APPLETONS’
POPULAR SCIENCE
MONTHLY.
SEPTEMBER, 1899.
| ARE WE IN DANGER FROM THE PLAGUE? |
By VICTOR C. VAUGHAN,
PROFESSOR OF HYGIENE IN THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN.
IN an article on the plague in this journal, in May, 1897, the writer answered this question as follows: "Yes, there is danger; but this, being foreseen, may be easily avoided. Thorough inspection of persons and disinfection of things from infected districts will keep the disease out of Europe and America. Only by the most gross carelessness could the plague be permitted to enter either of these continents."
It will be of interest to take up this subject again, and study it in the light of the history of the plague since the article referred to was written. The plague first appeared in western India, at Bombay, where it still prevails. We are without any exact information concerning its introduction into that city. Before the outbreak of the disease at Bombay the mortality had increased so markedly that it was a subject of discussion for three meetings of the Grant Medical Society. The increase was attributed to the filthy condition of the streets. This society made an investigation of the increased mortality, and presented a report on the same to the municipal authorities. Instead of heeding the warning, the authorities jeered at the society, and refused to allow the report to be read.
Dr. Viegas appears to have been the first physician to recognize the existence of the plague in the city. In a paper read before the Grant Medical Society on November 24, 1896, he discussed the possible and probable avenues by which the disease had found its way into the town. He stated that sugar and dates had
