The New York herald., 1879-12-28

! Dirt and Yellow Fever In memphis
The persistent obscurity of the origin of
yellow fever, notwithstanding the vigor Of
the investigation that has been pursued Tor
many years, is ascribed by the ignorant as
a reproach to physicians and sanitarians.
They are impatient OF the long delay and
improve the occasion to deride science. In
our Southern cities of late it has not been
uncommon to find men, otherwise intelli-
gent, who regard pestilence with the fatal
ism OF ofMohammedans. While their neighbors
disperse for safety they stand their ground
because what is to be will be. The wind
bloweth where it listeth, and if death has
marked them for his own his shaft
| will strike the mark whether 1t Is
set up in the Arctic zone or the tropics.
But these fatalists confound two very dlf-
ferent things-the source OF the disease,
with the conditions necessary for its mani
festation. The origin of sin likewise is as
obscure as ever, Notwithstanding the labors
of theologians ever since the appearance of
man on earth. But the circumstances con-
ducve to its practice arc better and better
understood in the progress of civilization.
The Lords Prayer beseeches relief from
temptation as well as deliverance from
| evil to secure safety from moral DEATH So
q sound-minded man should pray for
wholesome physical surroundings no less
than mercy from the pest itself if he
would not die with black vomit
| Three important documents have been
! printed this month recording scientific
observations concerning the prevalence Of
yellow fever during the year that is closing.
The first is DR.. Joseph Hollis analysis of
all the cases Of the fever which occurred in
New Orleans, treating each in detail. The
which DR.. John S. Billings is chairman,
appointed by the National Board of Health
to make sanitary survey OF Memphis.
The third is preliminary report Of the
commission under tho craftsmanship of DR..
Stanford E. Chaille, which was sent to make
similar survey of the Island of Cuba.
What is most significant in these docu-
ments is their agreement upon certain
necessary conditions for the manifestation
of the disease, whatever may be its origi-
nal source, and one of these es-
sential conditions is dirt. DR.. Holt
challenges any man to cite with
corroborative evidence one single instance
Of yellow fever occurring de novo and
| spreading in community whore there did
| not exist bad hygienic conditions due to
the massing Of human excretions and other
| filth in close proximity to habitations
DR.. Billings and his associates report that
| by thorough cleansing of the city and the
! introduction of pure water and the adop-
| tion of proper plan of sewerage ''Memphis
may soon become one of the healthiest
cities in the Valley of the Mississippi"
DR.. Chaille and his fellow commissioners
| report that s'the whole truth certainly
has not been fathomed; but this much
| of it is indisputable, that wherever in
| Cuba town exists which has the
| greatest commercial intercourse, the most
numerous unacclimated population, the
least exposure to the winds, and houses
the most crowded together, densely inhab-
tied and filthy, the worst ventilated and
drained, there town will be found where
the endemic prevalence of yellow fever
is most marked" The stress which each
of these authorities lays upon the pecu-
| liarly noxious character Of human filth as
| distinguished from all other varieties also
requires remark. In Memphis it appears
that it is common to find privy wells 'from
fifteen to fifty feet in depth, filled with fecal
matter" in the cellars and easements of
dwelling houses, and many other extraordi-
nary details of disgusting habits of the in
habitants in this particular are narrated.
In New Orleans DR.. Holt ascribes the death
| of General John b. Hood and his wife and
| two children-the most notable victims Of
yellow fever during the year-directly to
the fact that their house, ''although ap-
parently complete and elegant in all its
appointments, was really in an unsanitary
condition of the worst character, due to
the existence of closed and unventilated
privy vault in the basement" In Havana
DIR. Chaille AYERS that generally in the
dwelling houses 1.-THE privy is almost part
of the kitchen, and consists of an excava-
ton which often extends for several feet
under the stone flags of the court, and
never is emptied till it will hold no more.
generally in from five to ten years" In
the summer, he adds, "a iecal odor prevails
generally, aud is distinctly percepsible as
it oozes from the doors and windows of
almost every house.
If dirt, then, is an invariable condition of
the appearance of yellow fever, what is the
best application of money that can be made
for the relief Of the afflicted localities, and
when is the best time to make it? The
answer as to the cities in our Mississippi
Valley is perfectly free from doubt. Take
Memphis for the immediate example.
Cleanliness is the most practical object,
and now is tho true time for the expendi-
ture The same sum spent during the last