Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/261

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MEXICO IN 1827.
245

pīcŏ, where it was little known, or, at least, little remarked, before 1821, it is now almost as prevalent as at Veracruz; and New Orleans, to the extreme North of the Gulph, being subject to it during the hot months of the year, it is probable that all the intervening line of Coast will be found exposed to this scourge, when the arrival of Foreigners shall call into activity the latent malaria, which appears not to act upon the Natives with similar violence. In them it produces Frios, (Agues,) from which many suffer during the summer months, and to which Europeans who have survived the Vomito are likewise liable; while with others it leads to a bilious fever of so very virulent a nature, that unless the most powerful remedies are immediately employed, there is but little time for medicine to act. In many recent cases, the disorder has proved fatal on the third day. Those who survive the fifth are almost out of danger, if they have sufficient stamina to carry them through their convalescence; but there is such a total prostration of strength, that nature often fails at the moment when the most sanguine hopes of recovery are entertained.

One peculiarity of this disease is the facility with which it is contracted. There have been instances of individuals who have not even passed through the town of Veracruz, but have got into a litter upon the beach, and taken the road to Jălāpă within a quarter of an hour after leaving the ship, who have nevertheless carried with them the seeds of the dis-