VITAL  DYNAMICS ,,, rtK,,,„
              THE PURPLE CSliEGiiaa
OF
NEW   ORLEANS:
;;                    REPORT
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I  N?J  AMERICAN  MEDICAL  ASSOCIATION.
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MAY, 1849.
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BY
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^H.
BARTON, A.M., M.D
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LATE PROFESSOR OF THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF MEDICINE AND CLINICAL PRACTICE
       IN THE MEDICAL COLLEGE OF LOUISIANA, ETC: ETC. ETC.
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       PHILADELPHIA:
T. K. AND P. G. COLLINS, PRINTERS.
            1849. 
 
VITAL DYNAMICS
NEW   ORLEANS:
REPORT
AMERICAN  MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
MAY, 1849.
r
^
v
BY
       E. H/BARTON, A.M., M.D.,
            \\\
LATE PROFESSOR OF THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF MEDICINE AND CLINICAL PRACTICE
       IN THE MEDICAL COLLEGE OF LOUISIANA, ETC. ETC. ETC.
       PHILADELPHIA:

T. K. AND P. G. COLLINS, PRINTERS

            1849.
 


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V       o* 
PREFATORY   REMARKS.
   It is due to myself to state under what circumstances the follow-
 ing paper was prepared.  Responding to the call of the American
 Medical Association, in May 1848, through its committee, to write
 a paper on the hygienic condition of New Orleans, the  preparation
 of it was postponed until the winter, from a belief that, as I had been
 for so many years familiar with and written upon the  subject, I could
 perform my duty in the honourable task assigned me in a brief period:
 but, when the time arrived, in reviewing the facts I had been collect-
 ing for another and more extended purpose, I found the field so vast,
 the facts so important, and the  results so disastrous, that, to do any-
 thing like justice  to the  subject, required  researches, calculations,
 and investigations, that no one man  could accomplish,  with proper
 facilities at hand,  in months, and I had but a few weeks; and  at the
 very commencement of my labours the epidemic  cholera broke out,
 making a still more urgent  call upon my time;  so the  manuscript
 has been prepared and sent  on guttatim—as it were—by sheets, as
 I could find time to write it,  without being able to retain a  copy for
 correction; this is said in extenuation for that apparent disconnection
 which I am afraid it will exhibit, and to  bespeak for it the charitable
 indulgence of the reader.
  It will be seen, by those conversant with the subject, that my cal-
 culation of the deaths to population  does not correspond with that
 heretofore given.  The census of 1840, by the United States govern-
 ment, the basis of former calculations, is well known now  to have
 added about 27,000 to our population! but, as it did not add any to
 our mortuary  list,  it became  the  source of all  subsequent  errors in
relation to sanitary calculations; and upon a correct enumeration of
the population must  be founded  all  truth as to  the salubrity of a
place.   We have, since, another census  taken by  the city, in  1847,
which is probably nearly correct, and I have been  enabled to fill the 
4
blanks so long existing in it, and have used it  for my own calcu-
lations; but the consequences of the error have not probably ended
here—in the  more abstract  fact, the remarkable salubrity which
seemed to result from the ratio of actual deaths to presumed popu-
lation, seemed to  supersede  all  sanitary measures for the  future
whatever, for, as it was already apparently the healthiest city in the
Union, what more was required ?  This fatal confidence, arising from
ignorance of  our actual condition (and it is astonishing how averse
the public mind is, here,  to look into the statistics which exhibit the
naked facts), was lulled  into farther security from the occurrence
of a few healthy years following  the promulgation of that United
States census, nor has the two last fatal years dispelled the lethargic
delusion; they are taken  as exceptions!  It becomes my unpleasant
duty to state the facts—to disperse the seeming security—to sound
the tocsin of alarm, and to warn my fellow-citizens of  their danger;
and if I shall, with the danger, show how it may be avoided in future
—convince them  how  much depends upon their improper mode of
living—point out ameliorations in the physical condition which will
add to its salubrity—I  may be  pardoned for correcting  an error
which has been a  source  of so much pride and exultation.   The cli-
mate  is more sinned against  than sinning; I have said so before.
More  than twenty years ago, I lauded it, and enumerated the almost
unparalleled advantages  it offered for the use of its residents;  but
did not conceal that there were sources of great mortality that it
was in our power to control and remove—that we should clean and
pave the city—clear and drain the swamps—that we should shut up
the "drunkeries," &c.  And when, some fifteen years ago, I presented
the frightful details (in a public address, in relation to  "the true use
of stimulants  in a warm climate")  arising from these latter, they
were deemed apocryphal—nay, some were so bold as to  say (over-
looking their  mostly official sources) that I made them!   My pro-
fessional assertion, that it was the greatest source of  our mortality,
was met by similar assertions  from others of greater authority and
more  weight,  of an opposite  nature.   The statistics of temperance
societies,  at  their  inception here, could  not exist to confirm the
astounding fact—which speaks trumpet-tongued, and now gives value
to this paper—that the mortality of the members, according to the
record of these societies, is less than 1 in 83; while, in our general
population, it has  been 1 in 19.32, on an average too of ten years.
It  is  not too much to say, then, that this valuable record is one of
the most important unpublished  of  this climate;  it shows the now 
5
undeniable fact, that temperate people have an "expectation of life"
here that is positively denied to others.
  In few things is the American character,  and particularly the
southern, more reckless than in regard to life.   That this should be
exhibited in great emergencies where personal prowess is required,
as in battle, is not at all extraordinary, for here it is less reckless-
ness than heroism.  In the great West, this disregard of life is more
apparent in exposure to river risks, &c.; farther south, with a heed-
lessness bordering on temerity, it is more obvious in the almost utter
disregard of dangers affecting the health.  Many of them are palpable
enough; against many others, common ,sense  and common  experi-
ence would seem to  be sufficient;  and then of others, they are so
obviously forbidden by all we know of its (yes,  its—for I mean  in-
temperate drinking) influence  and effects, that every man who will
open his eyes may read it  as legibly as "the handwriting on the
wall," if thou drinlcest thereof, thou shalt surely die.  To  my fellow-
citizens of  New Orleans, who desire  personal health, and who wish
the prosperity of the city, I dedicate  the important truth—the result
of  long years of experience.  Deny it not—your mortuary statistics
bear upon  them  the imperishable record of  its truth;  your hos-
pitals,  your eleemosynary institutions,  your courts, jails,  peniten-
tiaries,  workhouses, and asylums,  speak volumes,  and are daily
robbing your pockets—ME no more—of large  funds  due to  nobler
 charities, almost all arising from undue use of the intoxicating bowl.
    During  the period referred to, the moral aspect of society  has
 greatly improved;  but it lacks much of that great standard that
 will make  the  requisite laws,  and dares to enforce them, which  will
 put an effectual curb on habits and practices that  are incompatible
 with great duration of life in this climate.  It will  be seen, from the
 text, that I do  not blame the climate—that it  is not lethale per se,
 but is with certain habits and modes of life; but, by the indulgence
 of the  precepts of temperance, in the enlarged  sense, which are now
 the dictates of  experience, and  some other recommendations noted,
 all the blessings of health, and extended duration of life, can be en-
 joyed here to a degree equal to that of  any climate  in  our widely-
 expanded country. 
 
