25 SURGEON GENERAL'S OFFICE LIBRARY 1 ^ion wtiuiw;,;,:,;.:^.... Form 113c. No. .$2.../.U..3.M <2j W.D..S.G.O. •OVIUWMNT f RINTma OITICI Presented to the Statistical Division, Surgeon-General's Library, United States Army Washington, D. C. BY The Prudential Insurance Co. of America Newark, New Jersey I NEWARK, N. J. STATISTICIAN'S DEPARTMENT Section_________1_____________ Subject_______________________ Date %ecd____________________ Acknowledged_________________ Indexed______________________ COMB 8005 10-3-19 £f£K~** RAMSAY'S SKETCH OF SOUTH-CAROLINA. \X £ <£7^3^\': n r i/yr -AJ—y C*O..St ¥~ SKETCH OF THE SOIL, CLIMATE, WEATHER, DISEASES OF SOUTH-CAROLINA, READ BEFORE THE MEDICAL SOCIETY OF THAT STATE, BY DAVID RAMSAY, M.D. VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY. CHARLESTON: PRINTED J5Y W. P. YOUNG, FRANKLIN'S HEAD, NO. 43, BROAD-STREET.. MDCCXCVI. / Tf6 SKETCH OF THE SOIL, CLIMATE, WEATHER, AND DISEASES OF SOUTH-CAROLINA. Uouth-Carolina nearly refembles a tri- angle—It is bounded on the eaft by the At- lantic ocean, and extends thereon about two hundred miles; on the fouth, and partly on the weft by the river Savannah; and on the north, and partly on the weft by North-Caro- lina. Thefe two laft mentioned boundary lines approximate to each other, about three hundred miles from the fea-coaft, and in the vicinity of the Alleghany mountains. The ftate of South-Carolina lies between the 32d and 35th degrees of north latitude. Its chief city, Charlefton, is in north latitude 32° 45> an<* in weft longitude from London, 790, and from Philadelphia, 5% and (lands on a point of land between the junction of Afh- ley and Cooper rivers, and about ten miles from the ocean. s In 2 SKETCH OF In treating of South-Carolina, the philo- fopher, as well as the politician, muft confi- der it as divided into upper and lower coun- try. Nature has marked this diftinttion in many particulars. Along the fea-coaft, and for one hundred miles weftward, the country is generally low and flat; firm thence, to its weftern extremity, it is diverfified with hills, rifing higher and higher, till they terminate in the Alleghany mountains, which are the part age ground of the eaflern and weilern waters. In the vailies, between thefe hills, a black and deep loam is found. This has been formed by abrafion from the hills, and from rotten trees and other vegetables, which have been col- lecting for centuries. The rivers of the upper country originate in the mountains, and are an aflemblage of ftreams. After thefe have paffed into the low country, they -move flowly, and in a terpen- tine courfe, till they empty into the ocean. The rivers of the low country are, properly, arms of the fea, extending bat a few miles till they head in fwamps and marines. Carolina, lying on the e2ft fide of the part- age ground, between the eaftern and weftern w aters, is confiderably lower than the corres- ponding parts of the United-States, which are on its weft fide. Hence it follows, that when the fnows melt, or heavy rains fall on the mountains, much more of the water, proceeding SOUTH-CAROLINA. 3 proceeding from thefe fources, is determined to the Atlantic ocean than to the river Mif- fiflipi. In confequenee of which, we are of- ten too wet, while our weftern neighbours are too dry. The fide of South-Carolina, which borders on the fea, is interfered by thirteen rivers, viz. The Waccamaw, Black-river, Santee, Wandow, Cooper, Afhley, Stono, Edifto, Afheppoo, Combahee, Coofaw, Broad, and May rivers. Some of thefe have two moulhs, others have feveral heads, or branches. The river Santee, in particular, is formed by a junction of the waters of the Enoree, Tyger, Pacolet,and Catawba rivers, which originate in the mountains. All of the firft mentioned thir- teen rivers have a margin of fwamp always on one fide, but often on both, extending from half a mile to three miles. Thefe fwamps, in their natural ftate, abound with ufeful timber of various kinds, and, when cleared, they reward their cultivators* with plentiful crops, efpecially in feafons that are exempt from frefties. In the intervals between thefe rivers, there are often inland fwamps, frelh-water lakes, and great quantities of low level land, which, after heavy rains, conti- nue for a long time overflowed. The remain- der is a dry, and, for the moft part, a fandy foil. The 4 SKETCH OF The foil of South-Carolina is naturally, and, for the purpofes of taxation, politically divi- ded into the following claffes. i, Tide-fwamp. 2, Inland fwamp. 3, High river fwamp, or low grounds, commonly called fecond low grounds. 4, Salt marlh. 5, Oak and hickory high land. 6, Pine barren. The tide and in- land fwamps are peculiarly adapted to the cul- ture of rice and hemp. The high river fwamps to hemp, corn, and indigo. The fait marfh has hitherto been, for the moft part, neglect- ed ; but there is reafon to believe, that it would amply repay the expence and labour of pre- paring it for cultivation. The oak and hic- kory high land is well calculated for corn and provifions, and alio for indigo and cotton. The pine barren is the leaft productive fpe- cies of our foil, but it is the moft healthy. Daily experience proves that, under certain circumftances, it may be cultivated to advan- tage for provifions, indigo, and cotton. A proportion of it is an indifpenfably neceffary appendage to a fwamp plantation. It is re- markable that ground of this laft defcription, though comparatively barren, affords nourifh- ment to pine trees, which maintain their ver- dure through winter, and adminifter more to the neceflities and comforts of mankind than any other trees whatfbever. This may per- haps, in part, be accounted for by the well- known obfervation, that much of the pine land of this ftate is only fuperficially fandy, for by digging into it a few inches or feet, the foil, SOUTH-CAROLINA. 