Dissertations on Malaria, Contagion and Cholera
Explaining the Principles Which Regulate Endemic, Epidemic, and Contagious Diseases, with a View to their Prevention

First published in 1832, these essays by ship's doctor William Aiton explore the causes of cholera and other infectious diseases.

William Aiton (Author)

9781108061414, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 22 August 2013

318 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.8 cm, 0.41 kg

When this book was first published in 1832, England was caught in a cholera pandemic that had already claimed hundreds of thousands of lives across Europe. It was commonly held that 'bad air' spread the disease, but theories and remedies varied: one doctor advised the Nottinghamshire public to carry silk cushions filled with myrrh and camphor to strengthen resistance to contagion, while in New York officials suspected that raw vegetables and cold water were the root of the problem. In this fiercely logical treatise, ship's doctor William Aiton cuts through even the most prevalent myths to investigate the pandemic's real causes. Throwing out the theory of bad air, he observes that cholera spreads most quickly in cities with a stagnant water supply and overseas trade. Also addressing the spread of other infectious diseases, his work provides an invaluable insight into the conflicting information available to the general public during pandemics.

Preface
Malaria and marsh miasmata
Contagion
Contagious epidemics
Generation of contagion
Evidence of contagion
Sphere of contagion
Effects of crowding, filth, etc.
Nature of contagion
Index.

Subject Areas: History of medicine [MBX]