THE PLAGUE.

Abstract

Fear has been expressed in various newspaper editorials and despatches, that the appearance of plague in Egypt is only a precursor of its invasion of Europe—not that there will be an inefficient quarantine against Egyptian infected ports, but that the steady advance westward of the disease, of which its foothold in Egypt is only an indication, is not likely to be checked unless more rigid and concerted international measures are adopted to check its progress. The Mecca pilgrimage is stated as one great source of danger, and a still more eastern gateway is said to be afforded through the Persian Gulf, where the English sanitary regulations are said to be sadly neglected. It is certain that the range of the epidemic has been widened, increasing the possible sources of contagion, and that a rigid sanitary cordon on land is much more difficult to make effective than a quarantine at seaports,