The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-11-12
Is EUROPE THREATENED,



10 Plague In Vienna.
The terror In Vienna which has follow
ed the outbreak Of bubonic plague there
and the deaths Of five persons In addition
to that Of Helr Barisch, who first contract
ed the disease from the careless handling
Of germs under cultivation In Professor
Nothnagle's ARCHAEOLOGICAL laboratory, is
not without foundation in the possibili.
tics OF the disease, aside from the effective.
ness In highly civilized community Of
modern methods Of isolation and antisep.
Ito treatment. For the bubonio plague,
which still devastates India and other orr
entail countries, 10 the same disease which
for centuries periodically devastated Eu-
rope, appearing In England as late as 1855
and only retiring from the continent with.
IN the century. The earliest historical REQ.
ord of what is believed to have been the
bubonio plague carries 1t back to 1877 b. o.
In 446 A. ID. 1t invaded England, hard.
ly leaving enough living to bury tho dead,
according to old records, and In the four.
tenth century the whole world was swept
by the worst devastation that has ever
afflicted mankind, the black death, which
In Its main features resembled the modern
bubonio plague, and In spite Of certain
differences, Is believed to have been the
Same disease. In Europe 2a,OOO,o 900 per-
sons died Of 1t between 1347 and 1850, and
In Asia Is, 0oo,0 Its last visitation In
England, the "great plague Of London,
In 1865, carried off 6S, 500 persons In the
seventeenth century gradual lessening
of the area In which the plague was preva-
lent began, with lesscning frequency, too,
In its outbreaks. In the eighteenth cen.
tury 1t continued to retire, and In the first
third of this century 1t was confined In
Europe to European Turkey, ceaslng alto
gether In l841 with the exception Of an
outbreak in Ciscaucnsian Russia in 1870,
which was regarded as having the chief
characteristics Of the plague but only
Affected limited area. ass
Observations Of the long intervals be:
3. tween previous visitations have, however,
lied some authorities to believe in the pos
sibility Of recurrence Of the disease In
epidemic form in Europe In general 1t
Is hold that civilized conditions and tho
modern methods Of care for public health
prevent such possibility.
The bubonio plague Is contagious fe.
YER, chiefly characterized by swellings,
aShtNAy ooAAlCd w tAO SihLub VI tNO
groin, armpits and neck, but In violent
cases occurring all over tho body, which
after death are often Of dark color, thus
giving the disease Its title OF black plague
In some Of Its epidcmics In some cases 1t
begins with swelungs, followed by mild
fever, with possible recovery inside Of two
weeks. In its most violent form 1t Is fol.
lowed by death within few hours, pre-.
coded by vomit Of blood and without the
occurrence of the characteristic swellings.
OF Its origin, methods Of transmission
and cure little Is known. 1t Is believed
to arise in closely crowded communities
living in moist, heated atmosphere In
condition Of filth In sporadic cases 1t Is
not believed to be transmissble, In its
epidemic form it fellows close association
with the already infected, breathing tho
air affected by their eflluvia, and handling
their clothing. The disease Is known to
have been carried by rats, an epidemic
among them having been followed by the
plague among men. This is said to have
been the caso in tho recent epidemic Of tho
bubonic plague in India. New York sun