The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-09-04
"A Few Worfy Ahous SJ,sesa


count Of its history, as showing its oriein.
It's means OF transmission from one country
TO another, the peculiar conditions which
are favorable to its Developments Id above
all, the simple erremedies that, may be an
piled, at least to check It's proer ress, 3f ret
to cure or eradicate It,, will, We think. ba
of peculiar interest at the present time. A
more intimate knowledge Of Its character
istics will dispel half its terrors, and thus
prove agreat safeguard against its raYages:
for fear and the consequent mental depres-
sion haYe, as is known, killed more than
the disease itself. 5ct S. -
The East is the habit Of cholera, and its
first appearance in Europe was In the year
1922. AS an epidemic it spreads with great
rapidlty and with terrible results, for, its
symptoms We're q novelty at that time to
the medical protessions and its treatment
but little understood. -, II r,#
Much doubt then existed In the minds
OF the leading physicians of the day as TO
whether the development of this pestilence
arose from contagion, or. whether it was an
atmospheric, and therefore an unavoidable
scourge. But rs scientific research has
since led to the conviction that it partakes
more OF the, former characteristic, and may
thus be considered as preYentable disease,
it has tended, to reassure many and thus
to save life. The true sense of the term
contagious is " communicable" implying
that person attacked with the cholera
may transmit it under certain conditions to
others, and in this way the disease may
be carried to any distance. But when q
distinct neighborhood is infected, ex.
perience has shown that the. atmos.
phere itself becomes tainted. The expla.
nation of this is that. the excreta are
charged with the germs Of the disease,
which are easily disseminated, if proper
sanitary regulations are not adopted to
carry off the sources of its diffusion by pro.
per drainage and ventilation. For an eX-
PLANTATION Of those conditions which are
favorable to The development OF an cpl.
demic, we have only to turn to the little
regard paid to public health In the towns
and cities of mediayal Europe. Crowded
within a narrow compass, hemmed in by
high walls, all sanitary laws neglected in
the unsettled and. disoreanized condition o!
society then existing, the masses were
declmated by constantly recurring plaques,
feyers and famiues. Professor Parkes says:
Z" Whoever considers. carefully the record
of the medieval epidemics, and seeks to
interpret them by our present know.
ledge of the causes Of diseases, will, I be.
HeYe, become convinced that one great rea-
son why those epidemic diseases were so
frequent and so fatal was the compression
OF the population in faulty habitatfons. III.
contriyed and closely-packed houses, with
narrow streets, often made winding for the
purpose: OF defence o very poor supply
OF water, and therefore universal un.
cleanness a: Wsnt Of all appliances
Ior the removal OF excreta; popu.
latton of. rude, careless. and gross
habits, living often on innutritious food
and frequently exposed to famine from
their imperfect system of tillage such were
the conditions which almost throughout
the whole. Of Europe enabled diseases tc
attain range and TO display virulence O
which we have now scarcely conception
The more these matters are examined tht
more, believe, shall we be convinced tha
we must look, not to grand cosmical condi
tions-not to earthquakes, comets, or myS
teriouS waves of an unseen and poisonou
air-not to recondite epidemic constitu
tions-but to simple, familiar, and house
hold conditions, TO explain the spread ant
fatality Of the medieval plaques"
1t is by causes such as these that epi
denies are fostered, and. indeed, NAV hay
their origin. The "black death" has it
starting point and permanent habitat il
Egypt, where the Arab, his wives, chill
dren, servants, and domestic animals, exis
huddled together in state which the dis
tineuished observer Clot Bey has describet
in the words, "Unheard of filth reigns il
their infected haunts." Their strength /
destroyed by their precarious supply Q
food, which they cook over fires made witt
dried manure.
We now draw these conclusions: First
that the cholera Is not atmospheric ant
therefore unavoidable, but simply a diseas,
communicable either by contact through
the medium of the eXcreta, or by o specia
charging of the atmosphere with the mi
aSma arising therefrom. Secondly, tha
want Of personal cleanliness, improper an(
insufficient food, close and badly ventilated
apartments, imperfect drainage and want
of q supply OF fresh, untainted water, in
intemperance, which enfeebles and de-
ranges the whole system, are what aggra
Yates the disease and lead to the fatal pro
portions it assumes. Thirdly, that with 8
proper observance of these sanitary laws
which are to-day so we'll understood, by
judicious use Of such medicinal remedies as
will check the earliest symptoms of diar.
an abundant outward application Of colo
water, while living in properly drained
neighborhood, the approach OF this pest
may be regarded almost with Indifference.
Pettenkofer has asserted that the germ
is formed by and in the. eXcreta of the
patient, and by and in those persons who
may not have been actually seized with the
complaint, but have been living within the
sphere of its devastations, whereSoever such
excrcta are left neglected. This is strong
argument in favor OF the strictest quaran.
tine, and of the disinfection of all conta.
eious matter. In unpublished address II
| 1S49, Mr.. Kirby, an eminent English
authority on these matters, says:
eff in the dispensations Of Providence
| il be so ruled that my house shall be visited
with cholera, I purpose to act upon the
conviction of its contagious character. Al
| in typhus, the sick shall be insulated from
| the rest of the family, due ventilation
cleanliness, and quiet shall be observed
while nothing shall be given, either in die
or in medicine, save as skill directs, ant
under the administration OF proper nursing
attendants" rg.
| No wiser precautions can be used, and
| is undoubtedly the proper course to pursue
In acting on the possibility OF the dlseas'
being communicable or spreading from per
| son to person. .,,
The Importance Of pure water IS illus
| trated by. two instances given in the re
searches of the late DR.. Snow, who origi
mated the idea that cholera was sprea'
by the water used for drinking. Th
one shows The decrease of cholera fo
lowing improved water supply; the othe
| its increase when the quality of that ne
cessary element is deteriorated. Th
cases of cholera in Exeter, England
In 1892 exceeded 1000. The water wa
supplied by carriers from the river int
| which all the sewage flowed. Befor
the next visitation which deYasted tn
! country, the. water was taken fron
spot two miles above the town, an
| as result, in 1S43 but forty-fou
cases occurred, and in 1854 hardly one
On the other hand, Hull, England, II
n,,nnliod r1rifh nj ~