is to prove that yellow fever is not a contagious disease; and, therefore, he concludes there can be no necessity for quarantine laws. Afer a few preliminary observations, he says:

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'My remarks will be confined to the questions of contagiousness and importation of yellow fever, on which the expediency and necessity of quarantine laws in Louisiana alone depends. Of the origin of diseases called endemic, or those of local origin, and confined to a certain section of country, (as the plague in the Grecian camp, so beautifully described by Homer,) and of epidemics, which travel from country to country, and from continent to continent, and from one hemisphere to the other hemisphere, apparently controlled by no fixed laws, we know nothing more, strictly speaking, than what was known in the time of Hippocrates.

"If it is maintained that a disease originates in a certain country, and causes or circumstances are pointed out which are supposed to produce it, then, whereever we find in other places and parts of the world the same causes or circumstances, we cannot see why the same disease should not be produced in the one, as well as in the other place. If such causes, however, do not exist, the disease cannot exist, unless the doctrine of contagion be admitted.

*

*

"Infectious air from the hold of a ship, or from clothes or goods, or from a trunk, might destroy a few individuals exposed to its influence, but it could not go far; it would soon be diluted so as to become innocuous; or should it become modified in some way in an impure atmosphere, then it would no longer be the same disease. One fact is here introduced to illustrate this position. In 1817, a barge left this city with goods for a store-keeper at Bayou Sara; during the passage up the river, and shortly after the arrival of the barge, every one of the crew and passengers died of yellow fever. The goods were landed and conveyed to the store; and the store-keeper who opened the packages, although he was warned not to do so, sickened and died of yellow fever; but no other person in the neighborhood contracted the disease. The whole subject is then narrowed down to the question of contagion. It is asked, why do we hear nothing of the yellow fever having prevailed on this continent, and in the West India islands, before they were discovered and inhabited by Europeans? Why, then, would we ask, do we hear nothing of bilious and congestive and typhus fevers, and divers other diseases, unknown to this continent anterior to that period? Will any one say that bilious and congestive and typhus fevers are imported? Yet there was a time when they were not more known on this continent than yellow fever.

"Disease follows in the track of civilization, not carried by the people from one country to another, but developed by the great physical changes brought about by industry and agricultural pursuits. The surface of the earth, once sheltered from the sun's rays by luxuriant vegetation, is laid bare to the action of those rays; the surface of the earth is turned up by the plough; exhalation and evaporation follow; vegetable matter is decaying in large quantities, or large cities are built, and people become crowded together within a very limited space, and filth and offal accumulate; the marshes are exposed, and great changes must be going on in the atmosphere near the surface of the earth; and is it at all strange that, under such circumstances, new diseases should be developed ?”

Dr. Hort is an able writer, and asserts that it is now more than twentytwo years since his attention was first directed to the subject of yellow fever. Yet there is not in the whole range of medical history, a stronger case to prove the necessity of quarantine regulations, than that we have quoted above from his pamphlet. He gives an instance where the yellow fever was communicated by opening a package of goods from a yellow fever port. He quotes the case to prove that yellow fever is not contagious; not contagious, because, he says, "no other person in that neighborhood contracted the disease." It appears that no one who attended upon the

man who died of the fever was attacked. Now, every one must admit that if a cargo of merchandise was to arrive at this port from a yellow fever port, and all who handled that merchandise would be exposed to yellow fever miasm, the necessity of quarantine regulations would be obvious. All medical men of experience agree with Dr. Hort that yellow fever is not contagious in the sense in which he uses the term; but personal contact with the sick is but one of the methods of conveying contagious matter. We have already stated that yellow fever is never communicated by visiting the sick out of the infected district.

The ability with which Dr. Hort has treated the subject, induces us to give a summary of his whole argument, as it appears at the conclusion of his pamphlet. It is as follows:

"I have now endeavored to prove :

"1st. That yellow fever, like the other malignant diseases of the south, is of local origin.

