Tercentenary of the first English book on tropical medicine, by Thomas Trapham of Jamaica

ABSTRACT

Between 11 and 12 o'clock in the morning of 7 June 1692 occurred one of the most famous earthquakes in history, and the town of Port Royal in the island of Jamaica, described by writers of the time as the "Babylon of the Caribbean" and "the wickedest and richest city in the New World," slid into the sea. A contempory pamphlet described the disaster and illustrated it with a crude woodcut, showing that "Dr Trapham, a Physcian in this Place was Miraculously saved, by hanging the Hands upon the Rack of a Chimney and one of his children hanging about his Neck, were both saved by a Boat; but his Wife and the rest of his Children and Family were lost." (AU)