Cheraw gazette. [volume] (Cheraw, S.C.) 1835-1838, 1836-07-26

sions to medical skill as % cntrust their lives in
their hands.
Their ground OF defence was that at the stage
OF small poS when they were called TO the first
case, il is not distinguishable from measels..
After stating with hand pointing to the state
mentthat they were called to the first case "before
the eruption" they quote in juxta position, from
Thomas practice OF Medicine, the symptoms Of
small pox and measles as laid down by that writer
before the eruption, and then add with an air of
great triumph, now "tell Us how you would
teach an ignorant Marlborough negro to distin-
guish the two diseases, particularly at the time
when the steam doctor pronounced the disease
to be measles"
To this we answered first that by taking
ground in their defence which referred only to
the stage of small pox before tho eruption, they
bnt the more palpahly exposed THEFT ignorance OF
the disease because it is not infectious until
after the eruplion and secondly, that according to
the symptoms Of the two diseases quoted by
themselves, and relied upon to prove the impos-
in measles and absent in mall pox, "etfusion of
tears" "swelling OF the eyelid" frequent
sneezing and discharge Of acrid water from the
nose" Now he must be an idiot unless both deaf &
blind, who can't be taught in less than an hour to
distinguish disease in which these symptoms
are present from one in which they are absent;
and that patient who falls into the hands ofa
doctor confessedlv unable to discriminate
frequently sneezing from non-snoczing patient
is fortunate if nothing worse befalls him than
mistaking his small pox for measles.
The reply of the courteous and well bred geD-
tlemeu ;s, "falsehood," You misrcpfesent OH
statements" 1--WE never asserted that small pox
was contagious before eruption" 1--WE never con-
tended for the impossiblity Of Distinguishing
small pox from measles. We only intended to
impress the public that us j majority ofthe most
prominent symptoms wcre precisely similar any
one would be liable 10 mistake the disease"
Well, courteous sirs, you have right to in
tcrprct your own language. 1fyou kner asyou
now allege that small pox is not infectious till
after the eruption, what becomes of your defence
which relates only to the stage before eruption
II A is charged with killing D OH the first of July
what does it avail him to prove an abb on the
first Of January? a majority" Of the marks
which in natural history characterize the horse
and the ass arc "precisely similar yet mail
contractor must be a creature Of thick scull
if not of long ears who would receive this
similarity as an excuse from his agent for buying
asses instead Of stage horses.
They ask how We could have prevented the
spread of the disease when ten persons took the
infection at once and were confined by it about
the same time We would have collected them
as near together as convenient and prevented the
intercourse Of all persons liable to tho disease;
and thus we repeat, we, or any other physician
would have prevented all the deaths which oc-
CURED.
The question between US and the steamers is
whether if a well informed physician had been
called to Me- H. Smith when the steamers were,
he would have discovered the nature ofthe disease
in time to prevent its communication to others.
We repeat, for the benefit Of our Marlboro neigh
bors, facts which we formerly stated in the Fay
etteville Observer and which must settle this
question. The first case of small pox ever seen by
ourselves we attended as physician, and we dis
covered it to be small pox as soon tho eruption
appeared, s. before the disease became infectious,
which enabled us TO prevent its spreading. \
friend Of ours some years since slckencd at
public house below Geo: Town without any sus-
picion of the character of the disease. His ply
sician, when tho eruption appeared and before
the disease became infectious, saw from the symp-
toms that it was small pox. Proper measures
were Of course taken to prevent its spread. \
similar case occurred on Society Hill few years
since, and another in this town. About thirty
negroes who wero not protected against the small
pox were in the habit of daily intercourse with the
patient in the las. mentioned case till the disease
manifested itself so plainly by tho eruption that
the physician in attendance had him separated
and yet not ono of them took it. Now these
facts prove that if a physician had been called
to Mr.. Smith when the steamers were that no
would have prevented tho spread of the disease,
and no deaths would have occurred from it, for
all who took It from the wagner recovered It
is plain then that every death from small pox in
Marlboro or its neighborhooi last spring is to
be ascribcd solely 10 the steamers.
They ask elf" our own paiicnt referred to
above "should unfortunately die before the erup-
tion," what then ? why i wo were as ignorant
as steam doctor; il We could not see what Or
gans were affected or what functions desanged;
if we had brought OH inflammation OF tstolnach and
if We had then killed ou. patient By emet:cs or
in any other way, then we would, thus far, have
hoon nc or,;Itv 40 Steam doctor Bnt there IL