      VITAL  DYNAMICS
                   OF

NEW    ORLEANS.
  New Orleans is situated in latitude 29° 57' 30" N., and longi-
tude 13°  9' W. from  Washington, on the alluvion banks  of the
Mississippi (the longest and swiftest river, susceptible of more exten-
sive navigation, and draining a larger  surface of country, than any
on earth), and about one hundred and ten miles from its  mouth, by
the meandering course  of the stream, and about ninety in a geogra-
phical  line.  It is protected from inundation by the great  stream
that glides by its front, at the rate of four and a half miles per hour
in the thread of the  current,  during  high water, and four and  a
quarter miles at low water, by a levee or embankment, about nine
feet higher than it is a few squares back; and the city descends by a
gentle  slope  to  the swamps and draining canals  in the rear, com-
mencing about-------distant from the levee, where the surface of
the swamp is---------feet below high  water mark; but which is
now kept several feet (four to five) above water mark, by the Drain-
ing Company;  all of which will clearly appear by reference to the
line of levels annexed {vide Appendix A), from the river through
the centre of the city to the Bayou St. John.
  The geological formation of the soil on which the city is built, is
alluvial;  the surface and subsoil, to a great extent, being composed
of the deposits  of the river.   In some  places, beds of pure white
sand occur, at a depth  of six to ten feet, showing  the  former  posi-
tions occupied by the waters of the gulf.   The height of the  ground
on the river bank is about fourteen feet above the  level of ordinary
water in the gulf.   The  river  usually commences  its rise about the
last of November, attains its maximum elevation in March, remain-
ing thus until the latter part of May, then falls more  rapidly than
it arose, till about the latter part of  September, and remains sta-
tionary until the autumnal rise.
  The  city occupies a  front on the river of about five  miles, by an 
8
average breadth  of about  three-quarters  of a mile.  It is bounded
on the north by a cypress  swamp, of about five miles in breadth,
where it reaches Lake Pontchartrain, a large body of water extending
due north about twenty-five miles, and east and west from its centre
about twenty miles. The Mississippi River runs south of east from New
Orleans about twelve  miles, and the balance of its course south-east
to the Balize.   It is bounded to the east by plantations and swamps
covered with forest, to Lake Borgne, an arm of the sea fifteen miles
distant, of about fifteen miles of irregular diameter.   On the south,
it is bounded by the Mississippi River, across which are cleared land,
and swamps covered with forest growth, to Lake Ouacha (a body of
water, about five  miles wide, and eighteen long,  extending to  the
south-west, and thence to the sea, it is forty to  fifty miles);  and it is
bounded  due west by the meanderings  of the  river, fine cultivated
estates, and forest growth for about eighty miles.
  The prevailing winds, during winter, are, according to respective
prevalence, from E., N., andN.W.; during spring, from E., S., S.E.;
during summer, from  S.E., E., and S.;  and during autumn, N., E.,
and N.E.  A perfectly calm atmosphere is very rarely noted; result-
ing, no doubt, from our alternations of land and water,  and the rapid
current of the Mississippi before  so large a surface of  the city.   It
has been remarked as a fact, pregnant with great consequence to us,
that, as the forest is cleared back  towards, and covering the swamps,
and to the  lake, there is more air stirring, and less disposition to
stagnation ; and with the drainage there  is less moisture, and the land
rises.   The ventilation of the city is not at all defective; the streets
are nearly all  at right angles (there are few or no blind alleys), of
the average width of between  thirty to forty feet; four or five of
them  being upwards of one hundred feet,  and most of these planted
with  trees.   There  are  six  public squares,  most appropriately
termed the  "lungs of large cities," and all the streets would be in
some  measure  entitled to the same beneficent appellation, were they
planted with forest growth.  Owing to the warmth of the  climate,
the houses  are extremely  well ventilated, even those  of the poor,
with but few exceptions in and about the centre, and near the mar-
kets,  occupied  by small traders  and emigrants, mostly foreigners;
but in general, the  labouring  population is comfortably provided
for, if at  all provident; for, such is the facility of acquiring here the
necessaries, and even comforts, nay, luxuries of life, and in a  few
years, a  competency,  that  nearly all  provident,  temperate people
find little difficulty in doing so;  the wages of  labour, and  particu- 
9
larly mechanical labour, are in great demand, very high, and  sup-
port not costly.
   The average annual quantity of rain, falling in this city, is about
fifty-two inches ; and although there is no proper rainy season—for,
some  years, there is just as much falling during one-half of the  year
as the other—yet in a long series of years (say ten, that I have over-
looked my meteorological register for), there was a  larger quantity
falling in the winter, the next was in the summer, the next was dur-
ing the spring,  and the  driest season was clearly and palpably the
autumn.  But,  as  the hygrometric condition of the atmosphere is
but poorly estimated by the quantity of rain  that falls from it, for
sometimes it is  directly  the reverse, I have constructed a chart, ex-
hibiting these often opposite conditions {vide Appendix  C), where
this is seen at a glance, and also the thermometric  and barometric
variations, with their respective relations to each other.
   The average  temperature of our winter months is 53.77; of the
spring, 67.76;  of  the summer, 79.27;  and of the autumn, 67.51;
making an annual average of 67.07, almost that perfect temperature
thought to be most agreeable and salubrious to man.  The thermo-
meter rarely reaches 90° in a fair exposure, during the  summer, and
 during the winter  seldom descends below 30°.  The average  daily
 range, throughout  the year, is near 10°.   In more southern tropical
 regions, where  these variations of temperature are unknown, the
 constitutions of the natives are rendered delicate and most sensitive,
 by a uniforn continuance of a high atmospheric temperature, and if
 a fall of the thermometer of  from 2° to  5° is experienced, serious
 consequences to comfort, and even  health, are experienced.   These
 changes are essential to vigour of constitution, and it would be a
 great blessing  were they much  greater.  The nights  are cool and
 pleasant; and with more attention to the construction of our houses,
 to adapt them  to  our climate, the sleeping rooms in summer facing
 the southern quarters, whence there is almost every night a body of
 air stirring ; and  planting trees in the  principal  streets, the heat
 would be much less, radiation  from the  brick buildings would be
 arrested, the  air  purified, and  the great extreme at midday and
 towards night, almost thoroughly controlled.
    The effects of planting trees in the streets, and of the multiplication
 of public squares, are well-established facts,  of' which  there is now
 no dispute; experience here is too strong even for theory.  A state-
 ment was published here some years ago, by one of our most respect-
 able  journals {The New Orleans Delta), and  said "to  be derived 
10
from one of the old respectable  inhabitants, and one of the chief
magistrates of the city," that there had rarely "occurred a death
on the Place d'Armes, in twenty-five years."  This is the most beau-
tiful public square in the city, and on two  of its sides has a dense
population.   The influence of luxuriant foliage and abundant shade
in the public squares and streets of large  cities, and particularly
southern ones, is susceptible of very easy explanation; they  absorb
deleterious gases, and receive  or prevent  that reflected heat from
brick houses, which is so oppressive to those who cannot otherwise
escape their  influence ;  and  they hence assist in likening a  city to
the country, between which there is so great a  discrepancy  in
mortality,  and the  difference is  mainly in ventilation, shade, and
foliage.
  Truly, this may be considered a " sunny climate," for of a series
of observations, extending into many years, in  reference to "  clear,"
" cloudy," and " rainy," from my meteorological journal, more than
two hundred  and forty days were registered " clear," seventy odd
" cloudy," and about thirty "rainy" (of the three hundred and fifty
noted).   And from  consulting a register kept here more than forty
years ago, the  "clear" days  have  greatly  increased  since  that
period; there is much less moisture in the atmosphere, less rain fall-
ing,  and fewer storms; the winds diminished in strength, and more
regular, the heat sensibly less, and the climate, in many respects,
greatly ameliorated.  All  this  has resulted, doubtless, from  cutting
down the forest growth of  the neighbourhood, clearing, cultivating,
and  " subduing"  the  land to the purposes of man, and instituting
that system of drainage that is destined to give this country all the
advantages of an elevated champaign country, together with its own,
of incomparable fertility, as much moisture as  is needed for the pur-
poses of agriculture and health, with the assurance of ample ventila-
tion.   For more particular  reference to the  meteorology of  New
Orleans, I refer  to Appendix B and C, embracing an average of
three years (anterior to 1843), containing a pretty fair estimate of
the climate.
  From all the exhibits, then, in relation to ventilation, it is ap-
parent  that  the  mortality of the climate  arises from no noxious
principle derived from stagnation of air, and that we are  located in
that happy medium, removed from the violence of the winds of the
tropics, where the natives  seem to dread it more than almost any-
thing else, from their greatly enhanced  susceptibility of nervous
system, and  the frequent  stagnation of temperate  regions.  Here, 
11
then, there is nothing stagnant, neither  the elements nor man;
though the latter is too "go-ahead" for his interests or his health.
  The city is  now drained from its  surface, which is extremely im-
perfect, and in this climate highly objectionable.  The gutters are
cleared by rains; by letting in water from the river at particular
points at certain stages of elevation; by a steam engine in the First
Municipality, for the streets appertaining to it and running perpen-
dicular to the river; and very partially by the Water Works Co.,
and all most imperfectly done.  The mode of removing ordinary street
accumulations, from constant filling up of the gutters, and the mud
pressed up from a most imperfect system of paving, with large irregu-
lar pebbles, on a moist mud substratum, is, to throw or scrape  it up
from the gutters, and  about the surface into the streets, in heaps, for
its  more fluid parts to drain off, and then, after abundant  exposure
to the sun, it is  carried off in uncovered  carts, from time to  time
to  the  rear, to fill  it up, at great expense to the city, and at  some
offence to our olfactories.  The law now requires all offal  from the
houses  to be  thrown into the river, instead of the back lots, which
