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Show 380 ACCLIMATION; OR, TIJE INFLUENCE OF As this subject of lwrne acclimation is one of too much importan c to be allowed to rest on tho opinion of any one indivi<lual, I have ta.lrcn the liberty of writi~1g to several of my professional friends, for the results of their observations in difl:crcnt localities and States. All tho answers received confirm fully my assertion, that the Anglo-Saxon race can never be acclimated against marsh malaria. I should rcmarJ~, that the following letters were written with tho haste of private correspondence, and not with tho idea of publication. The flt·st letter is from Dr. Dickson, tho distiuguishcJ Professor of Practice in tho Charleston Medical College. "011,\RLllSTON, JJ[ay 16, 1856. "MY DllAR Dooron.-I hasten to reply to yours of tho Oth iust., reooivod by yesterday's mail. "1. 'The Anglo-Saxon rnce cn.n never become acclimated ngninst tho impression of intermittent and bilious fevers, 'poriodicul,' or • mnlarions fevers.' On tho contmry, the pooplo living in our low country grow more liable to attack yon.r nftor yo11r, nnd gonomtion after generation. "We get rid of tho poison in some pl~toos, n.nd thus exton I our limits of rosidonce; but in no other wo.y. Dr~tin~tgo, tho formo.tion of o.n llrtificial sul'faco on the ground, and othor lncic.lonts of clonaity of population-such as culinary fires, milt·oo.d smokes, n.ud tho like, aid to prevent tho formntion of malnrin, or correct it. "DounJN ( Brilish and Foreign Rev., Oot. 1840) argues agninst tho pos~ibility of such 11cclimltlion, dwelling upon tho little success nnd groat modality nttonding tho colonization of Algorir~, tho Europco.n and English intrttsion into Egypt n.nd into llindostnn. "The French, ho tolls us, cnnnot koop up thci1· numbor in COI'Rico.. In tho Wost Indies, tho white soltlicr is twico ns lik ly to die n.s tho blnck; in Siorrn. Leone, sixtoon times moro likely; nne! this continuos pormr1nently. "In Btn·~oN's Reports on tlte Climate and Principal Dise.ases of the Africatl Station, it is affirmed (p. 88) tb~tt, on bor~rtl tho Atholl (n. vessel kept some time on tho stntion), tho c11sos of fovor h~tvo rccovor·ocl much more slowly than formerly; so that, instcr1d of its being n.u advantage to bo n.cclimr~tod, it is approh<.'ndod thn.t it will bo quito the rovorso, as tho systom becomes relaxed and dobilih1tod by tho enervating influence of Uro climl\to. "' 2. Do negrou in this countr·y (rice-fiold) cvet· lose their susceptibility to those disoases?' Yes, in very greo.t moasuro, if not absolutely. If they remain in tho sr1mo loOtl! it.y, they a.ro scarcely subjects of nttaok. I usc onutious ln.nguago-too cautious. It is my full bohef th~t tlr?y become ins11ueptible of tho impression of the cnuso of periodical, or what. wo cnll mn.lnnous,. favors. Who over snw n. negro with nn n.guo-cnko? I certn.inly ~ovor drd. Chnnge of rostdonco bogota n. cortn.in but very modcr~tto dogroo of susooptibilrty. r.r a house negro be ijont to 11 l'ioo-fiold, he may be attacked. So, in shifting along the A~r·tcan coast from place to pl~tco, tho natives of one locnlity will bo seized by fever somottmos at nnothor. DtwsoN tolls us thllt Fornr~ndo Po is so terribly in~11lubl'ious thnt nogrooa brought from n.ny pttrt of tho Afric11n continent aro ahvnys sickly thoro • thou~b the n!Ltivos of tho island itself npponr to ben hen.lthy and athletic moe of pooplo.: "'!'he samo nuthor tolls us of the general insusceptibility of tho pnrticulnr rnoo enllod Kroo-men, all nlong tho coast. This clnss of people nro therefore very useful and nvailab~~ · being hire~ in profo.rcnco to others on board U1o cruiRors. 