A 
REPORT 
ON THIS 
ORIGIN AND CAUSE 
OP 
THE LATE EPIDEMIC, 
IN AUGUSTA, GA. 
SUBMITTED TO A MEETING OF THE PHYSICIANS 
OF AUGUSTA, 
ON THE 
10th OF DECEMBER, 1839. 
AUGUSTA, GA. 
BROWNE, CUSHNEY & M’CAFFERTY, 
hook and Job Printers. 
1839. At a meeting of the Physicians of Augusta, held on the 13th November, 1839, 
Dr. A. Cunningham, was called to the Chair, and Dr. Paul F. Eve, appointed 
Secretary. 
The following resolution was offered by Dr. F. M. Robertson, and unanimous- 
ly adopted, viz. 
Resolved, That a Committee of three be appointed, to inquire into the origin and 
causes which gave rise to the late epidemic in Augusta. Doctors F. M. Robert- 
son, I. P. Garvin, and P. F. Eve, were appointed on that Committee. 
The meeting then adjourned, to meet again at the call of the Committee. 
The adjourned meeting took place on the 10th December, Dr. A. Cunningham 
in the chair, and Dr. P. F. Eve, Secretary. 
Dr. F. M. Robertson, the Chairman of the Committee, then read the following 
Report and Resolutions, which were unanimously adopted. 
On motion, it was Resolved, That the Report and accompanying documents, be 
published in pamphlet form. 
The meeting then adjourned sine die. REPORT. 
In entering upon the discharge of the duties assigned to your 
Committee, we shall divide the subject into the following ques- 
tions ; and, as they are of vital importance to our city, give each 
one a lair, deliberate, and candid consideration. 
I. Was the cause of the late Epidemic introduced into our 
city from foreign sources ? 
11. Did it arise from local causes ; and, if so, what were those 
causes 1 
Those who are of the opinion that the disease was imported 
among us, are of three classes—The first believe it to have 
been introduced, and spread, altogether, by contagion. The 
second, assume the ground that our atmosphere was in a vitia- 
ted state, and that the simple introduction of a case imparted an 
epidemic constitution to this vitiated atmosphere, and thus 
spread the disease. That is, that the inflammable matter, ori- 
ginating from local causes, was in our atmosphere, and the 
imported cases only acted as a torch, and produced the explo- 
sion. The third class imagine it to have been introduced by 
some West India fruit, brought to our city in a decayed condi- 
tion, about the time the Epidemic broke out. 
As each of these modes of accounting for its introduction, seem 
plausible to many, and are well calculated to alarm those, 
whose pursuits in life, and limited opportunities for gaining 
correct information, render it impossible for them to procure 
authentic facts, upon which alone correct opinions can be 
based, each supposition will be taken up, separately, and exam- 
ined in detail. Although the nature of the late Epidemic is not included in 
the investigations assigned to your Committee, yet we deem it 
important to say, that the impression, that it was Yellow Fever, 
or, what is termed in Charleston, u Stranger's Fever," gener- 
ally prevails among our citizens ; and that the medical prac- 
titioners of the city are, almost, unanimous in this opinion 
There were three cases of Yellow Fever in our city, in the 
month of July, occurring in individuals brought from Charles- 
ton, S. C. An Irish woman and her daughter arrived from 
Charleston on the 27th July—both were unwell on the evening 
of their arrival—One of your Committee saw them on the 29th, 
and the mother died with yellow skin, black vomit, and the 
other usual symptoms of Yellow Fever, on the 30th; and the 
daughter, who was immediately removed to the extreme western 
part of the city, recovered. These cases occurred bn the north 
side of Broad-street, opposite the upper market, and were visited 
by numerous individuals who resided in the neighborhood. 
The third was a gentleman, who arrived, at the Eagle & Phoe- 
nix Hotel sick, on the 31st July. This case was attended by 
Dr. Cunningham, who states it to have borne all the marks of 
Yellow Fever, though the patient recovered, without either 
yellow skin or black vomit. Your Committee, after minute 
examination, have been unable to ascertain that any other cases 
were introduced into the city, before or since the three just 
named. It was stated that a case had been taken from Mrs, 
Pettis’ boarding house, near Bridge Row, to the City Hospital. 
Upon strict examination, your Committee find that this is entire- 
ly a mistake, growing out of the following circumstance : A 
man, sick of ordinary bilious fever, was brought from one of 
the steamboats, that had been detained some time on a bar in 
consequence of the low state of the river, and as Mrs, Pettis 
could not accommodate him, he was taken to the City Hospital. 
This case was seen by Dr. J. A. Eve, and the Chairman of this 
Committee. 
Having stated the time at which the only case of Yellow Fe- 
ver, brought from Charleston, occurred, and their localities, 
your Committee will now draw your attention to the period at 
which the first cases of the Epidemic were observed among us. 
This, we feel assured, will be sufficient to convince all, who believe in the contagiousness of Yellow Fever, that it was not 
introduced into our city from Charleston. 
The attention of a community is seldom drawn to the exist' 
enceof an Epidemic until its general prevalence, or the mortali- 
ty, reaches a point sufficient to excite general alarm; and hence 
it is, that the first cases that occur, are usually entirely over- 
looked, or merely, considered of a sporadic nature. The early 
cases are, also, of a much milder character than those that occur 
after the cause has acquired its maximum degree of virulence. 
These early cases should not, however, be overlooked, as we 
shall see, in the course of our investigations, that they form an 
important link in the chain of cause and effect. 
About the Bth of June, several severe cases of Fever occurred 
in Mrs. Thomas Gardner’s family, at her residence, fronting 
on the river bank and Lincoln-street. They were considered, 
at the time, as cases of ordinary remittent fever. But, as the 
family had, in previous seasons, been exempt from diseases of 
this nature, at so early a period, and as facts, in another part of 
this Report, will clearly show their origin, your Committee feel 
no hesitation in stating the belief that these cases arose from the 
same cause,—though in a less virulent state,—that produced the 
prevailing Epidemic On the sth July, John McGuire, who 
had labored in the upper “ Trash Wharf,” was taken sick and 
remained violently ill for ten days. His physician, and those 
who visited him, consider his case one of the same nature as the 
prevailing epidemic. On the same day, a son of Mrs. Bush, 
who resided nearly midway between Lincoln and Houston sts. 
on the north side of Broad street, was taken with fever, and 
died, with yellow skin, and (as his mother states) passing from 
his bowels large quantities of matter resembling coffee grounds, 
on the 14th. She further states that numerous purple blotches 
appeared on him soon after his death’ His attending physician, 
Dr. J. A. Eve, concurs in the opinion that it was a case bearing 
the marks of the late Epidemic. On the 7th July, a negro named 
Sophia, was taken sick of fever, at the house on Broad-street, 
next below Augustine Frederick’s. On the same day, Isaiah 
Burton was also taken, at his residence on the south side o f Roy- 
nold-street, just below Centre-street. Both these cases are stated 
by Dr. Cunningham to have been decided cases of the pre- vailing fever. The same physician states that Mrs. A. Sibley 
was taken violently ill on the I6th of the same month—no 
other members of the family were attacked until the 25th. Mr* 
Sibley’s residence is on the north side Broad-street, just below 
the lower market. 
