THE EPIDEMIC.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 7, Issue 425, 12 November 1918, Page 2

THE EPIDEMIC.

WHAT CAUSED IT? %J (Written specially for '' The Times.") I The scourge of so-called Spufcbg.,** influenza that is over-running w part of the world, has undoult&dly f not arisen without some specn cir- \ j cumstances being responsible % its f origin, and there is room for esting speculation as to what tnWW causes of that origin may have been. < There is a fairly widespread suspicion, especially ia America, that the disease has been disseminated by German emissaries, who released the { germs in theatres and other crowded gatherings; but this is more likely to be a theory founded upon our ex- jT' perience of the gentle Hun's char- m , acter and methods of warfare than af fact capable of direct proof. Yeta i nevertheless, it is quite possible the* Germans were responsible for the%] disease, but in quite another way. The influenza epidemic of 1889-90 will be remembered by many. It j was commonly known as Russian ' influenza, because it came to Mestern Europe from that country. #mt its genesis was not jgfihlliual' the Far East, andlt had great part of Asiawefore / the happy borne ofanarctFy andijbl- • shevism It ran rapidly through Europe, claiming its victims by th<4. j thousand, crossed to the two%' Americas, being particularly mur- « derous in the southern continent, and ! Anally reached these Australasian colonies in a much milder mood, but still severe enough for those who felW , into its clutches to remamber W ' acutely, even after the than aquarter of a century. "La i grippe" we called it, using its French title. "Leg-rope," an old Pukekohe dame christened it, not j without good reason, for it certainly had a most restraining effect upon J the movements of the limbs. Many will also remember the 1 gigantic submarine volcanic explo- J sion in the Straits of Sunda—the \ greatest blow-up ever chronicled. It . will be recalled how for months after j our sunsets were red from the infi- ] nitely fine particles of volcanic dust j that still charged the atmosphere, j Well, it was the opinion of quite a reputable body of scientific thinkers ! that the influenza outbreak was the K direct result of that enormous vol- j canic disturbance. JIt is well-known that the waters j in the deeps of the sea remain stag- \ nant and undisturbed. The tides and storms that ruffle the surface do J not affect the water very far down. T\ The great ocean currents work \ further down, but there is a lower j limit to their influence. Life goes lower still, but there is a point at j which that ceases. The great deeps are for ever devoid of life, motionless, j dark, and very cold. The jtfcjfetjjft. , j ocean is a soft ooze, great measure of the decayed anliiij putriescent remains of the countless germs of animal life that swarm in the upper waters. When the sea found its way down to a strata oL intensely bot rock, and was changeJL at once to super-heated steam, S blew into the air an enormous tityof this sea-ooze in particles, which remained in the atmosphere for a very consJ' siderable time. It was this animal matter that some scientific men held was responsible for the influenza It is only fair to s»y that this theory was vigorously cornbatted by others, who denied that the two stood to one another in the relation of cause and effect. As, however, these latter did not ad- j | vance any reasonable explanation to account for the influenzs, we may fairly consider the idea plausible, if not altogether a i theory. '<J '''%* , The loss of aquarter years y war appalling It is jcnpossible tlpt bodies havo of with i that due regard foXsanitation with ( ! which interments armconducted in peace timo. Still less Scan it have been so with the remanlaof the enormous number of other animals that haWg If there was any justificaHqnfor sea-ooze theory may we nniTSifcwAfriw"" plausibly believe that our present epidemic is due to tho battlefields of Europe ? If the Germans were not guilty of the hellish device of deliberately sowing the germs of the disease, is it not possible that their damnable lust for world-pow?r, which has ruined them and cost us so dear, may be responsible for the preseiit outbreak ?