The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1910-09-23

| - NsAzIIM " AANRAt AA' AAf+tf AN.F'
! 6CA Up Obliged 10 explain that the
animals are wanted not for
vivIsection, but for the
manufacture OF serums and antitoyins
They are dosed with small quantities
Of disease germs again and again until
having been "hyperimmunlzed" by
this means their blood contains an
antl-poison utillzable as a cure for the
malady. whatever It may be, In hu
man beings.
Mithridates OF Old the celebrate
king Of Pontus, was so afraid Of beil
poisoned, that he dosed himself con
stantly with small quantities of vari,
Gus kinds Of poisons in order that he
might become in a measure proof
against them. Practically the same
method Is adopted by the public
health service. which, In the manner
described, "hyperimmunizes" 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. II Is
by this means, for instance, that diph-
iberia antitoXin is obtained
BY the same means It is hoped to
secure a satisfactory serum for the
treatment or prevention Of the hubon-
ic plague. Already, in India, the
plague vaccine" has been obtained.
made by breeding the germs Of tho
| disease IN beef soup. and then killing
them by heat, the resulting fluid being
| administered by hypodermic injection
This is a matter of extreme impor-
tance. inasmuch as the malady in
question is at the present time threat
ening to ravage our own country.
Our government, during the last ns-
cal year, spent $65O0OO In fighting the
plague on the Pacific coast, and with
in the next twelve months It will ex-
pend about s1,OOO,0OO for the same
purpose. From this fact Il may be
judged that the situation in regard to
the bubonic disease-or black death
as II 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 It 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 rat disease prima-
rily. It is conveyed to human beings
(as 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 well happen, and the public /
health service (Which has its 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, or 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 on 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 It 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 ratproOfing Of sewers,
houses and particularly buildings used
for the storage Of food supplies. Ex-
Derience has shown that the only way
to get rid of such vermin is to de-
Drive them of food and hiding places.
.ribution among human beings on two
.ribution among human being on two
rat and the flea. 1t
serves very strikingly to illustrate
what might be called the modern 20
illogical aspect of diseases. The work
ng laboratory of the public health
service in Washington is today, in
Iced, a sort Of station for natural his
.ory research, and an official zoologist,
Dr. Charles w. Stiles, is in charge Of
me Of its most important departments.
Nowadays, when the study of a dis,
,ase is begun, suspicious are always
against one or more ami
nails, as possibly accountable for the {
rouble directly or indirectly-just as, !
or example, the African crocodile is
harged with maintaining In its blood '
he parasite of sleeping Sickness" |
which the dreaded tsetse fly (after g
,iting the saurian as is alleged con T
,eys to human beings, Similarly, in t
ur own country, the malignant ane- I
MIA, which afflicts hundreds of thou Y
ands of people in the south, has been a
bsolutely proved to be due to a mi {
ute "hookworm" that bores through I