Mr. Tutt’s daughter, at the corner of Telfair and Centre- 
streets, was seized on the 14th of July, and died, with all the 
marks of the prevailing fever, on the 24th. Mr. Bottom’s child 
on the south-side of Broad-street, a few doors above the lower 
market, sickened, on the 16th of the same month, and died on 
the 18th. This was pronounced by Dr. Cunningham, the at- 
tend ng physician, to be a decided and violent case ol the pre- 
vailing fever. A negro boy of Mr. Wagner’s, on the south-side 
of Broad-street, a few doors below the lower market, was attack- 
ed with the prevailing fever on the 23d day of July. Henry, 
a child belonging to Mr. Dalby, on Green-street, just above 
Lincoln-street, was taken with the fever on the 26th of July- 
Numerous other casesf forming a regular connection, could be 
mentioned, bat your Committee deem those, already named, 
quite sufficient. From this time the disease became general 
along Rfynold-street, above and below Centre-street, extending 
to Broad-street, in the neighborhood of the Eagle &• Phoenix 
Hotel, and the lower market. On the 19th of August, when 
the Physicians were called together, by invitation of his Honor 
the Mayor, on comparing notes, it was found that over forty 
cases had been under treatment within the two weeks, immedi- 
ately, preceding the day on which the meeting was held. If 
we now make an allowance for the time the morbific cause was 
at work, in the systems of the individuals, before it produced 
an open irruption of the disease, it will, at once, be perceived, 
that the cases which occurred, even between the Ist and 19th 
of August, could not be traced to the imported cases of Yel- 
low Fever. 
After having thus given the date of the commencement of 
the prevailing fever, the concurfent testimony of the attending 
physicians, and the period at which the cases of Yellow Fever 
were introduced from Charleston, and their different localities, 
we feel satisfied that further argument is unnecessary. That 
the epidemic had commenced, fairly and decidedly, before the 9 
introduction of a single case of disease from Charleston, must 
be evident to every unprejudiced observer. 
Moreover, if the disease had been introduced by contagion, 
it certainly should have been governed, after its introduction, 
by the same laws that regulate the spread of contagious affec- 
tions. But, on the contrary, the prevailing fever, certainly, 
exhibited none of the phenomena that ordinarily accompany 
the spread of contagious diseases. We find it commencing on 
the same day, and almost at the same hour, in different houses, 
at the time attracting no unusual degree of attention. So insi- 
dious, indeed, had been its progress, that on the 19th of Au- 
gust, the day of general alarm, over forty cases had already 
occurred. For some days its ravages were confined to the vi- 
cinity of the Lower Market, on Broad and Centre-streets, and 
in the neighborhood of the Eagle & Phoenix Hotel, but it 
gradually and slowly, extended to the other parts of the city. 
The fact of a number of persons having been taken with the 
disease, who nursed the sick in what was termed the infected 
district, has been urged, by some, in favor of contagion. As an 
offsett to this, your Committee would bring forward the fact, 
that no one was taken with the disease, who nursed the sick, 
who were removed out of the infected district, or to the Sand 
Hills, and other parts of the country. This we consider an un- 
answerable argument against the contagious nature of the pre - 
vailing fever. Ifthe disease was contagious, how could a re- 
moval of the sick, half a mile or more, from the infected part of 
the city, deprive it of its contagious properties 7 On the grounds 
of contagion this cannot be explained; but, considering the dis- 
ease of miasmatic origin, the fact is easily accounted for. Those 
vdio nursed the sick in the infected district, were exposed 
—and that too at the worst period ot the twenty-four hours— 
to the same miasmatic exhalations that had produced the dis- 
ease in the patient. When the patient was removed, however, 
to an atmosphere free from the malarial poison, the nurses es- 
caped, though they were exposed to the exhalations from the 
diseased body of the patient, who often expired in the most 
frightful agonies, with black vomit, hemorrhage and all the 
evidences of extreme putridity. Not a single instance can be 
found, in which an individual, who had not been exposed to the 10 
contaminated atmosphere of the city, took the disease after 
communicating with those who were removed from' the city, 
laboring under it, or who took it after their removal. There 
were instances, in which persons slept, night after night, with 
those who had the disease on the Sand Hills, and yet they es- 
caped entirely. Several instances occurred, of persons being 
attacked with the prevailing fever, who had confined themselves 
to their houses, and had neither seen, nor held any intercourse 
whatever with the sick. Your Committee will here relate one 
remarkable instance. Norris, a criminal, under sentence of 
death, who was confined in jail, was taken with the prevailing 
fever on the 12th of September, and died on the 10th day after 
his attack, with black vomit and hemorrhage. He was im- 
mured in a c3II; no person had communicated with him, 
previous to his attack, but the Jailor and Turnkey, and he was 
the first person in the prison who took the disease. 
After the first black frost, on the Bth of November, great 
numbers of the citizens returned permanently to the city. If 
the disease had been spread by contagion, why did it not extend 
to them, from the numerous cases that were then under treat- 
ment? These facts are unanswerable, and sufficient, in the 
opinion of your Committee, to convince any reasoning individu- 
al, that the prevailing fever was neither introduced nor spread 
among us by contagion. 
But again, if the disease was introduced by contagion, 
whence did it come ? Charleston is pointed to as the most na- 
tural source, as the Yellow Fever existed there at the time the 
prevailing fever broke out here. We have shown most conclu- 
sively, that the Epidemic had commenced before the introduc- 
tion of a single case of fever from Charleston; but, to remove all 
doubts upon this point, your Committee will offer satisfactory 
proof, that the fever which prevailed there during the past 
summer, was neither introduced nor spread by contagion. And 
if so, we ask how could its nature be changed by a transfer to 
Augusta ? Moreover, as our city is exposed to the introduc- 
tion of cases of Yellow Fever annually, from the sea coast, 
your Committee will, further, add the opinions of some of the 
most eminent writers, upon the subject of the contagiousness of 
Yellow Fever ; all of which tend directly to show the errone- 
ousness of the doctrine. 11 
The following extract is from “A Report of the history and 
causes of the Stranger’s or Yellow Fever of Charleston,” read 
before the Board of Health, October 18th, 1839, by Dr. T. Y. 
