National Republican., 1881-11-23
MALARIA.
To lhc EaIlor Of rnr Rrrrr1lcAr


In order TO have q correct knowledge of
any Subject we must clearly understand its mean
ing, origin, nature, and history IfIaly is not the
home OF malaria the language Of that country has
the honor Of giving II its name. The term is de-
rived from two Italian words, ndid (bad) and aria
(Rir), meaning literally bad air Hence the Eng
lish word malaria" Is formed by the union OF
the two Italian words. mdid and aria. For thou.
sands Of years the Pontinc marshes OF Rome have
been the fruitful source of this bad air; and so
noxious is the atmosphere among those marshes
that neither man nor beast cnn live near them
during the summer season, ana both fee about the
beginning of the month OF June from their neigh
borhood, and do not return until the LIST of Octo-
ber During this period all signs OF human exist
ence disappear in and about those marshes, and
death almost always comes to the man who braves
and brcathes The malaria freghted air. From the
earliest ages mans money and skin have been
employed in vain to drain and air those marshes,
but TO this day they remain as pestiferous as they
were centuries ago.
rrs GENERATION
Malaria Is the result of chemical action between
heat, water. and dccaying or decayed vegetable
matter; and in orler to produce It most abun-
dainty the heat, water anu vegetable matter must
be in state of rest. The process by which 1t is
evolved is known by tho namc of fermentation.
Heat Is the active agent in the process Of fermens
tatlon, and without It's presence this process can.
not go on, and maarln cannot be evolved. The
temperature most favorable to this process is be-
tween go and I5o When the temperature reaches
800 or 900 1t Is too high, and the fermentation
changes Its character, and malaria Is fccbly
evolved, and when the temperature falls to COZ
malaria is very slightly generated. This fact is
very familiar to seamen and those living In yell
low fever countrlcs for when the temperature
falls TO 500 they look forward with confidence to q
speedy riddancc by the atmosphere of It's malaria.
When the temperature falls to d6o the production
of malaria is rendered impossible, for 1t Is at this
mark of the thermometer that the chemical ac-
tOn OF fermentation ceases. During the summer
when the weather has been very hot aud rain
causes the atmosphere TO fall TO point between OF
and 76o, then malaria Is most abundanty evolved
| and the inhabitants near swampy reRions suffer
most from chls aud fever and from bilious fever
The constituents or agents OF fermentation must
be at rest to favor its peculiar chemical action
and the absence OF rest explains why the ebbing
aud flowing Of the tide prevents fermentation and
the consequent evolution Of malaria. The flowing
tide washes with It's fresh water every part Of the
earth that 1t reaches, and, however much OF vegc-
table matter II may overflow, the water OF the tide
has not time to become either stagnant or putrd.
This explains why the atmosphere of the land
visited daily by tide is perfectly pure aud free
from malaria, and indicates tlfat the air of the
flats " In the Potomac River about Washington
| city is not only without malaria, but innoxious
and those fats are no more cause of disease than
tub of water would be II the water in the
| tub were renewed every day. Were this
not chemical fact, nothing that has animal life
could live from June until October without great
risk to existence within three miles OF the Poto-
mac, from the head of its tde-water TO its mouth.
| But 1t Is different with those marshy lands and
| regions not washed by the tide. There the heat.
the water, and the vegetable matter are at rest,
audi In ata
| fermentation and the elimination OF malaria.
That this is true is proved by the fact that malaria
in Its most vlrulent character can be artiicially
| produced at any time during summer by keeping
moist pile of decaying vegetable matter exposed
| to the heat of the SUM-
| IT'S NATURE.
Malaria Is no doubt carbonic acid gas given out
in such subtle manner that chemical reagents
cannot detect IL; and its presence cannot be re-
cognized in any other manner than by its poison
| GUS effects upon tho human system. 1t is found
| to be heavier than the atmosphere, and sinks
down toward the earth; and this Is proved by tho
| circumstance that the air of an attic room of a
| dwelling Is freer from 1t than the ground floor
| and that the higher wo ascend from the place OF
Its generation the more we escape its effects. II
is carried along the earth by currents of air. aud
lodges In valleys, ravincs, and on the sides Of
| the mountains, aud there remains until the sur
rounding atmosphere has time TO pnrify itself oi
| 1t. This explains why malarial fevers are some
| times known in malignant form in arid valleys
| and ravnes and on mountain sides far from the
| swamp that generated 1t. 1t cannot cross water
for, being heavier than the air, 1t sinks
into the water, and is neutralized. The
affinity which water has for malaria
is clearly demonstrated by tho knowledge thai
seamen ON clean ship never suffer from II. bu
are affected by II as soon they reach the land
| those harbors In which malaria abounds II 1,
more active at night than in the day, for the heat
of the day rariies 1t, causes its greater diffusion IN
the mir. thereby diminishing its power of concen-
tration. Drainage Of land prevents the stagnatioI
of water, but tho inhabitants of those places 10.
Gated near low lands and swampy regions o.
country must always expect 10 suffer TO greater
or less extent from malaria, and wherever swampJ
regions abound there chemistry will nssort itsel
aud malaria win be generated, for 1t Is beyond
question the result Of fermentation favored by
tain degrees of temperature.
ITs REJECTS.
1t is capable ofafIectng all animals with greater
or less power. The monkey, the dog, the horse
aud even birds have been known to suffer froI
maarial fever: but of all animals, man is mos
susceptible to its deleterious influence, Its eilec
are manifested in variety OF well-marked char
acters, and these characters are sufficiently dc
veloped to cause to bo given TO each dislinc
name Hence we have chills aud fcyers, biliou
fever, typhoid fever typhus fever, yellow fever
and avariety oftyphold fever known as relapsinI
fever. All these varieties of fevcrs arise undoubt
edly from malaria, and the two most common
forms are chils and fever and bilious fever; aud
these two varieties more frequently occur thai
either Of the other varieties, they designated Il
ordinary medical language as "malarial fevers.
Typhoid, typhus, yellow, and relapsing ievers ar
comparative uncommon, and are recognized an,
treated by their respective names.
]. b. JOHNSON, NJ. d.
. | HON lnIN n ENuIC