Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1878-02-20
s.Trismus Nascentium..,

A DISEASE PECULIARLY FATAL TO coLoRED
CHILDREN-THE DOCTORS OF THE BOARD OF
HEALTH DISAGREE.
The Board of Health met last night. The
health officers report was read, showing 337
nnisances abated during the past week. Dr.
Bliss submitted the mortuary report for De-
cember, showing that the mortality of the Dis
trlct for The month was 302, (the same as cor
GGfsRPbnGRg pa month OF last Year,
e0lored, S66l Births (repOrtedl during the
month. :2l-white, 2Dl; colored. 12O. Annual
rate OF increase of population by births IRE
i.59l; cOlored, tdecrease,) 6G69.
REPORT ON TRISMUs NAsCENTIUM.
me nearing OF the reports OF the special
committee on the subject of 'trismus nascen-
Ilum" being the regular order, DR.. Verdi read
his majority report. 1t set forth what gave
rlseto the investigation of hssubject, namely;
that in the discharge Of his duty Medical
reported in 1874 twenty-five eases of trismuS
nascentum. This was considered 50 extraOr-
binary by the majority of the board that,
under the apprehension that there was some
mistake, DR.. stewart was requested to place
these eases in his report as ''infantiie cOnvul-
siOns.' Impressed with the correctness of his
diagnoses. DR.. ;. continued to annually report
a large number of eases of this disease, until
some OF the members expressed positive in
credulity in these diagnoses assigning as
reasons that the investigations were post
norton. and therefore unreliable: that they
considered this disease rare i'm this latitude
and in their long practice they had seen but
very few eases. Satisfied that Dr. ). could
have no other motive in reporting these cases
as trismuS than that of telling the truth. Il
committee was appointed to investigate and
report 10 the board as soon as practical; DrS.
Verdi and Bliss and Mr.. WOrden constituting
the committee. The committee gave the sub
ject its most careful attention. In the course
OF SIX weeks fourteen eases came under its
observation.
THE DISEASE PECULIAR TO THE COLORED RACE
I'VE will not contend for the name, whether
trismus maScentum or eclamsia: change of
lame would not change the fact that q disease
peculiarly fatal to the newborn exists in our
midst which decimateS the offspring of one
class OF our people, and this is what Of our
medical sanitary inspector has attempted to
show, and this is what your committee has
found Among the causes prediSpOSing to
this malady the most frequent are race, social
condition. climate and atmospheric changes.
and parental vices, To which may be added &C
cidentS ut birth, maltreatment from incOmpe
tent midwives and nurses. The experience in
the District OF Columbia as 10 race agrees
with many writer's that the negro is more liza
bic to this disease than the Caucasian. Sevc
raj authorSare cited, agreeing that this disease
is more common among the careless negro
population than the white race, and that this
is attributable 10 the filth and neglect in dress
ing the umbilical cord. This seems to be true,
under any latitude where the negro is found.
In this District. out of DOB cases reported, 1S5
were cOlOred, and only 20 white, which proper
ton may be iegitimatey doubled when the
comparison Is made, according to popula-
three times rs large as the blacks The four
teen cases coming under the notice of the
committee were all black except one. How
lar this mortality is due to the anatomical and
physiological peculiaritieS of the race or to it's
social condition in Washington we have no
means to ascertain. The social condition,
viz: Poverty, ill-ventilated homes, ignorance
and filth are the most prolific causes of this
disease among the people we have visited. for
We met with nothing but squailor, air laden
with mephitic gases, and houses totally unfit
l3DttatlOn. social of
these people. among whom cOncubinage
greatly prevails. and the vice accruing from
this irresponsible and immoral existence are
also causes that greatly lessen in the offspring
the chances of life, and contributed to this
1atal maladY. Regarding climate, the atm0S-
pherlcal changes of Washington are not of
yet the argument often advanced that only
nigh temperatures prcdispose to this disease
totally ta fails in the face Of medical history;
lie symptoms OF the disease are stated
at length, and in conclusion the
report states that trismus nascientum is
not a disease peculiar to tropical
climate 10 any locality. latitude or country.
That social condition, poverty, filth, dissipa
ton and vices OF parents, and probably race,
Ohe colOred,) are predisp0sing causes to this
malady. That applying the foregoing facts to
large majority of the destitute negro DOpul-
latlon OF this District, amongst them most all
these cases are found, your committee sees
nothing improbable in the report Of DIR: Stew
art. That ii is the duty OF the Board of Health
To perseyere in their Investigations, &c.
AT the conclusion of the reading of the re-
port, Judge WOrden, a member OF the COM
mlttee. cOncurred i'll the majority report.
DIR. BLISS TAKES NO STOCK IN TRISMUS.
Dr. Bliss, dissenting. read his lengthy mi
noTlty report, concluding as follows: I'VE
II come 10 no other reasonable conclusion
Tan that the great majority of cases reported
by our medical sanitary inspector as real
cases OF trlSmuS naScentium should have been
assigned by him TO one of the three other con-
yu'Slye diseases herein Observation-Disclosures
infantIm, internal commissions, or congestion
of the brain and spinal cortland that no en-
demic OF triSmus naScentium has at any time
prevailed III the District of Columbia. Since
this committee was organized to determine
this question, and possibly long before our
medical sanitary Inspector has, in some in
stances, adopted the less labOriOus and more
questionable eXpedient of diagnosing these
cases. without complying with the fOrmality
OF visiting and inspecting the body of the de
ceased. lie has simply questioned the apDll-
cant for certificate i'll his office in this build
ing, and has accepted such ipse diXit as full
warrant TO him for returning to the bureau of
vital statistics his certificate of death from
trlSmuS naScentium. In conclusion, | beg
leave respectfully to observe that if the medi-
cal sanitary service has become reduced to
this sort of guess work we are all entitled to
our guess, and the subscriber, for one gueSSes
that our medical sanitary inspector has not
always guessed right in making his diagnosis
Of these SO-called eases OF triSmuS naScentium.
Mr.. Norden moved that the reports be
printed; agreed TO.