8. Nogr~es mcronse m number on our rice plnntntions; nay, it is my impression that the r~tto of mcronse is gron.tor than on the loss mnlari11l cotton plo.ntations. Tho majority of doaths that do occur, happen in winter and from winter diaoasos-fow dying of fever, OLBfATE AND DISEASES ON MAN. 381 none or n.lmost none from bilious, intormittents, or rcmittents, some from typhus or typhoid, or 'typhous' fever. * * * * * * * * "I remain, &c., .. SA~IUEL IIENRY DICKSON." Thoro is an interesting fact in the above letter to me, as I have no experience in the rico-field country. I allude to the acclimation of negroes in these flat swamp-lands, and their increase. As far as my ob ervation goes, the Mlly, rich clay-lands of tho interior arc, with few exceptions, more liable to malarial fevers than the swamp-lands on tho water-courses. Tho hills in the neighborhood of our swamplands are always more sickly than tho rc idcncos which arc on tlte 1·iver banks. Professor Dickson says that the rico-field negroes increase more than those on the cotton plantations. Certainly, negroes do suffct· greatly on many cotton plantations. in the middle belt of tho outhcrn States; and I have seen no eVIdence to provo that negroes can, in this region, become accustomed to the marsh poison; and my observation has boon extensive in four tates. A question hero arises: Is there any difterenco in types of those malarial fevers whi ch originate in tho flat tide-water rice-lands, and those of the clay-hills, or marsh fevers of tho interior? I am inclined to think thoro is. Tho following letter is from my friend Dr. Wm. M. Boling, of Montgomery, Alabama, who has bad much oxp?ricncc. in this region, and who is well known as one of our best mcdwal wnters. "MONTOoMrmY, ALA., JJfay 17, 18()(1. "DwAR DooTon.-Jndging from my own observation, I am inclined to boliovo tho.t thoro is no suolt thing 11s o.oclinmtion to mio.smn.tio loctllitics; in othc:c words, thut noiUtct· residence irt tt minsmo.tic locality, nor an attnck, nor even l'Opo~ttod attacks, of any of tho v~trious sho.dos or forms of minsmo.tic fovors, confer any powor of resistance to wh~tt wo undorsto.nd by tho mio.smo.tic poison- not regt~rding yellow fever, however, ns belonging to tltis ch1ss of disenso. On tho contro.ry, ono n.ttn.ck, it seems to me, instead of affording an immunity from, ro.thcr incronses tho tendency or predisposition to nnother. ~t '~ould b~ no difficult m~ttter, I think, to obtnin hi stories of cases of persons born, o.nd co~1tmur~g to lrvc, in minsrrmtic loon.litics, who have boon subject to repented ntt~tcks of mJasmatr~ fevers, occasionally, during tho entire course of thcir Jivos-s~ty from r1 fow d~tys o.fte~· brrth ton modornto old 11gc-"from the crn.dlo to tbo gmvo.'' Wo do, to bo s~nc, moot wrth ~orsons who h~tvo resided for a considcmblo time in minsrnntic loc~tlitios, wrthout over lmvmg ho.d 1\n atto.ck of 1tny of tho forms of tho fever in question. Such inHtn.n~os aro ~oro o~mroon, if I misto.ko not o.mong persons who lt11vo romovod from 1t hoo.lthy 1nto n mrns~~tJC locality, thnn n.mon~ such M mo.y )Jo.vo been born ~tnd rer~~·ed in tho latter .. ~ut ~t ts n rltro thing, indeed, ncoording to my observation, to rueot w1th !I person, res1dmg m a place where miasml\tio diseases nro rife, who has had 011e attack and tiO more. "Yours, &o., "WAt. M. DOLING." It wore an easy task to multiply evidence to tho same effect;. but what has already been said should be snilicicnt to satisfy any thmk- ,1,,, I I |
