12 NOVEMBER 1831, Page 2

supposed it would do) with the first few cases. There

is, however, even in the medical reports of the later as well as earlier cases, so laudable an obscurity, that it is somewhat difficult to say whether either the one set or the other have been the result of infection brought from Hamburg to Sunderland and distributed there, or whether in point of fact the deaths that have happened arose from cholera at all, either English or Indian.

The only suspicious symptom is the number of deaths compared to at- tacks, which we might consider decisive, if we had the slightest reason to conclude that, under the monstrous regulations suggested by the Privy Council, it were possible or probable that any magisterial or medical vigilance would ever get at the number of attacks. Until a rational system be adopted,—until the people be taught that the disease is a dis- ease of God's sending, and tempered with mercy, as all his gifts, whe- ther for chastisement or encouragement, are, and not a raw-head-and. bloody-bones, as doctors who never saw it are anxious to represent it,- cases of attack will be sedulously concealed.

The new cases at Sunderland, which happened on Saturday, are de- scribed in the following letter, dated Sunday evening :- " Mrs. Wilson, aged about sixty, in a respectable station, after an ill- ness of twenty-four hours, died this morning. During the first sixteen hours, she had uo medical attendance ; but was seen by Dr. Brown about two hours before death. It was decidedly a case of cholera ; but from the advanced stage, when first seen by Dr. Brown, lie is unwilling to say positively that it was Asiatic cholera. She had been delicate before the attack. Ellington, formerly master of the Mowbray, a man about fifty, lately suffering from intermittent fever, was attacked with cholera, and died to-day in six or eight hours : he was attended by a surgeon, from whose account our physicians consider it a case of Asiatic cholera. Elle- more, a man about sixty, now ill ; seen by Dr. Dann, the physician from London, and considered by him to have been Asiatic cholera; apparently sinking (nine o'clock); taken ill about midnight last night."

Another statement, of the same date, from a more authentic source— Dr. Clauny (the inventor, if we mistake not, of a singularly ingenious safety-lamp, which the Davy has rendered unnecessary)—states that six cases had been reported, of which two had died, but that the rest were not very dangerous. We may just remark, that not very dangerous attacks of cholera sounds, with our experience of its foreign ravages, very like a not very dangerous broken back or neck. Up to seven o'clock on Sunday night, according to Dr. Clanny, no new case had occurred. Dr. Clauny's brief report, which is directed to the Chairman, Medical depart- ment., says not a word on the mode by which the parties caught the refection, if they caught it at all. A correspondent of the Globe, who slates Monday, says—" Since my last, several cases of cholera have oc- curred ; three fresh cases were reported yesterday, and of these two died. This morning, more fresh cases were reported; I cannot exactly say how _many till seven o'clock this evening, when the medical men are all to meet to report cases. I have heard of eight or nine new cases to-day, and there are tree deaths, including a little girl who had been ill some days,—the granddaughter of Thomas Wilson, Keelman, who died this day sen- Bight, at the East-end. Three of the others were, I believe, hard d rinkers (two of them very notoriously so), and the fourth man (to-day) ass poor R. Ellington (formerly master of the Mowbray), who, I under- stand, was very much reduced from want of proper food." The accuracy of the fact and the English in the first part of this excellent c,opre- sponden t' s information, may enable us to judge what credit is due to the latter part. It would, we admit, be a severe test of penny-a-line scrib- bling, were there a report every day to try it by.

The latest authentic intelligence of the disease is contained in the following official report fronaSivaderland, received yesterday by the Board of Health; it is dated November 9•

New Csses. Deaths.

7 4 Colonel Creagh expresses a hope that his report of the 10th will be- still more favourable. The total number of cases and deaths up to the 9th appear to be— Cases. Deaths.

19 11

We think daily bulletins would be useful. The number of private letters published in the course of the week would fill our paper. Many, indeed most of them, exaggerate the number and virulenceof the attacks, while some go so far as to deny that such a disease as cholera has ever existed in Sunderland !

