Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-08-07

Prevalence of it in Italy-Where it is
Usually Found.

Prevalence of it in ItaIy-Where it is
Usually Found.
London Times.
| a fayOrite seat of malaria is at the
| mouths of rivers. Salt water meeting fresh
/ is combination in which it revels. No
| where is it more terrible than at the out
let of the 1iber. When it cannot enjoy
the conjunction for which it has a predi-
! lection, 1t contents itself with the banks of
/ streams either naturally sluggish or
liable to be blocked by mud or
! vegetation. In the Pontine Marshes it
| IS fed by lettering rivulets, unprovided
| with SUFFICIENT fall, and encouraging
the growth of rank eXuberance ofwater
weeds. II there be no rivers, as in por-
tons OF the Campagna, the soil, compos-
| eu OF volcanic rock, secretes little be-
low the surface poisonous juices on which
malaria thrives. Light, sandy soil ena-
! bles 1t to emit its deadly exhalations east
ly. 1t can derive its aliment equally, in
union with other suitable atmOs-
pherlc circumstances, from the
fruitful pastures and corn fields of Lom-
hardy. Rocks and deserts and thickets,
sterile plains in Holland and lofty uplands
in Italy, all give it shelter on occasion.
ct, When the circumstances of its ap-
pearance are examined they always ex-
! hlblt certain resemblances. Invariably
there IS vegetable decomposition in con-
nectlon with latent moisture standing
over from a previous superabundance.
PutretactIOn does not necessarily engender
malaria. Excessive heat, though pro-
noting it, is not indispensable. What is
| obligatory is that at little distance be-
low the surface matter OF n kind to rot
with damp should exist, and that the sur
face itself should not be covered with
water to drown or purge in its transit the
deadly vapOr. Floods while they last are
a < IOlmIQDI n DC ha sol 70 OF
water stagnate underground. Summer
and early autumn are its peculiar sea-
son, as much because the surface waters
of winter and spring are by that time
dried up as that the scorching rays of the
sun tend to draw the nOXious vegetable
| fumes at that period most readily forth.
Earth i'll which moisture Is not allowed to
accumulate undisturbed purifies the
elements of corruption. Malaria
| works its mischief by means
! of moisture not enough to saturate
| the soil to its surface and more than
enough to be absorbed thoroughly In
! state of nature vegetation often effects its
/ own cure by sutlicIency of foliage to
cOndense and neutralize the dangerous
emanations. With perfect system of
| cultivation the evil is Obviated by the
compulsiOn imposed upon river and rain
! water to circulate where they are
! bid, and to confine themselves to their
! proper purpose of irrigation. Miasmatic
ailments are most inVeterate and
| malignant in lands subjugated to
! the uses of human industry. and
subjugated inadequately. ASS physical
! condition of malaria is that there should
! be some moisture where once there was
much, corresponding historical con-
! ditiOn is the gradual retreat of human
! enterprise from an area it once ruled.
Malaria III the Campagna is legacy of
! the departed Roman yeOmanry; it tells
! Of vanished Volscian energy and pros
perity along the Appian highway; it is a
memorial of Greek magniticence and
! pOpulOusness in the feVer-stricken plains
of Asia Minor.
Absolute human occupation is the real
| remedy Tor malaria. In Italian cities it
Is VIGOROUSLY worse where habitatiOns
are few. At Rome it has long reigned
in the thinly-peoped vicinity Of the Bas-
! lllca of st. Paul; no quarter is less visited
! by it thai the crowded Ghetto and the pur-
lieus of The Pantheon. In the Campagna
! and the neighbOrhOOd of Terracina it is
| supposed to have hardly been known
until Roman cOnquests and patrician
wealth expelled the petty farmers and
/ turned provinces into sheep-walks and
! buffalo pastures. The Sea-bOard of Asia
was healthy, while it remained a miracle
! of cultivation and nursery of multitu-
! dinOus human life. Cause and effect are
! shown in its modern aspect of a sprink-
! ling of pauper villages STAMPED with
| fever and clamOring to the traveller
| for quinine. a difficulty is that, even
! where political and social circumstances
are far more favorable than in Asiatic
/ Turkey, steps cannot be retraced with
/ lmpunIty. Southern soil has the secret of
/ preserving the seeds of malaria impIant-
| ed by neglect to punish posterity DESTROYS
| to repair the omission. Low fever is
\ more prevalent in the new quarters Of the
/ Italian capital, which have been living
/ half waste since they were burial ground
/ for slaves thousands of years ago,
\ than in the narrow lanes of the medieval
/ city. Military statisticians report that the
/ railways which are reYiving the stir of
/ life in innumerable recesses of the penin-
/ sula, have seemed to open vents and
/ breathing holes for bad forms offever Adj
/ mitted, as it is, that the only way of heal
/ ing the sickness which dcsolates the Cam
/ pagna is to break it up with the pillow, the
/ peasant farmers selected to make the eX-
/ pertinent viii have to pay first fruits
/ in ague before they are acclimatized.
/ The richest soil in Italy cannot be suf-
/ fered to remain forever a grazing ground
/ for butfalOes and preserve of wild bOars.
| When the dunes are cut which bank up
the issues of the stream, and the torpid
! overgrOwn pools are forced to find an
/ exit 10 the sea, the POntine Marshes will
cease to have a right to the name. But the
laborers may be pitied whose lot it
/ is to dig the channels. Malaria turks in
/ the soil, and springs like a baited wild
beast at the throats Of the men who pre-
sumo to disturb it. In compensation it
may be thought that Italians who are not
unwilling to undergo the restitution and
disappointment and diseases of the South
American juEgles recently describ-
/ ed will scarcely be the losers
/ by the possible risks of retaining
marshes and heaths at home. A scheme
for reatforesting the stripped wastes of the
Kingdom might diminish in advance
the dangers to the first agriculturists,
whatever they may be. Reckless destruc-
ton Of timber is believed to have facili-
ated the attacks of miasma, and careful
plantation would sap the sources of its
strength Thorough cultivation, how
ever, is the one true specific. 1t may be
hoped that the great Italian proprietors
are beginning to understand that as we'll
as foreigners, and that they will devise