The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1882-03-02
PERIODIC FEYERs.
o'osy and Pathology OF Intermittent
and Remittent Eevers.
Second Annual Report State board Of JIeo,tj


second -dnnuaf Report STATE board Of Heath.
30 much has already been written ON
tnis subject, that We are all moro or less
.amiiiar with the various opinions and
tneories that have had their rise and fall
within the last two or three hundred
years, respecting the origin and cause of
.nls particular class Of diseases, and the
writer considers it n matter of no little
importance what views we, as sanitari-
ans, TAKE IN this very. interesting and
Important subject, one involving unmis.
lakaDiy the lives of the inhabitants of
lands. o''o'
In approaching this apparently ex.
nausted held, 1t ls not his intention to
introduce anything new or original. but
. 10 assert his convictions, after years of
s.uoy and careful observation; believing,
.hat as miner is able to exhume from
.Ie caVerns OF the earth gem worthy to
acorn an imperial brow, 30 the humblest
"a US can sometimes contribute little to
inc advancement Of science.
Natures simplest laws appear mystic.
s.o9s uhtii we can comprehend them :;
aud the mystery which clouds tile oripin
OF lhese diseases, and the failure hitherto
OF every. research, and of every attempt
to explain it satisfactorily. must surely
be owing to our misguided INQUIRIES.
The idea of a specific poison s,,pnosed
to be generated by the decomposition If
animal and vegetable matter. was nd.
vanced first by Lancisci, and has been
generally embraced since; but the exis.
tence of such poison appears to me to
be entirely imaginary-hypothe etical-a
creation of our own fancy, and yery nat.
urally so, too, considering the different
views taken Of it by authors; and the
proteus-like appearance it assumes in
their hands.
thus, one describes it as "beiug entire
ly disarmed by passing over eight hun
dred yards of water" another, that "it
can safely perform the voyage from Hol.
land to Scotland" distance of not less
| IMAM TOUR hundred miles; and another.
that 1t cannot ascend to the second story
9! ROUSE, yet it can seize its victim on
mountain side, four hundred feet high"
"A mysterious nature, indeed, suited to
any circumstances, and governed by none.
"Styglan-like, it ascends from the bowels
OF the earth, and angel.like, descends
with the dews from heaven"
feriodic levers cannot prevail without
being called into existence by some agent,
and as the writer is an unbeliever in the
existence of this specific poison, he would
suggest for consideration another agent.
which Is not new, however, but which he
Deiieves to be allsuficient to produce
these diseases. Tais agent, have long
been convinced, Is the change of temper,
ature which takes place between midday
and midnight, however slight the change
may be. Let ME mention the circum-
stances Of the epidemic III my own coun-
ty in 1873.
Now, in the upper and middle portion
OF this State, and most of the Gulf States.
the country is generally broken and IN.
dulating, abounding in numerous water
courses, many of which afford large
area OF swamp or bottom land, composed
Of vegetable mould, alluvial soil, ETC.,
and 80 thickly covered with trash and an
underground of vegetation that the rays
Of. the sun seldom reach the earth's sur
face. Near these ponds and marshes are
the principal localities where our summer
diseases, and the so.called "malarious''
fevers, in their severest forms, generally
make their appearance.
In 1873 we had fearful epidemic. and
the chief sufferers were those living on
or near the streams above cited. On one
OF these streams was large mill pond,
which had been erected more than forty
years, and the neighborhood had always
been considered healthy, but in the course
of time the pond and creek for several
miles above became filled with sand and
mud, rendering the land on either side
too wet for cultivation; consequently
the atmosphere was continually saturated
with moisture, and many cases of inter.
mlttent and remittent fever followed.
Inhabitants living near other streams
shared the same fate On one small
etream there were, within the distance oil
five or six miles, one hundred and fifty
cases OF intermittent and remittent fever
but on or near another stream two miles
distant from the latter, and running par.
allel with it, larger than either of those
referred to, and having as much or more
marsh aud vegetable matter to,decompose
the swamp for miles abounding in nj
luvial soil, etc.-there were for ten ol
twelve miles but few cases of fever OF
dysentery. This state of facts we otter
find to exist in many sections Of oul
Southern States, one neighborhood suf
I fering severely from intermittents, while
another close by suffers but little.
1t is the opinion of the writer that thi
mystery might probably be explained b!
extending our Investigations into th0st
localities with our thermometer and hy
grometer, testing the degree of moistur,
in the atmosphere, no doubt finding th,
dryest, although having the Same degre,
of temperature, to present the least mum
ber of cases. And again, we oftla se
when a number Of persons are more O
less exposed in one of these localities
some will have an attack Of remittent
others intermittent, and some escape en-
tirely. Why is this? Why does no
every one occupying and sleeping in th
same building, or living in the same 10
cality during one of these fever epidem
les. have an attack of fever?
The writer will attempt to answer thi
question in way that occurs to him t
continually exposed to injurious infuen
ces which have q tendency 10 interrup
} aud destroy, and were it not for our pow
be short in its duration, and CONSTANT
harassed by disease. This capability O
resistance residing in the system, rangin
, in degree in different individuals, :6in
! tends TO explain why some are exemp
under similar circumstances.
For instance, we often see that aligh
) wound, or the mere prick of a needle
will in one Individual cause great pal
and constitutional irritation, in anothe
syncope, In third convulsion or tetanui
and in fourth, scarcely any perceptibl
{ consequences at all.
t The writer also believes that there is
r rotnral n0natisutinnat rNra1tapnE ttio