respecting his discovery of Nitrous Fumigation.
reported by Henry Bankes, Esquire, 10th June 1802
London [House of Commons], 1803.
folio [42x27] disbound from a volume of reports. 41 pages.
good clean condition.
James Carmichael Smyth's petition related to the lack of recognition he had received for his discovery of the use of nitrous [or nitric] fumigation as prevention of the spread of contagious diseases in confined and crowded areas, particularly in the case of naval hospitals and below decks in men-of-war and transport ships.
The bulk of the report comprises testimonials regarding the effectiveness of the treatment, though one prominent dissenting opinion came from Dr. John Lind, son of James Lind, renowned for his work on the prevention of scurvy.
The report is bound with an unrelated 1793 report on the Improvement of the Navigation of the rivers Thames and Isis [36 pages]
