Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1882-10-27
The A,.,ancp ci Miiaria.

In recent years there ha> h""n great
increase in the consumption Of qnnlne.
The demaud seems Ia have grown
greater season after season. until it is
now regarded rs one of the greatest
staples IF the dra- trade. In explana-
ton of this, we find medical authorities
cite the remarkable growth in the path
ogcnc,ic influence of malaria, and the
extension If the formative area. In the
North we have been inclined 10 make
sport Of the shakes that stir the flesh of
the Southern lvellrrs amid >Wsmp> and
bayouS, and when the "ayur' has mani
tested itself in more nurthcrly latitudrS
II has been quite the proper thing To adj
minister jpcular consolation of Il com
parative description. Bat the miaSm
known rs malaria seems To be an OK.
ploring and progressive poison, the Of
spring of varied conditions, and by no
means confines its influence TO the chat
teriny negro in an alligator swamp, nor
tO the lank and cadaveroui IiooSier who
shakes for pastimc. 1t is becoming I'M
pleasantly difuSive, and is following
strange wake, the construction of rail-
roads, canals, and cities. Observation
has been that when a new country j.
settled, fever and ague disappear
through the draining and cultivation of
soil.
In the original submission OF nature to
man there seems to be q wholesome and
wholesale eradication of evils. But the
immunity thus secured seems to continue
only while population is sparse and con-
fined to agricultural pursuits; the build
ing of towns and cities, etc., necessi-
tating the obstruction or shutting off of
natural water-courses, produces condi-
tons which invite the return of the OBJ
noxious disease. lntramural ponds,
street excavations, and numerous other
accessories to the onward progress of
civilization and the growth of popula-
ton, give prevalence to malarial troubles
when they do not actually breed them.
Besides the miasm arising from stagnant
ponds, there are Others not less danger
Gus which are bred by decaying garbage,
sewer gas, etc, which particular scicnt-
iSl term civic malaria. These especially
aft ct city life, and from them arise GER
Ia. periodical diseases rs marked in
characteristics rs the plain shake of the
oil fashioned fever and ague.
Medical science observes that there
ha; been steady and well-proportioned
increase In the United States of malari-
on diseases, in the recurrence of cpl
dc mics, from the first well-defined
truible between 1893 and 1899 to the
lat and most extensive prevalence of
such troubles between the years 1870
AMI 1881. 1t was well defined
through the Middle and Western
States, as we'll as in portions Of
the South, while in New England
there has been prodigality of maarial
fcvers. Indeed, no portion of the coun-
try claims exemption, for the troubles
are apparent wherever there is a rise of
the mean annual temperature and =
diminutiOn OF the annual rain fall. A
continuous high temperature of several
months, acting on refuse matter of any
sort, seems to have defect not dissim-
liar to that where the recession of wa
ter leaves vegetable deposits exposed to
rot beneath the blazing sun.
In very dry and hot seasons any 10.
cality ns.y become malarious, and it is
very certain that the malaria zone is be-
ing extended nOrthward. A very hot
summer, following our peculiar winter,
would demonstrate the fact that Chica-
20 Is by no means beyond the radius of
the influence. The evil is growing to
gigantic proportions. Medical aid there
is none. The development of the poison
seems to be coincident with commercial
progress, and it can be combatted only
by a more thorough sanitation than is,
unfortunately, in operation in most Of
our cities and towns. This Is obvious
to medical men, and though it is re.
peatedly urged, the means of its en-.
forcement are seldom adequate, or are
carelessly neglected. There are special
forms of malaria that are endemic with
in small divisions of q city to which
prompt attention is given, and the evil
speedily remedied; but the more vital
and broader considerations of malarial
epidemic are not so we'll regarded be-
cause of the public nature of the re-
spOnsibility, and futile efforts of cure
are the foolish substitutes for practical
BILE means of prevention. The argument
is equally applicable to all cities or parts
of the country, rs the remedy is, pri-
marily, drainage. We everywhere need
more and better drainage, sewers in the
city and cuts in the country. When that
is done, quinine may become less ne
cessity.-ChicaQO Inter- Ocean.