On the night of Tuesday, June 15, a remarkable epidemic fell upon
several towns in western Massachusetts, the town of Adams
suffering most severely. Out of a population of 6,000, several
hundred--variously estimated from 600 to over 1,000--were prostrated
by a disease resembling cholera morbus. The symptoms were first
dizziness, then great nausea, followed by vomiting and prolonged
purging, and in some cases delirium. A belt of country two or three
miles in width and several miles long was thus afflicted, beginning at
the west, the whole number of victims being estimated at from 1,200 to
1,500. No deaths are reported.
The cause of the epidemic is not known, but seems most likely to have
been atmospheric. For some time the weather had been dry and hot.
A heavy local rain fell during the evening, and was followed by or
attended with a sudden and great lowering of the temperature. A chilly
fog hung over the belt of country invaded by the disease, and a heavy
"swampy" odor and taste were in the air.
The malady reached its climax in about twenty-four hours. It was first
suspected that the water supply had been somehow poisoned, but many
people who had not used the water were prostrated, while others
who used it freely escaped. Adams has hitherto been regarded as an
exceptionally healthy town, and the surrounding country is high and
wholesome.
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