The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1855-10-17

a& 8Z
throughout the entire valley Of the Mississippi
it may not pc uninteresting to our readers t.
know something in regard to the disease, b
what process it is engendered, and how pre-
vented. On all these subjects, there are con
aicting opiaions, in fact hardly two physician:
can be found who agree. DR.. McFarlane, one
Of the most experienced and eminent physicl
ans of New Orleans, contends that ~decomposl
ton of vegetable matter and filth, and pools o
stagnant water, has nothing to do with the de.
%yelopnent of the disease; while, on the Other
hand, doctor Barton, equally as learned and
experienced, assures US that the fever originates
from filth and dampness, and that the only
way by Which il can be prevented, is to KEEP
the city clean and drain the swamp and all the
ponds and pools of stagnant water. McCosh,
a celebrated British surgeon. in the service oil
the East Irfdia company, attributes the plague,
yellow fever, and similar diseases, to malaria,
as generated BY th~edecomposition Of vegetable
matter: and states that no fact is better ascer-
tanned than that a certain quality, whether a
gas or vap$r, a film or an inlpalpable powder,
is evolved By vegetables exposed to heat and
moisture. and undergoing the process of putre-
faction, which has the property Of engendering
fever when brought in contact with the human
body. This miasma is generated in greater
quantity in the autumn months than during the
other seasons OF the year; is more potent at full
and new moons than at other periods;.sand,
more active between sunset and 10 o'cloekthan
during the rest Of the twenty-fourho hours. These
Louisiana. Misasma appears to possess gravi-
ty, for people who sleep on the ground floor are
more frequently attacked with yellow fever than
those who live in upper stories; and we are told
that many Europeans. on the Gauges, preserve
their health unimpaired BY livingin lofty build
ings, "wbereas if they slept in the lower story
they would suffer very severely or die Of fever"
This miasrta is capable, tits said, Of being dis
sipated by Ere. A moist atmosphere is more
favorable fir its action than a dry one, and a
person may sleep in a swamp with comparative
immunity, ii he sleep beside a good fire. This
is the reason Why the old c~reoles Of lower Lou
isiana build a fire in their dwellings, morning
and evening, during damp, moist, or rainy
weather. hetiasn1a is actuated by the same laws
that actuatetthe atmosphere, and may be con-
veyed by the wind it is thought, to a conside- t
bic distance with it's properties unimpaired. A
vessel may anchor one mile to windward Of a Il
swamp or p~estilent marsh with impunity; but D
if she anchor the same distance to leeward she :
will, in all likelihood, be attacked by disease. h
An army may encamp, doctor McCosh declares, n
with ~impunity on ''the seashore of a presidential c.
sland during one monsoon and while the wind
S from the sea; but if the monsoon changes, or tc
he wind from the interior blow over the camp, p
hey are certain of being attacked by the d. Il
ease" Miasma loses its property of producing Of
ever in its progress on the wind, as if it be- n
anne too much diluted to take effect; and a 81
may be situated five Or six miles to lee
ard Of a swamp and not be subjected to fe- T
ers; whereas, if situated within one mile it
lay be subject to many. People constantly q
xposed to malaria become Injured to"it, and =
njoy comparatively good health where a new =
1mer would suffer, perhaps, die. This is par =,
the case in Louisiana and Texas. -
A late number of the Medical Examiner con- =
'ins an article on the plague, from the pen of =
octor Stamms who translates the account Civ =,
4 by the medical staff of the French army :.
I the expedition to Egypt and Cairo. The =.
~. HD!s''E"i o''e',eu Una me ei'i' ''eu d.
osition of the city, combined with other unfa- -
circumstances, could not but make it
Try unhealthy" The advisers of Mahomed
Ii repeated tsais remark, and the viceroy i'm "
ediately determined to level the hills and Gle r
tie the hollows. Thousands of men were en-
'ged in this work, and hundred died under the p
,~cessive' labor; but as the hills were reduced, "a
I'd miasmic hollows and ponds were converted &C
to olive groves, orchards and gardens, the pI
salth of the city and country improved. In 50
343, but few cases of plague occurred, and in al
'44, the disease had entirely Disappeared 81
octor S. states that: CO
"At the end Of the year 1914, while in
5ypt, ! could find no plague, and only a few u
ses of slight swelling Of the Emphatic glands. St
assured chat the disease would certainly lei
appear in the beginning of 1915; and going
the southern parts OF the country, | expected vi
my return T. Cairo, to find it; yet since that CO
ne there has been no return of the disease ~
Il this shows, conclusively, that Egypt was the IN
al seat of the pestilenee, and that not the
hole country but this encircled spot, at the
of the delta, generated this dreadful al
sease. It's appearance, after the falling of the 81
ueta and the entrance of the summer heat, is be
SO easily to be understood, if we observe the fo
phenomena. The falling dew puri6es A
e air, and the excessive heat immediately fol- ~
wing, dries up all the vapors and all putrid IN
after, scorcllng over dead bodies and rapidly &C
nFertlng decayed matter into a mere powder. m;
| DO not mean to say that this OF a similar p,
ldemic might not, under favorable circum- D,
ances, ind Its origin also in our southern coun- :"
chiefly where war is raging, where food
scarce, where swamps abound, Or swar1ns of f.,
lnpyJSfc end otI., 80