| Show 44 plagues of past ages practically wiped out leprosy became prevalent in the dark ages the scourge ot of the black death inaugurated the quarantine but civilization bad discarded all the other disfigurements disfigure ments ot of tile dark ages before it rell relieved eved itself from the recurrent visitations of epidemics which made their appearance throughout europe in those centuries As late us as 1703 1708 smallpox was as common as measles and little more than a century ago cholera claimed one in every hundred of new yorks population in 1873 13 yellow fever was epidemic in 10 19 states which was halt half 0 of f them it has been only since louis pas terns experiments between 1857 and 1885 laid the foundation for tile the isolation of germs and the development of antitoxins that specific treatment has been possible patient observation lias has followed follo cd research in tracing the causes of epidemics to their sources in tills this brief span of a few generations many historic plagues have become words of vague meaning and yet they unquestionably would bo be more rampant in this age of travel and commerce than thoy ever eer were before but for the vigilant and effective public health agencies on guard everywhere ever here |
