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SCIENCE. 



[Vol. X. No. 249 



some person known to you (about whom you were not anxious at 

 the time), which dream you marked as an exceptionally vivid one, 

 and of which the distressing impression lasted for at least an hour 

 after you rose in the morning ? 



V. Have you, within the past year, when in good health, and 

 completely awake, had a distinct impression of seeing or being 

 touched by a human being, or of hearing a voice or sound which 

 suggested a human presence, when no one was there ? 



VI. Have you, within the past three years but not within the past 

 year, when in good health, and completely awake, had a distinct 

 impression of seeing or being touched by a human being, or of 

 hearing a voice or sound which suggested a human presence, when 

 no one was there ? 



VII. Have you, within the past twelve years but not within the 

 past three years, when in good health, and completely awake, had 

 a distinct impression of seeing or being touched by a human being, 

 or of hearing a voice or sound which suggested a human presence, 

 when no one was there? 



VIII. Have you, at any time during your life but not within the 

 past twelve years, when in good health, and completely awake, had 

 a distinct impression of seeing or being touched by a human being, 

 or of hearing a voice or sound which suggested a human presence, 

 when no one was there ? 



HEALTH MATTERS. 



Cholera at Quarantine. 



It will, we imagine, be somewhat of a surprise to our readers to 

 learn that there have been thirty-eight cases of cholera at the quar- 

 antine islands in the port of New York since Sept. 22 ; and yet from 

 reputable sources this seems to be the fact. From the report just 

 made to the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and published in 

 an extra issue of the Medical News, we learn that eight persons 

 sick with cholera were removed from the steamship 'Alesia,' to 

 which Science referred in its issue of Oct. 14, to Swinburne Island; 

 five of these died : subsequently twenty-seven others were stricken 

 with the disease, of whom nine died : of the passengers of the 

 ' Britannia,' whose arrival from Italy was recorded in Science of Nov. 

 4, three have been attacked with cholera, at least one of whom has 

 died, — a total of thirty-eight cases and fifteen deaths. So far as 

 we know, no new case has developed since Oct. 24. 



The report to which we allude is a most important one, and one 

 which will attract the attention and thoughtful consideration of 

 physicians and sanitarians, not only in the United States, but through- 

 out the civilized world. On Oct. 5, the College of Physicians of Phila- 

 delphia appointed a committee to consider the present danger of 

 the importation of cholera into this country, and to secure con- 

 certed action among the medical societies of the land in urging upon 

 the State and National authorities the adoption of a uniform and 

 efficient system of quarantine for all exposed ports. This com- 

 mittee consisted of Drs. James C. Wilson, E. O. Shakespeare, and 

 R. A. Cleemann. It will be remembered that Dr. Shakespeare was 

 selected by President Cleveland to investigate cholera in Europe 

 and India. These gentlemen investigated the quarantine stations 

 at New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and presented their re- 

 port Oct. 28. The following day an extra issue of the Medical 

 News of Philadelphia, one of the leading medical journals, was 

 published with the following editorial comment : " The paramount 

 importance to the public of preventing the importation of cholera 

 into the United States calls for a special issue of the Medical News, 

 giving in full the report of the commission appointed by the College 

 of Physicians of Philadelphia ... to investigate the condition of 

 affairs in the quarantine of New York. It will be seen that the 

 grave dangers which exist may render prompt action necessary 

 with a view to establishing some national system of quarantine for 

 the protection of the country." 