Simons, Chairman of the Board, who is also the Port Physi- 
cian. ‘‘The fever having occurred so early in the season, and 
so soon after its occurrence on board the Burmah, created sus- 
picion of contagion in the minds of some, but I could not, upon 
the minutest investigation, come to that conclusion; and a Com- 
mittee, appointed by the Medical Society, after making a min- 
ute and thorough investigation, came to the conclusion, that the 
fever was not introduced by the Burmah, or by contagion, but 
was produced by the peculiar condition of our atmosphere ; in 
other words was endemic, and arose from causes among us.” 
The Committee here alluded to by Dr.SiMONS, was composed 
of Doctors A. Lopez, James Moultrie, E. Geddings, I. M. 
Campbell, Henry Wintiirop, and J. E. Holbrook, the 
President of the Society. The following is from the report of 
this Committee: 
“Your Committee are therefore of opinion, that the Yellow 
Fever, which has prevailed and still continues this season, has 
its origin, not from contagion derivable from those cases impor- 
ted in the ship Burmah, on the 6th of June last, but from local 
and general causes.” 
The subjoined correspondence, between Professor Geddings, 
°up of the most acute observers, and learned members of our 
profession, and the Chairman of this Committee, also confirms 
the view herein expressed. In answer to the third query, fl Do 
You consider the disease (Yellow Fever) as it prevailed in your 
Clty5 during the present summer, to have exhibited, in any de- 
gree, a contagious nature?” he says, “I have never, either in 
the Epidemic of the present summer, or in any of those which 
Preceded it, observed a single fact or circumstance favorable to 
the belief in any contagious property. On the contrary, I have 
"Witnessed the most free and unlimited intercourse, between the 
stck, and those who might be considered subjects for the dis- 
ease, without the latter being attacked.” 
If we examine minutely the history of Yellow Fever, wher- 
ever it has prevailed, we shall find that it invariably obeys 
hiost of the laws which govern other miasmatic diseases. It has 12 
usually commenced its ravages during the heat of summer, in- 
creased in violence as the season advanced, and ceased as soon 
as the temperature ranged below a given point, or after a severe 
frost. Contagious diseases conform to none of these laws.— 
What climate, what temperature, or what season can arrest the 
ravages of small pox for instance. 
“In considering Yellow Fever as produced by malaria,” ob- 
serves Bancroft, “we can readily understand why (like other 
malarial fevers) it should cease when the atmosphere no longer 
retains sufficient heat for its generation and exhalation; but 
this diminution of temperature could not extinguish a fever 
subsisting by contagion. Frost has no access to the apartments 
and still less to the bodies, of persons under Yellow Fever.— 
Upon its occurrence, fires, with additional bed clothes, secure 
them from its approach, and from even the smallest interrup- 
tion to those morbid actions, or secretions, by which contagion 
is supposed to be generated ; and therefore, if contagion were 
the cause of Yellow Fever, new cases of it ought to occur dur- 
ing winter, especially as we are not acquainted with any fe- 
brile contagion, which is liable to be rendered inactive, merely 
by such a reduction of temperature, as is sufficient to stop the 
progress of Yellow Fever.” 
The doctrine of contagion has agitated the commercial, as 
well as, the medical world for centuries. To speak of the sub- 
ject, in all its bearings, would occupy volumes. Your Com- 
mittee will therefore, confine their remarks to some facts con- 
nected with the prevalence of Yellow Fever, in the different 
cities and towns of the United States. 
If the Yellow Fever was capable of being spread by impor- 
tation, Charleston, S, G. is certainly as much, if not more, ex- 
posed, than any city in the United States, in consequence of its 
intimate commercial relations with the different West India 
ports. Dr. Ramsey, the eminent physician and celebrated his- 
torian, in speaking of this disease as it occurred the preceding 
season, as far back as 1799, says, “We have no reason to believe 
that the Yellow Fever Was imported among us, or communi- 
cated by contagion—Strangers who left the city, and afterwards 
sickened and died in the country, were not the occasion of 
death, or even disease, to those who attended them in their last 13 
illness.” The same individual, in a letter to Dr. Miller, of 
New York, dated 18th Nov. 1800, observes, “ The disputes 
about the origin of Yellow Fever, which have agitated the 
Northern States, have never existed in Charleston. There is 
but one opinion among the physicians and inhabitants, and 
that is, that the disease was neither imported nor contagious. 
This was the unanimous sentiment of the Medical Society, 
who, in pursuance of it, gave their opinion to the Government 
last summer, that the rigid enforcement of the quarantine laws 
was by no means necessary, on account of Yellow Fever,” 
Certainly, if any city had reason to dread the consequences of 
contagion, it was Charleston ; but we find in 1800, her medical 
men and citizens, generally, disavowing any belief in such a 
doctrine ; nor do we hear of these facts being contradicted, by 
any authentic statements, even to the present day. 
The Yellow Fever has frequently prevailed in Norfolk, Ya. 
In relation to its existence in this city, your Committee will 
simply give the following certificate, from Drs. Taylor, Hans- 
ford, Selden and Witherhead, dated 12th October, 1801— 
“We do hereby certify, that the malignant Yellow Fever, 
which prevailed with violence for some time past, has now 
nearly ceased, and that the health of the town appears to be 
improving daily. We know of no instance in which the dis- 
ease has been communicated by contagion.” 
The following is an extract, from Bancroft on Fever, relating 
to the Yellow Fever as it prevailed in Baltimore, in the sum- 
mer of 1800. The Faculty of Medicine of that city, in a report 
to the Mayor, say, “ after the most scrutinizing investigation, 
the Faculty have f und no proof, or even cause of suspicion, 
that the Fever which lately so unhappily afflicted our city, was 
derived from foreign causes ;” and, in support of this declara- 
tion, they give a particular account of thirteen cases, in which 
the disease first appeared; all of whom were in persons who had 
been exposed to marsh masmala, but had not communicated 
with any vessel “ engaged in foreign commerceand were at- 
tacked at such distances from each other, as to preclude the pos- 
sibility of any one of them having derived it from the other. 
They proceed—■“ the gradual manner in which this disease 
becomes epidemic, is an additional proof that it is not derived 14 
from foreign sourcesand after describing the milder casds, 
which occur at the beginning, before the can ses acquire full 
force, they add, “ if this disease were imported, the prominent 
features would develope themselves at first, and these precur- 
sors, and more mild grades of the disease, could not effect thou- 
sands on shore, who never had any communication with vessels 
from the West Indies, or any diseased body.” 
