The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1877-05-16
(COMMUNIcATFD
STAFE BOARD OF mEAH.TGE.
Ins.-R Relations TO Quarantine.

prevention OF disease, nave ueNOteu an
undue amount of space 10 smallpox, and
is milder substitute. vaccination. it was
b cause the relationship that existed be-
tween those two conditions Of disease ard
tIo-.. bearings upon each other are better
understood AMI furnish u familiar illustra-
tion TO the people for whom these commu-
nications are intended, and not because it Is
the only disease in which an example of
prevention may be found.
There Is scarcely disease in the whole
list oi "ilIs that flesh II heir to- that may
not b. prevented, or whose severity may
not be very materially mtigated by the
operation of well-knnwn sanitary regula-
tions, which the civil authority alone can
enforce. especially is this true OF all contag-
ions infections aud epidemic diseases, such
a measles, scarlet fever, yellow fever, dyp-
iberia, cholera, typhoid, etc
The theory of the caus1ti n of this class
of Dis ass, which has been adopted by
.i,ffiv Of the leading scientists of the age
is that they are produced by minute living
organisms. which find their way into our
bodies through the air breathe, or the
water we drink, when they increase and
multiply to an extent far beyond the pow
ers of arithmetic to compute them, until
they poison or contaminate the very stream
of life-tha blood. IL is customary to liken
this process OF increase to the propagation
aud growth of the yeast plant. well known
L, brewers and bakers, in which ''little
leaven leaveneth the whole lump. AccJr-
ding To this Theory, the poison which pro-
daces ii contagious or infections disease Is
a licing germ possessing its own specific in
GividuaIity, and IL aS distinct and perfect IN
its natural history as any other living cred-
ture. great or small. In thai cutlueous dis
ease which used to be common among
school bows, with dirty hands, the uch. the
cause is easily discovered with glass lens
OF Slight magnifyingp0wer. 1t is the itch
mite. small parasite that burrows beneath
the skin, where it lays eggs, httches latter
its kind" and dlss. The itch mite will al
ways produce itch, and it produce nothing
else but itch, and nothing else will produce
itch but the i.ch-mite; hence we say that
the specific poison in the case Of itch, i the
itch mite, and that the speciti: poison of
yellow fever, is the yellow fever mite. or
stree it is smaller than than the micro>croplc
mite, we call it yellow fever germ. To
catch the itch it is necessary TO come in con
,act with the itch-mite. To catch yellow
fever /. is equally necessary to come in con-
tact with the yellow fever germ; but the
itch is gradually disappearing from the face
of the earth, Ii is certainly not so common
as it was thirty years ago. The writer OF
this had the itch, when a boy, in common
with the other urchins of his age, but the
small boy of the present era seems to be
deprived of that doubtful luxury. higher
civilization, and its invari4ble accompani
ment, soap and water, have washed the
itch-m away! Isolation and cleanliness
will eventually exterminate the disorder.
1t is not my intention to elaborate this
germ theory of disease, in a communication
addressed to the general reader, and make
this brief allusion to it only for the purpose
of conveying the accepted and prevailing
idea among medical philosophers that the
diseases of this class Contagious. infectious
and epidemic) are specific in their character
and are produced in every instance, by the
action OF the specific germ. In the absence
OF that germ, the disease cannot BE- Produc-
ed. The living disease producing germ
must come i'll contact with the human Or
ganiSm before infection can take place.
This germ cannot be generated spontaneous
w. 70 produce yellow fever or cholera, it
i necessary that the yellow fever germ or
cholera germ shall come in contact with
human being 1t requires two to make
bargain of infection-Iho man and the
germ. Keep them separated, and there can
be no disease.
If then. there is no such thing as sponta-
neous generation, if living organisms can
not spring into existence independently of
4 regular ancestry, (and while philosophy
does not contend for such an idea, revela
ton condemns it, the specific germ of yell
low fever must be imported into a country
before the disease can aifict the Inhabitants
| thereof.
The poisons (or germs which produce
| all contagious and Infectious diseases are
| portable, and are capable of being conveyed
| from one locality To another, and of being
communicated from one person to another.
The results of observation are in strict ac
| cord with his theory. Io deny that the
| measles germ is conveyed about the coun
| try, is simply to deny the contagious nature
| of that disease. This is equally true of So
| called epidemic diseases. 1t is conceded
| that the introduction of all these diseases
! into our sea coast cities is brought about by
| importation from infected ports and if we
| cannot trace the origin OF first cases in
| community, it is, perhaps, because we are
| not in possession OF all the facts connected
| with the methods by which these subtle
! poi<onS are conveyed from place TO place.
| The history OF these diseases is so full Of ex-
| amples demonstrating the fact of intDOrtd
| ton, that | shall take it for granted that the
question is settled, and beyond all contro-
|
yellow fever into Malaga, New Orleans,
| lime and again, Mobile, and the recent dis
| astroGs epidemic ofthiS disease at Savannah,
| "a examples of direct i'm phrtaton by infect
| ed ships.
This brings me at least to my text. Need
| | apply the germ theory to the prevention
| of disease? Put stop to Importation, and
! gQu preUent the disease. a welI-Ordertd and
| Systematic quarantine all along the liHe of
sea- board will do the business. Ii the
| modern germ theory of disease be establish
| Cd as true. it does not require medical ed
/ ucatlon and sanitary training to understand
/ that by rigid enforcement of all the means
| of prevention, these infectious diseases may
| become as rare as the Plague, and the or
ganiSms producing them may become fos
| sis in the past history of the sub-micro-
/ scropic world
| But can an efficient quarantine lie en- fore
/ ed by single State. and If not, what will
the State Board of Health do about it?
/ Certainly Mississippi cannot do much in
| preventing the introduction of foreign dis
eases into this country. With the two
| principal railroads which traverse her soil,
| terminating on the gdlf-coast within the
! borders oil two other States, it is impossible
/ for Mississippi single handed and alone, to
| accomplish Ti1agh an lA.S d. gecticn. Whilst
We might etfectaally guard the hung and
| spigot at Bay st. Louis and Pascagoula,
| both ends OF the barrel might be open at
| Mobile and New Orleans! When a suffi-
| Client number of the States shall have organ
! ganized Boards of Health, it is the project
OF these bodies to establish, if Congress will
| enable theta to 90 il, d :, ational Bureau of
| Health Quarantine VIII then neeomR
| national affair, and until then it will con
| tinue to be imperfect, and only partially
successful. Having become national, it is
| easy to foresee that it will finally become
| international, and that the health clause
uI ma an I'm in reia al