The evening times., 1897-01-26
BLACK DEATHS WAR ON MAN
Surgeon General Wyman Traces
the History of the Plague.
MORE DEADLY THAN CHOLERA
How the Disease Takes Hold OF
the Human Body-A Description
of Its Bacillus-Ameriean Quaran-
tine Against Its Int troduction-The
Fever Now at MarseilIes.


States Marine Hospital Service, has beef
making special study of the black death
| or bubonic plague, now raging in India. the
deadliest scourge that ever afflicted th'
earth. 1t has already been brought b.
infected seamen to MarSeilles, France.
The disease" says the surgeon general
"begins generally with high fever, and in
from one to five or six days the glands ot
the groin and Of the axiIla begin to swell.
The duration OF the fever is from few
hours to some weeks, in a large proportion
of The cases the fever lasting about five or
six days. After this primary fever the sec
ondary fever occurs in a ma Jority Of re-
covering cases. The most prominent char
acteristic OF the disease IS the swelling of
the glands. Large buboes may form within
few hours after the person has felt in the
best of health, bl buboes are sometimes en-
tirely absent. The term black death is
probably derived from the hemOrrhage. Of
the stomach or the intestines, or from the
fact that the bodies frequently undergo
dsColoratiOn, owing to rapid decOmp0si-
tiOn after death.
The cause OF the disease is a bacillus,
somewhat resembling that Of chicken choI-
era a small, short rod, with rounded ends
This bacillus, which was discovered by
kitasato in 1894, is characterized by its
property of rapid multiplication. and the
facility with which it enters the human
organism.
In general the disease is spread I'm
the same manner as cholera. except that
int.
tlnal tract. while the germ OF the plague
may attack any part Of the mucous mem
brane, or be contracted by even the
minutest abrd sion Of the skin While
this germ is so virile and So easily taken
into the system. tits one OF the most easily
killed by disinfeCtiOn.
In the experiments now being carried
on In the laboratory OF the Marine Hos
pital Service e has been found that hut
one pathOgenic organism is as easily de
stroyed by formaldehyd gas as the plague
bacillus, namely, the staphylococcus pyo-
genes aureus. one per cent of quickIime
viii also destroy it
There are known 10 be two forms Of
the disease. one is the Illuminating form,
called pestus ma 1or,' in which form
the disease acts very quickly and is very
fatal the other 'pestus minor in which
the symptoms are mild, the patient not
being confined to the bed, whence this
class are called ambulant cases The
period for incubation for the acute cases
appears to be pretty well fixed at in Ter
ten days, while in the ambuIating cases
the apparent period OF incubation may he
very much longer. In other words, am
bulating cases may be afflicted for a
period of from ten to thirty days before
the symptoms have developed, which call
attention to the diseG Sc The acute
form Of the infection may cause mild at
tacks The ambulant cases, therefore, are
the most To be dreaded
According to Kitasato, after a pa
tient mas apparently recovered, he must
be kept apart from the healthy com
munity FOR a period OF a month, for the
baciIIi may be discovered in the blood
weeks after all symptoms have ceased.
While quarantine measures necessary
to prevent the spread Of this disease are
similar to those required for preventing
cholera. there is marked disSimiIa rity
between the nature Of the two diseases
in their effect upon the human body.
The plague bacillus is found not only IN
the intestinal and other mucuOus tracts.
but in the blood Of the patient as well.
while cholera is not found in the blood.
Moreover, the buboes, or swollen glands,
so characteristic Of the disease, may be
considered aggregations OF the germ.
while cholera is a disease affecting
the digestive and intestinal tract alone.
the bubonic plague is practically a septi-
caeInia Of blood poisoning, affecting all
the tissues OF the body. and is thrown off
with the excretiOns. Moreover the germ
of cholera is generally destroyed by dry
ing, whereas the germ of the bubOnic plague
may be mingled with the dust and inhaled.
Regarding the present danger from
this disease" the surgeon general contin-
ued, lit should be borne in mind that its
terrible ravages were atperiods when there
was the utmost ignorance with regard to
preventive measures. Even during the
last century, as compared with previous
periods. the disease has been keptin abey-
anCe under quarantine restraints and by
sa anitary measures extremely imperfect as
with those of today. All the
European authorities are on the alert and
believe that they will be able to prevent
the extension Of the disease from India
1T should be borne in mind that it is |
only within three years that the exact |
nature of the disease has become known |
This positive knowledge Obvidtes unneC-
essary and futile measures and gives |
1ireCtness and force to those which are |
of service. The admirable system OF !
quarantine established by a law of Con !
gress. which provides for the thorough /
Inspection of vessels at various foreign |
ports before their departures for the United |
States, and the uniform system of quaran-
inc in the ports Of the United States, war
ant confidence that the disease will not |
enter this country
1.-The history of the true bubonic plague
lates back to the third century before
]hrist. In the sixth century it prevailed in
Europe and Egypt, lasting fifty years. 1t
S said that in Constantinople e carried off
$1,000 persons in one day. 1t prevailed in
he fourteenth century throughout Europe,
md also in the fifteenth and sixteenth cen
uries. In the sixteenth century, in Lon
Ion, it was very severe, a thousand dying
weekly in London. In $40 200 900 per
ons died in Moscow and the neighborhOod.
n 572 $4,000 perished at Lyons. In the
irst half of the seventeenth century it still
Prevailed in Europe In 1856 it is said to
ave carried off 100000 persons within
i've months in Europe. The great plague
II London was in 1864. The total num-
er OF deaths from the plague in London in
665 was estimated at 460, 900. 1t pre-
allied also throughout various portions of
europe in the eighteenth century. In the
nineteenth century it prevailed in Con-
tantinople, Russia, India, China, Egypt,
Arabia and Persia. The fast outbreak of