[/FIE 
SANITARY CONDITION OF NEW-ORLEANS, 
AS ILLUSTRATED BY ITS 
MORTUARY STATISTICS: 
BY J. C. SIMONDS, M.D. 
REVISED FOR THE CHARLESTON MEDICAL JOURNAL 
AND REVIEW. 
FROM THE SEPTEMBER NO., 1851, OF THE CfiAE-EESTON MED. JOUR. AND REVIEW. 
CHARLESTON, S. C.: 
STEAM POWER-PRESS OF WALKER AND JAMES. 
1851. MONOGRAPH. 
THE SANITARY CONDITION OF NEW-ORLEANS. 
A large portion of this paper was read to the Physico-Medical Society of New- 
Orleans, and afterwards, at its request, laid before the public in the Lyceum Hall. 
This will account for its presenting the form of an address to the citizens of New- 
Orleans. It was published in part in Fenner’s Southern Medical Reports, and is 
now, after a careful revisal, and with considerable additions, submitted to the read- 
ers of the Charleston Medical Journal, with the hope that a sufficiency of matter of 
general interest has been introduced to render it worthy of more than merely local 
notice. 
PREFATORY NOTE. 
Two years ago, I attended a meeting of the American Medical Asso- 
ciation, which was held in Boston. I there found that the subject of 
sanitary reform was exciting considerable attention, and that this was 
based, as it always must be, upon statistical investigations into the 
actual and comparative number of the births, marriages and deaths, in dif- 
ferent localities. In my intercourse with various persons there and 
elsewhere, I found that New-Orleans enjoyed very undesirable 
tion of being one of the most unhealthy localities in the United States. 
I knew that here we thought our city very healthy. My colleague on 
that occasion, who had long been a resident of this city, did not hesi- 
tate to avow his opinion of its general salubrity. In reply to an at- 
tempt to prove its unhealthiness by a reference to the very violent epi- 
demic of 1847, he said that only about 3,000 died of yellow fever du- 
ring that year ; and I heard the remark afterwards quoted as a most as- 
tounding difference of opinion regarding the value of human life. I then 
proposed to myself to undertake the investigation of this question, with 
the determination to set it, if possible, finally at rest, and with the 
hope of being able to convince the world, by an array of unquestionable 
statistical details and impregnable arguments, that it had done injus- 4 
Monograph. 
tice to New-Orleans, and that our city was not the Golgotha which it 
was every where represented to be. The subject had not been pursued 
long, when I found that we were laboring under a delusion, and that 
we had long deceived ourselves regarding the salubrity of our city. 
This only urged me to more extensive researches, and a more thorough 
examination of the subject, that I might ascertain the causes of this 
great mortality, and determine if it could be explained consistently with 
the theory of the salubrity of New-Orleans. 
The difficulties encountered in the pursuit of this investigation have 
been very great. Authentic data were obtained with the greatest dif- 
ficulty ;—at times repulsed, because not clothed with official authority, 
that would enable me to demand the information desired;—in general 
meeting with courtesy at the hands of those from whom the data were 
to be obtained, my researches have been facilitated by the use of pens 
and paper, and the liberty to work out for myself what I desired, under 
the cold and criticising eyes of those who probably regarded me with 
distrust, as half a madman, for endeavoring to collect information that 
was not directly convertible into dollars and cents. 
After these difficulties were surmounted, and the necessary data were 
collected, the labor of thoroughly digesting and analysing such multi- 
farious materials was vastly greater than any one of my hearers can 
possibly conceive. These difficulties have been surmounted—this labor 
has been performed—and all the apologies for the great number of 
deaths, and the arguments in favor of the salubrity of New-Orleans, 
have been thoroughly examined and carefully considered The conclu- 
sions to which I have arrived, have not been favorable to the opinion 
here entertained, but have justified the worst opinion existing abroad, 
regarding the sanitary condition of our city. Shall these conclusions 
be published to the world ? shall they be uttered here ? Here, if any- 
where, the subject should be agitated. But who will heed ? who will 
believe statements directly conflicting with the general sentiments of 
the community, and apparently injurious to its best interests ? A simple 
love for the truth would at once decide in favor of its unreserved pub- 
lication. But when I scrutinize the hygienic regulations of the city, to 
see if they be susceptible of amelioration, and when I decide that a cer- 
tain portion of the deaths annually occurring here might be prevented 
by a proper sanatory system, every sentiment of humanity—every im- 
pulse of philanthropy, and even the dictates of self interest, decide in 
favor of their promulgation in the most glaring colors that truth will 
justify. 
It is constantly asserted and generally believed, that it will injure the Simonds on the Sanitary Condition of New-Orleans. 
5 
prosperity of New-Orleans to admit, in the public press, that it is an 
unhealthy city.* This assertion I do not believe, but feel well assured 
that an honest statement of the truth with regard to the health of the 
city, would ultimately promote its true interest, and permanent pros 
perity. At present, the truth is so well known abroad, and so studious- 
ly concealed at home, that the statements of the press are unheeded 
and disbelieved. It is time to adopt a different policy : to direct our 
attention to an investigation that will determine the truth, regardless of 
its influence upon opinions abroad, and to commence endeavoring to 
improve the health of the city. 
If New-Orleans can only be sustained by a concealment of the truth, 
and a criminal immolation of unsuspecting victims on the altar of Mam- 
mon, the sooner it falls the better. If our commercial prosperity de- 
pends upon the reiterated assertion of a falsehood, it has but a slender 
basis, and must ultimately be lost. If it be necessary to hang out false 
lights, to allure the unwary to destruction, that we may gloat upon their 
* The following extract from the Report of Lemuel Shattuck, Esq., on the cen- 
sus of Boston, is so good in itself, and so pertinent to the subject, that none can ob- 
ject to its insertion here:— 
“No subject is more intimately connected with the prosperity and happiness of a peo 
pie, than the degree of public health that they enjoy. Some places and some circum- 
stances are known to be more favorable than others to the development and prolonga- 
tion of the vital energies of man; and it is a matter of the greatest moment to the whole 
population collectively and to each one individually, to know what facts exist in 
the place selected for a place of residence, which influence its character in this re- 
spect. There is a mode by which all this information may be obtained ; and by 
which the force of mortality pressing upon a people, may in some degree be weighed 
and measured. This mode is an accurate enumeration of the number and ages of 
the living, an accurate registration of the births, and the localities, circumstances 
and causes of death ; and an intelligible abstract of these facts. * * * 
We are aware that objections exist against inquiries of this kind—most people 
being satisfied with the generally received opinion, that ‘ no place is more healthy’ 
than the one they live in. We have also been told that this is a subject which 
might be interesting to a medical man, but not to the people generally! Others 
have objected to any investigations, which might show one section of the city to 
be more healthy than another, because it would impair the value of real estate! 
It has, however, appeared to us, that if facts do exist, which show any section to be 
unhealthy, they should be made known, that the lives, the health, and the happi- 
ness of our fellow citizens may be preserved ; and that the suffering, and public and 
private burdens which their premature sickness and mortality occasion, may be 
averted. In proportion as we view human life, with all the manifold consequences 
of its preservation, to be more valuable than the few dollars and cents, more 
or less, which a landlord may receive from a tenant in an unhealthy locality, in 
the same proportion should we value the exhibition of facts which have a bearing 
on this subject. The private, social, or public consequences of sickness and mor- 
tality, cannot be measured by money. This is a matter of great magnitude, and 
demands a far more extended examination and discussion than can be given in this 
report. Compared with it, all other investigations are unimportant. It concerns 
ourselves, our health, our existence ; aud the persons, the healih and existence of 
all that great mass of human beings that congregate in this growing, prosperous city.” 
*—Report, pp. 136-8. 6 
Monograph. 
remains like beasts of prey, then can we but wish success to every en- 
terprise, calculated to divert the course of trade to more honest and more 
honorable channels. Such, however, is not the case. New-Orleans 
possesses natural advantages, that only require the aid of vigorous 
hands and honest hearts to attract as strong a tide of immigration, and 
as great a proportion of the commerce of the country, as she has ever 
yet received. Do these incorrect and dishonest assertions add one iota 
to her prosperity ? Who credits or acts upon them? Go out of the city 
of New-Orleans and find the man who believes them. They deceive 
nobody but ourselves. The press and the people may reiterate the as- 
sertions, but unsupported by reliable statistics, and contradicted by pri- 
vate information, they possess no weight abroad. 
What then shall be done ? Cease to deceive ourselves, and proceed 
earnestly to seek the truth, determined to embrace it when found, and 
hold it up for the inspection of all who are interested. Do not any 
longer say, that the deaths occur in the Charity Hospital—that they 
are of poor immigrants, who are unaccustomed to the climate— 
that they are due to the want or imprudence of strangers and the un- 
acclimated, and consider this a sufficient apology for a high rate of mor- 
tality ; commence immediately an investigation into the facts, and an 
examination of the causes of the prevalence of disease, and proceed 
vigorously to remove them. Re-organize your sanitary corps, and re- 
vise your sanatory regulations; compel your Board of Health to do its 
duty, and to insist upon the performance of duty by all of its officers 
and dependants; examine the condition, and study the workings of your 
hospital systems; institute such new police regulations as may be found 
necessary, and consider the protection of human life against disease 
and crime, as paramount in importance to every other question. Until 
this be done, New-Orleans will always remain unhealthy. When the 
citizens of New-Orleans are convinced of a truth, admitted by all the 
rest of the world, viz : that New-Orleans is unhealthy, they will endea- 
vor to remove the causes of disease; but until they be assured of this, 
it is vain to urge the necessity of an extension of water privileges, a 
system of sewers, the proper paving of the streets, and the prompt re- 
moval of filth. Remove the causes of her insalubrity, and her progress 
in population, wealth and commercial greatness, will be more rapid 
than it has ever been. 
Sickness and death is the lot of every organized being; but obser- 
vation and experience have shown that the amount of sickness, and the 
proportion of deaths, differ widely at different epochs of life, and in 
different localities. Though many of the causes of disease and death Simonds on the Sanitctry Condition of New-Orleans. 
are still veiled in obscurity, some have been so clearly demonstrated 
that but little light can hereafter be thrown upon them. Many of the 
causes that are known, are removable by the application of the know- 
ledge and skill of man. By every test that can be proposed, it may be 
proved that in certain cases the amount of sickness and the proportion 
of deaths have been diminished by the adoptiou of proper sanatory mea- 
sures. The following extract from the Sanitary Report of Massachu- 
setts, (pp. 248, 249,) will serve, for the present, to prove this:— 
“ Sanitary improvements in England first began in the navy. It is 
observed, in a sanitary report, that so dreadful was once the condition 
of the royal navy, that, in the year 1726, when Admiral Hosier-sailed 
with seven ships of the line to the West Indies, he buried his ships’ 
Compani.es twice, and died himself of a broken heart. Amongst the 
pictures'there presented,—as in ‘Anson’s voyages, l740-’44,’—were 
those of deaths to the amount of eight or ten a day, in a moderate ship’s 
company;—bodies sown up in hammocks, and washing about the decks, 
for want of strength and spirit on the part of the miserable survivors 
to cast them overboard. V V 
“In 1779, the proportion of deaths in the royal navy, was 1 in 8 of 
the employed; in 1811, the proportion was 1 in 32 of the employed; 
and from 1830 to 1836, the average number of deaths annually, was 1 
in 72 of the employed. And in this calculation, the deaths from all 
sources are included;—from wounds, drowning and all other external 
causes, as well as from disease. From the latter source, the deaths 
were in proportion of 1 in 85 of the number employed, annually. 
These figures are eloquent beyond any words that can be employed. 
They excite—as they are fitted to excite, especially at first sight—our 
wonder. They ought, however, to occasion more of gratitude than astonish- 
ment, because the causes of the difference are not difficult to determine, 
and because almost all that appears in favor of recent times, is due to 
the superior intelligence and humanity infused into the administration 
of the navy. 
“Equally good effects have followed the sanitary reforms in the Bri- 
tish army. The mortality among the British troops at Hong Kong, in 
1842, was at the rate of 19 per cent., or 190 in 1,000; in 1843, it 
was 22 per cent, or 220 in 1,000 ; and in 1844, it was per cent, 
or 135 in 1,000. But during these years the garrison was very badly 
accommodated; in 1845 their accommodation was very much im- 
proved, and the mortality diminished to per cent, or 85 in 1,000 ; 
and since that time the troops having been lodged in what may be 
termed, from their excellence, “ model barracks,” their mortality at once 
dropped down to per cent., or 25 in 1,000 ; at a rate not much ex- 
ceeding that of stations estimated healthy. Since the adoption of the 
measures proposed by Dr. R. Jackson, * * * the dimi- 
nution in the rate of sickness and mortality has been such as to justify 
the assertion, that, if this measure had been carried into effect at the 
time it was first urged by him, the lives of from 8,000 to 12,000 men 
would have been saved ;-—a sufficient lesson, one Would think, to our 8 
Monograph. 
authorities, not to delay the introduction of improvements which ex- 
perienced medical officers concur in urgently recommending.” 
This shows that efficient measures will promote the public health ; 
and it is equally susceptible of proof, that sickness and death, in an in- 
creased degree, and beyond that which is natural to man, and normal 
to the locality, is the penalty that every community must pay for the 
neglect of those sanitary requirements that are peculiarly adapted to 
its situation. The penalty is a costly one, and estimated in any way 
in which it can be turned into dollars and cents, would be found to 
exceed, by far, the most lavish expenditure for the most costly hygienic 
appliances. The cost of the preventible sickness and deaths that have 
occurred in New-Orleans for the last ten years, doubtless exceeds that 
of the total public expenditure on all other accounts. The persons who 
have died, and whose deaths should have been prevented, would have 
placed ours as the third city of the Union, and their lives would have 
enriched us vastly more than the deaths of the few—very few—who 
have been unwarily attracted here by the assertions of the salubrity of 
the city. The cost of the Charity Hospital alone, during eight years, 
(I842-’49,) has amounted to nearly half a million of dollars. The 
cost of your Orphan Asylums I do not know—but it must be enormous. 
To these items should be added a certain portion, which cannot be es- 
timated, of the cost of your police system and judiciary department; for 
who can tell how much of the crime has been due to the poverty caused 
by sickness and death, widowhood and orphanage, and the want of pa- 
rental control and education? The number of beggars upon your 
streets has, of late, increased to such a degree, as to have become a 
public nuisance, and your public press begins to demand effectual mea- 
sures for its suppression. None can say how much of this pauperism is the 
result of the prevalence of disease, but especially of cholera, which is 
well known to carry off’ a larger proportion of those in the prime of 
life than of any other class. Public opinion should commence by fol- 
lowing out this pauperism to its cause ; and if it be found to depend, 
in a considerable degree, upon the mortality of the city, it is evident 
that the most effectual means for its suppression will be the improve- 
ment of our sanitary condition. 
An accurate investigation into the vital statistics of any region of coun- 
try, involves blit few, though very precise and definite, principles ; but it 
requires a very large number and an important body of facts, constitu- 
ting the data to which the principles are to be applied. The facts re- 
quisite are, first, the total number of the population, as well as the num- 
ber of the different classes of the community, according to sex, age, Simonds on the Sanitary Condition of New-Orleans. 
9 
place of birth, length of residence, pecuniary circumstances, or social 
condition. Second, the number of births from this population, specify- 
ing the sexes, still-births, etc. Third, the number of deaths, and their 
causes, as respects not only the total population, but also that of the 
different classes of the community, viz, the sexes and ages. These data 
being accurately known, the vital statistics of a community would in- 
volve a very simple arithmetical calculation, which, however, would 
clearly indicate the actual and relative condition of the different classes 
of the community. Without a complete system for the registration of 
every birth, marriage, and death, the vital statistics of every locality 
must be imperfect; but with the register of the dead, and the census 
returns, an approximation may be made sufficiently accurate to indicate 
generally the degree of salubrity of different localities. 
These data, viz : the number of the dead, and that of the living popu- 
lation, may be obtained frerfff* almost all cities, and must be assumed to 
be correct until errors are specifically pointed out, and fully proved.* 
The ratio of the number of the population, and the number dying du- 
ring a certain year, constitutes the mortality for that year, which, of 
course, will not so correctly express the degree of salubrity of any place 
as the average of several successive years ; and in comparing different 
localities, the greater the number of years of which the average is taken, 
the more correct will be the comparison. W7hile I have the mortuary 
statistics of other cities, extending through a sufficient number of years, 
to deduce a fair and correct average mortality, I have only been able to 
obtain for New-Orleans a continuous record for four and a third years ; 
which must, therefore, for the present, be adopted as approximating to the 
true mortality of this city. 
Population of New-Orleans :— 
City census March, 1847, - 94,526 
State “ August, 1847, - - 79,503 
United States do., July, 1850, - 116,407 
Population of Lafayette by the United States census :— 
1840 - - - 3,207 
1850 13,350 
The census of the city of New-Orleans was taken by the city autho- 
rities in March, 1847, and amounted to 94,526. In the same year, 
in August, it was taken by order of the State, and amounted to 
* It is worthy of remark, that the officers are sworn to perform their duty, and to 
take the census as correctly as possible, and that, being paid in proportion to the 
number obtained, they have no reason to underrate the population. 10 
Monograph. 
79,503. The United States census, nominally referred to July 1st, 
1850, but really completed during the past winter, will not differ 
much from 116,407. The mean of these three censuses, is 96,812, 
which may be fairly considered the average population of New-Orleans 
during the four and one-third years of which the deaths are known. Let 
it not be said that this underrates our true population. If the data 
furnished by the censuses are sufficiently correct to constitute the basis 
of taxation, of representation, and of the apportionment of the school 
fund, etc.,—if these censuses approximate sufficiently for all political 
and politico-economical purposes, why impugn their correctness when 
applied to the more important uses of the statist, in determining the 
hygiene and sanitary condition of the city? 
I have not been able to obtain the census of Lafayette, as taken by 
the State in 1847, hut if we assume that the population increased uni- 
formly from 1840, the total of both cities would average, for the last 
five years, 106,885. Referring the population of New-Orleans, as taken 
by the city in March, 1847, to the year 1846, the following table will 
show the population for each of the last five years :— 
Estimated population of New-Orleans and Lafayette :— 
New- Orleans. Lafayette. Both. 
1846 - 94,526 - - 7,546 - - 102,072 
1847 - 79,503 - - 8,703 - - 88,206 
1848 - 90,276 - - 10,037 - - 100,313 
1849 - 102,509 - - 11,575 - - 114,084 
1850 - 116,407 - - 13,350 - - 129,757 
The mean population of New-Orleans during this period is, therefore, 
96,644 ; of Lafayette, 10,242; and of both cities, 106,886. We must 
now see what number of deaths occurred among this population. 
Interments, as shown hy the Dead-Books of the Board of Health of 
JVeic- Orleans, and the Sexton’s Book for Lafayette Cemetery. 
1846, August 30th, to January 2d, 1847, - - 1,489 
1847, January 2d, 7,515 
1848, to April 30th, - 1,915 
9,430 
From the tables of diseases, - - - 10,919 
BOOKS OF NEW-ORLEANS BOARD OF HEALTH. Simonds on the Sanitary Condition of Neic-Orleans. 
1848, May 1st, to 1849, April 30th, - - 9,346 
1849, May 1st, to 1850, April 30th, 7,352 
Lafayette, Jan. 1st, to April 30th, 173 
7,179 
f 1850, May 1st, to December 31st, ... 5?488 
22,013 
LAFAYETTE CEMETERY. 
1846, September 1st, to December 31st, 281 
1847, January 1st, to Do. - - 1,654 
1848, Do. Do. - - 784 
1849, Do. Do. - - 1,716 
1850, Do. April 30th, - - 418 
4,853 
From examination of names, - - - - 26,866 
37,785 
The details of the preceding table are given, that the amount may be 
verified, if desired ; and it is arranged to agree, as nearly as possible, 
with the arrangement of the records. For the interments in the Lafay- 
ette Cemetery, I am indebted to the courtesy of Mr. Hicks, the sexton. 
