The New York herald., 1870-10-07
Is YELLOW FEVER INFECTIOUS /.
To THE EDITOR OF THE HRRALD:-

To THE EDITOR OF THE HRRALD:-
Ii seems to be generally assumed that the out
break OF yellow fever on Governors Island owes us
origin to Infection from the crews Of some vessels
from tropical ports that have evaded Quarantine.
Permit one who has had some experience OF yellow
fever during heightened residence in the West
Indies suggest for the consideration of the Health
Oflcer whether the disease may not have been en-
trely or local origin, wholly disconnected with in
fection any other external cause. And here let
me observe that In the West Indies no one dreams
OF yellow fever being communicated by injection,
and the health officers there would no more think
OF attempting to exclude 1t by quarantine than OF
staying the trade winds with hand bellows. In
all the American Islands and regions within the
tropics yellow fever Is endemic-tnat Is to say, in
no one year are they wholly free from It, although
the periods when II appears In an cpl
cases are found, however, every year; and
nothing shows to my mind more satisfactorily the
fact that these sporadic cases never extend and
are always to be accounted for by local malaria.
have had yellow fever patients die in my arms with
out the smallest i'll consequences to myself. DR..
Bancroft, whose work yellow lever Is one Of the
text books on that disease, went so far to taste
the black vOmi which Is one OF the peculiar char
acteriscs Of this type OF fever and he entirely re.
pudiated the idea Of infection.
have known sporadic cases occur In damp and
unhealthy localities, where several unacclimated
persons were resident together on the planta-
ton; one Of these would be attacked with fever,
which rapidly assumed the type OF yellow fever and
was as rapidly faal; while another, suffering from
the same malarial poison, would experience only
sharp attack OF Intermittent Had the disease, then,
been epidemic in all human probability the whole
batch would have been as Is too often the case
swept or by the disease. In the cases l have re-
ferred to there was, there could be, c0mmunica-
tion with other Observation-Disclosures.
remember case Of think, three young men IN
the military service OF Great Britain. who had
Gently arrived from England and had taken up their
residence In large airy house, In Kingston, ia
malCa. These young men we're attacked In success
sion by fever In two OF the cases the symptoms OF
yellow fever were fully developed and both died.
The third had severe attack Of bilious remittent
fever, without the yellow skin or black vomit. He
was removed aud survived. On investigation a
large garden tank was found under the windows OF
their sleeping apartments which was nearly filed
with decayed and decaving vegetable matter, most
foul and pernicious in its character No one could
doubt that the malaria had sprung from this
could name very many instances OF similar
character have known the crew OF q man -of-war
nearly annihilaed, until the survivors were landed
and the vessel examined, when the bilges were
found so foul and mephtc that the negroes EN-
ployed 70 cleanse them were drawn UP in an almost
moribund condition. Once ceansed, however, there
was more yellow fever on the ship.
Yellow fever is emphatically an American disease,
and 1t must be borne in mind that we have Just gone
through an unusually long season OF something
more than tropical heat. Why may not malaria,
under such circumstances, here produce tropical
disease within temperature essentially tr0pical9
WEST INDIAN.