The committee visited personally the quarantine stations at the 

 three ports mentioned, and made a careful and thorough exami- 

 nation of every thing pertaining thereto. It will be impossible for 

 us to do more than refer to their conclusion. In reference to the 

 stations at Philadelphia and Baltimore, they say that it is evident 

 that they fail in the most essential requisites of the necessary num- 

 ber of properly equipped buildings for the isolation and observation 



of a large number of immigrants. In regard to the station at New 

 York, they find the buildings to be sufficiently large and numerous, 

 and to have adequate arrangements for heating and cooking, but 

 that they are not divided into a sufficient number of small compart- 

 ments to permit the strict isolation of the immigrants into small 

 groups. The water-closets and bath-tubs are inadequate, the pumps 

 by which sea-water is obtained for flushing the water-closets were 

 out of order, and the soil-pipes from the water-closets had a number 

 of right angles in their course to the sea, thus interfering with 

 thorough scouring. There is no provision for the general washing 

 of clothing, and the immigrants performed this work for themselves 

 in such proximity to the underground cisterns of water as to render 

 it possible for this water to become infected. The use of this cis- 

 tern-water for drinking had been forbidden, and other water sup- 

 plied for this purpose ; but there were no means of enforcing the 

 order, and access to the cistern could be had at all times. The 

 lack of bedsteads, chairs, tables, and proper eating utensils, added 

 to the hardships of the immigrants and to the dangers of infection. 

 The committee comment on the absence of a resident medical 

 officer, and of an adequate force of watchmen, patrolmen, and at- 

 tendants. The possibility of occasional clandestine communication 

 between the detained immigrants and their friends by means of 

 small boats, constituted a danger to the country difficult to esti- 

 mate, and against which, so far as could be learned, there were no 

 precautions. At Swinburne Island, where the hospital is situated, 

 there were, at the time of the committee's visit, nine cases of cholera 

 in the wards, and they noted with surprise the absence of a resident 

 physician. It was also a reversal of modern ideas to find male 

 nurses in charge of female patients. The clothing of patients is 

 sent back to Hoffman Island to be disinfected, although there is a 

 disinfecting-chamber in connection with the hospital ; and the com- 

 mittee were informed that the convalescents were, as soon as they 

 were strong enough to be about, returned to Hoffman Island with- 

 out having been previously bathed and disinfected. 



In reference to the steamship ' Britannia,' it would appear that 

 the committee believe that cholera appeared during the voyage 

 from Italy, and that its existence was either not recognized by the 

 ship's surgeon, or else concealed by the deliberate falsification of 

 the ship's sanitary record. In either case the committee think that 

 this has seriously increased the present danger of the ultimate in- 

 troduction of cholera into the country through the port of New 

 York. They state that the continuance of cholera among the pas- 

 sengers of the ' Alesia ' so long after their removal to the station of 

 observation, in itself demonstrates the inefficiency of the measures 

 which have been adopted and enforced, and further add, that, al- 

 though they have not heard of the development of the disease any- 

 where on the mainland, nevertheless, in view of the almost un- 

 controllable tendency of cholera to spread at times, and of the origi- 

 nal insufficiency and the present faulty constitution of the police 

 force on Hoffman Island, they feel impelled to believe that the im- 

 munity up to the present time has been owing to singular good 

 fortune rather than to good management. 



Having pointed out the defects of the quarantine stations, the 

 committee turn their attention to the principal cause ; namely, the 

 cost of supplying these defects. Were it not for the question of 

 money, there would have been physicians constantly in attendance 

 at the New York station, and, consequently, better management 

 and discipline would have been maintained ; while at Philadelphia 

 and Baltimore there would have been adequate establishments pro- 

 vided for the isolation and observation of large bodies of immi- 

 grants. The remedy suggested is to put quarantine into the hands 

 of the national government. The committee recognize the difficul- 

 ties in bringing this about, but at the same time they regard this as 

 the only efficient remedy. 



In reference to this report of the Philadelphia committee, we 

 have little to say at this time. It certainly is a very serious indict- 

 ment of the quarantine stations and methods of the three ports 

 specifically mentioned, and of the other ports of entry upon the At- 

 lantic and Gulf coasts, in reference to which the committee state, 

 that, although they have not inspected them, there is no reason to 

 believe that they are in any respect superior. It will not answer to 

 say, as officials are reported in the daily press to have said, that 

 this is an attack by a jealous city upon New York in order to divert 



