The Sun.
London, England, 1824-07-30 00:00:00

• ti!

LITERARY NOTICE.
f •

OILS of QUARANTINE LAWS, and NON-EXIST-
. •llttliCE of PESTILENTIAL CONTAGION; deduced
%hem the Phenomena of the Plague of the Levant, the
,ilyellow Fever of Spain, and he Cholera Morbus of Asia.--
OW'Catanxica P4Act.CANi M. D.

[Continued from Saturday's Simi
..:.Whilst the, efficiency of Quarantine Laws for
,their proposed eads have been implicitly received
ages, a few facts from the work, just Published
by Dr. MACLEAN, not only disprove this assumed
efaiiency, but distinctly demonstrate that they
greatly aggravate the .sickness, misery, and 'nor..
lity. otherwise incidental to pestilence*.
In seven days from the periods of imposing
restrictions, the daily mortality in Burcelo.i
ueti had increased precisely eighteen fold I----
:.(P. 1004
64' But the.most convincing proofs that can well
'be imagined, of the inefficiency of Sanitary Laws
:for their professed objects, as well as their pesi-
jive pernicious consequences, have been afforded
by the events of the fever of Tortosa. 'The Se-
taltary restrictions established at Tortosa, in
1641 were remarkable both for their rigour, and
Or haring been imposed a considerable time, not
only before their apprehension of. 'contagion was
ollidelly proclaimed' by the Juntas of Barcelona,
but before any suspected deaths or sickness had
.taken place at Torten • itself s yet no place has
*Yer been more afflicted than that unfortunate
City. On this subject let the evidence of the
military Governor, Don Miguel de llaro, in a
'letter to the Political Chief of Catalonia, dated
the 26th of August speak 'for itself: 6 As
soon as the first notices of the contagion were re.
teleed, the Municipality and Municipal Board of
flealth assembled in a joint body. They act with
absolute independence of all other authority. In
vain does the superior Junta of Health of the
Province daily 'report the state and progress Of
the disease; in vain is it asserted that the
• Pity of Barcelona is free from contagion ; in
Italia does your order of the 15th require the Com-
munication not to be cut oil, and that passengers
shall not be detained who have regular passports;
for thisJunte., before that of any other town, cuts
off all intercourse by land and water; establishes
foul lazarettos, and lazarettos of observation;
placing sentinel, ut the gates ; adopting an in&
silty of measures, and ordering to the lalarettos,
far an indefinite period, all travellers 'Coming
from Barcelona. They. interrupt the entrance of
vessels, and put a stop to the important coin.
,merce arising from the manufacture of 'oil. Fi-
nally, a sailor falls sick coming from the river
(Ebro) who had not been in Barcelona, nor held
any communication with • infected Vessels, and in
consequence of the Doctors not being well tic:.
'polluted with his disease, they treated hint as
pestiferous : and this man at length dying in the
lazarettol they conclude with alarming the people,
by the measures they adopt for the interment of
•the body.
" By the conduct, of this Soma, they hovel
let en exaMple of disobedience, higlrly
to the state; and leave given undue imporlance
tins malady in question, to the great prejudice
of Barcelona and of the principality. They have
.alarmed the whole nation, and particnlarly the
klogdorn of Valencia; end have suspended the
extensive and lucrative maritime commerce which
existed with foreign countries-4i commerce which
draws from that district rivers of nil, supplying it
in return with rivers of gold," (P. 1(13.)
it The epidemic now proceeded with u rept-
dity truly alarming. Ott the nth of September,.
Governor de flare writes, that an Politica sur-
• goon bed died, and that the best physician was
aping ; and that, in their consternation, three
fourths.of the inhabitaota had left the place, and
gone into the country,. lie solicits freshisnedieta
aid. 64 It 'is also absolutely necessary,"add she,
" that some one should come to take charge of
'the civil government--as, of the two A !cedes, the
first'itas shut himself up in ks house, and will
,sot act ; and the second has gone away. • The
I.4trtior litegitior has done the same, and the town
is abandoned." (P. 105.)
n We now come ti) the best commentary per-
tar open cerord, on the pernlciousneabots well
asbbsurtiity, of Sanitary Laws, in, the case of the
unfortunate inhabitants of Cusul ()Milli, in the
Wand of Malta, in the year 1813. It scents to
be one of the greatest and Most unaccountable
delusions Incidental to the singular system of
which ii is my lot to treat, that, whilst an epi-
drenie proceeda with lucreasing and even more
than ordinary severity, much beyond the usual
period of the termination of epidemics at the
estate ,its cessation, when at length it does
happen, from a change of season, should,• with
itertinacity,•lt,e attributed to the very measures
which had been the chief, cause of its aggrava..
tipn and
,pthlongation.. A very,
,edifying. histori
tho preerrtls of the .plague•of n"lsl:l,Malta,
,copiously :in't'ermixed with opinion end 'belief,
;will be found in the second chapter of Mr. Telly.'s
deacribirtg, with mathematical precision,
leow that•l)estilence Watt " clandestinely disscmi7
wing " lurking in every corner of the
4f hidding d
_eftance to every pre-
lions exertion," 46 when on a sudden that arm
tune raised,• which, under Providence, was des-
tined to rusls'the desolating foe ully, p. 57.)
64 Nor was the conquest an easy one, clod
ccClarnd beldly contesting, inch' by inch •every
et 4 effort 0. Wes made for the destruction of the
" disease(frtilly, 57.)--16 The arrival of
‘‘ 1,11 Bacellersey Sir Thomas Maitland,. in the
" capacity 'of Gosernor of Malta, which took
• " place °Oho Silt of October, 1813, formed, as
tc ma tear'ti from the eVen Is that speediig followed,
Essod, as et., have
just noticed a particular tern
(he hiSt
630' of
the • plague of Malta; for we
fl
ied
(and it 't.citit he noticed with feelings of
cc gnufilurle apt:
cc ttf the di>tn ewillatsS:,ititution) that the progress
1* where arrested by the
it decided bin') 4.1)C
rfe"4 ilYstem adopted by his
4' Pacelkory,!...„...c •
Y/P.A.)--" On thtsocea.,
sioeiviejs,the woe' course of epidemics, the ells-
..fie contitiued", 'Jolter thioug, wallops
cm.