Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1892-07-23

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belief 1t is time wasted to reason
with those who are SO blind that
they will not see, SO deaf that they
will not hear, and so dumb that they
will not comprehend.
1t may be asked, if it be fair,
honorable or just for you, in dis
oussing questions of public health,
to suppress or deny authenticated
facts and substitute therefor mere
assumptions or Hypothetical data,
and reason from these, as If they
were the truth? Even if your
Justification Of the truth were ad.
missible, your three per cent. NOR.
tality would still 0e absurdly high
and ridiculous.y false from the data,
being four times greater than the
fact and double what it would be if
your assumption of $500 as the
population of this city were correct.
Yes trulyl three per cent. from
any cause is "rather startling NOR
tality;" but it is less startling than
the sudden discovery that You and
/ your coadiutors have the astounding
mendacity to fabricate and circulate
such glaung, malicious falsehoods
as yours about the prevalence Of
and mortality from diphtbera in
this city.
The writer may be stupid, for be
fails to discern either the import or
the pertinency Of your ronarks,
that "this is not matter to be
viewed from a per cent. standard,
but from the actual existence of the
disease" and that, "tho danger from
vlruIent contagious diseases is not
estimated from the per cent. Of
deaths, but from the existence Of
the disease" &c. Now this may all
be very Ineligible to the average
lay reader, but 70 the writer's un-
sympathetic medical ear it sounds
much like nonsensical jargon. If
you allude to the danger to life in.
CURED by those who contract thv
disease, that is surely serious mat
ter, or if you refer to the danger of
the unaffected contracting the dis
ease, that too is no triiling matter;
but the danger Of becoming infect
ed is quite different in character
from the danger arising from the
effects Of the infection on the body,
aud bears no definite relation to the
latter. Hence, the danger from
diphtheria cannot be estimated, as
you seem to believe, from the mere
existence of the disease, which
ranges in severity from mild and
harmless to malignant and highly
dangerous, or the degree Of liability
of the healthy to become infected;
but, both its rate Of mortality, nee
essarily involving per cent, and the
greater or less liability Of contract.
ing the disease, require due con.
sideration.
The danger to life from diphtheria
when contracted being universally
conceded, needs 40 further consid-
GRAFTON at this time; while the de-
gree of liability Of all to contract
the disease under varying condi-
tons Of exposure, deserves further
attention Persons in perfect health
rarely contract any infectious dis
ease, however yirulent, especially
| from a simple exp osure. To insure
the disease the specific contagium
must be present in a state Of actly-
ity, the subject must be susceptible
TO the disease and be n a state Of
receptiyity for the contagjlsDs, and
reasonable precautions against com
! ing into close propinquity with the
contagium, howsoeyer dilfused or
disposed, must be neglected. The
measures known to be the most ef-
fectiye in limiting diphtheria aud
preventing its spread are: LIST, isola-
tion Of the patient aud attendants;
I'd, publication and disinfection Of
the premises, furniture, bedding,
clothing, utensils, aud everything,
and everybody anywise connected
with the patient; Sd, effective double
quarantine, securing complete sepa-
! x,t,o.. nE tLa ;,,,,,otos ,f .nFaotaJ