The National tribune., 1891-04-16
Written Tor TIN NATIONAL TrIauSEI
BEALTH HINTS
For Old and Young.
by FELIX l. OSWALD, N. D.
CHAPTER CYIII.
EPIDEAICs.


wisdom are learned IN the school OF calamity.
The dark midnight OF tho Middle Ages was
first broken by CLEANS Of light reflected from
the civilization of the Spanish MOriscoes about
the middle of tho 18th century but il might
be doubted il the sanitary abuses OF that age
Of Ignorance would not have outlived its pO-
litical and religious insanities, il il had not
been for the memorable lesson taught by the
great plague OF 1919. Up % that time diseases
were considered a direct consequence of sin,
especially the sin Of unbelief, and were sup
posed 10 be durable only by prayer aided in less
serious cases by drugs and bleeding. But the
Black Death deticd prayer-cures as it had
defed pills and lancefs, aud in their desperate
search for an explanation of the horrible afllic-
tiOn even bisots could ut last not help noticing
the fact that the cOntagiOu spread most rapidly
in the dirtiest districts Of every town, and
spared castles AMI highland cabins. Intemper-
ate persons, dTunkaTds and gluttOns furnished
the largest quota OF victims, while even in
nnclcan and OyerCrOwded localities abSLiucnt
individuals of personally clean habits had
fair chance ofcsCape. That latter circumstance
at FIST gave rise 10 hOTTid mistake Noticing
the remarkable immunity Of their Hebrew
fellow-citizens the plague-stricken Christians
arrived at the conclusion that the Jews must
have caused the trouble IN some way or other,
probably by poisoning the public wells. Hun
GTeds OF thousands Of innocent persons in
France Italy, aud Germany were slain with
cut rcmor3c; in the city Of Maycnce alone
1900 Jews were butciered in one week. But
the plague did not ahaic, and experience before
long proved that the mortality had been dread
lul IN towns where there were no Hebrews At
all, while, on the other hand, in the cleanly
towns OF the Moors, in Sicily and southern
Spain, Mahome:ans and jews alike had escaped
conta2ion.
Intelligent Observers then FIRST recognized
the fact that diseases can be prevented by tenn
perance aud cleanliness, Is foundations are
prevented by dikes, and conlagratiOns By we'll
constructed ireplacUs. A similar lesson was
about the same time taught by the rayages Of
sWamp-feyer in the l0Wland districts of south
ern and western Europe. Malaria had almost
dePOpulated the marshes Of Italy, but the
growing scarcity OF cheap land at last tempted
cnterPrising farmers 20 reclaim the pGstifcTOUs
icus by means Of drainage, and wherever that
experiment was tried on large scale II was
found that muskctOcs aud feyers decreased as
crops improved in other words. that the soil
could be fitted for human habilation rs easily
as il couldsbc adapted 10 the growth Of wheat
aud fruit-trccs. Thousands Of acres were thus
di-iufected ia the Tuscan MaTemma. in Kent
aud Essex, and in the valleys OF the Scotch
Loihians till the spade took the place OF tho
lancet as a specific Tor the cure Of climatic dis
eases.
AN lNl lltI lItNAlEHEH Dl @lEll hl-EdhG1 hOulus
nowadays. appear almost Incredible il il were
not attgsted By one Of is practical effects, viz:
the remarkable frequency Of hilltop villages
iu southern Italy. Finding IL impossible 10
pray or purge away their feyers ia the low
lands the survivors settled on airy mountain
ridges often in localities where food and mcr-
chaudiSe can be transported only on donkey
back-horses not being sure-footed enough FOR
the steep. narrow bride. paths which put the use
al Mtaatah ssrtffralxy nuf n h..
question.
The improvement Of drainage was followed
by the introduction u yentiatory cOntrivauces
and by the more careful inspection OF the pro-
vision markets. The condition Of those mar
keis in an age Of general indifference TO sanitary
reform may be inherited from the fact that the
vigilance OF our modern health police has only
resulted in limiting but by no means in wholly
preventing the sale OF meat from diseased cat
tie and the adnlteratiOn OF almost every imi-
table article Of food and drink.
Systematic food inspection and systematic
street cleaning have not yet made the spread
of contagious diseases impossible, but they
have enormously diminished the proportion OF
fatal cases. Smallpox patients nowadays have
three 10 one chance 81 escaping with a few
dozen unsightly pit marks, and an even chance
OF getting OF without such mementoes OF their
aihieiion, while a physician Of the fifteenth
century thought himself lucky il he could save
two out Of ten adults and one out Of ten chill.
dren. In 1907 one-fouTth Of the entire pOpuIa-
ton of Iceland fell victims TO a smallpox cpl
demic which was considered n miideF type OF
the same disorder which had Tsvased central
Europe during the preceding century, and
which in 1921 had caused tho death Of 2. 4OO,-
OOO persons in Mexico alone. In that country
and IN the Spanish Vest Indies, where hum
dreds Of slaves were often kept penued up like
pigs in ovcrcTowded stOckyards, ninety out of a
hundred stricken persons generally died within
half week after the first appearance Of the
fatal eruption.
Cowpox Is not more clearly related TO true
Ddriota than scarlet aud typhoid fever are to
the Black Death Of the Middle Ages an
erupiiye disease which once was deemed go
hoPeiessly fatal that recovery was considered
little short Of impossible, or at all events, Of
miraculous. JIG refused % attack about three
out Of ten persons. Those who felt the first APP
pr0ach Of the Tcll-kuown symptoms could Oc-
casionally save themselves BY timely flight 10
the seashore or TO airy mOuntain-t0ps, but after
the black spots had once made their appear
ance the patient was generally advised 10 make
his peace with God without q moments loss Of
time, since drliTium would supeTyene within
% hours and death before the end Of the third
day. StupOT e1crnciating headaches, acute
pains IN The shoulders aud lungs, burning
thirst lall equally Characteristic Of typhoid
ANstAl NNAG 4'llDhtA bs ~ great htttltfdtlbn OF
the pulse and final collapse. which in some
cases Was preceded by vomiting fits and palsy
Of the tongue. Ia 1919 2I,OO0O00 persons sue
cumbed to that disease ia China and HindOOs-
tan; IN its westward progress IL Tavaged Syria
aud Egypt, aud entered Europe by way Of
COnstautiuOplo. Italy lost half its population !;
France four out of ten inhabitants; the city Of
London alone 100 Of It's citizens.
All Ia all the population of Europe was re-
ducrd from ll0,O10OOO TO 100000 within
three years l. e., total mortality OF % OOO,0
human beings while the hundred battles Of
the NapOleouic wars destroyed loss than 200O,-
600 lives IL - years. aud massacres Of the
Thirty Years War less than 100000
That mortality can be partly explained by
travellers who have visited tile ancient cities of
Europe aud measured the width Of the slum-
alloys which represent a fair sample Of the
letter kind Of streets composing the cities OF
tho Middle Ages. while the GhefiOs, the Pariah-
quarters Of that time, would now be considered
unit for the stabiing OF domestic cattle-hogs
not excepted.
But while cleanliness and the supply Of
wholesome food have been greatly improved,
the very improvements vi architecture have
tended to aggrayate the evil Of unyentilated
tenements. Open hteplaecs have been super
seeded by close stoves, windows and doors have
become alright 10 a degree 0f which the build
eIs of medieval dweliing-lIOuses had no con-
cepiion. Henrc, perhaps, the fact that rcspiTa-
tory diseases almost alone. have become more
fatal than formerly. Colds" and catarrhs
were known In ali tho cities of medieval