Washington telegraph., 1854-07-26
VOL. XIV.
From the London Times

NaGUEC Sk tLAC X OkSOAs
Sanitary agitation has opened up new
field for the influence and exertions OF men,
hers of the medical profession 1t was long
subject of remark, and, indeed, natural
consequence of the ordinary position of the
ministers of health, that they appeared to
he cut off from the life of citizenship-the
roItical side of mans existence-which
was so priced as the exclusive province OF
tbe freeman by the Greeks and other re-
nubcans The march of great epidemic
having reused the nation from Its suplne-
ness, we see the appropriate leaders of new
n,ov4ment in the conservators Of the health
II is with feelings of great pleasure that we
REGARD this strenuous exertlon on the part
of the members of the medical profession
One of the noblest vindications of their
claims has recently come before the public
in the columns of the London I lines we
allude to the able and eloquent annual report
Of Mr.. Simon, the medical officer Of health
for the city of London. Seldom, indeed,
does it fall to our let to pursue production
where such literary and scientific merit in
the treatment is combined with SO deep an
interested in the subject matter. The au-
thor of the report now before US, and few
others who pursue the same class of research,
are becoming to the politician what the
German Professor, Hecker, has proved HIM
self to the historian The latter savant, by
bis celebrated work on the epidemics of the
middle ages, has thrown Ii eht on many prob
lens Of the social life Of those periods, and
even en- portions Of the more exclusive DO
main of mental philosophy. Let us hear
what Mr.. Simon says of the yastness of the
field which lies before them. "lt needs the
grasp of political mastership. not uniformed
bv science, to convert to practical application
these obvious elements of knowledge'-the
elements of sanitary legislation-"to recog-
nize great national object irrevallant to
the interests of party, to lift universal re-
ouirement from the sphere Of professional
iealousies, and to found in immutable prin-
ciples the sanitary legislation of people"
In our present brief notice Of this elab-
crate report, we can only glance at the va
rious general conclusions which the author
has deduced as to the result of his extended
injuries And, first as TO the circumstances
attending the origin and progress Of ehol
era.
The pith of the matter lies in the follow
inc sentences - hat which seems TO have
come to Us from the East Is not itself poi
son, 50 much as it is test and touch>tone
Of poison, Whatever in its nature 1t may
be this at least we kow of its operation
Past millions of scattered population, it
moves innocuous, through the unpolluted at
mosphere of cleanly districts it nIigrates ST.
lently without bow-that which it can
kindle into poison lies not there. To the
foul, damp breath of low-lying cities it
comes like a spark of powder. Here is
contained that which it can swiftly make de-
structive-soaked into SOIL stagnant in wa
ter, griming the pavement. tainting the air
the slow rottenness of unremOved excre
ment to which the first contact of this for
eign ferment brings the occasion OF chang
inc into new and more deadly combinations. ;"
There is, it appears, close analogy be-
tween the action on local atmospheres Of
this :'ferment,' changing them into the per-
feet cholera poison, and the action of the
poison of any infectious disease on the hui
man frame. Particular atmosphere may be
said to take kind of cholera disease; that
is to say. bv receiving and developing in
their ready natures the cholera ferment,
which is the migratory principle TO which
the spread of the disease Is due, they become
peculiar 'choleric" atmospheres. and the
powerful, indeed APPARENTLY the only media
for producing the disease of cholera IN the
unfortunates who breathe them. When a
person is seized with an infectious disease,
it is because there is something in the state
of bis animal economy which fits it to re-
ceive the poison OF infection. SO when the
atmosphere of a given spot receives and
cherishes the subtitle ferment OF the cholera
poison, it is because there are causes dis
tinctIy to be traced which render such at
mosphere ready hot-bed for the reception
of the ferment and the consequent elabora-
ton of the complete poisen. Briefly, these
circumstances are. the coincidence OF damp
ness and organic decomposition, promoted
by high temperature. 1t matters not how
these conditions co-exist the result appears
to be constant. Let the subtle ferment
spreading from neighboring locality but
reach the spot where they do co-exist and
a choleraic atmosphere is the result--a
frightful mortality is not far distant.
The cholera, according to Mr.. Simon. is
eminently district disease-that is, 1t lays
hold on one locality in marked preference tc
another. A low level and dense popula-
ton are the concurrent circumstances which
nearly always produce fit field tor the de-
velopment of the poison, simply because
they produce a damp atmosphere and al
abundant organic decomposition.
Concerning the ferment which acts a;
the test and touchstone Of the cholera poi
son, it is not distinctly known whether Il
NAV eyer arise from local causes in our OWL