clamps securely sunk therein.-"The floors and landings, as well as the roof, shall be covered with marble slabs securely laid in mortar; the slabs on the roof to be twice as thick as those on the floors."

The size of the college is directed to be one hundred and ten feet east and west-and one hundred and sixty feet north and south. It shall be three stories in height, each story at least fifteen feet high in the clear from the floor to the cornice.-It shall be fire proof inside and out.-The floors and roofs to be formed of solid materials, on arches turned on proper centres, so that no wood may be used except for doors, windows, and shutters. Cellars shall be made under the whole building, solely for the purpose of the institution." There shall be in each story four rooms, each room not less than fifty feet square in the clear-the four rooms on each floor to occupy the whole space east and west on such floor or story, and the middle of the building north and south; so that in the north of the building, and in the south thereof, there may remain a space of equal dimensions, for an entry or hall in each, for stairs and landings."

The instructions left by Mr. Girard, for the organization of the college, and the terms of admission into it, will form the subject of another article, in which we shall have occasion to introduce notices of similar foundations in Europe.

ware.

The next article of his Will, connected with public hygiene, is that which relates to the improvement of the city along the DelaMr. Girard's residence in Water street, and his commercial avocations, requiring his presence so often on the wharves, must have made him experimentally convinced of the propriety and necessity of reform in that part of the city. But his experience went still farther; he was a witness of the dire pestilences of 1793, and 1798, and could not fail to be struck with the fact observed by all medical writers, that those parts of a city which are low and damp, and the streets narrow, and ill ventilated, and in which houses are crowded in small courts and alleys, have ever been the seats of the most destructive diseases, whether we call them plague, yellow fever, or cholera morbus. He who was so active as one of the superintendants of the Hospital at Bush Hill in the years already mentioned, and so instrumental in the removal of the poor sick from Water street, and the adjoining courts and alleys, to this airy situation out of town, could not fail to be struck with the deleterious influence of a close and impure atmosphere, and with the continual risk which persons living in it, incur of being victims to pestilential diseases. It may, perhaps, excite surprise, that Mr. Girard should himself have continued, until his death, to reside in Water street. But it should be remembered, that his own spacious mansion, his temperance, amounting to abstemiousness, his carly rising, and daily visits to his farm in the country,

could not but greatly contribute to counteract the injurious effects of his location, and place him in circumstances very dif ferent from most of the inhabitants of this quarter.

Conscious of the necessity of reform here, he bequeaths to the City of Philadelphia, after legacies to his relations and others, and appropriations for the college, the sum of five hundred thousand dollars, part of the residue of his real estate, the income from which is to be spent in laying out, regulating, curbing, lighting, and paving a passage or street fronting the river Delaware; in pulling down, and removing all wooden buildings, as well as those made of wood and other combustible materials within the limits of the city of Philadelphia; regulating, widening, paving, and curbing Water street, and distributing the Schuylkill water therein.

The

The new street, to be called Delaware Avenue, is to extend along the river the whole line of the city, and is to be not less than twenty one feet wide.-It will be a pleasant and salutary change for the mud and filth which forms the upper stratum of the made ground of the wharves, as we now have them. owners of the wharves projecting out between the docks, and to the east of the Avenue, are to be compelled to keep them clean, and covered completely with gravel or other hard materials, and to be so levelled that water shall not remain thereon after a shower of rain. The corporation of the city is also to prohibit all buildings, fences, or erections of any kind to the eastward (river side) of said avenue; to completely clear, and keep clean all the docks within the limits of the city fronting on the Delaware; and to pull down all platforms carried out, from the east part of the city, over the river Delaware, on piles or pillars.

pre

In all the preceding provisions, we recognize an observant mind, attentive to the best means of promoting health, and venting disease, by having well paved streets and wharves; removing wooden or frame houses and projections, as much as possible, and obtaining free ventilation. From a paved street, it is easy to clear away vegetable and other matters, which would else be worked into the mould or clay of the ground, and create a stratum alternately saturated with rain, and giving out moisture and gases, under the influence of the sun's rays, Decayed wood is another constant source of deterioration of the air near it; and on occasions has given rise to diseases of great virulence. Both these morbid causes, or series of causes, are in almost constant operation, during nearly eight months of the year, along the banks of the Delaware, on the wharves, and in Water street. Nor can we hope for permanent security against the invasion of yellow or other malignant fevers, until the views of Mr. Girard are carried into full effect. They have an

infinitely more practical and direct bearing on public health, and go farther to the prevention of disease than all the quarantine regulations and lazarettoes of our Boards of Health.

CHOCOLATE.