On the subject of preventive regulations, Colonel Creagh, one of the Commissioners appointed by his Majesty's Government to report from Sunderland, after stating that many there spread reports relative to the disease, to enhance the value of their coals, observes—" I cannot see the necessity of continuing any restraint on the shipping from this port, when an individual can proceed hence to London by coach in thirty-six hours ; independent of which, it would put some thousands out of em- ploy, raise the price of coal at this season of the year, and eventually

end in disturbing this part of the country. I shall, however, point out to Sir Cuthbert Sharp the necessity of having every vessel leaving this port examined by a medical officer, and granting a certificate accord- ingly. I have this day made a more minute examination of the narrow streets where the disease first broke out and still exists, and I find them in a most filthy, bad state. I trust from the arrangement I have pro- posed, that I shall find them better to-morrow. I find the supporting of the poor of the town is put up to auction, and given to the lowest bidder ; which must, in some measure, account for the wretched state they appear to be in. I trust by to-morrow houses will be ready for the reception of the sick, but I much fear they will not be prevailed upon to leave their homes. I have suggested to the magistrates, that the poor be given each a long narrow piece of flannel to be worn tight rotund their loins, in which Dr. Daun fully concurs. I was induced to make this ob- servation to the Adjutant-General of the Army, about two mouths ago, from seeing so few soldiers attacked with the cholera in India who wore such a belt."

CITY BOARD OF HEALTn.—From the reports made during the week, it would appear that the inhabitants of the East end of the Metropolis are in quite as good health as they commonly are at this time of the year. Some regulations have been adopted, which will enable the Commission. ers of Sewers to check more effectually the conduct of the scavengers than formerly ; we hope they will not die down with the occasion. Chloride of lime has been distributed in various quarters, with a view to purification. This is a more questionable preventive ; the utmost that can be said of it, in respect to cholera, is, that it will do no ill. The money would he better spent in buying coals for those who cannot buy them for themselves. The inhabitants of St. Luke's have contributed liberally towards the purchase of flannels for the poor inhabitants ; an act worthy of example. The Board recommend "abstinence from undi- luted ardent spirits, acid drinks, and stale soups or broths, and a sparing use of sugar, especially if it give rise to a sour fermentation in the stomach ; to maintain regular habits, using moderate exercise, keep- ing early hours, and taking nourishment at limited intervals." No one will be harmed by attending to these rules.

THE Poon.—We have observed elsewhere, that what the anticipated approach of cholera chiefly desiderated was boards of benevolence. We are happy to perceive, that a meeting is to be held in the Mansionhouse on Monday. The Lord Mayor, in proposing the meeting to the Commit- tee of the London Health Board, on Thursday, observed, that " he was convinced that articles of clothing and other means of comfort which would be necessaryat this period of the year, whether the cholera appeared amongst us or not, would be given to the poor creatures who lived toge- ther in misery and almost in nakedness in several parts of the metropolis. He considered it to be his duty to invite the men who were distinguished by their benevolence to assemble at the metropolitan meeting contem- plated, and deliberate upon the most eligible means of counteracting the disease, at any rate of reducing its virulence. The Lady Mayoress was determined to form a female committee in furtherance of the great object. All those individuals to whom he was closely attached had shown the most strong determination to join in the effort to conquer the ma- lady, and he trusted that with such physical and moral exertions as Lon-

don was capable of making, and with a steady reliance upon Providence, the disorder which had raged with such violence in other countries, would be comparatively mild and insignificant in this."—This is the right hey,

the hey major. Seats are to be provided at the Mansionhouse for ladies, of whom we hope and trust there will be a plentiful assemblage. We dare promise " the Friends " will not be behind hand ; we never miss the grey silk bonnet from an occasion of doing good. We hope that the .Aldermen will also attend the call of benevolence, and the Recorder, and the Recorder's lady too. She may go to this Lord Mayor's levee with- out an invitation.

CHOLERA ABROAD.—A letter from Leghorn, of the 15th October, says—" A vessel has just arrived here from Alexandria, after a passage of fifty-five days. She brings the remnant of the caravan from Mecca, consisting of 83 travellers • of whom 11 died on board of the cholera morbus, and 10 are still sick. They were bound for Tunis, where, how- ever, they were refused admittance." Letters from Malta, of the 18th October, say, that a vessel had ar- rived at that island from Alexandria in twenty-six dayi, having touched at Bengasi ; she had brought one letter only from Alexandria, of the 23rd of September, which advised that the cholera had entirely ceased at Cairo, and that it had diminished at Alexandria to 8 or 10 cases per diem. There had been no instance of death amongst those who had adopted the usual quarantine precautions.

The following is the state of the disease at Hamburg and Petersburg.

RANEE:AG.

New Cases. Recoveries. Deaths.

Oct. 26. .... 36 .... 11 .... 22

27. .... 11 .... 18 .... 26

28. .... 28 .... i• • • 13 Total number since the beginning of the disorder is 520 ; 274 deaths, 82 recoveries, remaining 164.

Remain 15, of whom 4 are likely to recover.

