240 



extermination of rats on board vessels had been inaugurated, and in 

 1902 this practice was extended to include all vessels leaving the 

 port. The agent used in this process was the bm-ning of sulphur in 

 specially designed iron containers. In 1902, 2,054 rats were killed in 

 346 vessels. In 1903, 1,038 rats were killed in 68 vessels. In 1904, 

 17,074 were killed in 168 vessels. In 1905, 512 rats were killed in 

 166 vessels. 7n 1906, 553 rats were killed in 188 vessels. In 1907, 

 1,887 rats were killed in 135 vessels; and in 1908, 1,138 i'ats were 

 killed in 97 vessels. 



In St. Petersburg and vicinity no consistent effort, according to 

 the consul, had been made to exterminate rats, but at Cronstadt the 

 port authorities had experimented with ratin. 



DESTRUCTION OF RATS IN TRIESTE, AUSTRIA. 



All vessels arriving at Trieste from plague-infected countries on 

 board of which rats appeared in abnormal numbers were disinfected 

 with sulphur in accordance with rules of the Paris convention of 1903. 

 Consul G. M. Hotschick stated that it was a rule, whether rats were 

 niunerous or not, to disinfect every vessel every six months so as to 

 exterminate rats on board. An exception was made in the case of the 

 Austrian Lloyd steamships plying between Trieste and the Far East, 

 these vessels being disinfected by the Clayton apparatus. All 

 attempts to destroy rats along the port shore had proven fruitless, 

 according to the consul, but in custom warehouses cats were kept, 

 thus limiting the ntunber of rats. 



The rules applying to Trieste extended to all the ports of Austria. 



DESTRUCTION OF RATS IN GENOA, ITALY. 



The methods employed at Genoa for the extermination of rats 

 found on ships were those prescribed by the ministry of the interior at 

 Rome in accordance with the Sanitary Convention of Paris. 



As stated by Consul-General J. A. Smith, the regulations place all 

 ships arriving from plague-infected ports into three categories, as fol- 

 lows : Infected, suspected, and noninfected. On ships coming under 

 the first two headings all rats must be destroyed previous to the ship 

 being allowed to pass quarantine. Noninfected ships were subject to 

 the same regulations only in case of an unusual mortality among rats 

 aboard, or in case of an excessive number of them being found on board 

 on arrival, which, ui the opinion of the port medical officer, required 

 their destruction. Sulphur was used as the agent of destruction, the 

 gas being generated in a special apparatus. This apparatus had 

 been installed in the ports of Naples, Genoa, Messina, Brindisi, 

 Venice, and Asinara. 



Further regulations of the ministry provided for the means to be 

 employed in preventing rats from reaching shore. 



