The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-02-14
PLAGUE DATA
Surgeon Gen. Wyman's
Pamphlet.
Extracts From a Monograph on the
Nature and Treatment Of the
BubOnic Scourge.

pdnph-et ABOUT the bubonie plague
which has been issued by the United
States Government over the signature
OF Surgeon General Wyman:
The Spread of Plague.
The spread of plague from one
country to another presents many Gu
rious features, in marked dissimilar-
ity 10 other epidemic contagious and
infectious diseases. Continuity of ter
ritory, while the most general avenue,
does not seem TO be essential. but the
disease proceeds from place to place
by leaps and bounds, often skipping
large intermediate tracts, but usually
following the beaten tracks OF com
merce. There seems TO be no doubt,
IN the present stage of our knowledge.
that in spite Of the limited viability of
the plague bacillus, its easy loss of viz
ulence, and its other biological char
acteristics, IL is sometimes capable of
being conveyed in merchandise.
Another source of great danger is
the existence of a type of the disease,
described almost exclusively by Eng
lish writers, and denominated by
them the ''ambulant" form of the dis
ease. In this, owing 20 the introiuc-
ton of an attenuated infection in in
dividuals, the disease may go on TO
glandular enlargements, suppurations,
and constitutional manifestations Ell
Their OF very mild type or alto
gether lacking them. Suppurations,
expectorations, possibly alyIne dis
charges from such individuals dissem-
mate the plague bacillus in number,
but in probably a still attenuated
form. Whether by passage through
some Of the domestic animals, wheth-
ar by conditions Of soil and habitat
with which We are as yet unfortunate
" unacquainted, the organism sud-
denly acquires virulence, infects 9TH
ers in its new surroundings, and an
epidemic of plague OF a yirulent type
results
Further and careful study. of the
''ambulant" type of the disease Is an
important subject from an epiSemio-
logical point of view, and iustifes the
| precautions recently taken al a quar-
antine station of requiring all passen-
/ gers from suspected plague territory
10 display their axillary and inguina
\ regions TO the view OF the inspectine
officer.
In the spread of the disease from
one area 10 another Of the same terri.
tory there IS ar present no doubt thai
the ordinary domestic rat plays tht
most important role. The researches
Of Yersin proved that flies eould carr.
( living plague organisms in their IN,
testinal canals and that they deposit
! ed them still living in their dejeeta
This is a possibly large source OF dis
/ semination OF the disease but is in
/ significant as compared with the rolf
/. played by the rat. In q dissertation
on the subject by a committee Of n,
French Academic de Medicine il
1897 occurs the following statemen
(translated):
The plague which is at first a dis
ease OF rats, becomes soon a disease o
man. It. is not unreasonable TO thinl
that good prophylactic measure
against plague would be the desJTuc
ton of rats"
From numerous instances given b,
SimOnd in his article on The Propa
CATION Of hte Pest" (Annalss de I'Insti
tut Pasteur, October, 1881 the fol
lowing instance Is selected as typical
and showing the role played by tn
animal in disseminating infection:
In Bombay, on the 18th Of Janu
airy. 1898, a coachnan entering nj
stable in the morning found the bod
OF rat, dead. He picked il I'D. car
! Tied it beyond the inclosure, and thre7
it away. On the 18th ne was stricke
with the pest and died. A crusade wa
Instituted against other rats in tn
buildings, and the premises were dis
infected, with the result that no othe
cases occurred in the household"
BI- the question arises. How i n
infection conveyed from rat to rat
II there is little controversy al thi
d=.e that this very common domesti
pest Is largely responsible for III
spread of perhaps The most 4erribi
fata. disease with which We are a,
, quain-ed. Perhaps the rats. eating tn
dead bodies OF their kind, as we kno
they do. become infected. It is DO.
sIble. bur numerous experiments b
Rouz, BaJzaroff, Simond, and other
/ all go TO show that while infectio
= may possibly be conveyed in this maj
ner, il is at least d very uncertain ia,
tor. II Is very possible that the flea
which infesJ rats, and which motor
OtrAs "a - tAC4- DOu4CS IS SOOA d Il
cadavers become cold after death. ma
r by their biIe> infect other rats, thong
the experiments Of Nuttall would see
: to show that the bites Of insects pla
: a very small role in the transmissiO
Of plague, except as furnishing a DO
] sible avenue of entrance for the baci
: lus. X is much more probable TIL
2 the feas or other insects having the
habitat on animals deposit their q
jecta. and in this way infect the
bites. II is TO be remembered, to
Z that 2 very small abrasion may III
: n.sh a point Of entrance for the v.ru
and this, too, may be made by Il
scratching consequent upon the irriti
ton caused by the insect bites.
= The following note by Roux, hoy
( ever, opens up a wide field for eOnjee
. ure, and furnishes q most plausible q
= PLANTATION OF the method OF conyeyant
D Of infection from one animal TO Al
? other. He says:
Experiments On rats, guinea pis
g and rabbits, made II conjunction wit
, Dr.. BatZaroff, have shown that Il
easy 10 communicate fatal plague
. these animals by depOsiting on the
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