It must be observed, that of the 37,78 5 deaths during the four and 
one-third years included in the table, 26,866 are directly obtained from' 
the recorded names of the dead ; the other 10,919 are from the tabular 
statements of disease ; but all are derived from the manuscript records, 
to avoid the danger of typographical errors. The number of deaths is, 
therefore, certainly not over-estimated, but is known to fall short of the 
truth, inasmuch as it does not include the deaths in the Hebrew ceme- 
tery in Lafayette, (except for eight months,) nor the bodies of those 
dying in the Charity Hospital, where two are frequently placed in the 
same coffin, and only one reported to the Board of The total, 
* Those from New-Orleans being only reported, 
f Includes all interred in Lafayette. 
t Without attempting, at this time, to estimate the additions to be made on these 
accounts, I will simply state that the report of the Board of Health, for 1849, shows 
that 2,745 died in the Charity Hospital, while only 2,304 were interred in its ceme- 
tery. A small portion of the difference were interred by friends in other cemeteries. 
In 1850, there died 1,884 in the Hospital, while 1,446 were interred in its cemetery, 
according to the report of the Board of Heatth. 12 
Monograph. 
however, approximates to truth, and no more is required to show the 
fearful mortality of New-Orleans. We must next calculate the average 
annual mortality for this period, viz., the last four and one-third years. 
The total of the annual population for four years, with one-third of 
the population for 1846, amounts to 466,384 ; the deaths amounting 
to 37,785, would therefore give, as the average annual mortality of 
New-Orleans and Lafayette, 8.10 per cent., or 1 in every 12, nearly. 
If we take the number given by the United States census, as the average 
population of the entire period, the mortality would be reduced to 6.7 
per cent. Even if we were to take the highest numbers that have ever 
been obtained as the average population for the entire period, via., for 
Lafayette, as above, and for this city, as taken by its authorities in Feb- 
ruary, 1851, including one thousand added by order of the Council, it 
would only amount to 135,301 : and the mortality would be reduced 
to 6.4 per cent., a number sufficiently high to prove a greater mortality 
than that of any other city, but still far below the truth. In order to 
know whether this mortality be excessive, let us see what the statistics 
of other cities show. 
I here present the mortality of the cities of the United States, care- 
fully calculated by myself from authentic data. The data, the princi- 
ples of the calculation, and the authorities, will be hereafter published, 
the result only being here given. 
Average Annual Mortality of various Cities of the United States. 
Boston, 30 years, 1811 to 1849, - - 2.4572 
Lowell, 13 “ 1836 to 1848, - - 2.1104 
New-York, 45 “ 1805 to 1849, - - 2.9622 
■—"The following note from Dr. McGibbon, one of the physicians of the Charity 
Hospital, confirms my statement, and furnishes important statistical details of a 
department of which no other records have been preserved: 
K The number of women delivered in the Charity Hospital, between the first of 
April and the first of November, 1850, was seventy-five. Three of these had twins: 
making the number of children born there in that period, seventy-eight: of this 
number there were thirty-three males, and thirty-seven females : the sex of the rest 
was not noted. Ten of the seventy-eight were still-born, and of this number the 
greater part were premature births ; twenty-one were cut off between the first and 
ninth day, and, with but a few exceptions, all these died with Trismus Nascentium. 
If we include the children still-born, this will give the large number of thirty-one, 
which is not far from being one-half of the children born within that Institution, in 
that period : or if these be excluded, we have still a mortality exceeding thirty per 
cent., occurring at that early period of infantile life. 
As no record is kept in the Hospital books, of the children, who, born in the Insti- 
tution, die there, so there is no reason to believe that any of the above deaths were 
ever inserted on the mortality bills of the city. 
The custom with the Hospital is to place these bodies in a coffin with a larger one; 
the latter alone being entered in the sexton’s book at the cemetery. This is done 
to lessen expenses.” Simonds on the Sanitary Condition of New-Orleans. 
13 
Philadelphia, 34 years, 1807 to 1840, - - 2.5510 
Baltimore, 14 “ 1836 to 1849, - - 2.4917 
Charleston, 27 “ 1822 to 1848 
"Whites, 2.4826 
Blacks, 2.6458 
Both. 2,5793 
Savannah, . 8 “ 1840 to 1847, Whites, 4.1616 
New-Orleans, 4£ “ 1846 to 1850, - - 8.1017 
Annual Average Mortality of Other Places. 
* Massachusetts, 1847-48, - - - • 1.59 
f Twelve counties of England, .... 1.93 
f Twenty-six Cities Do. - - - - 2.72 
J London, 
j Males, 2.74 
(Females, 2.31 
J Liverpool, 
j Males, ..... g.53 
/ Females, ..... 3.15 
§ Liverpool, 1850, - - - - - 2.73 
§ Manchester, 
[ Males, 3.65 
Females, - 3.31 
It will be seen that the mortality of New-Orleans is nearly double 
that of Savannah, the highest on the list, two and four-fifths times 
greater than that of New-York, and more than three times that of any 
other city. I must confess my surprise at the great mortality of Savan- 
nah, and must add that it is highly probable that its mortality in former 
times was even greater, but I have not the data for the calculation. I 
have the deaths of whites annually from the year 1810, but have been 
unable to obtain the numbers of the white population of the city, an- 
terior to 1840; I must also add, that I have not yet examined the 
mortality of Mobile, for a similar reason. 
But it may be said, that the year 1847, should not be included, 
as it was a very unusual year, nor the cholera period, of 1848-’49, as this 
also constitutes an exception to the general healthiness of JNTew-Orleans. 
I reply first, that the cholera and all other epidemics are included in 
the calculations for the other cities;—but let us enter into a more ac- 
curate calculation on these points. The year 1849 is generally con- 
sidered in New-Orleans, a healthy year, cholera excepted, as has been 
repeatedly asserted by the medical profession and the press. During 
this Philadelphia, with a population three times that of New-Or- 
* Calculated from Registration Reports, 
t Dr. Jarvis on Vital Force.—Appendix. 
t M’Culloch’s British Empire. 
§ Chambers’ Edinburgh Journal, March 1, 1851. 14 
Monograph. 
leans, had fewer deaths by four hundred, and even if we deduct the 
deaths from cholera in the latter, the mortality of Philadelphia, com- 
pared with the population, was but one-half that of New-Orleans. From 
10,661 deaths in New-Orleans and Lafayette, during the year, deduct 
3,285* deaths from cholera and cholera morbus—there remains 6,577 ; 
taking the population at 115,000, the mortality would be (excluding 
cholera) 5.719 per cent. 
Again, let us take the year 1850. Our daily press announced to 
the world the continued healthiness of the city, the citizens rejoiced in 
its salubrity, and the medical profession were for the most part idle 
during the year. The Board of Health state that the cases of yellow fever 
were so few as scarcely to deserve notice; that cholera was at no time 
epidemic, and if any epidemic prevailed, it was dengue, which is not a 
fatal disease. The Mayor says, in a message to the General Council, as 
published in the official newspaper:— 
“It affords me much pleasure to observe that the city has been per- 
fectly healthy during the past year, and free from all epidemic. This 
gratifying fact is in part attributable to the opening and laying out of 
streets in the rear of the city, a measure that must contribute not ouly 
to the increased salubrity, but also to the prosperity of New-Orleans; 
at the same time it is due to state, that this exemption from disease is 
also to be ascribed, in a marked degree, to the energy of the Board of 
Health, who, with comparative limited means at their disposal, have 
accomplished everything that could be done towards improving the 
sanitary condition of the community. 
The regular weekly publications of the deaths by the Board, have 
not been without their effect, in checking the unfounded state- 
ments that were formerly circulated in regard to the mortality of New- 
Orleans, proving, as they have done, that with the rare exception of 
epidemics, to which all large cities are liable, we can lay claim to as 
great a share of health as is enjoyed by equally populous communities.” 
This, then, is a favorable year, and we can surely take this one as a 
test, and parade it it before the world as a proof of the general salubri- 
ty of New-Orleans. The tables published by the Board of Health give 
7,819 deaths ; I can show omissions,f of which no notice is made in 
* The deaths from cholera in Lafayette are unknown ; the interments from New- 
Orleans, are, however, included in this number. 
t Exceptions having been taken to this remark, I annex the following extract 
from the remarks of Dr. Fenner, accompanying the portions of the paper published 
in his annual reports:— 
“ As to the discrepancy between the Board of Health and Dr. Sinionds, in regard 
to the total mortality of the year in the two cities, it was a simple omission on the 
part of the Board to obtain all the interments at the Lafayette cemetery, and arose 
from the fact that the keeper of the cemetery was not required to furnish full reports Simonds on the Sanitary Condition of New-Orleans. 
15 
the report, which would make the aggregate 8,086, being but 700 less 
than the average of the last four and one-third years, including the eholera 
and the yellow fever of 1847. The mortality, therefore, of the healthy 
(for New-Orleans) year, 1850, was 6.22 percent. This must convince 
the most skeptical. If New-Orleans is healthy, when one in every six- 
teen persons die, and when the admissions to the Charity Hospital 
amount to one in every seven inhabitants, or 14.1 per cent.,then should 
we be informed what would be admitted to be an unhealthy year, and 
what number of deaths is requisite to prove the insalubrity of this place. 
Again, bearing in mind that the population of New-Orleans and La- 
fayette is less than 130,000, and that during the healthy year, 1850, 
the deaths amounted to 8,08 look at with a population 
of 370,000, nearly thi’ee times that of New-Orleans, the deaths only 
amounted in 1850, to 10,123 ; compared with the population, the mor- 
tality of this year was in Liverpool 2.736 percent.—of New-Orleans, 
6.220 per cent.; or, while in every 1,000 sixty-two died in New-Or- 
leans, only twenty-seven died in Liverpool. It has been said that the 
deaths in New-Orleans occur among those merely passing through the 
city, but Liverpool is the place of emigration for the greater part of all 
the Irish emigrants to all parts of the world. In fact, during the fa- 
mine in Ireland, it is estimated that at one time there were in Liverpool 
100,000 Irish paupers, men, women and children. 
We, in New-Orleans, consider the past few weeks a period of unex- 
ampled health ; let us, then, compare the weekly statement of deaths 
here with those in Boston: 
Deaths in Boston. N. Orleans and Lafayette. 
Week ending, 1851, Feb. 22 *70 132 
March 1, - 78 - - - 135 
“ 8, - 77 - - - 135 
“ 15, - 70 - - - 148 
“ 22, 69 157 
“ 29, - 74 - - - 127 
April 5, - 81 - - - 140 
“ 12, - 71 - - - 162 
“ 19, - 57 - - - 180 
647 1,319 
weekly, until the 1st of May, when the new law went into operation. Previous to 
th at time, he furnished, by request, only such as died in New-Orleans and were bu 
rie d in Lafayette Such are the facts—as I have found on examination.” 
The deaths in Boston are obtained from the Boston Medical and 16 
Monograph. 
Surgical Journal, where are given full details of the causes of death, 
Avith the sex, age, and nativity ; the deaths for New-Orleans are from a 
statement of the Secretary of the Board of Health, but the sum of the 
details is three less than the total given by him. 
According to the late United States census, the city of Boston con- 
tains 8,000 more persons than the cities of New-Orleans and Lafayette, 
in which, during nine weeks of our healthy season, the deaths are more 
than double those of Boston. It is the duty of the Board of Health to 
investigate this subject thoroughly, to point out the causes of this large 
mortality, the classes of the community among whom it prevails, and 
the parts of the city in which it exists. It might point out the number 
dying without medical assistance, and the kind of medical aid ; the 
length of time sick, and the period of residence here. The certificates 
are, I knoAV, very defective upon many of these points, but until the 
Board makes use of the data furnished, it cannot expect that the medi- 
cal profession will render them more full. The publications of the 
Board only serve to prove an excessive mortality, Avithout enabling 
any one to trace it to its source, that a remedy may be proposed. 
These various comparisons show an unparalleled Avaste of human 
life, and it certainly demands immediate and efficient action from the 
city authorities. 
It is to be regretted that the hygiene of the city has failed to receh'e 
at the hands of those to Avhom it has been entrusted, that degree of at- 
tention to which its importance entitled it. It is to be deeply deplored 
that, judging from the manner in Avhich the mortuary statistics have 
been neglected, their value has not been duly appreciated, nor their 
bearing upon the sanitary condition of the city thoroughly im'estigated 
and fully developed. 
It is necessary for me to criticise rather severely the last annual re- 
port of the Board of Health.* My strictures refer to but tAvo topics,— 
the tables accompanying the report, and so much of the report (about 
four pages) as summarily disposes of the important question of the sani- 
* I have but exercised an indisputable right in criticising the report of our own 
Board of Health, but some may think that the minuteness with which I have speci- 
fied their errors, is unnecessary. I must, therefore, add, and it will be but justice to 
our Board of Health to state, that similar erroneous principles pervade the reports 
of other cities. Dr. Wynne complains of the arrangement of the reports of Balti- 
more. The reports for New-York for 1848 and 1849, now before me, and even 
those of Boston, if the specimen given by Mr. Shattuck in the census of Boston be 
still followed, are open to the same complaints. The reports in Charleston are the 
best I have seen, but they err in a want of detail. My strictures, therefore, may do 
good elsewhere. Simonds on the Sanitary Condition of New-Orleans. 
17 
tary condition of the city. The remainder of the report, devoted to 
the investigation of “ the means to improve and preserve the health” of 
the city, meets, generally my approbation, and deserves commendation 
for noticing fully and fearlessly various topics pertaining to the im- 
provement of its sanitary regulations. It scarcely does justice to the 
subject of the supply of water to New-Orleans, but we cannot go fully 
into this subject at present, and therefore drop it. 
We must also express our decided disapprobation of the recommen- 
dation to require privies to be dug to the depth of fifteen feet. We had 
better try to remove, as speedily as possible, their contents, than pro- 
vide for its accumulation for years, in such a state as to be always a 
nuisance. Experience would soon demonstrate the impropriety of the 
measure, for such privies would be constantly full of water, and would, 
during very wet weather, overflow, even in the highest parts of the city. 
In the remarks made upon the report of the Board of Health, I have 
regarded it as an official document ; and I must add, that, considering 
it a fair exposition of the sentiments of the community, upon the subject 
of the healthiness of New-Orleans, I have referred to it more particu- 
larly, as the only tangible statement of this sentiment which I feel com- 
pelled to labor to controvert, for the good of the community. With 
many of the members of the Board I have no acquaintance, and of 
some, do not even know the names. For those with whom I am ac- 
quainted, I have the highest respect, as individuals, and I refer solely to 
the official acts of the Board, as a public body, without knowing how 
many of its individual members may disapprove of its official acts. 
The Board of Health have deemed it unnecessary “ to go into pro- 
found researches and philosophical speculations connected with the 
obituary reports;” though how they can determine the health of the city 
for the preceding year without “ profound researches,” and a thorough 
and complete analysis of the “ causes of death,” is not stated. It appears 
to think that its first duty is to assert the healthiness of New-Orleans ; 
and its second duty, to furnish such tables that none can easily contro- 
vert their position. I have, however, completely analysed them, and 
proceed to give some of the results, with some strictures upon the tables. 
If a Board of Health desired to mystify the facts and conceal the truths 
furnished by tables of mortality, it should carefully copy the example given 
in the tables accompanying the late report of our Board. In the first 
place, the several tables given do not correspond with each other, nor with 
the sum of the details. In the next place, an alphabetical arrangement of 18 
Monograph. 
the causes of death is adopted; the objection* to which are too impor- 
tant to be overlooked. It causes the introduction of synonymous terms 
and of numerous names so nearly synonymous and so seldom used, 
that they should be embodied under other designations. It separates 
diseases similar, and even identical in nature and cause. It places in 
juxtaposition, diseases the most dissimilar, because their initial letters 
happen to be the same.f This is, in fact, the principle of an alphabeti- 
cal arrangement, than which there can be none worse. If, however, the 
diseases were carefully condensed, under the smallest possible number 
of terms, and if aggregates only were given, the defects of arrangement 
would not be so glaring. 
The deaths are given for each sex of white and colored, separately, 
and each of them is divided into adults and children. It is not stated, 
however, at what age the period of childhood is supposed to end, and 
that of adult age to begin. This is very important, and should have 
been distinctly stated. I have calculated it, from the tables given, at 
fifteen years of age, which differs from the division formerly made in 
the reports of the Board, when the numbers were stated under and over 
ten years of age. The age of fifteen is to be preferred, if the census tables 
furnish the numbers at the same period, otherwise it will not be possible 
to determine the relative prevalence of different diseases at different 
ages. 
Notwithstanding the extent of the tables, one cannot, without calcu- 
lation, (and sometimes a most laborious calculation,) answer any one of 
the following questions:—What is the total number of deaths in any 
month ? the total number of any disease ? the total number at any 
named age ? the number of females ? of children ? of colored ? or 
even the number interred in a particular cemetery. In one word, 
the tables of the Board furnish numerous details from which might be 
compiled valuable tables, but in their present form, they are of no other 
use than to perplex and mislead those who may have occasion to refer 
* These objections were illustrated by special references, which are given in Fen- 
ner’s Southern Medical Reports, ii, but they pervade, to a greater or less degree, 
every alphabetical arrangement of diseases. 
\ Notwithstanding the great objections to an alphabetical arrangement of dis- 
eases, a feeble attempt has been made to argue against a classified arrangement. 
The only instance adduced is that of apoplexy, and the argument runs thus : because, 
forsooth, some cases depend upon organic disease of the heart, and some are due to 
the disease of the arteries of the brain, ergo, apoplexy should not be considered a 
disease of the brain, but should be classed as a disease beginning with the letter A. 
Hereafter, then, we must not expect to find apoplexy treated of in works on diseases 
of the brain. Simonds on the Sanitary Condition of Neiv-Orleans. 
19 
to them. This is not right: the Board has the power and the means 
to pay for the compilation of tables that would present every useful ar.d 
necessary fact pertaining to the mortuary records in so plain a light, 
that no further labor would be necessary ; and such are the tables that 
it should put forth. 
The preceding remarks on the tables of the Board of Health, require 
an exposition of the true principles of classification. In establishing a 
system of classification for diseases, the first thing to be distinctly set 
forth is the object for which the classification is proposed, as the prin- 
ciples of classification must differ according to the end in view. The 
classifications of nosologists were doubtless first undertaken for the 
purpose of acquiring a clear and distinct view of the symptoms of dis- 
eases, with reference to their identification or diagnosis ; and, secondly, 
as to the nature of morbid action with reference to the treatment of 
disease or practical medicine. When the science of medicine is to be 
taught to another, these principles must be kept in view, and must form 
the foundation of a classification for the purpose of instruction in the art 
of practical medicine. It is on these principles, therefore, that all sys- 
tems of nosology have been constructed, and they have been proposed 
by practitioners of medicine, and constituted the only arrangements of 
diseases, until (as far as I am aware) about the year 1838. 
In the year 1836, the Parliament of Great Britain passed a law re- 
quiring the registration of all births, marriages and deaths, in England 
and Wales. This threw into the hands of government a vast mass of 
materials, which required to be arranged, condensed and generalized. 
The officials on whom this duty devolved, were not necessarily medical 
men—they were clerks, and it soon became obvious that proper ar- 
rangements would diminish greatly their labor. What, then, was re- 
quired of them ? But first, what was the matter in hand ? Leaving 
out of consideration, as at present irrelevant to this discussion, the 
births and marriages, there was placed in their hands a vast number of 
names of diseases; they had nothing to do with the diagnosis of par- 
ticular diseases ; neither did pathological theories nor therapeutical re- 
lations enter into the sphere of their investigations. They simply had to 
work with amass of recorded names, which might or might not convey 
an intelligible idea to those required to reduce them to order. What, 
then, was the object proposed in the collection of these names, and for 
what purpose were they to be used? 
The object of the registration was to obtain facts from which to as- 
certain the sanitary condition of the country, and this knowledge was 20 
Monograph. 
to be applied to the enactment of sanatory* regulations, i. e., to the re- 
moval of the causes of disease. A system of classification was therefore 
required, differing essentially from that of nosologists. The objects were, 
then, first, to diminish the number of names, by bringing together the 
multitude of synonymes which different nosologists have proposed, 
that their systems might supersede previous theories. This ob- 
ject, as well as other considerations, required, secondly, that the 
proposed arrangement should, to a certain extent, conform to the 
nature of the diseases; but, thirdly, as the chief object of the whole, 
that the causes of disease, as prevailing in different localities, with 
different degrees of intensity, should be kept prominently in view. 
