Star. — London, England, 1818-07-24 00:00:00

assiduity of its medical attendant; entitle tlizin•to the praise and gratitude cf all who caastimate the for titude, the risk, and the active benevolence which characterises the profession to which they belong.— But the objects of this Institution are not limited to attendance on the sick, and to the removing persons , from the sphere of contagion ; a portion of its funds expended in cleaning the apartments • of the poor, who, crowded in close courts and unventilated rooms, are assailed by fever ; this practice is peculiar to this Establishment, and in the last year no less than 15! rooms were thus white-washed. Your Committee refer generally to the evidence of Dr. Bateman, to establish. the necessity of a speedy removal of the poor from their own dwellings when attacked with :ontagious fever, as well as to demonstrate the be, nefits derived in the last year, by the existence of this InstituticT, when, from the crowded state of the Hos pitals, and their known unwillingness to receive fever cases at all, the greatest danger would have been in curred of the spreading into a larger focds the sphere of this contagious disorder. In one house the disease continued seventeen weeks ; part of the family were attacked with it three different times ; and it was only a Tested by the destruction of all the furniture in the apartment. Thus It may be said, the sufferers became diseased throlgh their own contagion ; aril your Committee cannot contemplate, wunout serious apprehension, what might have been the result of this epidemic daily gaining strength, if it had not been checked in its malignant growth by the efforts of the Fever In stitution. Your Committee wish also to remark, that this Establishment is open to all applicants, at all days and hours. A medical certificate of disease is stated to be required ; but the practice is to admit all who are attacked by' the complaint upon the first application ; and the only impediment thrown in the way has been one whkh it is the aim of your Com mittee to remove—a want of sufficient room for the admission of patients. Your. Committee wish to observe, that a most sa lutary system is adopted here, viz. the transport of the patients in a litter belonging to the Establishment, thereby preventing the use of coaches or sedan chairs. One of the means by which the contagion is circu lated is thus checked, and they hope the other Hos pitals will see the necessity of adopting some. such arrangement. Indeed, from the indifference to con tagion which seems to exist in some of these Esta blishments, it is a matter of surprise to your . Com mittee that mote fatal results do not occur. Your Committee have learned with ,great pain, that in all the hospitals of Landon a great proportion of patients are weekly refused admission, in most of them for want of room ; in one of them (the Middle sex Hospital) from a deficiency of funds. Any plea, therefore, that would lighten the burden which would now lay down these Establishment's, would, to the minds of your Committee, be of at public useful. ans. But if the entire temoval of cases of fever from all the hospitals may be considered injurious to them at schools of medicine, the diminution of the number nf such admissions 'might ease the finances of some establishments, aad leave room in others for patients suffering under diseases of a different character. Your, Committee have been informed, that it is the practice in all the HoSpitals 'to mix cases of con tagious fever indiscriminately with other patients ; it has, however, been stated to them by shrnimedi cal authorities, that,practically speaking, no evil has arisen from their intermixture - but,. with due def.. rence to such opinions, the acksowledged fact, that in some Hospitals the fever has been generated that patients admitted under one disease have• caught' in. the Hospital another ; that the medical practi. *Deers and attendants have been attacked themselves by. the disease • and that most fatal effects have been' therefrom produced; all these facts fully satisfy your Committee that the practice above alluded.to, it not altogether abandoned, ought to be resorted to with great precaution, and in a most limited extent. As long as fever cases can be diluted