, 1865-06-16
The Great Plague.


full epidemic, known as the Siberian plague is
prevailing in Russia and Poland. Gsliganis
Messenger has been furnished with the follow
ing description of the disease by DR.. Tilleur, a
French physician to the Russian Court:
According to the opinions of the Russian
physicians, it is the same fever that was OBJ
served for the first time in Scotland in the year
1919, and denominated in that country the in
termittent fever, from the intermissions and the
prolonged attacks. This fever is ushered in by
cold shiyering, alternating with remarkable
heat from 40 to al degrees centigrade, or LOG
degrees Fahrenheit), the pulse beating l30.-
Great prostration and disorder are observable in
the nervous actions, although the state of the
mentalN faculties remains unaltered; frequent
pai4 r. in the head and limbs, great pain
in the feft hypochondriac region, and an exami-
nation of the palpitation and percussion prove
the spleen to have immensely increased in vol
ume The skin is yellow in color, owing to the
liver being likewise affected by the maladv. The
initiatory attack of the fever lasts from to
eight days, and terminates with very copious
perspiration. After the first paroxysm, an in
terval occurs of seven or eight days, during
which the patient appears almost as well as eY-
er, but at the expiration of that period second
attack manifests itself like the first, but accom-
panied with still greater prostraton. Some
times third paroxysm declares itself after a
further interval of seven days, one of the symp-
toms being burning thirst and complete an
accursm, and the patient sinks into the ost pro-
found state of prostraton. The rate of motral-
ity is 70 per cent, and the victims of this mala-
dy die during the second attack, usually from
kind of general paralysis, or through serious
arrangement of the nervous organs, with real
decomposition of the blood and an enormous
increase in the spleen. The liver also becomes
greatly enlarged, but the iDtestines on the 9TH
er hand, are either found healthy or else hardly
congested."
1t is the fear among European journalists that
the whole of the Eastern continent may become
infected with this horrible disease. No remedy
has yet been found to stay its ravages, quinine
being totally useless to break the fever. In
France they already speak of it as an impend-
ing calamity and call it le mort noir"-the
black death Ten thousand cases have already
occurred at ST. Petersburg, and the Czar has
appropriated two hundred and sixty thousand
rou5ies for sanitary purposes. A late edict
having caused ali the slaughter honses to be re-
moved from St. Petersburg to Moscow, dis
tance of four hundred miles, and the poor, de-
prlved of the means of obtaining cheap meats,
such as bullock heads, feet and intestines, have
been compelled to subsst on semi-decayed veg
etable matter that they find thrown in the street,
and black bread. the latter substance contains
large per centage of ergot of rye, which is
enough to debilitate the strongest constitution
or entirely destroy sickly person. The pro-
portion of deaths occasoned by this plague is
about seventy per cent of those attacked.
1t is singular historical fact that great
plaques always follow great wars That which
commenced in Italy in 134s-and subsequently
spread all0ter Europe-canne on the heels of
the war ofthe Guephs and Ghibellnes, an I'M
holy and rarricidal conflict that had lasted up
wards of eighty years. Italy became one great
pest house, and the plague slew whom the sword
had spared. Nor did if stop there. Ghenghis
Kahn had pvertpn southern Europe and gained
for himself the title of the "Scourge of God for
his cruel assassnations and indscrminate
Slaughter but the plague followed up alike the
victor and the vanqushed, and swept whole
tribes of the barbarous hordes from the face of
the earth. Let any one read Boccaccos s ten sto-
ries published under the title of the "Decama-
ron" and in one of them he will find the terri
Bile story of the plague of Italy, and the Cod
like heroism of St. Charles Borromen, then
Bishop of Milan. Nor is the great plague of
London in 1865, during the reign of Charles l.,
to forgotten, when the British metropolis be-
came one vast charnal house and the only sound
at day or night, was the monotonous call of the
"dead-cart" "Bring out your dead" By this
plague sixty thousand people died in few
months.
Let US hope that no plague shall follow the
terrible struggle for nationality at the close of
which we now find ourselves. Every sanitary
precaution should to be taken disinfect the pris-
on houses in the South, and to prevent rugs of
clothing from the battle-feds being shipped to
Northern manufactures to be made into cloth
ing or paper May our Father in Heaven avert
calamity like epidemic from this already
chastened and stricken nation. Half million
graves and million of cripples attest the fierce
ness of the ordeal of blood and fire through
which America has just passed. A nation
mourns her noble sons and the eyes of the beau
tiful are yet dim with tears for The brave. Our
cup of sorrow is full; may Divine Providence
forbid its running over.