Mr. Farr, (who has since shown himself an eminent statist,) then 
but an assistant in the office, proposed a system, the outlines of 
which may be given in a few words. Taking all these causes of death, 
not diseases, he formed a class of external causes of death; the still- 
born and old age also constituted separate classes. He then selected from 
the catalogue of diseases, cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, endemic fevers, 
eruptive fevers, erysipelas, syphilis, and formed them into a class which 
he entitled zymotic, and which, depending for their development upon 
local circumstances and hygienic condition, may be taken as the index 
to the sanitary condition of different places. This class includes all epi- 
demic, endemic and contagious diseases; all other diseases wrere con- 
sidered sporadic, and were distributed into classes according to the or- 
gans affected ; one class being specially assigned to diseases of general, 
variable or indeterminate seat. This class has sometimes been misused ; 
thus, Drs. DeSaussure and Dawson (in the “Census of Charleston”) have 
placed under dropsy, in this class, ascites, hydrothorax, etc. The class 
is, we think, intended only for anasarca, and for those cases reported 
under the vague denomination, dropsy. Dr. Emerson has done the 
same thing, and under the title inflammation, has included all the 
phlegmasioe. It may sometimes be advisable to collect together and 
present in a supplementary table, similar diseases; in other words, to 
carry as fully as possible, the arrangement of diseases according to their 
nature; but this should not be allowed to interfere with a different 
arrangement, and every good arrangement requires that each disease 
should be named once, and but once. 
The English system was recommended by a committee of the Ameri- 
can Medical Convention, with but few alterations, of which the change to 
an alphabetical arrangement of the diseases of each class is far from 
* Sanitary, pertaining to health—(passive.) 
Sanatory, conducing to health—(active.) Simonds on the Sanitary Condition of New-Orleans. 
21 
meeting my approbation. The same reasons which may be urged in 
favor of a classification of diseases, apply equally to the arrangement 
of the diseases in each class. The English statist had followed this 
principle, and the transition from one disease to the next was less vio- 
violent than necessarily happens in an alphabetical arrangement. 
Thus, the classifications in use adopted the principle of classing toge- 
ther diseases according to their causes, to a limited extent only: exter- 
nal causes and zymotic diseases being the only classes to which it was 
applied. It is really surprising that no other attempt than that of Mr. 
Farr, has been made to apply and extend this principle. The English 
and American systems possess, however, a greater defect than the mere 
want of completeness : they are incorrect, inasmuch as the classes do 
not possess the same degree and extent of generalization. The diseases 
comprehended in the several classes being regarded as species, the 
several classes of sporadic diseases are genera, and together would form 
an order—but the classes of zymotic diseases and external causes not 
being sub-divided, are ranked with the other classes as genera, though 
they really are orders. It is easier to perceive the discordancy when 
compared with a correct arrangement, than to explain it briefly, while 
only looking at the system alone. I shall therefore proceed to expound 
the system which was proposed in the report already referred to, and 
which I now follow. 
All the deaths reported are first divided into those of specified and 
unspecified causes of death, and I throw into the latter all errors; that 
is, after enumerating the specified causes, these deducted from the total 
will leave the unspecified. This should be necessary only in re-arranging 
printed tables, where typographical errors render it almost impossible 
to make the sum of the details correspond accurately with the true totals; 
but it would also be convenient in the preparation of tables from original 
data, wdiere the error is so small as not to require an entire revisal of 
the work accomplished. 
The specified causes are next separated into three divisions—zymotic, 
sporadic, and external causes of death. The first embracing nearly all 
epidemic, endemic and contagious diseases, which depend for their pre- 
valence upon local causes, or those more widely diffused terrestrial, 
meteoric or other occult causes, rendering one place less salubrious 
than another, constitutes the standard by which to compare different 
localities, and to determine their relative salubrity. The second em- 
bracing nearly all other diseases, and those depending upon the consti- 
tution and peculiar organization of the individual, is the standard for a 
comparison of the different races, sexes, etc. The causes of death em* 22 
Monograph. 
braced in the third division, render it a good standard to compare the 
social and moral condition of the inhabitants of different localities. 
Each of these divisions, as I call them, are subdivided into classes. 
The zymotic division has three classes—the first, being intended to 
contain the deaths from any disease which may prevail as an epidemic* 
is contingent, and will generally be blank; the second, embracing cho- 
lera, diarrhoea, dysentery, fevers, (except puerperal and scarlet,) erysi- 
pelas, influenza or catarrh, thrush, cholera infantum, croup and dengue, 
is entitled endemic, and is peculiarly the class for comparison of the 
mortality of different places, with reference to local causes of disease ; 
the third class has been separated from the zymotic class of other sta- 
tists, and is the one to which the term zymotic peculiarly belongs ; but 
the name has been bestowed upon the division to conform as nearly as 
may be to established usage. This class, embracing hooping cough, 
scarlatina, measles, vaccination, small pox, mumps, will contain only 
those diseases to which the human race is everywhere subject, and 
which, having been once suffered, afford thereafter perpetual immunity, 
except in a few rare cases; it has been named Monoxysmal, signifying 
that its attacks are experienced but once, and that no second paroxysm 
is to be expected. 
The second division, or sporadic diseases, depend upon such occult 
causes that it cannot, at present, be subdivided in accordance therewith; 
it is, therefore subdivided according to the organs or parts affected. It 
contains thirteen classes, of which one is assigned to diseases of general 
variable, or uncertain seat, and to this no disease should be referred 
whose designation is so explicit as to permit a reference to other classes. 
To this class anaemia and teething have been transferred, as being too 
vague to admit of reference to the classes in which they have been 
hitherto embraced. For the special diseases included in this and the 
following classes, reference may be made to -the- 
0oulh,ein,1tfediL,gl~Rq>i7UL, ii. OT 70. > 
Instead of diseases of the generative system, two classes are pro- 
.posed—diseases peculiar to males, and those peculiar to females—Xmder 
the latter, diseases of the female breast, and, with some hesitation, hys- 
teria. A special class is also assigned to the diseases of the organs of 
special sense, less for the few deaths attributed to these, than to render 
the classification sufficiently complete to be applicable to statistics of 
morbility and of hospitals. Deaths from old age, and the still-born, 
form separate classes under this division. 
The deaths from external causes, forming the third division, are sub- 
divided into three classes, the first of which (Class xvii.) is entitled Simonds on the Sanitary Condition of New-Orleans. 
23 
Casualties. It includes accidents, injuries, concussions and compressions 
of the brain, fractures, drowned, burns and scalds, as well as those dying 
of meteoric conditions ;—the killed by lightning, cold, heat, sun-stroke, 
drinking cold water, exposure, and also those from the bites of venom- 
ous animals. In the next class should be included only those who are 
wilfully killed, but as the distinction is not generally made in reports, 
it may be assumed that those reported as poisoned and killed belong 
here, and also that all wounds be considered as connoting the result of 
the action of another person upon the body of the sufferer. This class 
is designated Exopathic ; implying that the cause of death originated 
without, and that the death is the result of the infliction of another 
person. The third class of this division is entitled Esopathic, and is 
intended to include those deaths resulting directly or indirectly from 
the actions of one’s self; it will therefore embrace suicide, the executed, 
considered as suffering justly from his own misconduct,—syphilis, as 
due to the individual’s violation of the laws of morality,—and delirium 
tremens and intemperance, as originating in a deficiency of the power 
of self-control. 
In accordance with this system of classification, the deaths in Boston, 
New-York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Charleston, for a series of years, 
and in New-Orleans for four years, have been arranged; and it is only 
to compare twenty classes and three divisions to see the relative mor- 
tality of these different cities. This examination shows, that in New- 
Orleans the mortality of nearly every class of diseases exceeds that of 
other cities ; and in the division of zymotic diseases, the proper standard 
for the comparison of different localities, the excess is frightful. The 
mortality from external causes, and from each class in this division, is 
also considerably above that of other cities. It is apparent, even from 
a perusal of the public prints, that the number of homicides in New- 
Orleans is very much greater than in other cities, and mortuary statis- 
tics prove the same fact. 
But we return to the table of mortality of 1850, and leave, for ano- 
ther occasion, a comparison of the mortality of different classes of 
disease. 
I have classed cholera as epidemic during the months of March, No- 
vember and December. The report of the Board of Health states that, 
“ during the year 1850, cholera has at no time been epidemic;” but it 
does not specify what number of deaths is sufficient to constitute an 
epidemic, in the opinion of the Board. In a report to the American 
Medical Association, (See Transactions, iii. 275,) I suggested the pro- 
priety of recording, in statistical tables, the prevalence of epidemics, by 24 
Monograph. 
establishing a distinct class therefor, and gave the following rule for de- 
termining when a disease was epidemic : “ The number of deaths for 
the preceding five years being known, the average for each month, week 
and day, could be calculated, and whenever the mortality from one 
disease equalled the average for the same period, the disease might be 
considered epidemic, and the period during which it possessed this cha- 
racter, should be noted in the reports.” To this rule I will now add 
that, in the calculation of the average, the mortality from preceding 
epidemics should be deducted. This becomes necessary for this city 
(though it can scarcely be necessary elsewhere), as the constant succes- 
sion of epidemics would place the average very much too high, the rule 
itself placing the epidemic point much higher than would be deemed 
necessary in any other place than New-Orleans, where a mortality at 
the rate of six per cent, per annum is so common, that the city must 
be considered healthy when it does not greatly exceed that rate. 
The deaths from cholera, during the year, amounted to 1,517, con- 
stituting one-fifth of the entire mortality ; of these 1,517 deaths from 
cholera, there were 1,245 whites, 272 colored; 962 males, 555 females; 
1,176 adults, 341 children. The deaths were distributed through the 
year as follows : in January, 128 ; February, 29; March, 415 ; April, 
75 ; May, 66 ; June, 40 ; July 12 ; August, 8 ; September; 45 ; Octo- 
ber, 101 ; November, 367; December, 231. 
To return to the question of the epidemic character of cholera during 
the past year. The statistical tables of New-Orleans are as yet too im- 
perfect to permit the application of the preceding rule; I have, there- 
fore, applied another principle. The mortality, per annum, from all 
diseases, of Liverpool, and of Manchester, is nearly three and one-half 
percent.; of London, Philadelphia and Charleston, S. C., about two 
and a half per cent.; of Boston, two and a quarter per cent.; of New- 
York city, two and three-quarters per cent. Let us, then, assume that 
a mortality at the rate of two per cent, per annum will entitle us to 
consider a disease epidemic. The population of New-Orleans and La- 
fayette, by the last United States census, is about 130,000, two per 
cent, on which would be 2,600, one-twelfth of which would be 216 per 
month. The deaths from cholera exceeded this number during the 
months of March, November and December, and it is therefore con- 
sidered epidemic during these months. During February, 1849, the 
deaths from cholera only amounted to 222. 
Whether the epidemic influence of cholera was equally felt by all 
classes of the community, is a question of some interest, that may be 
approximately determined by the tables now given. Simonds on the Sanitary Condition of New-Orleans. 
I find that for the period during which I have designated it as epi- 
demic, it prevailed in the following proportion per cent.:— 
Whites. 
80.5 
Colored. 
19.5 
Males. 
63.9 
Females. 
36.1 
Adults. 
75.1 
Children. 
24.9 
while, during the rest of the year, the proportion was as follows : 
Whites. 
85.3 
Colored. 
14.7 
Males. 
62.5 
Females. 
37.5 
Adults. 
82.3 
Children. 
17.7 
It therefore appears that during the months of March, November and 
December, the proportion of deaths from cholera, among- the colored 
and among children, was greater than during the rest of the year, 
showing that the morbific cause operated during this period with greater 
force upon the very classes of the community who are most stationary. 
LOSS BY DEATHS. 
Let us now attempt to estimate the loss sustained by the cities of 
New-Orleans and Lafayette during the last four and one-third years ; 
the deaths amounting to 37,785. Gangs of slaves are worth an ave- 
rage price of $400, and it cannot be considered extravagant to estimate 
our entire population as worth the same. Moreover, the table given 
below shows, among the deaths, a large preponderance of males, and of 
those in the prime of life, viz., from ten to sixty years of age. The 
deaths during this period, then, make a positive loss to the city of 
$15,114,000 capital. To this must be added the interest on the capi- 
tal, or the value of the labor of the adults who have died. During the 
two years, 1849 and 1850, the ages of those dying have been published 
by the Board of Health. From their tables we find that 61.80 percent, 
of all deaths at known ages occur between ten and sixty years : 43.21 
per cent, of the entire number being males, and 18.59 per cent, being- 
females, as shown by the annexed tabular statement:— 
N. 0. & Lafayette. 
Deaths. 
Proportion'percent. 
1849 and 1850. Total. Males. Females. Total. Males. Females. 
Under 10, 4,976 2,750 2,226 33.38 18.45 14.93 
10 to 60, 9,214 6,443 2,771 61.80 43.21 18.59 
Over 60, 719 373 346 4.82 2.50 2.32 
14,909 9,566 5,343 lOOiOO 64.16 35.84 
At least one-half of the females, who die between ten and sixty years 
of age, contribute to the maintenance of their families, and to the wealth 
of the city. We may therefore assume that fully one-half of the deaths 
are of the producing class of the community. Labor here commands Monograph. 
high wages, ranging from twelve to forty dollars per month; two hun- 
dred and ten dollars per annum will, then, be a low average for the 
value of the labor lost to the city, and this, in four and one-third years, 
will amount to, say $900. The loss of the labor of those who have 
died, then, amounts to $900 X (37,785-b2)=$l7,003,250. The loss 
by death in capital sunk, and the value of labor amounts to $32,117,250* 
COST OP DEATHS. 
But death brings to every family heavy expenses, and a certain 
amount of expense is incurred even in the death of a pauper. If we 
suppose eight rates, viz., 1, 2, 5, 15, 20, 30, 40 dollars, equally distribu- 
ted, would average $15, as the immediate cost of each death, and the 
total cost to the city, of the deaths, is 37,785 X$15=.$566,775. 
AMOUNT OP SICKNESS. 
In estimating the amount of sickness, we shall first state the esti- 
mates proposed elsewhere, though they cannot be adopted for this city. 
The estimates are based upon the number of deaths, and as the 
relation between sickness and death is not only far from being uniform, 
but varies greatly for every different disease, the ratio must differ for 
every locality presenting a different class of diseases. From observations 
of the prevalence of disease and the occurrence of deaths, during twelve 
years, in the public institutions in Lancashire, including Liverpool and 
Manchester, Dr. Lyon Playfair estimates that for each death there are 
tvvmty-eight cases of sickness, which he estimates to continue three 
weeks. Mr. Shattuck obtains a similar result from the cases treated 
during nine years in the Boston Dispensary, and adopts it in estimating 
the sickness of Boston. Mr. Farr considers that the number constantly 
sick is double the number dying in >a year, which, by supposing each 
to last three weeks and five days, will correspond with the other estimate. 
Mr. Neison’s investigations into the sickness and deaths experienced by 
the members of the Friendly Societies, gave seventeen cases to oue 
death, during the period of life from twenty to seventy years of age. 
It is evident that the question involved is but the determination of 
the average mortality of all diseases, and that the less the mortality 
the greater will be the number of cases to each death. It is very pro- 
bable that in Boston and England, there are at least thirty cases to 
each death, or that the average mortality of all diseases does not ex- 
ceed three and one-third per cent., for the estimates are based upon 
hospital and dispensary practice, in which the mortality must be greater ISimonds on the Sanitary Condition of New-Orleans. 
27 
than the average. Mr. Neison’s results are probably too low (the mor- 
tality being too high) for this reason, that while the deaths are all re- 
ported, the sickness reported to the Friendly Societies is only that which 
will entitle to the aid of the society, excluding that which does not dis- 
qualify from labor, and that does not continue a certain length of time. 
Perhaps, in some instances, so long a time as one week may be required 
by the rules of the society to constitute (technically) sickness. 
From the “ Statistical Report on the Sickness and Mortality of the 
United States Army,” published under the supervision of Surgeon-Gene- 
rhl Lawson, and compiled by the late Dr. Forry, the following facts 
have been collected at the expense of much labor.* During ten years 
ending with 1838, the number of cases treated by the medical officers 
was 136,108, among which the number of deaths was 1041, giving a 
mortality of 0.76 per cent, or one death to 130t7 cases; but 1629 deaths 
were reported to the Adjutant-General’s office (including those that 
never received medical assistancef) which would give a mortality of 1.19 
per cent, or one death to 83.5 cases of sickness. 
The following table shows the mortality of a large number of hospi- 
tals, with the sources from which it has been compiled. In presenting 
such statistics, it is important to preserve distinctly the period of time, 
the length of time, and the number of cases embraced in the observations, 
or very erroneous conclusions may be deduced from them. The mor- 
tality of large hospitals is not to be compared with that of small insti- 
tutions, nor that of more recent with former periods, but with certain 
allowances. The number of cases is preserved by the fraction, of which 
the denominator expresses the entire number among which occurred 
the deaths specified by the numerator. 
Mortality at various periods of various Hospitals. 
** All the Hospitals of Paris, 1822, 11.87 
f Ditto, 1840, 8.94 
* Hotel Dieu, 1804 a 1814, 22.32 
f “ 1816 a 1819, 19.73 
f “ 1820 a 1829, 14.77 
* Dr. Forry’s object being to illustrate the influence of climate, he deducted the 
deaths by cholera, suicide, etc., which,by examination of the details for each military 
post, I have re-combined with the total to determine the average mortality from all 
causes under all circumstances. 
t This discrepancy arises from the circumstance, that medical officers generally 
report the deaths on the sick list only, omitting those that occur suddenly, from ac- 
cidental causes or on detachments. Report, p. 72. 
** American Journal Med. Sciences O. S. iv. 4G1. 
* Bartlett in American Journal of Med. Sciences, 0. S. vols. ii, iii, iv. 
t Stewart on Hospitals. 28 
Monograph. 
f Hotel Dieu, 1830 a 1830, 11.71 
f “ 1840, 12.21 
f “ 1816 a 1840, 13.60 
* “ 1821 a 1822, «£-£ 15.41 
f Hotel Dieu annexe, 1840, 6.83 
* La Charite, 1804 a 1814, 13.92 
* “ 1821 a 1822, 16.49 
* “ 1840, 10.12 
* LaPitie, . 1804 a 1814, 22,22 
* “ 1821 a 1822, l~ 13.30 
f “ 1840, 9.05 
* St. Antoine, 1804 a 1814, 18.18 
* “ • 1821 a 1822, ~ 15.49 
f “ * 1840, 13.19 
* Chochin, 1804 a 1814, 13.33 
f “ 1828 a 1838, 14.28 
f “ 1840, 9.83 
* Necker, 1804 a 1814, 16.66 
f “ 1840, 9.95 
* Beaujon, 1804 a 1814, 18.18 
f “ 1840, 11.40 
f St. Louis, (cutaneous diseases) “ 5.49 
j- Du Midi, ( males, venereal “ ) “ 1.01 
•)• L’Ourcine, (females, “ “) “ 2.83 
* Des Enfans Malades, 1804 a 1814, 22.22 
f “ 1840, 22.88 
f De la Maternite, (lying-in) “ 3.65 
f Hotel Dieu. (lying-in wards,) 1814, 8.00 
f Des Cliniques, 1840, 6.48 
f Maison Royale de Sante (paying,) 1840, 16.00 
§ Maison RoyaledeCharenton (lunaties,)1826 a 1833, 
f Bicfitre, (aged ind. and lun. males,) 1840, 14.28 
f La Salpdtriere, (“ “ females,) 1840, 20.00 
f Des Femmes incurables, 1840, 12.00 
f Des Enfans Trouves, 1793 a 1795, 79.22 
f “ 1837, ~ 26.66 
f “ 1840, ~ 25.98 
* Bartlett in American Journal of Med. Sciences, 0. S. vols. ii. iii. iv. 
•j- Stewart on Hospitals. 
§ Esquirol, as quoted by Stewart. Simonds o/i the Sanitary Condition of 'New-Orleans. 
29 
|| Copenhagen General Hospital, 7.00 a 8.00 
1 Great Hospital of Milan, 13.82 
ff Manchester Hospital, 1842, 8,12 
ff Birmingham “ “ 8.64 
ff Bristol “ “ 5.58 
ff Hull “ “ 5.28 
ff Leeds “ “ 4.59 
ff Sheffield “ “ 4.13 
ff York “ . “ 4.27 
ff Nottingham “ “ 3.35 
ff Oxford “ “ 3.32 
ff Worcester “ “ 3.42 
ff Northampton,“ # “ 2.42 
ff Glasgow Royal Infirmary, 1846, Jj7 10.64 
§§ Belfast Fever Hospital, 1817 a 1835, 6.66 
HI London “ “ 1802 a 1828, 777’ 13.39 
11 Massachusetts General Hospital, 1841 a 1845, 7777 9.65 
*** Pennsylvania “ 77777 10.93 
§§§ Cincinnati Commercial “ V 1849, 15.93 
Boston Dispensary, 1837 a 1845, 2ifg5 3.72 
fff Seaman’s Retreat, Staten Island, 1846, 4,18 
New-Orleans Charity Hospital, 1825 a 1850, 777—7 16.45 
“ Marine “ 1849 a 1851, 5.48 
The only data for the determination of the question with reference 
to New-Orleans, are the records of the Howard Association, and of the 
Charity and Marine Hospitals. 
