, 1879-07-31
THE PLAGUE IN RUSSIA.

] Ats Vfi0in IN Anfa and the Probable Manner
| IN Which It Was Transmitted.
| He1..n EnfTrsndndeaee London Standard.
Ifol' Hifsch, the Chief Commissioner sent out
W the ucFman Government to investigate tho
ptseue, mas t1et delivered a tliacuurs8 on the
| hnolcct oetofo Tic Medical Association OF Ber-
ho' Inc fsolcsdor said Tia. at the end Of fast
yeae ufsease hau anpcafca In The Government
OF Aatrachan rs 10 the cLHracter of which tic
Faculty had bern for sou,c time ,,,,ccrtain. int
which ultimately had proved to he tho AsIutic
plague. Six places on the banks Of thu, yo,oe
had beon the objects Of this terrible vi.itation.-
three TN the right and three on the left hank.
The Government Of Astrac!lan was yns, sleppe
tntcrsected a'Y the Volga, the right stony bank
OF which was afty ncsfce above the water
level, while tho country on tile left hank
was wide plain. The aoi VIA u
heavy clay containing sandstonc, with largo
salt beds, tue eubso!l being an alluytal
clay. A pronounced Continental climate IRE.
ilcd,-extrcrue1y hot summers and very cold
winters. The cultivation Of the soil was, of
course, determined by these conditions. No
corn was grown except in q small district In the
northeast. A luxuriant fora coyerrtl The stcppc
in spring, yielding abundant hcrbsgc for fud.
der, which had led TO thc extensive stocls-rcar.
tng carried on. Tic principal pursuits besides
this were fishing and salt dressing. From tscsc
productive sourccs the population Of the whole
stcpDe had acquired certaiu degree Ut COM
pctencc. which IN tlIuse places inhabited by
Cossacks lad risen to opulcntc. Tic In
habltants wc5c motcly cotHrosi.lDn nj Iius.-
SLAMS. kfrRsiz, knlmucks, mud Tartars. The
partahs Of tho land were the wandering kaf-
nuess, The prosperity of the people was evi-
t!cnced by certain comfort nMl ctcaolncss In
the appearance Of the houses anil streets,
which, presenting SO contrary a picture to tn.
gloomy descriptions tint had been Esser. agrce.
ably surprised the Professor nnl hla companions.
Even those buildings appropriated 10 preparing
Alld salttng the fish, fired upon BY nlnuy tl,ru-
rists as the birtliplRree of tho rlnEuc. had been
found to 6e kept With scruou1ou. cleanliness.
These might possibly hayu BEEN subjected to
little extra cleaning III anticipation ol visit,
but anrearances altogether were quite inconsist-
ent With the view that defective liygienlc coudl-
tionB had been The root OF the evil
Tie last outbreak of The plague was III the
years 1oU' nnd 1s0S, when II probably had been
''1rht from Asia by pilgrilns. At TINT tinc
|. had spread a1nng the banks Of the volra, but
had not extended beyond limited area. Sr,cnk-
tnE Of the sanitary circumstances vi Wot1jaulta
md the seventeen other villages inhabited bv
Coeeacks and ulace1 under a sl,ectal tioyer,lpT,
resident Ia .Astruehan, the Professor hast found
SUPERINTENDENT. who, with his few qualified as
ststants, wns attached to the petsuu Of tic
! Governor, were = number OF raw. uncducatcl
teld-surgeons. The healing art In the Cossack
these incnuahtes, 1t was only under exceptional.
\ ly urgent circumstances that any Information
regarding the health Of The inhabitante reached
Astrachau, thence TO be forwarded to the cen
| tral authorities. This would explain why no
precautionary measures had been tnkcu Until
| the plnaua had ragged for four wcrks.
The right bank of the river hAa nlono been
! visited by ihc German Commissioners, a few.
nil1 cases only llarinG occstErt on the left
bank. The epidemic commenced at tic Begin
llfnr OF October. advancing slowly during the
following nine weeks, and then, after sudden
asse,s'on ot !nseo.Ity lasting ninc weeks. hal
tcnsIty was from The beginning Of December 10
thu beCiiu!te, OF January. Tile number Of
deaths stated was not entirely trustworthy, as
the pricss who lstpt the register tnt fallen VIC
tim to the dscase In tile in.tldle OF Decembur,
but tha list lad subsequently, been culnulcttl on
! The best evidence available. Tfese showed the
deaths during the prevalence Of The plague to
he 1T8. or 20 per ccut Of the entire regulation.
