The  greatest  caution  should  be  observed  in  this  respect,  as
it  does  not  require  contact  alone,  to  infect  a  healthy  person
with  the  deadly  virus  of  the  fever.  Breathing  the  same
atmosphere  with  the  infected,  or  coming  under  the  influence
of  the  effluvia  rising  from  their  clothes  is,  in  some  states  of
the  healthy  body,  perfectly  sufficient  for  effecting  a  lodg-
ment of  the  disease  in  the  human  frame.  On  Monday
evening  last,  the  report  of  the  Finance  Committee,  on  the
subject  of  erecting  a  House  of  Refuge  for  the  destitute
persons  who  have  sought  refuge  in  our  City,  was  received
by  the  Council.  This  committee  report  in  favor  of  erect-
ing immediately  such  a  building  as  would  shield  those


THE  OCEAN  PLAGUE.  105

gers  from  the  severities  of  winter,  and  recommend  that
a  sum  not  exceeding  £6,000  should  be  expended  for  that
purpose,  and  that  this  sura  should  be  put  under  the  joint
superintendence  of  the  Board  of  Works  and  the  Finance
Committee,  so  that  now  we  have  from  the  praiseworthy-
benevolence  and  alacrity  of  the  Council,  an  assured  hope,
that  the  emigrants  will  not  be  exposed  to  any  hardships
which  it  is  in  the  po  /er  of  the  city  authorities  to  ward  off."

The  reader  will  bear  in  mind,  that  the  above  relates  to
the  city  of  Toronto,  in  Western  Canada,  at  a  distance  of
upwards  of  500  miles  from  the  Quarantine  station,  whose
stringent  regulations  were  intended  to  protect  the  country
from  contagion.
It  now  only  remains  for  me  to  say  a  few  words  respect-
ing the  people  that  endured  and  reproduced  so  much  trib-
ulation.
