infection
490
was practically always through the mucous membrane of the mouth.
In 1879, the German Plague Commission also brought forward evidence of the induction of plague through feeding, the experiments showing that in almost all cases the channel of entry of the B. pestis was via the mouth, nose, or throat, and not the gastro-intestinal tract.
In 1901 Kolle, after an extensive series of experiments, concluded that plague amongst rats was spread by their gnawing the infected corpses of other rats. By soaking bread with cultures and tissues, chock-full of B. pestis, he succeeded in showing in white rats, not only the presence of cervical buboes but also well-marked intestinal lesions due to the B. pestis and mesenteric bubonic formations. From these investigations it seemed highly probable that the intestine in man and in animals might play a role in the conveyance of plague infection. As my arrival