THE BUBONIC PLAGUE.
BY
A. MITRA, L.R.C.P., L.R.C.S., F.C.S.,
Chief Medical Officer, Kashmir.
Calcutta:
THACKER, SPINK AND CO.,
5 & 6, Government Place.
1897.
CONTENTS.
Page [What is it?] 1 [Its History] 1 [The London Epidemic of 1865] 3 [Geographical Distribution] 8 [Causes] 8 [Bacillus] 9 [Contagious as well as Infectious] 11 [Nature of an Epidemic] 13 [Incubation] 17 [Symptoms] 17 [Varieties] 21 [Diagnosis] 21 [Prognosis] 23 [Microscopic and Macroscopic Appearances] 24 [Prevention] 24 [Sanitary Measures by Municipal Authorities] 26 [Private Hygiene] 29 [Inoculation against Plague] 32 [Treatment] 33 [Treatment of Symptoms] 38 [Disinfection] 40 [Purification of a Room after Plague Cases] 41
THE BUBONIC PLAGUE.
WHAT IS IT?
Any contagious and fatal epidemic disease was originally called a plague (from plaga, a stroke), but this term is now applied to that particular kind of plague which is characterised by the appearance of high fever with inflammation of lymphatic glands or bubo, and is therefore called the Bubonic Plague. In Sanskrit Medical Books it has been described as Vidradhi and Visharpa, and in Yonani as Taoon. The following definition given by Cantlie is comprehensive. “Plague or Malignant Polyadenites is an acute febrile disease of an intensely fatal nature characterised by inflammation of the lymphatic glands, marked cerebral and vascular disturbances, and by the presence of a specific bacillus.”
ITS HISTORY.
It is an ancient disease mentioned in Hindoo and Christian Scriptures. Long before the Christian era it prevailed in Greece, attacking the town of Piræus, where it raged for two years. Egypt, Syria, Constantinople and Rome were visited by the plague. In Constantinople the outbreak was once so furious that during three months from 5,000 to 10,000 deaths occurred daily. The first historical allusion to plague was made by Rufus, a physician who lived in the reign of Trajan (A.D. 98-117), and who mentions of glandular swellings. In 1347, plague appeared in almost all countries in Europe, where Hecker believes, 25 millions of persons perished. Ireland was visited by plague three hundred years after its invasion by Patrolan, and it is said that 9,000 people died in a week and were buried at Tallagh near Dublin—a name which means the burial place of the plague-stricken. Plague visited England frequently, and no fewer than eighteen epidemics are said to have occurred before the great plague of 1665. In 1720, 40,000 out of a population of 90,000 died at Marseilles. In 1751, 150,000 died of plague in Constantinople. In 1799 the French Army in Syria was devastated by plague. 6,000 persons died in Malta in 1813. In 1834-35, 14,888 persons died in Alexandria out of a population of 42,000. In 1876 there was an outbreak of the disease at Kumaon in Northern India, where it prevailed several times during the present century, and where it is known as the Maha-Mari. It is also said that it prevailed in 1815 on the Island of Kutch, and lasted till 1821 in Kutch and Sindh. It also occurred between the years 1828 and 1838 in Jhansi, Bareilly, Pali and Jodhpore. In China the plague has been present for a long time in an epidemic form. In 1894 60,000 persons died at Canton. From Canton it spread to Hongkong and to Amoy. In 1895, it visited many places in Southern China. In 1896, it was present at Hongkong. Some people think that the disease has come to Bombay probably from Singapore. There was an epidemic at Merv when the Bombay outbreak appeared, others, however, think that the epidemic at Merv was not that of plague and that the disease has come from Hongkong.