Signs of the Times

MORTAL SICKNESS IN PHILADELPHIA.-It is stated in the Philadelphia Times, that a peculiar kind of sickness prevails to an alarming extent in the vicinity of Reading, and that many cases have already proved fatal. Also that a singular and alarming disease has made its appearance at Norristown and the village opposite. It is said that persons in good health are first seized with a giddiness in the head, then a diarrhoe [diarrhea], and immediately after the skin becomes as yellow as gold, convulsions take place, and the individual is a corpse in a few hours after the attack. The disease has baffled the skill of the ablest physicians, and produced the greatest consternation in consequence of its malignant and fatal character. Several deaths occur every day.-[(St. Louis Western Atlas).