exhalation ; and  he thinks
moft probably, that of the fnow Navigation*.

   Two of the other perfons mentioned by the College,
viz. Mr.  Lewis and Mr. Latimer's  man, faid to have
been  infeaed by the Arethufa, were much nearer the
fnow Navigation than  the Iris was,  and were expofed
to the exhalation from the former veffel.  With regard
to Mr. Lewis, we Shall obServe, thathe  was abSentSrom
the city when the ArethuSa arrived, and did not return
until fix days afterwards, which was  on the thirtieth of
July.  On the firft of Auguft,  the day  of his attack, it
is known that he complained very much of the ftench

  * Though at  aft early period of our late epidemic, Dr. Stewart fuf-
pefted that the crew of the brig Iris were infecled by an intercourfe with
that of the fhip  Arethufa, yet, a farther inveftigation and afcertainment
of fadls, have fince fatisfied him that this was not the cafe, but that
they n.ott probably, as above Mated, derived their difeafe from foul air
ifl'uir.j from the hold of the  fnow Navigation. 
                    (   3°  )
 cf the fnow Navigation, which had now pervaded th«
 whole neighbourhood, and expreffed great concern at
 her being permitted to remain at the wharf. The Aca-
 demy are authorifed, by Ivir.Dominick Joyce, to exprefs
 his furprife at the aflertion of his having taken his fe-
 ver from  the  Arethufa; for, though his bufinefs  led
 him to the neighbourhood of that Ship, yet he was ftill
 within the Sphere oS the extent of the foul air from the
 fnow Navigation, and he acknowledges he was almoft
 every day  upon the wharf at which this veffel jay,  and
 from which  he, in all probability, derived his difeafe.

   As all the other perfons whofe cafes  are mentioned
 by the College, lived with.in the extent of the exhala-
 tion from the  fnow Navigation, there can be little
 doubt, but that they derived it from the fame air which
affeaed the  perfons, whofe names they have mention-
ed. It is remaricr.ble, that the difeafe was in no inftance
 propagated from any of them.

   The Academy have good reafon to believe, that the
 perfons  who were indifpofed on board the armed fhip
 Kind, after her arrival, derived  their difeafes from the
 noxious air of the fnow Navigation, in  common with
 the perfons who were affeaed on board the Ins, and
 in the neighbourhood of Mr. Latimer's wharf.   It ap-
 pears that none of them propagated the  difeafe to any
 of their attendants  in  the city, or  in the  hofpital at
 State Ifland, to which  place fome of them were Sent, 
(   J«   1
It is well known, moreover,  that many citizens re-
peatedly vifited  and fpent whole days on  board  this
veffel,  none of whom were  indifpofed in confequence
of it.

   From the depofitlons of the fupercargo  and of the
pilot of the Hind,  it will likewife appear, that the
whole of the teftimony of the three boys is difproved,
except as to fome unimportant particulars**

   We are  unable to give credit to  the traditional ru-
mours of the foreign origin of  the Yellow Fever,  in
any part of the  United States, inafmuch as from the
inaccuracy of the few records which have been  pre-
served,  of the. places from whence it was  Said to be
derived, and  of the manner in which it was Said  to
have been introduced into our country, we hav« reafori
to conclude they were affumed without Sufficient inves-
tigation. Had the proper  fteps been taken  at all times
to inveftigate its origin,  it is probable  it would have
been difcovered,  in moft  Cafes, to have been the off-
Spring of domeftic putrefaaion. We cannot clofe the
arguments  againft the importation of the Yellow Fe-
ver,  without  remarking,  that many recent faas  and
obfervations render it probable, that the reports of its
contagious  nature have been exaggerated, and that it is
not fo often propagated by contagion as has been fup-
pofed,  more efpecially in warm weather,  when  fick
                  « See Appendix,  (B.) 
                     (  3*   )
 reoms arc open night and day, to the conftant acceffio»
 of frefh air.

