New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-05-02
MEDICAL GEOGRAPH \.
AREAS OF DISEASE WHICH CAN DE
CLEARLY AND PERMANENTLY lNDl-
GATED ON THE MAP.
From The Saturday Review

From The Saturday Review.
1t is common knowledge that diseases nave as
rifle their local habitations. some IKE uop,u n
animals and plants. live only IN me d o,er tho
like consumption are n ian1osv and smallpox are
gradually becoming limited in tner exfiDction
Aaain there are regions to which diseases nave
reached. On the SUBMITS OF s DE- no 18Th
ranges and in the circumpolar snowheds tne ear ~
and air and water as barren OF the micropes OF
disease as they are of animal NE Wlthou, ques-
ton, if hansen and his companion naa oeri sa TH
posed 10 the same hsrdsh2s and the sane yav
tary conditions In these isands tne beo ~
resist the continue! bombardment or germs 10
which we all are subjected
in country like Britain, thickiy populatsi for
many centuries. and with the freest crcuiation OF
surface contains the germs Of the more common
diseases; and the native OF some newer land'
stricken soil BY generations of destructive elm
inaion we have become highly resistant 70 our
diseases Bur we are not fully protected. and can
still take a large annual toll. 1t may be assumed
that both are due to micro-organsms. the microbe
being as We; only suspected. Probably no inhabl-
etany escaps ny e snf bS Gr
m mic 20, Of tuberce Most Of U.s. fortunatey
~, a stTlRngy interesting result becomes plain
with different shades. according 10 their rates ~
for low e is ch9sen for high moraes red
nIghest ana me deepest red the lowest rate When
nd
sumption are compared, 1t IS at once evident hat
me lhcldence OF the diseases is not caprclous. The
snow az the first glance strking,y regnIar AZ
IIinuIon. Inc one map forms almost eyartIv a
high mortality comedies with the deem red d g. cancer
ruIn ipjsn low mortality. Where the consumn,ior
a6 on the whole there is similar inverse coTTe
iWbnp oerWeen intermediate rates of mortai,ty
go M NE mortality maps are GONNA rod III
Eoop physlcal map it may be seen fhaf ,be ~,rh a
of
iaty prevails in lowyng well-profec,efd iisn NOR
between low banks cutting their NO uoW W 10 ne sea
OF cay ana recent alluvia SOIL in fact wbrra es
on am hoods are frequent and strong sea winds rsy
~ hush out the protected valleys there cancsr nr
nans and hnds rs fatte't harves. The love-
ham ana the sour to oh The " b 10 the the
,bick -so,'n tSe .on the Severn and Dee are all
Sinsr HAND the lowest mortality groups occur ON np
pecally where ri iees Of limestone rocS rsaT tb.
serves ahoVe the surrounding country In the shel.
ing the daapnes and pcrodsa oone hs 1n1y
owes mortality rates from consumption occur In
projected valleys, wherever strong sea winds pre-
YAH and along the lofty ridges Ike that forming
high mortality is to be found Not dsmpnnIlp bon
seems ,bn to be the exciting physical cause
cancer IS TOO striking 10 be purely coincidence il
By saa aat 2e is to explain
e1our o s ssaass suPges 9 pure air is evident
ny Of the body Il more than probabie tha. the
low cancer mortality in all exposed districts is due
vail them pulse Of life beats more na soT RIs
ana every bodily and mental activity is teebler on
the sodden soil Of the dull valleys where cancer
rules. But we do not know how cancer gets from
patient 10 patient nor Il its organism has become
purely parasitic on the bodies of animals No
doubt, all the microbes Of disease at one time
harmless vegetables. living idyllic life in the
mud. Some Of them are still able to maintain ex
istencc outside the bodies OF their victims and the
relation Of cancer to clay soils and flooded districts
suggests that IL NAV not yet have reached a purely
parasitic stage. Other and more specialized mi
crobes apparently have lost their primitive capacity
TO live free life. and their specialize ton is pre-
pairing the way for their extinction II the microbes
die unless they reach quickly another living host.
isolation Of infected cases. carried out thoroughly,
Will ultimately rid Us OF their existence.
The prevalence Of consumption in the otherwise
healthiest districts is accident Of contami-
mated land. On lofty Alpine SUBMITS, or where the
sea winds sweep the decks OF ocean vessels.
or on the desert wind-bown sierras, people are
not struck down with consumption, and even those
already affected unless they are nearly at deaths
door find new health in the keen air. But our own
land full Of the plague the winds elsewhere heal
ing bring with them new seeds OF disease. The
slightest chill the tickling OF delicate lung with
saf air prepares the for the omnipresent para
siie Colds that would vanish In "A night in
healthy land become fatal here. and those with
constitution unadapted 10 resist the microbe IAN
Victims TO an exposure that In Itself Is innocuous
hone