Polynesian. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu], Hawaii) 1844-1864, 1850-11-23

MR.. WYLLIE'S REPORT ON CHOLERA

10 Hts Majesty,
KING III.
MR. WYLLIE'S REPORT ON CHOLERA
Ofthe disease called .Asiatic Cholera, there
Is no clear record before l7Sl, when it ap
peared among 5000 soldiers, at Gangam, il
the East Indies. In 1885, appeared among
the soldiers Of Sir John Burgoyne at Mad
ras, and in 1888 among the pilgrims a
Hurdwar, of whom it carried off no less thai
II. 900. But it was not till 1917, that the
disease spread widely in India From
Jessore, where out of a population of 60. .0O(
it carried off 10000, it soon spread to every
town and village within an area of severa
thousand square miles, extending from Silhe
in the east to Cuttack, in the west, and from
the mouths of the Ganges to the confluence
of the Jumna. From that district as cen.
tire, the disease spread to the southwest
along the Coromandel coast to Madras Il
reached that city in IL months; in six months
more it extended to Ceylon, and from thence
in November 1919 it was carried by the
Frigate ''Topaz" to the Island of Mauritius
From the same district, it extended to the
southeast reaching Arracan in IL months
from thence in another IL months it extend
ed to the Malay Peninsula; from thence il
spread to Sumatra, Java, Timor and other
Islands of the Moluccas; from thence to the
Philippine Islands and Borneo, and in 1920
it reached Canton, extended to Pekin in 1921
and after committing great havoc in China
for several years, it passed the great wal
and spread to Mongolia, in 1927. While
spreading in these two directions, the cholera
al IL
ward along the valley of the Ganges to
Bundelcund on the banks of the Scinde
along the Jumna to Delhi, Saharampore and
Kotah. And in the same interval it spread
to Nepaul, and to Bombay.
The farther progress of the disease west.
ward was stayed for about a year by the
mountain range which bounds the basin
drained by the Ganges and Jumna on the
west, and for about two years by the noun
tains and deserts lying westward of Hindos
tan. Nevertheless, in July 1921 it reached
the three principal ports of the Persian Gulf
Muscat, Bushire and Bussorah; from the
latter it spread up the river Euphrates to
Bagdad; in 1922 it reached Aleppo ant
Erzeroum; in 1923 it spread to Antioch anc
other ports on the western coast Of the Medi
terranean, and stretching northward along
western shore of the Caspian it reached
Astrachan at the mouth of the Nolga.
| The cholera paused for about six years Oh
till the summer of 1929, when it broke out al
Orenburg In July 1880 it reappeared in
Cur and again invaded Astrachan along the
| valley of the Cur it extended to Iifis--
along the Terek and kuma to Caucasia, anC
along the Volga to Saratoff. From thence
it spread to Moscow which it reached on tn,
l4th September 1880, and soon after TO St
Petersburgh. While thus spreading along
the Volga to the Baltic, 1T was extending along
the river Don to the Black Sea, Odessa ant
the mouth ofthe Danube 1t reached Vienna
in August 1881; in the same year it attacked
Riga, Stettin, Berlin, Warsaw, Cracow
Turkey, Egypt, Hungary and Germany, ant
in October 1881, it reached Hamburg.
On the 26th of October 1881, the cholera
reached Sunderland in England, in January
1882 it appeared in Edinburgh, on the l4tl
of February in London; on the 22d of Marcf
it appeared in Dublin on the Sth June IS3:
it had crossed the broad Atlantic ocean anG
appeared in Quebec; in the same month I
reached New York and from thence spread
extensively in the United States In Marcel
1882 il appeared simultaneously in Calai:
and Paris-in 1888 it reached Madrid ant
Lisbon-in 1884 it reached Gibraltar; il
reached Piedmont, Genoa and Florence In
1891, Naples in 1886 and Rome in 1887.
According to official returns from the 18th
of June to the 18th of October 1881 the chol
era had appeared in about 5000 places, at
tackled 335, 900 persons and carried off up.
wards of Isl 900.
The disease ceased for brief period but
reappeared in 1924.
The following table illustrates the post-like
regularity with which the disease extends
along the coast Of rivers.
Date of appearance OF the disease
1892 1884.
Quebec June 8. July 7.
Three Rivers between
Montreal and Quebec escaped +" 8.
Montreal l30 miles above
Quebec June 10. " H.
Kingston 100 miles be-
yond Montreal Z" Is. +" 26
Toronto $50 miles be-
yond Kingston D. sc 80.
Fort George, ,4Omiles from
Toronto July IA. Aug. l3.
Detroit and Amherstbery &c 6end of Au.
The above table is taken from part IIth
of the Report ofthe General Board of Health,
on Quarantine, to Her Majesty the Queen
of Great Britain, which has been kindly fur
nished by Her Majesty's Consul General,
William Miller, Esquire. The table applies
to the great river st. Lawrence. But along
the banks of the smaller rivers Ottawa and
Richelieu, and along lake Champlain,
throughout the United States to New York,
the cholera pursued the same steady course.
Time and space will net allow me to trace
the course of the later visitations of cholera
in Asia, Europe and America. Suffice it to
say that towards the end of lS4S the packet
ship s'New York conveyed it to the quaran-
tine station at Staten Island, and the ship
Swanton, about the same time to New Or