Section 12 of the Quarantine Act, 1908, Shall—

(a) Produce to the quarantine officer a certificate showing that an efficient fumigation of such vessel while empty had been carried out prior to departure. Such certificate, in the case of an oversea vessel, must (if the port of departure be within the British dominions) be signed by the health officer of the port; or, when such port is a foreign port, by the British consul. In the case of an interstate vessel the certificate must be signed by a quarantine officer. In the absence of such certificate the quarantine officer may require the cargo to be discharged in the stream. Efficient fumigation in this regulation shall mean fumigation as specified in regulation 137 (2) b;

(b) Suspend or cause to be suspended over the side of the vessel against the wharf, or against any lighter alongside, electric or other effective lights, distributed so as to afford from sunset to sunrise thorough illumination fore and aft along the whole side of the vessel.

137. (1) The owner or master of any vessel shall—

(a) Keep all foodstuffs and food refuse in rat-proof and mouse-proof receptacles;

(b) Thoroughly flush out and afterwards empty the bilges before berthing at any port;

(c) Keep on board the vessel a dog or a cat—or both—efficient for rat and mouse killing, and give it or them constant access to those parts of the vessel where rats or mice may harbor;

(d) Set and keep set in sufficient numbers and in suitable places metal break-back traps or other effective traps for rats and mice; and

(2) When so ordered by a quarantine officer, shall—

(a) Lay on the vessel poison baits effective for rats and mice;

(b) Submit the holds and other such parts of the vessel as the quarantine officer directs to sulphur fumigation in accordance with this regulation, or to some other method of fumigation approved by the director of quarantine. Sulphur fumigation shall be effected by passing sulphur fumes into the vessel under pressure, and at the same time exhausting the air in the parts of the vessel under fumigation, and shall be continued until all parts of the vessel under fumigation are filled with a gaseous mixture of a strength of not less than 3 per cent of sulphur oxides, and are kept so filled for at least eight hours.

The fumigation shall, if the quarantine officer so orders, be carried out in the stream or away from a wharf.

(c) Clean, wash, or spray all portions of the vessel likely to harbor or afford shelter to vermin, with an approved insecticidal solution effective for the killing of fleas, lice, bugs, and other vermin; and

(d) Flush, cleanse, disinfect, or empty all lavatories, water tanks, or any closed-in space on board the vessel, and cause to be produced for disinfection any articles desired by the quarantine officer.

In Sydney, it was stated by the president of the department of public health that steady, systematic poisoning and trapping of rats were done all the year round, and that this had been the case for the past eight years. The experience there had been that mineral poisons were found to answer best, and that organic viruses had been found to be not practically successful.

In Melbourne, rat destruction was carried on by the board of public health of Victoria and by the local health authorities under the Victorian health act of 1890. As stated in the report of Consul J. M. Jewell, the board of public health restricts its operations to shipping wharves, to shores, and banks of the River Yarra upon which Melbourne is situated. Since 1900, the board had had a staff of men continually engaged in distributing poison baits. In order to prevent the passage of rats to and from vessels, certain specific berthing restrictions were in force. In addition, fumigation of vessels was practiced under the supervision of the board’s officers. The board had continually urged the various municipal authorities to maintain the crusade against rats and render dwellings rat proof.

The consul also stated that the local municipal councils paid a bonus for every rat, and that the fee was then 4 cents.

In Adelaide, it was stated there were no compulsory regulations for the destruction of rats, but shipping companies had cooperated with the local sanitary authorities to keep down these rodents on the wharves by means of poison and traps, the poison being supplied gratis by the board of health.

In Fremantle, and other seaports of Western Australia, according to the consul-general, men were engaged in baiting and trapping rats, these precautions being maintained throughout the year.

MEASURES AGAINST RATS IN SOUTH AMERICAN PORTS.

In Buenos Aires it was stated by the chief of the asistencia publica that a regular staff of 150 men was employed in the destruction of rats and fumigation of houses. A map of the city showing houses that had been found to contain rats was marked. In addition, a pesthouse was maintained in which live rats were watched, and developments of pest noted.

In Montevideo Consul F. W. Goding stated that there were no organized efforts for the destruction of rats, but that vessels were fumigated at stated intervals under the direction of the sanitary authorities. He also stated that the Government had required portions of the sea wall to be covered with cement in order to prevent rats obtaining a lodging there.

In Callao, Peru, provision was made for the fumigation of vessels from infected ports, and it is stated by Consul-General S. M. Taylor that the Government had required steamship companies to install fumigating apparatus on board their passenger vessels.

It is stated by the consul that there was a new municipal law in Callao calling for stone or brick 2 feet below and 2 feet above ground on all walls and foundations for new buildings, and concrete floors in all establishments where provisions are sold.

In Iquique, Chile, it was reported by the consul that the director of the municipal laboratory disinfected houses infected with plague, and sent a corps of men to poison and trap rats which might be therein.

MEASURES AGAINST RATS IN WEST INDIAN PORTS.

From Habana it was reported that no action had been taken by the sanitary authorities toward exterminating vermin, except the promulgation of a circular letter calling attention to the presence of the plague in neighboring countries, and requesting citizens to free their premises of rats. The same statement was also said to apply to other Cuban seaports.