THE editor of one of our Eastern papers,* expatiates, in the most eulogistic strains, in favour of chocolate. "The labouring man," he remarks," "and particularly he who is exposed to the inclemency of the weather, will find it not only a comforter, but the firm ally and supporter of his strength. He will find it to be worth all the grog ever distilled-more powerful and bracing than the strong waters of Cogniac-more nourishing than the rich wines of Madeira and Champaigne It gives strength and action to the stomach, when distilled spirits have no power to aid either; and then it brings no evils in its train-it engenders no ill feelings, beats no wives, starves no children, and makes beasts of no husbands or fathers. Unlike cold water, it does not chill the vitals, and send the blood in a torrent back to the fountian of life, often producing spasms, and sometimes death itself. Drink it then, ye that are wise, and be happy." All this is very well said, and what is far better, it is generally true. There can be no doubt as to the nutritive and wholesome qualities of the cocoa nut, and of its being far better adapted to support the strength of the labouring classes, and to enable the system, when exposed to the weather, to resist the effects of cold and fatigue, than either tea or coffee. To the traveller, a bowl of good chocolate, and a slice of bread, before setting forth on his journey of a cold winter morning, will really produce all the good effects which have been erroneously attributed to ardent spirits, or to wine. But while we acknowledge the general correctness of the praise bestowed upon chocolate by the writer just referred to, we must be permitted to dissent from him on one or two points. Nothing," he says, "goes into his mouth, during the winter, colder than boiling chocolate." Now we are not in favour of any one, save M. Chabert, the fire king, taking into his mouth, or attempting to introduce into his stomach, this or any other fluid, when at the boiling point. Really, the mouths of our eastern friends must be formed of somewhat different materials from our own-or we pity their condition after they have attempted to partake of the fervid draught to which they have been invited. "Let the stomach be filled with a beer-quart of this beverage, (chocolate,) and nine-tenths of the ills of life can find no entrance there." We believe the stomach is

66

*The Pawtucket Chronicle.

the portal through which a goodly number of ills find their way into the system; but we are not quite so certain, that distending it with a beer-quart of fluid, however wholesome in the abstract, is the very best means of shutting out evil. It is, at least, rather an unwise experiment to swallow so large a quantity of chocolate, whether it be boiling or not, at a single meal. What the writer says of cold water chilling the vitals, is, on occasions of peculiar feebleness of frame, a truth, though obscurely expressed; but when he talks of its "sending the blood in a torrent back to the fountain of life," we confess he gets far beyond our comprehension, and we fear a little beyond his own depth. But to return to the subject with which we set out.

It is really a subject of regret, that the price of good chocolate could not be so far reduced as to place it within the reach of every poor family. It has been calculated that one ounce of it, in substance, affords equal nutriment with one pound of meat. This is probably, however, overrating its value as an article of food. Nevertheless, when properly prepared, particularly when a large portion of milk is added to it, it is equally pleasant to most palates, as coffee and tea, and affords what the latter do not, a solid support to the system. From the very circumstance of its nutritive properties, it should be taken, with bread, either at breakfast or at dinner, and but seldom in the evening. It is, also, a more appropriate food for those engaged in active pursuits, in the open air, than for the sedentary, or those confined within doors. It should especially be avoided by those of full habits, and those who are inclined to an excess of fat.

In thus recommending chocolate, we have in view, let it be recollected, the pure cocoa or chocolate nut, free from the spices with which, in some countries, it is so liberally seasoned. In its manufacture for use, the farinaceous and oily portions of which the nut consists, should be so intimately blended by trituration, that the whole of it diffuses itself equally, or is almost entirely dissolved in boiling water, or in milk, without exhibiting any large globules of oil floating separately on its surface. It is, on this complete union of its two component parts, that the easy digestion of chocolate depends. When this union has been but imperfectly effected, it is very apt to disagree with the stomach, and in certain individuals, to produce sick head-ache, disturbed sleep, and other disagreeable consequences. Low priced chocolate is often manufactured by grinding, with the genuine article, flour, and some species of fat; by this means its bulk is increased, but always at the expense of its flavour and wholesome properties.

The best way to prepare chocolate for persons of delicate habits, or valetudinarians, is to boil it in water, and allow it to grow cold; then to take off the fat which forms on the surface,

to reboil the chocolate, and to pour it on cream and sugar. Made in this manner, it is much lighter, and more generally agrees with weak stomachs, than when prepared in any other.

Some persons with very weak digestion, make use advantageously of the shells of the cocoa, boiled in milk, or even in water, if a still lighter beverage be wanted.

MEASLES-SCARLET FEVER.

Scarlet Fever, Measles, and various other eruptive complaints, have, for several months past, prevailed to a very great extent in different parts of the United States. The mortality produced in some situations, by the two first diseases, has been truly frightful. This has doubtless resulted from the violent and unmanageable character which they are so apt to assume, when they occur epidemically. We fear, nevertheless, that in a considerable number of cases, the violence of the disease, and the death of the patients, are to be attributed mainly to the vulgar prejudices which prevail, in regard to the nature of eruptive diseases generally, and the improper treatment which is in consequence adopted; previously to a physician being called in, and sometimes during the period of his attendance.

It was once an opinion, entertained even by medical men, that all diseases, accompanied with an eruption upon the skin, were produced by a morbific principle generated in the blood, and which the healing power, inherent in the system, attempted to remove from the more vital organs, by throwing it out upon the skin. Hence it was maintained, that the more copious the eruption upon the surface of the patient's body, the greater was his chance of recovery. On this doctrine was founded a plan of treatment, adapted, as it was supposed, to aid the efforts of nature in "driving out the disease." The greatest anxiety existed on the part of the medical attendant, to produce a copious eruption, and to prevent it from "striking in." The poor patient was accordingly placed in bed, in a hot apartment, and carefully covered with clothes, so as to prevent the least access of cool air to his skin: while, at the same time, hot stimulating drinks were freely administered internally.

Happily many years have elapsed since the instructed part of the medical profession became convinced of the incorrectness of the foregoing views, and of the highly pernicious effects produced by the plan of treatment to which it gives rise. But the errors of physicians are, in most instances, eagerly adopted by the public, and fondly cherished for ages after they have been renounced by the former.