6
HISTORY OF CHOLERA IN INDIA.
the province of Goa in 1638,* and in London during the autumn of 16^^6,1 when Sydenham states that the cholera morbus was raging, and, owing to the unusual heat of the weather, brought with it convulsive symp- toms severer and of longer duration thafi had been observed before. ► Not only the abdomen but the muscles of the whole body, particularly of the arms and legs, wfere attacked with spasms of the most terri- ble violence, so that the patient would again and again leap out of bed. Lastly, Thevenot was himself attacked with cholera some time prior to 1678, near Surat.
Records of cholera in India from the English occuimtion until 1817. — The earliest account of the occurrence of cholera in India, from the pen of an English physician (Dr. Paisley), is dated Madras, February, 1774, and is to be found in Gurtis's Works on Diseases of India, pub- lished in Edinburgh in 1807. It is somewhat remark- able that this important communication should not have been* brought to light until thirty -three years after it was written, particularly as, in the meantime. Dr. Girdlestone had published a work in London, in 1787, on the *' Spasmodic Affections " of India, under which heading he gives an accurate description of cholera. It is evident, therefore, that, in spite of Dr. Paisley's letter, neither Girdlestone nor " a general meeting of the Faculty at Madras " which he consulted in 1782, recogiiised the disease we now designate cholera, as cholera. " *
I am anxious to bring this point somewhat promi- nently forward, not as a proof of ignorance or neglect on the part of the authorities whom I shall quote, for
- ' Quarterly Review,' vol. cxxii, p. 33.
t ' The Works of Sydenham.' By T. Levan. London, 3rd edition, p. 146.