In Kingston, Jamaica, on account of the appearance of the plague in Venezuela, the government took precautionary measures with the view of exterminating rats. These steps, as reported by Vice-Consul W. H. Orritt, were as follows:

A. Lectures were delivered in various centers of the island showing how rats are the distributers of plague and the necessity of destroying them.

B. Virus was imported, and live rats were inoculated and set free in every seaport in the island.

C. Bamboo pots with poison glued to their bottoms were distributed to householders and placed in the haunts of rodents.

In Santo Domingo bounties for rats were authorized May 19, 1908, by the city council. In addition, rat virus had been used in considerable quantity.

DESTRUCTION OF RATS IN PANAMA.

In Cristobal, Canal Zone, Colon, and Bocas del Toro, it was stated by Consul J. A. Kellogg that the sanitary department of the Isthmian Canal Commission had for some time been exterminating rats by traps and poisons.

In La Boca, Canal Zone, Consul-General Arnold Shanklin stated that the sanitary department of the Isthmian Canal Commission and the Public Health and Marine-Hospital Service had in charge and had most effectually carried on the extermination of rats, and that this crusade had also been extended to the old docks and wharves in the city of Panama.

MEASURES AGAINST RATS IN VANCOUVER.

It was stated by Consul-General George M. West, December 17, 1908, that the city of Vancouver was paying a bounty of 50 cents per hundred for all rats caught. The following regulations for the docking or mooring of vessels arriving from plague-infected ports became effective April 8, 1908:

1. All vessels arriving at British Columbian ports from ports infected or suspected of being infected with bubonic plague shall conform to the following regulations:

(a) Vessels shall be moored or docked at a distance not less than 6 feet from wharf or land.

(b) Ropes or chains connecting a vessel with wharf or land shall be protected by funnels of size and shape satisfactory to local and provincial boards of health.

(c) All gangways shall be lifted when not in use. Gangways when in use shall be guarded against the exit of rats by a person specially detailed for this purpose.

(d) All vessels changing route to solely British Columbian ports shall give satisfactory evidence of disinfection and extermination of vermin to provincial board of health.

2. Every owner, agent, or captain of any vessel, and every other person violating or instructing, authorizing, ordering, permitting, or otherwise suffering any person to violate any of the foregoing regulations, shall be liable, upon summary conviction before any two justices of the peace, for every such offense to a fine not exceeding $100, with or without costs, or to imprisonment, with or without hard labor, for a term not exceeding six months, or to both fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the convicting magistrates.

Dated at Victoria, 8th April, 1908.

In addition, the mayor and council of the city enacted a by law November 11, 1907, one provision of which made it unlawful for any boat entering the port of Vancouver to be connected with any wharf in the city by a gangway which was not guarded by some person there for the purpose of preventing rats from leaving such import by such gangway.

NECESSITY OF CONCERTED ACTION OF NATIONS.

It appears from the foregoing data that a more or less widespread crusade against rats is being carried on in the different ports of the world, and that the extent and persistence of these measures, with few exceptions, depend upon whether the particular port has been directly threatened with an invasion of plague. It is necessary to state here that the above data are not presented as a complete epitome of measures taken throughout the world, but refer to the ports from which consular reports were received.

The fact that within fifteen years plague has spread to no less than 52 countries indicates that the measures taken against rats have not been wholly efficient.

It is too much to expect that the rat population can ever be exterminated from any country, but by the adoption of systematic measures, such as are in force in Denmark, the rat population should be markedly reduced, and the occurrence of plague among rodents quickly detected. It is not too much to expect, however, that ocean carriers could be freed from rodents and kept so, and this action would confine plague within continental boundaries.

When the existing sanitary conventions were adopted several years since, the importance of the subject was just beginning to be recognized, but now that the rat has been proven beyond all doubt to be the greatest factor in the transmission of plague from one country to another it would appear that the conventions in question should be amended, and the Surgeon-General of the Public Health and Marine-Hospital Service, in a communication of February 26, 1909, addressed to the Secretary of State, suggested the advisability of submitting the question of the systematic destruction of rodents aboard ships to an international sanitary conference with the view to the adoption of an international sanitary regulation on the subject.

It must be apparent that such a regulation would lessen quarantine restrictions, prevent the destruction of cargo by rodents, and in large measure obviate the danger of the further spread of plague.

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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

Page Changed from Changed to

57 similar or identical to the similar or identical to the affection in man known as favus affliction in man known as favus

57 This specie of Mus is very This species of Mus is very susceptible to a large number of susceptible to a large number of bacterial bacterial

59 Rabinowitch, L., ’03. Ueber ein Rabinowitch, L., ’03. Ueber eine Hauterkrankung der Ratten. Cent. Hauterkrankung der Ratten. Cent. f. Bact., f. Bact.,

144 Universitat zu St. Petersburg. Universität zu St. Petersburg.

● Typos fixed; non-standard spelling and dialect retained. ● Used letters for footnotes and numbers for endnotes. Renumbered all to avoid duplicates. ● Enclosed italics font in underscores. ● Subscripts are shown using an underscore () with curly braces { }, as in H{2}O.