he squirrels for some time,
possibly for years, and then breaking out again in some locality where
the rats or men may become infected. As long as there is a trace of the
disease among the squirrels there is always the chance of it spreading,
so that new areas may become infested. Those in charge of the
plague-suppressive measures are fully aware of these dangers and are
making a careful study of the situation and will doubtless be able to
cope with it successfully. It may be that the squirrels will have to be
exterminated in the infected regions. This would be a long and difficult
task, but the success attending the fight against the rats in a great
city shows what can be done when the determination to do it is there.

REMEDIES FOR FLEAS

We have seen how a great city set to work to rid itself of the
plague-sick rats. As a matter of fact it was not the rats that they
were after primarily. If the rats had not harbored fleas the city would
have been glad to let the disease take its course and destroy as many
rats as possible. But it was found that the only way to get rid of the
fleas that might possibly be infected with the plague was to kill their
rat hosts.

General cleaning-up measures will of course very materially lessen the
number of fleas about the private dwellings, but there often remains a
number of fleas in the house that are a source of great annoyance even
if the danger is eliminated.

Particularly is this apt to be so in places where cats or dogs are
members of the household. These animals almost always harbor at least a
few fleas, and where there are a few there is always a possibility, even
a great probability, that there will be many more unless an effort is
made to get rid of them.

In some sections of the country it is the cat and dog flea that is the
most troublesome to man. The minute white eggs of the fleas are usually
laid about the sleeping-places of these animals and the slender active
larvae that hatch from them feed upon any kind of organic matter that
they can find in the dust or in the cracks and crevices. About eight or
ten days after hatching the larvae spin delicate brownish cocoons in
which they pass the pupal stage, issuing a few days later as the adult
fleas.

It will at once appear, then, that it is important to provide the cats
and dogs with sleeping-places that can be kept clean. If they have a mat
or blanket to sleep on this can be taken up and shaken frequently and
the du