5 foil, in many places, changes from fand to clay. In digging into the fwamps, on the margin of the nveis, the operator frequently meets with the trunks of large trees, which appear to have been buried for ages, and is always arrefted in his progrefs by the fpringing of wa- ter. As deep as thefe fwamps have been pe- netrated, they confift of a rich blue clay, or a black fbft mould, of inexhauftable fertility. From this defcription of the low country, it is apparent, that there muft be a predomi- nance of moifture ; and from the co-operati- on of heat, there is a ftrong tendency to pu- trefaction. From the fame caufes, and the prefence of acid gafes, floating in the com- mon atmofphere, metals are very fubject to ruft. This is particularly the cafe with iron, which, when expofed to the air, lofes, in a fhort time, all its brightnefs, and much of its folidity. The climate of South-Carolina is in a me- dium between that of tropical countries, and of cold temperate latitudes. It refembles the former in the degree and duration of its fum- mer heat, and the latter in its variablenefs. In tropical countries, the warmeft and cooleft days, do not, in the courfe of a twelve month, vary more from each other than fixteen de- grees of Fahrenheit's thermometer: there is, confequently, 6 SKETCH OF ' confequehtly, but little diftindtion between their fummer and winter: but a variation of 83 degrees between the heat and cold of dif- ferent days in the fame year, and of 46 degrees in the different hours of the fame day in South-Carolina, is to be found in its hiftori- cal records. In our cooleft fammers, the mercury in the thermometer* has reached 89, and in the five laft years in which obfervations have been made by this fociety, it has never rifen above 93, nor fell below 28. In the year 1785 it ftood for a few hours at 96, which was its greateft height fince the year 1752, when it rofe to 101. In the year 1794 it was never lower than 34, during the time of obfer- vation, which began at eight in the forenoon, and ended at ten in the evening. The dif- ference between our cooleft and warmeft fum- mers, therefore, ranges between 89 and 96; and the difference between our mildeft and fe- vereft winters, ranges between 34 and 28. Oar greateft heat is fometimes lefs, and never much more, than what takes place in the fame feafon in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New- York; * Fahrenheit's thermometer is what is every where meant in this publication, and the obfervations on it, therein referred to, were reported to the medical iociety, as taken by Dr. Robert Wiiibn, at his houie, the weft end of Broad-ftreet, at the hours of eight in the morn- ing, between two and three in the afternoon, and at ten in the evening. The initrument was fuipended in an open paflage, about ten feet from the earth. SOUTH-CAROLINA. ? York; but their warm weather does not, on an average, continue above fix weeks, while ours lafts from three to four months. Our nights are alfo warmer than theirs. The days in Charlefton are moderated by two caufes, which do not exift, in an equal degree, to the northward of it. Our fituation open and near the fea, almoft furrounded by water, and not far diftant from the torrid zone, gives us a fmall proportion of the trade winds, which blowing from the fbuth-eaft are pleafantly cool. Thefe generally fet in about 10 A. M. and continue for the remainder of the day. A fecond reafon may be afligned from the almoft daily fhowers of rain that fall in thehotteft of our fummer months. Since we began our meteorological journal (January, 1791) the mercury in the thermo- meter has never been under 28, though in the year 1752 it was down to 18. Mr. He- mitt, in his hiftorical account of South-Caro- lina, afferts, that he had feen the mercury in Fahrenheit's thermometer, down to 16, and that others had obferved it as low as 10. On the whole, for five years paft, our greateft heat has been eight degrees, and our greateft cold ten degrees lefs than they were about the middle of this century, as obferved by Dr. Chalmers. A fimilar obfervation, though not to the fame extent, will refult from com- paring the greateft heat and cold of the five laft years, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1794, and 8 SKETCH OF 1795, as recorded by the medical fociety, with the years 1750, 17^1, and 1752, the three firft years recorded by Dr. Chalmers. The greateft heat in 1791, was 90, in 1792,93, in 1793, 89, in 1794, 91, in 1795, 92; but the greateft heat in 1750, was 96, in 1751, 94, in 1752, 101. The greateft cold in 1791, was 28, in 1792, 30, in 1793, 30, in 1794, 34, in 1795,29; but in the year 1750, it was 25, in 1751, it was 23, and in 1753, it was 18. Whether this change is accidental, or the confequence of an improvement in our cli- mate, time and future obfervations muft de- termine. Thr advantages refulting to the tem- perature of the air, and to the healthinefs, as well as to the appearance of any country, from theart of man, inhabitingand cultivating it, are inconceivably great. We may, therefore, indulge the hope, that ours is progreflively meliorating from permanent and encreafing caufes. / The quantity of low and moift ground in Carolina, is daily diminifhing. Cultivation ' naturally tends to exficcation. Wherever the tide flows it brings fomething with it, which being left, helps to fill up cavities. In- deed the furface of the earth naturally, and univerfally, approximates to a level. The rains wafh from the high grounds, and add what is carried away to the low. The bones of an enormoufly large animal have been lately dug up in Biggin-fwamp, by the la- bourers SOUTH-CAROLINA. 