it aided in filling up, at  no expense of health to the vicinage, but
sometimes offensive  to smell.   It is all most imperfectly carried out.
   Time does not permit me to go into a system of drainage and
sewerage,  that  is demonstrable,  from effects  already produced on
the swamps in  the  neighbourhood, can make this city as  dry, and,
with the water power and convenience unparalleled, always at com-
mand, and at small  expense, as clean  as need be.   It is my duty to
allude  to  it,  however briefly.   It will be seen, from Appendix A,
of  a profile line  of levels, that the  river, at high water, is  about
fourteen feet  above  the level of the swamps,  and that the Draining
 Co. has actually drained  five feet below this.   So we  have here up-
wards of fifteen feet from the level of some of our principal streets,
in  a distance of half  a mile to  a  mile, for the  most perfect system
 of drainage and sewerage that  need be required.   And it is  a fact
well known to us all, that boggy swamps  that could not be passed
through a very few years ago, by man, and  scarcely by beast, and
 only inhabited by amphibious reptiles, are now high, dry, cultivated,
 and prepared for the residence of man, not  only without consequences
 injurious to health,  by the exposure of such a surface to the light of
 day and the winds of heaven, but greatly ameliorated by this increased
 ventilation.   The moisture has sensibly diminished, and the ground
 has evidently risen  (one of our oldest surveyors, who has  been per-
 sonally conversant with it for more than forty years, thinks) more 
12
 than ten inches.   This invaluable company, which has accomplished
 so much, and can accomplish so much more for this city, was incor-
 porated in 1835, and has  been steadily pursuing its  great destined
 object since, under numerous difficulties, with an intelligent engineer
 corps and directory.  It has drained the First, Third, and part of
 the Second  Municipalities, by digging extensive canals  and ditches,
 to lead the water to their reservoirs, where are located  their steam-
 engines, embracing in their range a certain section of ground, which
 is first levelled to prevent back water from the lake to reach it by the
 natural drains; the water is now pumped out of these sections, from
 these reservoirs, into these natural drains, and thence flows to  the
 lake.  These extensive sections, embracing an  area of over two
 miles in diameter, are  now  free from water,  even soon after  the
 heaviest rains; and most of it is cleared and much built upon; and
 with its proposed labours of drainage, and clearing the forest growth
 to the lake,  will accomplish more  for  the comfort and  salubrity of
 New Orleans than all other improvements combined, not excepting
 paving.
  Most of the principal business streets, to six or seven blocks back
 from the river, are paved,  and some of those perpendicular  to the
 river much farther back; it is done mostly with round  stones, which,
 on  such a  subsoil, require  constant  expensive  repairs  in moist
 weather.  The  balance, or half the city, is  unpaved, and is easily
 and  soon  cut up, in  wet  weather, by ordinary  usage.  Now the
 sewerage and drainage, properly conducted, would dry the  subsoil,
 remove all offensive smells and sights, keep the lots and surface dry,
 and take off a very large proportion of the expense in  cleansing and
 repairing the streets.   It  has  already had so much effect on the
 burial-grounds  in the rear  of the city, that the dead can be placed
 under ground, where formerly you could not dig six inches from the
surface without coming  to  water;  and, consequently,  the dead had
to be buried in  brick tombs (or the coffins sunk below the surface of
the water by boring holes in them), which,  in this  climate, in a few
years give way, impairing the purity of the atmosphere.  It would
 also make the climate more dry, and prevent all the  consequences
injurious to  health, merchandise, business,  or pleasure,  from bein<r
 in excess.
  These wonderful results  are  destined to be carried out to their
 utmost extent,  by our successors, by those  who shall have grown
 wiser by our omissions, who shall  be warned by the  catacombs of
 victims  our  negligence (not poverty—not  ignorance) has  caused 
13
and who shall properly appreciate the inestimable  position of New
Orleans.  It is notorious that all the large cities of America are
underdrained, and also in England, and on the Continent of Europe,
and so vitally important has it proved to be to health by most valua-
ble experience, that it is notorious in many cities, where these drains
exist, the inhabitants are almost exempt from fever,  and where they
exist not, there is fever !   The towns along the river Po, the fens of
England, and the low grounds of Holland, are  all situated as New
Orleans is, where the source  of the water, and to which it is  to be
elevated, are all above the surface to be drained.   If the indefati-
gable Hollander has seized from  the ravages  of the ocean, and the
others converted swamps into rich fields, and  appropriated them to
the use of man, in comparatively  inhospitable climes, and under
governments  where  the  rights of man are comparatively in  their
infancy, how much greater reason have we to appropriate from the
"father of waters" a portion of  the otherwise waste swamp—now,
or but lately, a hotbed of disease, of the richest soil and  finest cli-
mate in America, and under civil institutions, where man  is blessed
with every privilege he can enjoy.
   The city  is supplied by water, for potable purposes,  by a  com-
pany which was incorporated by the legislature in 1833, and began
to furnish water to the city in 1837. It now has its pipes extended
through various parts of the city, to the extent of thirty-seven and
three-quarter miles.  The engine by which the water is pumped from
the river, is situated, with the reservoir, in the upper part of the
city; the mound on which the basin is built  is two  squares  back
from the river, twenty-five feet above the adjoining streets; its area
is 320 feet square, is divided into four compartments, each one suc-
cessively supplying  the city,  while the sediment is  being deposited
from the others; it is capable of holding four millions of gallons of
water, and the engine can pump  up  from the river daily, six millions
of gallons of water.  The  cost  has been upwards  of a  million of
dollars.
   There  are yet but  few manufacturing  establishments here: one
for cotton,  several for spirit  gas, one paper mill, extensive forges,
and on the  opposite side of the river several ship-yards, and floating
dry-docks.
   The city is well lighted with gas,  and the pipes extend near thirty-
four miles, at an original cost of $800,000, and an annual expense
of about $100,000.
   Probably no city is more bountifully supplied with aid for the sick 
14
 during epidemics;  associations  for their relief are  extended with a
 true Samaritan spirit all over the city, and thousands upon thousands
 are distributed with no stinting hand.  The large Charity Hospital
 is at all times open to those asking its eleemosynary assistance, and
 on an average of the last three years, near 9000 beneficiaries per
 annum have there  found an asylum, with every appliance that hu-
 manity or science could desire,  or charity  ask for; and at an annual
 expense of about $56,000 per  annum, derived most appropriately,
 principally from a tax on passengers, balls, and places of public
 amusement.  There are three private hospitals for the accommoda-
 tion  of the sick, besides an  elegant U. S. Marine Hospital on the
 opposite side of  the river, intended for the commercial marine.
   There are two canals connecting the city with Lake Pontchartrain,
 the avenues of an extensive inland or coast commerce; and two rail-
 roads, one to Lake Pontchartrain, and the other to Carrolton, a town
 of about 1200 inhabitants, distant by the river about twelve miles; on
the traje*t  of this road (about four miles) are fine seats for our wealthy
 citizens, and the country in the vicinage has numerous country resi-
 dences for  ease, health, and pleasure.  The roads or drives in the
neighbourhood of the city, during dry weather, are numerous and
fine,  and conduce much to health.
   There are few subjects more cherished here than that primary one
 of education; receiving its impetus about eight years since, from
the enlightened, intelligent zeal of Alderman Peters,  and Recorder
Baldwin, assisted by an  intelligent municipal council, and public-
spirited  citizens.   The holy  feeling was   ere long caught by our
neighbours below—of the 1st,  2d, and 3d municipalities; and now the
whole south of the city is, or may be, taught at the public schools,
 at the public  expense.  The  system now works well;  the rich and
poor all receive together, the  inestimable blessing of education ; and
here  first imbibe that valuable practical political axiom of equality,
 as at the altar of their God.    Commencing with a few scholars  in
 1841, there are  now over  5000 in the primary, intermediate, and
 high schools; there are probably 1000 in private schools, and  about
 500 taught at their homes by private teachers.  It may be seen how
 the value of this boon is estimated, when,  according to the returned
 assessment, there were but about 10,000 of the proper age (between
 six and sixteen), in the school limits; it is then truly esteemed here
 a public blessing, and considered a  sacred public duty to foster it •
 and,  as such, it has been  incorporated into the  State  Constitution.
 It may be mentioned, to the high honour of this  young State, where 
15
the easy accumulation of property is so constantly seducing one to
mammon by its  alluring temptations,  that more money has  been
spent in attempts to foster the interests of education, in proportion
to its white population, than any other in  the  Union.   The revenue
for their support is  derived from  a tax  of one mill on every dollar
of the  cash value of  property on the rolls, besides  a poll tax;  and
there is spent in this city, for these purposes, about  $135,000 per
annum.  Libraries  are being formed, attached to them, to foster and
encourage  a taste  for reading, that  admirable  asylum, refuge, and
protection  against improper  company;  that of  the  2d municipality
already reaching upwards of 8000 volumes.
   The  vital statistics  of New Orleans  constitute a problem, and a
very important one, that never has been solved; and I approach the
subject with great humility and unaffected diffidence, statements hav-
ing been made in relation to them, at variance with the now (I be-
lieve)  ascertained facts;  the true data  have been heretofore want-
ing—the primary bases  of  all calculation, viz., the number of the
living,  and the number of the dead.
   Of the first, we have to presume the  U. States census for 1830 to
be correct; that of  1840 {the cause of all the errors), we now know
was not; a census was made in 1847;* it was partially correct only;
the entire  population almost certainly was not given; and then there
were no details of ages, &c, and of  course  no basis for calculating
the average age of the living;  so  I have taken these for 1830 as my
basis, and  calculated  it at twenty-four years one  month.   In the
census for 1847, none but strict family residents were taken; the thou-