"2d. That it is not an imported disease.

"3d. That it is not contagious.

"4th. That civilization has developed diseases, which a higher grade of civilization, aided by changes of climate, may modify or abolish.

"5th. That there is a yellow fever region, in any part of which the fever may at any time originate.

"6th. That on this continent, the yellow fever region has receded greatly.

"7th. That the yellow fever has been abating in New Orleans in a ratio with the improvement going on in the city.

"8th. That there is no occasion for quarantine laws. That experience has shown them to be useless here: while they would be very expensive, highly injurious to our commercial interests, and onerous to passengers.'

The remark that "yellow fever is not an imported disease," and "that it is not contagious," as stated by Dr. Hort, will be understood in its proper sense by the reader. The doctor is unfortunate in stating the summary of his arguments. He proves, conclusively, in his pamphlet, that yellow fever is both an imported and a contagious disease. He admits that it can be imported in the holds of vessels, their cargoes, in the clothes and baggage of seamen and passengers; and he admits that the contagious matter can be communicated by handling the clothes or baggage containing the miasm, or by visiting the vessel from a yellow fever port. These admissions prove the necessity of quarantine regulations, with a view to guard the public health.

As the necessity of quarantine regulations are obvious to most men, it might be asked, what is the cause of so much diversity of opinion on the subject? It is simply a difference of opinion as to the extent to which those regulations should exist. Quarantine laws have been, at times, in nearly the entire commercial world, very oppressive, unnecessarily burdensome to commerce, greatly affecting the interests of merchants and others, by diverting trade from places where it naturally belonged, to places less convenient. Enlightened governments have seen the folly of these too restrictive regulations, and they have been, from time to time, modified, giving greater freedom to commerce, and that without the least endangering the public health. We should not be behind in this spirit of enlightened progress, but should make such changes in our quarantine laws as are demanded by the progressive state of medical science, and commercial experience.

As we have stated, the late quarantine law is less restrictive, except in

cases of small-pox, yet we believe that time and experience will demonstrate other modifications, by which greater freedom to commerce will result. We believe that the clause in the present law, prohibiting "all persons arriving in vessels subject to quarantine, from leaving quarantine until fifteen days after the vessel left her port of departure, and fifteen days after the last case of pestilential or infectious fever that shall have occurred on board, and ten days after her arrival, unless sooner discharged by the health-officer," to be unnecessary to the security of the public health. There can be no danger in allowing passengers in such a case, to proceed directly to this city, or elsewhere, so soon as their clothing which they take with them is thoroughly purified by washing. If they are af terwards taken sick with the fever, it cannot be communicated to any one else. This is an incontrovertible fact, beyond dispute. And this fact will apply to all malignant or pestilential fevers, except eruptive fevers, such as small-pox, and others that are admitted to be contagious by personal

contact.

There are other parts of the new law that we believe too restrictive upon commerce, and not necessary to guard the public health, but we feel disposed to give it a fair trial, and leave to time and experience to show the necessity of still greater modifications. In the language of McCulloch, we would say, that "quarantine is not a matter in which innovations should be rashly introduced; whenever there is doubt, it is proper to incline to the side of security." Yet we must not be frightened into the adoption of unnecessary restrictions upon the trade of our people. legislation must vary as our intelligence and experience would dictate.

Our

The present law has increased the discretionary powers of the healthofficer; and we believe the legislature has acted wisely in this respect. So long as that office is filled by a professional man of large experience, of unquestioned integrity, and medical ability, this discretionary power will be exercised in a manner that will give the greatest freedom to commerce compatible with the security of the public health.

The following tables may be interesting to many of our readers. They are taken from the official records of the board of health, in this city. DEATHS IN NEW YORK CITY, BY SMALL-POX, Yellow fever, and cholera, FROM 1805 To 1845, BOTH INCLUSIVE.

