The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-03-05
rcs,slcntial Epidemic In Persta--Re'
.;.;t,tion OF AN Ancient Sconrgc.

..,,,,,irnnle January 81 Correspondence Of the
London Times.
When the report Of the outbreak of pes
,cn,;al endemic in Persia, near the Turkish
.,.,r,i,rs. reached Constanunople, notWlth-
-,n1;nc the assurances given by the Persian
,y,rnmeut to the effect that the epidemic
S,~,. not the plague, the Ottoman sanitary
S,c,rrtncnt. while recommending the great
=, ,iriIance to the sanitary officers at the
s~on,irrs. Fastened to dispatch DIR. Castaldi,
~ ottoman sanitary delegate, attached to
h, Turkish Embassy at Teheran, to the spot
i ing,,;re into the nature Of the disease. DR..
a.iaidi has now sent in his report, which is
3oo,t carefully drawn up, and contains most
a,uabic Information. In his opinion there
-,anot be any doubt on the char
,,t,r Of the disease which has made its
rn.gr-lnce in the Persian kurdistan. The
5n1ady is characterized By q strong fever, ac-
|..yun}nicd with typhus symptoms, with the
,..nsqn.ncc Of buboS under the arms, in the
.~rio, and insthe neck; OF carbuncles on va
ION, parts of the body, and Of spots scat
,rrpi over the whole surface of the skin. 1t
.4r-n. the sufferer off quickly, attacking
several houses in one place and several per-
s.o, IN the same family, and transmits itself
from m infected place to healthy one. Such
rrnIy, saws DR.. CaStaldi, cannot he any
slinl Int the eastern plague OF former times.
s,ro~djng to the report, it is during the last
winner mat the plague appeared III the dis
,ri.,, o.; ,lukrv, in the AdcrUidlan. in two
VILLAGES situated at short distance from
,,rl other. and called Djoumouchan and
,rt.,uouz. These two small villages have
lr,n completely Gcpopulated, only seven or
i..l, persons having been spared by the
...vrsc. Unable to trace the existence OF the
,lg.,u" beyond the district of Mukry, Dr.
r.>;ala feels at loss 10 point out the causes
which have produced the epidemic, FOR the
district i not only the hcalthicst i'll all Per
;a but has also escaped from the famine
,,rjch has 20 cruelty visited and continues to
,i,ii the other parts Of that kingdom. If an
,,ibrcak of the plague, says Or. Casta!dI,
u.., anywhere to hc apprehcnded, 1t would
r. surely in the khoraSsan and III Ears, where
H.. famine made such friglttul rlvagcS
where men enough could not be found to III
f., the dead bodies left lmburied in the
>,r,,.ts and in the hazaarS, and where pa
rent, sold their children for few francs
~ save them from starvation and pro
,fc themselves with little bread
u.. C:istaldi. therefore, inclincs to think
,t.t the plague in the Persian kur
dI.,7n should be attributed to tho
c>r.>>ivc dryncSS and to the cattle disease
vlieh the district of Mukry shared i'll com
.uon with the rest Of Persia. His opinion on
IN, pn;nt. however, is not admitted here by
N" health authorities. They maintain thai
the i,aguc in Persia is the consequence o
thc terrible famine which prevailed in thai
country. and must have been imported into
the district Of Mukry from other quarters il
the interior. They. moreover, understand
that br. Castaldi has been unable to trace thu
rpiIrmic further in the interior; for get
ting a, the truth in Persia is next to i'm
possible, and the Government itself j.
generally only made acquainted with the
,picmic existing on It's territory through
,ly authorities of the bordering countries
Il WA, the Ottoman Sanitary Depart
mcnt that first int,natcd the existence OF
:hc plr~Gc in the kurdistan to the Per
ian Government. The mortality caused hy
the >rnurgc. and asccrtaned by DR.. Castald
j. approximately calculated as follows: al
Hana. -: at kani.i;s, /; i'll kalava, 2I; in
iioumouchan, 81; in ArbanouZ. SO; at Itch
trpr. leo; in Sandiak, 81 ; at Gutepe, II; in
thalr,b, IS; at Rahim-khan, 2I; and ir
hk6jcvan, 1@--to,al, 800. DR.. Castald
farther declares that the epidemic in ques
ton has exhibited the wcll-known character
istics of contagion. He concludes by stating
that since his departure from the hurdistal
10 further news respecting the plague hat
arrived at Tchcran, except a communication
IL the Persian Government to the effect th;,
the plague had disappeared, n communica
ton 10 which he does not seem to attacl
--r,yt f,itb