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" and in this way serve to transit them to other parts of the City.
" Dangerous mosquitoes of the same species as those breeding in such
" large numbers in the wells of the Fort can be found at Malabar
" Hill and in wells at Mazagon and Colaba, and exist in smaller numbers
" in many other parts of Bombay. It is certain that so long as such
" large numbers are permitted to breed unchecked within the wells of
" the Fort many of them will be carried thence to other localities and from
"time to time new centres ' of infection will thus be set up in places at
" present but little affected. It appears probable that such an extension of
" the distribution of dangerous Anopheles Mosquitoes has been going on for
" very many years within Bombay, and that this condition of things has
"been one of the primary causes at work in bringing about the increased
" prevalence of Malaria which culminated in the recent epidemic mani-
" festation of the disease. At the present time Malaria is rife within the
" Fort, especially the North Section which contains so many wells. A
" recent examination of 2,782 children resident in this locality revealed
" the fact that 40.9 per cent. were suffering from enlarged spleen. This
" compares very unfavourably with the result of an examination of
"2,761 children in Wards F. and G. among whom only 1.4 per cent.
" showed splenic enlargement, A more recent microscopical examination
" of the blood of 170 persons resident in Fort North showed no less than
" 77 to be infected with Malaria parasites. The people examined included
" 57 adults and 113 children. Of the adults 28 were infected and of
" the children 49. Among the children a considerable number had
" been undergoing quinine treatment or the proportion of infections would
" undoubtedly have been much higher. It may be mentioned that for the
" purposes of this examination no selection of cases was made, blood films
" being taken from any persons who were willing. These observations
" show that the present sanitary condition of North Fort, especially as
" regards the existence of such an extraordinary number of unguarded
" wells, is a menace to the health of the whole City. For the danger
" resulting from the continuous breeding of such large number of
" mosquitoes is not confined to residents in that locality only. There are
" many wells in other parts of the City at present free from mosquitoes, but
"sooner or later they will become infected if dangerous centres such as
" those in the North Fort are permitted to remain unchecked, and so
" long as this is case the the whole City must necessarily be exposed to
" the danger of recrudescences of epidemic Malaria. In my opinion there
" should be no delay in taking adequate steps to control this danger.
" All unused wells should be filled in as soon as possible. Those that
" are required for use should be provided with permanent covers suitably
" designed and arrangements made for raising the water by means of a
" hand pump. The depth of no well that I have seen would preclude the
"use of a simple suction pump. It is probable that the most suitable
" form of covering would be a permanent cover of re-inforced concrete.
" The cost of protecting these wells efficiently need not be great, while
" the benefit to the health of the residents in the locality will be enormous.
" Moreover a constant source of danger to the whole of the City will
" have been removed. It must be remarked that it will not be sufficient
" to protect the wells in which larvæ are at present breeding. There
" are probably millions of adult mosquitoes already existing in the Fort
" and as soon as their favourite breeding places are abolished, numbers of
"these will seek other suitable locations. This being the case it will
" certainly follow that any well in the neighbourhood to which they can
" obtain access, if not already infected, will speedily become so. In
" addition it is more than likely that a far larger proportion of wells
"actually harbour mosquito larvas than has been shown in the course
"of the present enquiry, for unless they are present in very large
" numbers it is exceedingly difficult to dip them out with either a bucket
" or a net, and in many cases the water can be reached in no other way.
" In my opinion a well which serves as a breeding place of mosquitoes
" should be declared a dangerous nuisance and a house which contains
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