The record-union., 1898-08-27


secured by the tides or fresh-water
streams The wharves on the Havana
side of the harbor, are notorious as foci
of infection. Two of these, the Talla-
piedra and San Jose, are particularly
dangerous. Under the latter empties
the sewer from the Military Hospital,
where yellow fever patients of the army
are treated. 1t has been said that no
vessel has ever been tied to this wharf
with a non-immune crew on board
without yellow fever appearing among
them. 1t is known among ship Cap
tains as Dead Mans Hole and Cap
tains of American vessels have been
known to pay for the privilege Of dis
charging cargoes in the open bay on
| lighters, at an expense of $500 or $500,
rather than subject their crews to the
| dangers of these wharyes.
! 1.-THE Spanish Government was not
| accustomed to apply much, If any
thing, of the large revenues of the ISL
and of Cuba, to sanitary improvements.
A new water supply was provided for
Havana, but as there was no sewerage
to correspond, the sewers existing being
of pervious material, uneven in their
courses and leaky, the danger from cpl
denies was actually increased by the
| increased supply of water"
In caring for the soldiers now sick
with the disease preference is given to
the Sternberg alkaline treatment, in
| connection with daily enemata, cool
water abundance, with as much fresh
air and sunshine as possible, and with
very strict attention to diet. Follow
| ing is the prescription as published:
| Bicarbonate of soda, $50 grains; BIZ
chloride of mercury, 1-3 grain, pure
water, l quart; dose, three tablespoon
fuls every hour; to be given ice cold.
This mode of treatment has been tested
| by many physicians in the United
States, Cuba, Brazil and other localities
and with gratifying results. In 374
cases treated by ten physicians, of 3Ol
white patients, there was a mortality Of
but 73 per cent; 73 cases Of blacks
with no mortality.
NO ABSOLUTE IMMUNITY.
1t is popularity supposed that the ne
gro race is quite completely, If not
wholly, immune from this disease. The
truth seems to be that whenever an ep-
idemic occurs all persons who are ex-
posed to it are liable to it's attacks,
blacks usually being less susceptible
and developing the disease in milder
form When the epidemic ragged in the
South in 1873 there were 162 cases
among the colored population Of
Brownsville, Tenn, with 21 deaths;
at Chattanooga there wzte in all $50
cases, Of which APO were colored, with
mortality of 46, and 256 whites, with
11S deaths. At Decatur, Ala, there
were % deaths among GA whites, and
q deaths among 1856 blacks having the
| disease.
In general, the further north the ma
| tivity of the person attacked the
greater the danger. AS the result Of
observations made in Guiana, DR.. Blair
says: 1.-The lower the winter tempera-
| ture in the native country Of those at
tackled the more severe was their sick
ness, so that while the mortality among
the native West Indians amounted to
only 60 per cent. of the sick, 1t rose to
| III among the Italians and French,
| 1913 among the English, 2O.2 among
| the Germans and Dutch, and 21.7
among the Scandinavians and Rus
SLAMS.
| The news comes from Santiago that
| some Of the soldiers are having the
disease the second time. This is prob
ably a mistaks, or refers to relapses,
though it is quite possible for one to
contract the fever a second time. DR..
Wragg mentions six cases during the
epidemic at Charleston in 1854 where
persons were attacked who had pre-
viously had the disease. But in these
cases an interval Of two years had in
tervened between the attacks. DR..
Wragg says: Some Of the patients
were identified as having gone through
| the fever in the Roper Hospital in 1852,
! throwing up black vomit on both oc-
| casions." Dr. Rush mentions second
attacks as having occurred at Phila-
! delphia, sin the case Of patients who
! had previously suffered mild attacks"
There is no reasonable doubt that a
genuine attack of yellow fever renders
a person immune for a considerable
period, though it is not believed that
such immunity is transmitted by hered-
ity.
General Sternberg says: I'm localt-
ties such as Havana and Rio Janeiro,
where yellow fever has established it
self as an endemic disease, the adult
native population enjoys an immunity
which Is almost absolute, and has been
supposed to be hereditary. This view
until recently was generally accepted
by physicians residing IN these enQemlc
foci Of the disease. There is however,
accommodating evidence that the immu
nity enjoyed by Creoles' Is not inher-
tied, but results from a mild and usu
ally unrecognized attack during in
fancy or childhood" DR.. Dowler was
perhaps the first to advance this view
| in his report of the epidemic in New
Orleans of 1853. Many Creole chill
dren," he says, had during the cpl
dernic a fever, a slight fever, yellow fe-
| yer, if you please, known as such
rather by the eoexistence of the epi-
denic than from any severe sypmtoms
among the children, a slight fever never
yet described, having generally but one
paroxysm, lasting from six hours to
one, two or three days, scarcely ever re-
quiring medication. That a few Of
these cases acquired an alarming vio-
lence and even proved fatal, is most
true, most deplorable." The American
Commission for investigating yellow
fever which met at Havana in 1879
consisting Of Drs. Sternberg, Chaile,
Hardee, Guiteras and Burgess, decided
that children born in Cuba are in a
condition to contract yellow fever, and
possess no natural immunity against
IT"