The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-02-12
.stHams sslig4abE
AlQND MORNING. FEBRU u 1865


their rose-cOlored and mulberry spots,
and yeti nofwriter has spoken of any
similar phenomenon attending the. deI
yeiopnient of cholera. II such eharacT
! teristie of oficontagiouspoison had exist
ed, lit is scarcely reasonableito suppose
that it would not have been detected by
some one of the thousands of intelli5
gent physicians who ohnve observed and
ttreated the disease. Not having been
. discovered it is fair to presume that, "
idoess not eSist7TIID non d1pqr realtio'ts et
1lop eFistentibltS edGleBl estffdtto.i l5sts-!
From the foregoing facts and consid-
erations, 1t is fair 10 conclude that chol-
era is not propagated by the same spe7
. Eetesaofl contagfon1 whiehJ governs the
spread of. other contagious diseases,
and.we now ret urn to the direct ques7
ton how is 1t propagated2 2 sl;5..' al
From an that has been said, twill be
: rendily inferred, that we believe 1t to be
tey1andeSl 1l4fongha atm6sphertc me-
: dunn, and that as a general rule,
. through that medium alone is it capa1
BILE OF, extension. {. sWe'saY, as general r
rule, because facts seems TO warrant the
lbe1ief that II is Tia Bile to occasio iopal ex-
: Fceptions. AS there is principle in the
blood1which favors the reproduction OF
Eanimal pqisons,, and which, when ex7
hausted, destroys Susceptibility, 50 in
! the atmosphere thereexists some prip-
I ciple, upon which mospherio poisons
I depend for. their reproduction, and
when thisipripoiple: exhausted, atmo-
spheric suscepGb bility is. also destroyed.
; I'm bpthssuseeph hbility may efenewed,
EnfteEia longer or. orter5 pefiodTmore
hthanln the Iblob 81 here il anere pos
. sibfIiEy that IN ie& eeptiona1 cases atmo-
sphefie poisons- may meet with their
proper pabuluni In the blood, and thus
b6 reproduced;ajus as the blood pois-
IONS sometimes become epide demici but
fthus far. NOT the Sill hest evidence of
this fact has been furnished. d NTH re-
gard to atmospheric poisbns, that of
! ch0lera seems to occupy the same rela-
4 tive position, that the;Small-pox poison
Il does to the other blood SPoisons. They
hars each tlief HoSt Intensely contagieus
of their kind, and facts seem to war
I rant the belief, that one Individual may
carry so much rofsthe cholerich poison
i1bonti his person as to produce. disease
lin. others of high suseept tibflitY, inde-
Ependent1y of atmospheric impurities.
With these reservations, it may be as
\ serted, ,thAtithe'whole impression made
l5upon the system, in any given case, is
liderived from the quantity ol the poison
in the atmosphere which surrounds the
ttpatient, and not from any, mulGplica-
lion of that poison, after Its introduc-
tion into the system. Whether the poIs-
on makes its impression directly on the
mucous membranes, or whether being
u lEabsorbed, it acts on the nerve tilaments,
lin every part of the body, is question
3 whichiI do not propose to discuss at the
J ipresent time nor is its decision at all
material to the Issues However intro
duced, no more of it is there than was
derived from the atmosphere. The at
In6sphere alone furnishes the pabufnm,
upon whioh the increase of the poison
is made to depend. Were It otherwise
did the tluids of the bod " contain the
Epabu1um for its reproduction,t the small
III
sorbed, would be capable OF producing
the most violent disease; a Conclusion
certainly not warranted by its history.
lit is notorious that cholera never as
sumes, as violent n type, or proves as
fatal, in cities or portions of cities, re-
EmarlSable9 for their cleanliness, as 1t
does in filthy localities, although an
fequa1 proportion of the populationlmay
Ebe slightly af1ectedrby the disease. In
lrural districts, with a comparatively
pure atmosphere, alth ough, the presence
of the posion was manifested by slight
and transient effects, yet death 'as the
! result was of very rare occurrence. Per
sons visiting thefc from these dis
tricts were sooniseized With the disease,
insits violent forms, and many Of them
died. Many persons passed through
! the entire epidemic, carrying full loads
of the poison, hy-caretuiiy avoiding
exciting causes, escaped without an at
tack, whilst others not so careful, We're
attacked and died. Near The close of
the epidemic in Wheeling, young
man, who had been in the city from its
commencement, laid q wager that he
taking the cholera. He eat the cherries
. and died in less than twelve hours.
Now these cannot be considered as
J mere epincidences.i Ut wondI scarce
ly Reasonable to suppose that small
quantity of the poison having been
had there multiplied itself, and culmin-
ated in active disease, just when the in
diViduals reached the, city, or. just at
the TIME. the young man happened to
swallow the cherries, and that it would
. equally have happened, without these
circumstances. The facts however are
! all reconcftable upon the principle of
atmospheric propagation.
1t would seem that the pabulum upon
. whichthe choleraic poison depends for
! IT'S S'pTopagatio must exist, TO a limit
IseSteiit,- ht ileast, in atmoSpheres re-
mote from the habitations of man. 1t
! is also evident, that this pabulum may
J be increased, and in consequence, the
| poison multiplied and concentrated by
| causes under the control of every COM
, munity. In illustration of these posi-
| tions n fe&5 facts Jnay be mentioned.
y The disease has certainly crossed broad
sheets of water, as far as could be aScer-
tanned, in direct line, and not in the
usual track of navig gabfeS eSessels. Inan
i article on the subject of contagion,
written by James johnson, the Then
editor, and to be found in number of
J the Medic0SG GIirtlr9 9icdE ReOi6lc, publish
ed in 1882 or 1885, will be found the his
y tory of two or oreivessslSiwhtch lett
European port; ;yxhere cholera had not
, prevailed, and did not exist at the time
! Of their departure. Ono of these ves-
J sells CROSSED, the direct line of march
J; which the cholera was supposed to have
taken, in its transit from Europe to
America. Very soon after crossing this
VI line - the passengers and crew were
: seized with cholera and many OF
) them died. This fact proves one, if not
! both, the positions it is intended to
! illustrates: First, the existence of the
Il poison in an atmosphere far removed
from the abodeS of man, and second,
} its power of Teprodu duction, when intro
} duced, even ,in.smRfl quantities, into an
; atmosphere favorable Tor its propaga-
{ tion. Eitherit existed, in mid-ocean,
in Quantities Sufficient to produce The
! disease, or what Is much more proba-
: BILE, being in small quantity, il rapidly
? propagated itself when 1t encountered
the impure atmosphere of the vessel.
The other ship or ships which let the
: port about the same time, but which
did not cross this track, escaped the dis
, ease entirely.lf 5s.isif-
Many circumstances, forcibly illus
! tratiug the fact, that particular causes
J favor the rapid reproduction of the
, poison, fell under my observation. AT
the outbreak of the cholera, in Wheels
ing, in the. spring of 1888, the market
square tTas in n state of unpreeedente
!, market and other Impurities, had aecnf
I mulatad TO the deDth of SayeEal inches,