The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-11-12
u Stories of Those Who Work Nth Hand or Brain

~ ERTAIN insects, for some time
A suspected Of habitual offenses
~ against the common veal, have
recently been arraigned for and con-
victed Of high and notorious crimes.
Death-in other words, determination,
as far as may be practicable-is the
penalty adjudged against them, the evil
dence having shown conclusively that
nothing short Of the most drastic meas
ures can secure even q partial protec:-
tion for the human population of the
world against these dangerous and I'M
lenting foes.
The recent epidemic Of yellow fever
in New Orleans, for example, has been
wholly attributable to species Of
mosquito Without this insect, indeed,
there can be no yellow fever-a disease
which for centuries has been q scourge
of the tropics, destroying many thou
sands Of lives annually. In earlier days
1t sometimes attacked northern cities
with severity-the mosquitoes being
brought by ships from infected ports,
probably-and on one occasion about
100 years ago 1t wiped out large frac-
Only within the last half dozen years
have we come to know the cause Of the
mischief and to recognize tho deadly
enemy in the stegomyia fasciata, which
Is sole carrier Of the germs Of the
disease
UAfOrsunssery, the disease-carrying
Rnseets-at all events, the worst Of them
ARE the habltual companions Of man,
and have been such ever since pre-
historic times. The distribution of
mosquitoes over the world has been &C.
complished largely by ships, railroads
and other means Of transportation
which we have furnished. Flies IN
guestionabIy scatter the infection of
: typhoid fever, and, our unlimited but
ever-present house guest, the rat, har-
bozs certain kind of flea which Is more
than suspected Of being chiefly instru-
mental In the spread Of the bubonic
plague, otherwise known as the "black
DEATH
This particular flea was discovered
frst In Egypt, and on that account was
named pulex cheopis, after the builder
Of tho great pyramid; but it has since
been found to be plentifully distributed
among wharf and house rats all over the
tropics. Unlike the ordinary rat flea
It readily transfers It's attentions tt
human beings, and If infected, inocu
lates them with the disease by its bite
During epidemics Of the plague, rats
as we'll as people die Of 1t by thousand
"a fact which has naturally led tt
inquiry as to the part played by the
rodents In the spread Of the malady
The investigation is still in progress
but It has already been proved beyond
peradventure that the flea in question
taken from an infected rat, is able tt
- transmit tho malady.
In London there dwe1ls man Of higl
scientific attainments, Charles Roths
child, who has the greatest collectio,
Of heas In the MOUNTAINEERING, it l
said, no fewer than 10000 species.
have heard that on one occasion he pail
as much IS $4,000 for a single rar
- specimen, which a monkey had bee1
persuaded to relinquish. The othe
DAY, In private letter, he wrote'
Pulex cheopis has been virtual
proved to be capable Of transmittin
obtained from healthy rats by Or. Wi
liam 1t. L1SCOn, VINO 1nQuCeQ Cuem I
bite rats suffering from plague. tn
were then persuaded to bite other rat
which were free from plague. Where
upon these rats promptly contracted tn
dlsease-a result proved beyond poss
bility Of mistake by bacterial examins
zion.
just as there can be no yellow feve
without the stegomyia mosquito, SO
So may be that plague cannot becom
spidemio without the aid Of pule
cheopis in accomplishing its distrib1
tion. At all events, the facts alread
nscertalned are Of an interest and in
portanoe not to be overestimated,
view Of the enormous destructiveness {
the malady, which in the fourteent
century killed something like $4,000
49, 600 people In Europe and 36,O0O,O0O
Asia. In Naples, in 1856, it took SOC
900 lives in five months, and durir
the so-ealled Great Plague Of Londo
nine years later, it wiped out $4,000
the population. The bacillus that do
the mischief was discovered by D
Kitasato, Japanese, In 1894.
Now, there seems to be good reason f
believing that feas may also be respo
sible for the spread Of leprosy. At {
events, the assertion Is made with co
fdence by DR.. Albert S. Ashmead
New York, a leprosy expert, and '
have recent news that DR.. Juan O.
rasquilla of Bogota claims to have fou7
the bacillus of leprosy in the int
- tines Of the flea. It is the flea of t
dog, cat and hog that is specially &C
cerned, and suggestion is made tn
the rapid progress Of this dreadful d
ease after its introduction into some
our fea-infested southern cities m
be due to flea-bites. When the loo
feas generally have acquired the
lection, thru biting sufferers from t