A letter from Hamburg, dated 21st October, says—" Every thing goes on as usual ; and, unless one asked the other how many have been this day attacked, we should really know nothing about it. All cordons, la- zarettos, &c., have been done away with ; it being now satisfactorily made out to all Governments that it is not contagious—indeed our Se- nate expects, by Monday's steam-boat, that the British Government will do away with the quarantine altogether."

The Swedes use different language. A letter dated Stockholm, Octo- ber 7, says—" The cholera has again broken out at Abo, where it had entirely ceased, and now rages with more violence than before. This calamity is attributed to the premature cessation of the precautionary measures. The greatest and finest part of the town of Tawasthus, in Finland, as well as the palace of the governor of the province, have been consumed by fire. Count Zackreusky has set out from Helsingfors to afford immediate assistsnce to the unfortunate inhabitants."

The following official regulations have bert issued by the Prussian Government on the subject of cholera. They offer a curious contrast to our own.

" OFFICIAL NOT/CE.

Berlin, October 30.

" In conformity with the observations hitherto made on the nature of the cho- lera, and the mode of its propagation, and with due attention to the opinion of the most experienced physicians, his Majesty the King, on the proposal of the Com- missioners for the prevention of the cholera, has been pleased to order the follow- ing changes to be made in the regulations hitherto established with respect to the cholera:—

" 1. The purification of merchandise, letters, money, and in general all effects, entirely ceases ; with the exceptions in Articles 2, 3, and 4, as general eaperience not only shows that no instance can be adduced of the communication of the disease by the sending of good..., letters, or money, but the theory is more and more confirmed that no danger is to be apprehended from the forwarding of them. " 2. Only the clothes, beds, and effects used by the cholera patients, or which have been in immediate contact with them, must be thoroughly purified before they are again used. The apparel, beds, and effects of travellers, when the travellers themselves are healthy, are to be considered as not suspected ; only articles of the kind already used must not be imported as articles of commerce.

"3. Goods conveyed by water, or their packages, to be subject to the hitherto prescribed purification, and that at the place where they are landed, only when the cholera has prevailed on board the ship in which they are. " 4. All ships from the sea, on board which there are no cholera patients, are to be allowed to enter the harbour and unload, after performing the four days' quaran- tine, as before ordered.

"5. Modifies the regulation for purifying the houses, effects, and persons of cholera patients. But the authorities are enjoined most strictly to follow the regu- lations for preventing communication with infected houses."

The regulations of the Prussian authorities, who have had experience of the plague, differ widely from those of the French authorities, who, like our own, have not had experience of it. The French mail which arrived yesterday brings the following copy of a letter from the President of the Quarantine Commission at Boulogne, addressed to the British Consul there.

" Boulogne-sur-tier, Gth November 1031.

"DEPARTMENT OF THE PAS DE CALAIS.

"MAYOR'S OFFICE, BOULOGNE-SUR-HER.

"lei. Coxstrz.—The news of the appearance of the cholera morbus at Xewcasti e, has just induced the Board of Health to order a measure with which I hasten to acquaint you. In its sittings of this day, it has resolved, that till farther orders, the ships and packet-boats coming from England shall not be received in the port of Boulogne unless they are furnished with a bill of health, signed at every voyage, and showing the sanitary state of the place from which they take their departure, as well as that of the crews and passengers. "Be so good, Sir, as to write by the mail of to-day, if there is still time, to an- nounce this measure to your Government, and to the authorities of the ports which h we frequent communications with France. Please, Sir, to accept the assurance of my perfect esteem.—The Mayor of Boulogne, President of the Board of Health, " A. ADA3I." " P.S.—This measure is applicable to all arrivals from England, from London to Liverpool, including those two towns, as well as to Ireland ; but vessels coming from the left bank of the Thames exclusively to Edinburgh, and all Scotland, will not be admitted, and will be sent to a lazaretto.

" To Mr. Hamilton, Consul of his Britannic Majesty at Boulogne."

It is pretty evident, that of all the ports to the north of the Tyne, and indeed of all the ports to the south of it also, London, which is here excepted from the sanitary regulations called forth by the cholera at New- castle, is precisely that which, from perpetual communication with the Tyne, is most likely to require watching. The idea of sending an In- verness-man to the Lazaretto at Boulogne because of an infectious dis- ease at Sunderland, would appear abundantly foolish if we had not our own Gazette regulations before us.

PETERSBURG.

New Cases. Recoveries. Deaths.

ct. 15. .... 4 .... 1 .... 4

.... 4 .... 1 .... 4

.... 7 .... 1 .... 3