   We obferve  in the memorial of the College of Phy-
ficians an aflertion,  that the Yellow Fever " Is effen-
" tially different from the fevers that occur in this eli-
" mate,  and which  originate from domeftic caufes :•"
but as no proofs  are  adduced in  favour of that afler-
tion, we Shall reft our opinion of the original  famenefs
of both thofe ftates of fev;r, upon the faas and argu-
ments which were ftated in  our  former  communica-
tion.   We Shall only obServe, that the idea maintained
by  the  College, has  been  exploded by  Some  of  the
moft diftinguifhed writers upon tropical difeafes ; and
by moft of  the American  phyficians of  the  Southern
ftates, who conftantly confider and treat both the com-
mon bilious  fever, and its higher grade, called Yellow
Fever, as the fame difeafe,  varying only in violence.

   The Academy  obferve alfo,  with furprife, another
aflertion  made by the College,  that <• The diSeaSe in
<(  queftion,  invariably commences  in our Sea-ports,
<( while inland  towns, equally expoSed to the  ordinary
" caufes oS Sever,  eScape." To this we reply, it  is well
known, that in  various parts oS the United States, re-
mote  Srom Sea-ports,  preciSely the Same  diSeaSe, with
all its charaaeriftic Symptoms, has frequently prevailed*

   The College in their narrative have taken no notice of
the origin of the Yellow  Fever in Kenfington, nor at 
                    (   :3   )
a«d near Red-Bank upon the eaftern fhore of the Dela-
ware.   Its origin in  the former of thofe places from
the noxious air emitted from  the putrid coffee  of the
fhip Huldah, and in the latter from marfh  exhalation,
we conceive to  be fully efb.blifh.ed by the documents
communicated in our appendix *.  The College have
alfo obferved  a total filence in their report refpeaing
thofe cafes of  Yellow  Fever, which appeared in  our
city, before the arrival of the Arethufa, Hind or Navi-
gation.   Thefe cafes were evidently derived from fome
of the numerous fources of exhalation, from putrid fub-
ftances in and about  the city.  They were attended by
Doaors  Rufh, Phyfic,  Caldwell,  and Pafcalis.

  •We cannot  take  leave  of this  important  fubjea
without expreffing our earned defire  for  its candid
and clofe examination,  by the Legiflature of the State.

   Faas and arguments fimilar to thofe we  have urged,
have produced a conviaion of the domeftic origin ef
the  Yellow Fever, in Bofton, New York,  Baltimore,
Norfolk and /Charlefton,  and many of the other towns'
of  the United  States.   This conviaion has  been
followed  by meafurcs', in New York,  which promife
in  future years an exemption from the diforder.

   With ardent wifhesfor the prevalence of truth, up-
on this  important fubjea, in the capital of the United
                  * See appendix  (C.)
                         F 
                    (   34  )
-States, we have  the  honor to add our moft refpect-
 ful wifhes,  for your health and  happinefs.

                        Signed by order of
            The  Academy of Medicine cf Philadelphia.

 March 20, 1798.
              PHILIP  SYNG   PHYSIC, Prefident.

          FRANCIS  BOWES  SAY RE, Secretary.

   To Thomas Mifflin, Efqr,
     Governor of Pennfylvanid. 
Sppentrtj:*
                        (A)
      IN feveral interefting particulars, refpeaing the
      origin of the epidemic of ninety-fevcn, mifrepre-
fentations of faas, have much deceived the public mind.
Thefe mifreprefentations,  we believe to have been en-
tirely the refult of an eafy credulity, difpofed to reft Satis-
fied with popular report, and not of any fettled intention
to miflead.  They have been moft ftriking and fallacious
in the accounts propagated, refpeaing the origin of the
difeafe  in Kenfington,  and   at  Red-bank,  on  the
Jerfey Shore, of the river  Delaware  *. To be able
the more effeaually to counteraa the pernicious in-
fluence of fuch miftatements, the Academy of medicine
have found it neceffary, to fet on foot particular in-
yeftigations.  The refult of thefe, they now beg permif-
fion to fubmit, in  the form of a  few documents,  to
the candid confideration of the public.

