The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-11-23
$4,000 RATS
KILLED IN YEAR
CONTINUED from Page one.l

| IN Honolulu for over year at the
laboratory of the United States Marine
Hospital Service on Quarantine Island
under the direction of DIR. Donald H.
Currie, Passed Assistant Surgeon of the
Marine Hospital Service. Thousands of
rats are being killed monthly and all
brought TO DR.. Currie are subjected to
meteorological examination for traces
of plague, but since July !, 1907, not a
rat coming under his observation has
been found infected. In comprehen
sive report on the rat crusade, DR.. Cur
RE presented to the Medical Society on
Saturday some interesting phases of the
scientific war being waged against the
rodent as carrier of the disease. His
paper is as follows:
1.-The following is a brief report of
the work done in the plague labora-
tory of the I. s Public Health and
Marine Hospital Service during the
past year.
This laboratory was established to
investigate to ascertain whether plague
exists here either among human beings
or rodents.
In order to keep informed in this
matter we examine all human cases re-
ported to us as being suspicious of
plague and also examine all the rats
that we can procure.
1.-THE service bears all the expenses
incident to maintaining the laboratory;
the cost of procuring the rats is borne
by the merchants of this city. This
latter work was at first under the di-
rect charge of the Board of Health,
and we examined whatever number of
rats that they furnished US. Since last
April the work of procuring as well as
the work of the laboratory has been
under our direct charge.
+" In supervising the work of procur-
ing rats we divided this city into eight
districts and placed a trapper in each;
each of these trappers must procure
above given minimum number week |
ly in order to hold their positions, while |
promotion to higher pay comes only to |
those that exceed the minimum require |
ment. We also have another man that
travels over the whole city and shoots |
into rat nests found in the algaroba |
trees.
"We have in constant use over I400 /
traps and expend 1900 to 1900 rounds
of ammunition monthly.
All rats are brought to the labora
tory in closed buckets, where they are
dumped Immediately into an emulsion
of kerosene, soap aud water to destroy
the feas, lice and mites that infest
them.
"They are then washed in water con-
tanning a little phenol to remove the
emulsion. The autopsy boys then
stretch them on boards and remove the
spleen, and if the lymph nodes are en-
larged they, too, are excised. From
these organs smears are made, stained
with carbithionin, and examined under
the 1-12 oil immersion lens. If a slide
shows suspicious rod the number of
the slide is noted and from it the rat
it is ascertained; the tag on
this rat is examined to see from where
it was obtained and all its data noted
down. A guinea pig is then inoeulated
with portion of the organ of the rat,
the dermic method of incubation alone
being employed
1.-THE suspected rats body is then
burned. Should the animal die las it
viii do if the suspicious rod is Bacilli
pestis), pure culture is obtained from
its hearts blood and carried through
the usual cultural and biological tests.
SIN addition to the neeropsy and
examination of rats
brought to the laboratory each one is
also classified as to species, there being
four kinds found in Honolulu The rats
hat have been dead but a short while
are also washed separately and the
wash water is examined for feas; these
are sent to Washington for identified
ion. All found so far have been Of
me kind-viz., Pulex pallida, which is
he one that is supposed to be the usual
plague carrier.
While the following figures are for
he year ending October l, 1t must be
'orne in mind that previous to last
April we were furnished with very few
ats IN comparison to what we now re-
GIVE, less than an average of 40 week
Y, the number has progressively in
reased since that date until we now
.atch and shoot from 900 to 100 a
week. So that while the year record
nding October l shows something over
5000, we are now destroying rats at
he rate of about $4,000 a year. The /
figures are taken from the
eeords of the laboratory: Number of
ats destroyed during the year, 1929;
lumber of rats examined bacteriolog