The Portland daily press., 1899-07-01
SCIENCE AND THE PLAGUE.
(New.York Post. }

N@~~N'Ska &AAsAS AA&1 t4A0 "
New. York Post.)
The arrival of sths bubonio plague in
Egypt In the course Of its westwardly ad.
vance from China towards Europe, IL a
disgusting. although not necessarily an
alarming fact, inasmuch as the burthen
OF the latest scientific testimony is to the
effect that the disease, having once OBJ.
tanned foothold, cannot be stamped out
by summary measures but will prevail so
long as 1t has material to feed upon.
Alexandria is much cleaner now than IL
was before the days of the English oocu-
patton. but 1t is still an Oriental city,
and, with the plague within its borders,
more or less Of q menace to all ports with
which 1t is in communication. That the
pest can be prevented from spreading to
Europe is most improbable, that it may
cross the Atlantic, or Pacific, Is quite
within the limits of possibility, but for
tunately 1t Is now practically certain that
1t can be controlled and defeated by prop
er sanitary precautions.
This seems to be about the only point
In connection with IL upon which all the
scientists are agreed, after several years
of anxious observation in China and In
India. Some of the pheno mena 40 COM
panyinR IL are exceedingly curious and,
interesting. For instance In Bombay
where 1t has now ragged for three years, it
has exhibited . marked decline at the end
OF each successive April, has remained
comparatively quiescent throughout the
summer months, and mas broken out with
renewed viruience In the autumn, bnt
one month later each year. Thus the
epidemic broke out afresh in August,
1896, In September, 1897, and in October,
1888. Possibly this may be only coinci-
dence. but the Indian authorities are
awaiting November Of the present year
with no little trepldatlon. Another
strange fact Is that the number of VIC
tins claimed In each period has been
approximately the same, $1,000. a, COO.
ami 2I.OOO, and, what is still more pug
zling, the greatest number of deaths o.
CURED in the year when the most violent
and arbitrary measures of repression were
employed. In their zeal for disinfectjon
and the isolation of patients the medical
authorities SO offended racial and relig.
ioua prejudice that in some districts the
natives were on the verge of revolution.
Yet the progress OF the plague was not
accelerated. Now all these obnoxious
measures have been abandoned, aud 1t is
admitted that the only wise and effective
policy Ia preventive and anticipatory, to
remedy beforehand, as far as possible. the
conditions which favor pestilence
These. briefly put, are dirt Of all kinds,
and the eradication of dirt from the
teeming millions OF an Oriental popuia-
tion is task beyond the power of human
energy. But drainage Is feasible. and 1t
has been noted, and this Is q point well
worthy the attention Of some OF our
Southern cities, that the plague has been
peculiarly virulent aud fatal In places
where the sub-soil water is at a high
level. Hong Kong has q good deal Of high
ground, bat the most densely populated
parts OF 1t are low, with water very near
the surface, and 1t was In these districts
that the greatest mortality occurred.
Bombay stands on what used formerly
TO be group Of small islands. and below
1t are masses OF concrete, which aot as
barriers to the flow OF sewage, which
otter forms huge subterraneen cesspools.
In Jullundur again, the only plague
stricken spot in the Punjab, the sub-soil
water Ia covered by less than two feet Of
soil.
At first sight, Calcutta appears to be an
exception to the rule, for the greater part
OF it Is constructed over swampy GROUND,
saturated with the filth of ages, an ideal
hot-bed for the culture Of epidemics. Yet
the plague. after appearing there, falsited
a ii predictions by dying out with O record
of only a few sporadic cases. The natives
account for this exemption by saying that
the swamp IL really drained by the Gan
ges, which carries off all impurities, aud,
although the scientists hesitate 10 accept
1t, this explanation is not without q GER
tain plausibillty which commends it to
the lay intelligence. Moreover, It is
pointed out that Bombay, kurachi, and
Hong Kong, three seaboard cities which
suffered severely, have no rivers. On the
other hand is the Case of London, which
was desolated by the plague in 1868 not
withstanding It's rapidly flowing Thames.
But that is going IA long way back for an
argument, to say nothing of the fact that
the treatment accorded to sufferers in
those remote days was sufficient IN itself
TO account for all thai happened,
Until recently the general notion was
that injection was Incurred chiefly by
contact with an afflicted person, but it is
now known that taa greatest danger is n
injected places. This is in accordance
with an old Sanscrit saying that ''the
moment rats fall from the roof. jump
about. and die. the wise will at once leave
their houses and go to plain.' 1he
remedial effect of open spaces is now rae
ognized b. all the best nutnofisles In In
uia, Enormous suns Of money ere relnR
spent in bombay unon he conversion III
densely poau'aicd districts INFO reservoir
Of fresh air. ana the gusnosirirs ar Ira
ing In evsry WY 10 tamns his masses In a
outlying suburbs. 10 La!ertra, v here
water is plentiful " is asisrsg that 81
epidemie was nverbsl ~ coast4ht ilush-