   It is known to have been very generally reported, and
almoft as generally believed, that the late epidemic was
introduced  into Kenfington  by Mr.  John  Brufter,
who was faid to have received the infeaion by going

  * On the fubjeft of the true fource of the epidemic,  in thefe two
fituations,  the public are by no means at prefent in  pofleflion of accu-
rate information. 
(   36   )
on board the armed fliip  Hind, from Port-au-Prince.
It is true, that Mr.  Brufter  was, at leaft, among the
firft  (if not, indeed, himfelf the very firft) who was
attacked by this difeafe in Kenfington,  in the Summer
of ninety-feven ; but that he could not poffibly have
derived his illnefs from any intercourfe with  the fhip
Hind,  is a truth unequivocally eftablifhed by the fol-
lowing documents, particularly by the affidavit of Mi-
chael Lynn.
                DOCUMENT.

Proofs of the difeafe, occurring from exhalation in  Ken-
  fington ; frsm  mcrfjy grounds ; and from  the hold of
  a fhip.
  From the books kept at the Merchants' Coffee-Houfe,
it appears that the Britifh armed fhip  Hind,  Francis
Patot  Commander,  from  Port au-Prince, was  feen
below the Fort  on the ad. of Auguft;—and at  10
o'clock of the fame day fhe came within fight; and lay
pffthe Fort for examination.

  The ufual queftions were this day (2d. of Auguft)
picpofed,  by  the Health-Officer,   to the command-
er,   as appears  by the paper preServed on  the files
at the Health-Office in this city.   She came up to the
city  on the  3d;  and  entered at the Health-Officeo«
the  4th of  the month. 
                   .(  37  )
  As no mention is  made, previoufly,  of her being
Seen in the  river; the probability is that fhe had a
Speedy paflage up the Delaware.

  The  perfon who firft  had  the Yellow  Fever  in
Kenfington, was  a young man of the name  of John
Brufter.   He is  faid  to  have  taken the difeafe  by
having been on board the Hind ; and through him, the
fever was faid to have been introduced into Kenfington.
Upon an examination into dates, this  is  aitoc,ether
impoffible :  Brufter died on the 2d. of Auguft, after
an illnefs of 4 days and  4 hours,  according to  his
father's  account,  which  brings  the  commencement
of his attack to the  29th  July,  or four days previoufly
to the arrival of  the Hind at  the Fort.  Exclufively
of this  faa,  I have added the affidavit  of Michael
Lynn, to prove that he did not  go on board of  any
veffel in a voyage  down  the river to Reedy Ifland.
Some other fource for his diSeaSe  muft then  be looked
Sor ;  and this I derive  from the  marfhy exhalations
(arifing from  the low grounds and meadows on  one
or both fides of the river)   to which he  was expofed
in his paflage in a Small Schooner, to and from Reedy
Ifland in the middle and clofe of  July,  aided by  im-
prudent expofure,  by fleeping upon the wet decks of
She veffel.

   Wm. Reed, who  died on the  5th  of Auguft
after 7  days  illnefs,  appears in ail probability to have
derived his difeafe from fome of the local fources which 
                    (   3«   )
sre numerous in,  and about Kenfington ;  although if
common report had been credited, we ihould  have
afcribed  it to  the  picking up  of a cafk  which was
faid to have been thrown  from the  Hind.   As how-
ever, he  died on  the 5th, after  7  days illnefs; the
Story is altogether  impoflible,  as it  brings the  com-
mencement of the  difeafe to the  29th of July, or 4
days preceding  the  arrival of the Hind.  The  fame
fources, which  in Kenfington, commonly produce  in
the Autumnal  months, remittents and intermittents,
have this feafon by the peculiar conftitution  of the at-
mofphere, (whatever that may be owing to)  raifed thofe.
(difeafes to the more violent grade of  Yellow  Fever.

