Bubonic Plague

a disease suDposed to be identical with the plague | known as the Black Death, which had its origin in China, and made its first appearance in HKurope 543 a. pD., at Constantinople, It derives its modern name from the fact that it attacks the lymphatic glands in the neck, armpits, groins and other parts of the body. The swollen parts are extremely sensitive to the touch, the patient suffers from headache, vertigo, high fever, vomiting and great prostration. Another feature is the appearance of purple spots and a mottling of the skin. In severe cases death generally ensues in 48 hours, and, at best, recovery is slow. At the Hoagland laboratory in Brooklyn, N. Y., extensive experiments have been made, both in the culture of the germs and in an anti-toxin. The disease has been called ‘the poor’s plague,” from the fact that it first attacks the half starved ma es who congregate in the slums of the cities. This was the case in Bombay, where so fatal were its ravages that a panic ensued and more than 450,000 people, one-half the population, left the city. The first authentic description of the bubonic plague is contained in the writings of | Rufus of Ephesus, who described the | disease as having existed in Northern | Africa during the 3d We presented the testimony of | physicians of that period to corroborate his arguments. Since that time the disease has been variously described by writers under the name of Levantine, Oriental and Bubonic Plague and the black plague, or black death. These designations are more or le open to criticism and lack scientific foundation. In the reign of Just in i an, 42 A. D., the disease appeared in Egypt, and within a year extended to Constantinople, where it is said to have caused the death of 1.R0 persons in one day. In 1352 thé”plague spread through the whole of Europe and nearly one-fourth of the population died. It is estimated by Hecker that during this reign of terror, out of 2,000,000 inhabitants of Norway, but 300,000 survived. It was estimated by Pope Clement VI. that the mortality from black death for the entire world was 40,000,000. This outbreak lasted about 20 years. During the great plague of London, in 1665, there were 63,596 deaths out of a population of 460,000. It was believed the infection was introduced by bales of merchandise from the Levant. The sanitary condition of London, at the time, was notoriously bad. It is a significant fact that those who lived out of town and on barges and ships on the Thames did not contract the disease. In 1903 the disease was reported in Southern Ru ia and other eastern regions, and great care was exercised to keep it out of the United States.