The records of the Howard Association, which I have been permitted 
to examine by Mr. Ricfcrdo, furnish the following results:—In 1841, 
the cases treated numbered 670—the deaths recorded amounted to 
eighty-six, giving a mortality of 12.8 percent; in 1847, there were 
treated 449 cases—the recorded deaths amounting to fifty two; the 
|| British and Foreign Medical Review, iii. 567. 
1T “ « “ « xxiv. 380. 
•J-f Edinburg Medical and Surgical Journal, lxvii. 382-385. 
§§ British and Foreign Medical Review, iii. 268 
IHI Tweedie on Fever. 
HIT Shattuck’s Census of Boston. . 
*** Journal of Health. cf ( q, y j A 
ttt New-York Journal of Medicine. * /* ( 
§§§ Annual Report. ( 30 
Monograph. 
mortality was, then, 11.5 per cent. During this epidemic, two Infirma- 
ries were opened : in that on Duplantier street the cases amounted to 
164, of whom thirty-four died, the mortality being 20.7 per cent. The 
Infirmary on Spain street gave 28 deaths (excluding the moribund) 
among 109 cases, being 25.68 per cent.; including thirteen reported as 
moribund, the mortality would be 33.6 per cent. These records being 
summed up, show 1,405 cases treated and 213 deaths, which would 
give as the average mortality from yellow fever during these two epi- 
demics, 15,16 per cent, or one in six and a half. 
The records of the Charity Hospital give as the average mortality 
from yellow fever, during twenty-five years, 44.27 per cent., or 1 in 2£. 
(Fenner’s South. Med. Rep., vol. i., p. 124). 
The average mortality, from all diseases, in the Charity Hospital, 
during twenty-six years, from 1825 to 1850, is 16.45 per cent., or 1 in 
6. The following table being more complete than any heretofore pub- 
lished, gives the mortality for each year, with all other details that 
could be obtained. Simones on the Sanitary Condition of New-Orleans. 
Statistics of the Hew-Orleans Charity Hospital, from 1820 to 1850, 
inclusive. 
ADMITTED. 
t A \ 
Remaining 
1st Jan. 
Total. 
Females. 
Blacks. 
Resident over 
three years. 
Discharged. 
Died. 
Total. 
Mortality -per 
cent.* 
1820 
40 
1069 
1 
46 
1308 
2 
82 
1685 
1116 
573 
1689 
33.92 
3 
78 
1288 
983 
283 
1266 
22.35 
4 
100 
5 
70 
1262 
989 
218 
1207 
18.06 
6 
125 
1373 
1212 
196 
1408 
13.92 
7 
90 
1857 
1549 
304 
1853 
16.40 
8 
94 
2434 
1989 
401 
2390 
16.78 
9 
138 
2559 
2065 
483 
2548 
18.96 
1830 
148 
2768 
2366 
424 
2790 
15.19 
1 
116 
3749 
3149 
409 
3558 
11.49 
2 
309 
2170 
1703 
568 
2271 
25.45 
3 
169 
3851 
141 
2617 
1114 
3731 
29.85 
4 
262 
5841 
261 
4745 
1052 
5797 
18.15 
5 
265 
6205 
252 
4999 
1226 
6225 
19.69 
6 
222 
4754 
310 
4163 
585 
4748 
12.32 
7 
228 
6103 
525 
4640 
1420 
6060 
23.43 
8 
271 
4687 
451 
3890 
683 
4573 
14.94 
9 
239 
4833 
546 
52 
660 
3611 
955 
4566 
20.90 
1840 
267 
5041 
567 
1231 
4370 
619 
4989 
12.4 
1 
314 
4380 
562 
82 
1018 
3093 
1156 
4249 
27.2 
2 
4404 
611 
70 
791 
3516 
761 
4277 
17.8 
3 
5013 
669 
78 
1146 
3672 
1041 
4713 
22 
4 
5846 
791 
54 
966 
5059 
713 
5772 
12.3 
5 
383 
6136 
869 
144 
1192 
5446 
563 
6009 
9.3 
6 
401 
8044 
1211 
110 
2034 
7074 
855 
7929 
10.8 
7 
427 
11890 
2345 
91 
1843 
9369 
2037 
11406 
17.8 
8 
829 
11945 
2214 
15 
295 
10010 
1897 
11907 
15.9 
9 
609 
15558 
3342 
71 
12133 
2745 
14878 
18.4 
1850 
719 
18476 
4576 
53 
15989 
1884 
17873 
9.98 
1820-4 
5-9 
9485 
7804 
1602 
9406 
17.03 
30-4 
18379 
14580 
3567 
18147 
19.65 
5-9 
26582 
2084 
21303 
4869 
26172 
18.60 
40-4 
24684 
3200 
5152 
19710 
4290 
24000 
17.87 
5-9 
53573 
9981 
431 
44032 
8097 
52129 
15.53 
1820-9 
30-9 
44961 
35883 
8436 
44319 
19.03 
40-9 
78257 
63742 
12387 
76129 
16.27 
1825-50 
151179 
123418 
24309 
147727 
16.45 
* The mortality is calculated from the number of cases treated to termination, 
either in discharge or death, irrespective of the period at which the case was ad- 
mitted. This is the only correct method (though it has not always been followed) 
for it is certainly wrong to consider those in the hospital as cured. Moreover, 
thus only can the mortality of diseases be calculated, lor deaths have been reported 
from diseases of which there are no admissions ; numerous cases occurring ol deaths 
from diseases contracted in the Hospital. 32 
Monograph. 
To the kindness of Dr. McKelvey, I am indebted for the following 
statement of the Discharges and Deaths in the Marine Hospital: 
Discharged. Died. Total. Mortality. 
1849 844 48 S92 5.38 
1850 955 64 1019 6.28 
1851 2 qrs. 547 24 571 4.20 
2346 136 2482 .5.48 
Of these statistics the details are in but few cases given with sufficient 
precision to be summed up for a general average, and these happen to 
be those presenting the greatest mortality. Aggregating, however, 
these details as far as possible, omitting only the Ilopital des Enfans 
Trouves for 1793-4-5, we obtain the following 
Table showing the number of deaths and of cases treated in various 
Institutions. 
Deaths. Cases. 
Hotel Dieu, - 3,375 21,899 
La Charite, - 1,160 7,032 
La Pitie, 1,041 7,823 
St. Antoine, .... 814 5,253 
Des Enfans Trouves, ... 1,458 5,467 
Ditto, - - - 1,117 4,298 
Glasgow Royal Infirmary, - - 584 4,547 
London Fever Hospital, - - 1,059 7,902 
Massachusetts General “ - - 193 2,004 
Pennsylvania “ 2966 27,131 
N. O. Charity “ - - 24,309 147,727 
“ Marine “ - - - 136 2,482 
Seamen’s Retreat, Staten Island, 67 1,601 
Boston Dispensary, - - - 791 21,265 
39,070 266,431 
U. S. Army, 1629 136,108 
N. O. Howard Association, 213 1405 
Total, 40,912 403,944 
This table presents a wider range and more extensive generalization 
than I have yet met with. Excluding the two last items, the mortality 
is 14.66 per cent., or 1 death to 6.81 cases. Including the U. S. Army Simonds on the Sanitary Condition of New-Orleans. 
33 
and the Howard Association, the mortality is 10.12, or 1 death to 9.87 
cases. 
Notwithstanding the high rate of mortality exhibited by these Hos- 
pital records, when we consider that generally (the New-Orleans Charity 
Hospital being an exception) none but the gravest cases of disease enter 
hospitals, we may safely assume that the average mortality of all dis- 
eases does not exceed 5 in 100, and I am satisfied that the medical 
profession here will consider this a large proportion. A mortality of 
five per cent, is twenty cases of sickness to one death; 37,785 deaths 
have been before stated to have occurred here during the four and one- 
third years preceding 1851 ; there were therefore, 755,700 cases of sick- 
ness. 
I have not been able to collect many observations on the length of 
time of cases of sickness, and none for New-Orleans. The following 
table presents all the data in my possession for the determination of 
this question. 
Days. 
* Hotel Dieu, - - - 1816 a 1819 36 
* “ “ - - - 1820 a 1831 25 
* “ “ ... 1832 a 1840 18| 
f La Charite, - 1822 30 
f La Pitie, - - - - - “28 
f St. Antoine, - - - - “ 31 
* « - 1840 21 
* Des Cliniques, - - - - “21 
* Necker, - - - - - “18 
* St. Louis, cutaneous diseases, - - “32 
* Du Midi, males, venereal diseases, - - “30 
* L’Ourcine, females, “ “ - “ 60 
* Des Enfans Malades, - - - - “ 42 
* Maison Royale de Sante, (pay patients,) - - 23 
\ Great Hospital of Milan, males, - 1811 a 1844, 13 
£ “ “ “ females, “ “ 15 
J Brothers in Charity, “ - - - 1604 a 1844, 21 
§ Belfast Fever Hospital - - - 1817 a 1835, 22 
Hospitals of Liverpool and Manchester, 12 years, 21 
Average Residence of Patients in various Hospitals. 
* Stewart on Hospitals. 
t Bartlett in American Journal Med. Sciences, iii. iv. 
t British and Foreign Medical Review, xxiv. 380. 
§ “ “ “ « iii. 268. 
1T Playfair, as quoted by Shattuck. 34 
Monograph. 
Embracing, as this does, the observations on many hundred thousand 
patients, the range’of numbers will give a sufficiently correct idea of the 
duration of cases of sickness, though a general average cannot be cor- 
rectly obtained for want of more precise details, than are given in the 
authorities quoted, except for the Hotel Dieu, and for La Charite, La 
Pitie and St. Antoine, for 1822. 
It has before been stated that Farr’s estimate would require an ave- 
rage duration, for each case of sickness, of three weeks and five days ; 
Playfair’s observations three weeks; and the latter is adopted by Mr. 
Shattuck in his estimates for Boston. We shall suppose that in New- 
Orleans, the average duration is two weeks, presuming a greater preva- 
lence of acute diseases. The number of days’ sickness was, then, 
10,579,800, equal to the constant sickness, during the entire pe- 
riod, of 6,G87 persons, and equal to 28,985 years of sickness experienced 
during four and one-third yTears, by a population of less than 100,000, 
and equal to an entire life-time of 1,159 persons attaining to the ave- 
rage age at death generally attained in this community. 
LOSS BY SICKNESS. 
Let us see, however, what is the pecuniary loss involved in this 
amount of sickness. Assuming, for want of more accurate data, that the 
sickness of the several classes of the community with respect to age and 
sex, is proportional to the number of deaths in those classes, the 
tabular statement on page will justify us in estimating one-half 
the amount of sickness as occurring during the producing period of 
life, among those whose labor conduces to their own welfare, and con- 
tributes to the wealth of the community. Supposing, further, that 
there are 300 working days in each year, or that, in addition to fifty- 
two Sundays, there are thirteen days lost by liolydays, etc.; during the 
last four and one-third years, the city has lost by sickness the product 
of 4,347,750 days, (28,895 yearsX 300q-2,) of the labor of those 
whose services are remunerated. It w7ould be a moderate estimate to 
suppose this labor worth an average of $1 per day, when we consider 
that ordinary laborers get from $1 to $1.50 per day, that clerks get 
from $1 to $3 and $5 per day, that some men count their gains by 
tens of dollars, and that even domestics get from $12 to $15 per month, 
and their board. Even, however, at fifty cents per day, this loss would 
amount to $2,173,875. 
COST OF SICKNESS. 
Not only does sickness cause a loss of labor; it involves an absolute Simonds on the Sanitary Condition of New-Orleans. 
35 
expenditure of money for medicines and medical services, etc. The 
charity and private hospitals charge $1 per day for slaves, and this may 
be considered a fair average; for although a large portion of the sick- 
ness pays no physician’s bill, yet surgical operations and wealthy patients 
must pay sufficient to make this amount near the average cost. The 
sickness of the last four and one-third years has, then, involved the ex- 
penditure of $10,579,800. 
TOTAL LOSS DURING FOUR AND ONF.-THIRD YEARS. 
Capital sunk by death, - $15,114,000 
Value of labor lost, - - 17,003,250 
32,117,250 
Value of labor lost by sickness, - - 2,173,875 
Losses, $34,291,125 
Cost of deaths, ... $566,775 
“ sickness, - - 10,579,800 
Expenditures, - $11,146,575 
$45,437,700 
Being an average annual loss of $10,485,623 to the city, and of nearly 
$105 to every individual in it. 
Is it, then, surprising, that New-Orleans’ has not progressed more 
rapidly ? What other city has had to encounter such losses, and what 
other city could stand them ? New York, when her population was 
what ours is now, could not have stood it, if indeed, even now, she could. 
Is it wonderful that we are heavily taxed, when so large a portion of our 
■wealth has been lost in the sick chamber, and swallowed up by the 
grave ? 
It maybe said, that an estimate based on the value of slaves is not 
fair, inasmuch as the latter is an investment of a certain definite amount 
of capital, while the inhabitants of the city are voluntary immigrants, 
who have cost the city nothing; but if a slave were given to any one, 
would not his death be a loss ? The reference to the value of slaves 
serves only to determine ivliat amount shall be the average value placed 
upon the inhabitants ; that those who die are worth something to the 
city and State is evident, and the only question is as to the amount. 
The calculation may be made for the city of Boston as well as for that 
of New-Orleans. 
It may be said that crowds rushing in fill the places of those who Monograph. 
have died ; but it is forgotten that instead of adding to our numbers, to 
our taxable citizens, and to our productive wealth, they only replace 
those whose death has not enriched any. 
If it be said that thousands die whose death is no loss, or even a real 
gain, it must not be forgotten that thousands die and hundreds leave 
our city from its unhealthiness, who would be worth to it much more 
than the average value I have assumed. 
Give to this city a population so numerous that the amount of taxa- 
tion will be reduced, and the cost of labor diminished, and you will in- 
crease its commercial prosperity, inasmuch as you will, by diminishing 
the charges on the passage of produce to the markets of the world, 
offer inducements for its consignment to this place. 
The important question that must present itself to every mind is, can 
these losses be prevented?—can this state of things be remedied? I 
answer fearlessly, yes. You will point to epidemics,—they are the very 
sources of disease that can be partially, if not entirely removed. You 
may refer to cholera, and I can show you that in England, her statists 
and sanitary officers point with triumph to this very disease, to prove 
the efficacy of preventive measures, and the efficacy of her sanatory 
regulations. During the late visitation of cholera, what cities have suf- 
fered severely by the disease ? New-Orleans and St. Louis ; the former 
of which I know, and the latter I presume, from this very circumstance, 
have neglected those means that would have prevented its wide-spread 
devastation and its desolating blight. But recently a poor man landed 
in this city ; he, his wife and two children, were crowded into a little 
room, with no opening save the door; in a fewT days one child was at- 
tacked with cholera, and in twenty-four hours he was left alone, pro- 
bably to fall a victim to our recklessness in not even attempting to pre- 
vent an epidemic yellow fever. Is it surprising that the rookeries and 
purlieus of the city should be filled with disease as well as crime? 
The following extracts (slightly altered) from the report on Quaran- 
tine of the General Board of Health, (of England,) though not possessing 
my entire concurrence, will be instructive to all, and will probably pos- 
sess more weight than any thing that can be urged by myself on this 
subject. 
“Epidemic diseases were formerly universally considered to be essen- 
tially different in their nature, each being thought to depend on its own 
specific contagion; and the correctness of this view seemed to be con- 
firmed by the-great apparent difference between typhus, scarlatina, 
influenza, plague, yellow fever and cholera; but whether each of these 
diseases depends on a peculiar and specific cause, or whether they all Simonds on the Sanitary Condition of New-Orleans. 
37 
derive tlieir origin from one common agent, essentially the same in na- 
ture, but modified by peculiarities of climate, and other circumstances, 
and which, under varying conditions, gives rise to various forms or types 
of disease, each having definite characters, and running a particular 
course,—which ever of these views be adopted, it is agreed, by most 
eminent investigators, that there is a general resemblance between these 
various forms of disease, and that they have the following characters in 
common :—They are all fevers; they are all dependant on certain at- 
mospheric conditions; they all obey similar laws of diffusion ; they all 
infest the same sort of localities ; they all attack chiefly the same classes, 
and, for the most part, persons of the like ages; and their intensity is 
increased or diminished by the same sanitary and social conditions. 
“ The consideration of these common properties of pestilence, under 
whatever form or name it may occur, has led to the general conclusion, 
that the true safeguards against the pestilential diseases are sanitary 
measures—that is to say, measures which tend to prevent or remove 
certain conditions, without which pestilential diseases appear to be in- 
capable of existing. 
“The essential condition on which epidemic diseases depends, is the 
presence of an epidemic atmosphere, without which, it is now generally 
admitted, that no contagion, whether imported or native, can cause a 
disease to spread epidemically. 
“ The experience of the present epidemic season affords evidence that 
the influence of an epidemic atmosphere may exist over thousands of 
square miles, andy7et affect only particular localities. The cases of chole- 
ra which have occurred in numerous and widely-distant parts of England 
and Scotland, mark the presence of the epidemic influence; yet, over 
this extended area, cholera has fixed itself and prevailed as an epidemic 
only in very few places. Why has it localised itself in these particular 
places? Probably because it has there four,d conditions of a specific 
kind, either local or personal, or both. It follows that our true course 
is to make diligent search for all localising circumstances, and to remove 
them so as to render the locality untenable for the epidemic. 
“ It has been stated, that however wide the range over which the in- 
fluence of any epidemic may extend, it cannot localise itself in any par- 
ticular spot unless it find these fitting conditions; and that by attending 
to localising conditions, and removing them, we can avert its attack, or 
arrest its progress when it does break out. This most gratifying and 
encouraging result has been obtained, on a large scale, in numerous 
places, with reference to influenza, typhus and cholera; and the whole 
tenor of recent experience leads to the conclusion that, in proportion to 
the intelligence and energy exerted for the removal and prevention of 
the localising conditions on which the presence of epidemic disease is 
now known to depend, we can secure immunity from it. 
“Thus, influenza in 1847, was found to be four times more prevalent 
in some parts of London than in others; and in the country, while in 
some districts, almost the entire population were affected, in others not 
a single individual suffered. The local conditions on which this extra- 
ordinary susceptibility to the disease, or comparative immunity from it, 38 
Monograph. 
depended, are, in a great measure, known and are found to be within 
our control. 
“ In like manner, after a careful examination of the experience of 
Hamburg, with reference to the visitation of cholera in 1832, the gene- 
ral result, resting on accurate statistics, is, that with regard to the same 
class of the population, there were, among those residing in the dirty 
and close parts of the town, five times as many attacks of cholera, and 
nearly four times as many deaths, as among those residing in the clean 
and airy parts of it—that is, irrespective of the condition of poverty. 
The difference of the sanitary condition in these two parts of the town, 
rendered the same class of inhabitants in the one district five times 
more susceptible to the disease than those residing in the other, and 
increased the actual mortality of the most susceptible four fold. 
“ But Hamburg accidentally affords a means of illustrating the power 
of improved local conditions to secure exemption from the presence of 
epidemic disease during the general prevalence of an epidemic influence, 
in its highest intensity, by an observation so exact, and on so large a scale, 
as to deserve particular reference to it. 