  To thefe local fources I would alfo without hefitati-
on afcribe many of thofe cafes which occurred in Ken-
fington,  and  which  were all afferted  to be  traced tc?
contagion.

  In that range of houfes, extending northward  from
the bridge over Kohockfing creek, and to the weft of the
main  York road,  not lefs than  Six or. Seven people
died  of the  Yellow  Fever.  Thefe  houfes it will be
recolkaed,  are bounded  on the  weft: by that  large
portion  of  low marfhy  ground to the northward  of
the bridge; and  from this  abundant  fource of ex-
halation,  I think it moft  rational  to  deduce the
feeds  of the  fever which  occurred there.   And this
is rendered  much more probable  by the  collateral
evidence, of the fame fever having  exifted in the fa* 
                    (  39   )

milies of Mr. Boudinot and  Mr. Learning, near the
Frankfort road, where low and marfhy grounds afford
ample origin to thofe noxious miafmata which pro-
duce intermitting and remitting fevers.  The Strag-
gling manner alfo, in which the difeafe occurred in
Kenfington, renders it more probable  that  it origi-
nated from  local fources, than that it was introduced
and fpread through the medium of contagion.

  The next perfons  who were  attacked in Kenfing-
ton, were in the family of Mr. Jofeph Bowers.  Thefe
appear to have received the difeafe from the noxious
miafmata originating in the hold of a fhip  called the
Huldah, which went up to  Kenfington to clear out
at Mr. Bowers' wharf, after discharging  her cargo  in
this  city.  The following  is the ftatement which I
have procured  reSpeaing this Ship, chiefly from  the
houfe of Summerl  and Brown, to whom ihe  was
configned.

  The Ship Huldah,  Captain William Warner,  Sail-
ed  from  this  port for  Hamburgh,  on the 18th  of
Oaober,  1796, laden with  coffee, fugar,  and furs.
After landing her cargo, fhe does not appear to have
cleared  out  her ballaft, &c.   but failed from  Ham-
burgh  for  this place  on the  nth  of  April,  1797,
laden with  hemp, iron,  cordage,  dry  goods, glafs,
and brandy. She arrived at New-York on, or  about,
the  1 ft  day of July,  where fhe difcharged  109 pipes
of brandy.   On  the 13th,  fhe failed for Philadelg 
(   4».  )
• pli'a,  and entered  at the Health-Office  on the i^th
 of the month,  having thirteen Seamen  on board in
 perfea health,  which had been  the  cafe during the
 whole voyage of upwards of ninety  days.  She dif-
 charged her cargo at Vannuxem's wharf, between Arch
 and Race-ftreets,  and on Sunday  the 13th of Au-
 guft, fhe  was carried  to Mr. Bowers'' wharf at Ken-
 fington, by the  mate and one cf the failors, (JoSeph
 Way of  Wilmington,  nephew to  the late Dr. Ni-
 cholas Way, of this city)  affifted by Nicolas Painter
 of Kenfington.  They proceeded to  clear her out the
 following*  day, Auguft  14th.  After getting through
 a  quantity of Sand, which  lay above the ballaft,  So
 nauSeous  and offenfive  a  fmell proceeded from her,
 that the mate was indifpofed for feveral days.  JoSeph
 Way was  obliged to lay by ; and after drooping fome
 day?, he went down to Wilmington,  and there died,
 with a fevere attack of the  Yellow  Fever, on the
 fame day  with his uncle,  in this city, viz. on  the  2d
 of September.

   Nicholas Painter and Chriftopher Rufh, who affifted
 in cleaning her out, Stood the effbas of this exhalation
 till Wednefday, 16th  of  Auguft ;  when they were
 Seized with violent head-ach, etpQchlly above the eyes ;
 ficknefs and vomiting,  and pain of the back; accom-
 panied by  fever.  Rufh fays,  he has never completely
 regained his health fince that period. He  further fays,
 that the fmell of the hold of the Huldah was fo nau- 
                    (  4i   1
feous, that he could  no#get it out of his nofe for Se-
veral days.