9 bourers at the Santee Canal, eight feet under ground. The trunks of trees have been fre- quently found at an equal or greater depth. It is poflible that thefe may have been buried be- low the furface of the ground, as deep as they were lying, but it is much more probable that they originally funk in the earth, one, two, or three feet, by their own weight, and were af- terwards covered by fucceflive alluvions in the lapfe of time, to the depth at which they were found. In proportion as our country has been clear- ed and Cultivated, its rich low grounds, from various caufes, have become higher and drier. Much fand and dry clay has been blown on them by high winds. The cutting down of trees has deftroyed their perfpiration. Many hundred gallons of water are daily iffuing from every acre of ground that is fully timbered. The exhalation from the bare furface of the earth expofed to the fun, is much greater than it would be, if the fame ground was co- vered with trees. It is a well known fact, that many old rice fields are now much lefs produc- tive, than they were thirty years ago. It is probable, that the day is not far diftant, when much of the fwamp of this ftate, will be con- verted into dry arable land, more fit for corn than rice. Though the moifture of the foil has in general decreafed, with our increafing cultivation, yet frefties in fuch of our rivers, as originate in the mountains, have, for fome c years 10 SKETCH OF years paft, been higher, and more frequent than ufual. Thefe are ferious evils, threatening the def- trudtion of fome of our moft valuable lands. To inveftigate the caufes thereof, is an object well worthy the attention of every friend to Carolina. One reafon afligned for the late in- creafe of frefties is, that the clearing of the upper country opens many fprings^ and gives circulation to much of what wrould, in a ftate of nature, be ftagnant water. By means of drains, made with a view of rendering the ground plantable, the water, which would other- wife remain quiefcent, till it was either abfor- bed, or evaporated, is conducted to the near- eft ftream, all of which, fooner or later, emp- ty into the rivers. It is within the recollec- tion of the old inhabitants of our upper coun- try, that the rivers thereof were, in the days of their youth, much more fhallow than they are at prefent. If the obfervation, already made, " That the tide, wherever it flows, brings fomething with it, which being left behind, helps to fill up cavities," is well found- ed, may we not fuppofe, that the floods, ruffl- ing down the rivers from the mountains, meet with obstructions, yearly increafmg, which retard their courfe to the ocean? If this is one caufe, among others, of the increafc of frefhes, the remedy would be to expedite the paffage of the water from the rivers to the fea, by multiplying and enlarging their vents, and SOUTH-CAROLINA. II and fhortening their courfe. Whether this is practicable to an extent that would fave all the land adjacent to the rivers, is very doubt- ful ; but it certainly might be effected fo as to fave many plantations, provided the owners would fyftematically co-operate in the execu- tion of a judicious plan, for the more fpeedy difcharge of the superfluous water. The common tides in Afhley and Cooper rivers rife in Charlefton from fix to eight feet • the fpring tides from eight to ten. A com- mon tide, with an eaftwardly wind, is higher than a fpring tide, wTith a weftwardly wind. The tides in general afcend our rivers about thirty five miles from the ocean, in a direct line. The highest ground in Charlefton, is between nine and ten feet above the hfgheft fpring tides. This is to be found in George- ftreet, between Meeting and King streets. The nexthigheft ground is inHarlefton, in Went- worth-ftreet. The next in the weft end of Broad-ftreet, near the theatre. The next in Meeting-ftreet, nearly oppofite the new mar- ket. Earthquakes are fo rare, and fo flight, as not to have been noticed in our hiftorical records. A momentary one, that did no damage, is re- collected by fome of our old citizens, ashaving, taken place about the middle of the prefent century. But whirlwinds are more common. Thefe, for the moft part, are confined to narrow c 2 limits, 12 SKETCH OF limits, and run in an oblique direction, level- ling the loftieft trees that ftand in their way. There are fome circumstances which make it probable, that the whole of the low coun- try in Carolina, was once covered by the ocean. In the deepeft defcent into the ground, nei- ther ftones nor rocks obftruct our progress, but every where fand or beds of fhells: inter- mixed with thefe, at fome considerable depth from the furface, petrified fifh are fometimes dug up. Oyfter fhells are found in great quan- tities, at such a diftance from the prefent limits of the fea-fhore, that it is highly improbable they were ever carried there from the places where they are now naturally produced. A remarkable instance of this occurs in a range of oyfter-fhells extending from Nelfon's ferry, on the San tee-river, fixty miles from the ocean, in a fouth-weft direction, pafling through the intermediate country, till it croffes the river Savannah, in Burke-county, and continuing on to the Oconee-river, in Georgia. The fhells in this range are uncommonly large, and are of a different kind from what are now found near our fhores. They are in fuch abundance, as to afford ample refources for building and agriculture. At the diftance of fix, eight, or ten feet from the furface, near our fea-coaft, water univerfally fprings. A fmall proportion of fea fait is found in all the well water of this city, and it is probable that the whole of it is obtained by filtration from the ocean, or adjacent rivers. Our SOUTH-CAROLINA. 