The Hawaiian gazette., 1897-02-16
SELDOM ATTACKS EUROPEANS
Cause Of Plague Due to
Filthy Condition.
was known in Syria Early in Chris
tar Continued Periodi-
caliy Since Then.

NlslQruues never come siugly. the
g-overt SAYS and midas woful exps.
1uce 5lzt now affords a fresh illus
uau0r OF IT'S truth. Owing TO the fail.
urs % her crops last spring and agar
rs s autumn. large portion 81
her immense population is threatened
Vh starvation And right on top a
tat distress comes a pesuelnce the
Ferg mention OF which strikes terror
20 millions Of hearts. The first Of these
$50 evils IS operative over a consider
able extent Of territory. and deaths
from that cause in the whole Empire
are said TO number a thousand daily
ASSET the new conner confines its work
% single city, Bombay. and thus lar
BIS victims number less than a hundred
ay Bus The history Of similar VI
stations in previous years jusufes the
expectation Of a rapid increase Of 5he
plague before 81 begins to subside. ana
the reported aieht Of 100000 residents
ab5ut one-r0urth OF the total NUMBER
offers vivid testimony 10 the panic
which has been created by the OUT
break
This alarm wilI be better understood
when one recalls the fact that the dis
ease which Is called the "bubonic
plague OF -bUbonic fever" in tine
cable dispatches, is Identical with a
maIaly which has ragged repeatedly IN
AsHuC countries in epidemic form in
The last eighteen centuries. and with
The Black Death. which ravaged Eu-
rope iu the Middle Ages 1t has also
reapei a terrible harvest in Egypt and
Litya-
This disorder is marked by a sudden
attack Of high fever. the patients TEN
pe-ature rising TO los degrees. or even
higher. and is attended with headache.
thiTz- and srupOr which rapidly ud-
vance re- state of coma. Death often
occurs within wenty-f0ur hours OF he
dIr manifestation. although the aver
aEe run al the disease i'm a fatal ca Sc
is about Two DAYS. Between twelve
and twerrg-trlr hours after the De-
ginning 81 rhe rracE glandular swell
ilE hard aud tender 20 the touch
usually appears iu the groin. armpit
or neck most frequently iu the groin.
These lEaIa creristie tuuors. or bub0es.
le mllady one its familiar
names Sometimes death overtakas
-l le BEFORE The =welimgs appear.
D. cases the IluCis suppura-e.
especially If the patient lives beyond
-lt saaea5 Or third day Suppuratiou
is usually regarded as g promisilg
sEI on the other hand, the develsp-
U 1I spots ON the skin. or OF inter
BAL ECuulrEazes attended with the va
hitting 1t blood. is regarded as a most
alarming symptom. The proportion OF
eases which end in death has been
placed By some authorities at 80 per
cent but this seems TO be an under
estimate Many epidemics can be cited
b. which Two out Of three sufferers
iied- ir other Instances the mortality
was So Der cent II is even declared
during certain Fisitations Of the plague
along the banks of the Volga not one
person survived who was once attack
ed IT, however. the victim holds cut
for Eve DAYS Dire generally gets we'll
although his recovery may not he
wholly effected for a month.
AS a. the precise cause Of this NAL
ady there is some uncertainty. The
Encyclopaedia Britannica" describes
he hubonic plague as a febrile dis
e depending ON the reception int
The h01y OF specific organic conta-
Sion Analogy makes ii probable that
Fti= euutzuon is living organism
o he class bacteria but the sus
reced organism has not yet been dis
covered The fever Is somewhat alliei
ro tEnh1s. and has even been Gale,
zhe tgrluz u hot climates; but thi
fesiursti1r is not accepted by experts
TIA most powerful OF the variou
Influences that promote the spread o
rlaele IS uucleauliuess. II inyariabl
Breaks ont in those quarters Of cit
where She weiing-hOuses are over
crowded and surrounded by filth Thi
Eas notably the case in Canton an
Hong Kong during the visitation o
1883 and iu Pail India. I'm 1886. o
The mentioned city II was sal
shaf q was Filthy beyond conception
An Impoverished condition Of the bloc
due 70 scauty food is another conduC
ing cause More than one outbreak q
the plague. like the present one
IrGia. has been preceded by or wa
b. seen that ID is the natives. and na
fiyes Of the humblest classes, tbs
perish al such times rather than F.
rnpeans and Americans. Not that h
hahitnauy neat and well nourished /
. city Ike Bombay escape altogethe
but they are not usually exposed
the plague. because they live in jill
ferent quarter Of the city from that 1
which the outbreak first occurs. An
even when affected they usually SUI
vive. OF the English soldiers in Hon
Kong. who were called upon sin 1Ss
10 perform the work of disinfectin
certain districts. ten were attacke
With the fever, but only two die'
Physicians of foreign birth, too, seer
10 enjoy a special immunity Will
treating the plague-stricken in Chin!
India and other countries. For thes
reasons European and American res