Year: 1872

Case OF Asiatfc Cholera That Was Not


Cholera-What tho Result OF . POST


MOrtcm Did to Scare People, and What


the Health Authorities Know About 1t.


Deputy Coroner Marsh succeeded yesterday In
creating decided sensation by ofically announc-
ing that q case Of downright unmstakable case of
Asatc cholera had at last occurred In this city, The
smallpox scare has already done 80 much toward
frightening the tlmorous portion OF the community
half out OF their wits that OF course this additional
burden to the general scare-viz, of season Of
cholera-as sort OF change, threw the shaky ones
into ndescrbable agonies OF fear and trepidation.
Up TO yesterday the cholera question: for this sum-
mer at least, was considered to be among
those things which, though they may do
good In some incOmprehensible way Of
their own, are generally more agreeable
at q distance than otherwise. But to DR.. Marsh
and how he managed to get up the excitement.
Providence, whose ways are inscrutable saw fit on
on Thursday to remove from the scenes of his busy
life in the shanty region of Sixty.seventh street
and the Boulevard one Martin Elgir, German,
wh0 early in life, had chosen the profession of a
scissor grinder as the best wherewith. il not
to Duild up colossal fortune, at least to keep the
wolf from the door. The poor man was taken i'll
In the afternoon, and ''after showing all


THE INDICATIONS OF AsIATIC CHOLERA"
fell into comatose state, and died in
few hours. Dr. Marsh was notified, and, as
IN IN duty bound, he went straghtway to
examination Here Is what the Doctor officially
wrote as the result OF the examination 1.-THE face
shrunken, the eyes sunken and CLASSY. The fingers
were contracted, OF blush color and very much
wrinkled. The stomach and tntestneS contained
q whtish, turbid fluid, containing whitish fiakes.
The fud In the smaller intestines was whirsh, but
In the larger ones slightly yelowish. The mucus
membrane of the whole aimentary canal was COW
cred with grayish mucus, and the mucus follicles
were very much enlarged. The bladder was con-
were gorged with blood. The right side OF the
heart was filed with thick, black blood. The larger
vessels OF the lungs also contained thick, black
blood. Death In my opinion was the result OF
Asiatic ChOera.n


When this decision OF the Doctor was made
public, as it was soon after 1t was rendered, the
excitement In the neighbOrhOOd where the man
had died was, OF course, OF very decided, as well
as VERY san character , But the % Soqe @
city affected by the scare. The fact s no one about
town has any especial s'hankering," as the Yankee
news felt rather less comfortable than he had felt
before he had heard 1t. HERALD reporter, anxious
to fnd out what


thought about the matter, paid visit to the Health
Bureau during the afternoon, and ascertained that
round On hearing OF it they said that they had
acted Just as though they were certain that the
man maj had died Of cholera The disinlect. and..
region, and the cabin In which the
man mad died was thoroughly dIsnfected as we'll





spectOr went to work to find out II there were any
other ''cases' OF the same kind Elgr had fallen
victim to, but he was unable to find single "pre-
monitory symptOm even In the vicinity. The
health Authorities state that the man died simply
OF aggravated cholera mOrbus-in other words,
sporadic chOlera-many cases OF which have al
ready been reported to the Board, Egr's being the
only fatal one. They state moreover, that Asiatic
cholera Is


NECESSARILY EPIDEMIC,


and the fact that no other case or anything like
case was discovered in the neighbOrh0Od where the
death occurred is proof positive that the man did
not die of Asiatic cholera. AS to the condition
Marsh, they say 1t was not by any
means certain indication OF death
having resulted from Asiatic cholera and they as
sert that no positive conclusion could be come to
to whether the man did die Of the disease or not
taking the condition OF the intestines as test,
unless thorough microscopic examination were
made. This kind of an examination DR.. Marsh did
not make, and the health authorities, therefore,
seem to know what they are talking about. 1t Is an
everyday occurrence, they say, for the bureau to
here and there throughout the city, which on in
vestigatiOn turns out to be either bad case of
diarrhGa cholera mOrbus. The official report Of
the inspector who was sent to examine into Egir's
case will be made on Monday; but as 1t will show
that the case was not Of Asiatic cholera peo-
pie may in the meanwhile keep cool and not get
scared at cholera in phantom or in any other ques
tiOnable shape.