13 Our country partakes fo much of the na- ture of a Weft-India climate, as to be liable to hurricanes, but thefe have been lefs frequent than formerly. Within the first fifty-two years of the prefent century, three took place, viz. in 1700, 1728, and 1752, but for the laft forty-three years nothing of the kind, worthy of notice, has occurred. Our elder ci- tizens inform us, that thunder storms were, in the days of their youth, much more frequent and more injurious than they have been for the laft thirty years. This is remarkably the cafe in Charlefton, and is probably, in part, owing to the multiplication of electrical rods. Mr. Hewitt, who wrote about twenty-five years ago afferts, that he had known in Charlefton five houfes, two churches, and five fhips ftruck with lightning, during one thunder ftorm. Nothing comparable to this has occurred for many years paft. It is neverthelefs true, that during the fummer, there are few nights, in which lightning is not vifible in fome part of the horizon. The transitions from heat to cold are great, and fometimes very fudden. Dr. Chalmers ftates, that on the 10th of December, 1751, the mercury in Fahrenheit's thermometer fell forty-fix degrees in fixteen hours, that is, from 70 to 24. The greateft variation that has taken place in a day, in the five years that have paffed fince the institution of this fociety, was on the 28th of October, 1793, when it fell to 37 H SKETCH OF 37 from 74, at which it ftood on the 27th; that is thirty-feven degrees in the courfe of twenty-four hours. The number of extreme warm days in Charlefton is feldom above thirty in a year, and it is rare for three of thefe to follow each other. On the other hand, eight months out of twelve are moderate and pleafant. The number of piercing cold days in winter is more, in proportion to our latitude, than of thofe which are diftrefTingly hot in fummer, but of thefe more than three rarely come to- gether. There are, on an average, in this city, about twenty nights in a twelvemonth, in which the clofenefs and sultriness of the air forbid us, in a great measure, the refrefh- ment of found fleep, but this fevere weather is, for the moft part, foon terminated by re- frefhing and cooling fhowers. April, May, and June are, in common, our healthieft months; Auguft and September the moft fickly; April and May the driest; June, July, and Auguft the wetteft; November the pleafanteft. In fome years January, and in others February is the coldeft month. It is remarkable, that when orange trees have been destroyed by froft, it has always been in the month of February. December is the best month in the year for ftrangers to arrive in this city: fiich ftiould calculate fo as not to make their first appear- ance either in fummer, or the two first months of autumn. The hotteft day of the year is fometimes SOUTH-CAROLINA. i.i fometimes as early as June, which was the cafe in the year 1791; fometimes as late as September as in the year 1793 ; but ofteneft in July or Auguft. The hottest hour of the day in Charlefton varies with the weather: it is fometimes as early as ten in the forenoon, but moft commonly between two and three in the afternoon. In the fpring when the fun begins to be pow- erful, a langour and drowfinefs is generally felt, respiration is accelerated, and the pulfe becomes quicker and fofter. Strangers are apt to be alarmed at thefe feelings, and anticipate an increafe of them, with the increasing heat of the feafon,but they find themfelves agreeably difappointed. The human frame fo readily ac- commodates itfelf to its fituation, that the heat of June and July is, to moft people, lefs diftrefling than the comparatively milder wea- ther of April and May. On the other hand, though September is cooler than the preceed- ing months, it is more fickly, and the heat of it more opprefflve. Perspiration is diminifhed and frequently interrupted; hence the fyflem, debilitated by the fevere weather of July and August, feels more fenfibly, and more frequent- ly, a fenfe of languor and lassitude. Befides the coolnefs of the evenings in September, and the heavy dews that then fall, multiply the chances of getting cold. It is, on the whole, the moft difagreeable month in the year. r 1 On j i6 SKETCH OF Frofts feldom extend into the ground more than two inches in the coldeft feafons. They generally commence about the middle of Oc- tober, and terminate in the month of March. On their approach they bring with them a cure for the fevers then usually prevalent. The inhabitants of Charlefton keep fires in their houfes from four to fix months in the year, but there are fome warm days in every month, in which fires are difagreeable. On the other hand, there are fome moift cool days in every month of the year, with the ex- ception of July and Auguft, in which fires are not only healthy but pleafant. Ice is fel- dom half an inch thick, and rarely gives an op- portunity for the wholefomeexercife of fkating. The annual medium temperature of the air in Charlefton, was 65A in 1791, 65 in 1792, 65-^ in 1793, 65 in 1794, 64^ in 1795. The average medium for thefe five years, without fractions, is 65. The average me- dium of the ten years* viz. from 1750 to 1759, which were obferved and recorded by Dr. Chal- mers, was 66. From thefe facts it appears proba- ble, that the aggregate heat of different years, in the fame place, is nearly equal. A very warm fummer is preceeded or followed by a propor- tionably cold winter, fo as to bring different years nearly to the fame temperature of the air, on an average of the whole four feafon.s. The greateft, leaft, and mean heat, for every month of the year, for the five laft years, will appear from the annexed table. TABLE GREES C Month. OF THE »F HEAT, 1791 CREATES IN CH A 1792 T, LEAST RLESTON) '793 , AND M FOR TH !794 EAN DE-j E YEARS 1795 January G. 65 L. 35 M. 50 G. 66 L. 30 M. *8 G. 67 L. 36 M. 511 G. 65 L- 35 M. 50 G. 60 L- 33 M. 46I Febru. G. 69 L, 35 M. 52 G. 68 L. 30 M. 49 G. 74 L- 35 M-54* G. 70 L- 34 M. 52 G. 63 L. 29 M. 46 JMarch G. 78 L. 42 ;vl 60 G. 74 L. 41 ■**• 57^: G. 72 f- 34 M. 53 G. 76 L. 43 M. 59i G. 73 L- 33 M. 53 April G. 82 L. 52 M. 67 G. 80 L. 52 M. 66 G. 83 L. 56 M. 69L G. 74 L. 50 M. 621 G. 78 L. 53 M. 65! May G. 87 L. 61 M-74 G. 84 L. 64 M. 74 G. 83 L. 62 M. 72I G. 86 L. 63 M. 741 G. 84 L. 70 M. jj\ June G. 87 M. 69 L. 78 G. 89 L. 63 M. 76§ G. 86 L. 70 M. 78 G. 91 L. 65 M. 78 G. 86 L. 71 M. 78^ G. 92 L. 74 M. 83 July G. 89 L. 66 M. 77i G. 93 L. 70 M. 815. G. 88 L. 76 M. 82 G. 85 L. 72 M. 781 Auguft G. 90 L. 74 M. 82 G. 92 L. 69 M. 80L G. 87 L. 70 M. 78-L G. 91 L. 75 M. 83 G. 88 L. 72 M. 80 Sept. G. 87 L. 61 M-74 G. 85 L. 60 M. 721 G. 89 L. 69 M. 79 G. 88 L. 66 M. jj G. 83 L/59 M. 71 Oct. G. 83 L. 50 M. 661- G. 77 L. 46 M. 6ii G. 82 L- 35 M. 58i G. 75 L. 47 M. 6x rG. 79 L. 48 M. 64 L- 37 M. 554 G. 75 L. 42 M. 58I Decern. G. 63 L. 28 M.45I G. 70 L- 34 M. 52 G. 66 L. 30 M. 48 G. 68 f" 37 M. 52I G. 71 L. 30 M. 501 To face Page 16. SOUTH-CAROLINA. 