5 88 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



came to England left Bombay about the end of August, 1896. 

 There was at that time no official knowledge of the existence of the 

 plague in Bombay, but it probably existed there. This is another 

 evidence of the fallacy of the belief in the ten days' period of 

 incubation. It seems quite evident to me that the English au- 

 thorities lay too much stress upon the period of incubation. A 

 man leaving Bombay or any other infected port may carry the 

 bacillus under his finger nails, elsewhere on his person, or in his 

 clothing, and may not become infected until many days after leav- 

 ing the infected place. Careful inspection and thorough disinfec- 

 tion of all vessels coming from infected ports should be insisted 

 upon. It has been abundantly demonstrated by the history of the 

 plague, as well as that of other infectious diseases, that the old plan 

 of detention in quarantine is a relic of bygone times. Detention 

 is cruel, dangerous, and inefficient; inspection and disinfection are 

 rational and efficacious. 



The modes of infection with the bacillus of the plague are as 

 follows: (1) By inoculation. The history of the present epidemic 

 in Asia recounts several instances of inoculation with the plague 

 bacillus. On June 22 or 23, 1896, while making a post-mortem 

 examination, Professor Ayoama, of Tokio, one of the Japanese 

 commissioners sent to Hong Kong to study the plague, scratched 

 the third finger on his left hand; on June 27th he again scratched 

 himself on the end of the right thumb; on the evening of June 28th 

 he felt ill, and had a temperature of 101.6 F.; he slept well during 

 that night, but during the afternoon of June 29th he had a tempera- 

 ture of 105 F. At that time a bubo was found in the left axilla, 

 and there was well-marked lymphangitis of the right arm. Pro- 

 fessor Ayoama has described his own case as follows : " On June 

 28th, after having finished a dissection, I took my meal about half 

 past two and did not enjoy it. After the meal I went upstairs, 

 when at certain movements of the arm I felt a slight pain in the 

 left armpit, and on feeling with my finger I found some slightly 

 enlarged glands present. In the evening I felt very ill, depressed, 

 and languid, burning hot along the whole of the back, while the 

 thermometer showed normal temperature. As Mr. Kitasato and 

 I had invited guests that evening, I was present at supper. I had 

 no appetite, and felt so languid that I often wished to withdraw. 

 At half past eleven I hurried to my room, when I found my tem- 

 perature was 39 C. I took one gramme of quinine, and slept well. 

 Next morning I awoke and noticed, on the under side of the left 

 ring finger, a small, whitish-yellow blister, and then, along the 

 back of the hand, a red line. From this time I remembered noth- 

 ing for more than two weeks." 



