The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-09-02

ident Of the Consulting Committee of
Hygiene, and Dean OF the Faculty OF Med
icine, is one of the most celebrated of
hygiensts. He took part in the confer
ence of Venice, where the rules were elab-
GRATED with a view of protecting Surope
against the importation of this Asiauc
plague.
THE Council of Hygiene" said he to a
reporter of the Gaulois, naturally occu-
pied itself with the situation. We watched
the advance of the malady up TO the con-
tamination of the town of Alexandria.
The danger Is evidently to-day nearer to
us, considering the fact that the disease
has crossed the SueZ canal where it should
have been stopped. But it is necessary,
above all things, not TO be unduly alarm
ed. Coolness is the best remedy for re-
sisting efficaciously every species of con-
tagious epidemic. It would therefore be
prudent and honest at the same time to
fortify public opinion which is always
ready to be influenced and to be troubled.
Suppose the plague should make its
appearance in Marseilles, which is a sim
ply hypothesis; it would be easy to stran-
gle ii on the spot, as that has already
been done at Samaria and at Vienna. The
hygienic conditions have been largely i'm
proved since the terrible plague of 1870,
which dominated one half of the popu-
lation Of Marseiles. Moreover. the new
treatment discovered by LII. L eIoln has
a most beneficial effect upon people afflict-
cd by the plague when Il is applied at the
beginning of the attack. The sanitary
| organization OF Marseilles, ! believe, is
perfect. The city is sufficiently armed
to be perfectly cool on the arrival of the
malady An immense quantity of anti
| plague serum has been put at the disposal
of the authorities and provided the peo-
| pie do not go crazy and do follow the
medical directions, l imagine that every
| thing would be all right I do not know
| that the people of the south of France
| are over-impressionable. The word plague
| arouseS in the minds of many people an
| Involuntary impression of terror; but
| when they get the idea that the thing Is
! easily cured they will get over their SEN
! timents of fear and face the danger reso-
! lutely. Prophylactic treatment, that is to
| say, the injection of serum into people
| who are necessarily brought in contact
/ with patients stricken with the plague,
has produced satisfactory results, but
| only on condition hat the injections are
| repeated every ten days.
| gust now il is not necessary to increase
| the sanitary measures prescribed by the
| conference of Venice. but it is necessary,
even indispensable, that these rules should
be carefully enforced; for upon their en-
| fOrcement alone depends our preservation
/ from the plageu
1.-The rules require a quarantine of 10
days for every ship with passengers of
| merchandise brought from any contamina-
| ted port. According to Investigations
made in the matter, by the conference of
| Venice, the period of incubation of the
plague is about ten days at the maximum.
/ Therefore we have only to obey the rules
of the convention.
Sanitary Rules Not Executed.
"I regret to say that these sanitary
rules have not always been executed by
the English, who put their commercial in
! forests before everything else. No doubt
the danger from the Alexandria side is
great, but is is greater still from Inc Per
! sian Gulf side. where the English sanitary
organization is sadly neg lected. We have
encountered the inertia and even the op-
| position in this matter of the British gov
eminent which evidently believes that the
application of sanitary measures in these
countries would do considerable damage to
| the maritime trade of England. No rule of
sanitary defense exists on the Persian
Gulf where England is absolute mistress
on account of the Importance of her COM
merce The Persian Gulf once contami-
nated-and l think that it is already con-
acknowledgements the invasion by the
| plague of Mesopotamia, Turkey and Eu-
| rope.
AT the present time Mascata and GER
| tain regions to The south of Persia are fun
of contagion. The land surveillance is far
|
tary eordons cannot be established every
| where TO stop people at the frontier. They
| are measures of last resort, which very
often are only taken when 100 late Hap
PLY, the plague advances slowly. 1t is not
| propagated, like certain other maladies,
yellow fever and cholera, for instance, by
the air or the water IL is transmitted by
contact with the plague-stricken, or with
! objects which belong to them"
DR.. Aproust, Inspector general of sani-
tary service and professor of hygiene in
The faculty of medicine, has devoted him
self specially. as is known TO the study of
epidemic diseases, yellow fever, cholera
and the plague. He said: Unfortunately
| / foresaw the contamination of Egypt. In
| a communication on the plague made some
time ago TO the Academy of Medicine I
called the attention of my colleagues to
the danger which the extension of the dis
case in Asia and in Africa would bring
upon Europe. / pointed out that the dit
| ferent International conferences, and par
| ticularly the conference of Venice. in 1897
had adopted rules with view TO protect
| ing Europe l added that some of the
measures recommended Two years ago had
| not yet been even noticed and that other
| rules were incompletely enforced. My
| conclusions were as follows;
:" The plague RACES still with intensity
ia the English Indies. particularly at Bonn
bay. New centers of it have been dis