1^2 ^ urged Wherry instantly to make public his findings. He 

 demurred. He was in the army now and needed to report first 

 to his commanding chief in San Francisco. He had written, 

 too, to Ward. In a letter of a date that needs emphasis (August 

 25, 1908) Ward answered: "I hope you are planning to 

 publish promptly the results of your examination of the 

 ground squirrel. The world at large should know the fact. It 

 is of tremendous import ance." 



Flashed to San Francisco, Wherry's discovery brought 

 orders. Long's Oakland army would proceed to field and shoot 

 all possible ground squirrels. Beginning August 5, 1908, 423 

 of the animals were brought in. They were accompanied into 

 Wherry's laboratory by a varied assortment of rats, mice, jack 

 rabbits, chickens, gophers, ground owls and coyotes. With one 

 exception all had died in a state of high health, Wherry 

 reported. The exception concerned a squirrel which though 

 plague infected had still been able to walk. Besides it, three 

 more that had been picked up dead, were plague riddled. 



Wherry reported these findings, too, to the head office. First 

 public notice of them took strange form. On page 1 289 of the 

 Public Health Reports — the full title continuing — issued by 

 the Surgeon- general Public Health and Marine -Hospital Ser- 

 vice under the act of Congress granting additional quarantine 

 powers and imposing additional duties upon the Marine - 

 hospital service, approved February 15, 1S93 Vol XXIII — 

 Part II Nos 27 to 52 inclusive, appeared: 



PLAGUE IN GROUND SQUIRRELS 

 In a communication dated August 28 [!] 1908, 

 Passed Assistant Surgeon Blue, San Francisco, Cal, 

 transmits a full bacteriological report by Passed 

 Assistant Surgeon McCoy on the plague-infected 

 ground squirrel found on the Farias ranch in the 

 northern part of Contra Costa county, August 5, 

 1908. A case of human plague occurred on this 

 ranch July 11, 1908. (See Public Health Reports, 

 July 31, 1908, page 1096.) 



Doctor Blue observes that this is perhaps [ ! ] the 

 first demonstration of the occurrence in nature of 

 bubonic plague in the ground squirrel (Citellus 



