The Sun.
London, England, 1849-09-27 00:00:00

THE CAUSE OF CHOLERA.
The following letter has been Addressed to the
Editor of the 7 imes

Sir,—ln the Medical Gazette, and in the lliorning
Chronicle of last Friday, an announcement was wade
by Mr. Britten of the very important discovery that
peculiar microscopic objects exist constantly in the
characteristic "rice-water" discharges of persons
affected with cholera, and in the atmosphere of in-
fected places.
1 do not wish to anticipate anything Mr. Brittan
may have further to say, or to claim the slightest
credit for anything that he or others have already
published, but at a time when cholera is destroying
hundreds of cur fellow-creatures daily, and filling the
land with mourning, it is the duty of every one who
believes himself to he in possession of any observations
which throw the smallest light on the cause, and the
means of controlling such an awful visitation, to give
them, without delay, all the publicity possible. I,
therefore, beg the insertion of the following remarks
in your widely circulated journal :
The p( culler objects in question were first seen by
two or three ntemuers of a committee appointed by the
Bristol Medico-Chirurgical Society for the micros-
copic observation of subjects connected with cholera.
The first drawings of them, together with the great
vaiety of other objects generally to be met with in
the "rice-water" discharges, were made by Mr. J.
G. Swayne and Mr. F. Brittan in the second week in
June last. These drawings, together with specimens
of " rice-water," were exhibited at the next meeting
of the committee. At that meeting there were pre-
sent Mr. J. G. Swayne, Dr. Bernard, Mr. Neeld,
Mr. A. Pritchard, and myself. Numerous other
drawings of the same kind by Mr. J. G. Swayne and
Mr. Britten were laid shortly afterwards before the
Bristol Medico-Chirurgical Society.
The laborious observations subsequently made by
Mr. Britten and Mr. Swayne, and laid from time to
time, without reservation, before the Bristol Medico-
Chirurgical Society, though not enforced by any
arguments to that effect, certainly did much to show
that some very important relation existed between
these bodies and malignant cholera. The presump-
tion thus raised was much strengthened by the very
important discovery subsequently made by Mr.
Britten, and reserved for separate publication, of the
constant presence of objects of the same kind in the
air of infected places.

Shortly after-wards, and being at the time aware
of this discovery, I detected the same organisms in
great numbers in almost every specimen of drinking
water, which I was enabled to obtain from cholera
districts. First, in the drinking-water from Wel-
lington-court, Redcross-street, where cholera first
broke out (with any violence), in Bristol ; subse-
puently, in the water of the Float, and in the drink-
ing-water from King-street, in the same city ; since
then, again, in London, in water from Lovegrove-
street, and from the Surrey Canal; and, lastly, in
drinking-water from the Stapleton Workhouse, being
all places where, at the time the water was obtained,
cholera was making dreadful havoc.
This led me to examine a great number of speci-
mens of water from healthy quarters, and although
I often found in it a good deal of matter of various
kinds, organic and other, in no single instance did I
see anything resembling the peculiar bodies in
question.
These considerations and others, which it would
take too much space to mention here, have ,led me to
the following conclusions :-
1. That the cause of malignant cholera is a living
organism of distinct species.
2. That this organism, which seems to be of the
fungus tribe, is taken, by the act of swallowing, into
the intestinal canal, and there becomes infinitely
multiplied by the self-propagation which is charac-
teristic of living beings.
3. That the presence and propagation of these
organisms in the intestinal canal, and the action they
there exert, are the cause of the peculiar flux, which
is characteristic of malignant cholera, and which
taken with its consequences, immediate and remote,
constitutes the disease.
4. That the new organisms are developed only in
the human intestine.
5. That these organisms are disseminated through
society; Ist, in the air, in the form of impalpable par-
ticles ; 2d, in contact with articles of food ; and
3d, and principally, in the drinking-water of infected
places.
6. That these organisms may probably be preserved
for a long time in the air with their powers unim-
paired ; but that in water, which is doubtless the
chief vehicle for their diffusion, they soon undergo
decay, and moreover—sharing in this the common
fate of heir tribe—become the prey of beings of a
higher order.
It would be out of place to state here the evidence
on which these several conclusions are founded.
It will be enough to mention that this evidence has
been placed in the hands of the President of the
College of Physicians, and will socn be published.
The conclusions, taken together, enable us to ac-
count for all the chief phenomena of the disease, and
actually to show that these phenomena must neces-
sarily happen as the direct consequence of such
conditions.
They lead, besides, to practical references of the
utmost importance. If, indeed, the 4th conclusion be
true—that the human intestine is the only breeding
place of the poison, and that every addition to the
floating stock of it is derived from the discharges of
persons affected with cholera—it follows by direct
logical inference that if, from the first invasion of the
disease into this country, the poison contained in the
discharges of infected persons had been destroyed (and
the destruction of it may doubtless be accomplished
by simple means), malignant cholera would never
have been epidemic in England.
And it follows yet more, that by acting upon this
knowledge now, although we may not be able at once
to" stay the plague," we may yet much abridge its
sojourn among us.
The means by which this mitigation may
include
are these two :
) 1. To destroy from this time forward all the poison
which continues to be generated in the bodies of in-
-3 fected persons ; and 2, to prevent, as far as possible,
1 the poison which has already escaped us from taking
2 effect.
2 The first of these objects may be attained by the
1 simplest means. All that is required, in fact, is
0 to receive henceforth the discharges from the sick
1 into some chymical fluid known to be fatal to beings
1
• of the fungus tribe. And, among chemical agents,
a thousand are known which accomplish the destruc-
i tion of beings of this tribe with unerring certainty.
2 Nothing more is necessary, therefore, than to choose
3 among these agents the cheapest and the most con-
() venient. This is a matter of detail which might
2 easily be settled, but which I will not undertake at
o once to decide; contenting myself merely with sug.
igesting that, on both grounds, the solution of chloridel
of zinc possesses strong recommendations, if it should
n be found, as Ibelieve it would, effectual for the end in