“Since the epidemic of 1832, a large proportion of Hamburg has 
been reduced to ashes by the great fire of 1842, nearly one-third of the 
central part of the town having been destroyed This part of the city 
has been reconstructed on a plan avowedly in conformity with the prin- 
ciples of improvement developed in the Sanitary Report; and though 
these principles have not been fully carried out, yet the result of an im- 
proved sanitary condition, as far as it has been realized, is thus stated 
by Mr. Grainger: — 
“ ‘ No statistical report of the epidemic of the present year, similar to 
that of Dr. Rothenburg, has yet been published;* but after extensive 
inquiries among several physicians, I am fully justified in stating that 
the rebuilt part of Hamburg has experienced an exemption from cholera 
which is as remarkable as it is important. All the medical men with 
whom I conversed upon the subject, expressed themselves unequivocal- 
ly to this effect; and, indeed, the thing is so notorious, as to be well 
known to the inhabitants generally. Dr. Rothenburg stated to me in 
evidence, that although there had not been time to classify the cases, it 
was clear that the epidemic had not advanced so far towards the Alster, 
or new part of the town, as in 1832. Other physicians state that it has 
been particularly confined to persons living near the Elbe. Mr. Volkers, 
whose office enabled him to form a more accurate judgment than other 
individuals, since it was his duty to take the addresses of all the appli- 
cants who came to the central bureau, in answer to my inquiries, states, 
that from extended observation he had ascertained that, comparing the 
poor residing in the rebuilt part of the town with those living in the 
old portion, not more than one of the former had been attacked with 
cholera for ten of the latter. 
“ ‘ As certainly as the per centage of typhus decreases with improved 
* Since this was written, the official account of the progress of cholera in Ham- 
burg during the last year, (1848,) drawn up by Dr. Buck, has reached England, and 
this document fully confirms, in the main points, the previous statements. Simonds on the Sanitary Condition of New-Orleans. 
39 
drainage, paving and ventilation, so also will epidemic cholera. The 
proof of this has been afforded, on a grand scale, at Hamburg. The ra- 
vages of the disease has received a marked check in the present outbreak, 
by the substitution of wide, open, and well-drained streets, for narrow, 
filthy, and damp thoroughfares; by the removal of high mounds of 
earth, blocking up the streets, and overshadowing the houses, and by 
guarding a large evaporating surface of water from contamination.’ ” 
But I may be asked, how much of this loss may be prevented, and 
will not the prevention cost more than it is worth ? One-half or even 
two-thirds of this loss should have been saved, and no rational expendi- 
ture could equal this amount. But I may add, that no labor, that no 
money that could be judiciously expended in determining and improving 
the hygiene of the city would be thrown ga way. Sanitary reform, the 
question which is agitating other civilized communities, must take place 
here, whether the movement commences now, or at some other time. 
The necessity for a complete revision of our system is most urgent. 
At present, no attempt—worthy even of the name of attempt—is 
made to improve the salubrity of the city, by removing or diminishing 
the causes of disease, and by improving the condition of the masses of 
the people; and this for the very obvious reason, that all believe or af- 
fect to believe our city to be excessively healthy. The only agent in 
charge of the sanitary police of the city—the Board of Health—is not 
endowed with sufficient powers to enable it to contribute anything to 
this end, even if, under its present and past organization, it were compe- 
tent to the task. Its power is ehiefly confined to the preservation of 
the records of the dead, the results of our defective sanitary system ; 
and this power has, heretofore, been exercised only to the detriment of 
the city. All that has been done is to publish the total number of 
deaths, which is sufficient to convince the world, in spite of the contrary 
assertions accompanying the statements, that New-Orleans is very 
unhealthy. The special cause of this great mortality, the parts of the 
city in which, and the classes of the community among whom, it chiefly 
prevails—questions of practical utility in directing attention to those 
points upon which our sanitary condition might be specially known, 
and reformation ensue—have been entirely neglected. This should end. 
Either an efficient system should be established, or the present ineffi- 
cient, injurious, and expensive one entirely abolished—dispensing en- 
tirely with the cemetery records, so that none can know the number of 
interments. Then would be realized here the sentiment of “ the dead 
burying the dead”—those dead to all thought except for the present, 
and for money making; those dead to all desire for improvement ; 40 
Monograph. 
those dead to all anxiety for the future welfare of the city they inha- 
bit; those dead to their most important interests, would quietly bury, 
and quickly forget, their dead. 
I have appealed(in vainif)to the medical profession, which elsewhere 
has taken the lead on this subject ; I now appeal to the other classes of 
the community,—to the city authorities, and to all who, being identi- 
fied in interest with the city, desire its welfare. To the authorities I 
submit the following extract from the Report of the Commission on the 
sanitary survey of Massachusetts : 
“Debility, sickness, and premature death, are expensive matters. 
They are inseparably connected with pauperism ; and whenever they 
occur they must, directly, or indirectly, be paid for. The city or town 
must pay for the sick man’s Support, for his food and clothing, for medi- 
cal attendance on him during life, and for the support of his widow and 
children (if he have any) after his death.' A town in which life is pre- 
carious, pays more taxes than its neighbors of a different sanitary cha- 
racter. An individual who is unable to perform a large amount of la- 
bor, or no labor at all, is a less profitable member of society than one 
who can do whatever vigorous health allows.”—(P. 254.) 
To those who desire the welfare of the city, I will at present only 
submit that the moral state of a people is intimately connected with 
their physical condition. Physical degradation not only engenders 
crime, but causes disease : and great mortality developes a recklessness 
of human life and suffering, which, in turn, speedily manifests itself in 
outrages against person and property. 
Whenever the mortality of New-Orleans is proved to be very high, 
the allegation is met by the assertion that this mortality occurs among 
the floating population, and this assertion is considered a sufficient vin- 
dication of the general healthiness of New-Orleans. It appears to be 
entirely overlooked that the very assertion virtually admits the delete- 
rious influences attributed to the locality, or to the circumstances of city 
life. If healthy, robust emigrants, in the prime of life, die soon 
after their arrival, to what shall it be referred but to the noxious city 
atmosphere, or to other letiferous causes peculiar to the locality ? But 
we shall proceed to examine the general bearing of the truth of the as- 
sertion. 
It has been fully proved by the investigations of several statists, that 
the mortality of cities is very much higher than that of the country 
generally. In England the difference is as the numbers 27,073 to 
19,300, or about 40 percent, h* Belgium, if the average age at death 
be taken as a standard of comparison, the same fact is manifest, as will 
be seen by the following table, arranged from data in Dr. Jarvis’ report 
to the American Medical Association : Simonds on the Sanitary Condition of New-Orleans. 
41 
AVERAGE AGE AT DEATH OF DIFFERENT CLASSES. 
Time—27 
■years. 
Time—46 
years. 
Place—Dorchester. 
Place—Brookline. 
yrs. 
m. d. 
. yrs- 
m. d. 
Laborers, 
27 
5 14 
27 
7 8 
Mechanics, 
- 
29 
6 21 
24 
2 17 
Merchants, 
- 
33 
2 27 
29 
3 3 
Farmers, 
- 
45 
8 G 
39 
0 12 
The difference in the town of Brookline is nearly ten years, and in 
Dorchester twelve years, in favor of that class which is peculiar to the 
country, over that prevailing in cities, and would be much greater if the 
average of the three classes, Laborers, Mechanics, and Merchants, which 
constitute the population of cities, were taken. 
In the “ Deport on the Sanitary Condition of the Laboring Classes of 
England and Wales,” Edwin Chadwick, Esq., gives the average age at 
death of the 
Prosperous Classes, - - 42.6 years. 
Middling “ - - - - 29 “ 
Poor “ - - - 20.4 “ 
If we consider the constitution of a city population, as compared with 
that of the country, wre will perceive that this statement also tends to 
point out the comparative shortness of life in cities. The poor abound 
in cities, and destitution and want prevailing more extensively and in 
greater degree than in the country, hurry thousands to a premature 
grave. At the same time, luxury, with its attendant enervating influ- 
ences, also carries off a greater proportion than elsewhere. But it is 
unnecessary to adduce these proofs of the greater mortality of cities. 
Long ago they were pronounced to be the “ graves of men,” and the 
constitution of the population of every large city shows conclusively that 
its increase is due to immigration. 
Having stated that the mortality of cities is greater than of the coun- 
try, it may be asked if the reproductive force keeps pace with the in- 
creased mortality. This question does not appear to have been inves- 
tigated by statists, and the materials for the investigation cannot be 
obtained in this city, but it is well worthy the attention of those who may 
have access thereto. The English registration reports show that while 
in all England there are 3,215 births to 100,000 persons, in the metropo- 
lis there are but 3,084 births to 100,000 persons, a decrease of more 
than four per cent., and the difference would probably be even greater 
were the births in cities compared with the rural districts excluding cities. 42 
Monograph. 
It is probable, from tbis single facj/f the only one that I can obtain, that 
the reproductive power not only Vails to keep pace with the excess of 
mortality of cities, but that it is even diminished. If this be true, a cer- 
tain proportion of the increase in the population of cities must be due 
to immigration, and this proportion will be temporarily a floating popu- 
lation, and will be the greatest in those cities that increase the most 
rapidly, the mortality being the same, or the increase being the same, 
it will be the greatest where the mortality is the greatest. Thus the 
very assertion of an excessive floating population is prima facie evidence 
of a great mortality. 
The only idea to be attached to the term floating population is that 
of persons who, though in the city, have not by length of residence 
acquired citizenship, or identified themselves with the city. This popu- 
lation must therefore consist of three classes—those who visit the city 
chiefly for .pleasure and amusement, and to inspect the curiosities herein 
constantly presenting themselves; those who have visited us for the 
transaction of business, to dispose of their crops, purchase their supplies, 
&c., &c.; and those who have come here for the purpose of earning a 
livelihood, or of making a fortune, whose intention is to settle here and 
make it their place of residence, if they can do so consistently with 
their future welfare. The first two classes are here but for a few days, 
or at most a few weeks; they have left behind their ties of family or 
business that prevent a prolonged sojournment in the city; the}7 are 
ready to flee at a moment’s warning on an alarm of general sickness or 
a little personal indisposition ; they reside at hotels and boarding hous- 
es, in which, so far as my observation and inquiries go, there are but few 
deaths; and these classes, therefore, cannot contribute essentially to the 
mortality of the city. 
But is the floating population of New-Orleans so much larger than 
that of other cities, as to account for a mortality double that of any 
other city ? Has New-Orleans a greater number of visitors in the pur- 
suit either of pleasure or of business than New-York. Certainly not. 
During a few months, say for half the year, New-Orleans contains a 
large number of strangers, and also a large number of persons who 
claim citizenship and do business here, but who fly during the hot and 
sickly season to more congenial and salubrious climes. But New-York 
is constantly thronged with visitors—its business season may be said to 
continue during the whole year—and there is no season during which 
there is not collected together a large number of seekers after pleasure. 
Places of amusement which are supported by strangers, are with us 
closed during a considerable portion of the year,—but not so in New- Simonds on the Sanitary Condition of New-Orleans. 
43 
York. Our hotels are deserted during the summer—theirs are always 
filled. But with us even a large portion of the private residences are 
closed for two, three, or four months of the year. 
It was recently stated at the Rail-road Convention, in the eloquent 
address of James Robb,—which frankly pointed out some of the evils 
under which the prosperity of New-Orleans had been retarded—that 
more persons entered and left the city of New-York in one month than 
visited New-Orleans during the entire year. If this statement be un- 
questioned in a Rail-road Convention, why question it when applied 
to the subject of the hygiene of the city ? If this statement be received 
as true when applied to commercial statistics, why refuse to admit its 
application to vital statistics ? The statement is based upon actual cal- 
culation, and is undoubtedly true; but when I point to the long cata- 
logue of eight thousand names recorded in the “ Dead Book ” of the 
Board of Health, I am told that they occur among strangers, and that 
to estimate correctly the mortality of New-Orleans, I must add to the 
census population the visitors to the city. Let then the same thing be 
done for New-York, and add to her census population twelve times the 
number of persons added in making the estimate of the mortality of 
New-Orleans, and the comparison would be even more unfavorable to 
New-Orleans than I have made it. 
The third class of the floating population consists chiefly of immigrants 
and adventurers, of perhaps but small or no means, who have cut off 
the ties that bound them elsewhere, and who, though but a short time 
resident here, are, to all intents and purposes, our own population. 
This class is enumerated in our census, pay taxes, contribute by their 
labor to the prosperity of the city, and will (if they escape the hand of 
death) become as truly citizens as seven-tenths of our present popula- 
tion, of whom indeed they constitute a large proportion. That this 
class contributes largely to swell our bills of mortality, is indisputable; 
but that the deaths from this class should be included in our calcula- 
tions on the health of the city, is equally certain. 
If New-Orleans really has proportionally a larger floating population 
than other cities, the reason is very obvious. Of the number attracted 
hither by the advantages of the city, a greater proportion die speedily, 
and consequently a smaller proportion live sufficiently long to become 
identified with the city. What length of time is requisite to change 
the character of those who come to reside in the city, from a floating to 
a permanent population ? When this is settled, the record of deaths 
can be examined with reference to this question. Life Insurance offices 
recognize no fixed period of time, but require that the applicant 44 
Monograph. 
shall have experienced the yellow fever, which on an average will be 
epidemic every three years. Our State laws require two years residence 
to entitle a citizen of other States to be considered a citizen of this 
State. The United States requires the foreign immigrant to have 
resided five years in the United States. The annual reports of the 
Charity Hospital have generally stated the period of residence as 
under or over three years. Let us say, then, that three years is a fair 
average to constitute the stranger a citizen in this respect. Of one hun- 
dred persons settling in New-York in three years, nine will have died 
and ninety-one will become permanently resident; while of one hun- 
dred settling in Nevv-Orleans, twenty-four will have died in three years, 
leaving but seventy-six permanent residents,—the law7 of mortality of 
the general population being applied to the class of unacclimated. This 
statement is not strictly accurate—in fact, the difference w'ould be very 
much greater, as those who maintain the position that our mortality is 
caused by foreigners, and that for natives and the acclimated our city is 
very healthy, must admit a much greater difference in the rate of mor- 
tality of the newly arrived population. Again, suppose that on the 1st 
July, 1847, one thousand persons settled in each city, there would re- 
main to be enumerated in the census on the 1st July, 1850, less than 
seven hundred and sixty persons in Now'-Orleans, and more than nine 
hundred and ten persons in every other large city. Our neglect of 
sanatory measures, our indifference to the deaths of strangers, and our 
criminal disregard of the lives and welfare of those who settle among 
us, has done more to retard the advance of New-Orleans than all the 
of its salubrity can possibly remove. 
It may be said, however, that the floating population are foreign im- 
migrants, who are merely passing through our city. Let us then exam- 
ine the statistics of immigration, to see what light they throw upon this 
point. According to a statement published in connection with the re- 
ports of the New-Orleans Charity Hospital, the total arrivals at New- 
Orleans from foreign ports, coastwise, and by steamboats, during seven 
years, from 1842 to 1848, was 222,122,—while the arrivals at New- 
York from foreign ports alone during the same period, wjas 738,462. 
(Hunt’s Magazine, XXL, 657.) But how do the arrivals at the two 
cities from foreign ports alone compare? During the year 1847 the 
total arrivals in the United States was 250,000, of whom 166,110 land- 
ed in New-York—leaving but 90,000 for the rest of the United States. 
(Ibid.) Thus about two-thirds (66.44 per cent.) of all foreign immi- 
grants landed in New-York. Again, from 1845 to 1848 inclusive, four 
years, 104,293 persons arrived from foreign ports in New-Orleaus—a Simonds on the Sanitary Condition of New-Orleans. 
number considerably less than the population of New-Orleans and La- 
fayette by the late census—while 556,209 arrived in New-York ; being 
more than the population of that city at the last enumeration. The 
attempt to excuse the great mortality of New-Orleans by referring it to 
the vast number of immigrants landed in our city, is not sustained by 
the facts. 
But let me ask at what period of the year is our population floating 
and fixed (if indeed there be any fixed population here) greatest, and 
at what period is the morbility and mortality of the city the greatest. 
It is well known that the months during which the greatest amount of 
sickness and the greatest number of deaths occur, are July, August, and 
September, and that during these very months our city is deserted by 
strangers, visiters, floating population, and even by our own citizens. 
But let us appeal to facts and figures that cannot be disputed. The 
records of the Treasurer of the Charity Hospital would probably furnish 
the total number of arrivals at New-Orleans for each month of the year, 
but this I am not able to furnish at present. The annexed Tables, E, 
F, G, show the arrivals from foreign ports for each month and season of 
each year, and for the entire period the total and the proportion. It 
will be seen that but 6.3 per cent, of the entire arrivals occurred during 
the summer—in July 3.73 per cent., in August 1.39 per cent., and in 
September 1.05 per cent.—hence but a small proportion of the entire 
mortality can be attributed to immigrants arriving at that period of the 
year. The mortality by months can only be obtained for the last two 
years, (and for these but imperfectly,) during which time the preva- 
lence of cholera in an epidemic form during nine months, and during 
the winter, spring, and autumn, would vitiate the results of a calcula- 
tion as to the relative mortality of the different months. I have, there- 
fore, prepared Table II, deducting the deaths from Cholera during the 
first six months of 1849, and during March, November, and December, 
of 1850, during which periods I consider it epidemic. During Janua- 
ry, April, and October, 1850, the deaths from cholera were also nume- 
rous, but they did not reach the high arbitrary standard which I was 
compelled to adopt for this city. The Table shows that during August, 
September, and October, the deaths were more than 30 per cent, of the 
entire number during the two years. The total number being 13,675, 
the mean for three months would be 3,419, which is exceeded durino- 
these three months 829, or nearly 25 per cent. 
The deduction of the deaths from cholera may be objected to; let 
us then go to the records of the Charity Hospital, which will furnish 
data for a longer period of time. Table lygives for each year, and for Monograph. 
seven years, the entire admissions for each month and season, and the 
proportion per cent. 
These figures show that during the summer months, viz., July, Au- 
gust, and September, when the number of our population is at its mini- 
mum, and when the proportion of arrivals is least, the amount of sick- 
ness, as shown by the Chanty Hospital, is nearly 25 per cent., or £ 
more than the average, and this notwithstanding the prevalence of 
cholera during the other months at three or four different times, to an 
extent sufficient to be considered epidemic. If the cholera were ex- 
cluded, or a longer period of time taken, the difference would be very 
much greater. It can no longer then be pretended that the dead are 
due to strangers and visiters, and that New-Orleans presents the anom- 
alous position of being a grave-yard of the whole world, though itself 
the most salubrious of cities. 
It has been suggested that in estimating the mortality of New-Or- 
leans, it would be advisable to compare the number of interments in 
the different cemeteries, and it has been argued that such a comparison 
would show that the deaths occurred among the poor, and that but few 
of those who have resided here several years are poor, hence the deaths 
occur among strangers and the floating population. Now it must not 
be forgotten that the number of deaths is definitely known, the names 
being all on record, and that if it be assumed that the mortality must 
not be considered as equally distributed through the whole community, 
but that the mortality of certain classes is very much more favorable 
than the general average, then will the mortality of the other classes of 
the community be proportionally increased. Thus let us assume that 
the mortality of New-Orleans is but little greater than that of other 
American cities, say 3 per cent, annually, and that the census 
and our estimated population based thereon, include a population 
among whom the mortality does not exceed this rate, and that the 
deaths beyond this occur among immigrants—for this is the general 
reply to the proof that New-Orleans is sickly, and appears to be consid- 
ered a sufficient and satisfactory refutation. The total of the annual 
population of New-Orleans and Lafayette for four and one-third years 
being 466,384, 3 per cent, would give 13,991 deaths among our own 
population, which deducted from 37,785 deaths actually recorded, 
would leave 23,794 as occurring among immigrants. During the four 
and one-third years 140,579 immigrants arrived from foreign ports at 
New-Orleans, the mortality among whom after their arrival here would 
then amount to the enormous rate of nearly 17 per cent. If, then, the 
assumption be true, does not this enormous mortality demand immedi- Simonds on the Sanitary Condition of New-Orleans. 
ate action on the part of our citizens, and the city authorities ? Are 
these lives not worth preserving ? Are these persons worth nothing to 
the community ? Do they not constitute our laborers, our mechanics, 
in fact the bone and sinew of the city, as the farmer is of the country 
generally ? Would they riot, according to the very argument advanced, 
become in a few years wealthy and valuable citizens. It is, however, 
constantly alleged that a great proportion of the deaths of these immi- 
grants are attributable to their own imprudence,—but are our hands 
entirely clear of their blood ? lias the city made even an attempt to 
restrain their excesses? Has any voice as yet been raised to warn the 
unwary immigrants of the dangers to which they are exposed ? Is 
the sale of unsound fruit prevented ? Is the depositing of rotten fruit 
in the streets and gutters, and on the levees, prohibited ? Does any 
law prevent the sale of unwholesome or adulterated bread or milk, or 
unsound hams or cheese ? When the city has closed the many avenues 
which cupidity adopts to extort from the poor the little that they may 
have with which to buy the necessaries of life; when it has made such 
provision that he who can neither buy, nor beg, nor steal, will not be 
compelled to eat the offal of the streets or starve; then may we honest- 
ly say that these deaths are to be attributed to the misfortune or im- 
prudence of the sufferers. 
