The Washington herald., 1912-07-28

y
| the neighborhood of the part biot
This Is the so-called 'bubonic' form
/ the disease, which Kills IN about seve1
cases out of ten. Later on. IL Il contin
ues to spread. II may assume muci
more dreadful phases-the pneumonia
| and the 'septicemic' will tell you abou
them presently.
Suppose that you were to walk on
on the street some fine morning NJ
week and saw two or three dead
| lying about in the cutters. They WI
/ not excite your attention particula
But let us say that dozen more ca
under your eye within an hour or
| scattered here and there. II might
nothing at all Of Importance. Bt
might, on the other hand, signify a
deal. Certainly IL I saw anything of
kind / should want to examine some
those rats at the earliest possible n
ment. and find out II they had died
plague. For 1t is exactly in this way,
a wholesale mortality among rats. IN
the first warning of a plague epiden
among human beings is usually given
THE plague infection, however. q
actually exist among the rats Of q
for a long while before they bel
die in such numbers that the mo
excltes attention. Meanwhile IL Is
lily spreading among them. The rat
rats. eating their plague-sick fellows
quire the disease In this way. Prese
in some rat-infested shanty or tsnen
a hungry flea, fresh from the cold cd
of a rat that has died of the ma
bites a man. Four or five days later
man Is dead. the first victim OF
might prove to be frightful an
structive epidemic
Not Filth Disease.
"One thing to be clearly understo'
that plague is not filth disease.
well-to-do citizen is as liable as the
dweller to catch II. II rats harbor in
house or in other places he frequeI
Furthermore. il the malady once
sumes the pneumonia form. II bec(
in a manner directly infectious. the verj
coughing and splitting OF person afiicf-
ed with II scattering death on even
hand. Rats and rat fleas IN this staE(
of an epidemic are no longer required
Intermediates.
'You see. 1t happens this way. WI
more than a certain number Of ca
have developed the lungs OF some off
victims are liable to become infett
The germs, distributed from u
sputum, get into the air. Other peo
breathe them, and soon the very
then spreads like wildire and hun
beings die like flies Such Is the Pc
monic plague which recently has
stroyed whole populations in China, y
ing out entire towns within few wee
Plague in this form Is like an
tremely malignant type OF pnuemj
so far as its symptoms manifest
the individual are concerned. II
always distinguishable IN cts com
Inc nrIirary ,Orx
II kills with great certainty and
| remarkable quickness. The lungs
with water and the patient dies
| day or two.
There is. however, stin another
of plague. to which I have alread
! luded-the 'septiCernic'-in which
symptoms produced are those Of
frightfuI blood poisoning The gsrn
find their way directly into the blocdS
stream and the sufferer literally rois
to death in few days
Some New Findine>-
THE association Of rats with plague
is so obvious as TO have excited not'e)
even in very early times But ou7
knowledge OF the agency Of the rat fs
as a carrier of the disease from T
| to rat and from rat 20 man. has bee
ODtalneu only WITHIN IHt idSl NrEN
years We have proved the case aEarns
the insect in many ways. Of which
will suffice briefly to mention tv
Healthy rats do not take the disei
from plague-sick rats when confined
cages with them IL the latter are Il
entirely freed of feas by careful con
ing Again, Gagged rats in an me.
place do not contract plague +;
pended high enough to be beyond read
Of fea's jump.
Some rats. strange 10 say. SEEM 4
be immune to plague. 1t would be in
teresting to know why. On the othe,
hand. white rats are especially suscep
tible to the malady. and on this account
as we'll as because they are compare.
lively tame and easily handled, havt
been used TO a considerable extent fol
experimental purposes in the Philippines
being infected with plague by feeding
them with diseased material and by
hypodermic injections Of cultures O
bacillus pests.
In view Of what I have said, II 1,
obvious that the most important thinS
IS 10 take the proper measures Of pre-
caution in time. The health authorities
OF our cities should promptly organic,
systematic rat hunts, and find out by
meteorological examination whether o,
not IncEe Is any p!ikuc illlt'll'u m lht
rodent population.
Sewer ReconstrhctIon Necessary.
las for ratproofinS. to which We muN
come sooner or later in all our great 4
habited centers. il is accomplished chic
ly by the proper reconstruction OF se
e-s, the use of cement and concrete
the cellars and Easements OF dwelling
the building Of re-enforced concre
houses for food supplies, the erection
ratproof Enclosures on wharves for Il
reception OF mercha ndise in process
transportation. and the lining Of all Re
bins in stables with metal-these mes
ures to be supplemented by the regu
collection Of garbage from covered shes
iron cans. the doing away with accun
lations of refuse of any kind, and d
raising OF shanties and small outbui
ings some feet above the ground, so tn
cats and dogs, the natural enemies
rats may range beneath them.
IF ever you should see rats stagrs
ing about the streets, as II unable
control their movements. you may 3,
pect them TO be plague-sick. 1t is
old. and a true. saying that drum
rats foretell the coming Of the plague
RENE BACH
Sinful Waste.
From the New York Journal.