From October, 1846, to June, 1847, there occurred in the Caucasus and trans-Caucasian provinces no less than 17,055 cases of cholera, of which 6318 died. Astrachan suffered greatly from cholera, great numbers of the inhabitants having been carried off, as was also the case in Moscow. From official accounts received from St. Petersburgh, it appeared the inhabitants of the western town Alexandrof were attacked with cholera, and also the district of Olgapol,in Podolia. The latter is about thirty miles distant from the Austrian frontiers.
A.D.1846 and 1847, an epizootic or murrain destroyed much cattle in Europe, principally oxen; dogs, horses, and sheep suffering comparatively less. Great numbers of horned cattle were destroyed in Wallachia. A kind of pleuro-pneumonia afflicted both men and beasts in various parts of Scotland, principally in East Lothian, as well as in Aberdeenshire, extending throughout the North; it also prevailed in Ayrshire to some extent.
In the month of January of the latter year, 1847, influenza prevailed on the coast of Portugal and in the south-east of Spain: it also appeared in Newfoundland and in New Zealand; and in the month of March, in Valparaiso; in April, on the coast of Syria: in July, August, and September, it broke out on the west coast of Africa, south of the equator; during which time (in August) it raged at Hong-Kong. In the month of December, Paris was assailed by this malady, which was also rife at Madrid; it was termed ‘la grippe,’ and seized more than half the population: five thousand persons were said to have been laid up by this wide-spreading disease at one time in Paris. About this period, the island of Java was visited by epidemic diseases. Virulent small-pox committed great havoc, and then typhus prevailed in Ireland; the mortality among the medical profession was great, it being calculated that one-fifteenth of the entire medical community died there during the year. There was great mortality from typhus at Prague, between the 16th of December, 1846, and the 16th of December, 1847; the deaths during that time amounting to 5192. During the latter year, 1847, cholera was rife in Moscow, Stockholm, St. Petersburgh, and Cronstadt; various parts of Europe were visited by influenza, the greater part of the inhabitants of Copenhagen having suffered therefrom: the disease also prevailed at Marseilles, attacking half the population of 80,000 persons; its character, however, was mild.
During the last fortnight of November, 1847, an epidemicof rather a remarkable character broke out, and prevailed in the North of Scotland, commencing in Dundee, travelling over the entire coast as far as Kinnaird’s Head, and extending westerly, involving Huntly, Keith, Elgin, and Inverness; it first affected the system by pain in the throat, followed by headache, sickness at stomach, and expectoration of a dark, bilious-looking substance. To such an extent did this malady prevail, that the University and King’s College, then in session, were closed; half the students at Marischal College and the university were laid up; those at the grammar schools were afflicted in the same proportion. At Edinburgh and Montrose the malady prevailed to an alarming extent, the schools generally having been visited; 810 scholars belonging to the schools in the latter place suffered at one time. The weather, which had been damp and rainy, was considered to be the principal cause. Yellow fever prevailed at New Orleans, from the 5th of July to the 22nd of October; it carried off 2544 persons. Cholera this year prevailed at Trebizond, situated on the oriental shores of the Black Sea. An author of eminence states that the inhabitants of this city suffered cruelly: Constantinople was afflicted about the same time by dire pestilence, which was fatal to numbers. We have also an account of famine and pestilence in Silesia. The famine and distress at Rybensk and Plesg were appalling; in many parts of the latter place 4500 died more than in the preceding year, which was also very fatal; from 15 to 20 per cent. of the inhabitants were cut off by disease. In Rybensk great numbers died daily from famine, and the Committee of Relief stated that hundreds of orphan children were seen standing beside the corpses of their parents crying for bread.
During the last two years, epidemic pestilence was rife and fatal in various parts of the world. In the latter year, 1847, influenza raged all over England; and with the following observations, taken as the substance of the Registrar-General’s Report, dated January 30, 1848, this History of Epidemic Pestilences will conclude:
The meteorological phenomena were particularly remarkable prior to the breaking out of the influenza. The population were inadequately supplied with potatoes, from scarcity caused by the disease which had existed the previous years,—a sort of blight. Scurvy became prevalent at the beginning of the year. In April, typhus became epidemic, and the mortality was increased. Diarrhea, dysentery, and cholera also prevailed. The wind blew, from the first week in October,S. S. W.andS. W.The weather was universally warm; a brilliant aurora was observed, and shook the magnets, October 24th. It appeared eight times during the quarter. On Tuesday, November 16th, there was a remarkable darkness; the wind changed to N. W., and amidst various changes still blew from the north over Greenwich at the rate of 160 and 250 miles a day. The mean temperature of the air suddenly fell from 11° above to 10° below the average. On Sunday, it was 54°; Friday, 32°; on Friday night, 27°. The earth was frozen; the wind was calm three days, and on Saturday evening a dense fog lay over the Thames and London for the space of five hours. No electricity stirred in the air during the week,—all was still, as if Nature held her breath at the sight of the destroyer come forth to sacrifice her children. On Monday, the sky became overcast, the air damp; the wind changed in the night toS.byE., and passed for four days over Greenwich at the rate of 200 and 300 miles a day. The temperature suddenly rose, and remained from 2° to 9° above the average throughout the week ending on the 27th of November. Influenza broke out: in the first week in December, 2454 persons died; the week following, 2416 persons, and in six weeks, 11,339. The epidemic in that time carried off 5000 over and above the mortality of the season. The country districts do not appear to have been affected to any extent,—a fact which shows how much purity of the air has to do with the outbreak of epidemic diseases.
Influenza, it has been observed, is often associated with other epidemics: it preceded and accompanied the plague or‘black death’ in the fourteenth century; it preceded the great plague in London,A.D.1665; it followed epidemic typhusA.D.1803; preceded typhusA.D.1837, and occurred in the midst of the typhoid epidemic in the year 1847. Influenza also preceded and followed epidemic cholera, 1831 to 1833. In short, it may be said that influenza has from time immemorial pretty generally preceded and accompanied epidemic pestilence in every quarter of the globe, as is noted by the Registrar-General to have been the case in England,A.D.1728, 1733, 1743, 1758, 1762; five years after,A.D.1767, 1775, 1782; again,A.D.1788,A.D.1803, 1831, 1832, and following year, 1833, as alsoA.D.1846 and 1847.