through a large ward, with proper attention to ventilation, scarcely any danger of contagion may arise ; but in a period of epidemic, such as existed in the late and present year, when all the Hospitals were crowded with patients assailed by the prevailing disease of fever, great hazard must be run, and the experience of this year has demonstrated the danger and evil of the sys- . tem. As the great preservative against contagion is a free circulation of air, patients labouring under chro nic disorders cannot with propriety be subjected to the same treatment, and a system of medical police which is essential in one case to prevent the spreading of the disease, becomes highly prejudicial in the other; besides, a great prejudice prevails, and your Com mittee cannot consider it as unfounded, among thie poorer classes of society, who are the main objects of these Establishments, against either entering them selves or sending their relations into these HospitJs, on account of the hassled of infection to which they are exposed. The events of the last year are not cer tainly calculated to weaken these opinions ; and your Committee feel assured, that to diminish the number of fever cases in every Hospital, by increasing the powers of receiving them in Institutions exclusively set apart for that disease, would not only do away the impression on the public mind above alluded to, hut contribute most materially to the relief and good ar rangement of those Hospitals, the wards of Which are now exposed to be indiscriminately filled with patients labouring under diseases in all their different stages of suffering and malignity. Your Committee refrain from entering more into detail on these subjects ; they refer generally to the evidence, which, to their minds, is conclusive. That evidence has demonstrated the extent of the epide mic, the probable chance of its continuance, as well as of its occasional recurrence, the small means afforded by the Hospital to receive patients assailed by it, the great hazard of mixing them with those who labour under diseases of a different nature, tbd utility of the Fever Institution, both for the cure of the disorder, and for arresting the further progress of contagion ; all these facts so made out, have sails. fled your Committee, that it would be highlatet dient to extend the public ails to this Establi And as they see no reason why the capital steek of the Hospital should be augmented, they should pro. pose a further grant of 2,000/. which, with the 1,0004 already made, will enable the Institution to increases its means of accommodation to 100 patients. Taking a fair average of the liver cases in the Metropolis, this Establishment will thus be enabkif - to receive a great proportion Vic patients who are new seat to THE EVENING STAR LONDON. FRIDAY, JULY St, 'l,BlB. Tilit FUNDS. magas , sroctics THIS DAY AT TWIILVE PICLOCK Reduced 7131i—Cons.710—for Opg. 77;1 61 per Cents.BBi—l per Cent. 97if Navy I'o6.ll—lndia Bonds 91' 96 prem. Omnium dis.—Exchequer Bills 19 ?.0 pr. The Paris Papers of Tuesdarairived this forenoon, but contain nothing. worth extracting. The Funds ' are regainingthe ground they had lost at -the clo• e of last week. On Mondarihip rose.from 76 fr. 70c. to 77 fr. 30 c. and left off at 27 The following Letter, which we have received to_ day from our regular Private Correspondent,. at Pa ris, contains some interesting pirtkulars,.in addition to those with which he has, from time to time, fur nished us, respecting the Conspiracy : " PARIS, JULY *to. e , The retreat of Cannel i s as yet undiscovered. Doubts were at first entertained as• to the reality of his flight, but the Journals, which, as every on, knows, dare insert nothing Without the sanction of the Ministry, have at 'earl) proclaimed the fact. 44 According u) popular rumour, Cannel was urged to his flight Isy two great personages, who need not be nettled, and only consented on terms which shew the strong hold he had cn those who wished him out of the way. lie is said to have sted that as the absent were always forgotten, and as he would perhaps be obliged to remain all his life in &le, that he could not consent to go without being previously provided with enough to support him according to his rank for the remainder of his