Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-01-24

disease might be recognized py .he per
sons breathing upon piece Oh s,"ss'
where. the breath condensins' '"',o
might living creatures be seen py 'ne mn
croscope. Of strange, mons'rouss anu
friehtful shapes. such az dragons, snakes
sernente and devils, horrible to behold;
hut this very much question the tru'h
Of: and we had no microscopes az tha'
lime. as I remember. to make expert
ments with"
pAcu.rJ-s or BUBONIC PLAGUE
So far from agreeing with .thls ran
tastic idea OF the cause OF the ulseaSe'
the plague bacillus is IN appearance
nothing more than a short rod-shapeu
vegetable cell resembling closely. III
morphology the bacillus OF chicken
cholera 1t can be grown on arlihoia'
culture media. and when injected ll.o
susceptible animals, notably the rat
causes their death in from two 10 "Ne
days. with characteristic symptoms
Aside from the recognition oil tne Va,
cillus, Kitasato and his associates uls-
covered little that Is new. Accurate oo-
servations Of the range of temperature
In the victims Of the disease were mace
| and the interesting fact noted th2t tne
temperature may rise several degree
after death.
At the present time the plague is epl-
| demic in Bombay. The latest onnC'a'
communication to the United states Gov
| eminent on this subject Is In lel'e'
| from 8 Comfort. Consul at Bombay
bearing the date Of December 10TH he
| reports roc deaths from the disease III
the preceding week. Later reports py
! cable. show thas the disease has spI"Au
| RAPIDLY since that time. and w 10
| January 18th the returns show @'o'o
| cases. with 1882 deaths--a mortality OF
over II per cent? over half the popuia-
ton of the city. estimated at sOoOy), mas
fed. the streets are deserted, and busi-
ness IS ut standstill.
WILL IT REACH AMERICA?
The question which intimately con-
| Germs us Is: VIII the plague reach Eu-
ropean and American shores Inc
| points 10 be considered in replying TO
| this question deal with both the pros
| and cons The increased travel of the
present day, taken in conjunction with
the fact that the epidemic now raging
| AT Bombay is beyond question the true
| buhonic plague Of virulent Character,
would. If no precautions were taken I'M
| doubleday cause the plague TO nVaue
| me. entire civilized world within the year
1891.
on the other hand the present system OF
| quarantine f. so thorough that the prooa-
biity of the first case. or cases. passing
through Undecided is reduced to a mini
mum. Travel at this day is rapiu. but the
telegraph is more speedy, and we are kept
in constant touch with the sanitary con-
dition of every port on the globe ana are
enabled po exert caution where ii is most
| needed. -
Aside from this the sanitary condition
of most Of our cities is far ahead Of that
OF any community in which the plague
| has ever made such terrible ravages' ana
| should any danger of the diseases reach-
ing this country become imminent, stll
more attention would at once be directed
along this line.
while. then. IT is not at all improbable
that a few isolated cases may be brought
here. il is very improbable that they
could pass our system of quarantine. and
almost equally improbable that. in event
of their so doing. the disease would be-
come epidemic. If all means OF aVertlhs
| that catastrophe were eXerted.
HOW WOULD WE DEAL WITH 1T?
1t is eminently pertinent. however, that
| we should consider how the disease would
be dealt with in case it actually reached
| us.
! AS far as curative treatment is con-
| cerned il must be confessed that little
is TO be hoped for. The rate of mortality
in Hongkong in 1894. and in Bombay du-
! ring the present epidemic. shows that
medical skill stands helpless in the
presence of this scourge. Death occurs
usually before the fifth day of the disease
frequently on the third day, and medical
measures have no time to combat the pro-
cess of infection.
But for the rapid course Of the disease
there is no doubt that an antitoxin treat
ment would he the rational one Having
discovered the germ of the plague. me
manufacture Of an antitoXin for its treat
ment should present no great difficulties
II is exceedingly questionable. however
If its employment would be of any avail
in disease where the fatal issue Is SC
rapid.
When we come TO deal with preventive
measures. on the other hand, there
is every reason TO believe that we have
made signal advances In recent years
All our large, and many Of our smaller
communities have city psychologists
whose efforts at such a time would be
invaluable.
AS before stated. much could be done
towards limiting it's spread by cleanli
ness of our cities and general sanitation
The shutting up OF the infected houses
in London during the great plague was
undoubtedly an unwise measure. The
healthy members of the family were al
| most sure to contract the disease. ana M
| concentration of the virus in the infected
house was one Of the most prolific causes
OF the rapid spread of the disease. cases
of the plague should be isolated. o
course. but this should be done by send
ing the affected individual to specia
hospital. such, for instance, as that pro
vided by New York city on Norti
Brothers Island.
VACCINATION AGAINST PIsAGU Il.
Along the line of prevention we woul'
most probably have another valuable
means of protection. II has been showi
by Kitasato that the bacillus OF bu
homie plague loses its virulence rapidl
when grown on artificial culture media
; This fact clearly points to the POSSIBILITY
of using the attenuated virus as a vac
cine. giving the individual the d;seas
in a mild form, which would afford i'm
munity against a severe attack, just a
we now vaccinate against smallpox
} The purpose of this article mas been
rot TO occasion alarm In the minds o
orr readers. but rather TO place IN
question Of the plague intelligently be
fore them, and to show in what name
our future efforts in dealing with IT. VIII
be directed. H. - L.
Union PACIFIC FORECLOSURES.
"