17 ] The evils that every year take place, more '. or less, in Philadelphia, from drinking cold I water, are unknown in this city. Our water lies fo near the furface of the earth, that the difference of its temperature from that of the common air, is not fo great as to create dan- ger, unlefs in very particular circumstances. A folitary cafe occured in September, 1791, of a negro fellow, who, after taking a draught of cold water, when very warm, fuddenly fainted away, and, immediately after, became infane, and continued fo for feveral days, but he afterwards recovered. Instead of fudden deaths from cold water, we have to lament the fame event from the intemperate ufe of fpirituous liquors. The stimulus of ardent fpirits, added to the stimu- lus of exceusve heat, drives the blood forcibly on the brain, and produces fatal confequences. Thefe are oftener apoplexies than ftrokes of the fun. Four fots expired fuddenly, in one hot day laft fummer, in one fquare of this city. The eaft and noth-eaft winds in winter and spring, are very injurious to invalids, efpeci- ally to thofe who have weak lungs, or who are troubled with rheumatic complaints. In thefe feafons they bring with them that lan- guor, for which they are remarkable in other countries; but in fummer, by moderating heat, thev are rather wholfome than otherwife. d 2 Weft iS SKETCH OP Weft and north-weft winds, which blow over large tracts of marfh, are, in the fummer fea- fon, unfriendly to health. The north and north-weft winds are remarkable for their in- vigorating effects on the human frame. South winds are healthy in fummer, but much lefs fo in winter. The general direction of the winds in this city, for four fucceffive years, may be learnt from the annexed table. On December 31, 1790, at four o'clock, A. M. wind N. E. a fevere fnow ftorm began in Charlefton, which continued for twelve hours, in confequence of which, the ftreets were covered with fnow, from two to four inches deep, and the fea iflands, north-eaft- ward, to the depth of fix inches. Another took place on the 28th of February, 1792, wind N. W. which continued for feveral hours, and till it covered the ground five or fix inches. Thefe were rare phasnomena. Snow is more common, and continues longer in proportion as we recede from the fea-fhore. The further we proceed westward, till we reach the mountains, which divide the weftern from the eastern waters, the weather is cold- er, and vegetation later. While the inhabit- ants of Charlefton can fcarcely bear to be co- vered, in the hours of fleep, with a flieet, they who live in the town of Columbia, one hundred and twenty miles to the north-weft: of | TABLE r 'I the Course of the Wl NDS, Month. l79l l£! Wind. \d\ 1792 Wind. O I V/ina. |q 1794 Wind. 9 10 19 6 11 10 *3 11 4 11 H 3 5 10 .___1 I January ! N. E. & E. S. W. & W. N. W. 7 3 1 W. & N. W. S. W. N. E. 13 2 '5 N W . 6i W. i 18 S. E. & E. | 4 s. w. & s. | 8 N. E. & E. 1 6 N. W. N. E. w. & s. w. February S. E. S. W. & W. N. E. & E. N. W. 9 12 4 W. & N. W. S. W. N. E. & E. '5 4 11 N. E. & N. { 7 N. W. & W.l 12 S. E. & K. ! 8 S. W. & 3. | 7! r;. e. N. W. S. w. & W. March N. E. & E. S. W. S. & W. N. W. 1 2 '4 2 5 '4 14 W. & S. W. N. \V. N. E. S: E. S. E. 12 6 5 3 N. E. & e. ': 9 S. W. oi W. s. w. & w. f x7 S. E. & S. N. W. & N. i 6 N. W. & N. S. E. | 7I N. E. &. N. April S. E. & S. S. W. & W. N.E. & E. S. E. & E. S."W. & W. N. W. 4 21 2 N. E. & H. S. E. & S. S. W. & W. N. W. & N. 14 5 '3 J IN. E. & E. S. w. & w. N. W. S. E. & S. May N. W Sc W. S. W. & W. S. E. & E. S. w. 4 12 15 1 W. & S. W. N. N. E & E. S. E. & E. '3 12 3 S. E. &C E. S. W. & W. N. E. N. W. 9 10 2 N. E. & N.. S. E. & S. s. w. & w. N. W. 12I June S. E. & E. S. W. & W. N. E. 10 » + 2 S. W. & W. S. E. & E. N. E. N. W. l3 10 9 2 s. w. & w. j 17 N. | 1 S. E. & s. | 4 N. W. & W. S. E. & E. S. W. & S. N. E. 1 .1; 7i 18 _3| 7] 5 20j 2i jio! 'iO July S. W. & W. N. W. & N. N. E. & E. S. E. 12 3 H _3 »9 6 2 3 S. W. & w. N. SE. & E. S. E. N. W. '3 16 7 1 S. W. & w. S. E & S. N. W. I7. E. & E. 21 •3 2 5 N. E. & £. S. E. & S. S. w. & W. N. W. & N. Auguft W. S. W. & S. S. E. & E. N. E. N. W. W. & S. W. N. E. & E. S. E. N. W. 12 *5 5 4 S. W. N. E. & E. N. W. S. E. & S. •4 i i 2 11 ! N . E . & E . s. w. cc \y. 1 N. W. & W. S. E. & 3. September s. w. & w. N. W. S. E. & S. N. E. 12 6 6 8 Te 3 N. E. & E. J23I S. W. & S. S. E. & S. Ij s- E. & E. S. w. & w. K6 n. e. N. W. j 3! N- W. 9 10 *9 5 N. E. Si £. S. E. & S. s. w. 8c w. N. W. 8 15 2 October N. N. E. & E. N . W. & W. S. E. N. W. & N. S. W. & W. N. E. & E. | N. E. & E. 'j N. W. & W. 4j S. E. & S. * S. w. 20 7 IC 4 N. E. & N. N. W. & W. S. E. SC E. S. w. \*9 i 4 November N. W. i I 2; N. W. & W. I8j S. W. tt W. N. I 3 S. W. '& S. j 7] N. E. & E. N. E. | 7 N. E. & E. IOl S. E. & S. S. & S. E. 2| S. E. ! 8' N. W. & N. IC IC _3 S. W. & w. 1 9 j N. E. & E. I3 | S. E. ,2 ! N. w. ! 8 December W. N . W . & N . i 2 2 N . E . & H. N. E. 3! N. W. & N. s. w. 31 s. W. & W. S. E. ' 3! S. E. To face • 10| N. W. I51 K. E. &E, 11 s. w. & w. . il N. J3 5 c IN . W . & In . j S. W. & w. | N. E. S: E. .' S. E. & S. !io |io iio i .3 ). J 8. ! SOUTH-CAROLINA. 