Epidemics Examined and Explained

on this point, that we must inform ourselves by observation, collect well-recorded facts, render them rigorously comparable, before seeking to discuss them with a view of declaring their relations, and methodically proceeding to the appreciation of causes."

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CHAPTER I.

IS IT PROBABLE THAT EPIDEMIC, ENDEMIC, AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES, DEPEND UPON VITAL GERMS FOR THEIR MANIFESTATIONS?

It is, I believe, almost universally considered that Epidemic, Endemic, and Infectious diseases, originate from some imaginary poisons of a specific nature, each disease having its own peculiar poison. That this conception should have taken possession of the minds of men, is most natural from the symptoms which characterize these diseases, but when we come to enquire into the nature of these agents, or supposed poisons, we are at once struck with the idea that they exhibit one peculiarity which separates them in a marked manner