2 34 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



dividuals, the amount being in one positive case 2 c. c, in one 1.5 c. c, 

 and in one 0.5 c. e. In the case attended with a negative result, a Span- 

 ish immigrant, a mosquito inoculation also proved to be without effect, 

 and Dr. Eeed supposes that this individual 'probably possesses a natural 

 immunity to yellow fever.' Dr. Eeed says with reference to these ex- 

 periments : 



It is important to note that in the three cases in which the injection of the 

 blood brought about an attack of yellow fever, careful culture from the same 

 blood, taken immediately after injection, failed to show the presence of 

 Sanarelli's bacillus. 



Having demonstrated the fact that 5'ellow fever is propagated by 

 mosquitoes Dr. Eeed and his associates have endeavored to ascertain 

 whether it may also be propagated, as has been commonly supposed, by 

 clothing, bedding and other articles which have been in use by those sick 

 with this disease. With reference to the experiments made for the solu- 

 tion of this question I cannot do better than to quote in extenso from 

 Dr. Eeed's paper read at the Pan-American Medical Congress in Ha- 

 vana. He says : 



We believe that the general consensus of opinion both of the medical pro- 

 fession and of the laity is strongly in favor of the conveyance of yellow fever by 

 fomites. The origin of epidemics, devastating in their course, has been fre- 

 quently attributed to the unpacking of trunks and boxes that contained sup- 

 posedly infected clothing; and hence the efforts of health authorities, both state 

 and national, are being constantly directed to the thorough disinfection of all 

 clothing and bedding shipped from ports where yellow fever prevails. To such 

 extremes have efforts at disinfection been carried, in order to prevent the im- 

 portation of this disease into the United States, that, during the epidemic 

 season, all articles of personal apparel and bedding have been subjected to 

 disinfection, sometimes both at the port of departure and at the port of arrival; 

 and this has been done whether the articles have previously been contaminated 

 by contact with yellow-fever patients or not. The mere fact that the individual 

 has resided, even for a day, in a city where yellow fever is present, has been 

 sufficient cause to subject his baggage to rigid disinfection by the sanitary au- 

 thorities. 



To determine, therefore, whether clothing and bedding which have been 

 contaminated by contact with yellow fever patients and their discharges can 

 convey this disease is a matter of the utmost importance. Although the litera- 

 ture contains many references to the failure of such contaminated articles to 

 cause the disease, we have considered it ad\'i sable to test, by actual experiment 

 on non-immune human beings, the theory of the conveyance of yellow fever by 

 fomites, since we know of no other way in which this question can ever be 

 finally determined. 



For this purpose there was erected at Camp Lazear a small frame house 

 consisting of one room 14x20 feet and known as 'Building No. 1,' or the 'In- 

 fected Clothing and Bedding Building.' The cubic capacity of this house was 

 2,800 feet. It was tightly ceiled within with 'tongue-and-grooved' boards, and 

 was well battened on the outside. It faced to the south and was provided with 

 two small windows, each 26 x 34 inches in size. These windows were both placed 

 on the south side of the building, the purpose being to prevent, as much as pos- 



