BUBONIC PLAGUE 145 



7.7 per cent of the uninoculated contracted the dis- 

 ease; while the deaths among the inoculated were 23.9 

 per cent, and among the uninoculated 60.1 per cent. 



The Yersin anti-plague serum is used for curative 

 purposes with fairly good results. 



Prophylaxis. Besides the use of Haffkine's prophy- 

 lactic serum against plague infection, the exclusion 

 of rats, mice, and domestic pets which may harbor 

 rat fleas, and the practice of scrupulous cleanliness 

 both inside and outside the house, are the best 

 preventive measures to be employed for the protec- 

 tion of a household. The fumigation with sulphur 

 or formaldehyde of the cellar and basement, followed 

 by a liberal application of whitewash to the ceilings, 

 walls, and floors, is recommended for driving away 

 rats and killing fleas. 



It was formerly thought that the poorer classes in 

 China and India usually contracted plague through 

 abrasions on the feet, as they never wear shoes, but 

 in the light of the knowledge of fleas as carriers of 

 the plague bacillus, it is likely that the bare feet are 

 more often bitten by fleas in the soil, in which they 

 are found in large numbers. That the soil becomes 

 infected in all epidemics of plague there is no doubt, 

 and attempts are made to disinfect the soil by cover- 

 ing it in the immediate vicinity of dwellings with 



