The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-05-04

Washington, May S-The session of
the Association of American Physicians
at the Arlington, was marked by an
important paper on typhoid in the vol
unteer camps by Dr. V c. Vaughn,
one Of the board of surgeons appointed
by Surgeon General Sternbers last
summer, to look into the matter when
the epidemic of typhoid was prevalent
III the various army camps. The board
made a very thorough study Of the sub
lect and its report has been looked tor
ward to as an authoritative work. The
report is not yet completed, but DR..
VaughH's paper was IN the nature of
an advance statement with the sane
ton OF General Sternberg, who was
present at the meeting.
Ignorant Volunteer Surgeons.
DR.. Vaughns paper was a severe ar
raignment of the volunteer surgeons
and incidentally of the officers who
were responsible for the policing of the
great camps at Jacksonville, Chicka-
manga Camp Alger and Montauk
Point. The board visited all these
points and found that not only was
there a great deal more typhoid than
was at first supposed, but that the sur
Geuns mostly of the volunteer class,
were, from ignorance or other motives
treating and reporting typhoid under
the names of persistent malaria" III
digestion" gastric fever" and ''typho-
malaria Blood examination of many
of The malaria patients failed to show
the presence of the malaria bacillus,
but there was every indication of well
marked typhoid. Patients were being
treated with quinine and naturally
either died or had To be sent to citv
hospitals where their disease was
properly diagnosed.
Filtay Condition of Camps.
The board made an extra careful eX-
animation of the water supply of the
various camps and found that the pre-
valence of typhoid could not be laid
10 impure water in any large degree.
The explanation. DR.. Vaughn said, was
in the dlsgustingly filthy condition of
the camps. where the eXcreta of ty-
phoid patients was strewn broadcast
with no apparent effort either to Sterii-
ize it or collect it so as TO prevent its
spreading ccutagion to the remainder
of the camp.
The final report of the board will deal
largely with sanitary measures for the
governing of camps and the best form
of steriliZing apparatus TO use in case
of fever outbreaks.
Regulars Not to Blame.
Surgeon General Sternberg of the
after the lessons of the civil war. that
our camps should have been infected
by typhoid. which we knew so well. He
had issued a circular to all medca!
pfficers. pointing out the dangers in
shis regard. and explaining how they
might be avoided. General Sternberg
referred TO the appointment of volun
teer medical army officers by the gov
errors of states. the former thereby be-
coming responsible for the health of
our camps.
DR.. George Dock of the University of
Michigan spoke of his Investigations at
the Sternberg general hospital. The
misunderstanding regarding the symp
toms of typhoid and the over-estima-
ton of the effects of quinine form. DR..
Dock declared. the striking faults of the
volunteer medical service.
Most of the volunteer medical officers
went to camp with the expectation of
fighting no end OF malaria. In one reg
iment each man was provided with 200
grains of quinine and a three-ounce bot
tie of paregOric. The great bulk of
supposed malavial cases were not ma
larIel affections at all, but many of the
doctors regardless of this. dosed their
patients with thirty to forty grains of
quinine each day.