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.