ARE WE IN DANGER FROM THE PLAGUE? 587 



The ship was then in the Arabian Sea. Two days later the sick 

 man, with two other members of the crew detailed to attend him, 

 was landed at Aden. Six days later a second member of the crew 

 was attacked with slight symptoms of the plague. This fact was 

 reported when the vessel passed Malta. The Carthage had in- 

 tended to stop at Marseilles, but, on account of the plague on board, 

 continued its course to England. Both of these patients were iso- 

 lated by being placed in a large boat hung at a height at the side 

 of the vessel so as to avoid communication with others on the ship. 

 When the vessel arrived at Plymouth the passengers were allowed 

 to depart to their respective homes. The only precaution that was 

 taken consisted in ascertaining the destination of each person, and 

 informing the health authorities of the places to which these people 

 were going. The Carthage had on board a steam disinfector, and 

 everything that had been exposed to the infection was thoroughly 

 disinfected. On arrival at the port of London the second patient 

 was isolated until he recovered. ~No cases developed in England. 



On December 7, 1897, the Caledonia arrived at Plymouth, Eng- 

 land, from Bombay, without touching at any Mediterranean port. 

 While in the Red Sea two lascars developed symptoms of the 

 plague. They were landed at Suez, and no further outbreak oc- 

 curred. When the ship reached Plymouth one hundred and sixty 

 passengers were landed, and their names and addresses forwarded 

 to the local authorities of their respective destinations. After 

 proper disinfection, the ship proceeded to London. 



In December, 1898, a case of plague developed on the Gol- 

 conda while at Marseilles, on her way from Bombay to London. 

 The ship proceeded immediately, the patient was landed at Plym- 

 outh, proper disinfection was carried out, and no other cases de- 

 veloped. This is a proof that the assumption that a vessel is safe 

 from infection after ten days have passed since leaving an infected 

 port is fallacious, as this time was exceeded between Bombay and 

 Marseilles. 



The report that the Nippu Maru recently arrived at San Fran- 

 cisco with the plague on board has proved to be erroneous. 



In September, 1896, a Portuguese-Indian steward died at the 

 Seamen's Hospital, at Greenwich, England, very suddenly. This 

 man was in the hospital for only forty-eight hours, and no one sus- 

 pected the plague at that time. On the last day of October of the 

 same year another patient in the same hospital was taken ill and 

 died with symptoms of the plague. Bacteriological examinations 

 of the glands of the body of the second man were made, and a 

 bacillus which presented the well-known characters of the plague 

 bacillus was found. The vessel on which the Portuguese steward 



