Southern sentinel. [volume] (Plaquemine, Parish of Iberville [La.]) 1848-1858, 1855-09-08
EPIDEMlCS.


| our vision! A thousand battaIions, number
ing each million souls, would scarcely EN-,
brace ths grand total. Death is indeed nigh
sy conqueror-ssery thirty three years adds
q world to his trophies. Death delights in
humbing the pride of man. When his terri
bic agents 20 forth with scythes that poison as
they cut and infest the very air that we brea-
the, what then becomes of earthly grandeur
and human grestness! Then the heart is sick
and life becomes terror He, who upon the
aspirations, grsets the morning sun with
CLASSY eye ~ his carcase rots upon the threshs
old Of gorged charnal house. These fear
ful visitors may be intended for wise pur-
pose; they certainly act an important part in
more OF method than Of madness.
The most terrible scourge Of the middle ages
was the "Black Death" 1t is computed that
this mighty reaper gathered in his "harvest
home" twenty-five millions of people-one-
fourth of ths then population of Europe. The
disease flrss made its appearance in the king
dom Of Cathay, 70 the north Of China, in the
year 1888. In l34S it visited France and Eng
land, and subsequently Scotland, Norway.
Russia and Poland. /! dashed in among the
Oca tH WuillSll dtAA Sc0Hcu ulS~
posed to anticipate the Russians in making {!
morse! Of its nationality three fosrths of the
entire population were deyoured by the hun
CRY monster. Of Russians and Norwegians
swo>thisds were destroyed. This destructive
disease is described by liecker as species of
Oriental plague. exhibiting itself in inflamma.
tory boiIs and tumors of the glands, accom-
panied with burning thirst; sometimes, also,
with inflammation Of the lungs and expector-
alton Of blood; in other cases, with vomitings Of
blood and Auxes Of ths bowels; terminating,
like malignant cholera, with = discoloration OF
the skin, and black spots. indicating putrid de-
composition, from which it was called. in the
north of Europe. the BLACK Death" The at
tacks were usually fatal within two or three
days of the first symptom appearing, but in
many cases were even more sudden, some fall
ing az if struck by lightning. In some coun-
tries, dogs, cats. fowls, and other animals were
affected by the disease, and died in great mum.
bers. In England il was followed by fatal
nuran among the cattle, occasiouing great
advance in the price Of food.
Upon the heels Of the black Knight of Nor
,ality there came polkiug into Europe the
Dancing Mania, or Tsrantism, as it was called
in Italy, where it was attributed to the bite of a
ground spider-the tarantua. The disease, it
is said showing itself in violent, involuntary
movements of the muscles Of the legs, the
physicians Oft betimes conceived the idea that
if the patients were encouraged to dance until
they fell exhausted; reaction would commence
and a cure result This singular prescription
was so much relied on, that music was every
where provided, and airs composed to har-
monte with the peculiarites Of the dance, but
these public exhibitions seem to have had the
effect of propagating. and making general the
epidemic. In short time-naturally enough,
to be sure-al Germany was in motion. The
nation en- masse took to dancing, until the
father land became vast ballroom and the
ante-chamber to "the valley of DEATH" There
circles were formed in the churches, public
bulldogs, and in the streets, presenting spec
tacles singular beyond description. Joined
hand in hand, and appearing to have lost all
control over themselves, they continued dane
ing, regardless of the bystanders, for hours to-
gether in wild delirium until they fell to the
ground exhausted. The dancing mania, howev.
er, seemed to run its course more rapidly in
Germany than in other places. ltprevailed in
Italy as late as the seventeenth century.
We have historical accounts of two other
singular epidemics, the biting mania and the
meeting mania. The former began it is said,
with nun, in German nunnery, who show.
ed a great propensity to bite her companions,
which spread to many other nunneres. The
mewing mania was also nunnery disease.
The victims Of this disease wonld spend sever
al hours in the day in initiating the mewiug Of
a cat. Both these epdemics occurred in the
fifteenth century, when nervous diseases ap-
pear to have been unusually prevalent in Eu-
rope.
The Sweating Sickness" another terrible
epidemic, made its appearance in England in
1914; it produced a fatalty>pearly a. great as
that of the Black Death. Tbis-d disease devas-
tated England ve1imes within six years, and
then sptsea1' disappeared. The disorder was
violent infan,matory fever, that suffused the
whole body With fGtid perspiration. Its at
tack was'fSll>~ed Immediately by complete
prostrasion, and arriving at crisis in few
hours, it seldam-spared its victims-scarcely
one in hundred escaped with life. 1t was
remarkable that robust and vigorous men were
generally singled out as the favorite targets for
the arrows of this deadly archer, whilst children
and the aged almost universally escaped.
- Plaques have existed in almost all ages, and
can hardly be said to be extinct, even at this
day. The great plague of London in 1865
carried off nearly 10000 inhabitants Of that
city. 1t commenced with shivering, nausea
and headache, followed by total prostration OF
worse, that of delirum, and sometimes par
oxysms Of frenzy. If the patient survived till
the third day, buboes commonly appeared. and
when these could be made to suppurate, there
was hope of recovery. The "plague Of the
CUTS" which is mentioned in a table OF Lon
don casualties of 1869 and 1000, and which
proved awfully destructive in 1910 and 1899
is supposed to have been the cholera in it,
malignant form. The minute description,
given of this disease by Dr.. Hecker, identifj
it with the epidemic cholera of this period, and
seem to explode the theory that before he yea
1917, the cholera was altogether unknown
either in India OF Europe, -a