AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



455 



Hpidemic Influenza, or what 

 is more commonly known as la grippe, is 

 reported to be again commencing to 

 attack humanity with more than ordi- 

 nary severity. We have cause to fear 

 that the coming Winter will be more 

 prolific of this terrible disease than any 

 of the previous ones. The Selentifie 

 AmeHcan giives a new theory of this 

 disease, and remarks as follows : 



The unaccountable nature of the 

 influenza commonly known as the grippe, 

 has invited the theories of all sorts and 

 conditions of men, not to say of doctors, 

 but among all no one is, perhaps, so well 

 calculated to commend itself to confi- 

 dence as that of Sir Morell Mackenzie, 

 M. D., who, in the June Fortnightly, 

 asserts that in his opinion "the riddle 

 of influenza is poisoned nerves," and 

 from this hypothesis "the bewildering 

 diversity of the symptoms becomes intel- 

 ligible, if we regard them as the results ' 

 of disordered nervous action." 



Dr. Mackenzie compares it to the 

 extraordinary disturbance in telegraphic 

 systems produced by a thunder storm, 

 and says this is nothing " compared 

 with the freaks played by the living 

 conductors in the human body, if any- 

 thing throws the governing centers out 

 of gear." 



Now the theory of " poisoned nerves " 

 is one that explains the almost infinite 

 variety of attacks and curious freaks 

 that mark the disease. No two persons, 

 it is safe to say, have ever experienced 

 precisely the same symptoms, and if it 

 is a nervous disturbance, this is the 

 natural result. 



Dr. Mackenzie regards the epidemic 

 as falling under three general types, 

 each of which include many varieties ; 

 these are the catarrhal, the digestive, 

 and the nervous. ' " Influenza," he says, 

 "is the very Proteus of diseases, a 

 malady which assumes so many forms 

 that it seems to be not one, but an 

 epitome of all diseases, and its symptom- 

 atology includes almost everything, from 

 a cold in the head to inflammation of the 



brain It is really an acute specific 



fever, running a definite course, like 



measles or scarlatina It is a disease 



with that superficial complexity of as- 

 pect which made Mrs. Carlyle playfully 

 suggest that the doctors had agreed to 

 call half a dozen different diseases by 

 one name in order to simplify treat- 

 ment." 



Dr. Mackenzie adds that under all its 

 disguises, he believes the disease to be 



perfectly simple ; that the profound im- 

 pression made on the nervous system by 

 the poison explains nearly all the after 

 eft'ects of the malady, and especially that 

 curious loss of vital energy which is so 

 disproportionately great in comparison 

 with the disease itself. The cause Dr. 

 Mackenzie believes to be a living germ, 

 air borne, but of what nature is not yet, 

 he believes, established. 



Xlie Fatlier of our friend R. F. 

 Holterman died on October 1, 1891. 



Mr. J. K. Snider, an apiarist of 

 Utah, gave us a call last week. He says 

 that their principal pasturage is sweet 

 clover, and consequently their main 

 honey crop comes in the Fall, The 

 quality of the honey is excellent, and 

 the quantity is almost unlimited — thou- 

 sands of acres of sweet clover go to 

 waste every year because there are not 

 enough bees to gather the nectar. 



Half a Million pansies, one hun- 

 dred thousand roses, and millions of 

 other flowers, including every known 

 variety and species, will be seen at the 

 Exposition. Tlie horticultural exhibit 

 will be on a scale never before attempted 

 in the history of the world. Mr. Thorp, 

 of the floriculture division, estimates 

 that the equipment of the horticultural 

 building, including the purchase price of 

 plants, will be $350,000, and the total 

 expense of the display $750,000. The 

 floriculturists of the country will donate 

 a large share of the plants. Ten of the 

 sixteen acres of ground on the wooded 

 island will be planted in flowers. The 

 shores of the island will be left wild for 

 scenic effect, and the waters around the 

 margin of the island will be bright with 

 water lilies and other aquatic vegeta- 

 tion, while the interior of the island will 

 be planted with roses, rhododendrons, 

 and lilies, besides a vast variety of wild 

 flowers, which are at present preserved 

 in a nursery on the island. 



Hugene Secor is a lay delegate to 

 the General Conference of M. E. Church. 