Dr. Rush was long of the opinion, that Yellow Fever was 
contagious ; but, from the frequent opportunities he had of in- 
vestigating facts, connected with the existence and spread of 
the disease in Philadelphia, he finally became fully convinced 
of the erroneousness of the doctrine. In a letter to Dr. Miller, 
fie states in its conclusion, “You will perceive, from the facts 
and reasonings contained in this letter, that I have relinquished 
the opinion published in my account of the Yellow Fever, in 
the years 1793, 1794 and 1797, respecting its contagious nature. 
I was misled by Dr. Lining, and several West India writers, 
(fee.- I am aware of the influence which such changes in medW 
ical opinions as I have acknowledged, have upon a physician’s 
reputation; but, small, indeed, would I consider this total 
sacrifice of mine, should it avert the evils which are connected 
with a belief in the importation of pestilential diseases,” (fee. 
The following declaration, Dr. Rush inserted in the preface to 
one of the editions of his Medical Inquiries and Observations: 
“In the 4th volume, the reader will find a recantation of the 
author’s former opinions of the Yellow Fever spreading tby con. 
tagion. He begs pargincnscs of the friends of science and hu- 
manity, if the publication of that opinion has had any influence 
in increasing the misery and mortality attendent upon that 
disease. Indeed, such is the pain he feels in recollecting that 
he ever entertained or propagated it, that it will long, and 
perhaps, always, deprive him of that pleasure he might other- 
wise have derived, from a review of his attempts to fulfil the 
public duties of his situation.” 
Such a public recantation of error, is characteristic of a man 
who bore the character of the great and good Rush. Would 
that we had fewer examples, of the pride of opinion leading men 
to sacrifice truth and justice, to contrast with this magnanimous 
and noble offering, at the shrine of reason and integrity. “ This 15 
conviction,” observes Bancroft, in speaking of this act, “ was 
not made precipitantly or captiously, but with slow and cautious 
deliberations ; not from the impulse of former prejudice, but in 
direct opposition to it ; not from a vain desire of appearing to be 
infallible, by vindicating opinions inconsiderately promulgated, 
but with a conscientious and humble (I had almost said humili- 
ating) purpose of condemning and renouncing such opinions.” 
The following are some extracts, from Drs. Miller, Mitch- 
ell, and Rogers, in relation to Yellow Fever in New York. 
In speaking of the prevalence of the disease in that city, in the 
year 1803, the two former gentlemen state : “The first public 
alarm took place from some deaths about the Coffee-house 
Slip, and in that neighborhood, where, from the number and 
malignity of the cases, the atmosphere must have been charged 
with miasmata of great virulence.” “Many aged and young per- 
sons, whose condition imposed confinement in their houses, 
without the occurrence of any preceding case in their families, 
were attacked with the disease in its most virulent form. Mul- 
titudes also took the disease, who had not previously, approach- 
ed any sick person, any suspected vessel, or any families allowed 
to be imbued with contagion. One person was attacked in the 
debtor’s prison, who, for three months before, had not been 
beyond itswalls; and no other person was previously or subse- 
quently affected with the disease.” 
“ The summer of 1805,” observes Dr. Miller, “ was re- 
markable for the duration, as well as the intensity, of heat 
along the whole of our coast; and the consequence was, not 
only that nearly all the atlantic cities were visited with pesti- 
lence, but that, in several of them, it made its appearance in 
forty-eight hours, or nearly of the same time, an or currence 
which cannot be explained on the contingency of contagion.” 
He further states, “ it appears from the records of this Epidemic,' 
that there were thirty-nine streets of the city, most of which 
continued to be crowded with inhabitants, in which only a case 
occurred in each; and, in the mass of six hundred cases, re- 
ported to the Board of Health, there were only thirty-jive houses 
in which more than a single case was found.” 
The following is the evidence of Dr. Rogers, the health 
officer, who made “ a long, minute and satisfactory report to 16 
the Board of Health of every vessel and every circumstance* 
connected with the possibility of the importation of the dis- 
ease.” “1 have now Clearly shown,” he observes, “as far as 
negative proof can go, that whatever might have been the cause 
of the late Epidemic, it did not arise from any neglect of duty 
at the quarantine ground, nor did it come through that 
channel” 
Your Committee will conclude these extracts, which we 
think, place the matter of contagion beyond all dispute, by 
simply giving two more from Dr. Davidgk’s notes to Ban- 
croft on Fevers. “Dr. Miller, of New-York, in his excel- 
lent Essay on Yellow Fever, reports a communication, highly 
important and valuable, by Mr. Andrew Ellicott, a gentle- 
man of character, both as regards ability to observe, and inte- 
grity to communicate such matter, as his enlightened mind 
might deem worthy of communication and public notice.”— 
“ The village of Galliopolis, (says this judicious observer,) is a 
few miles below the great Kenhaway on the west side of the 
Ohio Ilivei*, and situated on a high bank. It is inhabited by a 
number of miserable French families. Many of the inhabi- 
tants this season fell victims to Yellow Fever. The mortal 
Cases were generally attended with black vomiting. This dis- 
order certainly originated in the Town, and, in all probability, 
from the filthiness of the inhabitants, added to an unusual 
quantity of animal and vegetable putrefaction in a number of 
small ponds and marshes within the village. The fever could 
not have been taken there from the Atlantic States, as my boat 
was the first that descended the river after the fall of the water 
in the spring. Neither could it have been taken from New-Or- 
leans, as there is no communication up the river, at that season 
of the year, from the latter to the former of those places.* 
Moreover* the distance is so great, that a boat would not have 
time to ascend the river, after the disorder appeared that year in 
New-Orleans, before the winter could set in.” Dr. Davidge, 
also mentions the following fact communicated by Dr. Wat- 
kins, a man of distinguished talents and acute observation.— 
There is a village, (says the doctor) called New Design, about 
* This was before the introduction of Steam Boats. 17 
fifteen miles from the Mississippi, and twenty from St. Louis, 
containing about fifty houses, and two hundred souls. It is on 
high ground, but surrounded by ponds. In 1797, the Yellow 
Fever carried off fifty-seven of the inhabitants, or more than 
a fourth. No person had arrived at that village, from any 
part of the country, where this fever had prevailed, for more 
than twelve months preceding.' Our informant resided in the 
village at the time, and having seen the disease in Philadel- 
phia, he declares it to be the same that prevailed at New De- 
sign. He also mentions an Indian Village depopulated by the 
same disease, two or three years before.” 