THE NUMBER OF PASSENGERS FROM FOREIGN PORTS, ARRIVING IN NEW YORK, SINCE 1827, (NO RECORD BEING PREVIOUSLY KEPT,) AND ALSO THE NUMBER OF PATIENTS TREATED, ETC., IN THE MARINE HOSPITAL, SINCE 1799.

In 1832, there were treated for malignant cholera, 27; for infectious and malignant fever, in 1804, 7; in 1801, 703; in 1800, 1; and in 1799, 69.

*The blanks in this table, since 1840, are not filled, and consequently that part is deficient.

Art. V.-TRADE AND COMMERCE OF ST. LOUIS.

ST. LOUIS-ITS EARLY HISTORY-POPULATION-LOCATION AND COMMERCIAL ADVANTAGESSHOPS AND BUILDINGS-VALUE OF ITS COMMERCE, MANUFACTURES, ETC.-WHEAT, FLOUR, TOBACCO, BEEF, PORK-ARRIVALS AND CLEARANCES OF STEAMBOATS AND TONNAGE-IMPORTS INTO ST. LOUIS-LUMBER TRADE-IMPORTANCE OF IMPROVING THE HARBOR, ETC.

*

ST. LOUIS, the capital of the county of that name, and now the commercial capital of the state of Missouri, and formerly its seat of government, was settled, in 1664, by a company of merchants, to whom M. D'Abbadie, the director-general of Louisiana, had given an exclusive grant for the commerce of the Indian nations on the Missouri. The company built a large house and four stores here; and in 1770, there were forty private houses and as many families, and a small French garrison. In 1780, an expedition was fitted out at Michilimackinac, consisting of one hundred and forty British and fifteen hundred Indians, for the capture of St. Louis, and other places on the west side of the Mississippi, which was successfully repelled by the aid of an American force under Gen. George Rogers Clark, who proceeded from their encampment on the opposite side of the river. In May, 1821, the place contained six hundred and fifty-one dwellings, two hundred and thirty-two of which were brick or stone, and four hundred and nineteen of wood. The population, in 1810, was sixteen hundred; in 1820, four thousand five hundred and ninety-eight; in 1830, it had increased to six thousand six hundred and ninety-four; and in 1840, to sixteen thousand four hundred and ninety-six, of whom fifteen hundred and thirty-one were slaves. According to the census of 1840, the num ber of persons employed in commerce was eight hundred and forty-five ; in manufactures and trades, two thousand and twelve; in navigating rivers, eight hundred and ninety-one, and in the learned professions, one hundred and eighty-eight.

The city is admirably situated for commerce, and already surpasses in its trade every other place on the river, north of New Orleans. The site is elevated many feet above the floods of the Mississippi, and is protected from them by a limestone bank, which extends nearly two miles; an ad. vantage rarely enjoyed on the Mississippi, which is generally bounded by high perpendicular rocks, or loose alluvial soil. This spot has an abrupt acclivity from the river to the first bottom, and a gradual one to the second bottom. The first bank presents a view of the river, being elevated twenty feet above the highest water; the second bank is forty feet higher than the first, and affords a fine view of the city, river, and surrounding country, and contains the finest residences. The place was originally laid out on the first bank, and consisted of three narrow streets, running parallel with the river. Fortifications were erected on the second bank, as a defence against the savages. Soon after the American emigration commenced, four additional streets were laid out, back of the first, on the second bottom, which is a beautiful plain, and these streets are wide and airy. There are eight principal streets parallel to the river, crossed by over twenty running from the river, and crossing them at right angles. The

* St. Louis is in 38° 27′ 28′′ north latitude, and in 90° 15′ 39" west longitude from Greenwich, and 13° 14′ 15′′ west longitude from Washington. It is twenty miles, by water, below the mouth of the Missouri; one hundred and ninety-six miles above the mouth of the Ohio, and eleven hundred and forty-nine above New Orleans.-HASKELL'S GAZETTEER.