[140] 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.
[141] The higher that Ships sail up the Rivers upon the Coast of Guinea, the more sickly they become: Such, however, as keep at Sea beyond the Reach of the Land Breezes (that is, two or three Leagues at Sea), are for the most part healthy. Lind, ibid. p. 65. The Malignity of these Land Vapours often does not extend itself to any considerable Distance, as we know by manifold Experience. The Troops in Zealand were very unhealthy when Admiral Mitchel’s Squadron, which lay but a little Way from the Shore, enjoyed perfect Health.—Dr. Pringle’s Observat. on the Diseases of the Army, p. 1. chap. vii.—In July and August 1744, two Ships, belonging to Admiral Long’s Squadron in the Mediterranean, lying near the Mouth of the River Tyber, began to be affected, while others, though at a very small Distance, but further out at Sea, had not a Man sick. Lind, ibid. p. 66.
[142] The divine Lawgiver Moses has enjoined Cleanliness in the Camp to the Jews in a particular Manner, when he says,
“Thou shalt have a Place also without the Camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad; and thou shalt have a Paddle upon thy Weapon, and it shall be when thou wilt ease thyself abroad thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee. For the Lord thy God walketh in the Midst of thy Camp; therefore shall thy Camp be holy, that he see no unclean Thing in thee, and turn away from thee.” Deuteronomy, chap. xxiii. verses 12, 13, 14.
[143] The British Soldiers in Germany used sometimes to hurt their Health by eating great Quantities of raw unripe Apples, Plumbs, and other unripe Fruits; but the foreign Troops had a much better Method of using such Fruits: They commonly boiled or stewed them, and eat them with Bread, or with their Meat, which in a great Measure corrected their bad Qualities.
The Orders in the French Camp, prohibiting the Men from eating unripe Fruit, were strictly complied with every-where in Germany during the late War.
[144] See the Treatise published by Dr. Luc. Anton. Portius in 1686, de Militis in castris sanitate tuenda, part. ii. cap. vi. In this Book we have many useful Things mentioned relative to the Health of Soldiers.
[145] Dr. Lind relates a Number of Experiments of his having distilled Sea Water in different Manners, as recommended by others; and concludes, that the best Way of getting fresh Water from Salt, is to distil the Sea Water by itself, without any Mixture; and he proposes having a Still Head to the Coppers or Iron Pots in which the Meat is dressed aboard a Ship. Ibid. note to p. 84, &c.
[146] During the Campaign in Hungary, in the Year 1717, Count Boneval preserved both himself and Family from Disorders, by taking himself, and making all his Domesticks take, two or three Times a Day, a small Quantity of Brandy, in which Bark had been infused, at a Time when all the Rest of the Army were infected with malignant Disorders. A Regiment in Italy continued healthy by the Use of the Bark, when the Rest of the Austrian Army, who did not pursue the same Method, were greatly annoyed with Sickness. See Kramer. quoted by Dr. Lind.
[147] Observat. part. i. chap. iii.