view.
The second object, that of preventing the poison
which has already been cast loose from taking effect,
is more difficult to accomplish. But for this, too, a
great deal may be done.
As water is the principal channel through which
this poison finds its way into the human body—a
fact already established by the researches of Dr. Snow,
and of the discovery of which he must have the whole
merit—so is the procuring of pure water for drink
the first and most effectual means of preventing its
action.
From this day forward let the people of infected
districts be supplied with water from healthy quar-
ters, or from sources beyond the reach of contami-
nation ; or, if this be not feasible, let steps be
taken to rid the water they are compelled to drink
of the deadly poison it holds. This might be done
by very simple means. It is more than probable,
even, that the act of boiling would suffice ; but, if
boiling the water should not succeed, it might be
distilled rather than fail. Such a process as this
could of course not bo employed to purify the
drinking-water of a large community, but many
a family now living in fear and trembling in a
tainted district would be too happy to purchase the
slightest addition to its means of safety at so small
a cost.
To no part of the community is the need of an
immediate supply of pure water more urgent than
to the immense floating population of the port of
London. At present the crews of vessels in the
most tainted parts of the Thames draw up from
it, in buckets, their daily supply of water, which
they commonly drink without any other purifica-
tion than that which it undergoes by a few hours'
standing.
The importance of preventing the disease in sailors
will be more apparent when we reflect on the unques-
tionable fact that ships ure great instruments for its
diffusion.
Besides these, there are other things to he done,
which, although of minor importance, should not be
neglected. Such are the whitewashing of all houses
in which the disease has occurred, and the destruction
or purification of tainted articles.
Such is a brief summary of the moat urgent
measures to be adopted in the present urgency. The
complete extermination of cholera would, to doubt,
be too much to expect from them. But by carrying
out these measures with a vigorous hand, and by
uniting them into one great plan of action, we may
yet hope, by Ged's blessing, to keep this deadly foe
at bay, and thus to prevent many a happy home from
being made a house of mourning.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
WILLIAM BUDD, M.D.,
Physician to the Bristol Infirmary.
September 24, 1849.

Prince George of Prussia, who is travelling incog.
under tho title of Count Frederio do Perponcher, anti
accompanied by two aides-de-camp, )1415 been for some
dolts of Pone