19 of it, are not incommoded with a blanket. The difference is greater as we advance to Ninety-fix, Pinckney, and Wafhington di- ftricts. The fum total of rain, on an average of ten years, viz. from 1750 to 1759, as obser- ved by Dr. Chalmers, was 41. 75 inches in the year. The quantity of rain that fell in each month of the year 1795? was as follows: inches. 1 oths<, January, 8 5 February, 1 8 March, 4 6 April, 2 4 May, 8 1 June, 8 1 July, 5 2 Auguft, g 4 Sept. and October, 8 9 November, 0 9 December, 5 0 71 8 in tlie year. In 20 SKETCH OF In the four years preceeding 1795, before wre began to meafure the quantity of rain, the mniber of days on which it fell in confidera- ble quantities, without noticing flight transi- ent (bowers, was as follows: DAYS OF RAIN. c ■N, 1 1791 1 1792 1 T793 | ^94 January, 2 12 12 9 February, 8 7 9 5 March, 9 8 11 12 April, 6 2 9 7 May, 3 6 14 8 June, I5 9 8 13 ]%> 10 9 10 23 August, 10 10 15 13 10 6 8 9 October, 8 4 3 8 November, 9 5 9 10 December, 6 10 6 11 | 96 | 88 | 114 | 118 When the waters are kept in motion by a fhcceHion of fliowers, it is generally healthy; but fevers are ufaally rife, when a feries of warm dry days follows great falls of rain. The ciftcrn water of this city, collected from rain is a degree and a half warmer than the w; 11 water; and the temperature of the well water is 644, which is twelve degrees warmer than that of Philadelphia. Our SOUTH-CAROLINA. 21 Our old people areofteneft carried off in cold Weather; the young, the intemperate, and the labouring part of the community, when it is hot. It is to be regretted, that bilious remitting and intermitting fevers have increafed in the country, with the clearing thereof. The felling of trees, and opening of avenues to the rivers, have given more extenfive circulation to marfh miafmata. The increafe of mill-dams in the upper country has been injurious to the health of its inhabitants. In Charlefton a change has taken place much for the better. Bilious remitting autumnal fevers have, for fome years past, evidently decreafed. The fmall-pox is now a trifling diforder, compa- red with what it was in 1760 and 1763. Pleu- rifies, which were formerly common and dan- gerous, are now comparatively rare, and fo eafily cured, as often to require no medical aid. The dry belly-ache has, in a great measure, diiappeared: perhaps this may be in part owing to the increafing difufe of punch. April and May ufed to be the ter- ror of parents; but the difeafes, which thirty years ago occasioned great mortality among children in the spring, have, for fome years past, been lefs frequent and lefs mortal. It is now found, by happy experience, that they are often cured, or prevented, by country air. The three laft Aprils have pafled over with- out any notice being taken on our journals, of the 22 SKETCH OF the diarrhaeaof infants, as having occurred in the practice-of the members of this fociety. A species of fore throat, accompanied with symptoms of the croup, which formerly fwept off numbers of children, has, for the four laft years, rarely occurred in practice. More rational methods of treating wives and mo- thers, have been fubftituted in lieu of the enervating confinement, impofed in the days of our fathers. The good effects of which are vifible in the diminifhed number of women who die in childbirth, and in the increafing number of children who are now raifed to maturity* Dr. Mofely, in histreatife on tropical dip eafes, obferves as follows, " Hot climates are indeed very favorable to gestation and partu- rition. Difficult labours are not common, and children are generally born healthy and ftrong, and thrive' more than they do in tem- perate climates, for a few years, and are not subject to the rickets nor the fcrophula." Asa proof of this general pofition, applied to our ftate, I obferve, that, in many instances, from feven to ten, and in a few, from ten to fifteen children have been raifed to maturity in South- Carolina, from a single pair. There are now eight families in Broad-street, between the ftate-houfe and the weftern extremity of that street, in which fixty-nine children have been born, and of thefe fifty-fix are alive. In that SOUTH-CAROLINA. 23 part of Meeting-ftreet, which lies between Tradd-ftreet and Afhley-river, fromfix marria- ges, (which, with the exception of one, have ta- ken place fince the year 1782) forty-two chil- dren have been born, all of which, except three, are now alive, and the eldest of the whole is little more than fourteen. Within the fame limits, feven other couple have fifty- two children living, the youngest of whom is twelve years old, and forty-feven are grown to maturity. Greater instances of fecundity frequently occur in our middle and upper country, chief- ly among thofe who inhabit poor land, at a di- ftance from the rivers. There is a couple in Orangeburgh district, near the road that leads to Columbia from Orangeburgh, who lately had fifteen children alive out of fixteen, and a fair profpedt of more. Another couple live in Darlington-county, fifteen miles from Lyn- ch's-creek, who lately had thirteen children, and fifty-one grand children, all alive; and of their thirteen children, twelve were mar- ried at the fame time. The yellow fever raged in this city in the years 1700, 1732, 1739, 1745* *748; but fince the laft mentioned year, nothing of the kind, of ferious confequence * has taken place, e except * Some perfons die almoft every year, with the bili- ous fever, whofe fcin is yellow before or after death, and 24 sketch of except the malignant fever of 1792 and 1794; which, though it refembled the yellow-fever in many things, was entirely different in two important particulars. It was not contagious, nor did it affect any perfon who had, for any considerable time, been ufed to the air of CharMon. • Sundry perfons from the country Were in- fected with it in this city, who died on or immediately after their return; but in no in- stance was the difeafe propagated from them, nor among the attendants on thofe who had the difeafe in Charlefton. It was a fever , fui generis, but refembled the typhus ic- terodes of Sauvage. The whole mortality from it, in 1792 and 1794, did not exceed one hundred and fifty in each year.