Supplementary readings for Week 7's lectures include excerpts
from:
-
"Procuring the Small Pox," selected communications on the method of inoculation,
from the Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal Society of London (1714-1723);
-
An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolae Vaccinae....
(1798) by Edward Jenner
(1749-1843); and
-
A Short Account of the Malignant Fever Lately Prevalent in Philadelphia...
(1794) by Mathew Carey
(1760-1839);
-
"An Account of the Bilious Remitting Yellow Fever, as it Appeared in Philadelphia,
in the Year 1793," in Vol. III, Medical Inquiries and Observations,
4th ed. (1815) by Dr.
Benjamin Rush (1746-1813);
-
An Enquiry into, and Observations Upon the Causes and Effects of the
Epidemic Disease Which raged in Philadelphia from the month of August till
towards the middle of December 1793 (1794) by Dr.
Jean Devèze (1753-1829); and
-
"Yellow Fever," in
Vol. XV, The International Cyclopedia (1898).
_______________________
In 1668, the English colony of New York was hit by an "autumnal bilious fever in its infectious form" which proved so fatal that the governor ordered a fast day. In 1693, it was Boston's turn. In 1699, the dread disease paid Charleston and Philadelphia what would be the first of many deadly visits over the next two centuries.
In August 1793, Philadelphia fell victim once again. This time over 4000 died. Enlightened medical practitioners sought to identify the epidemic's cause. Many assumed contagion to be the chief mode by which the disease was transferred and advocated strict quarantine measures in all American ports to halt its spread.
But a vocal group of equally eminent "anticontagionists" argued that filthy waterfronts were to blame. They reasoned that the bilious fever, also known "remitting," or "yellow" fever, only appears in those climates, seasons, and places in which heat -- acting on moist animal and vegetable matter -- produces putrid exhalations. They decried maritime quarantine as a futile and costly practice. Instead they recommended comprehensive city planning and extensive sanitation reform to eradicate the natural source of these epidemics.
Who was right? How did medical practitioners test and prove their theories? How did civic leaders respond to the evidence with which they were presented? Why did it take so long to discover yellow fever's true cause?
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