"كتيّب الجزيرة العربية. مجلد II. ١٩١٧" [‎٣‎٧‎٢] (٥٤٢/٣٧٦)

fever,
eially i
372 HYGIENE AND DISEASE
himself in Mesopotamia, has proved that the germs cannot find
their way through unbitten or unbroken skin. The sore is trouble
some and unsightly rather than painful or dangerous. Protection
is afforded by care of the skin, attention to abrasions, avoidance of
direct contagion, and avoidance of vermin.
Plague hardly needs to be considered here ; for there has been no
epidemic in Arabia for many years, and certainly there is none now.
The cause of plague, the Bacillus pestis, was discovered by Kitasato
and Yersin, in 1894, during the epidemic in Hong Kong. The
disease is common to rats and man, and is conveyed, by rat-fleas,
from the rat to the man. The possibility of other ways of trans
mission cannot be absolutely excluded ; and the ' pneumonic ' type
of plague is highly infectious, direct from man to man. It should
be watched for at the various ports, and the passage of rats from
ships to shore should be prevented.
In time of plague in a district, the use of Haffkine's protective
vaccine is of very great value : but, of course, the first line of
defence consists in the utmost strictness of sanitation, quarantine,
isolation, care of food-stuffs, destruction of rats, &c.
Prickly Heat {Lichen tropicus). A fine, close-set, extensive,
papular and vesicular rash, causing intense itching. It is generally
thought to be a direct result of heat and sweating. Scratching may
further infect the skin and cause boils. In some cases the eruption
may last for many weeks, now better, now worse. Anything causing
perspiration may make it worse. With cooler weather, it disappears
of itself. Preparations such as lanolin, glycerine of borax,' glycola,'
and dusting-powder, give relief. The use of strong soaps should be
avoided. Scrubb's Ammonia in the bath gives relief.
Relapsing Fever (louse fever, African tick fever, famine fever,
Spirillosis). A widely distributed fever, occurring among crowded
communities especially when ill-fed, due to germs which from their
spiral outline are called spirilla or spirochaetes. It is distinguished
by rapid onset, rapid subsidence after a few days, and recurrence
a few days later. It may recur many times. The germs are trans
mitted by body vermin. Relapsing fever is a very old disease: it
is clearly described by Hippocrates (fifth century a.d .). The germs
were discovered by Obermeier in 1873. The transmission by ticks
was discovered, about 1904, by Philip Ross and Milne in Uganda,
and Dutton and Todd on the Congo. The transmission by lice was
discovered by Mackie, Nicolle, and others, about 1907. In Egypt,
Algiers, Europe, and India, either lice or bugs are the offenders. defines it i
Quinine has no appreciable influence on relapsing fever. From atmosphen
the likeness of the spirochaetes of relapsing fever to the spirochaetes fever, com
use