* Camp and fome of whom difcharge black matter by vomiting; but this is very different from what is commonly meant by the Weft-India yellow-fever. * It is much to be regretted that regular bills of mor- tality are not kept in Charlefton. To remedy this de- fect, on a particular occafion, the fextons of the differ- ent churches were defired to give information of the num- ber of perfons buried in their refpedtive burial grounds, from which it appeared to the medical fociety, that be- tween the firft of Auguft, 1792, and the 26th of Octo- ber, of the fame year, one hundred and fixty-eighc white perfons were interredin the differentburial grounds in Charlefton. When it is confidered, that the typhus ifterodes began about the middle of July, and did not difappear till the middle of Ocf ober, of this fame year, 1792, 0 I toxic- Eof.the B'M^ that occurred h Charlefton, from 1701 o 3 '7.94- /7-9^- Catarrhal fevers. Anginas. Catarrhal fevers. Small-pox. Meafles. Anginas. Catarrhal fevers. Meafles. Catarrhal and rheu- Catarrhal and rheu- Jma,I-Pox- matic fevers. matic fevers Hooping-cough. Scarlatina anginofa. Scarlatina anginofa ^ata.rrhaI fcvers- Anginas. 3mall-pox. Meafles. 3mall-pox. Meafles. Diarrhoea of Infants. carlatina anginofa, Catarrhal and inter- mittent fevers. Angina uicerofa. Catarrhal fevers. Hooping-cough. Meafles. Catarrhal fevers. Catarrhal fevers. Small-pox. Meafles. Angina ulcerofa. Small-pox. Meafles. Diarrhoea of infants, Small-pox. Meafles. Diarrhoea of infants. ^mall-pox. Meafles. ingina ulcerofa. Diarrhoea of Infants mall-pox. Meafles. Dyfentery. diarrhoea. Intermittent fevers, 3mall-pox. Meafles. Dyfentery. Diarrhoea. Intermittent fevers. scarlatina anginofa. Small-pox. Meafles. Hooping cough. Cholera morbus. Dyfentery of infants Small-pox. Meafles. Dyfentery. Intermittent fevers small-pox. Dyfentery. Meafles. Intermittent Scarlatina. fet Catarrhal fevers. Anginas. Small-pox. Dyfentery. Small-pox. Anginas. Hooping-cough. Catarrhal fevers. Dyfentery. Catarrhal and mili- ary fevers. Meafles. Small-pox. Anginas. Catarrhal fevers. Hooping-cough. Miliary fevers. Small-pox. Meafles. Dyfentery. Small pox. Diarrhoea. Dyfentery. Hooping- cough. Intermittent fevers. Anginas. Small-pox. Hooping-cough. Intermittent fevers Mumps. Silious intermittent & remittent fevers. 3mall-pox. Catarrhal fevers. Dyfentery and Diar- rhoea. Meafles. Typhus icterodes. Catarrhal fevers. Rheum atifms. Small-pox. Meafles. Intermittent fevers. Catarrhal fevers. Meafles. Angina ulcerofa- Croup. Typhus iclerodes. Catarrhal and rheu matic fevers. Dyientery. Hooping cough. Catarrhal fevers. Spafmodic colics. Intermittent fevers. Meafles. Croup. Scarlatina anginofa. Intermittent fevers Croup. Small-pox.' Small-pox. Hooping-cough. Intermittent fevers Meafles. Angina ulcerofa. Pleurifies. Catarrhal fevers. Hooping-cough. Intermittent fevers Dyfentery. Diarrhoea. Small-pox. Hooping-cough. cJiiious remittent and intermittent fevers. Intermittent fevers Diarrhoea. Dyfentery. Small-pox. Hooping cough. Typhus icferodes. Small-pox. Dyfentery and diar- rhoea .of infants. Hooping-cough. Catarrhal and milia- ry fevers. Meafles. Meafles. Catarrhal fevers. Pleurifies. Meafles. Catarrhal fevers. Pleurifies. Diarrhoea. Hooping-cough. Diarrhoea. Dyfentery. Intermittent fevers Small-pox. Hooping-cough. Intermittent fevers. Dyfentery. Meafles. Catarrhal fevers. Catarrhal fevers. Scarlatina. Intermittent fevers. Hooping-cough. Catarrhal fevers. Intermittent fevers Angina ulcerofa. Catarrhal fevers. Dyfentery. Small-pox. Hooping-cough. Intermittent and Caj tarrhal fevers. To face p. 25. Small-pox. Hooping-cough. Diarrhoea and dyfen- tery. Typhus icTerodes. Typhus icferodes. Intermittent fevers, Fevers. Dyfentery. Hooping-cough. Typhus ifterodes. Rheumatic fevers. Typhus icferodus. Catarrhal and inter- Typhus icferodes. mittent fevers. (Catarrhal and ir>,1 Hooping-cough. Meafles. Catarrhal fevers. Anginas. Intermittent fevers Quinfy. Typhus icterodes. Intermittent and ca- tarrhal fevers. Meafles. Catarrhal fevers. Catarrhal fevers. SOUTH-CAROLINA. 25 Camp fevers were, as ufual, attendant on the armies in the time of the late war. The fcarlatina anginofa was alfo common in Charlef- ton, in the year 1783, but attended with lit- tle mortality. The typhus icterodes of 1792 and 1794 was confined to strangers, and did not extend beyond the limits of this city. Thefe difeafes were, in a limited fenfe, epi- demic ; but, except the influenza, no ferious extenfive epidemic has taken place among us for the laft twenty years. The annexed table, extracted from the jour- nals of the medical fociety, will fhew, at one view, thegeneral tenor of thedifeafes that have occurred in Charlefton, for the five laft years. It must be highly agreeable to every bene- volent mind, that Charlefton is now more healthy than formerly, and likely to be more and more fo. With pleasure I anticipate, that in the courfe of the next century, our buildings will be extended into Afh'ey and Coo- per rivers, as far as low water mark; that the adjacent marines will be banked in; the streets paved, and well provided with fewers; the bogs drained; the low grounds filled up; and the whole area of the city be firm, folid, high, e 2 and 1792, and that Auguft and September are the moft fickly months of the whole twelve, the death of one hundred and fixty-eight perfons, in the courfe of eighty-feven days, in a city, whofe white population was about eight thoufand perfons, mult be deemed very moderate. 