   * This is presumed to be as near correctness as we could acquire under the circum-
stances;  by the U. States census of  1840, the population was stated to be 102,204; the
over-estimate was supposed to have arisen from some vile political, or pecuniary purposes,
and all the calculations in relation  to  the health, since, have been based upon it. To
see how far this census differed from or corresponded with that of 1830, to find out where
was the  source of error (my only resource left), I calculated the average age of the liv-
ing according to  it, to compare it with that of 1830, and found it differed  but a few
months,  that of 1830 being as above, 24 years and  1 month, and this 24 years 10 months.
It particularly becomes me to expose this vile  fraud, because I have been made the in-
nocent victim of propagating errors, in relation to the sanitary condition here, to the
public, based  on it, on which some reliance may have been placed, and I seize the first
opportunity to wash my  hands of the imposition.   Nevertheless, error or not, New Or-
leans has been more rapidly on the  increase than any large city in America, New York
excepted, for, on  the lowest estimate,  it has been at the  rate of 5.32  per cent, annu-
ally, since 1S30; (the American portion, the 2d Municipality, more than doubling itself
in twelve years!) while between 1830 and 1840, by the U. S. census, from the calculation
of a friend, Philadelphia has increased 3.67 per cent, Boston 3.45,  Baltimore 2.69,
and New York but 5.81.
     2 
16
sands that count New Orleans their homes, and are occasionally ab-
sent, were left out entirely; such, we know, was not the case elsewhere.
I have, accordingly, on the best  advice, added  only 5000 for this
large population, to enable me to  make my ratios as correct as pos-
sible.
  But there is a  large class,  the floating population, not enume-
rated in the census, that furnishes a very large  per  centage of our
annual mortality,  estimated, by  those  best entitled  to  judge, to
amount to between 20,000 and  30,000, adding probably about  one-
fifth to our mortality, as is proved by the returns from the Charity
Hospital for the last eight years,  constituting one-fifth of the entire
mortality, those from Louisiana forming from one to three per cent.
of the admissions; besides this,  there is a large number of strangers
who die here, that our cemetery records do not  specify as " non-re-
sidents."  By reference to Appendix D, it will be seen that I  have
merely corrected the census of  that year by adding  the small num-
ber of 5000, making it 100,028, and the mortality the average of
eight years, 5177, or one in 19.32, embracing all the yellow fever
cases I  could ascertain, viz.,  5910! embracing also some  of the
sickliest years that the city has  known; to show  how this varies, the
mortality in 1845 was one in 33.07.  I have added in that table va-
rious comparative data of other cities, which will not be found with-
out their interest.
  A still greater difficulty remains in relation to the dead.  I  have
laboured many years to acquire something like  truth and certainty
on this subject, and I think I am  entitled to the credit of rescuing
from oblivion some ten or fifteen years  of the records  of mortality
which  had been surreptitiously made way with.  I have collected
now the mortality for about forty years; but then there  is wanting
those valuable details of special diseases, ages, and  periods of resi-
dence, &c, which should give it its greatest value; to be sure, I have
some of these, and must make the best use of them I can: but it is
impossible, without  procuring  the requisite  materials, to  give that
accurate estimate of the "expectation of life," or its "value," or
such a view of the true sanitary  aspect of the climate, which is so much
needed by the statistician, the  insurer on  lives, or  him who wishes
to know the risks  he runs in  coming here before he ventures nor
does time permit me to use, in a proper manner, all the materials
I have  collected.
   The  vital statistics of this  great city in  embryo, and  of course
what may ameliorate it, are of  the last importance to the citizen, the 
17
patriot, and the philanthropist.  I do not wish to dodge what may
and must be considered a large mortality:  but it is due to truth, to
science, and to the place; to all those great interests involved—and
not merely the local ones, to those who live here themselves, and
expect to raise their families  here, or those whose property is here,
on whose proceeds  they are  luxuriating in other climes—but  to
more than half this great confederacy, who are deeply interested in
this great entrepot, for which  there  can be no substitute—to make
such explanations  as to put fairly before the  eyes of the public, and
their servants and agents (the public authorities), to  amend errors,
correct defects, and to make such improvements  as the country re-
quires, and the climate (if bad) is  susceptible of.  Is this climate,
then,  leihale per se? does it belong  to its position? and is  it irreme-
diable? Or, does it spring, in  any measure, from habits and customs
that are incompatible with the climate?  These are questions of the
last importance to us, to the  American people, and to science.   I
enter into the very limited discussion of these great questions with
a deep conviction  that the facts demonstrating the convictions I feel
are correct.  I have fruitlessly sought everything bearing upon this
subject for years,  and though I have gathered sufficient to  satisfy
my own mind, and, I think, most that are open to the truth and un-
prejudiced; yet there are some gaps in my investigations, that may
fail to produce on  other  minds that  conviction arising from demon-
stration.
   That diseases, or what may be called unhealthy years, occur in
cycles of irregular return, is well known in the historical records of
nations, in our country, as well as in others, and  even among na-
tions whose condition may be considered stationary; in many, they
are doubtless much influenced by the  agency of man;  that various
parts of our own  country are being, and have been, constantly in-
fluenced by these means,  is doubtless true: it is within my own re-
collection,  and thousands now living, of various parts of our own
State, where the mortality is now much less than half of what it was
when passing  through what may be termed its transition  state, or
that from its primeval, or forest state, to that fit for the purposes of
man,  and arrived  at it, and made so by clearing, draining, and cul-
tivating the land,  is unquestionable.  It is a general fact, that, as a
country becomes cleared of its forest growth, and exposed to the in-
fluence of the sun, there is a diminished annual fall of rain;  how it
has been for the last four or five years  here,  I cannot say, from my
own observations,  as I have been  absent—travelling,—but, upon a 
18
comparison  of journals kept here some forty  years  ago,  and the
recollection of the older inhabitants, compared with my own observa-
tions up to 1844, there is no doubt that this is true here also.  Such
experience is applicable to the whole of our western country, within
the knowledge of the present generation, and that all our new States
to this date, have been the graves of unnumbered thousands; nor is
it to be now told, for the first time, that the pioneers  of civilization
are to be made the first victims to  the numberless blessings to  be
inherited from their toils.  Such, too, is the  actual fact in relation
to cities;  old cities are wealthier, cseteris paribus, than new, and
new parts of old cities  are more unhealthy, generally speaking, than
the old; new ships are often less favourable to  health than those
more old.   Why, during this "transition  state," there  should arise
a condition unfavourable to health,  is difficult  to say; numberless
theories have been invented  by the ingenuity of man  to account for
it;  most of the hypotheses of the miasmatists have had their origin
here; it is so much easier and more soothing to  one's pride, if  not
conscience, to ascribe to some unknown, invisible agent, the cause of
our diseases  and afflictions, than to  find fault with  our own dear
habits; that the various changes in all our various modes of life and
our habits, the disrupture and vicissitudes to which all are thus sub-
ject, tending to destroy that balance and equilibrium on which a
continuance of health  so essentially depends, is  much  more proba-
ble, I have  no  doubt; for  it would be  almost  impious to refer  the
greatly increased mortality  to obeying  one of the plainest  of God's
commands, that "of subduing the earth," and subjecting it to  the
purposes of man as a cause of disease! rather  than to breaking  his
laws, and obeying our own passions  and vicious inclinations.
   That there is a peculiar  air hanging over and through cities, or
all great  aggregations of human beings, is probable  enough;  in-
deed, every page of recorded time shows it;  asthmatics feel it;  the
most sensible of our race feel it; children, delicate females, or those
in delicate health:  nay, who  is  insensible to the difference between
country and city air ?   Let any one leave a  city, and go a few hun-
dred yards, on land or water, and particularly the latter, to sea, and
he will  be  immediately sensible of it.   This  is  independent  of
mere ventilation.  I have myself often experienced it, and particu-
larly during my heavy duties at Vera Cruz, when surgeon of  the
U. S. Army at that place during the summer  of 1847,  when,  in
attendance  on the shipping  off and  near the  harbour—immaterial
which way the wind blew, from sea or shore—the peculiar feeling of 
19
the stomach was not  experienced  until we  reached some hundred
yards from, shore.  There is an atmosphere about cities  that is, in
a great measure, very much  independent of perflation, for an epi-
demic will commence and be continued during, and in spite of, a rapid
wind blowing all the time; that this is not from simple putrefaction,
is apparent;  that it is  independent of, in the very face of winds that
should directly blow it  away, and which seems to be constantly chang-
ing the  atmosphere of the place;  it does not exist most where all
kinds of putrefaction most abound, as in barn-yards, cat-gut, and other
manufactories, where animal and vegetable substances are constantly
going through  this  process;  in butcheries, swamps, &c. &c.; it ex-
ists concentrated in filthy hospitals, where many diseases  originate;
others can scarcely be  cured for it; it is  eminently rife in blind
alleys, cellars, and dirty houses, where  there is a stagnant air: it
prevails to a great  extent wherever there is a defect of domestic and
personal cleanliness,  and  probably more from the latter, than the
former.  Now it is evident the nearer we make the condition of a
city approach the condition of the country,  the more likely it will
be to enjoy that salubrity which it enjoys over the city.
   To  apply the results of this  well-established principle  to this
city, it is but  fair  and just,  that,  until  its neighbourhood shall  be
cleared,  drained, and  cultivated ; the sub-soil kept dry  by sewerage;
the streets properly paved with flat stones;  the glare  of  the sun or
reflected caloric controlled by planting trees, and particularly in the
wider  and less business streets;  wide  sheds built over  our great
thoroughfare (the levee, where the mass of the business is  done, and,
in a great measure, by  people unaccustomed to  the  climate); the
refreshing current established in our gutters, with an efficient police,
with  proper habits in the people, a large mortality will  inevitably
ensue, together with such an occasional epidemic, with its devastat-
ing horrors, as will cast a lasting stigma  on the salubrity of the place,
and retard its permanent  advancement to  a prosperous and stable
condition.  When  these improvements  shall have been  effected, I
do not doubt its being made the healthiest large city in the  Union,
and,  withal, one of  the pleasantest  places  of residence.  As yet,
hygienic observances  have done little for New Orleans.
   The actual mortality of this city  by ratios (now  only correctly
stated),  as compared  with other  cities (in appendix D), is certainly
very large ;* but then it is evident, from the ages of  those who die,

