Read Online Knowledge in the Time of Cholera by Owen Whooley - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Owen Whooley
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European physicians, in their treatment of the present epidemic, it behooves our practitioners to make themselves masters of all principal writers of their own country, who have been familiar with cold, sinking febrile disease.
While few doctors clung to the hope that cholera would not reach the United States or that the countryâs salubrious environment would limit its spread, most resigned themselves to the fact that they would get the chance to see the disease for themselves, as the Atlantic Ocean was no longer an insurmountable barrier for Europeâs problems given advances in sea travel.
On June 26, 1832, the inevitable occurred. Cholera arrived in New York City, by way of Canada. An Irish immigrant named Fitzgerald came down with a strange intestinal illness. Dr. Cameron, a New York physician,
found him [Fitzgerald] violently affected with vomiting, purging, and most convulsive spasms; the features sunken and the eyes staring; the pulse insensible at the wrist, and the surface cold, and covered with clammy sweat; the countenance black and terrific; tongue of a dark purple during spasms, becoming opalescent as the spasmodic action abated; the fluid rejected was watery, consisting probably of the liquids he was permitted to drink; his dejection resembled rice water, of the consistence of cream. (
BMSJ
1832d, 354)
Undoubtedly a case of cholera. Fitzgerald recovered, but his wife and children contracted the disease and died. Cholera quickly spread through the poorest districts of the city, with the infamous Five Points neighborhoodâa place that Charles Dickens (2000,101) described as encompassing âall that is loathsome, drooping, and decayedââsuffering the brunt of the attack (Grob 2002, 105). Initially, city officials debated whether or not to announce choleraâs arrival. The stakes in such a decision were high. Officials, worried about the economic, political, and social ramifications of such an announcement, dawdled (Duffy 1968). In response, the cityâs medical society accused the board of health of being unconscionably slow in alerting the public, resulting in unpreparedness and unnecessary death. This spat fueled panic among the public, as it appeared that officials could not agree on even the most basic of issuesâwhether or not cholera had reached the city. No one seemed to know what they were talking about. Dr. David Meredith Reese (1833, 3) recalled,
The great ignorance of the unprofessional portion of our population on the subject [cholera] was obviously the prolific source of much imprudence, and threw the timid into a consternation and terror which prevented the adoption of any uniform and rational mode of prevention; while, at the time, the vague as well as contradictory opinions which have found their way into the public press, upon the subject of the causes, prevention, and cure of Cholera, have been very far from inspiring confidence in the members of our profession; and in such perilous times, this confidence is more than ever necessary and important.
Cooler heads were failing to prevail.
While officials argued, many abandoned the city to choleraâs chaos. John Pintard, a successful merchant, respected philanthropist and former secretary of the New York Chamber of Commerce, documented the deteriorating scene in letters to his daughter. Early in the epidemic, on July 3, Pintard expressed skepticism toward the âunnecessarily alarmedâ doctors, opining that âat best we are likely to have a sickly season but we are not timid & shall stand our groundâ (Pintard 1832, 66). Steeled by his military pedigree and strong Huguenot faith, Pintard refused to flee the city, unlike many of his fellow New Yorkers. Independence Day celebrations were canceled. Only churches remained open for mourners to pray for their victims, thus transforming the celebratory holiday into a somber occasion of fasting and prayer. By July 8, Pintard (1832, 69) observed,
While few doctors clung to the hope that cholera would not reach the United States or that the countryâs salubrious environment would limit its spread, most resigned themselves to the fact that they would get the chance to see the disease for themselves, as the Atlantic Ocean was no longer an insurmountable barrier for Europeâs problems given advances in sea travel.
On June 26, 1832, the inevitable occurred. Cholera arrived in New York City, by way of Canada. An Irish immigrant named Fitzgerald came down with a strange intestinal illness. Dr. Cameron, a New York physician,
found him [Fitzgerald] violently affected with vomiting, purging, and most convulsive spasms; the features sunken and the eyes staring; the pulse insensible at the wrist, and the surface cold, and covered with clammy sweat; the countenance black and terrific; tongue of a dark purple during spasms, becoming opalescent as the spasmodic action abated; the fluid rejected was watery, consisting probably of the liquids he was permitted to drink; his dejection resembled rice water, of the consistence of cream. (
BMSJ
1832d, 354)
Undoubtedly a case of cholera. Fitzgerald recovered, but his wife and children contracted the disease and died. Cholera quickly spread through the poorest districts of the city, with the infamous Five Points neighborhoodâa place that Charles Dickens (2000,101) described as encompassing âall that is loathsome, drooping, and decayedââsuffering the brunt of the attack (Grob 2002, 105). Initially, city officials debated whether or not to announce choleraâs arrival. The stakes in such a decision were high. Officials, worried about the economic, political, and social ramifications of such an announcement, dawdled (Duffy 1968). In response, the cityâs medical society accused the board of health of being unconscionably slow in alerting the public, resulting in unpreparedness and unnecessary death. This spat fueled panic among the public, as it appeared that officials could not agree on even the most basic of issuesâwhether or not cholera had reached the city. No one seemed to know what they were talking about. Dr. David Meredith Reese (1833, 3) recalled,
The great ignorance of the unprofessional portion of our population on the subject [cholera] was obviously the prolific source of much imprudence, and threw the timid into a consternation and terror which prevented the adoption of any uniform and rational mode of prevention; while, at the time, the vague as well as contradictory opinions which have found their way into the public press, upon the subject of the causes, prevention, and cure of Cholera, have been very far from inspiring confidence in the members of our profession; and in such perilous times, this confidence is more than ever necessary and important.
Cooler heads were failing to prevail.
While officials argued, many abandoned the city to choleraâs chaos. John Pintard, a successful merchant, respected philanthropist and former secretary of the New York Chamber of Commerce, documented the deteriorating scene in letters to his daughter. Early in the epidemic, on July 3, Pintard expressed skepticism toward the âunnecessarily alarmedâ doctors, opining that âat best we are likely to have a sickly season but we are not timid & shall stand our groundâ (Pintard 1832, 66). Steeled by his military pedigree and strong Huguenot faith, Pintard refused to flee the city, unlike many of his fellow New Yorkers. Independence Day celebrations were canceled. Only churches remained open for mourners to pray for their victims, thus transforming the celebratory holiday into a somber occasion of fasting and prayer. By July 8, Pintard (1832, 69) observed,
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