The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1897-09-24
GhrDrmurraf-S Star
THE YELLOW DEATH.
Atlanta Constitution.

81 DctlH-t tif Hlfd'tfb pldSu' hA'thA
10 attack some Of the southern sea
potts after an absenccnf several years.
and / do 81 trusting that the medical
fraternity will not think | am tres.
passing on their domain, aud with the
assurance that a member ~ the laity
is exempt from the laws OF medical
ethics. | write about this plague he
cause | have been through several
epidemics In fact, have had the yell
low fever myself, and | think some
facts about the much feared disease
will be OF interest jIst now.
Yellow fever has never been known
To come twice In exactly the same
form. Ii is a blond poison and il has
new symptoms and must be treated
differently. For instance. one year in
Mobile aud New Orleans IL WAS found
that the only thing which did the
pdtientI any good was champagne; an
other year q%uinine was found To be
the best tonic: another time castor oil
and turpentiue were freely given with
good results. In ISL, when there
was an epidemic in Mobile, the patti
ents had to he kept close and gwen
hot drinks. Two years later, in 1913.
the patients required all the fresh air.
and ice and icewater were given with
much benefit, and that ear hot drinks
were almnst certain death.
1t will be seen from this that when
the fever first comes the physicians
have to experiment with different re-
needles.
WHY CALLED YELLOW FEVER
The disease gets its namc from the
color OF the skin after death. When
the patient has the fever his skin is
very red, and it is after death that it
takes on the orange color.
As a general thing, the fever eX-
ponds its force in three days and three
nights, but often after it has left It
returns in a mildcr and Intermittent
form and it is then that the patient
requires the most careful! nursing, for
it will be solne Two or three weeks
before he will be cOnyalescent.
As | said, the symptoms are not al
ways the same every time the plague
makes its appearance. One year the
first attack will come on with violent
pains in the head, and at another
time the first Or prenIonitOry symp-
toms will he terrible pains in the back
over the kidneys. But the fever, no
matter how it comes, is always Of very
high temperature and burns itself out
rapidly.
There is one strange thing about the
yellow fever, and that is whenever the
patient feels, after the fever has left
him, that he is strong and 4 get up
and eat, he is almost sure to die. This
has been explained on the theory that
when such is the case modification
has set in and the patient feels well
because he does not feel at all.
BLACK yOMIT ALWAYS FATAL.
And let me say here that nDtwitll-
standing some physicians who have
learned about yellow fever from books
say that Il patient can recover after he
has what is known as the BLACK
v0mit,' the person who has the
genuine black vumit is then almost il
the article Of death and there is absU
lutcly no chance for him to recover
The inner coating OF the stomach iia'
mortified, and, giving away, he vomit.
it. This is black vomit.
The disease, per Sc, is not a yer.
fatal one. The reason that there is 5,
much mortality during an epidemic il
because those who are well-to.dO hav,
left the city, and it is generally thu
poorer classes who are left behind t.
be attacked. and these have not The
necessary attention and nursing; ant
then a great many die from fright
The hot fever necessarily weakens the
heart action and fright but adds tt
the trouble.
| remember in Mobile in 1871, there
was IA young nan who was taken sud
denly i'll with the fever while riding
with a friend in a buggy. lie was
greatly frightened and bought a quart
Of whisky, OF which he drank freely
The next morning before daylight he
was dead. Those who arc constant
drinkers OF alcoholic stimulants arc
not as apt to take the fever as those
who do not drink. but when a whisk,
drinker does get stricken he is almost
sure to die.
DANGER IN TIE NIGHT TIME.
A person Tan 90 into Il city where
there is yellow fever and stand very
little danger Of contracting the disease
IL he leaves before nightfall-befort
the dew begins to fall and he must
not 90 whcrc the lever Is IN the morn
ing until after the SUI has risen an(
the dew is dried. That is why people
who live in stricken districts nov
their families into the adjacent coun
try and go fcarlcssly into the city in
the day and attend to business, lcav'
ing before night. Those who slceI
out Of the city rarely, II ever, have the
disease.
Physicians who have had experience
with the disease all agree that yellow
fever Is not contagious. There vii
be a case in n part Of the city, ant
the next day another will BIZ stricken
who Is far removed and who not beer