   • " The exposure of the  mortality of New Orleans, if made years ago, might have
 had the same influence as a similar discovery made through statistical records in Eng- 
20
and from their short residence here, and from their course of life—
not at all adapted to  the climate—it  is perfectly evident that the
climate per se has less to do with it than other conditions.  That man
must mould his habits of living to the climate—or the  climate to
them—is as palpably evident as any proposition  in Euclid;  or that
the same course of life is not equally adapted to all climates. Now,
as it is somewhat  difficult  to  accomplish  the latter, he had better
pursue the part of wisdom and discretion, and adapt himself to the
former.   "Mould to its manners his obsequious frame, and mitigate
the ills he cannot shun."  Man, in fact, is the only animal that can
adapt himself to all climates, and he does it by the exercise  of that
intelligence with which the Great Father of all  has endowed him,
by: 1st, exercising that great principle of temperance in all things,
characterized in the  Holy Book as of such  vital importance ;  and
then, 2d,  adopting  the rational habits  of the natives of the dif-
ferent climes  to which he proposes to  adapt himself.  Now, with the
native, or  well  acclimated population, the mortality is very small;
to the two extremes of infantile life and advanced age, it  is extreme-
ly kind; to middle life,  the male sex, and the over-free, hard, and
rapid liver, it is obnoxious. That all  these are undeniable facts,  the
records will show.
   To prove that this large mortality  does not proceed from the  cli-
mate necessarily, we have a most unanswerable  argument  derived
from  three  sources.   The first I  shall mention, is to  show the in-
fluence of temperance on it:  " Civilization, which has done so much
to mitigate the physical, as well  as moral ills of life, and  prolong
existence,  can hardly be debited, with but one  exception to its in-
numerable blessings.  The modern art of  distilling spirituous liquors,
which has  put  such an  unfortunate facility in the hands of  the
mass, who have so little control of themselves, may, by
                '------Eking from each infirmity that brings
                             Untimely age on us,'
be that exception.   The public exposure  of the evil, by the publica-
tion of the  statistics of these societies,  will open  the  eyes of the
public to its magnitude, and  force it to correct the evil."
   I have received, on application, an  official document from G. W.

