The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1879-02-06

/ buAlhCj anu my uhllVIu uOhoty oNS1hiN'
epidemic in Asia Minor and the Euphratic
VALLEY, sometimes spreading to the coasts
of the Mediterranean. 1t is from the
former region that the present contagion'
seems to haye been carried into South
western Russia.
The original cause of this awful pesti-
lence is perhaps past finding cut. About
the time that it.commenced its march, OF
death among mankind, some fifteen years
before it had reached Europe from East
ern Asia, there occurred series of mon
strous terrestrial convulsions throughout
the old world, volcanoes, storms, earth
quakes, connections everywhere in the
earth's structure. This period Of con-
vulsion continued through twenty-six
years of the earlier part of the fourteenth
century. 1t was found that these dis
turbances had powerfully affected all
animal and vegetable life on the Asiatic
Continent All that time Eastern Asia,
including China, suffered from alternate
floods and drougbts and fearful famines.
Multitudes of men and animals perished,
and their remains were left unburied.
Myriads upon myriads of locusts swarmed
upon that land and perished there. The
seasons seemed changed. Storms of
thunder and lightning occurred in mid
winter. Ancient volcanoes, long extinct,
burst forth anew. Earth and air seemed
all convulsed And then, as the Orien-
tai traditions affirm, the plague first
became known. as the follower of the
universal taint attending these fearful
phenomena
Whatever it's original cause, it is quite
evident that it is spread by contagion,
and probably engendered by endemic or
epidemic influences arising from local
conditions. The exact nature of the poi
sonous element has never been discov-
cred. Chemical tests and microscopical
examinations have all failed to deter
mine its specific character. 1t seems to
act by a rapid course upon the blood
through the organs of respiration, tend
ing to a speedy decomposition Of all the
vascular tissues of the body.
Fortunately, the plague is a slow trav-
eler, and mostly by land. It has not
, been known to pass directly across any
larger sea; though vessels have been
found on the Mediterranean and Black
Sea, during its prevalence, drifting with
the elements, the crews of which were
found rotting on the decks from the
'Hblack DEATH" But these were probably
infected before leaving port. When this
pestilence reached the Black Sea from
Asia, it was carried along the coasts, by
contagion, to Constantinople. From
thence it was carried to Italy; thence it
was communicated to France and Ger
many; thence to England; from England
to Sweden, and thence it was carried into
J, Russia. 1t was three years in making
this land circuit of Western Europe from
Constantinople.
Its ravages seem confined to the TEN,
perate zones. 1t is unknown to the
tropics. The cold of our winters seems
to cheek its virulence, but does not ex
+ tinguish the poison. About once in eacl
century since the fourteenth, Europe ha'
! suffered an Invasion by this mysterious
| pestilence. In 1863 to IS England, ant
. especially London, suffered most fearful
I ". The horrors of which are well known
to all readers of English history. Ii
+ 1920 it destroyed one-half of the whole
population of Marseilles. Tn 1890 it ray
+ aged Russia, Poland, Egypt, Syria
Greece, and Turkey. Since that it ha
Q scarcely been known in Europe; though
: it has continually fingered about thu
| shores of the Caspian and the marshy re
U gions bordering on the Sea of Azof. Ant
2 thence it has now probably been carriec
4 into Southwestern Russia, where its raw
: ages give rise to the present genera
t alarm.
The destruction to human life causet
S by the plague is truly appalling. Th'
< statistics of its earlier ravages in Asi;
e are obscure and indefinite. 1t is statec
as an estimate that in China thirteei
Q millions of lives have been lost by thi
disease; and that in the rest of Asia
: twenty-four millions have so perished
A In Europe the data are more exact, Lon
Y don lost over one hundred thousand 0
i her people by the plague. Fifteen Euro
o pean cities have lost three hundred thou
> sand from this pestilence. In German,
e one million two hundred and forty-fou
f thousand perished, and in Italy one-half O
Y the whole population was swept off, In al
). Europe no less than twenty-five million
|, have fallen victims to this desolatin
$ pestilence that "walketh in darkness ant
e wasteth at MONDAY"
d Doubtless the improved conditions o
/. public hygiene and the more cleanl
s habits of life among the common peopl