Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-11-10
THE BLACK PLAGUE
Marine Hospital Service officials on
the Alert.
PROGRESS OF THE DREAD DISEASE
Good Results Obtained by lnocu-
lation.
POSITION IN IN d / A

Contrary to general impression, the dan
ger that the black plague may ultimately
reach this country is not entirely removed
by the fact that this medieval terror does
not figure quite as prominently in the puo-
lie press as it did in the days before the
Spanish and South African wars. when
there was less news matter to fill the
columns of the daily papers. While the
suffering in India from combined plague
and famine is not acute now as 1t was d
| year and a half ago, the plague itself is on
! the increase in some of what have been re-
| garded as the healthiest districts of India.
| 1t has slowly crept westward to Alexan-
| dria, Egypt, and Oporto. Portugal. which
latter is only a weeks journey from this
country. And while the plague is medi-
aeVal affection it does not disdain modern
| methods of rapid transit, and if it is given
| the chance will travel quite Cheerfully
! in d siX-ddy ocean liner as IN a junk or a
| Thu eebdnk tireme.
OHiciais on the Alert.
The officials of the marine hospital SER
| vice are on the alert for this oriental visitor
| and. ready to take heroic measures upon
its first appearance in this country if it
| should unfortunately appear here at all
| They publicly scout the idea, but the strict
est regulations are enforced in the inSpeC-
ton OF vessels leaving arriving from
suspected ports.
Action Against the Rats.
The Russian government has recently
adopted curious device by which 1t is
hoped to eliminate the introduction of the
plague by rats which have been one of its
means of dissemination heretofore. 1t is
well known that in the east the rats have
| carried the plague from port to port. when
| there We're no cases actually present
among the human beings on the ship Bac-
| THEOLOGICAL examinations have shown the
germs 70 be present IN dead and living rats.
and the inference has been that they
| helped TO spread it among the human be-
| lnSS IN their vicinity. The British govern
ment i'll Egypt has gone so far as 10 place
a bounty on the heads of plague-iufected
rats in hope of curbing the spread of the
disease in that direction.
Inc RUSSIAN government, taking It's cue
from this, has devised d barrier that is
placed on the hawsers Of all vessels from
d suspected port before they are allow
TO tie uD at Russian wharf. 1t is in the
| shape OF cast iron piece of trumpet shape
which IS slipped on the hawser of the YES
sci with the Hare of-the trumpet toward the
snip. Ine interior is stuffed with Oakum to
hold 1t in place on the rope. the idea being
that the rats, who usually come ashore by
me haWseTs, cannot get over the iron
fange. 1t would be hard 70 gather any
statistics of how well this device fuit:Ils lis
end.
Progress of the Plague.
The most recent and interesting news on
the plague and the methods of combating
1t is contained in mail advices recently re-
celved by the State Department from Con-
sui Fee at Bombay. The plague had its
inception in the presidency OF Bombay in
the latter part of 1896 Since then ir ha
continued without interruption, penetrat-
ing every Col.ectUrate and district of the
presidency. The British official statistics
| Tor the month of September of this year
| show that there were 1890 deaths in Bonn
| bay province alone Its progress in south
| ern Maratha this year has been even more
| remarkable. 1t assumed an epidemic form
| IN the city OF Ponna, over 100000 inhab-
| ltants. and has ragged there this year.
| Pdona on account of its supposed sanitary
| CONDITION, nigh elevation and dry heat,
| with climate like an English spring from
| May. 10 November. has been made the home
| OF the Bombay army and the residence of
| the government during the monsoon season.
| Up TO the present time Poona has had
23,331 cases and 11.S09 deaths. The cpl
| demlc during August and September was
| at its height. During the week ended Sep
| TENDER ?, 1899. there Were Loss deaths from
| plague, and on Monday. September 4, there
| We're III cases and 10 deaths This gives
| some idea of the mortality of the dread dis
| ease.
! Western India now being threatened with
| famine On account of the failure of the
| monsoon to produce sufficient crops il is
| feared that the present season will witness
| further ravages of the plague
| symptoms of the Plague
| About all that can be said of the plague
| from physicians standpoint IS that it Is
| an acute infective fever accompanied with
| certain symptoms, such as swelling of the
| glands under the arms and in other parts
| of the body, dark discoloration of the sur
| face, acute pains and speedy death. 1t is
caused by known germ organism which
| muIuplies with great rapidity and spreads
the subtle poison through the body. This
| much We do know. but beyond this we are
not much better prepared TO combat it than
were the physicians of the seventeenth cen
| fury. About the only treatment that has
| so far been discovered is that Of inocula-
| ton, and although its results have been eX-
tremely important its effect is rather to
! build up wall against the disease in the
| system than to combat and eradicate 1t.
| The plague microbes are capable of living
| and multiplying only while they have ac-
| cess to supplies of organic nOurish ment.
\ They able to pass directly from body
| to body or to remain alive and even to
| multiply outside the body. Thus there are
| two ways in which the plague may travel
| 1t may creep from patient to patient in di.
| rect chain, or it may use places where suit
| able decay!ng substances are TO be found as
| temporary links In the chain.
The Remedy.
| An anti-toxine, or serum first prepared
by Prof. Haffkine as a plague incubation
/ called Hankine's prophylactic, is now being
| used in Bombay and western India with
| remarkable results.
This serum is prepared by first taking
| the plague bacilli, or the young germs. from
| person affected with the plague and cult
| waiting them. These microbes are killed by
| artificial means and high degree of heat
| From these dead germs and their pOisonoL.
| eNcrements is produced fluid which is
believed To have acquired the power. whel
| injected into the human system, To render
! The blood immune from the attack OF
plague germs and to neutralize their eff
feet. The injection of such a poison ha.
the effect of an anti-toXine and prevents tn.
| system from nour!shing the plague. A deaC
plague germ being inoculated into a per
son. plague will not follow. A person after
having one attack of the disease is rarely
liable To second The person first inocu
lated is subject to symptoms of the plague
In vaccination for smallpox living germ