New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-04-12
THE BLACK DEATH,
AN ANCIENT scouRdE BEFORE wHIc
MODERN SCIENCE IS ALMOST
POWERLESS ~

dOOEHN SCICNCk Is ALMOST
PoWERLESs.
Although Hong Kong and Shanghai are ma.
thousands Of miles distant from America. -
the trah1c between these two ports ana ~,
United States IL 10 extensive, both az reeas6.
passengers and merchandise. that the news AZ :,
outbreak there Of that most terrible Of all pen1a
lences. known a. THE Black DEATH" must neee,.
sarily be q matter Of concern to this count,v
Past experience has shown that this scoure.
which Is far more deadly than cholera. typhus =
any Of its kindred plaques. invariably folov,
the trade routes. The adoption of precautions,
measures against the danger Of any importat,os
of the plague is. therefore, imperative upon n.
sanitary authorities Of the United States all n.
more so as medical science has shown itself iuss
as powerless in these modern times to cope vitA
this mysterious disease as 1t has been In bysos.
ages. True, the physicians have been able n
diagnose its symptoms; but it's origin, its caua.s
as well as the remedies by means OF which Il e.,
be defeated, are all as yet sealed book. IN.
secret Of which has until now set at nought thu
researches even Of the greatest bacteriologiss a
the age.
Not that the opportunity for investigation Ia.
been lacking for even within the memory Of thu
present generation entire districts In Asia hav.
Deen devastated Oy TIE pcStiiCHce while 0bOuk
ive years ago there was an outbreak at Hons
Kong which compelled the Governor to drive on
more than two-thirds Of the surviving chinese
population from the island and to burn their
houses in the hopes OF arresting the terrible
ravages Of the disease e disappeared az ana.
denly as 1t had come-this being popularity az
THE Black Death" Thus. five years ago it an
peared suddenly In Ashabad in Persia, swoopins
n diafrfcf like a fjol a.
striking down animals as we'll as human beinss
and at the end Of six days vanished az sud.
denly as It had arrived, leaving no trace Of III
visitation but the corpses of the victims and the
city in mourning for the loss Of more than Y
per cent Of It's inhabitants.
What has hitherto rendered scientific investir..
ton 80 difficult is the frghtful rapidly with
which death is followed by decomposition Ths
latter supervenes after an interval Of only fev
minutes, thus rendering post-mortem examine.
ton an impossibility. /, Is the same with ami.
mails as with human beings. The symptoms ara
Identical In life. and decomposition is as quck
after DEATH The scourge seems to prey upon
every living being-even upon the very birds Of
the air-and 1t has been noticed In ancient a
we'll as In modern. times that the brute creation
Is invariably the first to be attacked. Thus, u
arrival Of the Black Death" in any district
Asia Is invariably announced by the sudden ap-
pearance upon the surface Of the soil OF hordes
Of rats. mice and other burrowng animals which
fall dead after performing few extraordinary
gyratons. Dogs. cats and smaller animals are
the next to succumb. then cattle and horses and
finally men. women and children.
SYMPTOMS OF THE scoURGE
The symptoms Of "the Black Death" which
has now broken out In Hong Kong and
Shanghai, and which from time to time ravages
certain districts of Asia, are almost identical
with those which. according to the old chrou-
icles. attended the great pestilence which
ravaged Europe In the fourteenth fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries. A slight fever rapidly In
creasing. constitutes the first stage intense
thirst follows. as we'll as uncomfortable heat. &C.
companied by attacks OF shivering. The ar.
teries become tense. and glandular swelings Of
a bubonic character appear In the armpits the
neck and In other parts Of the body. These
vary in size from that Of q hens egg to that OF
a mans fist. Commissions supervene. Suddenly
the extremities become stin and cold. and In
from ten to twenty minutes the patient sinks
into a comatose condition which speedily ends
In death. As soon as the latter has taken
place large black bulae form on the body and
spread over It's entire surface. decomposition
following at once. The entire duration OF the
attack lasts from two to twelve hours 1t
would be a mistake to imagine that In modern
times the plague has ceased to assail Euro
peans: for during the last outbreak at Hong
Kong q large number Of white people sue.
cumbed.
The Black Death" was first heard Of In Eu-
rope in 1347 when. after devastating large dis
tricts Of Asia. 1t was brought to Constantinopls
from the Black Sea and conveyed from the
Bosphorus by ship to the various ports Of the
Mediterranean. Its ravages were terrible. In
Cyprus almost the entire population was De.
stroyed while In Venice over 100000 people. or
about seven -tenths Of the population. are said
to have died. In Genoa scarcely seventh OF
the Inhabitants survived. while those who de-
sire to know how it ragged In the other cities
Of Italy need only turn to the graphic descrip
lions given 1t by Boccaccio and Petrarch. At
Sienna the erection OF The cathedral was
stopped by the plague. and has never been ~
sumed to this day. From Italy the scouru
made Its way to France. to England. 20 Ger.
many and to Spain. and Is said to have BED
carried to Scandinavia by a ship which ID
London In the summer OF 1S4s The whole
the crew died Of the plague. and the ship. afts
floating ainlessly about for long time IVES
cast ashore at Bergen, the infection soon
spreading all over Norway and Sweden. Even
Iceland did not escape. while remote scandl'
navian colonies in Greenland were so obiter'
ated that their very sites were utterly forgot
ten Whether from this point the Black DEAN
was carried onward by wandering tribes OF
Esauimaux. and thus finally reached and de.
vastated this country, will never be known, ou'
such a course is conceivable, and might ac'
count for the entire disappearance Of those Ice.
landic and Scandinavian colonies which are saia
to have existed along the coast Of Maine los
two or three centuries prior to the discovery "
America by Columbus.
THE PLAGUE IN ENGLAND
Europe was subjected to three more v1slts'
lions Of 1.-THE Black Death" before the great
pestilence of 1865. OF which Pepys gives so de'
4.IlsA In hia dia nd In Iondon