But the argument proves too much, for it leads to the inevitable con- 
clusion that for immigrants the climate is even more pernicious than can 
be admitted. Thus it is calculated to retard in an eminent degree the 
increase of the city. Tell those who desire to visit or settle in our city 
that it is very healthy for those who are already here, but that one in 
every six who come here must die, and man3r will pause ere they take 
the perilous step. It is certainly very much to be desired that the mor- 
tality of the different classes of the community be accurately determin- 
ed, for this would contribute to a knowledge of the causes of the great 
mortality of New-Orleans, and would conduce to their removal. At 
present the interments in the different cemeteries are the only means 
by which, from the publications of the Board of Health, even a remote 
approximation to the truth can be made. Until an efficient and proper 
use is made of the data furnished to the Board of Health—until public 
attention be aroused to the necessity of more stringent sanatory mea- 
sures and the enforcement of the collection of more accurate data, the 
mortality of the different classes of the community, the salubrity of the 
different parts of the city, and many other questions of interest and im- 
portance, must remain unsolved. Our mortality records, even such as Monograph. 
they are, might, however, be so digested as to furnish information upon 
points which have not yet been elucidated. 
It may be admitted, even without precise statistical details, that the 
great mortality of this city takes place among the poorer classes of the 
community, for this has been proved for every locality of which the 
records have been rigorously examined. There doubtless would be much 
less difference between the mortality of the prosperous classes here an I 
elsewhere than between that of the poorer classes here and elsewhere. 
But it must be borne in mind that the latter constitute not only the 
bulk of the population of every city, but its most important and most 
valuable element. Remove from this city to-morrow all who are de- 
pendent upon their labor for their daily bread, and how many would be 
left to enjoy this salubrious clime, and what would be their condition ? 
Remove all day-laborers from your levees, your streets, and your ware- 
houses, and let your merchants, commission merchants, <fcc., &e., under- 
take the performance of those labors which are indispensably necessary, 
and would not the mortality of this class be increased? Remove all 
menials and domestics, send your ladies to the wash tub, and let them 
trudge through the hot sun with a market basket, and wTould they not 
speedily fall victims to the same causes that now cut off'so many of the 
poorer classes ? Remove from the city all who cannot afford to be 
buried at the high prices charged by the first class cemeteries, and the 
number of our population would certainly fall far short of 100,000. 
Prevent the further ingress of those who may become inmates of the 
Charity Hospital and tenants of Potters Field, and will New-Orleans 
increase during the next twenty years, as she has during the preceding, 
and will her commercial prosperity be promoted ? The question is not 
in what classes of the community the great mortality of New-Orleans 
occurs, for it may at once be admitted that our great mortality occurs 
among the poor and among those who have but recently settled among 
us. The true question is, whether the lives of such are worth anything 
to the citjq and whether the lives of any of these persons can be pre- 
served by the adoption of a proper system of sanatory measures and 
restrictions. If the honest laborer has done more for New-Orleans 
than the three millionaires who have died here within the last year, a 
sentiment quoted approvingly in the eloquent speech of James Robb, 
Esq., before referred to, then surely the lives of honest laborers are 
worth preserving for the benefit of the community if not for themselves. 
I do not propose the adoption of such a system for the direct protec- 
tion of the wealthy and prosperous classes, (though they will incidental- Simonds on the Sanitary Condition of New-Orleans. 
49 
ly be vastly benefited,) for they are able to protect themselves, and 
generally do so very effectually by removal, during our sickly months, 
beyond the reach of the operation of the causes of disease here. Feel- 
ing the importance of cleanliness for comfort, even if they do not appre- 
ciate its necessity as pertaining to hygiene, their dwellings and premises 
are carefully prevented from adding to the causes of insalubrity so 
abundant among us, and never become foci of disease. But I call upon 
these classes to interpose for the protection of those who cannot protect 
themselves. I appeal to you to endeavor to protect the poor against 
their own neglect of those measures, which would secure their health 
and their lives to the city. I appeal to the citizens generally to adopt 
such sanatory arrangements as will, by reducing our great mortality and 
preventing the occurrence of epidemics, contribute to the general pros' 
perity of the city, and conduce to its rapid increase by encouraging im- 
migration, and enhancing the value of property greatly beyond the 
expenditure necessary to render it comparatively healthy. 
It is constantly alleged that a very large proportion of the deaths 
occur among those not natives of New-Orleans or Louisiana, and the 
records of the Hospital are adduced to show the proportion of admis- 
sions of Creoles and foreigners, and the report of the Board of Health 
for 1849, the only one that has specified the place of nativity of those 
who died during the year, confirms the statement. The allegation is 
true, but the inference intended to be suggested to the mind is palpably 
false and even ridiculous. Can it be possible that our Creoles never 
die? Unless this be meant, we should like to be told what is intended- 
The natives of our city must die, and the question is not whether the 
number of deaths of such is in this city more or less than those of the 
natives of Asia, &c., but the question is, what is the proportion of 
deaths of Creoles to the Creole population. Until the number of na- 
tives of New-Orleans living in the city is known, the place of nativity 
of those dying is worth nothing to the statist, except indeed to indicate 
the mixed character of the population. But let us apply this erroneous 
rule in a similar manner. The deaths of Creoles are compared with the 
deaths of natives of all the rest of the world. During the year 1849 
there died 774 natives of New-Orleans out of 4,877, or 1 in near- 
ly. The population of New Orleans being less than 120,000, the num- 
ber of natives of New-Orleans living at this moment cannot possibly 
exceed 100,000; the population of the whole world is not less than 
1,000,000,000. The native population of New-Orleans is then 1 in 10,000 
of the world, while the deaths are 1 in 12-sJ- nearly, which shows that the 
mortality of natives of New-Orleans is eight hundred times as great 50 
Monograph. 
as that of the rest of the world. I know that this calculation is absurd, 
(reductio ad absurdum,) but in principle it is as correct as that which 
would infer the salubrity of New-Orleans from the relative proportions 
of the deaths of natives and of foreigners. 
The average age at death has frequently been appealed to to prove the 
salubrity of some particular place, but this test is fallacious when taken by 
itself, though it may be made of some practical value. The age at death 
must depend upon the ages of those living where the deaths take place, 
and as this differs so will the average age at death. Suppose that we at- 
tempt to compare by this method, the mortality of the Greenwich Hos- 
pital, with that of any orphan asylum, and the fallacy becomes very 
apparent. The former being the receptacle of disabled and superannu- 
ated seamen, cannot furnish any death under twenty, and but few under 
forty years of age, while the latter can only furnish deaths under twenty, 
and generally under fifteen or ten years of age. The average age at 
death in the former case must be high—in the latter very low, even 
though it were vastly more This is an extreme case, but it 
only the more plainly shows the error involved in the method. That 
the constitution of the population, with respect to age, differs much, is 
very apparent, even on general considerations. 
The average age of the living would differ very much in New-Haven by 
including or excluding the youth collected in its institutions of learning. 
The average age of the living in Lowell must differ from that in Charles- 
ton, S. C., from the difference in the pursuits of the population and the 
periods of their settlement. If we take the numbers of the living as given 
by the census, the same thing may be reduced to a mathematical demon- 
stration. The subject cannot here be pursued, but a few results may 
be stated. Generally, the age of the living in the United States is less 
than that of European countries, but it is constantly increasing. The 
age of the living in the newly settled States is less than in the older 
States. The average age of the living in cities, has generally been 
considered less than in the country at large, but my examinations in- 
dicate the reverse to be the truth. 
If the average age of the living were calculated, a comparison with 
the average age at death would present interesting if not important 
relations, but the latter cannot alone be used as a test of the hygienic 
condition of different places. 
If this test be erroneous, as has been repeatedly proved before, and 
as I have now shown, how much more fallacious is the attempt that 
has been made, to use this test with selected lives for one locality, but 
with the total deaths for other places. That monumental inscriptions Simonds on the Sanitary Condition of New-Orleans. 
51 
are selected lives, is apparent from their own results; the average age at 
death from inscriptions in Potter’s field, “being nearly twenty years less 
than that of the old Catholic” cemetery, and than that of the African 
cemetery, where the black race are “ buried in a style of magnificence 
nearly equal to the white.” “ The rude and frail memorials of the 
dead” poor, giving an average age at death 20 years less than that of 
those who are able to be buried in a style of magnificence, shows that an 
average age at death deduced from monumental inscriptions is errone- 
ous when applied to the population at large, inasmuch as it excludes 
the great bulk of every population the poor. Among the numerous 
influences that tend to shorten life, poverty is far from being the least 
important. Of the many ills of poverty, the least important is that it 
prevents the erection of magnificent mausolea; but if these are to detei’- 
mine the hygiene of a place, then should the city require and furnish 
the means for a marble slab, that we may know what is our hygienic 
condition. Monumental inscriptions are neither intended nor suited 
for the determination of questions in vital statistics. They are intended 
to perpetuate the memory of those who have distinguished tliemselves 
during active life, and can include neither children nor the mass of the 
people, except to a very limited extent. This is so plain that the very 
attempt to bolster up the reputation for health of New-Orleans by this 
means, is in itself a proof of a desperate cause. Go into any cemetery 
here or elsewhere, and count one hundred or a thousand deaths, noticing 
the number under five or ten years; then examine the records of the 
same cemetery, and the difference will be immense. 
If New-Orleans be a healthy city, it would be well to point out for 
the benefit of others the causes of its healthiness. Will it be attributed 
to its vicinity to the torrid zone, which has been heretofore considered 
the most unhealthy region of the globe? Can it be due to the crowds 
of paupers annually poured into the city, whose condition is such as to 
preclude them from the possibility of taking those hygienic precautions 
that are necessary to those whose whole life has been passed under a 
different sk}q and surrounded by hygienic conditions altogether different 
from those existing here? Will it be attributed to the paucity of turbid 
water eked out by a close corporation : or shall we seek for it in the 
expawso- of organic remains to the decomposing influence of the 
atmosphere: or perhaps it is due to the combination! of heat, mois* 
ture and organic matter, in the act of decomposition. Perhaps the 
swamps in the rear of the city, or the filth of streets at times al- 
most impassible, or that sanitary police peculiar to New-Orleans, the 
scraping of the filth from the gutters, and the piling the same in heaps 52 
Monograph. 
on the streets to remain until the rain washes it back, when the samg 
is repeated. 
New-Orleans has sufficient attractions to admit the truth without 
detriment to her welfare, and a denial of the truth can be attended 
with no advantage, for the common sense of mankind enables it to 
judge correctly of this in spite of all that may be said upon it. At the 
time that the cholera commenced its ravages in this city, it was crowd- 
ed with strangers, and notwithstanding the daily assertions of the 
press that there was no cholera, “ only a little belly-ache,” in two 
weeks every one who could leave had departed. The numerous fune- 
rals—the hearses running to and fro, enabled the people to know the 
state of things ; and while the denial of the truth benefited none, it 
has seriously impaired the reliance to be placed upon the reports of the 
papers, and has, therefore, been decidedly detrimental. 
New-Orleans has grown rapidly, not in consequence of assertions that 
it is healthy, but in spite of the unhealthiness of the locality, and it 
must still continue to increase in spite of the admission of its unhealthi- 
ness. Is it necessary to misrepresent the healthiness of New-Orleans 
to induce the starving inhabitant of Ireland, the enslaved inhabitant of 
Poland, the oppressed German or the Gungarian, fleeing from the 
butcheries of a Ilaynau, to become residents in this place ? Will the 
unhealthiness of a locality deter the enterprising Yankee or the reckless 
Southron from coming in our midst ? The advantages of New-Orleans 
as a commercial mart, the extent to which it surpasses every other city 
in the south and south-west, in facilities for pleasure or profit, and even 
its unhealthiness by leaving room for employment, must continue to at- 
tract hither crowds of immigrants and visiters. It, is, therefore, wise no 
longer to attempt to blind ourselves to the truth, but calmly examining 
the condition of things, endeavor to improve it. 
If it be urged that the years taken as the basis of my calculation, are 
very unhealthy years, the allegation admits all that I have ever asserted, 
viz., that so far as I have been able to obtain complete data, New-Or- 
leans has manifestly been the most unhealthy city in the civilized world. 
But I can reply to the insinuation that other years would prove New- 
Orleans to be healthy, by calling upon those who make the assertion 
to produce the facts and figures, and I would rejoice to see produced, 
from the records of the past, a complete statement of the deaths for a 
length of time, say five or ten years, which being authenticated by dis- 
tinctly showing the sources whence it has been obtained, and being 
compared with a fair estimate of our population, would reduce our 
average annual mortality to as low a figure as that of New-York during Simonds on the Sanitary Condition of New-Orleans. 
53 
the same period. I must add that this period has not been selected, 
but that it has been gradually extended as far back as complete and re- 
liable data could be obtained. It must be remarked, further, that the 
period embraced in the calculation is chronologically the latest. I have 
not gone back fifty years to determine the sanitary condition of New- 
Orleans, as has been done by some, to attempt to prove its salubrity, 
and if their researches are worth anything, it is that, taken in connec- 
tion with what I have proved, the health of New-Orleans is getting 
worse instead of improving, and hence is shown the necessity of an im- 
mediate resort to sanatory measures, which will restore to New-Orleans 
its former salubrity. Although it is possible and even probable that 
the mortality of a long series of years would be somewhat less than that 
of the last four, yet I must confess that I am skeptical as to the mortali- 
ty ever having been as low as some would seem to imagine it. When 
I see the Mayor and the Board of Health congratulating the citizens on 
the healthiness of the city during a year (1850) in which there were two 
epidemics, and the mortality amounted to 6.22 per cent., or 1 in every 
16 inhabitants, and on a previous occasion, the same body stating that 
there had been no epidemic, while, according to a fair application of the 
very rule it had proposed, there had been one, and in like manner, 
giving forth pzeans to the salubrity of the city during the year 1848, 
when the mortality was even greater, certainly not less, than that of last 
year, and only in the aggregate two hundred less than that of the 
dreadful epidemic year, 1847—when I see a respectable Journal propose 
to deduct from the deaths actually occurring, those attributed to yellow 
fever and consumption—when I hear many propose to deduct those not 
natives, among the deaths, but claim the entire aggregate for the popu- 
lation, I am forced to the following conclusions: That there is a fore- 
gone determination to assert the healthiness of New Orleans without 
looking at the facts ; that the mortality is so f rightful that none have 
dared to investigate the subject; that the excessive mortality has pro- 
duced its usual effect, and has rendered the community callous to the 
loss of human life, the death of the unacclimated exciting no other sen- 
sation and eliciting no remark other than that most unfeeling one, that 
they are “ripe for the harvest.” The failure to examine this subject 
thoroughly, with a view to the application of remedial measures,has been 
most unfortunate. Notwithstanding the magnitude of the numerous evils 
which have befallen New-Orleans, the commercial revulsions, the rotten- 
ness of the banking system, the heaviness of taxation, and the squandering 
and misapplication of the public money, I am assured that not one nor 
all of them combined have been so injurious to the advance of the city 54 
Monograph. 
as the neglect of proper sanatory measures. If the lives of those who 
have fallen victims to our climate, to their own imprudence, and to the 
depreciation of the value of human life, had been extended to the term 
to which they would have attained elsewhere, I have no doubt that 
our population would have been double that which it is at present. If 
New-Orleans had possessed as healthy a location asNew-York, it would 
even now have rivalled her in population and wealth. We may esti- 
mate the actual loss to our community, from the death and sickness of 
its inhabitants, but it is impossible to estimate the loss in numbers and 
wealth of those who have been prevented from settling here by the well 
known unhealthiness of the city. Tens of thousands of persons and 
millions of capital have been lost from this cause, and must continue to 
be lost until efficient measures are adopted to improve our sanitary 
condition. 
I have previously estimated the total loss from sickness and death in 
New-Orleans, during four and one-third years, and merdy added that 
at least one-half or two-thirds might be considered preventible. I now 
propose to estimate directly the loss from preventible sickness and 
death during the healthy year .1850. But must first state the prin- 
ciples on which such estimates have been and should be made. 
AMOUNT OF PREVENTIBLE DEATHS. 
Statistical writers have generally based their estimates of the amount 
of preventive deaths, upon a comparison of the total number of deaths 
from all causes in different localities. This is evidently not the most 
correct method, for all must die, and the aim of the sanitary reformer 
should be to lop off the deaths from those causes known to be preven- 
tive, for since it is not possible to attain to the Euthanasia of old age, 
it is at least to be aimed at that deaths should only ensue from those 
diseases which are due chiefly to inherent defects in the constitution, 
viz., the sporadic. Estimates of the number of preventible deaths 
should therefore be based chiefly upon the prevalence of Zymotic diseases 
and External causes, as these comprehend the most preventible causes. 
At present, however, we shall follow the custom of other statists, 
stating that were the principles suggested above applied here, the 
amount of loss from preventible diseases, would be even higher than 
that given. , 
LOSS FROM PREVENTIBLE DEATHS. 
Let us now endeavor to estimate the actual loss to New-Orleans from 
preventible disease during the healthy year 1850. The average annual Simones on the Sanitary Condition of New-Orleans. 
55 
mortality of all England and Wales, is 2 per cent., the rural districts being 
much less, andthe mortality of cities generally greater. Those of her philan- 
thropists who are engaged in the movement in favor of sanitary reform, 
propose the average of all England (2 per cent.) as the limit which should 
not be exceeded by any locality : and all above this is considered re- 
movable by proper sanatory measures. I shall not venture to assume 
for New-Orleans so favorable a rate of mortality, but shall take 3 per 
cent, as a normal mortality for New-Orleans, and all above this is to be 
considered a sacrilice of life that might be prevented by a rigid and 
proper application of well established principles of hygiene. 
There occurred, then, during 1850, in this city, 3.22 per cent, of pre- 
ventible mortality, which, on a population of 130,000, would amount to 
4,000 lives lost to the city. At an average value of $400 each, and on 
4,000 persons, this would amount to $1,600,000 of capital sunk last year 
in this city and Lafayette, by preventible disease. To this must be 
added the interest of this capital, viz., the value of the labor of the 
adults who have died. Fully one half of the deaths occur within the 
productive period of life, viz., from 15 to 60 years, which therefore gives 
2,000 deaths of adults. Labor here commanding high wages (from $12 
to $40 per month), $200 per annum will be a low average for the 
value of the labor lost; this amounts to $400,000, and added to the 
above will give as the preventible loss during 1850, $2,000,000 from 
death alone. 
Four thousand preventible deaths must have caused the expendi- 
ture of (at $15 each) $60,000. 
COST OF PREVENTIBLE DEATHS. 
The amount of preventive sickness is even more difficult to estimate 
than the total amount of sickness. Playfair estimates the preventible 
sickness by considering it as bearing the same proportion to the pre- 
ventible deaths, that the total sickness bears to the total deaths. A 
writer in the British and Foreign Medico-Chirurgical 
to this assumption, but himself blunders subsequently into its admis- 
sion, though he reduces the numerical ratio. Dr. Playfair estimates 
the preventible sickness as 28 times the preventible deaths. The Bri- 
tish and Foreign Medico-Chirurgical Review thinks that for all Eng- 
land, the preventible sickness should only be estimated at 20 times the 
preventible deaths. Mr. Shattuck, in estimating the sickness and deaths 
in Boston, considers that at least one third is preventible. 
AMOUNT OF PREVENTIBLE SICKNESS. 56 
Monograph. 
In estimating the amount of sickness from the deaths, it is necessary 
to take the entire aggregate of each, to collect as fully as possible com- 
plete statistics of both, and then calculate the ratio. But in attempting 
to estimate from the deaths the amount of preventible sickness, we 
should take into consideration the causes of death, as we have suggested 
with regard to preventible deaths. It would, therefore, be more correct 
to base such estimates upon those classes of disease that are known to 
be preventible. The division of Zymotic diseases and External causes of 
death should, therefore, as in the case of preventible deaths, form the 
classes upon which to base such estimates. Although many of the at- 
tacks of sporadic diseases may hereafter be found to be preventible, yet 
as at present their causes are comparatively unknown, and as many, if 
not the most, of them are due to defects inherent in the organism 
of the individual, the family or the race, it is safer to estimate the 
amount of preventible sickness from the other divisions of causes of 
death. Following, however, at present, the customary estimates, and 
applying the same rates previously proposed, we have— 
LOSS BY PREVENTIBLE SICKNESS. 