  Upon inveftigation it appeared, that the Smell pro-
ceeded from  a quantity of coffee, (which muft have
efcaped  during the voyage to Hamburgh) mixed with
the bilge water and fand, and which was in the higheft
State of  vegetable putrefaaion; being very black, and
containing  worms or  maggots nearly  two inches in
length.

  Mr. Jofeph Bowers' boy was the firft of his family
who was  attacked.   He worked in a Schooner which
lay along-fide of the Huldah, and was feized on Tuef-
day, the 15th of Auguft,  and died on the 22d.   Mr.
Bowers  himfelf Seems to have received the Seeds of the
difeafe on Tuefday, the 15th, at which time he was on
board the Huldah, and noticed the very offenfive Smell
proceeding from her hold.  He fickened  on the Sunday
following, the 20th of Auguft, and died on the  25th.
A maid-fervant and two children alfo had the  difeafe ;
one of the children died.   It is poffible that thefe lafthj
took the difeafe by contagion from Mr. Bowers  or his
boy,  though I think it more probable, that they  de-
rived it  from the original fource,  viz. the fhip's  hold;
as the wharf is not very diftant from the houfe, and
as yet we know  not the exaa  limits  to which thefe
noxious  miafmata may be carried,  without lofing their
baneful  influence by dilution with  the atmofphere.
                        G 
                    (   42   )
   Many cafes  which  occurred  in Kenfington  after
this period,  were, moft  probably,  derived from this
fource.  The accounts of them  are altogether wrapt
in doubt and fuppofition.  Moft of them are faid to
have taken  it by contagion  from  others ; but this is
rendered highly improbable  by the very moderate de-
gree in which this fever has evinced itfelf to be pof-
feffed of a  contagious  power; and more efpecially in
fo airy and extended a village as that of Kenfington.

   It would  appear then, from the preceding pages,
that the difeafe as it exifted in Kenfington, had three
different fources, viz.

   First; By Exhalation or Marfh-effluvia, derived from
the low grounds on the banks of the Delaware;  as
was the cafe with Brufsr.

  Secondly; Trom Exhalation orMarfti-effluvh, deriv-
ed from the  local fources of low grounds in, and about
Kenfington ; as evinced in thofe cafes which occurred
in the range of buildings, to the weftward of the  York
road: and,

   Thirdly; From the Exhalation  or Noxious effluvia,
proceeding  from  putrefying  vegetable matter, in the
hold of the Ship Huldah ; as in the caSes of Mr. Bowers
and his family,  and perhaps  in others.

   The difeaSe, poffibly, in Some few cafes fpread by
contagion.  King, a coffin-maker, who affifted in put- 
                     C  43  )
ting the dead into their coffins, may have derived his
difeafe, of which he died, from this fource. It is how-
ever problematical;  for he  was with others, expofed
to thofe caufes which produced it in them.
                      JOHN REDMAN COXE.
Philadelphia,  December ")
  \ft>  *797-         5
           Affidavit of Chrijlopher Rufh.

 " County of Philadelphia Jf.

     (t Perfonally appeared  before me,  Peter Brown,
 one of the Juftices of the Peace, in, and for the county
 aforefaid,  Chriftopher  Rufh;  and  being duly fworn
 upon  the  holy  evangelifts, did  depofe, and fwear,
 that, in working on board the Ship Huldah, at JoSeph
 Bowers' wharf,  on the 14th of Auguft  laft, he per-
 ceived a moft  offenfive fmell on  board  the faid fhip,
 arifing fr<fm fome putrefied  coffee, in the hold of the
 fhip.  That he,  the faid Chriftopher Rufh, was made
 fick for feveral days Srom the Said Smell,  as alSo were
 Nicholas Painter and JoSeph Way,  who worked with
Said Chriftopher  Rufh on board the fhip Huldah.  He
depoSeth further, that JoSeph  Bowers and his man
 were  expofed  to the faid Smell, Srom working and at- 
                   (   44   )
fending on board the faid fhip ; and further this depo-
nent fayeth not.
                                his
           « CHRISTOPHER C. R. RUSH,
                              mark.
  " Taken and Subscribed before  me, this 30th day
pf November,  1797.
            " Signed,
     " (Seal)               PETER BROWN."
  A true copy, J. R. Coxe.
          Affidavit of Michael Lynn.

