Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-06-27
THE w'BLACK Death. lgl
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For more than fourteen mouths a mystic
rlous disease has been 5displayiug q rapid
and fatal activity In Ireland. The first case
occurred as far back as-tlfe 18th of March,
1866. -Ansappfentiees teSa sufgeonaihsDub-
lfa1had felt nnwell. and remained indoors
during the day, taking his meals, however.
e usual. BE had a bad night, and COM
plainFIiiof headache ins the im0rniugs and
his master then; remarked some spots upon
his Chest DIR. Stokes, an eminent Dubfin
physician. was sinlmediately sent for. and
saw the patientat IL AIM. He found him
perfectly collected, and inapparently ordi-
nary strength but the LETT arm and lett,
breastwere covered thiekly with large pur-
pie patches of the deepest hue. 10 Both 1ned9f
fcaf men ifecog gnfzed that they were IN the
presence of q case whiehlif an attack of
typhus fever, was certainly such as neither
of them had ever witnessed before, II w hen
Dr., Stokes returned two hours later, a
great change sbadsIitakensl placer Tbe
patient was as self possessed as before, but
the left arm. and breast; were now com,
pletely black. At half past one the young
MISUNDERSTANDING ups in bed, discussing his
case with his master; and as he complatned1
Of great thirst, the latter went from the
bedside to the windowsst0 mix cooling
draught but upon turning around almost
instantly he saw to his horror that collapse
more than twenty -four hours of the first
sign or iniisposition,i within eight or nine
hours of theSappearance of any formidable
syuptoms,s and within half an hour OF be-
iigs infnll possession of all his faculties
and considerable amount of muscs-
lar strength. theampatient y was dee O.
Abfew5sother eases occurred during the
spriug and early summer, all Il pre-
sPntfng the same general features, and |
all fatal butc with the appearance of
cholera in August, this strange disease van
ished. With the approach of spring, how
the new cases was that of a healthy child
about five years old. Here the first symp-
tom of illness was noted at A. NJ; at i
A. NJ. small purple eruption appeared,
generally diffused over the body; at z.
N. the whole body was covered with large |
purple patches; coma gradually super
vened. and at P. III. died. The last audi
BILE utterances of the child were complaints
of cold. Another case occurred at the
Pyrtobello Cavalry barrack on the 18th of
Aprfl. An officer had complained on the
previous morning of feeling slightly un-
well. He got feverish toward night, had
little sleep, suffered from headache. and
was occasionally incoherent.
In the morning, about o'clock, purple |
spots appeared, which spread rapidly hot
In Size and number, until the whole body j
became covered with them. Collapse set
in with the usual suddenness, and at IL A.
NJ. he was dead. Within ten mint ties after
death the superficial purple hue had given
place to aJose red. I'm the following week
q boy about nine or ten years old was at
tackled in the same rapid way. When seen
at Up. NJ. his body was all dotted hwith |
purple speeks; the pulse was scarcely per- |
ceptible at the wrist, but the action of the
heart was perfect; he was In full possession |
of muscular strength and mental faculties
aud felt 50 little III that he complained BIT
terly of being kept in bed. At z P. NJ. he
was dead.
In the beginning of April the first pro-
vincial cases were noticed. They were
connected wifh-the troops who-had been
engaged in pursuit OF the insurgen 8
through the Galtee mountains. Two or
three soldiers, a married woman and a |
couple Of children were attacked; ythej
woman and one of the soldiers recovered, |
the others died. The fatal cases were re-
markable for great suffering, which no |
skill seemed capable ofHrelieying. Indeed,
the children appear to have screamed
themselves to death in the violence of the
pain which no efforts could mitigate. In |
all these cases there were indications of
considerable Inflammation of the brain and
spinal column. A special interest attaches
to these military cases, as throwing son
light upon the question OF. .contagiousness.
The mother of the children washed for
some of the soldiers OF the flying column.
among whom we have just mentioned the
attack of the new disease occurred, and in
this way the disorder may, it is conceived,
have been communicated. At this moment
q awoman is In the Meath Hospital in Dublin
withllier young child, both suffering from
this malady; and DIR. Stokes, wi'o
has them personally in charge, has
declared his conviction that this is
an =unquestionable case of contagiou. z L
1t appears, then, that strange and ter
ribIy fatal disease exists in Ireland,, and as
yet chiefly in Dublin. The general fea-
lures of the preliminary stage are bilious
vomiting and sometimes purging, and l.
usually headache of unparalleled intensity,
with ineoherency. Then comes the purple
eruption, accompanied, in most cases, by
great debility, and followed by collapse and
death. The duration of the Illness is of
three-fold variety. In the first, where the
period is reckoned by hours, one case was
fatal in four hours from the occurrence of
the first symptoms; but the average is
eighteen hours. The second variety in
cludes from three to six days from the first
indications of indisposition to the fatal
issue. The third variety, in which alone
any recoyeries have taken place, embraces
. period extending to,many days. and even
weeks. 1t is hardly necessary to say that
In Dublin great interest is felt upon the
subject among the members OF the medi-
al profession, and considerable anxiety q
,assfe been awakened among the gem
raj t,ttf,lie.. a lready the Medical ASsoci-