The 2,000 preventible deaths during the laboring period of life, in- 
volved 40,000 cases of sickness, and (at 14 days to each case) 560,000 
days of labor lost, which was worth (deducting 1-6 for Sundays and 
holidays), at $f per day, $350,000. 
COST OF PREVENTIBLE SICKNESS. 
The 4,000 preventable deaths indicate 80,000 cases of sickness, and 
(at 14 days to each case), 1,120,000 days sickness, which, at a cost of 
$1 per day, would amount to $1,120,000. 
Losses and expenditures* in New-Orleans during 1850, from pre- 
ventible deaths and sickness : 
Loss of capital sunk, - $1,600,000 
“ labor, ------ 400,000 
“ by pieventible death, ----- $2,000,000 
“ of labor by preventible sickness, - 350,000 
Total loss by preventible disease, - - $2,350,000 
* Persons elsewhere may be surprised at the enormous loss here shown : they 
can judge of the propriety of the losses estimated, and I can assure them that the 
rates are very moderate for New-Oileans. A decent burial can scarcely cost less 
than $100 : the interment of a pauper costs . I have made no estimate of the 
expenses of Coroner’s inquests, which are more numerous and costly here than 
elsewhere. Simonds on the Sanitary Condition of New-Orleans. 
57 
Expenditures by funerals, &c., ... $60,000 
“ sickness, - - - 1,120,000 
for preventible diseases, &c., - - 1,180,000 
Total cost from preventible diseases, - $3,530,000 
I rejoice that New-Orleans has at length aroused from her lethargy, 
and at the manifestations that have recently been made in favor of in- 
ternal improvements. But I wish to direct the attention of the pub- 
lic to a subject of vastly more importance to the welfare and success of 
the city, than all the rail-roads that can be built. The presses of this 
city have recently stated and truly, that absenteeism is the incubus un- 
der which the prosperity of the city has long been retarded, and that 
the great want of the city is a permanent population. Will a system 
of rail-roads give us this—will it prevent absenteeism? Not at all; but 
if you will prevent the recurrence of epidemics—if you will remove the 
causes of disease, and render the chances of life here as great as else- 
where—if you will snatch from the jaws of the destroying monster the 
lives annually sacrificed to your neglect of proper sanatory measures, 
you will more effectually remove the impediments to the progress of 
New- Orleans, than by the removal from your statute books of all ob- 
noxious restrictions, or by the most extensive system of rail-roads. 
Let me not be misunderstood or considered as opposed to rail-roads, or 
undervaluing their importance. On the contrary, none can more ar- 
dently desire their rapid extension, for, even passing by their impor- 
tance in a commercial point of view, I consider them highly conducive to 
the preservation of human life. In the eloquent speech of the President 
of the Rail-road Convention, it was shown that the length of life was rela- 
tively increased by shortening the time necessarily occupied in going 
from place to place. I maintain even more; that life, the life-time of 
the masses of the people, would be absolutely prolonged, and that the 
aggregate years of life enjoyed by the community would be increased. 
By means of rail-roads, the invalid who requires change of air can ob- 
tain it in a few hours, and at small expense. Rail-roads will enable 
thousands to enjoy the advantages of city and country combined—they 
will be able, though daily transacting business in the city, to scatter the 
residences of their families over a wide area of country, and thus escape 
the evils of an over-crowded locality. These are advantages to be en- 
joyed by the prosperous, but the city must still contain a large number 
of laborers, the mass of whom will be the poor, and it is for these and 
for those who may prefer a residence in the city, that sanatory regula- 
lations are indispensable. While, then, public attention is aroused to 58 
Monograph. 
the importance of immediate action upon subjects conducing to the im- 
provement of this great emporium, let not this subjet be neglected, for 
it certainly is not the least valuable of the elements of a city’s prosper- 
ity, and possesses, in addition, the further claims of humanity and phi- 
lanthropy. 
The following tables, A, B, C, and D, have been very carefully com- 
piled from those published by the Board of Health, and correspond 
exactly with the details there given, as may be seen more fully in the 
2d vol. of Dr. Fenner’s Southern Medical Reports, where a more detailed 
statement is given. The error of the death of two males from diseases 
peculiar to females, occurs in the original tables, and could not be cor- 
rected by me, as it was impossible to know whether the error was in 
the sex or the disease. Though I have with great labor re-arranged 
the tables, in order to elicit from them those facts that should be dis- 
tinctly set forth, in every report from a Board of Health, it is my duty 
to state, that until radical changes occur in our Board of Health, no 
dependence can be placed on their publications, except as remote ap- 
proximations to the truth. The tables are so badly arranged, and their 
errors are so gross and so numerous, that I feel compelled to make this 
statement. . 'Simonds on the Sanitary Condition of New-Orleans 
59 
Table A 
A Table of the Deaths in N. Orleans and Lafayette, during the year 1850 : showing for 
each class of Diseases, the total Mortality, and that of each Season and Month of the Year 
* 
Total. 
Winter. 
Spring. 
Summer. 
Autumn. 
January. 
February. 
March. 
April. 
I' 
June. 
July. 
August. 
September. 
October. 
i 
December. 
TOTAL, 
8086 
Uncertain, 495 
106 
151 
126 
112 
37 
29 
40 
55 
52 
44 
37 
54 
35 
33 
35 
44 
Omitted, 272 
Unspecified, 
767 
Specified... • 
7319 
8086 
17481404 
2011 
2156 
543 
396 
809 
427 
544433 
536 
858 
617 
588 
857 
711 
A. Zymotic, 
3323 
936 
514 
775 
1098 
278 
126,532 
159 
195160 
159 
333 
283 
240 
493 
365 
B. Sporadic, 
3586 
742 
812 
1069 
964 
243 
243 
254 
239 
323 249 
315 
448 
306 
321 
338 
305 
€. External, ,.. 
410 
7319 
70 
79 
167 
94 
20 
27 
23 
29 
26 
24 
62 
77 
28 
27 
26 
41 
i. Epidemic, 
1013 
415 
598 
415 
367 
231 
ii. Endemic, 
2181 
482 
460 
752 
487 
264 
J.12 
106 
153 
170 137 
147 
324 
281 
235 
123 
129 
m. Monoxysmal,. 
129 
3323 
39 
54 
23 
13 
14 
14 
11 
6 
25 
23 
12 
9 
2 
5 
3 
5 
iv. Variable, 
548 
99 
127 
165 
157 
45 
22 
32 
36 
46 
45 
61 
62 
42 
49 
62 
46 
v. Nervous, 
1068 
176 
230 
409 
253 
57 
63 
56 
63 
90 
77 
93 
197 
119 
91 
92 
70 
vi. Respiratory,.... 
908 
233 
213 
198 
264 
74 
77 
82 
61 
92 
60 
58 
79 
61 
78 
92 
94 
vn. Circulatory,.... 
71 
22 
17 
16 
16 
5 
7 
10 
4 
6 
7 
4 
8 
4 
9 
7 
viii. Digestive, 
489 
101 
117 
149 
122 
30 
30 
41 
43 
48 
26 
51 
57 
41 
41 
41 
40 
ix. Urinary, 
15 
. 6 
2 
4 
3 
2 
1 
3 
1 
1 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
x. Of Males, 
1 
1 
1 
xi Of Females,... 
57 
7 
15 
19 
16 
4 
2 
1 
3 
6 
6 
9 
4 
6 
6 
4 
6 
xn. Locomotive,... 
23 
5 
7 
5 
6 
1 
3 
1 
3 
2 
2 
1 
4 
2 
4 
xm. Integumentary 
, 8 
2 
2 
4 
1 
1 
2 
1 
3 
xiv. Of senses, 
xv. Old age, 
74 
15 
16 
17 
26 
5 
6 
4 
6 
8 
2 
5 
6 
6 
3 
7 
16 
xvi. Still-born....... 
324 
3586 
76 
65 
83 
100 
21 
31 
24 
17 
24 
24 
31 
29 
23 
43 
30 
27 
xvn. Casualties, 
248 
28 
45 
121 
54 
6 
14 
8 
14 
14 
17 
42 
60 
9 
12 
14 
28 
xviii. Exopathic, 
33 
7 
6 
10 
10 
1 
3 
3 
4 
1 
1 
7 
2 
1 
3 
2 
5 
xix. Esopathic, 
120 
32 
28 
34 
26 
11 
9 
12 
11 
11 
6 
13 
13 
8 
11 
8 
7 
xx. Treatment,.... 
9 
410 
3 
2 
4 
2 
1 
2 
1 
2 
1 
CLASS III. 
• 
Pertussis 
13 
2 
4 
1 
6 
2 
1 
3 
1 
3 
2 
1 
Measles 
57 
9 
32 
12 
4 
2 
3 
4 
2 
19 
11 
8 
4 
1 
1 
2 
Scarlatina 
22 
2 
11 
7 
2 
1 
1 
4 
7 
2 
4 
1 
1 
1 
Variola 
36 
25 
7 
3 
1 
11 
8 
6 
4 
1 
2 
2 
1 
1 
Mumps 
1 
1 
1 
Total 
129 
39 
54 
23 
13 
14 
14 
11 
6 
25 
23 
12 
9 
2 
5 
3 
5 
CLASS IV. 
Scrofula 
13 
2 
4 
3 
4 
1 
1 
1 
2 
1 
1 
2 
1 
2 
1 
Marasmus 
95 
13 
27 
25 
30 
6 
3 
4 
10 
7 
10 
7 
12 
6 
9 
12 
9 
Teething 
137 
20 
36 
49 
32 
10 
4 
6 
8 
12 
16 
20 
17 
12 
11 
9 
12 
Debility 
171 
29 
34 
54 
54 
9 
5 
15 
11 
14 
9 
18 
21 
15 
14 
24 
16 
Dropsy 
66 
18 
11 
15 
22 
6 
7 
5 
2 
5 
4 
7 
4 
4 
7 
9 
6 
Other diseases 
66 
17 
15 
19 
15 
13 
3 
1 
4 
6 
5 
8 
6 
5 
7 
6 
2 
Total 
548 
99 
127 
165 
157 
45 
22 
32 
36 
46 
45 
61 
62 
42 
49 
62 
46 
CLASS V. 
Apoplexy 
115 
27 
19 
50 
19 
7 
13 
7 
4 
9 
6 
11 
31 
8 
8 
5 
6 
Congestion of brain. 
101 
8 
14 
57 
22 
3 
2 
3 
3 
6 
5 
8 
34 
15 
8 
6 
8 
Cephalitis 
170 
25 
45 
68 
32 
4 
7 
14 
12 
16 
17 
24 
28 
16 
7 
16 
9 
Hydrocephalus 
33 
3 
16 
9 
5 
3 
6 
4 
6 
1 
5 
3 
2 
1 
2 
Epilepsy 
16 
2 
4 
9 
1 
1 
1 
2 
2 
5 
2 
2 
1 
Convulsions 
854 
50 
68 
131 
105 
20 
16 
14 
21 
26 
21 
16 
68 
47 
44 
38 
23 
Carried up 
879 
115 
166 
324 
184 
37 
39 
39 
46 
63 
57 
65 
168 
91 
70 
66 
48 60 
Monograph. 
Tabic B. 
A TABLE OF THE DEATHS IN NEW-ORLEANS AND LAFAYETTE, DURING 
THE 1850 : 
SHOWING FOR EACH CLASS OF DISEASES, THE TOTAL MORTALITY, AND THAT OF EACH CLASS OF THE 
COMMUNITY, ACCORDING TO COLOR, SEX, AND AGE. 
DISEASES. 
Total. 
WHITES. 
COLORED. 
Whites. 
Colored. 
Males. 
Females. 
Adults. 
Children• 
MALES. 
FEMALES. 
Males. 
Females. 
Adults. 
Children. 
Adults. 
Children. 
«c 
N 
Children. 
«© 
Children. 
8086 
TOT AT, 
Uncertain 495 
83 
146 
65 
95 
21 
39 
14 
32 
389 
106 
289 
206 
183 
312 
Omitted 272 
Unspecified.... 761 
Specified 7319 
8086 
26301154 
1236 
920 
400 
336 365 
278 
5940 
1379 
4520 
2799 
4631 
2688 
A. Zymotic 3323 
1427 
397 
710 
305 
175 
93 118 
98 
2839 
484 
2092 
1231 
2430 
893 
B. Sporadic 3586 
907 
746 
483 
610 
193 
235 
237 
175 
2746 
840 
2081 
1505 
1820 
1766 
C. External 410 
7319 
296 
11 
43 
5 
32 
8 
10 
5 
355 
55 
347 
6$ 
381 
29 
i. Epidemic 1013 
419 
120 
207 
69 
77 
31 
58 
32 
815 
198 
647 
366 
761 
252 
H. Endemic 2181 
995 
242 
497 
195 
91 
47 
59 
55 
1929 
252 
1375 
806 
1642 
539 
hi. Monoxysmal 129 
3323 
13 
35 
6 
41 
7 
15 
1 
11 
95 
34 
70 
59 
27 
102 
iv. Variable 548 
99 
151 
67 
130 
27 
34 
15 
25 
447 
101 
311 
237 
208 
340 
v. Nervous 1068 
197 
311 
78 
232 
41 
89 
42 
78 
818 
250 
638 
430 
358 
710 
vi. Respiratory.. 908 
386 
54 
184 
69 
68 
27 
96 
24 
693 
215 
535 
373 
734 
174 
Vli. Circulatory... 71 
27 
2 
13 
6 
7 
4 
12 
48 
23 
40 
31 
59 
12 
viii. Digestive 689 
169 
78 
78 
71 
37 
26 
24 
16 
386 
103 
300 
189 
298 
191 
ix. Urinary 15 
8 
2 
2 
1 
1 
1 
12 
3 
12 
3 
12 
3 
x. Of Males 1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
xi. Of Females. 57 
1 
1 
40 
5 
9 
1 
47 
10 
2 
55 
50 
7 
xii. Locomotive.. 23 
10 
1 
1 
5 
1 
3 
2 
12 
11 
17 
6 
18 
5 
xm. Integumen’y 8 
3 
4 
1 
7 
1 
3 
5 
8 
xiv. Of senses 
xv. Old age 74 
16 
17 
7 
34 
33 
41 
23 
51 
74 
xvi. Still-born 324 
3586 
146 
96 
53 
29 
242 
82 
199 
125 
324 
xvn. Casualties.... 248 
174 
10 
22 
5 
21 
7 
5 
4 
211 
37 
212 
36 
222 
xviii. Exopathic.... 33 
20 
1 
5 
4 
1 
1 
1 
26 
7 
26 
7 
30 
3 
xix. Esopathic.... 120 
96 
14 
6 
4 
110 
10 
102 
18 
120 
26 
xx. Treatment... 9 
410 
6 
2 
1 
8 
1 
7 
2 
9 Simonds on the Sanitary Condition of New-Orleans. 
61 
Table 
A CLASSIFIED TABLE OF DEATHS IN NEW-ORLEANS, ETC. 
DISEASES. 
§ 
s' 
£ 
& 
\June. 
*5 
Is 
£ 
►o 
6 
►O 
$ 
-O 
1 
§ 
£ 
s 
g 
T 
1 
§ 
GQ 
3 
8 
*•© 
s 
a. 
May 
,s>> 
$ 
I5 
a, 
CQ 
o 
O 
£ 
CLASS XIV. 
Of Senses 
CLASS XIV. 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
74 
15 
16 
17 
26 
5 
6 
4 
6 
8 
2 
5 
6 
6 
3 
7 
16 
CLASS XVI. 
324 
76 
65 
83 
100 
21 
31 
24 
17 
24 
24 
31 
29 
23 
43 
30 
27 
CLASS XVII. 
53 
9 
13 
11 
20 
7 
2 
6 
4 
3 
4 
2 
5 
5 
3 
12 
68 
5 
63 
6 
19 
42 
2 
97 
11 
23 
45 
18 
4 
3 
4 
8 
8 
7 
18 
15 
12 
7 
8 
3 
Burns and Scalds.. 
30 
8 
4 
2 
16 
2 
4 
2 
2 
2 
1 
1 
3 
13 
Total 
248 
28 
45 
121 
54 
6 
14 
8 
14 
14 
17 
42 
60 
19 
12 
14 
28 
CLASS XVII1. 
19 
2 
2 
7 
8 
1 
1 
1 
1 
5 
2 
1 
2 
5 
Suffocated, Ac 
7 
4 
2 
1 
1 
2 
2 
2 
1 
7 
1 
2 
3 
1 
1 
1 
1 
2 
1 
1 
Total 
33 
7 
6 
10 
10 
1 
3 
3 
4 
1 
1 
7 
2 
1 
3 
. 2 
5 
CLASS XIX. 
Delirium Tremens 
72 
19 
20 
20 
13 
5 
5 
9 
9 
8 
3 
6 
7 
7 
6 
4 
3 
Intemperance 
31 
8 
6 
10 
7 
4 
3 
1 
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
1 
1 
2 
4 
7 
3 
1 
1 
2 
1 
2 
1 
1 
2 
10 
2 
1 
3 
4 
1 
1 
1 
3 
2 
2 
Total 
120 
32 
28 
34 
26 
11 
9 
12 
11 
11 
6 
13 
13 
8 
11 
8 
7 
CLASS XX. 
Treatment 
9 
3 
2 
4] 
2 
1 
2 
1 
2 
1 62 
Monograph. 
A classified table of the causes of death in New-Orleans and Lafayette, 
during 1850, showing for each disease and class of diseases, the total 
mortality, that of each season of the year, and of each class of the 
community, according to color, sex and age. 
Table C. 
DISEASES. 
TOTAL. 
WINTER. 
SPRING. 
SUMMER/- 
autIjmn. 
WHITES. 
COLORED. 
MALES. 
FEMALES. 
ADULTS. 
CHILDREN. 
CLASS I. 
Cholera, 
1013 
415 
598 
815 
198 
647 
366 
761 
252 
CLASS II. 
Cholera 
504 
157 
181 
65 
101 
430 
74 
315 
189 
415 
89 
Diarrhoea 
290 
75 
77 
54 
84 
255 
35 
189 
101 
219 
71 
Dysentery 
338 
71 
67 
91 
109 
297 
41 
211 
127 
229 
109 
Fevers 
893 
134 
89 
520 
150 
830 
63 
580 
313 
765 
128 
Erysipelas 
10 
1 
2 
2 
5 
9 
1 
8 
2 
8 
2 
Influenza 
36 
18 
10 
3 
5 
11 
25 
17 
19 
5 
31 
Thrush 
4 
3 
1 
4 
2 
2 
4 
Cholera Infantum 
73 
11 
25 
13 
24 
64 
9 
36 
37 
73 
Croup 
33 
15 
6 
3 
9 
29 
4 
17 
16 
1 
32 
Total 
2181 
482 
460 
752 
487 
1929 
252 
1375 
806 
1642 
539 
CLASS III. 
Pertussis 
13 
2 
4 
1 
6 
7 
6 
3 
10 
.13 
Measles 
57 
9 
32 
12 
41 
46 
11 
32 
25 
1 
56 
Scarlatina 
22 
2 
11 
7 
2 
19 
3 
6 
16 
5 
17 
Variola 
36 
25 
7 
3 
1 
23 
13 
28 
8 
20 
16 
Mumps •... 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
Total 
129 
39 
54 
23 
13 
95 
34 
70 
59 
27 
102 
CLASS IV. 
Scrofula 
13 
2 
4 
3 
4 
8 
5 
7 
6 
6 
7 
Marasmus , 
95 
13 
27 
25 
30 
82 
13 
54 
41 
23 
72 
Teething 
137 
20 
36 
49 
32 
109 
28 
76 
61 
137 
Debility 
171 
29 
34| 
54 
54 
149 
22 
90 
81 
73 
98 
Dropsy 
66 
18 
11 
15 
22 
47 
19 
38 
28 
55 
11 
Other diseases 
66 
17 
15l 
19 
15 
52 
14 
46 
20 
51 
15 
Total 
548 
99 
127 
165 
157 
447 
101 
311 
237 
208 
340 
CLASS V. 
Apoplexy 
115 
27 
19 
50 
19 
86 
29 
79 
36 
111 
4 
Congestion of brain... 
