Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-07-28
MALARIA IN RELATION TO WATER.

The Sanitary Engineer contains com.
muniestion from Colonel G. II. Mendell,
in which the writer states that malaria pre-.
walls over the whole Of the great valley of
California, often in its most violent forms
that it exists in uplanda remote from
msrshy districts, and is often absent from
districts ad jscent to those where it abounds.
He then goes on : Some years ago, while
engaged in a study OF irrigation, then be-
ginning to be applied on the dry plains of
California, l was led to notice the level of
standing water in wells, in reference to
which there is a great difference in our in
terror plains. / soon noticed that shallow
wells and malaria were frequent COM
panions. Where the wells were seventy
feet Tor thereabouts) deep there was free
dom from malaria. Having noticed these
coincidencei, l afterwards investigated
their occurrence in great many cases by
inquiries of farmers with whom had con-
versation. In one or two cases of excep.
tional malarial districts in the foothills,
which are generally free from this pest, l
found the water in the wells near the sur
face. do not recall single instance of
shGiLoao aUelLs actere the fnnily were free
from feyerS, always intermittent, believe.
| therefore connect the presence of water
near the surface of the ground with the
existence of malaria. Whether it ia due
to the mere presence or to the fact that it
is drunk, or to BOTH am unable to say"
The statement Of Colonel Mendell is cal
culated to give q very erroneous idea of
the character and extent of malarial disease
in California. In the first place, the eli
mate Of the ocean slope extending the en-
tire length of the State, and varying from
five to twenty or thirty miles in width,
is almost exempt from malaria. This re-
gion embraces the metropolis of San Fran
cisco and many other of the most populous
localities. The great valley" probably
refers to the valleys of the Sacramento and
San Joaquin. There are many parts OF
these valleys not particularly malarious.
Besides, the general character of malarial
disease is not violent, but rather chronic.
Cases often reach an extreme condition by
slow degrees, and are frequently very diff
cult of treatment, and disposed to relapse.
AS to the influence of water near the sur
face, as shown by shallow wells, we have
our doubts. On the encinals of Alameda
and Oakland, where the wells are very
shallow, there is scarcely any well-marked
malarial disease and the same may be said
of many otherlocalities. Irrigation does not
appear so conducive to malaria as the com.
mon belief assumes. In the great valley of
San Bernardino, where cultivation is en-
tirely dependent on irrigation, malaria ex-
lists only in few localities. We may add
that the term malaria is SO vague, and
gives so much range to the Imagination,
that it is questionable whether large pro.
portion of disease attributed to that cause
is really due TO malaria. Malaria is ca
pacious and convenient receptacle for
many dubious ailments. It's precise dag
nosis is as indefinite and indetinable as are
the morbid conditions and therapeutic ap.
plications OF quinia.