Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1878-09-27
Communications.
yellow Fever--.A Glance at the Histo-
yofthe Disease in this Country.

~ Of the Disease ia this country
The epidemic which has lately prevailed to
such an alarming extent in some Of the South
orn States. and which las caused the stricken
inhabitants to so eiTectually appeal 20 the
charity and sympathy Of those remote from
its influence, is no new visitor TO our shores.
The origin and carly history Of the disease
are involved in obscurity but it seems prob
able that it first appeared soon after the i'm
migration Of Europeans into the West India
Islands, aud may therefore he considered
disease peculiar to civilization. Il carly man
ifestod itself in this country, APPEARING 40
Charleston, $. c.. in 1859, when, according
| TO an account published some years later 1T
swept of a great portion of the inhabitants
In 1882 it again visited the same city and
ragged from May to October. The nccoun;
says: During the height of the disorder
from eight to twelve whites Were buried dai-
| y, besides the negroes Ringing OF the
bells was forbidden, and little or no business
was done. From this time down to the ear
lier years of the present century. ID RACED at
different times and with varying d'grt Of
severity in all thu principal seaport towns
along the Atlantic coast In 1893 occurred
what is known in the history OF Philadelphia
as the Great Epidemic. Beginning early in
the season il continued with undated viu-
| lencc through August and Septamh 1t
! was unusually stubborn i'm character. and
carried of n large per cent. Of those attacked.
The actual number number Of deaths is not
at hand, but five years later when it prevail
ed TO less alarming degree, the deaths
amounted TO 1913 out Of population of 10
900. The deaths in New York City the same
| year. and from IT, same cause were between
two and three thousand, and in Boston three
hundred: so thg' in three cities whose in
habitants num5 red but little more than half
the present population of New Orleans, the
whole number of deaths was about equal to
the aggregate of the present epidemic.
In paying a tribute to the memory of
| physician who fell a victim to the disease in
New York during 1898, the writer alludes to
the funeral in the following words: 1t was
when the ravages Of the pestience had become
so tremendous rs to drive almost every indi-
vidual from the city who was able to fly
when scarcely any passengers We're to be
seen in the streets, but the bearers of the
|
if the reign of death must become universal"
1t was in August of this year that the fever
visited New London Conn. Alarmed at its
mortality in other places, many Of the inhab-
itants fled at the first approach of the disease.
! OF those who remained, go were stricken
down. out Of which number - died In
| 1900. Baltimore suffered severely from its
presence. The population of tn, city at that
time was -, 600 and the deaths numb red
1900, including go children. 1t also pre-
vailed at Norfolk Va, TO q considerable cN-
tent, and few cases were observed at New
port, RI. eleven of which proved fatal. On
the other side of the Atlantic. and especially
along the Spanish coasts, it almost depopu-
lated whole cities and towns that fell within
its scope. Seville, with population Of ,0,-
600, had 20. 600 cases an 1000 deaths.
Since 1S0j, although hardly a year has
passed without more or less deaths from this
cause in some portion of tho United States, it
has generally been confined to tha localities
in which it first appeared. Some OF the more
severe opidemics of the present century oc-
Cured during the years lS22-43'i3, and
again in 1873, at Shreveport, Ia. where in
sixteen days the deaths numbered l26, while
the number who We're attacked during that
period comprised one-lfth of the whole pop
ulation.
Regarding the cause of thu disease diver
sity Of opinions was pnt forth Noah
Webster, who wrote extensively on position
tial fevers, towards the close Of the last centU-
~, believed the cause might bee local. and in
support Of his theory says: when the
whites arrived in New England. in 1920,
some of the Indian trib, had been reduced
from 10000 to 300. two years previously.
The survivors asserted the sick bled from the
nose, and turned yellow, like a garment of
that color which they pointed ont a, an illus
traton." The majority believed the cause
was imported. and rigid quarantine rogula-
tons were established at an early day, but
were not continued with that degree of strict
ness necessary TO test their protective value.
That the disease could be communicated from
one person to another, except through the
agency of material external to the body. was
not believed to any extent: their ideas upon
, this point being almost the same as are held
at the present day. \ popular idea las al
ways prevailed that the dark skinned races
are almost wholly exempt from the disease
also that person can have the fever but
once. Experience proves that both these
conditions depend upon the severity Of the
epidemic. While the negro, or the person
who has once experienced the disease, may
escape during a mild run of the fever, he
may at another time share the common fate
5 One fact is observed in looking over the his
, tory of yellow feyer,-that, as a rule, the
! crisis of the disease is passed by the first Of
October. The various questions concerning
atmosphere, temperature, local sanitary meas
E ures, etc, vexed the writers of one hundred
years ago, and are, perhaps, no nearer a solu
, ton to-day. However, the present epidemic
j may settle some of them, and possibly teacl
e how to avoid the evil in the future. Y.