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A compendium of animal parasites reported for rats and mice is 

 presented in a chapter by Ch. Wardell Stiles and Albert Hassall. 

 While, as the authors state, no list of this kind can ever lay claim to 

 being complete, it represents the present knowledge of the subject. 



In a discussion of the flea and its relation to plague, Passed Assistant 

 Surgeon Fox summarizes the theories as to the transmission of this 

 disease. He also mentions the insects that have been suspected of 

 transmitting plague and presents accumulated evidence that fleas 

 actually convey the infection. He then gives the anatomy of the 

 mouth parts of the Ceratophyllus Fasciatus, the common rat flea of 

 North America. He also enumerates the fleas that have been found 

 on rats, and gives the results of identifications of 19,768 fleas in San 

 Francisco and Oakland, Cal. The plates accompanying this article, 

 and their description should be of great value to those engaged in 

 antiplague measures. 



Surgeon Blue briefly discusses the subject of rodents in relation 

 to the transmission of bubonic plague. He discusses the theories 

 as to the cause of seasonal prevalence of this disease and pre- 

 sents a table showing the number of rats examined during the dif- 

 ferent months of the year, the number found infected, the average 

 temperature and rainfall for those months and the character of 

 the days, as to the number clear, partly cloudy, or cloudy. He refers 

 to plague infection in ground squirrels in California and warns against 

 . the possibility that this animal may become responsible for the estab- 

 lishment of a permanent focus of plague on the Pacific coast of the 

 United States, as the marmots are so concerned with regard to India. 



The all- import ant subject of rodent extermination is considered 

 in detail, various phases of the subject being dealt with by different 

 authors. 



Passed Assistant Surgeon Rucker discusses the destruction of these 

 animals by trapping, poisoning, cutting off of food supply, and de- 

 stroying of existing nests and at the same time preventing the mak- 

 ing of new ones. He describes the methods of use of the various 

 mineral poisons, but finally states that rodents must be builded out 

 of existence; in other words, habitations must be rendered rat proof. 



Mr. Lantz, in discussing the natural enemies of the rat, mentions 

 the animals that destroy these pests. He concludes that on account 

 of this function bounties for the destruction of small animals 

 that prey on rodents can not be justified and that they should in the 

 future be protected in every way possible. 



Passed Assistant Surgeon Creel discusses rat proofing as an anti- 

 plague measure, and gives in detail the principles of construction nec- 

 essary. He concludes that rat proofing is the most valuable anti- 

 plague measure, and that it should precede auxiliary measures such 

 as trapping and placing of poisons. 



