much of their virulence, and foon ceafe. In the progrefs of the cruife, the fcurvy begins to appear; at firft it is only detected by fpreading ulcers, in confequence of accidental wounds; afterwards it appears in its own peculiar form. We find it, in our laft war, lefs frequent and lefs violent than in any former one. The native vegetable acids cured it completely, even at fea; the malt ftopped its progrefs, if taken in the early stages; and wine and melafies contributed, in a great degree, to prevent its appearance. It was found to be of the greatest confequence to watch its firft fymptoms. We allow it to be unphilofophical' to deny that the fcurvy is contagious; but we do not think that our author has fufficient reafons even to raife a fufpicion that it is fo.

• There was a confiderable increase of fcurvy in May, 1782, compared with the former months of this campaign; but very inconfiderable, compared with what had occurred in cruifes of the fame length in former years. The laft divifion of the fleet had been at fea feven weeks all but one day when it arrived at Port Royal, and though the fcurvy had appeared in feveral of the fhips, it did not prevail in any of them to a great degree, except in the Nonfuch. Out of fourteen deaths which happened in the whole fleet from this disease, in May, feven of them were in this fhip, and feveral were fent from her to the hofpital in the last and most desperate ftate of it. But, upon the whole, the cafes of the true fea fcurvy in the fleet in general were few and flight, and a great many of those given in the reports under the head of fcurvy, were cutaneous eruptions or ulcers, not properly to be claffed with it.

The cruife in the preceding year to windward of Martinico, may be compared with that in May of this year; for the fleets in both cafes had been at fea about the fame length of time. But the comparison is very greatly in favour of the latter, which is most probably to be imputed to the plentiful fupply of melaffes, wine, four krout, and effence of malt. But no adequate reafon that I could difcover can be affigned for the prevalence of it in the Nonfuch, to a degree fo much more violent than in the other fhips; and it was here farther remarkable, that it attacked every defcription of men indifcriminately; for I was affured by the officers and by the furgeon, that not only the helpless and difpirited landfman was affected, but old feamen who had never before fuffered from it on the longeft cruises. I have been led by this, and fome other facts, to fufpect that there may be fomething contagious in this disease.'

The only other fact, afterwards adduced is, that the fcurvy once fpread from the naval hofpital at Portsmouth, to the adjacent country; but this has been often combated.

It appears, from the comparative returns, that the Weft India fleet was more healthy than that which cruised in the

channel; this is eafily explained, when we recolle&t that the home fleet was conftantly recruited by preffing, and that the pressed men were often landfmen. Another fact, feemingly more extraordinary, is, that frigates are more healthy than fhips of the line.

• From the account of the three frigates at the bottom of the lift in the table, it appears how much more healthy they are than fhips of the line. The total complements of the three is exactly equal to that of one feventy-four gun fhip; but their whole fickness and mortality is lefs than that of any one ship of the line of that class, although the Triton was uncommonly fickly for a frigate.

There feem to be feveral caufes for the fuperior degree of health ufually enjoyed by this fmaller clafs of fhips. There is lefs chance of mixtures of men in frigates, as their complement is fmaller it is more eafy for the captain and officers to keep an eye over a few men than a great number; for in a great ship there are generally men, who, concealing themfelves in the moft retired parts, no one takes cognizance of them, and they deftroy themselves, and infect others, by their laziness and filth. In the next place, there is a greater proportion of volunteers and real feamen in frigates, and more landsmen and preffed men in fhips of the line, the former being more in requeft, on account of the greater chance of prize-money. Laftly, a fmall fhip is more eafily ventilated, and the mafs of foul air iffuing from the hold, from the victuals, water, and other ftores, as well as the effluvia exhaling from the men's bodies, is lefs than in a large fhip.'

