" rican independance, two persons, one of whom had just descended from the Baltimore. stage, fell down and expired, in consequence of drinking cold water in a state of perspiration. At this season, it would be useful to have the instructions of medical humane societies on this subject posted on the doors of taverns, The intermitting fever, which is confined to particular spots, seems to originate from the exhalations of marshes and borders of stagnant waters; though it is a curious fact, and worthy of the attention of physicians, that families, who live in the neighbourhood of these places, enjoy good health, while others, who inhabit the summit of an adjacent hill, are victims to this annual returning malady. When marshy places become dry, fishes, insects, and decaying vegetable substances, exposed to the action of a burning sun, generate those gazeous miasms, which, absorbed by the body, produce weakness, sickness, and death. Ascending, by their lightness, they are probably carried by the winds to the neighbouring eminence, where settling, they form a sickly and noxious atmosphere. This disease is charmed as it were by arsenic pills; but, in every case, the constitution is injured, and prepared for other more fatal maladies by the application of this metallic poison. At Washington, the bilious has sometimes degenerated into a putrid fever; but this may have been owing more to unskilful management, and to want of cleanliness, than to the climate. One of the powers of the corporation, truly important in its object, is to prevent the introduction of contagious diseases. How this is to be effected is not explained. Great benefits might result from the constant removal of all putrid substances, from draining marshes and planting trees. The condition of the poor might be ameliorated, and also that of slaves, whose place of repose is generally a cellar, the dampness of which is favourable to the propagation of contagion. Much indisposition might be avoided by wearing warm clothing till the beginning of summer, and resuming it early in autumn. The north west winds, which prevail in winter, are very penetrating; and the weather is subject to sudden and frequent changes, particularly in spring and at the close of autumn. The facts stated by Mr. Jefferson in his "Notes on Virginia", shew that this climate has undergone a considerable change; for it is observed by this author, "that in 1780, the Chesapeak Bay was solid from its head to the mouth of the Potomac. At Annapolis, where it is five miles and a quarter over, between the nearest points of land, the ice was from five to seven inches thick quite across, so that loaded carriages went over it." "The extremes of heat and cold, of 6o and 98o, were distressing." We were informed, by Mr. Gabriel Duval, that near the close of Jan. 1772, the snow, in the district of Washington, was generally three feet in depth; and that in some places, it was drifted to the height of even ten, or twelve feet. During the last ten years, the average depth has not been more than eight or ten inches. 1 The summer is sometimes visited by tremendous storms of thunder, lightning, and hail. On the 10th of June, 1811, there was one of this description, which continued about a quarter of an hour, and destroyed every pane of glass of the windows in the I ' Formerly Comptroller of the Public Treasury, and now Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. north side of the houses in the town of AlexSome of the hail-stones were said andria. to weigh four ounces. Awful peals of thunder, sharp lightning, torrents of rain, and the sudden destruction of all the windows in the direction of the storm, were sufficient to dismay even stubborn breasts. On the 11th of June, 1811, a person named John Bowie, standing at a door in Alexandria, was killed by lightning: several others were, at the same time, struck; but gradually recovered by means of bleeding, and immersion in cold water. At West-End, near Alexandria, a woman, Mrs. Wry, was killed by lightning; while a child which she held in her arms, received no injury. At Ravensworth, nine miles south-west of Alexandria, a negro, and several horses in the stable were also destroyed. No symptom of life appeared after the stroke. It is worthy of observation, that most persons in the United States, struck by lightning, were standing, or sitting near a door, or window. The utility of electric conductors is demonstrated beyond all doubt, and though their expence is inconsiderable, they are not in general use. A residence of a few months at Washing |