26 SKETCH OF and dry land. Thofe who recollect the time when ducks were fhot in a pond, which occu- pied the ground on which the ftate-houfe is erected—when a creek ran up toChurch-ftreet, and was crofted on a bridge, near where the French church now stands—when they ufed to fwim over that spot of ground which is now Mr. Allfton's garden—when Water-ftreet, which, at prefent, is high and dry, was al- moft impaffable, will acquit me of being too j fanguine, when I indulge the hope, that our grand-children will be lefs expofed to fevers than we are. It is a glorious exploitan a country, whofe maladies chiefly arife from heat and moisture, to redeem its metropolis from moisture, which, ; of the two, is the moft plentiful fource of '■ difeafe. "Whoever builds a houfe, fills a pond, * or drains a bog, deferves well of his country.* It * Our fellow-citizen, Captain Toomer, is entitled tq praife on this account; he has converted a very miry fpot in Meeting-ftreet, into folid ground, and covered it with houfes. Much remains to be done in this way, to improve the health of Charlefton. The exiftence of a pond in a city, is a reproach to its police. Efficient mea- fures Should be immediately adopted to drain or fill up the low grounds. The ftreets fhould be paved, and the fewers conftru&ed on a different plan. They ought to be completely covered over, and extended on each fide* to the neareft river: while fmallerones, from every houfe, fhould enter them near their top, and on a defcent. All offenfive matter fhould be tranfmitted through thefe late- ral fewers to the main one in the middle of the ftreetj and SOUTH-CAROLINA. 27 It is no fmall advantage to the inhabitants of Charlefton, that they can, in the fpace of two hours, parry the heat of fummer, by go- ing to Sullivan's-ifland, where many invalids, efpecially children, have found a fpeedy ref- toration to health and ftrength. Our citizens have gained fo much by frequenting this ifland, we may well wonder that is only three years fince it began to be a place of fummer refort. Intermitting fevers are common to thofe who inhabit on or near to the banks of our rivers. On the other hand, by removing in- to the high and dry lands, three or four miles from the rivers, ponds, and mill-dams, fevers may, for the moft part, be avoided. Of this a remarkable instance has lately occurred in St. Stephens, the inhabitants of which by quitting the fwamps in fummer, and fixing themfelves in a new fettlement, called by them Pine-Ville, have, for two years past, in a great meafure, efcaped the difeafes which are com- mon in the moft fickly feafbn of the year. The fwamps of South-Carolina terminate about one hundred and ten miles from the fea- coaft; from thence westward the country be- comes more hilly: the inhabitants are more ruddy, and in general more healthy. The and the whole fo conftrutted, that as often as it rained, there would be a general purification of the city. 28 SKETCH OF I The tetanus is more common here than in f colder countries. Twenty-one cafes of it, 1 and moft of them fatal ones, have been re- ported to the medical fociety, between Sep- tember, 1791, and Auguft, 1795: feven of thefe took place in winter. Chronic complaints < are comparatively rare in this ftate. The gravel, the ftone, the dropfy, the rheumatism, and the consumption occur much feldomer with us* than with our northern brethren. Fevers are our proper endemick: he who ef- capes them has little elfe to fear. And much may be fuccefsfully done for the avoidance of them by prudent careful active perfons, who study their constitutions, and obferve a gene- rous medium between living too high and li- ving too low. Were it possible exactly to contrast the confumptions of New-England with the fevers of South-Carolina, the inhabitants of both would have nearly equal reafon to be fatisfied with the place of their nativity. As to long life our eaftern brethren have the advantage of us. In proportion to numbers, as far as hif- tory * " In tropical countries, people are feldom) affected with dangerous pulmonic difeafes; idiotifm and mania are very uncommon: lunacy is almoft unknown: fcurvy and gravel are difeafes feldom to be met with, and the ftone fcarcely ever. I have known many Europeans fub- jecf to the gravel at home who had no fymptoms of it during their refidence in the Weft Indies." Mofely on the di/eafes of tropical climates, p. 112. SOUTH-CAROLINA. 29 tory and obfervation warrant a companion, there are as many of their inhabitants reach 85 as of ours who attain to 70.- Extreme old age, though not common, is fometimes attained by our citizens, efpecially by thofe who, in middle or early life, have migrated from the cold northern countries of Europe* A native of this city now refides in it, at Amen corner, who is fuppofed by her- felf and acquaintances, to be an hundred years old. I have been well informed of feven or eight others in different parts of the ftate, who have reached, and in fome cafes exceeded that period. A particular cenfus of the aged in- habitants of this city was taken by Captain Jacob Milligan, in the year 1790, at the re- quest of a worthy citizen, fince dead, from which it appeared that there were then, in Charlefton, 198 white perfons who were fixty years of age, and one hundred of thefe were upwards of 70, and one 108. Our white po- pulation, at that period, was about 8coo. This imperfect fketch of the foil, climate, weather, and difeafes of South-Carolina, col- lected from our medical journal, my own ob- fervations for 22 years, and the information of others, is refpedtfully fubmitted to the foci- ety, with a request that each member would freely point out wherein I am deficient, and where 3° SKETCH OF, &C. where I am miftaken. He who, in the fpirit of candor and philofophy, corrects me in an old error, or furnifties me with a new truth, deferves, and fhall receive my moft grateful ac- knowledgements . id)avid Jiamui'if* CHARLESTON, S. O. May i, 1796. COPY-RIGHT SECURED ACCORDING TO LAW. MexL. Hist. wz X10 Rills I 7 ■! L