95
fected villages by plague-stricken rats. With regard to human intercourse Dr. Jones
remarks that on spreading from village to village plague rarely makes a jump of more
than 10 miles. He instances as means by which infection is conveyed—visits of condolence or
from funeral rites especially by females, when people from uninfected villages either contract
the disease or bring any infected clothing, and their admission to uninfected villages of persons
who have fled from infected places.
Regarding the part played by rats in the dissemination of plague, Mr. Tollinton
writes :—
" Rats have been noticed immigrating from an infected to an uninfected village in
the immediate neighbourhood and dying on the way. Some must have survived : others
were found dead on the outskirts of the uninfected village."
Also Dr. Jones, who has apparently devoted considerable attention to this subject,
writes as follows :—
" No constant relation between the extent of rat mortality and attacks of plague
among human beings was observed, though in some villages, particularly in Jámke, where
there was great mortality among rats, it was noticed that human beings suffered very
severely from plague.
Rats, I believe, play an important part in—
(a) infecting villages, by the rats of one village emigrating to another village, or
even some infected rats of one place mixing with rats of a non-infected place,
for it is known that rats do or can infect one another by mixing with one
another without any contamination of food ;
(3) rats secondly form a part in infecting—
(1) by contaminating their food ;
individuals (2) by infected vermin. When they die, these vermin naturally
.
leave them and make for anything that has life.
" Most frequently when a new tahsil becomes infected, the infection is nearly always
carried by human agency, rats dying later ; but later on, when the disease becomes fully
established, rats die from 2 to 30 days before the men and are always put down by the
villagers as the source of infection.
" It is rather curious how all the first villages in Daska Tahsil gave a clear history of
infection by human agency, and in no place could one get a history of death amongst rats
until after the men ; and later on how no such history could be obtained the cause of infec-
tion being put down to rats. Below are given the first villages infected as A and then a few
villages in March—not picked but according to date of infection as B :—
A.—Examples of human in fection.
Name of village.
Dhandu Basra
...
...
...
Amatra ...
...
...
...
Baddoke
...
...
...
NikaKaila
Sambriál
...
...
...
Galotián Kalán
jámke ...
...
...
Date of infection.
14th January 1902
...
2ist January 1902
...
30th January 1902
...
31st January 1902
...
10th February 1902
nth February 1902
...
23rd February 1902
...
Mode of infection.
Infection from Mundeke Bajwa by two
Chamárs and one Lohar. Plague first
amongst these castes. No rats.
Infection not known, but no rats.
Brought from Jammu by a Ját. Three
Játs died first, then Náis. ' No rats.
From Kamála (Pasrúr) by a Tarkhán, re-
sulting in 10 deaths in two families. No
rats.
Infection brought by a Kumhar from Dul-
cheke (Siálkot). Three first deaths in a
Kumhár family. No rats.
From Rachára (Siâlkot) by a Bhát.
Disease first with the Bháts. No rats.
An infected Jhiwar female from Jammu
visited her relations. Four died in this
family. No rats.