iif!, but would rather abide the risk of a prosecution, however serious its consequences might be to himself, Or to others who would he involved by the exposures attending it. " A good deal of negotiation ensued as to terms, but it was, it seems, at length concluded, that he should receive two millions, part in money, part in Drafts on London, Amsterdam, Vienna, and Ham , burgh, and part in Promissory Nctes." A Flanders Mail' has brought us this morning Brussels Papers to the 21st inst. The following are ettracts: • CONGRESS AT ATX-LA-CHAPELLE. We learn from Aix4a.:Chapelle that the Emperors of itOssia and Austria, and his Majesty the King of Prussia, are expected in that city about tl , e 20th of, August. An hotel has been hired there for 'the Duke de Richelieu, and the Duke of Wellington is also ex. ;fetal. 'MIAs are 24a hires! at Spa fir tLeir , Dienneges the Prince of Orange, Pri nce A ng of Prussia, the Duke and Duchess of Cumbe dc. It is hoped that this delightful place wi visited by severd other great perionagcs, dui; &tigress at Aix-la Mapelle. GRP.itAtt DIET. The German Diet continues its df liberaticn s rather slowly. Several important affairs srlricl to decide, will be suspended till after the repel of the military cOncerns, upon which the pit Ministers arc daily employed. This imports; jest will douttless be brought to a happy cy nic ., before the meeting of the Sovereigns at A:r.la pelle. While in thy irrerior of Germany the ek tutions ct the different States secure to them the joyments of valuable advantages, the ta ker tem will give to the German Cottle&ration foreign relations, that respectable attitude tchi suitable to its rank among the great Pov.-enoft u , AUSTRIAN COURT. VIEY:ZA Almost the whole of the Diplomatic body already left Vienna: most of the Ministers art to Carlsbad—none remain here but the Nuncio Holiness the Pope, the Spanish Ambassador, the Ministers of Sardinia and the Netherlands: Prince Francis Charles (Napoleon) went on at noon to Baden, accompanied by his precept meet his august on her way from It Her Majesty the Archduchess received her sci nv.,rks of the most lively tenderness. The youn g was dressed in white, and wore the Orders of phen of Hungary, and that of 'Constantine of , Immediately on the arrival of the Arch•li Prince • letternich paid her a visit ; and a number of persons of distinction a: Baden, to pay their respects to her. Iler Majely er saver al times in public, with I;er son at Lsr sills the evening a brilliant serenade was given hz, a part of her suite remain at Baden, the tea ty Schoenbrunn. His Imperial Highness the Prince Ferdinand, arrived at Baden the sam and thp other Archdukes paid a v:sit the day ingto their illustrious niece, who haireSide4 three years. Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress at the palace of Baden on the 4th, in ahe ahem and Were welcomed by the firing of cannon 17 ing of bells. In the evening they went a illumination of the town. On the sth the el visitors drawn by curiosity to Baden, wzs so dcrable, that itWeihardlypossibleto?rocs:.-t lo TgE HAPVEST. The greatest part of the Rye is cut in the Wheat harvcst will soon commence ;_nothi equal the beatity and fine quality of both :pc grain. The, oldest farmers do not remember year. 'Rain is as , rare as it is usually plentiful season. The Supplemtnt to the Cadiz Diaric Marc the 30th ult. has been received, containing slab account of Cie r:rrval action .hat.trc;c p. the 24th, off Ca;) , ? St. Mary's, between thz Hsi convoy and a small fictilla of Independent pril The Spanish convoy left Cuba on the Cth Ma! sisting of 3'4 sail of merchant vessels, destine' rioua ports of the Peninsula, 'under cor.vm brigs of u:ar, Alma, Vengador, and Rear..ta, : vette Diamante, the Commodore. On coast of Spain, their number was reduced tr, 1C shi2s, 8 brigs, 2 scl.rroners, and 3 Follett of them stoutly arned. Oa'makiug Cape the convoy Was attaciced by . an Independent two schooners, and the Official. Report fare' seen from the annexed literal translatien; the action lasted two houri : • "On the 24th- inst. off Cape St. Miry the ter action with the !marring, who 3ttettirted tr. sets which had f.lien to leeward, ryar fell upon them with a Leavy fire, wh:ch 'a...trios a two nchooners (one