Genre:

Review

Publications reviewed:

Edinburgh Review

Subjects:

Health, Disease | Geology

Publications cited:

Transactions of the Geological Society

    In discussing a review of Frédéric Lullin de Chateauvieux's Lettres écrites d'Italie, states that 'The most interesting part of the critique, perhaps, is the account of the Maremma [....] It is unfortunately distinguished by the character of Mal' Aria, an unhealthy constitution of the atmosphere, or of the soil, during the summer season; and is inhabited only during the winter, and chiefly by a race of wandering shepherds [...] The cause of the insalubrity of this country is a mystery into which science has not yet been able to penetrate [...]. Rome itself suffers under the increased action of the Mal' Aria; and the extraordinary diminution of its inhabitants within twenty-one years, from 1791 to 1813, from 166,000 to 100,000, is partly ascribed to this cause' (301).