The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-04-27
THE rEAnrrL BLACK DEATH.

Notwithstanding the wonderful ad- vance fin medical science. and potwith- standing the methods of prevention and cure of most diseases which have fol- lowed the researches of scientists, there Is one disease which seems yet to defy all the skill of medical men. That disease is the bubonic plague. or ''black death," as 1t is sometimes called. It is the most fatal and uncomfortable of all known human diseases. and one of its terrors lies in the uncertainty of its movements and the apparent impos- sibi1ity of guarding against it.
 The East seems to be the breeding place of this disease. In China, Egypt, and other portions of Asia and Africa 1t appears to be constantly present, breaking out at times and spreading over almost all the Old World. We read accounts as far back as the besin- ming of the Christian era of a disease that was probably the Plague. At va rious times during the earlier centuries of our era 1t broke out in Europe. In the i4th century it spread almost over the entire continent Again in the 17th century It's ravages were awful. In 16e4-5, out of a total population of less than half a million in London, there were reported over ss,0oo deaths, and 1t is believed that this did not cover near ly all who died of the disease. Then, too, 1t was estimated that almost or quite two-thirds of the population fled from the city. and many of them died after their flight It is perhaps not an extravagant statement to say that at least one-fifth of the population of London fell victims to the disease In one year.
 | Since then the dread disease has ap- peared at times in almost every part Of Europe An an example of its fatality the records show that two-thirds of the population of Toulon were carried off by 1t in 1721, and other portions of France. as we'll as various other coun- tries in Europe did not escape. In por- tions of Asia and Africa, as already stated the disease seems to be ever present, and the constant communica- tion between all countries causes it to spread throughout the Old World.
 But this Is not all, for we have much reason to fear its appearance in our own country. It has appeared in vari- ous portions of South America. in Mex leo, California and even in New York, and no one knows when 1t may over- spread the American continent One Dr. DeLisle declares that 1t is only waiting for the moment when the population of the earth shall be ready for the scythe." He. adds: Tt may be one year. 1t may be ten, before the condi- tions are fruitful for worldwide scourge. Something will arouse the semi Informant bacillus Some climatic or meteorological condition will pre- sent itself when the pest will strike all over the world practically in an instant. Hence. say. the race is threatened by the plague"
 The one ray of hope in connection with this awful disease lies in the an- nouncement that science has discovered vaccine preventive which is clai-1ed to render the person immune for space of one year. The scientists, we are told, are now engaged in the effort to produce this vaccine matter in such quantities that 1t may be plentifully used wherever the disease threatens hu- manity. If these statements are true herein lies the one hope of successfully combating the most fatal of all human diseases. If its ravages can be pre- vented it will be the greatest triumph medical science has ever known. Let us hnna that if is true.