Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1901-08-15
THE BUBONIC PLAGUE.
TUT PLAGUE is INDIGENOUS
TO RATS.
,ro5 Not Contagious, Germs AL
.r.ys Being Conveyed by Fleas,
Flies or Rodents.

u,,sbineton letter: The Association
",n'arjcsn Physicians is still busily
ong9ged in making exhaustive inquiries
no the question OF how puooh'c plague
:. communicated. The last report TO
,oe before that body Is from New
Santh Wales and is made by the rresl-
~, NJ the board of health in regard
,bo outbreak which occurred at sgd
ney. soa,,o.;or, ~ bo
ID from this report are that "a the
i.1Isss was not directly communica-
~, rom the sick TO the well. In other
IDS was not catching. CD The cpl
5a,pir was caused by communication or
tbe infection from rats to man, shown
Nv the Fact that an epizootic disease
g,,ng rats preceded the first case
which occurred in man. so That this
,ros p1ague and as soon as the epizoot1c
5isd ont the epidemic ceased. t4) That
IN one case at least the infection was
carried by feeding off diseased rat
II would therefore. seem that the
area of possible contagion has been en-
Iarged and that we have not alone to
yrard against plague infection from ro
anon these contaminated animals. The
observation of Dr. Thompson led him
further to decide that bubonic plague
is primarily a rat disease and that it is
communicated from rats to man or 9TH
er animals.
This. of course, is in direct contraven-
lion of the theory just advanced by DIR.
Alexander Ellington of Cape Town.
who after making extensive observa
lions as TO the causes of the outbreak of
plague there declares that rat plague is
distinctly different disease from hui
man plague and is caused by different
microbe DR., Ellington proceeds to IL
ustrate this hypothesis by showing
thai a baboon inoculated with ten drops
OF a culture of the rat plague bacillus
showed absolutely no effects from the
incubation. From this DR.. Ellington
assumes that the rat bacillus is not
pathOgenic to man and from this de-
Cides there is no ground for the theory
that rats are one of the agents by which
the bubOnic plague is disseminated.
This view, however. is contrary to
the most advanced opinions gathered on
the subject
Ut. !, l.. VI. sNlllOUu ulStlOSpS 10 us
the manner in which he believes inocu-
aton can be brought about. He is
convinced that the plague is most often
communicated to man by feas, which,
after feeding upon rats affected by
plague are transferred to man, whom
they proceed to inoculate
BY the same means the disease is
conveyed from rat to rat and to other
susceptible animals, particularly rats.
The minute puncture made by the
teas usually leaves no mark, but in
few cases what is known as a phlycten-
ue or a bleb. Such LESSONS DR.. ST.
mond has observed in seven cases of
plague. Several fleas taken from in
iected rats were examined, and in one
bacillus pests was demonstrated. ii be-
ing Identified by the result of inocula-
ton into a guinea pig.
Nine distinct kinds of fleas taken
from rats have been classified by the
government entomologist, Walter w
Ir7ggalt. The first of these is the
PulrN Serraticeps, or common cat and
dog flea known as the common house
flea Of The United States. OF this flea
United States Entomologist L. o. How
ard says. What is supposed to be the
human flea in the United States is the
common cosmopolitan flea of the dog
and cat PuleX Serraticeps is said by
Newmann not to bite man, but this is
not in accord with experience in the
United States. There is no doubt that
his flea does bite man and it was found
On two of a small number of plague-in-
iea'ed rats examined at Sydney The
common rat flea is Pulex Fasciatus.
winch is supposed to bite once when it
gets onto the human body.
DR.. Simond further found that feas
hkan from rats and transferred to hui
man subjects suck the blood of their
victims. He also found bacillus pests