Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-04-30
TnaE CHaOLERA.l
RFedispos1hE Canses and symptoms

i ~ the Disense.
EN fFrom tle New York News. Apr,lb41
DrlJ a Wehster delivered y lecture last
l,ooeninc OF the rooms az the Nav York
lIfnive,:sitv .,rnn mo ca,ses ossnesti,ence.
The Doctor began by saving that the
snhiect was one of oreat inteeest to the
nu6lic at the nresenf time So absorbed
had been the country that nothing had been
done to prevent IT, The pestilence had
been prevailino In Eurone during the past
wear. and indoino from its nreyious his
| torv there was, every probability that It
woIld visit this countrv durinS the coming
summer. No investigation thus far had
! been able TO stay its progress: and vet every
petson at the present time ought to study
| its treatment aud SYMPTOMS. IL was folly
| to shut our ewes to thetanger which men
| aced our city. " n.sl 0i Tn1@DHI i9'a
After continuing III this strain for some
| time, by way OF INTRODUCTION, the Doctor
said there were several questions which it
| was necessarily incumbeiit upon men or
science to- decide: .f1H y ilHE l-I
7" /. How should the pestilence be prevent
| ed from spreadingg lt'5 p9'l3i.''
2. How ought rs pathology to be man
aged in caseof attack? ff'l cl
g. How could It be prevented ia individ-
ual cases? iT.H ~ iia. N
The disease had three distinct periods;
the incubation, the sinking, and, in cases
where patients were saved, the reaction.
In general the symptoms of the disease
were so marked that there was no danger
of mistaking them for the symptoms of any
other disorder. The disorder was General
| ly preceded by diarrhea the excremeHt
| yoided being Of yellowish color, and bill
| ious in its nature. ". roo 'il ln aA .l
This was lust as really stage of the dis
order as was the aggravated stage of the
disease called the stage of invasion. If the
disease was met at this stage there was
very little danger. The dejections after
ward became of different order, marked
with granulations similar in appearance to
| boiled rice swimming in water. A great
alteration now comes over the appearance
Of the patient, so that even the patients
most intimate friends sometimes did not
! know him. The yomit also assumed the
Same appearance as the reflections; and in
| persons of strong vital temperaments
| Cramps now interviewed, which, having ex-
hansted the system, the period of collapse
Began. There was no perspiration save a
cold, clammv dampness, which bore little
analogy to trtie and healthy perspirations.
The body at tIis stage exhaled cadayerous
odbr, and the patient wished to sleep. The
grasp of death was, however, upon him.
Land already his funeral knell was sounding
I In his ears .h' W l.H' .i."f
A reaction might, however, intervene,
and the patient might recover (; but this was
only occasional. 'in.'d "''H
The spasmodic contractions sometimes
/ Continued after death, giving rise in some
| cases to singular SUPERSTITION. In one or
! two cases the ewes had been known to open
after death; in others, the hands had been
| spasmodically lifted and clasped upon the
breast: aud in not few cases bodies had
been known to turn over in the coffin. 90
The period of disease varied 1. ON five or
! six hours to five or six days; and patients
had been known to die even in the course
of three hours. After death the cadavera,
although carefully examined, had never
presented any symptoms to throw light
upon the origin of the disease.
In general, the disease was seldom known
| to attack persons of correct physiological
habits and good constitutions. There were
predsposing causes which must not be
overlooked. An atmosphere loaded with
animal effluvia was one of the elements by
which the disease was sdeveloped. The
abodes of the poor, crowded with the
vicious, Incorporate and squaid, were
strongholds of the pestilence; and here men
fell down and died, and their bodies rOtted
where they lay, so terribly rapid were the
ravages of the demon.
The lecturer here entered into an elabOr-
ate description of the historical phases
which the disorder had presented. Damp
-. II