uf. ensmiderahle fe-e, sod s cos. the convoy MIN an arrnelne•rci!nm:. trante made a signal for tt e o:hekships of 177:f to r•r-r. but the little wind, ant: the dulliess c 1 the ros..els. pre brigsfrom being as near.ns they could have wished. mute ran alont. the enemy's line, liher.zed the cart -al and fastened on the independent •hip, lvavinz Oa: ti make towards the Convoy : which was considtr:.l r tsgcous, as by this mewl ti►r war vessels were In) act:on. The cengacl,,r and th:a fl. big one of the Ft:huraert, ohlit;!ng h.r to fi ,; ~~ ner. The Alerta herself the large schooner, but on the arrival tar it% Spanish merchantman, who also placad hervo' Diamante, the privateers sheertd of T6c cemor more collected, in order to pre.. of any virtu' , s, th, dent ship made sail to the south-taco, and tae , windward, placing themselves astern of the Di.s . night they made a second attmvt, but were In% Alerta, who covered the stern of the litament-., in sight till the Latta had been j0in...1 by the to be 11:01 her vessel 4 war that met them). Oar it small. On board the Ventatior, one man ercundcd the A/mance, cue baled, one wounded, r.t.d sarer.J Our rigging has brim rorghly handled, but the In gone off dreadiu:ly frightened, and with a geed deal they were r..ea repairing their damages from oc boa: Mame, changing their yards, reeving ropes, arAL,t slap a good dotal cut up, u she was seen mends* her other parts." We have given in a preceding put d a copy of the Report of 01:: .tisz:oct Conn the 1 - I.)us .- ... of Commons on Contagills Fever don, which will be found interesting, and Iv of serous attention. ". remesigrimiim•Bamommffsiimassis7l a; CONTAGIOUS FEVER. pr ~ tit -- EUPORT.—The Select Committee appointed to examine Into el the State of Contagious T`evrr in the Metropolis, and into the ' Bi . . ^ Condition of the Institution for the Cure and Preventioo of at the MUM, and who were employed to report their Observe. fry . . hone thereupon to the noose of Commons, together wilt the . . . . bligutes Mtn; Eviaener taken before them, have agreed epee Is, the followirg Report: w, . . ar • Your Committee having summoned before them E Phrsiciens from the principal Hospitals in the Metro- re polls, proceeded, in the feet place, to inquire into the re progress and exteat of that contagious Fever which es 1 durine the I.lst twelve months has'heen so.prevalent. ( In or ter to n:)tain correct information upon this sub- cc ject, they called for a return of the number of patients nt who ;hive been admi ted into a Fever Hospital con- In strutted in Priem -road, and entitled " a House of pi Recovery." This "ee ilaishme it had its origin in the ca ' year 1802, a period or - eat sickness among the ct poorer classes of society, it having been preceded by of I a scacci,.y of i . oal for twoyears. In the year 180 ~ cc 164 patieats, and ia tile > x i 60, i. 185 were admit- at • i ted into this Hospital. 'fhe return inserted in the of evidence of Dr. Bateman, Phyician to the Institu- in i t tion for the List fifteen years, shews that the mini- . mum of sickness was in 1810, when thirty patients tF only were admitted; and that the average of the ci I ' three years preceding 1817, when the present epile- w I l i mic may be considered to have commenced, was d: somewhat more than seventy-six per annum; in the it year 1817.126 ; and from April in that year to the st 4 same period in 1818, no less than 797 persons were ti 4 patients in this Infirmary. . el Your Committee then proceeded to inquire as to st the prevalence of this contagious*.Fever in the diffe- a rent Hospitals of the Metropolis. • a • , Dr. I meet, who is one of the Physicians at Guy's, v - informed them, that in the year 1817 about fifty pa- II tients were admitted with cases of fever, and in that a • ending in April, 1818, 2.53. In the London Hospital, Dr. Yelloly states. that li ' the average number of fever patients may be taken t] at about thirty for the last five years; that in 1817 t ninety-seven cases were admitted : and in the first ( . I three months of this year, no less than thirty-five. 1 I Your Committee have no regular return from St. 1 I Thomas's ; but Dr. Currey, Physician to that Hospi- it i . tal, says that the number of fever cases was eonside- t rably greater than in the