201
CV.
0
106
work &c. of the bunks and the forecastle in general was not disinfected in any way. If it is reasonable to suppose that the contagion of plague can be carried by soiled underclothing, it can surely be carried by clothing generally, which may soil bedding, bunks, and the forecastle.
If a seaman sleeps the night before the vessel sails in a house contaminated with plague, I presume he may carry the virus of the disease in his clothes. At all events, so little is known of the method of contagion or of infection and of the means of conveyance of the virus that it is illogical to select a few clothes for disinfection and leave the rest and the bedding, the wood-work, &c.
Last year we experienced such difficulty in clearing the "Mehalleh" of the germ of the disease that I have no confidence that the disinfection of a few bags of selected clothes would be of any practical utility if the germ of plague is on board any vessel.
If the disinfection practised in this perfunctory manner improved the status of the ship on arrival at any ...