The month of April, 1782, diftinguished for the most glorious victory perhaps ever gained, because the forces were more than ufually equal, is alfo diftinguished for the fuperior health of the fleet. The mortality on board, exclusive of wounds, was only 1 in 862. It was more healthy than any of the preceding twenty-three months, or any future month, till the fleet reached America. Independent of not having been lately expofed to the land air, in watering parties, and the great fupply of antifcorbutics received from England,

'Might not this extraordinary degree of health have alfo been owing, in part, to the effects of fuccefs upon the fpirits of the men? It is related, that when the fleet under admiral Matthews was off Toulon, in daily expectation for fome time of engaging the combined fleet of France and Spain, there was a general ftop put to the progrefs of disease, particularly of the fcurvy, from the influence of that generous flow of spirits, with which the prospect of battle inspires British feamen. But if the mere expectation and ardour of a battle, without any happy event, could have fuch a fenfible effect, what must have been the effect of the exultation of victory, a victory in which the naval glory of our country was revived and retrieved, after a

feries

feries of misfortunes and difgraces, which had well nigh extin guished the national pride in every department of fervice. The plain and honeft, though unthinking feaman, is not lefs affected by this than the more enlightened lover of his country. Even the invalids at the hofpital demonstrated their joy, upon hearing of this victory, by hoisting shreds of coloured cloth on their crutches.

It would appear, that there is fomething in fituations of exertion and danger, which infufes a fort of preternatural vigour. When the mind is interested and agitated by active and generous affections, the body forgets its wants and feelings, and is capable of a degree of labour and exertion, which it could not undergo in cold blood. The quantity of mufcular action, employed in fighting at a great gun for a few hours, is perhaps more than what is commonly employed in a week in the ordinary courfe of life, and though performed in the midst of heat and smoke, and generally with the want of food and drink, yet the powers of nature are not exhausted nor overftrained; and the future health of those who survive unhurt by external violence, is fo far from being injured, that it is fometimes mended by this violent but falutary agitation."

Another very effectual, but violent remedy for diseases, was the hurricane in October, 1780. Every practitioner on the islands found its efficacy; the chronic fluxes in the hofpitals were cured or relieved by it; the phthifes were generally relieved, and fometimes cured. Every one had a keener appetite; and thofe on the verge of disease, who had looked thin and fallow, became fresh and plump. The fleet was then at New York; but the naval hofpitals were much lefs crouded after this dreadful convulfion of nature.

I have been able, fays our author, to calculate the numbers of deaths from disease in this great fleet, both on board and at hofpitals, during the period of my own fervice, which was three years and three months, and they amounted to 3200, independent of thofe that were killed and died of wounds.

There died of difeafe in the fleet I belonged to, from July, 1780, to July, 1781, about one man in eight, including both those who died on board and at hofpitals. But the annual mortality in the Weft India fleet, during the last year of the war, that is, from March, 1782, to March, 1783, was not quite one in twenty. This difference was partly owing to the general increase of health in fleets as a war advances, partly to fome improvements in victualling, and partly to better accommodations as well as regulations in what related to the care of the fick.

• Though the mortality in fleets in the Weft Indies is, upon the whole, greater than in Europe, yet it has fo happened, that, in the late war, the fleet at home has, at particular periods, been confiderably more fickly than that in the Weft Indies was at any one time. I was informed by Dr. Lind, that

when

when the grand fleet arrived at Portsmouth, in November, 1779, a tenth part of all the men were fent to the hofpital. It appears, that in the years 1780 and 1781, a period at which the fleet in the Weft Indies was moft fickly, the medium of the numbers on the fick lift was one in fifteen, and many of thefe were very flight complaints; whereas, in the fleet alluded to in England, the difeafes were mostly fevers, and fo ill as actually to be sent to the hofpital. It appears likewife that there was the greatest proportion of fick in our fleet when it was on the coaft of America, in September, 1780. This difference is owing to the greater prevalence of the fhip fever and of the fcurvy in a cold than in a hot climate.'

