The Washington herald., 1912-06-30

| NAAANs 1NOA
summer disease, in any other way than
by the bite OF a mosqUito?''
Not so far as we know. It has been
shown that when the yellow fever mo-
squitoes are destroyed the fever disap-
pears. Formerly 1t was believed that the
disease was in the air and that frost
killed It. Now We know that frost dead
ems the mosquitoes and prevents them
from biting human beings. 1 was in New
Orleans during the epidemic OF 1906. 1t
was the first time in this country that
an opportunity was given to test the
mosquito theory. The mosquitoes were
killed and yellow fever was completely
eradicated two months before the COM
ing Of frost that year.
One Man May Be Dangerous.
Nor has any agency been found 9TH
er than the mosquitoes for the spread Of
malaria We thought not long ago that
stagnant water and overturned earth re-
leased a miasma, or aerial poison. that
caused malarial maladies. Swamps are
not unheaIthful except that they give
mosquitoes places in which to thrive and
breed. Ten thousand sound men can
dig a canal or work in low. wet ground
without getting ague or malarial fever.
But II one man in the ten thousand has
the malaria parasite in the red corpus
cles Of his blood, mosquitoes, biting him.
will carry the germs to others. A good
many diseases are spread by insects.
The Rocky Mountain spotted fever. We
have discovered. is caused by a wood
tick In little valley Of the West, where
almost every person having spotted
fever dies, wild animals in the noun
tains are infected with the ticks Do
mestic animals going into the mountains
during summer TO Craze bring the ticks
back TO the valley and the ticks promptly
transmit the spotted fever germ to -hu-
man beings. The people Of the valley
killed 1900 wild animals last year. This
spring they began to dip their domestic
animals in an anti-tick solution. and we
believe they can thus end the disease in
their own locality.
Tt seemed to US that there was great
similarity between Rocky Mountain
spotted fever and typhus fever. which is
prevalent in the City of Mexico certain
seasons OF the year. Medical men were
sent into the South on a tour Of investi-
CATION They found. however, that the
fevers were not the same. Robert Koch
dealing with germ maladies- First, the
germ must be found; second, II must be
grown, or cultured as the process is
called, and third, II must be transferred
to a lower animal Our men in Mexico
City transferred the typus fever germ
to monkeys and finally learned that the
disease is communicated from one human
min Destroy the vermin and typhus
fever will disappear"
How He Fought the Plague.
You also learned a great deal about
insects while you were fighting bubonic
plague in San Francisco" I said.
Yes: that terrible disease, which at
tacks the glands Of the body, was brought
to the United States. we think, in 1895 or
1881 Rats came TO San Francisco from
the Orient in ships and heas were on the
rats. Bubonic plague is a rat disease.
Fleas transmit 1t from rats to human
beings. We poisoned rats, trapped them,
and built them out. which means that
we tolre up old wooden floors and sub
stitutsd cement That was in 1903, when
the plague was confined to the Chinese
quarter Of the city. In 1907 the disease
broke out among the whites, and I re-
turned to California There were $50
cases among Americans and seventy
seven deaths. Again we made war on
the rats and again We stopped the cpl
demic. There has not been a case of
bubonic plague on the Pacific Coast for
several years We have thirty national
rat catchers at work in San Francisco
all the time. One man takes care of 800
traps Ships arriving from the Orient
are fumigated and the rats killed before
they can reach the shore. Cement floors
have been put down in stables, butcher
shops, bakeries, and other places that Of
fer refuge for the rodents. They are a
migratory animal, while mice generally
stay in one place.
I'VE examined thousands OF mice, but
found none with fieas that were infected
by the plague. had rats marked and
turned loose with the object of learning
poisoned or trapped We didn't know
at the time that marked rats are always
killed by other rats, and so cur efforts
to trace their movements failed. Fleas
from rats also got on ground-squirreIs,
and the squirrels, in one instance that we
know Of, carried the plague into the
But the disease has been
stamped out. 1t caused a number Of
deaths, but we learned how It is trans
mitted from an animal to man, and the
principle was then established that a
local epidemic is a national problem-a
problem not only for State and city
health authorities, but for the govern
nent in Washington as we'll" !
rs a common cold germ disease?'
Yes. Unlike the generality Of dis !
Eases, however, It can be caused by sew
sral germs, perhaps as many as fivs or
six No single germicide,. therefore; will |
prevent a cold. The germs are breathed
INTO the respiratory organs and the best |
places in which TO take cold are crowded |
heaters and halls Persons having colds ]
throw on the germs and other persons |
breathe them in through their noses and |
mouths The familiar saying that a cold /
goes through whole family is truo."