I TAKE it for granted, that the _Goods_ should be _opened_, when they are put into the _Lazaretto_, otherwise their being there will avail nothing. This is the constant Practice in the _Ports_ of _Italy_. That it is so at _Leghorn_, appears by the Account lately published of the Manner, in which _Quarantaines_ are there performed: and I find, that the same Rule is observed at _Venice_, from an authentic Paper, I have before me, containing the Methods made use of in that City, where _Quarantaines_ have been enjoined ever since the Year 1484; at which time, as far as I can learn, they were first instituted in _Europe_. In that Place all _Bales_ of _Cotton_, of _Camel_'s or of _Beaver_'s _Hair_, and the like, are _ript_ open from end to end, and _Holes_ made in them by the _Porters_ every Day, into which they thrust their naked Arms, in order that the Air may have free Access to every part of the Goods. That some such Cautions as these ought not to be omitted, is clearly proved by the Misfortune, which happened in the Island of _Bermudas_ about the Year 1695; where, as the Account was given me by the learned Dr. _Halley_, a Sack of _Cotton_ put on Shore by Stealth, lay above a Month without any Prejudice to the People of the House, where it was hid: but when it came to be distributed among the Inhabitants, it carried such a _Contagion_ along with it, that the Living scarce sufficed to bury the Dead. This Relation Dr. _Halley_ received from Captain _Tucker_ of _Bermudas_, Brother to Mr. _Tucker_ late Under-Secretary in our Secretary's Office.
INDEED, as it has been frequently experienced, that of all the Goods, which harbour _Infection_, _Cotton_ in particular is the most dangerous, and _Turky_ is almost a perpetual _Seminary_ of the _Plague_; I cannot but think it highly reasonable, that whatever _Cotton_ is imported from that part of the World, should at all Times be kept in _Quarantaine_: Because it may have imbibed _Infection_ at the Time of its packing up, notwithstanding no Mischief has been felt from it by the Ship's Company. And the length of Time from its being pack'd up to its Arrival here, is no certain Security that it is cleared from the _Infection_. At least, it is found, that the Time employed by Ships in passing between _Turky_ and _Marseilles_, is not long enough for Goods to lose their _Infection_: as appears not only from the late Instance, but also from an Observation made in a certain _Memorial_, drawn up by the Deputy of Trade at _Marseilles_[72]. _Marseilles_ is the only Port in _France_ allowed to receive Goods from the _Levant_, on Account of its singular Convenience for _Quarantaines_, by Reason of several small _Islands_ situate about it. The _Ports_ of _France_ in the _Western Ocean_ having had a Desire to be allowed the same Liberty, their Deputies presented, in the Year 1701, a _Memorial_ to the _Royal Council of Trade_, containing several Reasons for their Pretensions. To this the _Deputy_ at _Marseilles_ makes Reply in the _Memorial_ I am speaking of, in which this Advantage of _Marseilles_ for _Quarantaines_ above the other Ports, is much insisted upon: and, to evince the Importance thereof, it is declared in express Words, that many Times Persons have been found in that Place to die of the _Plague_ in their Attendance upon Goods under _Quarantaine_. Now if it be certain, that Goods have retained Infection during their Passage from _Turkey_ to _Marseilles_; it is too hardy a Presumption to be admitted in an Affair so important as this, that they must necessarily lose all Contagion in the Time of their coming to us, because the Voyage is something longer. But besides this, there are some few Instances of Goods, that have retained their Infection many Years. In particular, _Alex. Benedictus_ gives a very distinct Relation of a Feather Bed, that was laid by seven Years on Suspicion of its being infected, which produced mischievous Effects at the End of that great Length of Time[73]. And Sir _Theodore Mayerne_ relates, that some Clothes fouled with Blood and Matter from _Plague_ Sores being lodged between _Matting_ and the Wall of a House in Paris, gave the _Plague_ several Years after to a Workman, who took them out, which presently spread through the City[74].