The Sun.
London, England, 1847-10-14 00:00:00

THE CHOLERA.

The following letter has been addressed to the editor
of the Times :

Sir,—The steady advance of the cholera westward
appears to have called public attention to its probable
reappearance in England before long, and a paragraph
in one of the London papers, of Friday, leads me to
believe that the majority of persons will depend for
protection upon anv preparation which is advertised
as a " disinfectant," erroneously believing that all
disinfectants have the same power over the virus
which creates disease as they have over unpleasant
smells. Allow me to correct this error by detailing
the results of my experience during the visitation of
this horrible malady in 1532, when, as a chymist, I
laid myself out for a close examination into the cause,
mode of propagation, and check for it. For this
purpose I obtained information of, and visited in
person, all the earliest cases which showed themselves
in this city generally, and in each and great public,
establishment in particular. For some time I at-
tended almost daily at the cholera hospitals, and ex-
perimented in every way I could think of, upon the
dead and living subjects, their contents and ejecta,
the atmosphere surrounding them and their articles
of clothing. The conclusions I arrived at I forward
for the informatiion of those who have not had the
same opportunities.
1. That the cause of cholera is a putrid animal
poison, capable of being recognised by the smell by
some, emanating from and surrounding the dead or
living cholera subject or articles of clothing.
2. That it is not sulphuretted hydrogen or hy-
drosulphuret of ammonia, as it does not decompose
&Its of lead or zinc, and when passed through nitrate
of silver it only forms a red solution when exposed
to light.

3:That it is only received into the living body
through the lungs, and cannot be propagated by in-
noculation.

4. That infection can be conveyed by articles of
clothing, bedding, Sr.c. ; and that washerwomen are
more subject to infection than ordinary persons from
that cause.

5. That all persons are not equally liable to infec•
tion from equal exposure, and even the same indi
vidual becomes more sensitive under certain cir.
cumstances.

6. That the poison is destroyed by chlorine gas and
heat of 300 deg. Fahrenheit.
As the object of the present communication is
merely to give the public opinion a right direction so
as to help the future boards of health to combat this
insidious and powerful enemy, I must at once state
that the two most popular disinfectants of the day—
the chloride of zinc and the nitrate of lead, known as
Sir W. Burnet's and Ledoyen's, will be of no avail,
although they will promptly remove ordinary putrid
effluvia. The only chymical preventive I depended
upon in my numerous exposures to the virus was
chlorine gas, and this I believe to be a perfect one if'
the fumigation is complete. I invariably passed
through an atmosphere of it on my return home, and
kept it escaping in my residence during the conti-
nuance of the disease in the city. I also placed large
quantities of the substance necessary for the evolution
of this gas in the hands of a Bristol druggist, who was
kind enough to distribute 1,200 quantities of it gra-
tuitously to applicants during three days with in-
structions for the use, and am happy to say that
during that time the deaths fell from ten to one per
day, and I have but little doubt that if every ship
arriving in. England from an infected place, should be
exposed to a perfect fumigation with chlorine, we
shall he preserved from the infection. If the disease
should pass this cordon, by any accident, then every
house in the infected district should be simultaneously
fumigated with it--say three times a day ; unless
done in all houses at the same time, it would be
useless, or nearly so; and to do it effectually, a
mixture of three parts of common salt and one of
hlack oxide of manganese, should be placed just in-
side the outer or street door of the dwelling-house,
and a little common vitriol poured upon it. The
inward current of air will convey the chlorine gas to
every part of the interior, and wherever it can be
smelt the effect is produced—the miasm is destroyed.
If articles of clothing are infected, and the colours
likely to be injured by the gas, they may be heated
in an oven or on a kiln, to 250 or 300 degrees (about
the
_heat of baking bread), when they might be
handled or used with perfect impunity.—l am,
Sir, &c.,
Bristol, Oct. 11.

WILLIAM HERAPATH.

VICTIMS or FEVER.--Within the last six weeks we
,bserve, from the Medical and Provincial Journal, that
Pleven brave men of the medical profession have fallen
sacrifices to their zeal and conscientiousness in attend-
ing upon the diseased and suffering poor. Their names
are Richard Mackenzie, surgeon, Leeds ; J. Dundas,
M.D., Nlanorhamilton ; H. M'Cormick, M.D. Granard ;
J. B. M`Donough, surgeon, Carrarce ; Thos. M.D.,
M.D., Liverpool ; R. Storrs, surgeon, Doncaster ;
Campbell, M.D., Honiton; J. Johnston, surgeon, Baltin-
rdass; J. Monteath, M.D., Perth ; J. O. Curran, M.D.,
Dublin. These names are more worthy of being con-
s ethatcr aet ev
edri con-
in
woaumr mtoe me
eourcif
stthtahnr
etuhgohs es
eoafs all
of
htehme
awnabrlreioerds.
—Buxton Herald.

THE HAPPY FAmmr.-7--The most wonderful ex-
bition of the Happy Fzuill) would be the Berkeleys
living under the iam roof togea:er.—Funch.