land and Massachusetts, by their invaluable registration laws, where situations supposed
to be healthy (and who lives in, a  sickly place!!)  were only found, by the corrected
returns of the mortuary records, to. be eminently the reverse, and by an examination
into the causes and removal, a healthy condition may be restored." 
21
Powell, Esq., G. W. P. of the Sons of Temperance in this city, ex-
hibiting the mortality among the members of that body during the
two  last most  fatal years known to this city,  when it has been
scourged by the  combined influence  of  yellow  fever and cholera,
with an acknowledged  mortality from them, during the period which
this  document  embraces, of  5653!   Of  the  2427  members,  there
have died in two  years, to the 1st of April (that is, from their com
mencement to that date), bat 29—or  1 in 83.41!  This most valu-
able report goes on further to state in detail, that, of this mortality,
8 died of yellow fever, and 2 only of cholera—that about one-third
of these deaths were of transient brethren visiting here for their
health !  And,  moreover, that nine-tenths of all these members were
of that very age (between twenty and forty) most subject to the sup-
posed malign influences of this climate !
   It is said that figures cannot lie.   There is no need of it here, for
this I consider  but a fair exponent of the effect  of the clime on
those who live  according to the dictates  of reason and prudence (in
other words, according to the rules of temperance).
   The second proof I  shall mention bearing upon this subject, is
the influence of the climate upon that sex who are proverbially tem-
perate everywhere.  Of the large mortality  by  yellow fever during
the last eight years, but about  one-seventh were females !  In rela-
tion to other classes of fever, &c, in this country, my own  expe-
rience is equally  expressive.  Here, then, is another great proof,  not
only of the value of the principle, but a corroborating  proof that
the climate is not fatal per se.
   3d.  But there is still another.  It is now a well-established fact
that incarceration in  prison most fully  protects the inmates from
the yellow fever.  Insulation can act only in one way;  it protects
from disease by controlling the habits of the individual, subjecting
him to that course of regimen prescribed by the rules of the place,
utterly incompatible with any kind of intemperance.
   " In Mexico, the same immunity occurred with those incarcerated
during the prevalence  of cholera ; and, from the same cause, scarcely
a  case occurred among the temperate in its present visitation in New
Orleans."
   In all these  cases, then, the same  air is breathed by all, and they
constitute  a very fair test of the influence of the climate upon indi-
viduals who live  regular, prudent, and temperate_Iiic^_,I believe
such is its actual influence on the mass\o4rfMsf)l$? :wjjj^rsue
such rules as  a guide  of life.   I  con^of^a^loTtriron^^i
 
