There is a formidable disease. . .whose medicine has never cured, wealth has never been warded off, and poverty has never been able to boast of exemption; which moves sometimes by leaps and bounds and sometimes at a slow, slow pace, but, slow or fast, is always sure and certain. (Dormandy 92) The above quote could apply to a plethora of diseases that currently exist or have existed throughout history. However, the scourge to which the cited document refers is the disease formerly known as "phthisis" and now called by its medical name: tuberculosis. The disease was endemic during the Victorian era in America and Europe and still occurs in many countries today. In fact, “the scale of the global tuberculosis problem is enormous,” with 11.9 million cases predicted worldwide by 2005 (Frequently Asked Questions, 6). Today, tuberculosis almost exclusively poses a threat to third world and developing countries. . It is difficult, as a member of a modern, industrialized country, to understand the strength of tuberculosis and its global ramifications without having done some research into the disease. As Americans, people in this country are almost absolved of feeling the effects of the disease, whatever they may be. It was not always this way. In the mid-to-late 19th century, America and Europe both experienced what has become known as the “Industrial Revolution.” Factories replaced agricultural land in both countries, leading to cramped working conditions, backbreaking labor, and ultimately disease. This disease was tuberculosis. "With poverty, malnutrition, overpopulation, vice, crime and moral degradation, it has become not just a cause or a consequence, but a part of the landscape of India...... middle of paper ......deeply rooted in his own life and times, become timeless because of his ability to transcend the predetermined and write fiction that acts as a study of humanity rivaled by few others. did not compromise his art by inserting easily misinterpreted meanings into his writing, but rather let the reader use his work as a vehicle for original thought and reflection Works Cited Dormandy, Thomas White Death: A History of Tuberculosis New York, NY, New York University Press, 2000. Gilman, Richard Chekhov's Plays: And. Opening to Eternity. Connecticut: Yale University Press. Jackson, Robert Louis Chekhov: A Collection of Critical Essays, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Bunin, trans. by SS Koteliansky and Leonard Woolf..