Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1859-03-25
TO the People of iowa.
BURLINGTON, March lst, IS

At the last annual meeting of the Iowa
State Medical Society, the undersigned
were appointed a committee to report on
the Topography, Climate, Diseases, and
Natural History, of Iowa. The Importance
of report of this kind will commend itself
to you and in order to make it as complete
as possible, your assistance is requested, by
an early answer to the following
Describe proximity Of your county to riv-
ers and lakes.
Size and direction Of water courses, and
Of the dividing ridges or water sheds, Ex-
tent of river bottom. Power and rapidity
of streams, danger and frequency ofinunda-
ton. Quantity Of marshy soil. Artificial
water channels, reservoirs, and amount OF
lockage on the Desmoines River.
Area and mean altitude of County. Pop
ulation, and their lineage, chief avocations.
Location and size of principal towns. Gen
eral character of the surface, rolling or level
prairie, valleys and eminences. Nature and
extent of surface-tilled, covered with for
est or prairie. Agricultural products
kinds of timber; effect of clearing, draining
and breaking up of prairie on climate.
Latitude, longitude, altitude of observer.
B rometric, thermometric and hygrometric
states of the atmosphere for every day of the
year, Indicating in columns the amount in in
ches of rain, hail and snow: Describe tor
nadoes, and mark their extent on map.
Deaths from fever, from small pox and
varioloid. Deaths from diseases OF the
lungs and air passages. Deaths from dis
ease OF the nervous system: Deaths from the
diseases of the organs of nutrition. Dea tbs
from diseases of the urino-genital organs.
Quarterly tables, showing the whole number
of deaths of white and Of colored persons
under year, from to 2, from 2 to s., from
5 to TO- from 10 to Is, from Is to 20, and
for every decennial period over 20.
Epidemics and endemics Of the year /;
their origin and march; apparently conta
gious or not. How affected by race, age,
sex, temperament, avocation, circumfusa,
ingesta, and the density Of the population.
Fevers. Irtermittant, remittent and per-
nicious or congestive; their frequency as
compared with that of former years. Ty-
phus and typhoid fevers. Small pox. Benefits
of vaccination. Measles. Scarlatina.
Observations on other diseases; their etiol-
ogy, pathology and therapeutics. Peculiari-
ty of type or tendency; number Of cases,
give age, sex, condition and location of pa
tient; season OF year, treatment and terml-
nation. Facts of interest in surgery and
obstetrics.
Geological position, actual location, dip,
direction and extent of different formations !;
character of soil, sub-soil and subjacent
rock. Source and nature Of water used for
domestic purposes; supply Of water of town,
and kinds of pipe used as conduits. Map
with geological features named, and colored
agreeably to the order adopted by the Geol-
ogist: also mark out on map extent of epi-
denies, if any have prevailed.
Catalogue of fora of county. Catalouge
of plants possessing medicinal and economi-
cal properties. Catalogue of plants employ
ed by the Indians. Catalogue of the ami
mails. Catalogue of the birds. Catalogue
of the fishes. Catalogue of the insects.
Changes brought about by the settlement
of the county, with refer ence to the intro
ducton and extirpa ion Of plants and ami
mails Facts in Natural history.
Ii YOU cannot ans wer all, answer as many
as you can and if you cannot embrace the
county in which you live, answer for your
immediate neighborhood. The committee
would also be much obliged for any speci-
men of Natural history. Answers will be
in time by the Is til cf May.
Respectfully yours,
| JOHN H. RAUCH
47 Nj. B. COCHRAN.
G. +. HENRY.
GyPapers throughout the State are re-
quested to copy the above circular.