1* County of Philadelphia ff.

     " Perfonally appeared before  me the fubfcriber,
one of the Juftices of the Peace, in, and for the county
aforefaid, Michael Lynn ; who being duly Sworn upon
the  holy evangelifts, doth  depoSe and Say, that on the
17th day of July laft, he accompanied John Brufter
from Kenfington, at which  place the deponent refides,
down the river Delaware, in a Small Schooner, and re-
turned home on the 23d day oS July,  making an ab-
Sence of fix days ; during which  time, neither  the
deponent nor the faid John Brufter  was on  board
of,  or along fide, of  any  Ship  or  veffel whatSoever;
and that on the  Sunday following,  which was exaaiy 
                    (  45  )
pne week after their return,  John Brufter was take^
Sick, and died the ThurSday Sollowing.
     <'• Signed            MICHAEL LYNN.
   te Taken and fubfcribed before me, this 3®th day of
November, 1797.
             " Signed,
     « (Seal)              PETER BROWN."
   A true copy, J. R. Coxe.

   Copied from the original documents,  in the poffef-
fion  of the Secretary of the State of Pennfylvania.
                                   J. R. C.
                       (B)
  The  Academy of  Medicine cannot  do otherwifc
 than exprefs their furprife, that the College of Phyfi-
cians, in their reSearches  aSter the origin oS our late
epidemic, Should have thought it neceffary to make
the armed Ship Hind an objea oS attention.   It is a
truth well known, that the Sever had prevailed in our
city Several days previoufly  to the arrival oS that veffel;
and it is, in like manner,  a truth which ought to  be
known,   that none of  thofe perfons fuppofed to have
been infeaed by an  intercourfe with her, communicat-
ed their difeafe to any'of their vifitants  or attendants.
Where then, the Academy would  beg  leave to afk, is 
                      (   46   )
even the fainteft evidence, of the fhip Hind having been
at all  inftrumental, in the introduaion of this difeafe ?
There certainly exifts none.  Nor, in a candid invefti-
gation of the  fubjea, does there appear  to be ground
fufficient to  authorife, even the mention of the name
of this veffel.

  As the College of Phyficians  appear, however, by
their  late pamphlet,  to  have direaed to the Hind,
an undue fhare of public attention, it has become necef-
Sary to  make  their  narrative reSpecting her, a Subjea
of particular  confideration.  The only  evidence  of
which that learned body are poffefled, refpeaing  the
Sickly ftate of this veffel,  is derived from the  affidavits
of three common mariners belonging to her crew; two
of whom were nothing more  than boys.  In oppofition
to the  evidence delivered in thefe affidavits, we would
here beg leave to fubmit  to the public,  the  affidavit
of the fupercargo of  the Hind.   The report, deliv-
ered in his depofition, is farther corroborated by  the
joint teftimony of three  other refpeaable charaaers,
on board the  fame veffel.   From this document, it
will  at once appear, on  how equivocal a foundation,
the College  have thought  proper Xo reft this part of
their inveftigation, refpeaing the  origin of the difeafe
in queftion. 
                    (   47   )
     AFFIDAVIT of the  Supercargo of the Hind.
   Perfonally, before me, Hilary Baker, Mayor of the
city  of Philadelphia,  came Thomas Badaraque ; who,
being duly fworn,  doth  depofe and  fay,  that he was
fupercargo of  the fhip Hind,  captain Patot, from
Po n-au-Princs  to  Philadelphia,  in  the fummer fof
1707. That they touched at Cape Nichola Mole,  and
five days after, a child, about fix months old, died from
teeth:~g:  tin.:  a  negro  boy,  of  about nine  years of
age,  m-d of tl c f-ui -y,  the day before the pilot came
on board. That no other perfons  were fick during the
voyage, except Mr. Campan a pafTenger, who had been
indhocfed, before he came on board, with a lax, and
other chronic complaints.  That no orders were given
to conceal any bo  !y, upon the arrival of the fhip, by
the captain, from  the phyfician at the fort.
                          T. BADARAQUE.
Sworn, the 15th day of March, 1798, before me,
                    HILARY  BAKER, Mayor.