101 
8 
14 
57 
22 
83 
18 
69 
32 
71 
30 
Cephalitis 
170 
25 
45 
68 
32 
115 
55 
105 
65 
60 
110 
Hydrocephalus 
33 
3 
16 
9 
5 
31 
2 
18 
15 
3 
30 
Epilepsy 
16 
2 
4 
9 
1 
12 
4 
11 
5 
13 
3 
Convulsions 
354 
50 
68 
131 
105 
295 
59 
194 
1601 
24 
330 
Carried up 
875 
115 
166 
324| 
184 
622 
167 
476 
313] 
282 
507 Simonds on the Sanitary Condition of Neio-Oi'leans. 
Table C.—[Continued.] 
DISEASES. 
TOTAL. 
WINTER. 
SPRING. 
SUMMER. 
AUTUMN. 
WHITES. 
COLORED. 
MALES. 
FEMALES. 
ADULTS. 
CHILDREN. 
Brought up, - 
879 
115 
166 
324 
184 
622 
467 
476 
313 
282 
507 
Tetanus, 
71 
19 
18 
15 
19 
53 
18 
43 
28 
43 
28 
Trismus IN ascentium,- 
163 
36 
29 
57 
41 
114 
49 
99 
64 
163 
Paralysis, 
19 
3 
7 
5 
4 
13 
6 
8 
11 
18 
1 
Other diseases, 
26 
3 
10 
8 
5 
16 
10 
12 
14 
15 
11 
Total, 
1068 
176 
230 
409 
253 
818 
250 
638 
430 
358 
710 
CLASS VI. 
Laryngitis, 
11 
3 
7 
1 
8 
3 
6 
5 
8 
3 
Bronchitis, 
39 
14 
9 
7 
9 
23 
16 
20 
19 
16 
23 
Pleurisy, 
17 
6 
6 
2 
3 
8 
9 
10 
7 
17 
Pleuro-pneumonia, — 
10 
5 
2 
3 
8 
2 
6 
4 
7 
3 
Pneumonia, 
121 
36 
31 
27 
27 
91 
30 
60 
61 
71 
50 
Consumption, 
681 
167 
156 
144 
214 
532 
149 
418 
263 
588 
93 
Other diseases, 
29 
5 
6 
11 
7 
23 
6 
15 
14 
27 
2 
Total, 
908 
233 
213 
198 
264 
693 
215 
535 
1373 
734 
174 
CLASS VII. 
Circulatory, 
71 
22 
17 
16 
16 
48 
23 
40 
31 
59 
12 
CLASS VIII. 
Gastritis, 
29 
3 
10 
10 
6 
20 
9 
20 
9 
25 
4 
Gastro-enteritis, 
105 
26 
25 
27 
27 
79 
26 
58 
47 
67 
38 
Enteritis, 
183 
32 
38 
61 
52 
145 
38 
103 
80 
76 
107 
Colic, 
15 
1 
5 
6 
3 
14 
1 
13 
2 
9 
6 
Worms, 
10 
3 
3 
2 
2 
6 
4 
6 
4 
10 
Ascites, 
39 
12 
6 
9 
12 
37 
2 
28 
11 
37 
2 
Peritonitis, 
18 
2 
5 
7 
4 
16 
2 
7 
11 
13 
5 
Other diseases, 
28 
5 
11 
5 
7 
19 
9 
17 
11 
16 
12 
Hepatitis, 
15 
6 
1 
5 
3 
14 
1 
13 
2 
10 
5 
Jaundice, 
35 
11 
9 
10 
5 
26 
9 
23 
12 
33 
2 
Diseases of Liver, 
8 
4 
3 
1 
6 
2 
8 
8 
“ Spleen,— 
4 
4 
4 
4 
4 
Total, 
489 
101 
117 
149 
122 
386 
103 
300 
189 
298 
191 
CLASS IX. 
Urinary, 
15 
6 
2 
4 
3 
12 
3 
12 
3 
12 
3 
CLASS X. 
Of males, 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 64 
Monograph. 
Table C.—[Continued.] 
DISEASES. 
TOTAL. 
WIN 
SPRING. 
SUMMER. 
AUTUMN. 
WHITES. 
COLORED. 
m 
ta 
<1 
S 
FEMALES. 
ADULTS. 
£ 
W 
csS 
Q 
j-J 
B 
O 
CLASS XI. 
Child-birth 
11 
1 
3 
7 
6 
13 
4 
17 
17 
Puerperal disease 
19 
2 
4 
9 
4 
18 
1 
19 
13 
6 
Other diseases 
21 
4 
8 
3 
6 
16 
5 
2 
19 
20 
1 
Total 
57 
7 
15 
19 
16 
47 
10 
2 
55 
50 
7 
CLASS XII. 
Rheumatism 
16 
4 
5 
4 
3 
6 
10 
11 
5 
12 
4 
Other diseases 
7 
1 
2 
1 
3 
6 
1 
6 
1 
6 
1 
Total 
23 
5 
7 
5 
6 
12 
11 
17 
6 
18 
5 
CLASS XIII. 
Integumentary 
8 
2 
2 
4 
7 
1 
3 
5 
8 
CLASS XIV. 
Of Senses 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
CLASS XV. 
Old Age 
74 
15 
16 
17 
26 
33 
41 
23 
51 
74 
CLASS XVI. 
Still-born 
324 
76 
65 
83 
100 
242 
82 
199 
125 
324 
CLASS XVII. 
Casualties 
53 
9 
13 
11 
20 
48 
5 
46 
7 
48 
5 
Sun-stroke 
68 
5 
63 
67 
1 
58 
10 
68 
Drowned..’ 
97 
11 
23 
45 
18 
77 
20 
90 
7 
87 
10 
Burns and scalds 
30 
8 
4 
2 
16 
19 
11 
18 
12 
19 
11 
Total 
248 
28 
45 
121 
54 
211 
37 
212 
36 
222 
26 
CLASS XVIII. 
Wounds 
19 
2 
2 
7 
8 
15 
4 
19 
18 
1 
Suffocated, <fec...’ 
7 
4 
2 
1 
5 
2 
3 
4 
5 
2 
Poisoned 
7 
1 
2 
3 
1 
6 
1 
4 
3 
7 
Total 
33 
7 
6 
10 
10 
26 
7 
26 
7 
30 
3 
CLASS XIX. 
Delirium Tremens 
72 
19 
20 
20 
13 
68 
4 
66 
6 
72 
Intemperance 
31 
8 
6 
10 
7 
28 
3 
26 
6 
31 
Syphilis 
7 
3 
1 
1 
2 
5 
2 
5 
2 
7 
Suicide 
10 
2 
1 
3 
4 
9 
1 
6 
4 
10 
Total 
120 
32 
28 
34 
26 
110 
10 
102 
18 
120 
CLASS XX. 
Treatment 
9 
3 
2 
4 
8 
1 
7 
2 
9 Simonds on the Sanitary Condition of New-Orleans. 
1849. 
1850 
1849. 
1850. 
1849 and 1850. 
WHITE. 
COLORED. 
WHITE. 
COLORED. 
AGES. 
A 
TOTAL. 
TOTAL. 
TOTAL. 
WHITES. 
col’d. 
MALES 
FEMS. 
MALES. 
A 
FEMALES. 
MALE. 
A 
FEMS. 
MALES. 
A 
FEMALES. 
MALE. 
FEMS. 
Under 1 month. 
300 
179 
74 
65 
267 
153 
61 
49 
618 
530 
1148 
899 
249 
702 
446 
1 month a 1 year. 
248 
225 
84 
57 
332 
276 
105 
90 
614 
803 
1417 
1081 
336 
769 
648 
1 year a 5 “ 
367 
336 
98 
102 
384 
340 
105 
88 
903 
917 
1820 
1427 
393 
954 
866 
5 “ a 10 “ 
154 
117 
36 
35 
109 
88 
26 
26 
342 
249 
591 
468 
123 
325 
266 
10 “ a 15 “ 
15 “ a 20 “ 
255 
139 
78 
58 
j 52 
( 128 
45 
104 
15 
19 
14 
28 
j- 530 
U26) 
{ 279 [ 
935 
723 
212 
547 
388 
20 “ a 30 “ 
1352 
435 
126 
78 
784 
419 
83 
56 
1991 
1342 
3333 
2990 
343 
2345 
988 
30 “ a 40 “ 
1125 
330 
87 
61 
756 
318 
67 
51 
1603 
1192 
2795 
2529 
266 
2035 
760 
40 “ a 50 “ 
561 
159 
54 
59 
405 
133 
34 
43 
833 
615 
1448 
1258 
190 
1054 
394 
50 “ a 60 “ 
222 
84 
28 
48 
184 
71 
28 
38 
382 
321 
703 
561 
142 
462 
241 
60 “ a 70 “ 
102 
37 
19 
34 
90 
54 
27 
20 
192 
191 
383 
283 
100 
238 
145 
70 “ a 80 “ 
38 
31 
13 
19 
32 
34 
8 
26 
101 
100 
201 
135 
66 
91 
110 
80 “ a 90 “ 
8 
14 
11 
15 
9 
11 
7 
17 
48 
44 
92 
42 
50 
35 
57 
90 “ a 100 “ 
1 
4 
2 
13 
1 
3 
4 
11 
20 
19 
39 
9 
30 
8 
31 
Over 100 “ 
1 
2 
1 
3 
1 
4 
4 
1 
3 
Specified .... 
4*33 
2090 
711 
646 
3533 
2049 
589 
558 
8180 
6728 
14909 
12405 
2504 
9566 
5343 
AGE 5 CHILDREN 
) 813 
338 
325 
206 
j 122 
92 
60 
46 
l 2481* 
1358* 
UNK’n. f ADULTS. 
\ 
I 327 
155 
147 
78 
* Including those of whom the sex and 
10661 
8086 
coior ;s aiso ummown. 
Table D.—Showing the AGE of those who died in the Cities of New-Orleans and Lafayette, in 1849 and 1850, as shown by the Tables accom- 
panying the Reports of the Board of Health. 66 
Monograph. 
Table E, 
Shoiving the number of Passengers that arrived at New-Orleans, from 
foreign ports, during each month and quarter of the years named. 
1845. 
1846. 
1847. 
1848. 
1849. 
1850. 
January, 
2,376 
1,832 
2,423 
3,112 
1,214 
February, 
358 
882 
3,479 
2,097 
1,518 
March, 
616 
1,738 
1,044 
1,522 
7,518 
April, 
1,337 
15,71 
2,172 
1,936 
3,268 
May, 
1,026 
1,964 
5,103 
4,752 
1,720 
June 
1,927 
1,485 
4,488 
2,337 
1,306 
July, 
368 
843 
2,112 
740 
902 
August, 
100 
506 
584 
264 
398 
September, 
352 
219 
345 
271 
162 
October, 
1,936 
3,071 
968 
1,672 
2676 
November, 
7,495 
2,849 
6,984 
6,393 
6,267 
December, 
1,677 
6,113 
5,016 
1,838 
1,562 
Winter, 
3,350 
4,452 
6,946 
6,731 
10,250 
11,392 
Spring, 
4,290 
5,020 
1,1763 
9,025 
6,294 
7,362 
Summer, 
820 
1,568 
3,041 
1,275 
1,462 
2,607 
Autumn, 
11,108 
12,033 
12,968 
9,903 
10,505 
17,022 
Total, 
19,568 
23,073 
34,718 
26,934 
28,511 
38,383 
Showing the number and proportion for each month, of the Passen- 
gers that arrived at New-Orleans, from foreign ports, during five 
years, from 1845 to 1849. 
Table F, 
January, - - - 10,957 - - - 8.25 
February, - - 8,334 - - - 6.27 
March, - - - 12,438 - - - 9.36 
April, - - - 10,284 - - - 7.74 
May, - - - 14,565 - - 10.96 
June, .... 11,542 - - - 8.69 
July, - - - 4,965 - - - 3.73 
August, - - - 1,852 - - - 1.39 
September, - 1,349 - - - 1.05 
October, - - - 10,323 - - - 7.77 
November, - - - 29,988 - - - 22.58 
December, - - - 16,206 - - - 12.20 
Total, 132,804 100. Simonds on the Sanitary Condition of New-Orleans. 
67 
Table G, 
Showing the number and proportion, for each quarter, of the Passengers 
that arrived at New- Orleans, from foreign ports, during six years, 
from 1845 to 1850. 
Winter, - - 43,121 - 25.2 
Spring, - - 43,754 - - 25.6 
Summer, - - 10,773 - - 6.3 
Autumn, - - 73,539 - - 42.9 
Total, - 171,187 - - 100. 
Table H, 
Showing the number of deaths in New-Orleans and Lafayette, 
during each month and season for the years 1849 and 1850, 
and the total and proportion for the two years: Cholera, 
as epidemic, being omitted, but added below with the 
deaths at unknown periods. 
1849. 
1850. 
Total. 
Proportion. 
January, 
541 
580 
1,121 
8.20 
February, 
375 
425 
800 
5.85 
March, 
550 
434 
984 
7.19 
April, 
548 
482 
1,030 
7.53 
May, 
482 
596 
1,078 
7.89 
June, 
538 
477 
1,015 
7.42 
July, 
434 
573 
1,007 
7.37 
August, 
486 
912 
1,398 
10.22 
September, 
666 
652 
1,318 
9.64 
October, 
911 
621 
1,532 
11.20 
November, 
712 
525 
1,237 
9.04 
December, 
631 
524 
1,155 
8.45 
Winter, 
1,466 
1,439 
2,905 
21.24 
Spring, 
1,568 
1,555 
3,123 
22.84 
Summer, 
1,586 
2,137 
3,723 
27.23 
Autumn, 
2,254 
1,670 
3,924 
28.69 
Total, 
6,874 
6,801 
13,675 
100.00 
Cholera, 
2,988 
1,013 
4,001 
Unknown, 
799 
272 
1,071 
Total, 
10,661 
8,086 
18,747 68 
Monograph. 
Table I. 
Admisssons to the Marine Hospital at New-Orleans. 
1849. 
1850. 
1851. 
January, 
56 
115 
83 
February, 
62 
81 
106 
March, 
66 
55 
98 
April, 
64 
84 
May, 
81 
75 
June, 
67 
70 
July, 
66 
65 
August, 
70 
90 
September, 
83 
97 
October, 
107 
93 
November, 
102 
99 
V 
. 
December, 
103 
86 
Winter, 
184 
251 
287 
Spring, 
212 
229 
Summer, 
219 
252 
Autumn, 
312 
278 
Total, 
927 
1,010 
574 {Simonds on the Sanitary Condition of New-Orleans. 
1844. 
1845. 
1846. 
1847. 
1848. 
1849. 
1850. 
TOTAL. 
PER CENT. 
January, 
377 
477 
520 
717 
1.182 
1,069 
1,678 
6,020 
7.73 
February, .... 
357 
378 
431 
558 
1,046 
926 
1,163 
4,859 
6.24 
March, 
350 
357 
479 
620 
744 
1,318 
1,276 
5,144 
6.60 
April, 
320 
382 
495 
740 
573 
1,107 
909 
4.526 
5.81 
May, 
357 
403 
530 
926 
655 
1,234 
905 
5,010 
6.43 
J une, 
363 
452 
586 
1,216 
656 
941 
978 
5,1;92 
6.67 
July, 
520 
625 
649 
968 
914 
1,034 
1,647 
6,357 
8.16 
August, 
584 
513 
735 
1,656 
1,411 
1,387 
2,685 
8,971 
11.52 
September, .... 
697 
682 
923 
1,105 
1,353 
1,810 
2,431 
9,006 
11.55 
October, 
727 
659 
984 
826 
1,015 
1,857 
1,767 
7,835 
10.06 
November, .... 
637 
609 
929 
1,227 
948 
1,448 
1,420 
7,218 
9.27 
December, .... 
557 
599 
783 
1,331 
1,448 
1,427 
1,617 
7,762 
9.96 
Winter, 
1,084 
1,212, 
1,430 
1,895 
2,972 
3,313 
4,117 
16,023 
20.57 
Spring, 
1,040 
1,237 
1,611 
2,882 
1,884 
3,282 
2,792 
14,728 
18.91 
Summer, 
1,801 
1,820 
2,307 
3,729 
3,678 
4,231 
6.763 
24,329 
31.23 
Autumn, .... 
1,921 
1,867 
2,696 
3,384 
3,411 
4,732 
4,804 
22,815 
29.29 
Total, 
5,846 
6,136 
8,044 
11,890 
11,945 
15,558 
18,476 
77,895 
100. 
Table Ji^ 
Number of admissions to the New-Orleans Charity Hospital, with the total and the proportions during each month a,nd 
season for seven years. Monograph. 
70 
I have now given the results of a very thorough examination of the 
mortuary statistics of Nevv-Orleans, and the mortality has been shown 
to be double or even treble that of other cities. I have examined the 
causes usually assigned for this great mortality, and have shown that 
they are not sustained by the facts. The beneficial results of sanitary 
reform elsewhere, have been indicated, and an extended extract has 
given the views now entertained in England on this subject. I have 
shown the immense loss sustained by the city in consequence of its sani- 
tary condition, and have thus demonstrated the importance—nay, the 
indispensable necessity, of the bestowal of more attention to this subject 
than it has heretofore received, for thus, only, can be determined the 
true causes of this excessive mortality. The data for the determination 
of this most important question not having been published are, at pre- 
sent, only in possession of the Board of Health. By a rigorous analy- 
sis of these data, it would be possible to ascertain, definitely, the mor- 
tality properly our own, the special causes of our apparently large 
mortality, and the measures to be adopted for their removal. A 
reference to the several successive annual reports of the Board of Health, 
will show the existence here of many causes of disease, of which it has 
in vain urged the removal. Dr. Barton’s very elaborate paper, read 
before the State Medical Society, also points out the causes of disease 
and suggests hints for the improvement of our sanitary condition, wor- 
thy the attention of the authorities and of the citizens. 
Perhaps the most effectual means that can be adopted in the present 
state of things, would be the formation of a voluntary health association, 
which would concentrate and unite the labors of those individuals 
whose philanthropy would induce them to engage in undertaking, first, 
to ascertain the truth with regard to our sanitary condition ; next, to 
inform the community upon the subject, and, finally, to urge those 
measures that might be deemed advisable. The movement in favor of 
sanitary reform in England was started in this way, and voluntary as- 
sociations have contributed most essentially to determine truly, and to 
improve, the sanitary condition of various places. The publications of 
the Health of Towns’ Association are constantly referred to as of pecu- 
liar value, and are quoted even in official documents. Such an associ- 
ation here might publish cards to be distributed on board of every ship 
on its arrival, warning immigrants and strangers of the dangers to which 
they are exposed, pointing out the cautions to be observed, and espe- 
cially the necessity of prompt medical assistance. We now have a most 
worthy voluntary society in the Howard Association, but its labors are 
confined to assistance rendered the sick during the existence of epidem- Simojjds on the Sanitary Condition of New-Orleans. 
71 
ics. Might it not be made a health association, and become more 
active at all times in investigating and removing the causes of disease ? 
A sanitary commission should be appointed by authority of the 
Councils of New-Orleans and Lafayette, to examine fully into the hy- 
gienic condition of the city, including in its investigations the internal 
police of the hospitals, asylums, workhouses, and all public institutions ; 
the condition of the poor and their dwellings; the supply of water; the 
various factories of gas, chemicals, etc.; the butcheries and dairies; the 
supplies of milk and bread ; in fact, a complete and thorough survey 
of every thing pertaining to the sanitary condition of the city. The ex- 
penditure of $5,000 or $10,000 in such a survey would probably save 
the city hundreds of thousands of dollars in the form of its most valu- 
able property, the lives of its citizens. 
It is true that the grand jury examines into these matters, but as such 
bodies do not consist of persons specially selected for this purpose, they 
are not in general qualified for these investigations ; they can only dis- 
cover the most glaring evils ; and the fact that some have been pointed 
out, shows that there are numerous others that might be discovered. 
Having now completed, as far as practicable, this subject, and having 
submitted it to the public, it remains for it to determine whether farther 
researches are needed; whether it will contentedly acquiesce in the con- 
tinuance of such losses, or whether it will require a complete sanitary 
survey and a thorough investigation into the causes of disease existing 
here. I need only add my firm conviction that such an investigation 
will as certainly point out here removable causes of disease, as it has 
done elsewhere. If public attention be directed to the subject, this in- 
vestigation will be made; but as long as the necessity for it is not per- 
ceived, it will not be commenced.