Added to 3200, who died of difeafe, 648 were killed in battle, and 500 died of wounds; in the whole, 4348, independently of those who fell in action in ingle fhips. Dr. Blane quotes a paffage from Arrian, in which we are told that in Alexander's expedition a greater number died of disease than in battle.

The Second Part is on the Caufe of Sickness in Fleets, and the Means of preventing it. This is a valuable collection of the best methods hitherto known of preferving the health of feamen, and we would ftrenuously recommend it to the attention of every commander. Even the best informed will probably find fome valuable hints in it. It may be proper to preferve the following fhort obfervation:

It is difficult to afcertain how far the influence of vapours from woods and marshes extend; but there is reason to think that it is to a very fmall diftance. When the fhips watered at Rock Fort, they found that if they anchored clofe to the shore, fo as to smell the land air, the health of the men was affected; but upon removing two cables length, no inconvenience was perceived. I was informed of the following fact, in proof of the fame, by the medical gentlemen who attended the army in Jamaica. The garrifon of Fort Augufta, which stands very near fome marshes, to which it is to leeward when the land wind blows, was yet remarkably healthy; but it became at one time extremely fickly upon the breaking in of the sea in confequence of a high tide, whereby the water which was retained in the hollows of the fort produced a putrid moisture in the foil, exhaling a vapour offenfive to the fmell, and with all the noxious effects upon health commonly arifing from the effluvia of marshes.'

The Third Part contains the Description and Treatment of Diseases moft frequently occurring in Fleets, in hot Climates. The first disease is the fhip fever, now well known. The description of the febrile delirium is animated and correct. There is one remark which we did not recollect, but an observation to the fame purpose occurs in Celfus, copied from Hippocrates, and it is candidly mentioned in the note.

• Qui

Quibus caufa doloris, neque fenfus ejus eft, his mens la bore.' The ufual irritations to discharge the excrementitious fubftances are not, in febrile delirium, referred to their proper origin, but occafion general uneafiness, and often an exacerbation of the delirium. If patients, in this fituation, are reminded of the probable neceffity, they foon perceive it, and, after the proper discharge, are much more quiet. When opium is necessary in the fhip fever, Dr. Blane recommends adding to it a small proportion of camphor, and half a grain of emetic tartar; but he thinks the medicine is much more effectual when joined with some neutral: in that fituation, he chofe the fpiritus mindereri, and fometimes nitre. We have ftated this remark, because our author thinks it new; but in this way we have frequently employed it with fuccefs, without fufpecting that we had made any difcovery. He does not recommend the Peruvian bark indifcriminately, but with antimony, or fome neutral, after having evacuated the inteftines. This is found and judicious advice.

The next difeafes are the bilious, remitting, and yellow fevers; but the treatment affords little remarkable. In the vomiting attendant on the latter, the infufion of chamomile flowers is faid to be fometimes useful; but it is well known to be an obftinate, and often an unconquerable fymptom.

Dr. Blane gives alfo his obfervations in favour of the fuccefs of flowers of zinc and white vitriol in intermittents. On the fubject of fluxes and scurvy, we meet with little that ought to detain us. In the latter, we are informed that the fimaruba, to be fuccessful, fhould be given in a weak de

coction.

The volume concludes with fome account of the wounds received in battle, on the 12th of April, 1782. In that action 266 were killed, and 88 died of their wounds; 16 of thefe died of the locked jaw, and 3 only recovered from the difeafe. One of these used opium as ufual; but was much relieved by the warm bath. Another took large quantities of bark and opium; but the most fenfible benefit arofe from a cataplafm of twelve ounces of opium beat into that form, with the tinct. Thebaic. and applied to the cheek. The third was relieved by opium, camphor, the warm bath, and mercurial friction. The moft active and vigorous application was certainly that of the opiate cataplafm; the rest present nothing new. Mr. Alanfon's method of amputating is faid to have answered very well; and Dr. Blane recommends fome fimple tourniquets to be always in readiness, during action, to prevent hæmorrhages, which fometimes prove fatal before the man can be carried to the cockpit.