22
one of the most unanswerable arguments in favour of temperance and
the climate that was ever published in this country, and is all that
was wanting to put both upon their proper footing before the public.
  Temperance is a common  virtue in  nearly all tropical countries;
stimulants of various kinds are used, but they are not of the diffusi-
ble character of alcoholic drinks, being mostly of the class of condi-
ments, supporting the action they excite.  Mortality too soon follows
in the footsteps of the inebriate for the natives of hot countries not
to see the graves they  would be thus  digging  for themselves : it  is
then mostly confined to the  emigrants from northern  nations who
come to this country with the additional vigour of a more rigorous
climate, who  are  alone able to stand it long; and  with them, the
mortality is greatly increased thereby.  It is  in vain to say—by
those fond of indulging themselves—in the face of all these facts,
that the free liver does not  hasten  his end.  Thirty years' ex-
perience here, and in other more  tropical regions, convinces  me  of
its truth.  All records  go to prove it.   My cotemporaries know full
well, though  this kind of life gives  an appearance of fine  ruddy
health, that these  appearances are deceptive;  that they do not last
many years;  that ere long the system shows  unequivocal  signs  of
sinking, either by the occurrence of some form of stomach  or  bowel-
complaint—by apoplexy, palsy, or some  congenerous ailment, indi-
cating the wearing out before their time  of the organs essential  to
life.
  These are  unpalatable  and unpopular truths; but to my profes-
sion belongs  the important, though disagreeable task, as sentinels
on the watch-tower of health, not only to point out the mode  of curing,
but often the more important one to communities, to indicate, for the
sake of avoidance, the source of danger. To my personal knowledge,
the medical profession here for the last thirty years has done its
duty, and done it at  every hazard to fame, to life, and  to  profit;
and if their advice had been followed, New Orleans this day would
be nearly as long  ahead of its present destiny.  It was the opinion
of our distinguished countryman, Dr. Rush,  that the medical  pro-
fession was about twenty to thirty years  ahead of the public, in in-
formation in relation  to  health; in  that time, the  public  usually
becomes sufficiently enlightened  to estimate  the value of hygienic
laws, observances, and improvements, from  time  to time recom-
mended  by the profession.  If a present outlay of a few thousands
is more valued than human life, that outlay will be more than tenfold
repaid by the increased value of property, by increased population, 
:v
!T
 1V
Jl
JX1LX
77/e  Black  lines  indicate  the-  Barometric   Movement
     Blue     ,,       „       n   Thermoinetrie       „
     Yellow  „       ,       n   Hygrometric         „     or Dewpoutt takenonce.^a day'jU midday
     Bed     „     ■■ „       „   the monffiti/quantity of  Rain  in, liner, orW^of metier.
Baromrter
30. ?O0
ThejTw
mefw
Tiygrmtfltj
l)e xpoint
 Ra,,-,
hij lines
lO.indu.r.
January.
February.
(Averages of three years.)
(arch
April.
May
dune
July
Aug!
Sep
lr
Oct:
Nov
Dec
jweiyvi- a x '»«"■■!» WWE
t 
 
23
and by a vast addition to our comforts.*  If eternal vigilance is the
price of liberty, why should it not be of health?  I am fully aware
that this  country can never  be entirely healthy, whatever may be
its changes in its physical condition, unless the habits  of the people
are entirely adapted to it.  I am not so Utopian as to believe  that
man will enjoy perpetual health, or live to extreme old age, anywhere;
but the history of our species in all quarters of the globe, and at all
times, will serve to show to the  unprejudiced observer, that that
great blessing is rather the reward of his adherence to the  laws of
hygiene than of external conditions, though these are of great im-
portance,  and essential to enable him to carry out, and put in execu-
tion, some of the most important laws of hygiene, and especially
in relation to dryness and moisture, ventilation, and exercise.

