Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1832-08-16

nv friend, in each of the rooms we had formerly
tried. l should here observe that he has been
suffering much in the same way as myself.
On going to bed again, took the precaution
of leaving candle burning, and Of lighting the
fire in the kitchen, which is nearly adjoining my
bedroom, and slept comfortably after taking these
precautions, which l believed necessary, and
that | had sufficient proof that vapour existed,
which was dspersable or cousumable by heat or
fame. and that its deIeterious effect commenced
shortly after the fires and lights in the house
were extinguished.
have observed the appearances OF candles
and lamps during the fogs and mists. hrt have
never before seen any halo about then at al ST..
milar to what have described.
Should any Of your readers have observed, or
heard Of auy thing similar. where .5nIera was
prevalent, and should the experience of Others
demonstrate the existence of vap0rs o. uncommon
kind during the night, the knowledge Of the age
may be directed to discover their nature, and
whether their bad effects can be counteracted by
chemical or any other agency in the power of man;
from nv own slight observation it would appear
that fire or heat may be uspfuIly employed; and.
query may not the greater quantity of fire and
be principal reason why 50 small proportion of
that class has been cut of by the dreful effects
of s.the vapors which arise in darknessf" This
cause NAV be admitted without prejudice to the
acknowledged facts, that the constitutions of the
iIi-fed, the hard wrought, and the Incorporate.
are less able than others to withstand the inhu-
ence of powerful poison.
Should the theory be proved that Cholera has
its origin from vapours arising from the earth, its
having followed the course OF rivers in Asia and
Europe will be accounted for and better under
stood, as not affordins conclusive proof Of the
contagious character of the disease.
The substrata Of the earth may also enable US
to account for the facts, that some districts have
entirely escaped the visitation Of the pestilence,
while others adj"ining have suffered severed y
In England and Scotland there appears to have
been an extraordinary exemption from its attacks
in districts where lime abounds. Thuse better
acquainted with geology than myself, NAV be
able to show how far Ireland differs from Great
Britain in the nature Of ITS minerals; the Cho-
lera IN that country has been much more severe.
In France, the city of Paris has suffered the
greatest propnrtionate mortality; can the cata-
combs or cemeteries, with which it Is undermined,
have Sawed as immense stu-e houses for the COL
lection of the mephitic exhalalions The greater
severity ut Cholera in some districts or cities,
and even in particular houses, may be accounted
IOf easily On Tue tneOry Vi cAudidtiohs arising
from the bowels of the earth.
Fissures in the substrata more or less deep or
extensive. and minerals through which the mephi-
tic vapors arise, may increase the quantity and
the malgnity in particular places. PutrId sub.
stances also on the surface of the earth, combin-
ed with these vapors, may render them more pes
tilential.
do not think that the theory of atmospheric
influence can enable US to account for the SEEM
insiy capricious progress of Cholera so easily as
the relurlc theory, the admission Of which also,
is not at variance or rreconclleabe with the fact,
that the exhaaions from bodies dead from Cho-
lera, have produced the disease in others, and
that the atmosphere in houses and in vessels has
been poisoned so as to have become fatal, even
after the latter have moved hundreds Of miles.
Ii atmospheric or meteorlC Influence causes
the sickness. | should fear that science has less
chance Of discovering a remedy for an evil aris-
ing from causes so vast, ana uncomfortable BY
man. The laws Of nature, the effects of tine,
Or the power Of the Almighty alone, are adequate
IN this case.
The strange appearance in the rays of the sun,
observed in many countries about this period last
year, will be reculected particularly observ-
cd 1t myself, in this city. 1t may have been
caused by meteors moving high in space, but
which are now either attracted to the surface Of
the earth, or have been encountered in its pro-
gress around the sun, but, this can only be mat.
ter Of conjecture and speculation for the curl
ous HOMO.