Note 140 — OF THE Means of Preserving the Health of Soldiers on Service.
Reading edition
A very remarkable Instance of this we have related by Dr. Lind. In the Year 1739, in Mahon Harbour, a Party of Men were sent with the Coopers from Admiral Haddock’s Fleet to refit and fill the Water Casks, who, finding an artificial Cave dug out of a soft sandy Stone, put their bedding into it; every one who slept in this damp Place was infected with the Tertian Fever, then epidemic in Minorca, and not one in eight recovered. At the same Time the Men aboard the Ships continued healthy; and others, who were afterwards sent on the same Duty, enjoyed perfect Health by being obliged to sleep in their respective Ships. He says, he has known a whole Boat’s Crew seized next Morning with bad Fevers by sleeping near the Mangroves, with which the Sides of the Rivers are frequently planted in the Torrid Zone. Ibid. p. 74, 75.