BIRD ENEMIES INTRODUCED BY MAN 147 



it directly to human beings; in other cases they 

 simply carry on their fur the disease germs which 

 are taken from infected sources. The scavenging 

 habits of cats in filthy places are well known. While 

 seeking food in these places and while rolling in the 

 dirt, their fur takes up the bacteria-laden dirt, and 

 these bacteria may then be transferred to children 

 and others who fondle the cat. 



A few years ago Dr. Caroline A. Osborne made 

 a careful investigation of the evidence at hand re- 

 lating to the part that cats play in carrying diseases. 

 The results of her investigations were published 

 in the " Chicago Medical Record." In accordance 

 with the evidence there presented, it seems estab- 

 lished that cats are subject to the following dis- 

 eases which are also found in man: tuberculosis, 

 diphtheria, bubonic plague, whooping-cough, an- 

 thrax, ringworm, mange, tapeworm, trachina, gland- 

 ers, sleeping-sickness, pulmonary distomatosis, and 

 Asiatic liver fluke. Evidence is also presented which 

 indicates that the cat has been known to carry the 

 following diseases to human beings, either mechani- 

 cally on its fur or through having the disease itself : 

 diphtheria, bubonic plague, scarlet fever, smallpox, 

 ringworm, and mange. Rats are a source of dan- 

 ger as disease-carriers, and it is shown that cats 

 through contact with rats have been known to carry 

 bubonic plague and diphtheria to human beings. 



Mr. Forbush in his investigations in Massachu- 



