586
Such methods as indicated in Nos. 2 and 3 probably play a part in plague, that indicated in No. 3 cannot be overlooked and is probably one of the great means of the spread of plague.
The opportunities afforded to such infected food as rice, in order to spread the disease are greatly enhanced by the conditions under which the Chinese live and prepare their food for consumption.
It may be argued that supposing such foods are infected, there would be little chance of the conveyance of the infection to man owing to the limited length of life of the B. pestis outside the body. It is true that the plague bacillus does not thrive extra-corporeally, but nevertheless, the organism shows a considerable resistance to the action of other saprophytes which tend to overgrow it. Its resistance to the influences of putrefaction is known, and although restrained in its power of multiplication, it is able to exist in a living virulent condition for some time. The length of time is influenced greatly by the temperature. The higher the temperature, the shorter is the life of the plague bacillus.
WILLIAM HUNTER.