Deductng from this number tic nsua! avcraec,
II, 1t appeaFs tint 38+ deaths Ind beer, due to
| this diseasc Including the cases cured, 81, The
total nufnbrr stricken bad been Az. sa per cent
besides WctIjanka there had also been we'll
defined cases, lnnny Of which l.au proved fatal.
q, the steppc. too. and on an island q! tie
vo'ga, corpses Of persous who lad pcrisllra
from. the kalne cauae had been fund. In ali
425 deaths were certified The disease. Of which
| the Professor md his colleagues ial had The
opportunity. Of observing few slight clsca
on!y, was the genuine Oriental plague, which
did not In ovcry case involve All affection Of tho
arEaus Of respiration. short but excellent
description OF tie appearance and symptoms 0f
the plague hud been found among the papers
Of the priest referred to. Ppst-,nostcm cxnp-
tnasions not having. been unacrtakrut there w5s
no evtdence MS 70 the organic changes effected
by the disease. The period Of incubation had,
ol the other hat'd, been definitely asecrsac.!.
TlIts wa6 on an average 62 days, III NO cuso
less tan fOrty-efght hours
The Important question was, How had the
nlaeuc been introduced TO Wetijaslsai Trrc
coulo oO!y be two anRwcrs: citlrr It had been
nutoctthonlc or brought from ottfr parts. The
iiTst theory would ,sot bcar aM,o,ncnt's c1an,ua-
tioII, f',astnucf Us local condltims nnl sanitary
circumstances had not beon less favorable III tic
ysar TYP tn than ~ during nany preeedln: .1uect'a;
there since 1907. Not q single Commission n
The different Eurole0n States had succeeded In
cstab!tsh!n.thu ochthonc theory. This might,
therefore, bc dlsmssed al once. Win regard
ouly two countries whic|. before the outbreak
III Astracflan, had hecn lute'y visitcl by tile
plnguc.-- .--nanaely,. Persialaud slcsopotanl!u. It
was well known lint towards the close Vi the
until the summer Of ls77,. Ind caused lareo
number Of 1eaths. As It had been ouly ut il
soincShnt latcr pcrloi tint the RlssIan Goycrt,-
tnent hnu Instituted quarantine. afid AS an cpt-
OF Il much mtler eharacter, lind actually M
pearcsl 10 Aatrnctan abont the sasIle taatc, -
t'au,plY, September, 1677,-thcro appeared some
ground for tie suspicion that ile latter had
been the true -plague anu that It hn(' hcen
brought FROM Pcrsia. Hut this epidemic hull
passed OF without agerayntion III symptoms, tt
appeared t0 DO absolutely unInferttuus, uni
there we're no fasal cases. Such could never be
saitl 0f the plngnc. 1t wRs, moreover, tnrrc.l.
ihte TINT L y lad bccn this plague 1t would hare
slumtcrca from September, 1871, to Octobpr,
lh7s, then to hurst forth 4! tie ugcraYateI form
III which It rayagc4l WctljaiKu. }Ic (iic
sneakerl must thuselore reject the theory OF m
Introduction from Persia.
but tbs outbreak had been accounted for III
Rnotrr wAy. 1t appeared that tho llrst ,,crstl,
who slckened and died was wufnnn 0f 10,
who on the eth ot October had TAKEN Journey
from Wetl1anka to Astruehsa, there to meet her
YOU on his return from tho war. Ths wunau
l!ad died Of plague OIL this 17th Of Octobcr, two
days aitor her Tctt.rn home. lie. tho Professor,
considered ti!a suppos'lInn that the woman lia.l
contracted tho dlBclsg upon her journey 10 b.
untenablc, considering that tic pcrlul 1t iurl,-
button was .. least two Or three. unys, nlll,
moreover, thnt sho brought back only tlle
thinxa shu had tukcn out, 1t was sur more
probable that shc had left homu In au Injected