The theory of the second class, who, “ assume the ground, 
that our atmosphere was in a vitiated state, and that the sim- 
ple introduction of a case, imparted an epidemic constitution 
to this vitiated atmosphere, and thus spread the disease,” 
must share the fate of the first. Indeed, if such an occur- 
rence was possible, which is contradicted by all the facts con- 
nected with the history of miasmatic diseases,—it will be im- 
possible to account for the introduction and spread of the 
prevailing fever in this manner. The case at the Eagle So 
Phoenix Hotel, did not occur until the 31st of July, and the 
patient was well, according to the statement of Dr. Cunning, 
ham, on the Bth of August. How was it possible for this 
case, according to the laws which ordinarily govern the natu- 
ral sequences of cause and effect, to have produced such a 
vitiated state of the atmosphere, as to have caused the irrup- 
tion of a general epidemic in so short a time? Your Com- 
mittee would here beg you to refer to the facts, before stated, 
in relation to the early cases of the prevailing fever. Making 
due allowance for the time necessary to operate upon the at- 
mosphere, and then upon the human system, the absurdity of 
the supposition must at once be evident. 
But again; how comes it, that the cases near the upper 
market, introduced at an earlier date, did not develope the 
cause of the disease in the atmosphere of that part of the city? 
It is a notorious fact, that it was late in the season before the 
disease prevailed generally, in that part of the city j and its 18 
progress could be gradually and distinctly traced, from day 
to day, from its original locality. These facts are entirely 
irreconcilable with any such doctrine. Professor Geddings, 
in answer to the second query, in the correspondence before 
alluded to—“ Do you believe that a state of the atmosphere 
can be produced, capable of rendering the disease epidemic 
in a city, by the simple introduction of cases from other cities?” 
observes, “ In reply to this query, I must likewise state, that 
I have never witnessed a single fact calculated to favor the 
belief, that the disease can be rendered epidemic in a city by 
the introduction of cases from other cities. Such an effect I 
hold to be impossible, in any other way than by the agency of, 
either, common causes, or contagion. Believing, therefore, 
that contagion does not exist, my conviction is, that where the 
disease prevails as an epidemic, it owes this character entire- 
ly to common causes, operating through the medium of the 
atmosphere of the place. A foul ship arriving in port, having 
Yellow Fever on board, may impart that disease to persons 
exposed to its atmosphere, but the disease, produced under 
such circumstance, will never spread through the community, 
or, in other words, assume the form of an epidemic.” 
The principle which vitiated our atmosphere, was the 
cause of the disease ; that, without which, the Epidemic could 
have had no existence, and which, did not require the intro- 
duction of foreign cases to produce an explosion. The torch 
had been applied before the introduction of the foreign cases, 
and was, silently, and unobserved by the multitude, performing 
its work of death and desolation. Your Committee deem it 
unnecessary to dwell longer upon this point, as facts most 
conclusively show, that the supposition is founded in error.— 
Indeed, cases of Yellow Fever have been brought into our 
city, almost every season, in which it has prevailed in Charles- 
ton, and hitherto we have heard nothing of their imparting an 
epidemic constitution to our atmosphere. The same can be 
said of other parts of our State. 
Having investigated the theories of the first and second 
class of believers, in the importation of the cause of the late 19 
Epidemic, your Committee will now pass to the last; namely, 
those who believe that it was introduced by West India fruit. 
This is the most absurd supposition of them all. Admitting 
this to be possible, what city on the globe, whose inhabitants 
indulge in the luxuries of the West-Indies, would escape an 
annual visitation from this pestilence 7 The introduction of 
the fruit was not sufficiently early to account for the origin of 
the disease. Furthermore, this fruit was sold in the upper, as 
well as the lower, part of the city, and certainly, if it was ca- 
pable of producing the disease in one section, why not to an 
equal extent in the other parts of the city? Your Committee 
find, on examining the books of Messrs. W. E. & J. U. Jack- 
son, Auctioneers, that they sold, at auction, on the 31st July, 
two crates of West-India fruit, most of which was in a state 
of decay. Some of this fruit remained several days at the 
Rail-Road Depot in Hamburg, before it was brought to Au- 
gusta. Now, how comes it that the infection was not left in 
Hamburg ; and particularly at the Rail-Road Depot 7 And 
further, if the disease was introduced in this manner, certain- 
ly, the neighborhood of the Auction Store, of the Messrs. 
Jacksons, should have been the very focus of its operation, as 
it is to be presumed that the multitude, usually collected on 
such occasions, both “ hauled, touched and tasted” this con- 
taminated, if not forbidden, fruit. The unreasonableness of 
the supposition is so evident, that your Committee, deem it 
entirely unnecessary to spend more time upon this alleged 
cause, and will therefore, pass, immediately, to the second di- 
vision of the subject, viz : 
11. Did it arise from local causes; and if so, what were 
those causes ? 
In view of the foregoing facts and observations, and after 
a minute investigation of every circumstance connected with 
the commencement, progress and termination of the late Epi- 
demic, your Committee feel no hesitation in pronouncing the 
cause to be of local origin, and will proceed, directly, to answer 
the second part of the second query—“ What were those 
causes ?” 20 
In commencing our investigations upon this part of the 
subject, the attention of your Committee has been drawn 
to that part of the city where the first deaths, that excited 
public alarm, occurred. From the fatality of the Fever in 
that quarter, whilst the rest of the city remained comparatively 
healthy, public attention was directed to that spot, exclusively, 
and there, it was supposed, might be found the hidden cause. 
The belief, that the disease originated in, and was confined 
to, the vicinity alluded to, led to various opinions as to its 
cause. It was supposed that the lots in that neighborhood 
were in a peculiarly filthy condition at that time; but an ex- 
amination made by two of the members of this Committee, in 
August last, satisfied them that there was no greater want of 
cleanliness there, than in quarters where disease did not then 
prevail. The only local cause peculiar to that section, except 
one hereafter to be mentioned, was a mass of decayed cotton- 
seed, and to this, from a want of a knowledge of all the facts 
in relation to another alleged source of the disease, which 
could n6t be procured in the short space of twenty-four hours, 
the time allowed for investigation, the disease was mainly 
attributed. Subsequent experience and investigation have 
satisfied your Committee, that other sources must be looked 
to for the cause of the late Epidemic—Thccotton-secd, though 
decidedly prejudicial to health,performed but a subordinate part 
in the production of disease in the neighborhood referred to. 
It has also been stated, that the lots, on the square lying 
north-west of the market, arc lower than the surrounding 
streets, and that, in consequence, they arc recepticles for 
water, and such filth as the rains may carry into them. 
