Cholera

kol'er-a, an acute, infectious disease--not infrequently an epidemic. Like typhoid, malaria, and the bubonic plague, it is thought to be due to colonies of a bacillus. Though the germ theory has not been as yet accepted by all authorities, it is settled fairly well that cholera is due to a spiral bacterium. Cholera is an Eastern infection known in the East Indies at the dawn of history, but it did not spread to Europe and America until 1830 and later. It is often called Asiatic cholera. It has a peculiar way of making long leaps, leaving intermediate districts unmolested. The first symptom of cholera is vomiting, followed by griping pains in the stomach. The disease is very fatal. A large proportion of those attacked die within an hour or two. Opium, quinine, whiskey, camphor, and chloroform are some of the common remedies. Cleanly conditions, high, pure air, and simple food are preventives. It is one of the diseases which medical science has not mastered. The introduction of germs is guarded against by rigid quarantine in seaboard cities. See Disease