The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1879-02-13
The Blnck Plagne.

The Cincinnati Commercial gives the
following Interesting account of the
plague which is now ravaging portions
Of Russia aud Turkey and spreading con
sternation over all Europe:
The disease now ravishiug the district
Of Astrakhau i the "bluck death,n
which for ages has had ITS home in
Egypt, Syria, Greece, Turkey and the
adjoining provinces Of Russia, TO which
country 70 is now chiefly limited. The
people in the first infected district are
/ dying, the report states, like flies. SO
rapidly has the disease spread that fully
| ten per cent. of the newly infected dis
| tricts have perished. No one dares to
| touch the dead, aud they lie unburied
/ ia the streets. In the commencement
/ Of the disease there is feeling OF weari-
ness aud fatigue, shivering, nausea and
sickness, confusion OF Ideas, giddiness
I and pain ia the loius. These are quickly
I followed by increased stupOr aud delir-
ium, by pallor aud flushing of the face,
[ aud "A feeling of intense binding or con-
striciiOn about the heart. Darling
| pains are felt in the groius, arm-pits and
other parts Of the body. The lymphatic
I glands become enlarged and carbuucles
appear. The tongue becomes dry and
I brown, and the gums, teeth and lips are
I covered with dark iur. The will loses
control over the muscles. About the
/ second or third day livid spots and
stripes appear upon the skin. Iu fatal
I cases and most are fatal-the pulse
I gradually sinks, the surface becomes
cold and clammy, blood oozes from the
/ mucous surfaces, and there is either
/ coma or delIrium. The victim usually
[ fingers five or six days, aud may pass
away without struggle or in convul-
sions. 10 is said that infected persons
I might visit every country IN Europe
before the symptoms We're recognized,
and in this way endanger the whole
world. The plague may be spoutaue-
Ously engeudered by endemic or cpl
demic Influences il may originate from
local causes, and may be propagated by
peculiar cOrtagiOu. Temperature seems
To exert very great influence over 10.
In tropical climates IL Is not known,
aud IL does not long withstand the cold
of northern climates. Its peculiar
harvest-time in Europe is late in the
summer and early in the fall, especially
iu September. Like the germs Of yell
/ low fever, 10 has thus far evaded the eN-
aninati1ns Of chemists and micrOseop-
lists. As soon a. absorbed, 10 alters the
/ composition of the blood and condition
Of the tissues. There is no universal
cure for it. In occasional instances
fresh air may be Of benefit. Cleanliness
Is generally "A preventive, and il IL due
tp this aud superior ventilation that
foreigners in the Levant are compare
lively exempt. 1888, so Chinese histO-
riaus tell u, there were great cOnvul-
sions i'm nature, and earthquakes and
Il l. a. a. D. al 4 d
aud famiues. Hills and lakes disap-
peared, aud the gases rising from the
earth, and decaying vegetation aud ami
mals, rendered the air excessively i'm
pure. Following these commissions
came the Great Plague, and before il
entered Europe l3,O0O,0 600 people la
China, and 1900 900 people in Western
Asia and Northern Africa had died. 1t
appeared la Russia, near where II now
prevails. In l34S, COnstautinople was
attacked, and from there il spread over
all Turkey. The disease was carried to
Italy, and irOm thence to France, Eng
land, Germany and the Low Countries.
From England IL was conveyed 10 Swe-
den, and passed over the Baltic Sea into
Northern Russia. In only three wears
10 covered the whole OF Europe Half
the population Of Italy died Of it, Fiji
teen continental cities lost 300, 900 in
habitants. London 100000, aud in Eu-
rope 5000 600 people perished. The
terrible disease was attributed by the
supeTstitious 10 the Jews, who were ac-
cused of poisoning the wells so that the
water would breed pestilenee. Entire
colonies of Jews were massaered, and
thousands were so terrified that they
took their own lives. Tie disease was
extensively spread by numerous bands
of religious zealots who visited town
after town, turturing their bodies in the
vain hope Of eXpiating the sins of the
people. These F1agellants, as they are
called, comprised both men and women,
who went about nearly naked, and each
one wore "A red cross upon the breast
The church reaped a rich harvest, for
many of its frightened subjects gave to IL
their all. The donors were Obliged TO
throw their gifts over the walls Of the
iuclOsure for the monks were afraid TO
come i'm contact with them, and shut
the gates. Multitudes sought 20 escape
the disease by living in caves aud woods
aud starved. Some endeavored To es-
cape by the sea. They died, aud the
sailors who picked up their boats shared
the same fate. Rotting bodies floated
down the streams, polluting them and
hiiing the air with contagion. Some of
the delirous victims ran through the
streets of villages, tearing out the hair
and scratching the faces of every one
they met. The plague of 1868. 1861 and
1860, the last that prevailed very extern
slveiy, produced fewer deaths. In I72O
Marseilles was almost depopulated. and
and 10 1880 Turkey, Poland aud Russia
we're again visited. From all reports.
the present plague promises 10 destroy
| ns nInmu Iit.ns -. IL. - -