preceding years. I ..1 At St. Bartholomew's the increase is.also stated to I be great ; but you! Committechave no return of the numbers; for Dr. Roberts informed them that no re- I sister, is kept in the Hospital to distinguish the diffe- I irant varieties of disease. • t , At St. George's, the same statement is made by I Dr. Young; and there also no reeester is kept. t In the Westminster Hospital, Dr. Tuthill informed I your Committee, that the ordinary average of fever I cases may be taken at twenty-five ; while from Lady- I • day, 1817, to 1818, thirty-eight patients labouring under this disease have been admitted. , s In the Middlesex Hospital, the average number of I contagious fever cases is about sixty per annum, and 4 last year the number amounted to 120. I Your Committee having thus ascertained the alas. wing increase of contagious fevers in the Hospitals I of the Metropolis, proceeded to examine the Physi- I le . clans of some of the principal Dispensaries. i ,• ' • • Dr. Laird, Physician to the Public Dispensary in 4 earey-street, informed them, in in the th er ei e r arXe ; ; I 1 1 eighty-four . eases of fever were entered in tele., seventy-six cases; and id 1817, 147; and in i i [ k the four months of the present year, fifty-nine cues I t of fever have been so registered. i Dr. Clutterbuck also states, that for many years 1 ipas:, et' net above twelve cases of typhus had been ad- I snit ted on their books ; but in the last year there have I •• : been above 200. I Ycer Committee thought fit to transmit a series 1 of questions to the diferent Physicians belonging to 1 some of the Dispensaries of London, and to the an- i swots of which they beg leave to refer. i Dr. Davies, Physician to the London Dispensary, ; averages the number of cases of fever in the Estate. ( lishmeut to which he belongs, for a period of eight ; ••• years, to be about 100 annually; while in the last 1 tar they amounted to 309. I , - In the Finsbury Dispensary, the mean number of : fever cases is 66; but from the Ist of May, 1817, to I 1 the same day, 1818, 168 cases were registered,. 1 • Mt. Burgess, Apothecary to St. Luke s Workhouse, i . stated, that he attends, on an average of common I year, about 150 cases of fever ; in the last year, the r. n:r,ger rose to 600. I Dr. Lincoln states, that his parochial patients have 1 re ~ increased from the ordinary average of 40 and 50 to . 4 250 and 300. I • , Your Committee having thus been informed of the 1 extent of this epidemic, and the severity with which ! , it has fallen on the poorer classes of society, pro- • , c•nded to inquire into the nature and extent of the . means afforded, in the way of medical relief, to those afflicted with this calamity. s The benevolence of some individuals, aided by a .. considerable grant of money on the part of the Pub- lic. has constructed a Fever Infirmary, called 44 the 11 ''• House of Recovery," which is capable of containing alert sixty-nine patients. • This Establishment has risen to its extent and con- sequeece by slow degrees ; it began in a small house ! A is Gray's Tun-lane, which was capable of containing I only a very limited number of patients, and its aug- rneated size is a convincing proof of its acknowledged I 9 ' value, no less than its being necessary to the increas- e e lag wants of the Metropolis. It is supported by vo- . bettary contributions, the amount of which may be , te'een at £450 per annum. • This Institutioe possesses, besides, a fund of £3OOO ir. Exchequer Bills, and .C 2682 in the 5 per Cent. Consols; the annual income being thus somewhat abre 0540 per annum, The expenses of the three }errs preceding 1316 amounted annually to £573,1 . v.hile these of the year ending April, 1818, reached the enormous sum of £1700; to meet this increase of i 1 , i expenditure above income, the generosity of the Pub- lic was appealed to, and the sum taken as part of the . I , i' capital stock of the Hospital, and which is now held in Exchequer Hills, was subscribed at a public meet- ing, summoned for that purpose ; to this fund must br added a further grant of £lOOO, which has re- ceater been made by die Treasurer to this Hospital. , Your Committee have learned, with great satisfac- . if s it, the nature of the excellent arrangements select, 'ave ./•.'