The Savannah morning news., 1901-07-19

full of information derogatory to the
reputation of the rat. They indicate
that his worst offence is not desert
ing sinking ships, but rather in carry
ing infectious diseases. and particular
~ the plague 1t is believed that the
rat himself does not directly convey
the scourge, but that upon diseased
or dead animal accumulate fieas, which
are the real carriers.
Some Recent History.
The nineteenth century has been
marked by a recession of the plague
towards the East: in 1915 ii appeared in
Italy confined to a small district An
isolated epidemic appeared in Greece
in 1928. 1t appeared in Egypt in 1S45,
that year witnessing the last plague
epidemic there and marking Its great
eastward recession. Since 1850 the dis
ease has oscillated, now east and now
west, between the Red Sea and the Pa
cific, in China, India, Arabia, Persia,
Mesopotamia, Russia, the Caspian Sea.
Afghanistan. and Tripoli. There have
been since 1850 but nineteen years when
1t has not been recorded in one or the
other of these countries. While com
paratively isolated outbreaks of plague
had occurred in Asiatic countries, 1t
seemed improbable that there would
be any more extensive epidemics of the
disease. This hope was rudely dashed
by the appearance of the disease in 1893
in epidemic form in Tonl1in and Hong
Kong and within a short time after
wards in Bombay, Kurrachee, and
Poonah, in British India.
In 1892 it was deemed necessary by
the Chinese government to increase
and maintain the garrisons on the
Manchurian frontier. Frequent and
intimate intercourse between Longt-
cheu and Yum Nan made this an cpl
demic focus of the disease, since the
transportation of stores and material
was done by mule caravans The time
occupied in the trips was six days. The
disease made its appearance In Longt-
cheu, and assumed epidemic proper
TONS and was conveyed by means of
the crews and passengers of trading
junks to Canton and Hong Kong,
where it appeared In epidemic form the
next year. Plague was introduced into
Nieuchwang in July, 1899, through ar
rivals from more southern Districts
probably with ambulant types of the
disease, which infected their surround
ings and the soil and set up an epi-
demic whose manifestations were pre-
coded by very large mortality among
the domestic animals, as rats, dogs and
cattle.
1t is we'll known that from time to
time ships of the PeninsuIar and ORR
entail Line have brought cases of
plague from Bombay to Plymouth, but
there is no record of the spread of the
disease. 1t is thought possible that,
owing to the lack of quarantine re-
strictions in the British Isles. cases OF
the ambulant type have escaped OBJ
servation, and passengers and crews
casioned the infection of others.
The Recent santos Ca@e.
The appearance of the plague in San
tos, Brazil, in October 1899 marks an
important epoch in plague literature,
as furnishing the very first recorded
instances OF it's occurrence in the west
ern hemisphere. There is also con-
siderable difference Of opinion as to the
origin of this outbreak. 1t IS usually
attributed to a ship, which arriving
from the infected port of Oporto, lay
alongside the dock in Santos. Within
a short time there was an extensive
mortality among rats, followed by the
appearance of cases among human be-
ings. 1t is recorded that in the months
of July and September before, there
was an unexplained mortality among
rats. From Santos the disease ex-
tended to Sac Paulo, hill resort in
the neighborhood, the first case occur
ring in the child of a switchman OF
the railroad connecting the two places
The employe in question lived in a
cabin beside the tracks On the 18th
of November 1899, the British steam
ship j. w. Taylor, from Santos. arrived
at the quarantine station of the port
of New York. with two cases of bubonic
plague on board. and having lost one
man at sea from the same disease
Prompt measures were taken, and for
tunately no spread OF the disease oc-
Cured.
Experience in other parts of the
world leads us to believe that even
were the disease to be introduced here,
its spread would be very limited in
those cities where the sanitary con-
dition are good and where precautions
as to the isolation of patients could be
practised. Cases in Vienna, resulting
from accidental incubation of men
studying the disease in one of the lab
oratories, were easily controlled.
The same may be recorded OF case
introduced into Trieste, Austria. No
spread of the disease followed. With
the rigid application of sanitary science
II seems extremely doubtful IL the
plague viii ever secure a dangerous
foothold in the United States, although
frequent "scares," like the present
one, are likely.
Scientific Triumphs I'm Treating
Plague.
This disease furnishes a striking H.
lustration of the advance of modern
medicine. Not until 1894 did positive
knowledge OF its true nature become
known. Now, its cause, it's method OF
propagation, and the means to prevent
its spread are matters of scientific Ger
tainty. IL is 10 Pasteur and his con-
temporary, Koch. in their establish
ment OF bacteriology as a science, that
credit is due for the possibility of this
discovery, and to Japanese physician,
Or. Kitasato. n student In the labora-
tory Of Koch and Yersin. and pupil Of
the Pasteur Institute. that we are in
debted for the discovery itself. When,
In 1894. the plague was epidemic in
Hong Kong. with hundreds dying daily,
great apprehension existed on the part
Of Japan. and, accordingly. Drs Kita-
aato and AOyama, with assistants,
were commissioned by the japanese