New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1879-07-12
yFLLOW FEVER.

WILLOW FLfLh.
There is nothing alarming in the fact that
few eases Of yellow fever have occurred at
Memphis, and it is not creditable to the mem
bers Of the Board of Health of that city that
fhev sbould lose their heads and advise the
citizens 10 remove their families. y HSlt
visitation of che disease almost always occurs
the year after a severe epidemic, but II Is
usually of mild type. not more tatal 'han
ordinary bilious fevers, and not infectious ii
sanitary precautions are observed. Inc MS
tory of previous epidemics shows that New
Orleans, Memphis, Vicksburg and other towns
which were severely sc0uIged last summer
may expoct few sporadic cases Tins year.
For their inhabitants to be seized with a
panic upon the appearance of such cases
would however, be the height of folly, The
very severity of the pestilence last year is an
assurance that there will be no repetition OF
It's horrors this season, unless 1t violates a
law winch it seems to have made for Itself
and observed pretty constantly thus far.
A general exodus from the South would be
disastrous to trade and industry, and ought 70
be discouraged by the Southern newspapers
and physicians. Heavy pecuuiary loss was IN
ficted on that section by. the paralysis Oh
business caused by the epidemic last year, ana
a needless addition to the burden thus imposed
would be deplorable The South requires all
her energies to recover from the last blow,
and her people can i'll afford to spend millions
of dollars in running away from danger
which in all probability is more imaginary
than real. The wealthy classes in the South
are i'm the habit Of leaving home every sum
mer, whether there is fever or not. They
throng our Northern waterng-piaces and
mountain resorts from Duluth TO Mount Desert
Island, seeking q change of climate and relei
from the long heated term which makes lie
burdensome for nearly Il third of the year in
the Gulf States and along the Lower MissiS-
sippi. But the workng-classes and the MD
dle-classes who manage the production, ex-
change and transportation of commodities
remain and so the crops are made and mar
keted and general business moves on. When
there is a yellow fever panic, however, de-
raugement occurs in every branch OF industry
and the losses Of a few months often destroy
the profits of years.
While the existence of feverin q few South
em cities need not cause genera, alarm and
a hasty flight NorthwaTd Of people VINO can
not afford to leave their homes, there will be
no harm in reviyinG the discussion rs TO The
value of guarantees and disnfectantS, the con-
dtiOns under which the disease spreads, and
the best preventives-a discussion which the
Southern people are too prone to drop as
soon as the pestilence disappears. 1t is not
creditable 10 medical science that SO little is
| known respecting the laws governing the orr
| gin and spread of this terrible disease. The
| labOriOus investigations Of the Congressional
| Yellow Fever Commission, last Winter and
| Spring. developed little besides theories. The
doctors were found to disagree on almost every
important point. What is wanted is accurate
scientific answers, based upon knowledge, and
not upon mere opinion, to such questions as
the following: Is the germ theory correct? Is
the disease b,ought III from foreign countries,
or is it indigenous in our Southern States
Does 1t spread by contagiOn only, or is it con-
veyed in the atmosphere Are certain un-
wholesome atmospheric conditions essential to
its becoming epidemic, and If 50 what are they
and how can they be remedicd Is a relaxed
or unhealthy state Of the system "A necessary
| prior condition TO an attack of the disease,
and if so what treatment will serve as pre-
ventive2 If the germ theory, now gen
| orally accepted, be correct, how long do the
germs i've under what conditions do they be-
come active, and what will destroy them
| These and cognate questions urgently invite
the attention of the most skilfuI investigators
| in the medical profession. Disease is no longer
| q mysterious visitation attributed to an in
| scrutabe Providence, or to malignant spirits,
and there Is no good reason why one of the
many ills TO which flesh is heir should remain
outside the pale of accurate medical knowl-
| edge.
4 WHOLESOME EX1liPLE.