p. 61 | The Black Death

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 9, 1867

The Black Death.

A STRANGE DISEASE IN IRELAND.

“For more than fourteen months a mysterious disease has been displaying rapid and fatal activity in Ireland. The first case occurred as far back as the 18th of March, 1866. An apprentice to a surgeon in Dublin had felt unwell, and remained indoors during the day, taking his meals, however, as usual. He had a bad night, and complained of headache in the morning, and his master then remarked some spots upon his chest. Dr. Stokes, an eminent Dublin physician, was immediately sent for, and saw the patient at 11 A. M. He found him perfectly collected, and in apparently ordinary strength; but the left arm and left breast were covered thickly with large purple patches of the deepest hue. Both medical men recognized that they were in presence of a case which, if an attack of typhus fever, was certainly such as neither of them had ever witnessed before. When Dr. Stokes returned two hours later, a great change had taken place. The patient was as self-possessed as before, but the left arm and breast were now completely black. At half-past one the young man was sitting up in bed, discussing his case with his master; and as he complained of great thirst, the latter went from the bedside to mix a cooling-draught, but upon turning round almost instantly he saw, to his horror, that collapse had set in, and by 2 P. M., within little more than twenty-four hours of the first sign of indisposition, within eight or nine hours of the appearance of any formidable symptoms, and within half an hour of being in full possession of all his faculties and of a considerable amount of muscular strength, the patient was dead.”

“A few other cases occurred during the spring and early summer, all presenting the same general features, and all fatal; but with the appearance of cholera in August, this strange disease vanished. With the approach of spring, however, it re-appeared. One of the earliest of the new cases was that of a healthy child about five years old. Here the first symptom of illness was noticed at 8 A. M.; at 11 A. M. a small purple eruption appeared, generally diffused over the body; at 1 P. M., the whole body was covered with large purple patches; coma gradually supervened, and at 2 P. M. death. The last audible utterance of the child were complaints of cold.”

“Another case occurred at the Portobello Cavalry barracks on the 17th of April. An officer had complained on the previous morning of feeling slightly unwell. He got feverish toward night, had little sleep, suffered headache, and was occasionally incoherent. In the morning, about 9 o’clock, purple spots appeared, which spread rapidly both in size and number, until the whole body became covered with them. Collapse set in with the usual suddenness, and at 11 A. M., he was dead. Within ten minutes after death the superficial purple hue had given place to a rose red.

“In the following week a boy about nine or ten years old was attacked in the same rapid way. When seen at 1 P. M., his body was dotted with purple specks; the pulse was scarcely perceptible at the wrist, but the action of the heart was perfect; he was in full possession of muscular strength and mental faculties, and felt so little ill that he complained bitterly of being kept in bed. At 7 P. M., he was dead.

“In the beginning of April the first provincial cases were noticed. They were connected with the troops who had been engaged in pursuit of the insurgents through the Galtee mountains. Two or three soldiers, a married woman, and a couple of children were attacked; the woman and one of the soldiers recovered, the others died. The fatal cases were remarkable for great suffering, which no skill seemed capable of relieving. Indeed the children appear to have screamed themselves to death in the violence of the pain which no efforts could mitigate. In all these cases there were indications of considerable inflammation of the brain and spinal column.

“A special interest attaches to these military cases, as throwing some light upon the question of contagiousness. The mother of the children washed for some of the soldiers of the flying column, among whom we have just mentioned the attack of the disease occurred, and in this way the disorder may, it is conceived, have been communicated. At this moment a woman is in the Meath Hospital in Dublin with her young child, both suffering from this malady; and Dr. Stokes, who has them personally in charge, has declared his conviction that this is an unquestionable case of contagion.

“It appears, then, that a strange and terribly fatal disease exists in Ireland, and as yet chiefly in Dublin. The general features of the preliminary stage are bilious vomiting and sometimes purging, and usually headache of unparalleled intensity, with incoherency. Then comes the purple eruption, accompanied, in most cases, by great debility, and followed by collapse and death.”