El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-11-28

rboea. were what is known today as
carriers" of the germs. most
It is such Carriers that are LiG a.
to be dreaded One of them may II
feet A whole regiment through lIlo
medium of the water supply. w ~,
in the middle nineties, some LoU ,Pf
from India were transported TO E5S,Po
bv the British government for serElCo
i'm the Sudan. they brought choleIa
with them in this way, and a SCI sen ~ 10
outbreak followed. Thus II WIG
seen that the danger now threatehliI5
from the same source in Europe IS ~
no means imaginary.
Death Comes Quickly
The mortality from cholera IN an
endemic is enormous, an attack DeIliSS
usually followed by death WllHln +t1e
hours. Cats are subject 10 II, "
v-av The germ is of a spiral SAdPSss
but the spirals break up INTO slOI
lengths resembling commas IN I0I IIll, %
whence the name comma "a 49, Al
Files are frequent carriers OF the III
sease, conveying the germs from camp
latrines to the mess tables
Typhoid Conquered
With tvhoid fever we had our own
distressing eXperlenceSt IN 1880, VIZ
that malady proved much more "
structive enemy than tnG Spdll -.al, ~
The epdimic of 1t which killed so many
Of our soldiers seem to have Deen
mainly due to flies, which, IN lne
ignorance of those days, Were IIeSIS
allowed to carry the germs from ny
camp latrines to the mess JableS dnV
open-air kitchens. During the preseH'
war. however, there will be COM
paratively little danger from TINS as
ease, because the soldiers ellner nav
been or are being inOculated by reSl-
ucnts with a "bacterin" made by breed
ing the bacilli in beef soup ana kllIihS
them with heat. The soup containing
the dead microbes is a sure preventive
when administered by hypodermlc IN
lection.
Another very serious camp disease.
is measles. In most of the wars OF
history it has made appalling haEoG
among soldiers. During our own clF ~
conflict il took thousands OF lives IN
both the Union and Confederate armies;
The Medical History of the war OF
the Rebellion" published in 1865, prints
an account of one epidemic IN Whlcn
there were $4,000 cases, with l'SUO
deaths There is, unfortunately, no
known preventive except to isolate the
sufferers, and this is a matter OF op-
viCus difficulty-indeed, almost out OF
the Question-When troops are OpeT-
atine- in the field. Exposure renders
the malady dangerous, broncho-pneu-
monia being liable to supervene.
Typhus, or Camp Fever"
Not even measles is more contagious
than typhus fever when o dI !.ta Il
fever" has been through all history a
wholesale destroyer OF armies; In
Russia it is commonly called famine
fever" because epidemies of it in many
Instances have followed or accom-
panied times of starving, when the
crops failed But people who suffer
from lack of food are usually the very
poor and such folk are ordinarily not
over-cIean in their habits. Poverty
and lack Of sanitation go together.
Here, indeed. is where the secret o OK
the mischief lies; for, as medlcaI SCI
ence has learned only within the last
half-dozen years, the responsibility for
tvphus rests upon a familiar insect, the
body louise, which is the sole carrier
of the disease. In earlier days the
n1alady was widely and continually
prevalent nearly everywhere, but now
one rarely hears of it, for the reason
that, in civilized countries at al
events, cleanliness has become popular
cerned, prevention lies in requiring
thcm to keep themselves free Of Vermln
The present war is from all points
Of view highly scientific conflict ana
for the first time in history SANTA