The evils of quarantine laws, and non-existence of pestilential contagion : the Privy Council, and College of Physicians; the means of prevention and method of cure of the cholera morbus, and the atrocities of the cholera panic / By Captain White.

  • White, W. (William), active 1807-1838.
Date:
1837
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The evils of quarantine laws, and non-existence of pestilential contagion : the Privy Council, and College of Physicians; the means of prevention and method of cure of the cholera morbus, and the atrocities of the cholera panic / By Captain White. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    The measures recommended to be pursued by that Board of Health, before the cholera had even reached England, created the utmost alarm, and terror pre¬ vailed throughout the land. The calamity, misery, and affliction which it consequently occasioned, when the disease broke out, far surpassed any calamity the nation had ever witnessed ; for the ravages it com¬ mitted far exceeded that of even the plague in 1603 or 1625. Having had considerable experience in the cholera in India, previous to the epidemic reaching England I endeavoured to warn the Board of Health of the consequences which were likely to ensue from the line of conduct they were pursuing. I also endeavoured to awaken the attention of the Government to the same, by a letter to Lord Grey ; but to no avail. After an elapse of four years, I had the honour to address Sir Robert Peel the following letter:— “ Edinburgh, December 30, 1834. “ Sir,—I beg leave to have the honour to draw your attention to a subject or two of great importance to the nation, and the universe at large ; viz.— “ 1st. The means of prevention for the cholera morbus. “2nd. The enormous abuses which took place during the cholera panic. u 3d. The abolishing, or, at least, ameliorating, the present pernicious and impolitic quarantine laws. “ FIRST, THE MEANS OF PREVENTION. £< Previous to the cholera having made its appear¬ ance in England I submitted to the notice of the Board of Health what appeared to me to be the only means of prevention for that, theretofore, fatal and destructive disease. I felt myself justified, upon many grounds, for doing so. The absence of any remedy being suggested by any medical man, the extensive experience I had had of the disease in India, the