New-York tribune., 1889-12-22
EPIDEMIC INFLUENZA.
Alta CKING MEN AND MULES. BUT LETTING
WOMEN GO FREE.

| ATTACKING MEN AMI ''CA >>~~
WOMEN GO FREE.
rrRom Az OCCASIONAL coERfsroNDENr of rnr fa'noA|
''AO'' Paris Dec. 10.
| snecze which encrces the globe Is ho'
| without certain amount OF dignity an" iinPo,
| tance. and therefore the epidemic OF lnhuehs"'
which has reached the banks Of the Seine. deserves
more than mere passing notice. NO one ece"'
TO know exactly where the &fesent epiuc"'o
| originally started, but its symptoms ana eneo"
are so similar to the dengue fever which nas '.'"
raging for the last few months in Greece. iWN.y
and Egypt that belief in its Eastern ana Asi"~'
origin appears to be well founded. ihis hypo'nesA
is further confirmed by the fact that the numerous
epidemics of a similar nature which swcpt o'e'
Europe previous TO 1880 have reached Russia
from the Orient along tie caravan routes. an
the Cars dominons it was known BY the name
of the Chinese malady," while in Germany !"
was designated as the Russian catarrh" In
Italy it figured as the German illness, ana Id
France it was described as caused by foCs brouGhs
from the opposite banks of the Rhine by Tcuton
winds. "remplis de malgnite" lladen with
malignity). Epdemics always follow the main
trade routes, and now that the principal portion
of Asiatic commerce enters Europe via Egypt
instead of via Persia the caravan trails from
China, the invasIons Of cholera influenza ana
other Affections invariably travel by way oil tine
Suez Canal and the Nile Delta.
The causes of the epidemics Of influenza appear,
as in the case of dengue fever, 10 be principally
atmospheric. Barber in his history OF King
Louis XIV. mentions that the outbreak here III
February, 1893, was preceded and attended py
fogs so thick and black that lighted lanterns
could not be seen. In the streets everybody
walked with links and candles in their hands. and
vet had much ado to find their doors" Curiousiy
enough the beginning Of the present epidemic
at ST. Petersburg was coincident with the presence
Of IL heavy clouds, semi-darkness ana horriDre
weather"
The epidemcs of influenza are rapid and sudden
in their onslaught, and the impression Whicn thls
suddenness has made on the popular mino Is
evinced by the names which have frequently been
applied TO it. Thus in Germany it has been ire
quently called the Blitz catarrh tngntnins
cold. while the French have christened it as Ia
grippe" word derived from the verb grlpper,
which signifies to snatch or to grab. The symp-
toms are familiar to all those who have resided
in the Orient, and who have suffered from dengue
fever There are the same mental depression
feversh cold and gastric disturbance on the first
day of the malady, which are followed on the
four succeeding days by an invincibe state Of
somnolency On the fifth or sixth day the latter
disappears and gives place to vomiting, and the
patient then recovers as rapidly as he fell Ill.
Through some strange reason or other the cpl
demic influenza attacks men and animals In
preference to women, who appear TO ENJOY an IN
munity therefrom, at any rate TO great extent
Horses, asses, dogs and cats are affected thereby,
and even a mule becomes subdued when attacked
by influenza, and ceases his kicking and bucking
in order to wheeze and cough. In Russia the Ill
ness has placed half of the Government Admins
traton hors de combat from the Gar and his
Ministers down to the humblest tchinovlk,
while here in Paris business in the mammoth
shops such as the Bon Marche and the Louvre, Is
seriously crippled by the indispositon of the sales
men, several hundred being affected in single
store.