'Russia and India in 1903' [‎31v] (64/68)

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RUSSIA AND INDIA IN 1903.
time of its leaving the Laboratory and the use by the
operator. At any rate, it will be seen that it would be
difficult to take more precautions than are taken by
Professor Haffkine, Major Bannerman, Dr. Gibson,
and their assistants to obtain as pure a fluid as is
possible.
Rat Fleas and Human Beings.
I said that much still remains a mystery as regards
the plague. As in the days of the Philistines, there is
no doubt that rats or mice carry the infection. But
how they communicate it to the human being is still in
the realms of conjecture. The latest theory is that
fleas pass from them on to the bare feet and legs of
the natives, and Mr. Charles Rothschild, a devoted
naturalist, is directing his researches to the discovery
of what truth there may be in this surmise, and what
kind of fleas partial to the rat have a liking also for
the human subject .—Sheffield Telegraph.
Note (see p. 23).
The Marquess of Lansdowne, K.G., Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs, made the subjoined important declaration in the
House of Lords on the 5th of May, 1903: “The noble lord
asked me for a statement of our policy with regard to the Persian
Gulf. I think I can give him one in a few simple words. It
seems to me that our policy should be directed in the first place
to protect and promote British trade in those waters. In the next
place I do not think that he suggests, or that we should suggest,
that those efforts should be directed towards the exclusion of the
legitimate trade of other Powers. In the third place—I say it
without hesitation—we should regard the establishment of a naval
base or of a fortified port in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. by any other Power
as a very grave menace to British interests, and we should certainly
resist it with all the means at our disposal.”
BRADBURY, AGNEW, & CO. L.D., PRINTERS, LONDON AND TONBRIDGE.