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may by our negligence or prudence elect. ^ It lias been established 
beyond cjnestion, that with proper sanitary precautions this terrible 
scourge may be robbed of half its terrors if not totally disarmed. There- 
fore let the authorities proceed to the discharge of their duties : let the 
streets, alleys, barns, pig pens, privies, and out houses be thoroughly 
renovated, cleaned up, deodorized and put in order; let the people keep 
their persons clean and be temperate and careful in their diet.” On 
June 25, in the same paper the following appears: ‘^We have had a 
vast amount of rain this spring, the back allej^s and holes of the city are 
full of stagnant water, dead cats and other filth, the hot season is upon 
us with unusual severity, and the probability is that we will be again 
visited with that unwelcome guest cholera, unless we fortify against it 
by proper sanitary regulations. Will the city authorities exercise their 
proper authority in compelling a general cleaning up and deodorizing 
of the filthy places in the city V’ In the same strain the editor on July 
23, says: but there are still many of the out of the way places 
and alleys that under this blistering sun are becoming death and miasma 
breeding places of untold filthiness and while they are not so offensive 
to the eye, because not so public, they are nevertheless just as dangerous 
to the health of our city as if situated in Front Street.” 
Two quotations from the Medico-Chirurgical Journal of 1851, give the 
belief of some physicians concerning the infectiousness of the cholera. In 
the obituary of Dr. A. F. Bruning appearing in the May number of this 
Journal the writer says: day or two before his attack he expressed 
his conviction of the infectiousness of the disease and of his liability to 
an attack from being much in closCj filthy apartments.” In the June 
number of the Journal Dr. J. F. Henry, referring to cholera, said: ‘‘In 
my judgment, it depends on a fixed origin, a something from abroad, 
which may be a sine quo non and a local cause sufficient to develop it. 
The circumstances that constitute that local cause are very well known: 
they are heat, moisture, and filth, within and without the crowded habita- 
tions in which, as a general rule, the disease is most prevalent and most 
destructive. When really epidemic, the whole population of a city is 
immersed in this local cause. ’ ’ 
A little note on vaccination appearing in the Davenport Banner of 
the date Feb. 23, 1855, may well be considered by some at the present 
time : “ It is well ascertained that when vaccination takes it is an ef- 
fectual preventive. It is a simple process, can do no harm and ought 
for abundant precaution to be repeated. Many persons neglect vaccina- 
tion too long.” 
