The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-02-12
ahe1ntelIigftrfer.
aCHOhERA!a
sCoURGE OF THE HUMAN RACE
EXPERIENCE OF THE PAST

ftuSpF1nE or Summer.'A = ne ~ ~SHoLeEIa q IN IN
wheeling and bridgeport In Is32-3S.
Personal ReeoIIeetIOns by n Physi-
"a clan hSte Oftiis city y tfeI
LAn article in the Richmond Medical Jour
nal, for February, written by M. ID. Hous-
ton, NJ, D., late q, w Wheeling.l g5., f5yp
Cholera, once more, attracts the atten-
ton, and excites the fears of the civil
lied world, The approach OF a disease
so fatal should arouse an the talent and
energy of our profession, to prevent its
access if possible, and If not to moder-
ate its extension and miLigntetitS sever
( }ifv. when 1t does mike its appearance.
q My.present object will be, not 70 at
tempt a. systematic treatise on the SUD
ilieett but to present such salient points,
and discuss such general principles as
will lead to practical results. ~ "rih.
The history of cholera corresponds
very closely with that of most -other
great epidenics.5 Like the comet, it has
It's cycle, and encircles the earth, very
much in the same track, once every SIX
stroIis bird OF prey, it nestled for years
about the mouths of the Ganges, plum
ing its wings, aud testing theirstrength,
by occasional flights, until at last CON
scious of power, it winged its course
over continents and oceans, wben1 lts
circuit c6tnpleted, itretuEned to It's nest
in the East, there to rest for "a series oil
years, and again prepare for its MISSION
of peath. TraVersing great rivers,
oyertopping the highest mountains,
and crossing. the widest oceans, It eve
Ty-Whete dktied and seorned the feeble
efforts of man to stay its progress; IN
every region OF country traversed by
the shadow of its wings, II left the fatal
marks of its passage, and wherever, en-
ticed by the abundance OF food, prepaf-
ed for its sustenance, it tnrried Tor z
tseuson. a carnival of death was speedl-
" inauglrated. Whether assisted by
favorable, oropposed by adverse winds,
whether resting in sunshine or breast
ing the storm, Its course was still on
ward breaking through all ldbarrigrs
and penetrating every stronghold, de
signed by the ingenuity of man, for It's
exclusion.
disease, the first impOrtnnt questions
which present themselves are, first,
What is its cause . and second, How Is
this cause propogated? uibit el '-'-'-
In answer to the first question, ynri-
ouS hypotheses have been offered, but
no one of them is rendered even proba-
ble, much less)certain by any weight of
testimony, or any demonstrable facts.
They are all alike unsatisfactory and
it is to be feared that the mystery OF its
essential cause can never be revealed
Some have attributed it to anlmalculfe,
others to, different species of fungi,
WnllBL SIlll OlUGI6 lttNC ~ ~
be caused by the absence oil ozone from
the atmosphere. These different shy-
fpotheSes are mentioned, not for;ttle ppr-
pose OF refuting any one Of them, but
merely as an illustration OF the obScur-
ity which attends the subject. Whist
the essence of the poison may never be
determined, we can yet reach n resona-
BILE conclusion MS to its rnode.of Propo-
cation, by carefull 81 Observing md ana-
fyzing the facts connected with its his
tory. $1,000.
And first, is cholera a contagious dis
ease? This question has divided the
profession, and very properly elected
many facts, and much able discussion
on both sides, ,aslIpohits determination
depend many points of the first lpractl-
cal Importance.
The propagation of animal .poisons,
universally ACKNOWLEDGED to be coming
iotis, seem to be governed by'dfherent
laws, in different diseases. In gonorr-
hoea actual and intimate contact, with
purely local development OF specific IN
fiammation, constitutes the general
rule. In syphilis and CHAMBERS, inti-
mate contact, followed by absorption OF
the poison, dIid.its reproduction within
the blood, giving rise to local nantes
tations Of constitutional disease, fur
nish some of the laws which govern
their prOpogatiOng These, and many
Others which may conform to the same
general laws. constituted class of pure
" and exclusively contagious diseases.
No one would contend that cholera be-
longs to this class. xxi
There Is another family of contagious
diseases, governed by certain uniform
laws, to which must be accordedn n wide
latitude. In this are included small
rpoxi chicken-poxa measles sea Tlatlna,
in his Practice of Medicine, says: Like
different human faces, all the COM
plants belonging to this group, have
the Same set of features, and therefore
n mutual resemblance, while the sep
arate lineaments differ so much, IN
their character and relative circum-
stances. as to give to ench disease its
distinctive aspect" II will. be necessa-
ry to describe some of these features, in
order to determine whether cholera pre-
sents them, and consequently whether
it is to be included in the same cate,
CORY. 20. 3D.. ,.gsel
capable at all times, of being extended
by Individual contact or proximity
The distance Mt which the poison thrown
off from one body, w Ill infect another
no doubt Vnrfes with varying circum
stances, In smallpox, the most con
tagi6us of the class. with n cool, pure
satmosphere, il is ascertained to be very
limited. 81 ~ ~ - e. a i
second. The poison of these disease.
haStIfe property OF reprod ducLion within
the living system. They are called bN
anthors, emphatically, 6tood-dfsedses
and as such, have thcsI-detf1tect periods Q
.ifTctfbdtion. The shortest time allottet
10 this period, after exposure, is seven
and. the longest fifteen days. IT diseas'
be developed either before or after thes'
periods, it is deemed safer to INFER AZ
error in the date of exposure than Il
shorten or to lengthen the period of in
o ~ a % { ~ z
Third. These diseases, when not fatal
pass through regular stages. in dehntt
periods bt time to steady GONZALES
cence. We have the chill, the thre'
days. fever, the time for the matura
tion, and the time for the decline of tn,
eruption, and finally the throwing OF
of the Gillette poison, and the end OF tn
Fourth. Alrdiseases of this class pas
through these stages, in despite of any
effort made to cuI them short. by thu
resources offour art. So universally i:
this law recognized by the profession
that any physician, who should atfeInp
to cut short any one of them by the US,
of heroic remedies, would be consider
ed as trifling with the lives of his pa
tients. s3[1
Fifth. Added to the property OF re
production within the blood, thes,
poisons have also the property Of pro
paEating themselves through the htmos
phere, under certain unknown eondi
lions, and of thus becoming epidemic
This would seem to constitute them
connecting link between the eSelusiSel,
contagious, and the exclusively epi
uemtc Diseases
Sixth. When not epidemic, these di
seases spread gradually from some cen
ire. ana anect equally the most of thos
exposed 10 the icOntagion.a unless the,
enjoy the protection OF some prophy