Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XXIV. Cholera and other Diseases—The Causes of Cholera—How the Soldiers are Protected Against it—Sudden Deaths—Fevers—The Teraj—Contempt for Death—The Cholera Hospital—The Sisters of Mercy—The Princes Tagore—Hindoo Family Customs—Hindoo Gallantry—A Hindoo Fête
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
253 Story of an Emigtiant.
272
the Europeans, but also among thenatives. Medical science
has done a great deal to mitigate this evil, and the cholera,
at least, has been carefully studied and controlled by the
medical department of the Anglo-Indian army, so at present
the malady is not feared so much as might be expected.
The germs of the disease consist of microbes, which are
carried in swarms by the wind. If such a pestiferous current of
air strikes a place where soldiers are stationed, they are
immediately ordered to break camp, and in a few hours the
whole force is marching at a right angle with the wind, and
after a day’s march and a night’s bivouac the physicians are
generally able to tell whether the troops are out of the
cholera district or not. If not, the march is continued day after
day, always at a right angle with that of the preceding day,
until the air contains no more cholera microbes.
Old officers of the army told me that they had seen the
cholera pass over one part of the camp attacking every
fourth man on one side of the camp street without touching
a single one on the other. It is claimed that the fear and
anxiety caused by this dreadful malady are even more
dangerous than the disease itself.
One day while sitting at my breakfast table I received a
message from the University hospital that an American
sailor was very anxious to see me before he died. I immediately
drove over there and was met at the entrance by the
president, Dr. J. M. Coates, but when I arrived in the cholera
apartment the man had just died. A sister of mercy was
present at his death-bed, and had promised to carry his last
message to me, which consisted in a greeting of love and a
few trinkets to be sent to his mother in the state of Maine.
There was a large apartment filled with cholera patients.
Many of the native patients were visited by their friends and
relatives ; for the Hindoos do not entertain any fear of death,
but rather court it, believing that a death caused by aconta-
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
