Daily national Republican. (Washington City [D.C.]) 1870-1872, 1872-11-06
THEORY OF rHE. HORsE DISEASE.


The Medical Geography Of the EqulRe Epidemic.
The New York Rerdld has the following;
The great horse epidemic, which Is raw
aging the eastern half of the continent and
has Just made Its appearance In England,
seems 10 be Intimately connected with certain
woll-maTked meteorological phenomena. 1t
Is of tho utmost Importance to the proper
management Of the disease, as well as TO the
discovery Of It's physical relations and Its an
ticipatlon In future years, to ascertain Its
casual links.
In tho public equine calamity 1t has es-
capped popular observation, and even the
press that this epidemic was not unforeseen
by scientific men, and was distinctly fore.
Swallowed In accordance with physical or
cOsmictl law, some months ago. Since the
solar researches Of Secchl, Smith, De La Rue
and others have demonstrated the ClOse Their
NAL and atmospheric relations of our globe
with the recurrence of sun spots, In supra
annual cycles, II has been possible TO name
the period of nearly twelve years as one
which brings the greatest aerial and electri-
cal arrangements TO our planet.
Last year several Of our scientists, counting
1913 and 1860 AZ late historic periods OF max
imum sun spots, predicted for 1879 tho present
prevalence Of the numerous vegetable blights
aud the present scOurges of the animal king
dom. The striking s!multaneity Of the cpl
nipple In this country and the cattle diseases
now raging In the countries of South America
ON opposite sides of the Equator, would
induce the belief that the cause Is not teTres-
| trial but planetary aud cOsmlcal This helps
| TO uhrayel the mystery and is step In the
right direction.
But II seems also clear that cOsmical agen-
Giles operate upon our planet through Its
great atmospheric machinery. Thus, accord
ing to the high authority OF the English
| physCst Keith johnson, the northeast wind
Is distinctly catarrhal In Its influence; the
| southwest wind Is singularly malarial aud
| the dry northwest wind, from the higher con-
tinent sweeping over the Northwestern
States and Territories lying west of Lake gu
perior, Is tho yitaliEing current which cor
reefs tho evil effects of the others. This dis
tlnCtlon Is now the well-acceptcd tenet OF the
ablest expOsltOrs OF medical geography and
Is highly practical and suggestive.
The nOrthest wind, which for some time has
descended over our country from the Cana
dian borders and the west side of the North
Atlantic ocean, Is apparently charged with
climatiCal conditions favorable 10 the develop
ment of influenza, CatarTh and similar Aftec-
tons. II reaches us after passing over Can
ada, but originally comes from the further
ocean beyond, having, doubtless, tTayeTsed
the great Polar current and Ice stream which
desceuds southwark through Batlln's bay and
Davis strait. and on the other side Of Green
land, In the channel between that frozen
continent and Iceland. In both. the latter
countries catarrhal fevers and asthmatlc dis
cases Of the lungs are nOtOrlOusly severe and
common, and II is said Icelanders seldom out
live fifty years, owing to the prevalence OF
such epidemlCs.
Il Is, perhaps, not too much TO hope that
solar and meteorological investigations will
enable the scientific world u anticipate more
confidently the irruptiOn OF these great ad-
yersarles of man and beast and enable ne 10
chart the limits and zones within which they
will move. Such a result would bo Of pro-
found interest 10 the whole world.