Bubonic Plague Traced To Ancient Egypt (Black Death)

National Geographic News ^ | 3-10-2004 | Cameron Walker

[lizma]

Europeon cities were filthy in 1349.

Lately I've been reading about medicine and sanitation during the civil war. It wasn't any better by any means.Not only were the camps disease ridden but so were the hospitals

It was at that point in time when Americans took notice that filth was not a good thing and the concurrently (well actually a little bit before) Edward Jenner, not only discovered the vaccine, but sterility in the surgical setting and clean is good.

It seems like common sense now, but they really didn't have a clue back then.

[Burkeman1]

It wasn't any better even by WWI. The scandal of that war was that 20,000 had died due to disease because of filthy, hastily built training camps without any sanitation. And this was State side- not "Over There".

[Burkeman1]

Both my parents knew of children taken by polio. Jonas Faulk was truly a hero back then.

[lizma]

Bacteria living in the bees' digestive tracts had recognized a problem and turned themselves into spores. When placed in a suitable culture, the spores came right back to life.

Is it just me but I'm hard pressed to think spores millions of years old come back to life? It's not thinking these guys are liars but the fact this occurrence is so amazing.

If it's true we haven't begin to touch the wonders and complexities of life. It's not so much how but why?

[blam]

"If it's true we haven't begin to touch the wonders and complexities of life. It's not so much how but why?"

You'd be suprised. Three-quarters of all living things on earth are underground/water.

[Burkeman1]

That should be "Saulk" and not "Faulk". duh.

[lizma]

It wasn't any better even by WWI.

Wow. Didn't know that.

I would have thought they would learned from history, but even by today standards it's obvious it's not a given.

Concerning your previous comments on the birth of a desired, valued work force as a result of the plague, was that the first seed of capitalism in Western civ?

Part of me is dishearten, part of me is amazed that it seems to take tragedy to move the human race forward.

[pax_et_bonum]

Bush knew.

[Burkeman1]

I have argued that point actually. I have called the Black Death the central event in the concept of "Rule of Law" and of "market forces" and a pivotal event in English History. It was truly formitive. It also distinguished even the role of women as being able to hold title to land. With the spread of land ownership to many who had previously been without land before the Black Death- a need arouse for "lawyers" in land disputes, real estate transactions, complaints against a neighbor over water rights, etc . . . These were not adressed by the Crown- but rouse up naturally among these recently freed land owners. But from where did this tendency to rely on "common law" come from? Is that unique to English/western culture?

[lizma]

England had a climate at the time that was particularly conducive towards an Anthrax epidemic starting up.

There was a period of global cooling at the time in the 14th century that was also conducive to human animal spacial proximity. Even back then we learn sleeping with sheep is not a good idea. Still history repeats itself, at least in San Fransico and Europe.

[Burkeman1]

Correct. The bumper crop era from the mini warming age from about 1100 to 1275 was gone and it was getting colder in Northern Europe and the mini Ice Age was on! By 1400 to 1450 depending on who you read the last of the Vikings were gone from Greenland. This mini Ice Age didn't end until the early 19th century.

[Burkeman1]

By The Way- the current Global Warming proponents get all excited about a 1 Degree change over average annual temps over the last 100 years of collected data! There were changes in 25 years just 7 to 8 hundred years ago of 30 degrees of seasonal temps that should shoot this pathetic theory down right now! Did the buring of whale fat and wood by Eskimos and the English "Change" the Climate?

[Sabertooth]

I expect they'll look. Afterall, they've already found cocaine and nicotine in the most ancient Egyptian mummies.

Cocaine and nicotine?

Aren't the coca (Erythroxylum coca) and tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) plants indigenous to the New World?

[lizma]

But from where did this tendency to rely on "common law" come from?

Good question. Hammurabi's Code of Law, Moses Ten Commandments and society comfortable enough in their eyes that "do unto others" is an option?

I suspect that the "Rule of Law" and "market forces" have been an intrical (sp?) force in shaping mankind since day one. We wouldn't have made it this far without this. It's who we are at our best.

[Burkeman1]

Yes- But Islam accepts the old testament and some of the New into the Koran. Muhammed was a trader. Part of the reason for the spread of Islam was that it taxed lower than did the ruling Christians or Pagans. Islam was a free enterprise area for a long time whether we like it or not. But their culture being at the center of trade for so long didn't feel the need to adapt or explore. Our Culture did? Why? It wasn't over population. Why did the West seek out "strange new worlds?"

[elli1]

And it wasn't until WWII and the development of penicillin that things dramatically improved.

[Burkeman1]

So true! Penicillin changed war. Made it even more terrible. Now we could have large masses of troops crowded together always- huge standing armies. But it also saved mostly civilian lives. The world is not black and white. Things happen for a reason.

[elli1]

Major medical advances are one of the good things that result from war. WWII was well underway before penicillin was a standard method of treatment. Probably because of WWII, penicillin was recognized & mainstreamed much more quickly than would have otherwise been the case. Penicillin changed the way wounds were treated; rather than routine amputation, wounds were cleaned, stitched & penicillin was used to combat infection. Beyond just saving lives, the war-time use of antibiotics improved the quality of the lives it saved by reducing the number of amputations.

[nopardons]

I knew children who had polio;some survived, some didn't.

Saulk was a REAL hero,and still is.

[nopardons]

Sulfa drugs came first;penicillin after. Both saved lives that would have previously been lost.