9
Breeding Places.—Under the advice of Colonel King, the late Sanitary Commissioner for
Madras, the Salt authorities have periodically oiled all the pools which come under their jurisdic-
tion and even a few that are outside this area. In Attiput Factory we examined 4 pools which
are so oiled and found no larvæ. The drinking water tank in their vicinity which is excepted
from oiling was examined with the result that many Anopheles larvæ were found. There were
also several paddy fields which were watered for cultivation at the time of examination and
which contained abundant larvæ. We examined a pool in the village proper and found larvæ
in it ; also one pool in the parachery with a similar result. Altogether 6 small pools were
examined in the casuarina plantations. Only one of them contained larvæ the remaining five
were situated in young plantations and were used constantly. The canal was also examined
with negative results.
ENNORE AND
KATHIVAKKANM.
These villages are situated on the canal and are separated from each other by Kathivak-
kam bar. The general condition of the soil and houses is similar to that of the other villages
mentioned above.
Spleen percentage
—
Ennore.
Number
examined.
Spleens
found.
Per -
centage.
Adults .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
65
34
52
C h i l d r e n . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
32
20
62
Total ..
97
54
55
Blood Examination —
Ten films of unselected children at Kathivakkam were examined.
Blood films.
Number of films
containing parasites.
Percentage.
Remarks.
10
3
30
1 film sametes and schizonts
in fair numbers.
2 films schizonts in fair num-
bers.
Breeding Places—
In Kathivakkam a leakage of the canal opposite the glass factory contained Anopheles
larvæ, this is the only instance in which we found larvæ in the Buckingham Canal or its
leakages.
SUMMARY.
From the above it will be seen that all the villages examined are highly feverish and that
the fever is of the malignant malarial type. The severity of the fever may be gauged from the
number of people who have enlarged spleens. The percentage in the least infected village
Attiput is 3 and in the worst infected. area Coromandel cent per cent. in children. Many of the
other villages have from 50 to 80 per cent.
In all these cases the spleens were found to be much enlarged and easily palpable and in
s e v e r a l c a s e s t h e y e x t e n d e d d o w n t o t h e p u b e s . I n a f e w c a s e s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e s p l e n i c
enlargement there was also dropsy and jaundice ; some cases are reported to have suffered
from dysentery. In some of the villages inspected we noticed that only the young and middle
aged people had spleens while the old people had none. This probably shows that the fever is
of recent origin. We also noticed several coolies and school children, while at their work were
shivering and had fever. On enquiry the fever was said to be of a continuous type lasting for
several days.
From the blood examinations it was clear that the commonest parasite if not the only
p a r a s i t e a t t h i s t i m e o f t h e y e a r w a s t h e m a l i g n a n t t e r t i a n t y p e a n d t h a t t h e e n d e m i c i n d e x
v a r i e s f r o m 8 t o 5 0 p e r c e n t .
Regarding the carriers of the parasite much could not be done for want of time and means.
In each village a search was made for Anopheles mosquitoes and their larvæ, in a few instances
the mosquitoes were examined and found to be A. rossi and one specimen was identified by us
as probably A. jeyponensis. In every village there were one or more pools which contained
Anopheles larvæ, chiefly A. rossi.
There is a popular belief that the casuarina plantations are the cause of the fever. As
t h e s e p l a n t a t i o n s h a v e m a n y p i t s c o n t a i n i n g s t a g n a n t w a t e r w h i c h w e h a v e s h o w n a r e e x c e l l e n t
breeding places for Anopheles mosquitoes, this belief is probably correct.
As to the Buckingham Canal which runs through all these villages there is a popular
notion that this also is the cause of the fever. We examined the canal and its leakages through-
out its length with great care and were not able to find mosquito larvæ anywhere except in a
3