a A'oyage to Alexandria or some climate where the air
is denser—damper—than at home) it will be proper to
go by vessel to a shorter distance ; or even to be
carried in a couch.” It was from this that Dr. Beddoes
took the hint of his system of treatment.
If medical statistics are to guide us, Celsus was
right; for assuredly it is more rational to choose a
place where phthisis is unknown, than one in which it
is nearly as fatal as in Great Britain.
At Lisbon, phthisis is as fatal as in England. The
Italian physicians say the same of Italy : and that the
phthisical do not live longer than three or four months.
Twenty-five cases out of a hundred deaths were found
the average. In Madeira, Dr. Gourlay asserts that
whole families perish. Sir Alexander Crichton objects
to a removal to Dauphiny, the south of France, and
the north of Italy ; fearing the cold winds from the
mountains. Drs. Southey, Johnson, and Sinclair, condemn
Malta, Sicily, and the islands of the Mediterranean.
M. Portal does the same with regard to the
south of France ; and Sir Charles Morgan as to north of
Italy : while Hérault (the beau ideal of a fine climate)
and of which Montpelier is capital, is equally condemned
as a retreat for the consumptive by Dr.
Hawkins. Finally, Dr. Pugh asserts that Nice and
Naples are no better than the rest ; and Dr. Renton
says that, in Madeira, out of 47 cases, 34 died within
3 months ; 10 after leaving the island : of the other 3
the result was unknown. Of all the parts of England,
Penzance is the most eligible. The temperature
averages four degrees higher than that of London.
A recent trai’eller in the East thus speaks on this
subject. “ Alexandria is indeed at all times excessively
damp; the atmosphere is saturated with a
saline vapour, which condenses on the walls and furniture
of the houses in small crystals of nitre muriate
of soda, and muriate of ammonia ; the soil is everywhere
coated with these saline particles ; and although
it is quite impossible to keep any articles made of iron,
free from rust, yet the constant breathing of this
saline atmosphere does not appear to be prejudicial to
health; diseases of the lungs are unknown. I have
not seen one case of pulmonary consumption among
the Arabs.”
Now we cannot but be struck with the resemblance
between this account of the climate of Alexandria and
that of Jersey, as seen in many of those particulars detailed
in the preceding pages. In temperature, indeed,
the difference is marked; but it may be doubted
whether the British constitution can well sustain
without injury (especially among delicate and susceptible
invalids) a higher degree than that of Jersey,
Avithout being liable to some one or other of those
maladies so fatal in Egypt and the more southern latitudes
: while it is of the utmost moment that the sick
should not be transported to parts where they are
removed beyond the reach of all those English comforts,
and conveniences, that are no longer found
among a semi-barbarous, or scarcely even among a
foreign people.
The cause of the dampness of Alexandria is attributed
to the preA^alence of winds from the Mediterranean
sea driving on the clouds for months towards the
mountains of the Thebiiid. These fall in the autumn.
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