The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-08-24

", OF ,
mfy,ts, under certain conditions, will yellow
feyer be- produced In our midst. For what
purpose, then, q quarantine
+ believe have not forgotten an important
factor but have fairly stated that compost
tion DOT Of which yellow fever Is presumed 70
originate spontaneously. But II this Dol q
mere hypothesis, and one at very heavy
d8co,nt beside? Has any person ever OBJ
served ye = = =" Wth sv thpl@ ~ 4sn
hu.lnIf prnduced2 Certainly not, and why,
then do We not have that fever among rs ev-
cry summer? Has any person ever stated the
differences Vt those meteorological elements
The different ph ysical conditions examined, at
the time the fever prevailed and when 1T was
absent Have We not had plenty ~ filth, heat
and mostare almost every summer bnt with
ont cases OF yellow fever OF an epidemic, and
have not tine cleaneSt cities on this continent,
like Philadelphia and Boston, experienced
yellow fever epldemics aS we'll as tn" filthest,
such AZ New YORK and New Orleans, rs it is
decried2 And why u It that In most Of tho
epidetnics, and foremost IN all the malignant
the first cases could always be traced On ship
board, to ships or their neighhorhood and
would any one, under oath, assume that In
case 81 yellow fever breaking out, such could
under no circumstances BE- connected with
importation and more 50 II Infected ships
OF such coming from infected places
are In port when it is known, a. will prove
that such ships can infect persons though
these ships have not a single case Of fever on
DphTu nor nHl any during bltlF voyage, anu
may have none while remaining IN port?
which was the case Ia the InffnOrable epidemic
OF 1853 with the English ship CambOden Castle
and the bark Sri from Rio, though both ships
had lost In those former places their captains
and about half II dozen OF their creWSf Newly
manned with an acclimated crew, or sailors
bombproof against Infection by constitutional
disposition, we saw the remarkable spectacle
that one or two ships poisoned the whole city
OF New Orleans without having themselves .
q N favor a
lar as 1t may appear, yet on which the Sanl-
tary commission appointed by the City Coun-
Gil to examine into the origin and spread Of
the epidemic, broke down totally and caught
a Tartar tor want Of mastering q little Of the
German language all of which will be proved
In ths following letter.
This 1t IL which forces nee to declare that q
quarantine will only be complete and success
tu lit no ships coming from an infected port
will be permitted % approach our shores. and
which permission will even render In
sufficient a ten or forty days quaran-
tine. But suppose that here ana there
so-calIed spontaneous case OF fever
should happen which could not be traced
to importation, no sensible person will deny
that the danger would he increased II to the
cases already here others should be- imported,
that our situation would BE- aggravated there
by, and that to limit quarantine because here
and there n case Of FEVER should appear,
would be theEftm0st folly; moreover, when
we have never suffered malignant epidemic
except II had arisen In that manner which
cOnid be traced r. Importation Or that ships
from Infected ports have come here.
We Will now consider those cases of fever
which we admit, Tor argument sake, ara
spotaneous, Of native origin, have not been
imported ut Past, not during that season.
Admitted, say. such cases to exist How can
they be explained? Certainly not with the
help oI the llith hypothesis. nat hypothesis
has, SO TO say, no further standing in court
But, deprived of that nth hypothesis, no
other reasonable cause OF the origin has ever
been tried 70 my knowledge We know from
anhlogy-and analogy Is logically adj
Missile that amongst the lower organ
ism IN animal HE, Ike the Insects,
LOT instance, Whoie classes exist, which
have to go through certain different
notifications OF their form. Some have two
and three such before the main insect reap
pears. We know that these notifications
may under circumstances ~, retarded. The
pupa or cocoon Of g butterfly, for instance,
may remain ~ that condition over winter
IL the caterpillar mas spun II late and frost
mas SET ia the blittefIly may not appear before
next spring. we know similar things to hap
pen among hundreos OF insect NE NOW,
why Shou!d ~ not pc possible Lhat the virus OF
yellow ieVer might also belong % stlch y class
Of lower organism We 90 not know thAt
virus or germ, we nave never seen l., ana
PROBABLY VIII never see IL, In case Il should
not reflect the light, winch In That case rem
GERS IL physically Impossible TO be seen ana
feeognilea- IeL We are 1ot SO toJaIy lgno-
rant IN respect to that virus. we know that
II mas weight ana nl!fefent other Qualities,
Whlch fennef III sun more leaslbie Ihat Such
OF similar cohdttloh ol mat VIRUS may
exist ana Win great DEAL OF prpba-
pity may we assert that the yell
low FEVER germ may De arrested M
] q lurlhef development curing an epidemic
TO feappear next year i the circumstances ~
favor H. III This manner may VI explain sucl
SPORADIC cases, ana that they may BE- limited
lh thelr cohtagosity, beihg less intense M Thar
ahordlhg u nearer ana longer
contact, JEist as we observe cereals more or
less developed, or ~ animal ire az different
years 2 greater or lesser devclopmaiit o. ~.
though this e only hypotnea5 III and claitns
no more. IL at least gives tehable explaIla-
ton, which has analogies speaking in is H.
yor, ana Is OF greater probability than the
NTH hypothesls.
- Is g singular phenomenon that men,
Otherwise well informed, should WITH KIND
Of madness decry IA institution. which Al
present, cannot be replaced by anything bet