Whatever agency such a condition of those lots may have in 
producing disease, under favoring circumstances, your Com- 
mittee are fully satisfied, that, in the present instance, we can- 
not refer to it as a cause, for this depression of surface has 
always existed, without hitherto affecting the health of the in- 
habitants ; and, moreover, the past season was unusually dry, 
which prevented any injurious consequences, which might 
have arisen under an opposite state of the weather. Your 
Committee deem it needless to enter into any elaborate ex- &minatlon of these, and other, opinions touching the origin of 
the Fever in the lower part of the second ward, a sufficient 
answer having been found in facts disclosed in another part 
of this report. 
The low state of the river, by which a considerable portion 
of its bed was exposed to the action of the sun’s rays, has also 
been referred to as the cause of the late Epidemic. The soil, 
exposed by the low state of the river, is not of that nature 
from which miasmata are usually generated. It is a beautiful, 
sandy gravel, containing scarcely any remains of either animal 
or vegetable matter. There were two portions of the bed of 
the river exposed—a large bar immediately under the lower 
bridge, close to the Carolina shore—another extending from 
below the old bridge posts, nearly to the Western Wharf, near 
the Georgia shore—lf these had been the cause of the disease, 
why was it at first confined to so small a space? Again, in 
1830, the river was nearly as low as it was during the past 
summer, and the bar on the Georgia side, presented almost as 
large a surface for the action of the solar heat, and yer. our 
city was never blest with a greater degree of health than du- 
ring that summer and autumn. Moreover, if this was the 
cause of the peculiar Epidemic of the past season, it should 
have acted as powerfully above and below Augusta, as numer- 
ous large burs were exposed, particularly down the river. 
On the contrary, the river planters, without a single exception, 
so far rs your Committee lias conversed with them, state that 
their plantations have rarely enjoyed such a season of general 
health. One of }Tour Committee advised the different Steam 
Boat Companies, in which he was professionally employed, so 
far as they could, to keep their idle boat hands on the river, 
fifteen or twenty miles below the city. Those who were able, 
followed the advice; and, with few exceptions, they were per- 
fectly healthy ; those few were detected in visiting the city 
clandestinely. 
A lot of damaged bacon in a store just above the Eagle 
and Phoenix Hotel, was thought, by some, to have caused the 
disease—This was, also, examined by a number of medical 
21 22 
men, in the month of August, and though extremely offensive, 
they were of the opinion that it had no connection, whatever, 
with the active cause of the late Epidemic. In this opinion, 
your Committee fully concurs, as the disease prevailed some 
time in other parts of this city, before it reached as high up 
as the Eagle & Phoenix Hotel, and the removal of this alleged 
cause produced no abatement whatever in its violence. 
Some have accused the extensive growth of the “ Morus 
Midticaulis,” of being the cause of our late afflictions. With 
what show of reason, your Committee is unable discover It 
is sufficient to say, that the western part of the city, which es- 
caped the disease until late in the season, is the most thickly 
planted, with this peculiar growth. The same objections, in- 
deed, cannot be brought against this, as may be urged against 
the ordinary products of a vegetable garden, as not a leaf was 
disturbed, except for feeding a few worms, in the spring and 
early part of the summer, until the black frost, on the Bth No„ 
veraber. 
Your Committee deem it unnecessary to enter further into 
a discussion of the various suggestions which have been thrown 
out, touching the cause of the disease in question—lndeed, 
Augusta and its vicinity, have, since the foundation of the for- 
mer, been successively undergoing the usual changes from a 
swampy soil to its present state, and yet no such Epidemic 
has been the result. Other sources must be looked to, and 
your Committee will now proceed to examine, what is com- 
monly called the “ Upper Trash Wharf,” situated between 
Elbert and Lincoln streets,” which we believe to be truly, the 
“fens et origo mali.” 
As this deposit has been accumulating for a number of years, 
and no such Epidemic has previously visited our city, your 
Committee deem it important to say, that its agency in the 
production of disease this season, arose from a concurrence of 
circumstances, which we shall now proceed to examine. 
First, let us examine the origin, progress and nature of this 
accumulation, before noticing the combination of causes that 
acted upon it, and rendered it the source of those pestiferous ERRATA. 
14, line 27 from the top, read,forgiveness, instead of “parginenses 
19, line 23 from the top, read handled, instead of “hauled.” 23 
Exhalations that hovered, like the angel of death, over our 
devoted city* 
On the 4th of April, 1834, the following Resolution was 
passed in Council: 
11 Resolved, That the Street Committee be authorised to have 
made, a slide or platform, on the river bank, for the purpose 
of throwing the dirt and rubbish collected by the Street Officer, 
clear of the bank, into the river.” 
The platform was erected on piling; it projected one hun- 
dred and ten feet into the river, from the edge of the bank, 
and was forty-five feet high, from the bed of the river. The 
Street Officer’s carts, laden with all the animal and vegetable 
matter, collected from the different lots and yards of the city, 
daily, were drawn to the end and sides of this platform, and 
emptied into the river. The dead animals found in the 
city, were also thrown from the same place. Thus commenced 
this accumulation in 1834. The Street Committee, for some 
time after the construction of the work, was in the habit of 
having this collection cleared away, down to the water’s edge, 
whenever it accumulated above it. This precaution was, 
however, finally neglected, and an old boat lodged against the 
work, which prevented the water from sweeping under the 
platform, and the mass was suffered to accumulate to upwards 
of 200,000 cubic feet, when it attracted the notice of numerous 
citizens and the City Council—lt had arrived to such a height, 
that the workmen, who commenced levelling it, in May last, 
could step from the platform on to the mass. 
We are told by the most acute observers, that malaria, of 
the most virulent nature, arises “ from vegetable and animal 
matter, more especially the former, in a state of dissolution.’* 
What a magazine was here formed ! It only required, that 
its interior should be exposed, to the action of the summer 
sun, to develope the hidden ills of this crucible of pestilence 
and death. 
Your Committee will now proceed to notice, the combina- 
tion of causes, that acted upon this mass. On the 13th of 
April, 1839, the following resolution was passed by Council. “Resolved, That the Committee on the river bank and 
wharf, be instructed to have the trash, in front of the Street 
Officer’s wharf, removed, and make arrangements to prevent, 
its accumulation there in future.” 
On the 4th of May, following, a contract was entered into 
with Mr. Spencer, for the performance of the work. On the 
Bth of the same month, he commenced operations, and finish- 
ed on the 29th. The removal was only partial. It consisted 
in levelling the mass by horizontal sections, and throwing it 
into the river, as far as it could be done. A further levelling 
was made by the same individual, between the 26th of June, 
and 2d of July. During the operation of the workmen, on 
the mass, as they penetrated deeper into the interior, the heat 
evolved was so great that they were compelled to desist from their 
work, for two hours at a time, so as to suffer it to cool sufficient- 
ly, to enable them to resume their labor, although they wore 
thick shoes. 
