An Authentick Account of the Measures and Precautions Used at Venice / By the Magistrate of the Office of Health, for the Preservation of Publick Health

by Anonymous

However, the Magistrate being desirous not to embarrass Commerce more than the Publick Safety requires; those Goods are distinguished, which are susceptible of Infection, from those which are not: Some of them are allowed to be taken from on Board the Ship without passing through any Purifications, with the Assistance however of the Fante without, as well as of the Guardian within; lest, under Pretence of Things being uninfected, any Thing should be delivered out that requires Purification: Some other Things may also be taken away, but not from the Ship, but from the Lazarettos; the first Indulgence is granted to those Things which are not liable to Infection; the second, to others that being free themselves are wrapp’d in Covers that are not so; as these Covers must be carefully taken off by Persons suspected, and are to be on the Footing of other suspected Things.

Every Thing else, which may give Suspicion, must be purified according to the Rules of the Lazarettos.

Precautions are used in changing Things from one Vessel to another, and in transporting them; for which Reason, this being only to be done by Boats destined for that Use, called Peate, they cannot go to the Ship’s Side without Leave, and that is not given till the Information aforesaid is obtained; and when they are come to the Side of the Ship, no one meddles with the Cargo but the Ship’s Crew, the Fante being always present out of the Ship, and the Guardian within, who takes an exact Note of all that is laden on them, to be transmitted to the Magistrate. In their Way to the Lazaretto, the Fante escorts them with the due Cautions, accompanied by the Clerk of the Ship, or some other of the Persons concerned, and consigns them to the Prior of the Lazaretto, who makes the Bastazi answerable for them, who are appointed to have the Handling of them, and the Guardian who is to superintend it, and sends the Magistrate a distinct List of every Thing which is received, for a fuller Check.

Bastazi is the Name given to those, who open the Bales of Merchandize, and handle them, and keep amongst them all the Time prescribed for Quarantine. They are chosen by the Merchants concerned, that they may be secure of their Regularity. But the Magistrate requires they should be knowing Persons, and there is a Guardian appointed them, to take Care that the Purifications are exact, and that Interest does not occasion any Breach of the Rules. They have their Necessaries and daily Pay from the Merchants, and they are the Persons who are most diligently examined; for, from the Effects which are discovered on them, may be known what there is to fear: ’Tis not however in the Breast of the Merchants to appoint a greater or less Number of these; but the Laws have provided, that each Bastazo is to serve for so many Bales as he can manage carefully in a Day.

The Transporting Goods to the Lazaretti has been mentioned, the same is to be understood of Persons, who are there with their Things to perform the Quarantine, and prove their being in Health under the Care of another Guardian; it being seldom allowed (and that only to some poor Wretch) to perform Quarantine in the Ship, for fear the Things worn or wearable should not be sufficiently purified. ’Tis to be observed, that every Vessel having on Board Goods and Passengers, must have three Guardians; one for the Ship, one for the Goods, and one for the Passengers, together with the Help of so many other Officers as may seem a heavy Expence: But if it be considered that this is borne by the Goods, and that they are sold in the Country, it will appear how much Care is taken of the Publick Safety, which is preferred to every other Consideration.

But all these Precautions are to be compleated in the Lazarettos, so called from the original Intention of them for the Recovery of Persons sick of the Plague, but worthy now a better Name, as they are the Deposits of the Publick Safety, which therein exercises its Precautions. These are of a double Use; for the Purification of Persons and Merchandize, separately, in Times of Health; and for the Recovery of sick infected Persons, and the Purification of dangerous Household Furniture, in Times of the Plague; to which Use are also converted other Insular Places which are scattered among the Marshes round us.

The first Thing to be considered in these Lazarettos is their Situation. They should not be so near the Town as to cause any Danger, nor so far distant as not to be under the Eye of the Magistrate, and within Reach of all proper Provision and Assistance.

There are two Lazarettos at Venice, the Old and the New; the first distant two Miles and more, the other a little above Three from the City. Each forms a separate Island, which has nothing contiguous to it, and cut off from all Communication. Each takes up a large Space of Ground, shut in all round by Buildings washed by the Waters, which serve for a Wall and Guard: They have no Openings outward for any Thing to go out at, for every Thing must go out at the same Gate at which it entred. The Length of the Ground the first stands on is one hundred and five Geometrical Paces of five Feet each; the Breadth eighty-five; the whole Circumference three hundred and eighty. The second is somewhat larger, viz. one hundred and twelve long, ninety-two broad, and four hundred and fourteen in Circumference. The Structure of each is remarkable for its Capaciousness, but much more so for the Contrivances of Convenience and Security. At the Entrance is the Prior’s House, which is always free, disjoined from every Place belonging to the Quarantine, but so contrived, as to command the greater Part of them. All the rest of the Ground is taken up, either by Buildings to lodge Passengers, or in large Courts all surrounded with open Sheds, under which the Merchandizes are exposed to the Air, and preserved from the Weather; or else with great Sheds all round walled in, but with Holes in the Top to let in the Air; which serve for the same Use. What is most to be admired in the Contrivance of them is, that they are divided and subdivided into many Offices for Quarantines, and of different Kinds, in such a Manner, that each has its peculiar Ingress, without giving or receiving any Inconvenience from the other, in order to prevent the Danger of any Communications; in which the very Essence of the Regulations consists. As to the Places destined for the Reception of Persons; in the first Place, they are separated from every other, which serves for the Purification of Goods; and with great Reason; for if the Proprietor had Leave to visit his Cargo, whilst under Purification, his Coming might put a Constraint upon, or interrupt the Course of Management, through his Concern for preventing any Injury to the Merchandize. 2dly, They are also separated from each other, though there are a greater or less Number of Rooms contiguous, for the Convenience of a greater or less Number of Passengers, who may arrive at one Time from the same Parts, all having different Ingresses, different Stairs, and no Communication. The Sheds, which inclose the Court Yards, are so disposed, that you cannot pass from one Court to another, all the Gates being kept shut. Each of these Sheds is terminated by a particular Building for the Abode of the Guardian and of the Bastazi, who have the Care of the Merchandize exposed under it. The great Sheds have also their Convenience, their Use, and Security.

Ample Room is to be given to the Merchandizes, that they may, without being damaged by Weather, be penetrated by the Air; and become at, to be handled; and the Persons are also to be lodged, at Large, conveniently, without occasioning Mixture in the great Numbers of them, or in the Variety of their Quarantines: An Idea of which may perhaps best be had, by considering that the old Lazaretto, with only Eight Places for the Purification of Goods (each of them subdivisible into many more) can give Reception to 6730 Bales of Merchandize at once, coming from various Parts. And if one confines only to six different Quarantines, the Quarters appointed for Persons (each of which is subdivided into 13 Rooms) above 294 Persons may be easily and commodiously lodged there at once.

The New one, is more capacious; takes in an equal Number of Bales, but has somewhat under 200 Rooms for Passengers, and has sometimes furnished Accommodations for the Quarantine of 4000 Soldiers and 200 Horse, at Times when it was not incumbered with Merchandize.