The Yellow Fever in Philadelphia

Abstract

Jim Murphy, An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 (Clarion Books, 2003, 165 pages) Jim Murphy's experience as an author of nonfiction books for young readers serves him well in his recent history of Philadelphia's fearsome yellow fever epidemic of 1793. The great strength of his account is not its originality--the story has been told by generations of historians--but rather its organization and pace. Murphy relies heavily on primary sources including diaries, letters, and newspaper accounts to bring his story to life. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Readers may find an eerie sense of deja vu in Murphy's account. Written two years before Hurricane Katrina, An American Plague evokes images of New Orleans in 2005. Natural disasters and disease epidemics have much in common. Ironically, the last yellow fever epidemic in the United States claimed close to 450 victims in New Orleans a century earlier in 1905. Murphy launches straight into a graphic description of municipal hygiene in Philadelphia's hot, endless summer of 1793. His unblinking descriptions of open sewage, decomposing carcasses, and rotting produce are interlaced with light novelistic touches: Despite the stench, the streets nearby were crowded with people that morning--ship owners and their captains talking seriously, shouting children darting between wagons or climbing on crates and barrels, well-dressed men and women out for a stroll, servants and slaves hurrying from one chore to the next. (p. 3). Many in the city, including its leading physician, blame the foul miasma of coffee rotting on a wharf for the epidemic. Recall that the germ theory of disease would not gain strong acceptance among scientists for a century. Murphy's choice of illustrations enhances the message of the text. In addition to the usual portraits and civic scenes, reproductions of carefully selected newspaper pages from the Federal Gazette carry the reader back to the media of the day. A contemporary map of the city is accompanied by a helpful map of key landmarks rendered by a modern artist. Readers can't help but be riveted by the reproduction of two pages of alphabetized names (and stations in life) from Mathew Carey's listing of the dead, thought to total about five thousand. Medical History Murphy introduces us to the disease in much the same way as the doctors of the place would have experienced it--observing a case here and another there, uncertain about diagnosis, reluctant to declare an epidemic. We learn the identities of the first victims and witness their deaths in graphic detail. The Spanish call the yellow fever vomito negro (black vomit) for good reason, and Murphy does not flinch in describing the sights, sounds, and smells of death. We meet the doctors of the city, including the elite men at the College of Physicians as they squabble over diagnosis, treatment, and preventive measures. And we feel the momentum of the gathering storm. Benjamin Rush, Edinburgh-trained physician and signer of the Declaration of Independence, is the dominant figure in Philadelphia medicine. Rush's theory of disease and his search through the available medical literature lead him to champion what comes to be known as heroic therapy-violent purges and aggressive blood-letting. Unlike many physicians, Rush stays in the stricken city throughout the epidemic, treating hundreds of his fellow citizens, no doubt hurrying some to their graves with his prescriptions. Rush himself survives the disease, but several of his apprentices and his sister do not. Other physicians recommend gentle, supportive therapy aimed at sustaining the strength of the victim. Each camp will accuse the other of irresponsible practices and, in effect, medical murder. A Fragile Republic Most histories of the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia mention in passing the virtual shutdown of the federal government in the nation's first capital city. …