!3 adopted in this Institution. The zeatend t 1 ( 1 . i 1,, tar; other lioip;LAls; an3,p7abably. in ordinary times, nearly fie whole of the fevers of the Metropolis. Your Committed feel assured, that in case the fe ver should continue its ravages undiminished, and the same burden which lay so heavy on the finances of this Institution in tit last year, should exist during the present, Parliament would consent to provide some additional support; but, at present, they con sider the sum above-mentioned as sufficient, and they rely with confidence on the munificence and charity of the public to promote the ordinary annual funds for the support of an Institution so well deserving the countenance of all ranks of society. Your Committee have fully satisfied themselves, that the most beneficial effects have resulted from hospitals exclusively set apart for cases of fever. They refer generally to the accopnts, to shew the small income of this admirable Institution, as well as the increasing demands on it ; and though the be nevolence of the public has done much to raise the Establishment to its useful pre-eminence, yet farther aid is still wanted ; and your Committee wish to re conimend his Majesty's Government to reconsider the grant they have already made. Your Committee, in recommending this grant of money, are aware of the general impolicy of sup porting public hospitals by advances of public mo ney ; but the pecul'ar state of this Jstablishment, its nature and character. the pressure of its funds; which require immediate and large additions to them : and, above all, the diseased st a te of the Metropolis in respect of fever, and the probability of its malig nity being increased towards the Autumn ;—all these reasons satisfy your Committee, that a departure from the general principle may in this case be adopted. Lrom the experience dtriied from the Establish ments at Chester, Manchester, and Waterford, ac cording to a report which has been laid before them, it appears that not only no hazard of spreading in fection has been incurred, but, in point of fact, the number of contagious diseases has been greatly dimi nished, not only in towns, but in the very distiict and neighbourhood where houses of recovery have been situated. Dr. Roget, late Physician to the 'Man chester Infirmary,-informed your Conktnittee, that at Manchester no medical officer or attendant in the hospital has been afflicted with the fever generated within its walls ; and that in the town itself the num ber of cases of that disease has diminished to a less degree than the ordinary average prior to the esta blishment of the Institution. Dr. Holroe, Physician to the Infirmary from its establishtnent to the present period, confirms this statement. o its full extent. Your Committee cannot close this Report without ' expressing a regret that any hospital in the metro polis should not possess a register of diseases; they trust this omission will speedily be rectified. And, in their opinion, it would be advisable to register, not only the diseases, but also the name and profession of the patient. It must at all times be'a matter of useful knowledge to be able to learn the quality and extent of the different diseases that prevail at different periods; and your Committee have felt the want of that information, arising out of this strange irregula rity, in not being able to ascertain the average fever cases that have occurred for some years past in the metropolis.—May. 20, 1818. , 7 ,4 rill be in ti t to a is ;Act el apt i 4:• "}„ E 4 the ea. 7 sp. 31 in Its ce sic!. is arc- b e • I.l' hare to re gor,. 0 of 1; 4 ar, ar.d Is. s the pun, to 154 se: g Nz:e stt etc. St. Sz.2- ' Perm:. a sraze..l rpe.wed Y.! ie. la rel C:cra rc: tit dr, r . • set the • ' " cs . dwi t .tl 01 Cora. lodzinet Mean; hing can peck-s of Cr tuff: a 41 a: • • a Tante I • CletZ ,„ p:ace el ar: nr.ah iratesrs. ay, ctn. it !d to PI- • iy of we e car- • GEE* res• nv: ft swi< aid r• , y be :I:cs •eT r• : -;F c rlrr.:.nte zrf. • 'X. • tr.n tei tee 1' • irc 77'7't :n• • aritg rts • cr.141 c:ct he Tzder - T• ceTett* iz the h? tit 7-c". remkta (071 - cila les b..e been d : tszd ..d bru!sze , " nurscrrs ye , m; et bi, ef sae the ,t 3 !hog, the ber stem tai ear Tares tunitte of Tel: Lon • leer.l,!