plague and lavender oil effects

[Janyoung1]

I wonder if anyone on this newsgroup can point my aromatherapy person to the
answer to or the way to answer his question.  He wrote recently  and I
answered:
 
 Subj:	Aromatherapy and Bubonic Plague
 Date:	11/21/98 12:12:25 PM Pacific Standard Time< 
 From:	kercher at euronet.nl 
 To:	aromatherapy at idma.com 
 
 From a very cold Saturday morning in Holland!
 
 Researchers in Marseille of the Université de la Mediterrané are conducting
 research under the supervision of Biochemist Michel Drankcourt on the Plague
Bacillus which claimed tenths of thousands victims in the late
 Middle Ages in Southern France.
 
 The studies are being conducted on skeletons found at ancient graveyards
 from that time. They thought that in the set of teeth of these skeletons
 traces of this Bacillus might still be present. Affirmative! Because the
 teeth did contain the DNA of the Plague Bacillus Yersina, the same which
 still now infects thousands of people all over the world.
 
 Researchers hope that through this kind of research more will be known of
 what caused the epidemics in the past.
 
 A popular tale, I have as yet not found any authentication of the story, is
 that when the Plague claimed many deaths, it was in the group of leather
 glove makers that hardly any victims fell. This was due to the fact that in
 the Middle Ages the art of leathertanning was not up to later day
 standards. To hide the smell of the leather, glove makers use to soak their
 final product in pure lavender oil. Supposedly due to their daily contact
 with this natural antiseptic, they were saved.
 
 It would be nice if the scientist could try this out and so add proof (or
 not) to this story which you can find in many Aromatherapeutic publications!
 
 John
 
 --------------------------
 John Kercher
 P.O.Box 3371
 4800 DJ BREDA
 THE NETHERLANDS
 Fax: 00 31 162 471258
 Email: kercher at euronet.nl
 -- >>
fasinating!  I will send this around to some of my science freinds and see what
happens.  I don't know who has an in into this but you never know.  Jan  

I responded to Kerchner today:
Subj:	plague
Date:	11/22/98 10:06:36 AM Pacific Standard Time
From:	LavenderJY
To:	kercher at euronet.nl, list at idma.com

Dear John, 
I am intrigued with your question regarding the glove makers being immune to
bubonic plague.  It would seem a simple test to see if in fact the bacillus is
killed by lavender oil.  . .   There is one other possibility to immunity and
that is that fleas may not like to be on bodies with lavender oil on them and
therefore would not bite the glove makers.  
regards, Jan Young