Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1866-07-23

pr taoF. 4. ?. EurcnER, n. D.

pOsSu 10 &c form even u tneOig uPoH
subject, that viii pass the ordeal OF rigid
criticism without harm. When the disease
6rst made its appearance medical men
directed their attention mainly to the
stomach and intestines, supposing that they
had found in the vomiting and purging the
explanation of the cause of the malady;
which cause to them was the irritation oil
the alimeatary canal. But subsequent oo-
s~ervation has shown this view of the case TO
be superficial. Observation soon taught
them that The danger of the attack was not
always proportionate to the activity OF the
vomiting and purging, but that it was ire
quently extremely severe and fatal where
but little of these had occurred. Indeed
their attention was o exclusively drawn to
their fancied seat of the disorder, that they
never looked for another
But as they became better acquainted
with the disease, as it presented itself to
their view in different epidemies, they
| began 10 look upon it as something more
than a local disorder. In their search for
It's origin, they were guided by what they
had learned in regard to the blood, its
| changes and degenerations and they OBJ
served tina in cholera there was a peculiar
alteration in the healthy constituents of
the blood, which was attended by certain
LESSONS oftbe walls of the capiilaries Of the
alimeGtary canal by means of which large
quantities of serum passed through them,
and was poured directly into the stomach
ard intesiines, producing the profuse purg-
ing and vomiting so eommonly present in
malignant cholera.
They, also, observed that in consequence
of these changes in the blood, the outflow
ing of the watery portion WAS produced
with wonderful rapidity, while the more
solid portion was retained in the vessels,
and rendered thick, dark and liable to stag
ma and produce congestion Of the vessels.
The thick blood also -snates N inc eaPu-
laries of the skin, producing thai blueness
always observed in the adyEneed stage OF
the disease. In the large veins in the brain,
and in the liver, this slagnaeon also occurs,
causing difficulty of breathing, deafness,
thirst, numbness, and that peculiar marble
GOODNESS SO universally present in the col
lapse stage of the malady.
This explanation of the phenomena OF
cholera is insaccordance with the recorded
observations Of medical men in every part
of the world yet it is not satisfactory to all,
for SEINE deny that any explanation can be
| given which is not free from serious and
fatal objections, and they desire to know
how it is, if the blood is really separated,
that a part of the serum is not thrown into
the cellular tissue, and not the whole Of it
poured into the alimentary canal, or
thrcHEh the skin in prOfuse perspiration.
Why are not tho pleural and abdominal
cavities filled with the fluid? Why is the
patient not attacked with dr0psy of the
chest? are questions urged against this
theory of the nature Of the affection.
The answer TO these objections is found
in the specific action of the cholera poison
upon the system. 1t exerts its baneful in
fluence chiefly upon the nerves which sup
ply vital force to the walls ofthe blood YES
sells of the ailmentary canal, impairing
their contractility in such a manner that
they refuse longer to retain the serum of
the blood. Ithas been a question with some
whether this want Of eontraetility was
primary or secondary. One class have sup
posed thst the relaxed condition of the
blood vessels snd the consequent out-dux
of the fluid impaired the nervous forces;
while another supposed that the pOisons in
troduced into The system. acting directly
upon the great nervous centers lessen the
nerve power, and the loss of that nerve
power leads to the wont of contractility of
the blood vessels, and consequently exhal-
alton of serum. i l should give an opin-
ion as to which of these views is the true
one, would decide in favor of the latter,
for 1t can beelearly demonstrated that there
IS some morbid agent which enters the sys-
Il tam pIthar thrnnuh tho Innrg - N.,o.,k
that depresses the nervous system, and
produce all those symptoms that we call
malignant cholera.
What that morbid agest IS re cannot
/ tell. 1t may be the want of electricity or
ozone. It may be the influence of some
deadly faint or ~impregnsti9n received by
our atmosphere from some source in space.
And lastly, it may DO the product of de-
composing vegetable or animal matter, I'M
der certain conditions of the atmosphere,
such as excessive moisture and heat. Phe
epidemic now anticipated in this country
appears to have originated from the decom-
position of animal matter, and certain other
conditions unfavOrable to health, We have
already stated that it originated at Mecca.
That it Suddenly broke out at the celebra-
ton of a great MahOmed4n festival. II is
stated IN a report made to the Emperor by
the French Minister of Foreign Affairs,
that the number of individuals assembled
from all Mahomedan countries could not
have been less than 200, 900, and the guam
tity of shaaa and eameIs slaughtered ex-
eesded a million. 1t is not astonishing that
his agglomeration of human beings, the
circumstances under which they met, and
the quantity of offal which was
abandoned upon the ground, should pro-
duce a pestilential miasma which proved SO
destructive to the congregated pilgrims,
aud may in the end become an epidemic
center to infect the whole world.
Physicians may differ as much as they
please about the cause and nature of malig-
nant cholera Indeed they may plead igno-
rance on these points; but not SO in regard
to its mode of propagation. 1 don't see how
any intelligent man who is acquainted with
Its history, can for a moment doubt its com
municability. And | feel free to say that
if every pilgrim who visited Mecca one
year ago last May had fallen a victim to
the disease on the spot, the present epidemic
would then and there have terminated its
existence. Its rapid spread all along the
route taken by the returning pilgrims, teach
US q most instructive lesson on its cOnta-
g~iousness. In every instance it has gone
forward with their varying rate of travel,
exhibiting q speed of movement accordant
with the mode in which they travelled.
We have not space TO give particulars, but
will refer the reader to DR.. Reads report on
the co-ntagiousness of cholera, made to the
Health Commissioner of the city of Bos-
ton, Mass, January q, 1866.
Although we believe that cholera is al
ways communicated by infection, yet it
has a limited sphere of infection, for those
only who are predisposed. Small pox is
much more certainly infectious, as predis-
position has no control over it; nearly all, |
whether feeble or robust, who nave not ok
perienced the disease, or are not protected
by vaccination, being almost certain to take
it. We believe that il can be demonstrated
beyond the possibility of contradiction, that
cholera is the disease of the filthy, the
wretched and debilitated. It attacks those,
and those only, who are in a debilitated
condition, from defective or insufficient
n~ourishment, bad air, fear, grief, exhaus-
tion from either heat or cold, excessive
labor, Oyer-exeitement of the emotions or
passions, and intemperanee in eating or
drinking.
FRoN LAKE SUPERIoR.-The Ironsides,
Capt ]. E. Turner, arrived from Lake Su-
perior at s o'clock on Sunday morning,
having left ontanogon on the 18th. We are
indebted to the clerk, Mr.. Gordon, for the
following data of her downward trip. The
Ironsides left Esgle River, Eagle Harbor