After the operations, under the direction of the river bank 
committee, had ceased, there still remained, of the original 
accumulation, exposed to the influence of the sun, upwards of 
117,000 cubic feet, which had been concealed by the superin- 
cumbent mass for years, and now, for the first time, since its 
deposit, saw the light of day. The above estimates are the 
results of an accurate survey made by a competent Engineer, 
which together with a diagram is herewith submitted. In 
connection with these operations, the river, which was ex- 
tremely low, continued to fall, and gradually exposed that, 
portion of the base of the mass, which had previously been 
under water ; a large extent, which had been swept off, from 
time to time, and deposited along the margin of the bank, in 
the direction of Mrs. Gardiner’s house, was also exposed, as 
the river gradually receded. 
From the 10th of June, to the last of August, the thermo- 
meter in the shade at 3 o’clock, P. M. ranged from 75° to 96° 
The dryness of the summer was unparallelled; at one time 
there was not even a shower of rain, for 71 successive days. 
Did the limits of this report permit, your Committee ceuld cite numerous instances, in which similar accumulations have 
produced the most malignant forms of fevers. These must be 
familiar to every one who has paid the least attention to the 
history of epidemic fevers, and the subject of miasmatic exha- 
lations. After having given the combination of causes, that 
acted upon the accumulation of vegetable and animal matter, 
your Committee will conclude by offering the concurrent tes- 
timony of facts, which point, directly, to this deposit, as the 
“ causa causarum”—the source whence the cause of the late 
Epidemic originated. 
In the first part of this report, it is stated that Mrs. Thomas 
Gardner’s family was attacked with Fever about the Bth of 
June—-The first leveling of the “ Trash Wharf” commenced 
0n the Bth, and ended on the 29th of May—Mrs. Gardner’s 
house is a short distance below the “Trash Wharf,” and the 
hank of the river, between the two points, has been so en- 
cr°ached upon by the river, that they both project, as it were, 
s°me distance, forming prominent points. Up to the time her 
family was attacked, the wind prevailed from the west and 
north-west, which brought her residence in the direct line of 
the wind from this deposit of filth. 
John McGuire, the case mentioned as occurring in Dr. 
Cunningham’s practice, on the sth of July, was a laborer en- 
gaged in the work of leveling the accumulation, so often refer- 
*ed to. The son of Mrs. Bush, also referred to in another part 
°f this report, as having been taken on the same day, took 
shelter, from a shower ot rain, under the platform of the 
Trash Wharf,” a few days previous to his illness. Up to the 
30th of June, the wind continued to prevail from the west and 
aorth-west. After this, to the Ist November, it prevailed, 
steadily, from the east and north-east, occasionally varying for 
a short time, only, from the west and north-west, and, from the 
Ist to the 12th of September, from the south-east. The range of 
the thermometer and the direction of the winds, are taken from 
a diary of the weather, kept by an intelligent gentleman of the 
Clty,without any reference, directly, to the prevailing Epidemic. 26 
Directly above the “ Trash Wharf,” there are no residences 
immediately on the river bank, except Mr. A. McKenzie’s and 
Mrs. Cowling’s, until you reach nearly to the lower bridge. 
Between Mrs. Cowling’s and the first house below the bridge, 
there is an extensive vacant lot—lt will be seen upon refer- 
ence to a map of the city, that the north-east wind carried the 
exhalations from the “Trash Wharf,” directly over this va- 
cant lot, and caused them to settle upon that part of Centre 
and Reynold-streets, where the disease, at first, prevailed with 
the greatest degree of violence. The continuance of the north- 
cast winds occasionally shifting from the north and north west, 
will account for the gradual spread of the miasma to other 
parts of the city. Hamburg, escaped entirely, for some time, 
but after the wind had prevailed from the south-east, from the 
first to the 12th of September, numerous cases occurred in that 
town. 
Some may ask, why the occupants of the houses of Mr. 
M’Kenzie and Mrs. Cowling, were not the first taken with 
the disease ? M alaria generally follows the direction of the 
prevailing winds, and these houses appear to have been pro- 
tected, at first, by this fact, and the high bank of the river, im- 
mediately at the “ Trash Wharf,” though it was not long, af- 
ter the commencement of the Epidemic, before they were most 
violently asssailed. In further explanation of this point, your 
Committee would bring to your notice, the following fact, ob- 
served by many at the time. When it was determined to 
commence covering that part of the mass, left after the level- 
ing had been finished, a number of kilns of tar and pine knots 
were set on fire, immediately on the mass, before commencing 
the work. The smoke from these kilns did not ascend per- 
pendicularly into the atmosphere, but was carried, by the 
wind, up and under the bank, until it came opposite the vacant 
lot alluded to above, when it rose and settled upon the very 
section in which the disease first displayed itself, in its most 
virulent form; after which, it was gradually diffused throughout 
the city. The fact was noticed, not by one or two, but by a 
number of individuals at the time. The direction in which the disease had gradually progressed, could be clearly traced by 
the smoke conveyed, by the prevailing winds, from these kilns. 
It may be asked, why did not this mass send forth its pesti- 
ferous exhalations before? In reply, we would answer, that 
fresh materials were constantly deposited, and a crust was 
thus formed, which acted as a temporary security, but as soon 
as the interior of the mass was exposed, its full effects were 
developed. 
Your Committee will refer to another point, which may be 
brought forward by those who do not coincide with us as to 
the cause of the disease in question. The question may be ask- 
ed, “ after the remaining part of the deposit was covered up by 
fresh earth, why did not the disease then cease 7” The work of 
covering was not effectually completed until the 21st of Sep- 
tember—The first covering commenced on the 28th of August, 
and after its completion, on the 7th of September, a large fishure 
was found to exist in it; the work was, consequently, resumed 
on the 12th, and finally completed on the 21st of September. 
The covering commenced too late, even if it had been effectual in 
arresting the further generation of the miasmatic poison, to 
suddenly arrest the disease. The atmosphere was fully im- 
pregnated with morbific agent, and nothing occurred to neutral- 
ise its influence until the first black frost, on the Bth of Novem- 
ber. The covering did not exceed an average of more than four 
or five feet; and, if six feet of earth is required to prevent exha- 
lations from a dead body, your Committee will not undertake 
to say how many feet would be necessary to arrest miasmatic 
exhalations from 117,000 cubic feet of vegetable and animal 
putrifaction. Besides that part of the decayed matter, which 
had floated down and lodged on the exposed points of the bed 
of the river below the “ Trash Wharf,” was not covered, but 
continued to give out pestiferous exhalations. 
