The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1909-09-22
AWFUL DISEASE
PeHagra is Spreading Rapidly Through
the Seuth and West.
new MENACE TO AMERICA

Medical Science Is Working to Dis
cover the Secret Of the Terrible
Plague That Has Invaded the
United States and Which is Caus-
ed by Eating Corn.
Appearance in the United States OF
,ha, mysterious disease. peilagla'
,r,c,icaliv a nc~ and hitherto un-
familiar kind Of lcprosy. and which.
though introduced bu: recently i
sprcadins with great rapldit!. ma!
we'll excite alarm. says Rene bache
IN rho New York American. II IS
= disease among the most friShuu!
known TO mankind-w which already
claims abou, one million vicisms'
now surviving. in the Old World.
Over there It pursues. in nearly
all instances. slow course. Killing
the sufferers very gradually: out
in This country i, becomes unique
and is often swift destroyer. the
symptoms being ",elescored. as one
might sav. SO that the whole course
Of the mZlady may be run within
few weeks. terminating in death.
To cali It new brand OF lep7o-
sy.. is By no means Inappropriate.
But. in truth. it is woTse-mcch
worse. Not only does it transform
the skin Of the body in to yellow
and parchmen,-like covering. crack
ed and bese. with foul and u!ce7ous
sores. bu; it directly assails the ten
pie of the mind. reducing the patient
70 condition Of insanity or idiocy.
Until recently the disease. its
name compounded from two Italian
words. "pelle.'' skin. and agra.
roueh-has been regarded as pc
cu,iar 10 the Old World though
a few sporadic cases OF it have ap-
peared from time to time in Mexico
and South America Suddenly and
unexpectedly il invaded the United
States--the srst sickness OF the
kind being reported only few years
ago in Georgia Now quite as sud
ienly it has spread throughout most
Of the Southern States and. worse
still. because OF the difference in
climate, /, has attacked the Middle
| West
Fifty cases have been found at
the Peoria. Illinois. State Hospital
alone. and Captain Joseph F. Siler
OF the Army Medical Corps, sent
there to investigate. has reported
| TO the government tha, he beiieves
the ma!ady has long prevailed. n.'
only around Peoria. but throughout
Illinois and the great corn growing
States OF the West.
For it is in corn that the cause
| OF the disease, whatever it may be-
| turks.
! The malady is neither contagious
nor infectious. That is to say. one
person cannot catch it" or take
it, from another. Eac.l individual
| case originates from the Eloldy corn
i direct. In al! likelihood. the mis-
chief-makiug fungus starts its work
in the cornfield. where its spones fall
upon the ripening ears and grow
But even this is not certainty.
II me- be asked. why does no!
cooking kill the -ungus germs? SC
in all likelihood it does. But the
poison manufactured by the fungus
is what makes the trouble. and ap-
paren,ly this is not deprived OF its
toxic efficiency by high temperatures
| That boiling does not render il harm.
less is shown by the fact. already
mentioned, that alcohol distilled
| from spoiled maize will cause the
disease.
The spores Of the fungus start
colonies in the intestine. and the
poison they produce is taken up by
blood and thus carried TO all parts
Of the body. 1t is in effect drug.
particularly injurious 10 the brain
| and nervous system generally
| whence the profound effect OF the
disease upon the mentality. This ef-
feet. like the purely physical symp-
| toms. is progressive. and frequently
terminates in idiocy or insanity.
When it is said that the disease
Is due TO something in noidy or
musty corn nearly. ali has been said
that is really known OF the cause.
/: Is true that at the Meridian
Hospital. in Mississippi. new and
unknowp BACILLUS has been isola-
ted atte. Investigation into num-
Der Of cases OF the disease. but
whether this is the real microbe OF
pel!agra. whether there Is mic
robe or whether the nalady is due
TO some vegetable growth that en-
ters the blood through the corn. is
not actually known.
Nor is it likely that An effective
remedy will be found until the cause
is definitely ascer,ained. The Italian
theory. and the one commonly ac-
ceDted. is tina; it is caused by q
fungus parasitic or maize or by
ptomaine developed by its putrifac-
ton" Fungus and ptomaine remain
to be discovered.
Nobody that has ever handled
corn can have failed 10 notice that
occasional ears are moldy. Perhaps
only few Of the grains are affected,
and. as q matter Of fact. these are
removed in process Of preparation
for the table: or. If the grain be
she!led by hand. oaly the good part
is taken for the bin. This. In the
latter case. is a precaution obviously