  * These important truths now find universal acceptation.  "Whatever  preserves
health, serves society; for sickness, besides its vexation, occasions a loss of property and
a loss of time, and often it involves both the property and the time of others."—Ensor,
London, 1818. 
APPENDIX B.
H Z O			THERMOMETER. 4 observations per diem.							BAROMETER. 4 observations per diem.								■ HYGROMETER. Once a day—at midday.				ASPECT OF THE WEATHER. 3 observations per diem.				WINDS. 3 observations per diem.							
	03 » . bo jj	to> CS cs >•-< E	o> bo . > 1 < 5 53.03	bn.2 S <2«	.C bo 2	o	cd C	5 ?	bo-6 fe-b	a bO ji > s	5 v ■ bo>, ".■2 < S	oj V bo^ OJ 2	03 o ■ boo Jc gu 00 >'°'5 <!2S	00 X	o	Si	= bo o c 22	X 68.21	c 26.32	■-•£ o 03 0) §■5 49 6G	03 bo G Gi K 41.81)'		■a 3 _o 5	'3	— C S'3 Co	7	z 4^	^X	2«	•/J yj			
Jan.	53.04	57.70		52.18	74.33	33.	53.28	41.	10.59	30.193	30.113	30.123	30 103	30 4G0	29.790	30.117	.63					16X	1%	5	10.820					5X3;,' i;*			
Feb.	53.57	63.16	59.44	55.22	74.33	37.33	57.93	37.	10.S9	30.140	30.143	29.823	30.127	30.456	29.860	30.146	.66	69.42	29 51	50 92	38.91 17^		8%	2%	6.890	3X	IX	9X	2X	3X 3		1 ),'.	3X
Mar.	60.12	71.14	65. 1	62.92	7S.GG	51.	ii5.00	-.27.66	8.6S	30.096	30.040	29.916	29.956	30 326	29.823	29.996	60	72.57	32.03	59.13	I 35.54 19^		9X	2%	3 966	4	ax	72J	3^6»; 4			'X	IX
April	61.7G	76.25	70.34	68.54	82.66	57.33	69.17	25 33	1027	30.110	29.943	30.090	30.066	30.273	29.933	30 040	35	74.77	48.92	67.G7	29.16	21	3X	IX	4.918	2X	3	8X	4X	6	2X	2	■2
May	69.30	80.47	73 62	72.37	84.	59.	74.23	23.	8.29	30.110	29.910	30 093	30.113	30.326	29.900	30.096	.43	75.92	53.67	67.83	22.58	27	3%	IX	2.963	3X3		7X	2X	4X	4X	IX	3
June	74.37	83.78	78.68	73.78	87.66	10.	77.82	17.66	9.9b	30.146	30.060	29.936	30.113	30.240	29.800	30.100	.44	78.57	64.67	73.78	13.69	23^	3X	3X	3.954	1*	2	7X	3	5X	BX	IK	X
July	77.89	83.90	79.06	79.02	S9.33	72.66	79.80	16.66	7.44	30.143	30.090	30.136	30.146	30.226	30 036	30.143	.19	80.28	72.33	75.77	7.95	W*	6X	2X	5.900	3X	IX	5X	5	8	5X	4X	I
Aug.	75.20	64.35	79.30	77.33	S7.66	39.	78.82	19.	8.80	30.100	30.113	30.133	30.116	30.266	30.020	30 093	.24	78.98	66.99	74.59	11.99	21	4	3%	5.813	4	3	6	3	2X	5	'2%	U
Sept.	72.22	S0.70	76.17	74.61	88.	33.66	75.92	21.	9.41	30.150	29.670	30.086	29.983	30.190	29 930	30.006	.25	78.07	59.92	73.47	18.48	17X	8X	2X	3.930	4X	6	11X	2X	2X	IX	1	1
Oct.	G2.9S	74.06	38.03	66.61	80.66	17.	67.64	34.35	10.62	30.110 2 yrs. 30.100	30.086	30.123	30.113 2 yrs. 30.190	30.376	29.923	30.113	.48	76.20	44.69	6153	34.98	24	iX	2%	2.840	sx	4X	H X	IX	OX	OX	IX	2X
Nov.	51.16	G2.95	56.26	53.87	75.66	34.	55.22	41.66	11.99		30.100	30.205		30.443	29.796	30.200	647	70.73	31.16	52.04	39.58	22	6	2X	2.370	7%	4X	7	l*	2X	2	IX	3
Dec.	46.50	57.95	51.42	47 62	73.66 .	54.33	51.91 67.22	40.	11.60	30.195	30.183	30.185	30.180	30.443 29.986		30.190	.487	62.26	31.34	46 54	30.92	19	SX	3X	4.690	8X	3X	OX	2	2X1		2X	3X
								29.10	9.93							30.072	.433					245	72	29	53.654								
 
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25
APPENDIX D.
CITY.	Popu-lation.	ID >>	Average age of the living.		Ratio of deaths to popula-tion.	Year.	Average age at death.	Year.	Average annual deaths.	For No. of years.
Boston New York Philada. Baltimore Charleston N. Orleans Havana Vera Cruz Mexico U. States	114,366 421.791 101,345 124,331 29,261 100,028 162.508 5,500 170,000	1845 1846 1845 1848 1840 1847 1841	years mo. 23 5 23 1 24 1 Whites 23 1 Whites 24 3 Whites 24 1 Whites 28 22 2	1845 1840 1840 1840 1840 1830	1 in 48.87 27.83 48.92 29.37 48.36 19.32 35.87 27.76	1845 Dr. Stevens 1845 1848 1840 1841—1848 1841 1844	yrs. mo. 20 3 18 19 11 19 9 Whites 35 m Whiles 26 24 6	1845 1846 1845 1848 1848 '41-'48 1846	1.919 11.069 5.881 3 258 .739 5.177 4.568 6.122	10 yrs. 1 yr. '46 '45-'46 '35—'45 10 yrs. '35—'45 10 yrs. '41—'41 8 yrs. '36—'46 10 yrs. 1844
  N. B.—In some of the cities, the population is estimated by adding
the ratios of increase, where known.   Of Yera Cruz and Mexico, I
have seen no publication of the census; I was then told what I here
state.
  The calculations have been made in great haste, and under many
disadvantages.   Mr. B. W. Cohen, of this  city, has  much aided in
those relative to this place;  and a kind  friend, who would blush to
see his name in print,  has lent me much aid  with the others.
I  have  tried to make  them  correct.   In the haste  necessarily
attendant on  the entire preparation of this report, during a severe
epidemic, I could only fill  up its  details by snatches of anxious
moments, and it is thrown  upon the charitable indulgence of my
compeers. 
26
                          APPENDIX E.

Statement of the  Winds, in New Orleans, by Months and Seasons.
   AVERAGE NUMBER OF DAYS BLOWING FROM THE RESPECTIVE POINTS OF THE COMPASS.
	N.	N.E.	E.	S.E.	S.	s.w.	w.	N.W.	
BY MONTHS.									
January	6	31	61	31	3	21	21	2*	
February	3*	2	51	3*	2	31	It	4*	
March	3*	2	61	3*	61	21	lg	21	
April	It	2ft	7	4*	6ft	24	It	31	
May June July August	21 H 21 3*	21 H It 3*	6 51 5 4ft	4* 4J 6 41	ft* 4i 6 3*	41 6t 4ft 4	11 21 3i 21	2i It It 2	Being on an average of 8 >. years, viz., from 1835 to 1842, inclusive.
September	51	6*	6ft	2*	21	H	H	2	
October	61	5ft	6*	H	1	01	11	31	
November	8	3	4*	3*	21	11	H	31	
December	71	3t	6	2*	21	u	21	41	J
BY SEASONS.									
Winter Spring Summer	6 3 2*	3 21 2*	6 61 ft	3 4* 5	2! 61 4*	21 31 51	2 H 3	4 3 2	| Average number of day's-^ winds each month of the
Autumn	6f	4f	5*	21	2	H	2*	3	
Winter	171	9}	17*	9*	71	61	61	lit •	1
Spring	71	6ft	19*	16	181	9*	41	8ft	1 Total number of day's-
Summer	7ft	6*	14|	151	14*	14ft	8i	51	r winds each season.
Autumn	19*	14	17*	7	5ft	31	4*	8* J	
Winter	2d	5th	1st	4th	6th	7th	8th	3d ^	
Spring	6th	7th	1st	3d	2d	4th	8th	5th	1 Relative frequency of each r wind during each season.
Summer	6th	7th	2d	1st	3d	4th	5th	8th	
Autumn	1st	3d	2d	5th	6th	8th	7th	4th J	
BY THE YEAR.	2d	5th	1st	3d	4th	6th	8th	7th	» Relative frequency of each [ wind during the year.
Actual No.	511	36J	69|	471	45f	341	241	34	
               Total number of days noted having been 342*.

                         APPENDIX F.
Comparative  Statement showing the Proportionate number at each
  interval of Ages, in every  10,000 Living, in Louisiana, America,
  and ^England.
 
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