The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1886-12-08

There afe a class,of diseases Tia

= mere are a class iottd iseases that
sc styls.as specially filth disease;
iwhichif they do mot arise from
fl.h,in II we tina the nOstcongen.
IiaI soilfot their existence and pro.
pogpsicns, which are pteysntsble
in themselves, and which under
I!pfoper Conditions Of sanitation
Should eifopad in a civilized
ccmnaaity ID disease as we'll as
in other things cause and effect
maintain their regular order Of
Sequence given the cause the ef.
E5ect naturally follows-giyen the
effect the cause will inevitably be
found 70 antidats it-when not BY
dihcllties, and puzzled to explain
che ehOw' and "wbyr Of some dis
ease o. death we are all too ready
20 charge il 70 a "MysGstious dis.
psnsatiOn Of Providence and sit
dor 10 (old our hands aud submit
TO what we feel is an inHiction from
a merciful father; instead Of aruus.
ing Ourselves; not only 10 meet the
present but 10 avert the future
danget-fest assured shat not from
the hands Of that bene6cent being
comes the blow that has shatteredall
our hopes and happinessl The
fault is at our own door. Every
individual entering life in this
world, free from hereditary infrm.
ity, is entitled to his "three score
years and ten" and If he fails to
receive this heritage he his robbed
Of his rights either by his own or
his brothers acts. The fault is at
our own door; whence and how these
diseases arise we need not now take
time to inquire, suffice it to say
they can have no place or existence
in a condition Of perfect cleanli-
ness. Filth diseases they are and
in filth alone they live and grow
and flourish, to sweep of hundreds
Of thousands of lives yearly.
1spoko of them as preyentable
diseases. Does any one suppose
that a case ofscarlet typhoid
fever-measles or diphtheria or
smallpox arises just so, from moth.
ing3 Is not the germ just as
necessary for its start as the seed
for a crop of corn or wheat2 Or
does any one suppose that the germ
Of any disease, can under any con.
dition of things induce any other
disease than its own kind, any
more than that a crop Of wheat
may be obtained by sowing barley!
No gentlemen, the special germ is
needed to produce The crop wheth.
er it DO Of disease or Of grain; each
one brings forth after its own kind.
But granting the seed or the germ
we all know that without the suit.
able soil it will be as the grain
sown upon unsuitable soil-it will
come 10 naught. Whilst there
may be in the germ theory Of dis.
ease, much that we can not yet
fully understand or explain, yet it
explains many things that were
otherwise iuexplicable. Thestudy
Of 1t demands our attention,
whether we direct that attention
to the destruction Of The germ be.
fore it shall have found an entrance
into the human body; or to the
placing that body in such a condi.
tion as to furnish no suitable place
for its lodgmeht and development;
or merely to the means of combat.
ting It's effect when it shall have
found a Judgement in such a body.
Given a case Of contagious disease,
whether it be smallpox, typhoid.
fever or diphtheria is II no posi-.
BILE by proper means and measures
TO limit it to the single case2 /
maintain that it can and should
be done-then why is it not done2
Either from want Of knowledge or
ability. The want Of knowledgeo Of
its existence in time TO take the
needful precautions or from want
Of ability to carry them out. The
Importance Of attention TO the first
case Of disease was well illustrated
q little over a year ago in the
severe epidemic Of typhoid.fever
which prevailed in Plymouth, Pa,
and which all originated from one
case imported from Philadelphia;
but the most striking instance
probably is the case of the epedem.
10 Of smallpox in Montreal. Some
account Of which l will give. For
some years before the 25th Of Feb.
ruary, 1885, there had been no
smallpox in Montreal-on this
date a conductor on q Pullman car
named shattuck came home to
Montreal with smallpox from
this casn txn nthnr nnsnu ,rnrn nan.