The Tupelo journal., 1910-09-16

manufacture of serums and a~ntitoxins,
They are dosed with small quantities
of disease germs again and again until
having been "hyperimmunized" by
this means, their blood contains ar
anti-poison utilizable as a cure for the
malady. whatever 1t may be, In hu
man beings.
Mithridates OF old, the celebrated
king Of Pontus. was so afraid Of being
poisoned. that he dosed himself con
stantly with small quantities Of vari.
ous kinds of poisons in order that he
might become in a measur proof
against them. Practically the same
method Is adopted by the public
health service, which. In the manner
described. OPPORTUNITIES" such
animals as sheep, horses, cows and
rabbits, with a view to the subsequent
employment of their blood for the
cure or prevention OF disease. 1t is
by this means, for instance. that diph.
liberia ~antitoxin is obtained.
BY the same means it is hoped to
secure a satisfactory serum for the
treatment or prevention of the bubon-
ic plague. Already, in India, the
plague vaccine" has been obtained
made by breeding the germs of the
disease in beef soup. and then killing
them by heat, the resulting fluid being
administered by hypodermic injection.
This is q. matter of extreme impor-
lance, inasmuch as the malady in
question is at the present time threat
ening to ravage our W. country.
Our government. during the last ifs
cal year. spent $650.000 in fighting the
plague on the Pacific coast, and with
in the next twelve months 1t will ex-
pend about 5 1.000,0 900 for the same
purpose. From this fact 1t may be
Judged that the situation in regard to
the bubonic disease-or black death,
rs 1t used to be called-in the United
States just now is far from cheerful,
Notwithstanding the efforts of the
health authorities to minimize alarm
on the subject.
The truth is that this most dreaded
and destructive of all human maladies
seems to have obtained a secure foot
hold on the Pacific coast, where small
epidemics of 1t have broken out In sew
eral of the larger cities within the last
three years. But the most serious fea-
ture of the situation lies In the CIR
cumstance that the bubonic infection
has already become widely spread
among the rats of the towns and the
ground squirrels of the rural districts
in that region.
The plague is a rat disease prima-
rily. 1t is conveyed to human beings
Gas well as to ground squirrels) by
the flea. A flea bites a plague-sick rat
and, later on, 1t bites a man. thus in
oculating the latter with the deadly
infection.
1t is only through quite remarkable
good luck that the malady has not
already made its appearance at our
principal Atlantic seaports. This
may we'll happen. and the public
health service (Which has it's head
quarters at Washington has had for
some time past a complete plan Of
campaign mapped out to meet such
an emergency.
Immense quantities of grain and
other merchandise are constantly be-
ing shipped from San Francisco and
other Pacific coast ports to the East.
Rats are often transported with such
merchandise, as involuntary passen-
gers, hidden in grain sacks, OF other
wise. Let one or two plague-stricken
specimens be delivered in New York
and the metropolis would be likely
soon to have an epidemic IN its
hands-the first warning of the out
break being afforded by the finding of
large numbers of dead and dying rats
about the wharves and in the streets.
To fight the mischief, If 1t once got
started in New York, the municipality
would be obliged to wage a war of
determination against rats. This would
involve an expenditure of many mil
lions of dollars-much money being
required not only for the wholesale
trapping and poisoning Of the animals,
but also for the ratproo1ng of sewers,
houses and particularly buildings used
for the storage of food supplies. Ex-
perience has shown that the only way
to get rid of such vermin is to de-
prive them of food and hiding places.
tribution among human beings on two
tribution among human being on two
animals-the rat and the flea. 1t
serves very strikingly to illustrate
what might be called the modern 20
illogical aspect of diseases. The work
ing laboratory Of the public health
service in Washington is today, IN
deed, a sort of station for natural his
tory research, and an official z~oologist,
Dr. Charles w. Stiles, Is In charge Of
one of its most important departments.
Nowadays, when the study of a dis
ease is begun. suspicious are always
entertained against one Or more ami
mails, as possibly accountable for the
trouble directly or indirectly-just as,
for example, the African crocodile is
charged with maintaining In It's blood
the parasite of sleeping sickness"
which the dreaded tsetse fly (after
biting the saurian, al is alleged con-
veys to human beings. Similarly, In
our own country, the malignant ane-
mia, which af1icts hundreds Of thou
sands of people in the south, has been
absolutely proved to be due to a mi
mute "hookworm" that bores through