Page:Vol 6 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/623

Rh Thus small-pox, for instance, has inflicted grievous havoc at different times; and impelled by dread, both the government and the public have then taken rather tardy precautions. The matlazahuatl has been merciful, but a new scourge came instead in the form of Asiatic cholera, which, during its first attack in 1833, carried off, at Mexico, 1,200 or 1,400 daily, and at other places in proportion. During later more or less severe visitations, energetic measures were taken as regards cleanliness and sale of certain articles of food; and scientific investigations were made into the nature of the epidemic.

Yellow fever, at first confined to the gulf of Mexico, has extended to the Pacific shore, as shown by the severe visitation of this disease in 1885. Other malignant fevers have at different times left a sad memento, notably one which, in 1813, carried off about 20,000 persons at the capital alone. Of leprosy, there is one modified type known as tina or pinto, which has shown alarming symptoms of increase, although confined to a belt which extends from Tabasco and Chiapas northwestward by the Pacific, and is especially prevalent in Guerrero and Oajaca, so much so that people from this region are often known as Pintos. The symptoms are a cough, lustrous skin, with