THE BUBONIC PLAGUE. $77 



to an epidemic which, as will be presently seen, has already made an 

 unenviable record and has a future that no one can foretell. 



The way in which the disease spread from Yunnan has been quite 

 clearly established. Along the Tonkin frontier, throughout the prov- 

 inces of Quan-si and Yunnan, the Chinese maintain a large number of 

 military posts. Mule supply-trains for these posts passed from province 

 to province over the difficult mountain paths. The mule-drivers were 

 natives of Yunnan. In 1892 the plague existed in Yunnan, and it 

 was in the summer of 1893 that the disease appeared at Long-Cheou 

 in Quansi among the Yunnan mule-drivers. These drivers arriving 

 at the post of Lieng-Cheng, after one of their journeys from Yunnan, 

 repaired to the city of Long-Cheou, about ten miles distant. During 

 their sojourn in this city the muleteers developed the first known cases 

 of the plague. From these men the disease spread throughout the city 

 and to the neighboring posts and villages. 



From Long-Cheou the plague descended the Canton River and 

 reached Naning-Phu. From thence it followed overland to the sea- 

 port Pakhoi, some hundred and fifty miles distant. A few months 

 later, in February, 1894, it ieached Canton, either by descending the 

 river from Naning-Phu or by boat from Pakhoi. That the plague at 

 Canton, in 1894, had not lost any of its old-time destructiveness is 

 seen in the fact that it is estimated to have caused not less than one 

 hundred thousand deaths in Canton in the short space of two months. 



From Canton the plague spread to Hong Kong in April, 1894. It 

 was during the existence of this epidemic that the first bacteriological 

 studies of the disease were made and resulted in the discovery of the 

 plague bacillus. In the fall of 1894, the disease died out in Hong 

 Kong, but it reappeared in 1895 and 1896. Considering the fact that 

 Hong Kong is one of the most important maritime centers, it is not 

 surprising to find that in the spring of 1896 'the plague was carried by 

 shipping to the Island of Formosa. It is quite certain that about the 

 same time the plague was carried from Hong Kong to Bombay. At 

 all events, the existence of this disease was recognized in Bombay in 

 September, 1896, by Doctor Yiegas. Previous to this date, the mor- 

 tality in Bombay was abnormally high, undoubtedly due to the very 

 unsanitary condition of the overcrowded city. 



The existence of famine in India, together with the filthy, over- 

 crowded condition of the population, enabled the plague to gain a firm 

 foothold in a relatively short time. Indeed, there can be no doubt 

 but that the disease was well established at the time it was first recog- 

 nized. It is no wonder, then, that in spite of the most stringent pre- 

 cautions, it spread like wildfire, so that in a short time the weekly 

 deaths from the plague rose to nearly 2,000. In the face of such a 

 relentless enemy, it is but natural that a large proportion of the popu- 



VOL. LVII.— 37 