Your Committee will not detain you longer, to notice other 
supposed causes referred, to by some, such as the wharves, old 
buildings, and the like—all of which may, under certain cir- 
cumstances, become the source of disease. After the facts dis- 
closed in relation to this immense accumulation of the peculiar 
materials for the production of malaria, the combination of causes which acted upon it, the concurrent testimony of facts, 
and the limits to which the disease was at first circumscribed, 
immediately in the vicinity of this accumulation, your Com- 
mittee deem it unnecessary to seek for more distant and ques- 
tionable sources, as that, already named, is adequate to the pro- 
duction of the most direful pestilence. 
Thus, your Committee has brought to a close, the laborious 
task which has been assigned it. We have endeavored, by 
the most patient investigation, and with a sincere and conscien- 
tious desire to arrive at truth, to trace out the cause of an un- 
paralleled affliction to our city, hitherto as remarkable for 
health, as for its rapid growth in commercial importance—We 
have sought to censfireno one—Truth has been our aim—and 
time must show whether or not we have labored in vain. 
In conclusion, we would submit the following Resolutions 
for your consideration: 
1. Resolved, That from the facts disclosed in the foregoing 
Report, we are of the opinion that the cause of the late Epidemic 
was not introduced into our city, in any manner whatever, from 
foreign sources; nor do we believe the disease to have exhibited, 
in the slightest degree, a contagious nature. 
2. Resolved, That in our opinion, the cause of the late Epi- 
demic arose from the accumulation, at the upper “Trash Wharf,’’ 
between Lincoln and Elbert streets, of upwards of 200,000 cubic 
feet of vegetable and animal matter, collected from the lots and 
streets of the city, since the year 1834, which was opened, and 
exposed to the action of the sun, in the months of May and 
June last. 
3. Resolved, That we most earnestly urge upon our fellow- 
citizens, the necessity ofhaving this fountain of miasmata, and 
other similar collections, thoroughly and effectually eradicated 
during the present winter ; and also, the importance ofhaving 
a system devised, the faithful execution of which, shall, in fu- 
ture, secure our inhabitants from the direful effects of like 
accumulations in our vicinity, and the deleterious consequences 
arising from a general neglect of cleanliness, which, for some 
years past, has been too common in bur city, owing to its un- 
precedented state of health. APPENDIX. 
“ AUGUSTA, Oct. 28th, 1839. 
Dear Sir—You are doubtless aware, that a dreadful scourge has visited our city 
during the past summer and autumn. I believe it is now generally admitted to 
have been ‘ Yellow Fever? or what is termed, in your city, ‘ Stranger's Fever.' 
“ The irruption of a malignant disease in a community, unaccustomed to such a 
visitation, usually adds to its direful effects upon the lives of the people, a panic 
destructive of all commercial prosperity and enterprise. These effects are more pe- 
culiarly felt, when the belief, in the contagiousness of the disease, becomes prevalent; 
and, the combined interest that centre in a community like ours, as well as those 
ties that bind our City to her sisters of the Atlantic, render it necessary that facts 
should be clearly stated, and truth be permitted to assert her control, where false 
reasoning and ungrounded apprehensions have produced confusion and dismay. 
“ Peeling assured that the importance of the subject, at least to this City and 
your own, will be a sufficient apology for troubling you with this communication, 
I, respectfully, beg that you will, as soon as convenient, return me an answer to the 
following questions : 
“ Ist. Do you consider the fever commonly called “ Yellow Fever," or what is 
termed “ Strangers Fever," in your city, a contagious disease 1 
-‘2d Do you believe that a state of the atmosphere can be produced, capable of 
rendering the disease epidemic in a city, by the simple introduction of cases from 
other cities 1 
“ 3d. Do you consider the disease, as it prevailed in your City, during the past 
summer, to have exhibited, in any degree, a contagious nature 1 
“ I am, very respectfully, 
“ Your obedient serv’t, 
“ F. M. ROBERTSON. 
u To E. Geddings, M. D., Charleston, S. C.” 
“ CHARLESTON, Nov. 10th, 1839. 
“ Mr dear Sir—Your letter, in which you request my opinion in relation to the 
contagiousnesss of Yellow, or Stranger’s Fever, has been several days before me. 
Constant occupation, however, has rendered it impossible for me to reply at an earli- 
er period. This I shall now do as briefly as possible, without attempting to furnish 
the facts or arguments upon which my opinion has been formed. 30 
" Cluery 1—’ Do you consider the fever commonly called Yellow Fever, or 
what is termed Stranger's Fever in your city, a contagious disease V 
“ Answer. In the whole course of my observation, in several epidemic visitations 
of Yellow, or Stranger’s Fever, in this city, I have not witnessed a single fact favor- 
able to the doctrine of contagion. On the contrary, facts, almost without number, 
have fallen under my observation, all producing the fullest conviction in my mind, 
that the disease is not contagious. 
“Cluery 2—‘ Do you believe that a state of the atmosphere can be produced, capable 
of rendering the disease epidemic in a city, by the simple introduction of cases 
from other cities V 
“ Answer—ln reply to this query, I must likewise state, that I have never wit- 
nessed a single fact calculated to favor the belief that the disease can be rendered 
epidemic in a city, by the introduction of cases from other cities. Such an effect I 
hold to be impossible in any other way, than by the agency of either common causes, 
or contagion. Believing, therefore, that contagion does not exist, my conviction is, 
that when the disease prevails as an epidemic, it owes this character entirely to com- 
mon causes, operating through the medium of the atmosphere of the place. A ship 
arriving in port, having ‘ yellow fever’ on board, may impart that disease to persons 
exposed to its atmosphere; but the disease produced under such circumstances, will 
never spread through the community, or in other words, assume the form of an epi- 
demic. 
“ Cluery 3—' Do you consider the disease as it prevailed in your city, during the 
past summer, to have exhibited, in any degree, a contagious nature V 
“ Answer. I have never, either in the epidemic of the past summer, or of those 
which preceded it, observed a single fact or circumstance favorable to the belief, in 
any contagious property. 
“ On the contrary, I have witnessed the most free and unlimited intercourse be- 
tween the sick, and those who might be considered subjects for the disease, without 
the latter being attacked. 
“ I have the honor to be, very respectfully, yours, 
“E.GEDDINGS. 
“ F. M. Robertson, M. D., Augusta, Ga.”