   The under-figned,  paffengers  on  board  the (hip
Hind, at  the time alluded to, having  been duly fworn,
do depofe and fay,  that the faas above related, by
Thomas Badaraque, are juft and true.
                       MATHIEU DUPOTEE.
                       PIER VIDAIJ.
                       PONIMIER.
Sworn, the 15th day of March, 1798, before me,
                    HILARY  BAKER, Mayor, 
                     (   48   )
                        (C)
   By fome,  the Yellow Fever, which prevailed at or
 hear Red-bank, is  SuppoSed to have  originated Srom
 an  imprudent communication with  the  Shipping  in
 the  river, while others alledge, that it  was  derived
 from an  intercourfe  with the city of Philadelphia.
 That both  thefe  allegations,  however,  are  equally
 unfounded,   is a truth, which the Academy  of Me-
 dicine conceive to be fatisfaaorily eftablifhed by the
 folio win g
                DOCUMENT.
     I  do hereby certify, that I vifited the farms at
 and  in  the  vicinity of  Red-bank,  fituated  on  the
eaftern  fhore of  the Delaware,  for  .the  purpofe  of
 inveftigating  the  origin of the Yellow Fever, that
raged fo  violently  amongft them,  during  the late
autumn. • I fought every poffible information from the
attending  phyfician, the families who had been  at-
tacked, and  from their  neighbours. Knowing  that a
difeafe of this kind might  have  been derived from
domeftic fources,  from the city of Philadelphia, and,
poffibly, from the  fhipping performing quarantine, I
was  exceedingly particular upon  thefe points  of en-
quiry and  inveftigation.   After examining the docu-
ments  upon  tins  fubjea,  I do not hefitate to pro-
nounce it the offspring of local caufes.

  The moft  valuable  part of thefe  farms  confifts  in
 ncjdows,  which  had been overflowed,  for  ten  or 
                    (   49   )
twelve days,  by a deluge of rain that commenced on
the firft of Auguft. The waters gradually difappeared,
and  depofited a fcum that was exceedingly naufeous.
The roots of the grafs were dead in many places for
an acre or more in extent; even fix inches below the
Surface of the earth, they were deftroyed—the vegeta-
ble putrefaaion was great, and the fmell arifing from
it  extremely difagreeable.   To  this fource I attribute
the difeafe that prevailed amongft them. Twenty-nine
perfons were attacked in five families;  but fo local
was the calamity, that,  although the neighbours kept
up a  conftant  communication,  by vifiting  the fick
rooms, and rendering their fervices, no perfon, that
thefe families recollect, was affeaed with it, in confe-
quence.  And there is but one poffible cafe in which it
could  have  been  communicated, by any one of thefe
families to any of the others.

   My opinion  of the local origin of the Yellow Fever^
derives fupport from its  being  the idea of the Phy-
sician who attended the fick, and the univerfal fenti-
ment of thofe  who have  fuffered by it.  Documents3
entering into detail, to eftablifh thefe, and a variety of
other points conneaed with the difeafe, are fubfcribed
by all the perfons alluded to,  and depofited among
the records of  the Academy of  Medicine.
                Signed,    JOHN C. OTTO,
March 20th, 1798.
                         H 
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