EPIDEMIC 



2063 



EPIGRAM 



is not near, and the former are no longer in 

 existence." According to the Epicurean belief, 

 the great evil that afflicts men is fear fear of 

 gods and fear of death. To get rid of these 

 two fears was the, ultimate aim of all Epicurus's 

 theories and nature. BJQ.M. 



EPIDEMIC, ep i dem'ik, a term derived from 

 two Greek words meaning among the people, 

 and applied to diseases which attack many 

 people at the same time or in rapid succes- 

 sion. Malaria, influenza, dysentery, cholera, 

 the plague, diphtheria and typhoid are among 

 the diseases which thus attack a community. 

 Every epidemic has its own particular infec- 

 tious germ. In the case of malaria the infec- 

 tion is due to an animal parasite, and the dis- 

 ease is spread by mosquitoes which have bitten 

 and sucked the blood of someone already suf- 

 fering from malaria. The bacteria of cholera, 

 dysentery and the plague are carried by human 

 beings or merchandise from country to country, 

 and wherever these germs find people suscepti- 

 ble to those diseases an epidemic breaks out. 



Medical science has in recent years done 

 much to reduce the danger of epidemics. The 

 Panama Canal Zone is a striking example of 

 what may be done to improve the health of a 

 community. There the malaria-bearing mos- 

 quito has been stamped out, its breeding places 

 in swamps and pools have been drained, and a 

 region once deadly to white men has been ren- 

 dered practically free from disease. Smallpox, 

 the most dreaded of all epidemics, has been 

 rendered less harmful by preventive measures; 

 vaccination has almost removed smallpox from 

 the list of epidemics in America and most 

 European countries. Medical science in earlier 

 days devoted itself to fighting disease after it 

 had developed; science now seeks causes and 

 endeavors to remove them. 



Perfect drainage and sanitation, paving and 

 cleaning of streets and filtration of drinking 

 water are important preventives. Remarkable 

 results have been recently obtained by inocu- 

 lation. The science of serum therapy has made 

 great progress, and nowhere has it been more 

 clearly proved than in Serbia in 1914, when 

 practically the whole army was attacked by 

 typhoid. The epidemic was completely stamped 

 out by surgeons under the command of Sur- 

 geon-General Gorgas of the United States 

 army, who was loaned for the task. Many 

 thousands were inoculated, and early in 1915 

 the Serbian army took the field with its men 

 in good health and practically safe from future 

 attacks of typhoid fever. J.H.K. 



Related Subjects. In addition to the diseases 

 mentioned above, the reader is referred to the 

 following 1 articles in these volumes: 



Bacteria and 

 Bacteriology 



Gorgas, William 

 Crawford 



Inoculation 

 Mosquito 

 Sanitary Science 

 Serum Therapy 



EPIGRAM, ep'igram, as most correctly 

 used, is a short poem, generally not more than 

 eight lines in length, which has at the very 

 close a sudden surprising or witty turn. An 

 old Latin author, whose name is unknown, in 

 describing the epigram produced a very clever 

 one: 



The qualities rare in a bee that we meet, 

 In an epigram never should fail 



The body should always be little and sweet, 

 And a sting should be left in its tail. 



Quite as often, however, the term means any 

 concisely or cleverly expressed thought, whether 

 in prose or verse; and while the "sting in its 

 tail" is not necessary, it is desirable. Martial's 

 reflection on his wife, though far from kindly, 

 is typical: 



Lycoris has buried all the female friends she 

 had ; would she were the friend of my wife ! 



The Greeks, who invented the epigram, made 

 of it a thing very different from its modern 

 descendant. With them it was a simple and 

 beautiful verse on a tomb or statue, and the 

 word has the same literal meaning as epitaph. 

 It was the great Roman satirists, Catullus and 

 Martial, and especially the latter, who made 

 the epigram the sharp, stinging thing it- is 

 to-day, and Martial's epigrams have remained 

 the model for all times. Among the English, 

 Pope was the cleverest of all epigram writers, 

 and some of his poems are but strings of epi- 

 grams. The following are from his pen: 



Why has not man a microscopic eye? 

 For this plain reason man is not a fly. 

 Vice is a monster of so frightful mien 

 As to be hated needs but to be seen ; 



Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face, 

 We first endure, then pity, then embrace. 

 But thousands die without or this or that 

 Die, and endow a college or a cat. 

 Who builds a church to God and not to fame, 

 Will never mark the marble with his name. 



And the parodist who mocked at Pope told 

 of his defects very concisely in an epigram: 



One line for sense and one to make the rhyme 

 Make a good Popish couplet every time. 



A quick and clever exchange of epigrams took 

 place between Charles II and one of his cour- 

 tiers, whose identity is uncertain. 



