The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-06-20

be See2-Long Process OF Investiga-
ton.
From tae yinsfsenth centuyg.
A few years ago lady residing in a
healthy part OF st. Petersburg fell i'll of
mslsrial fever. There was no doubt as to the
nature Of the malady. Nevertheless, a mys-
teri, hung over the case, for the lady had
not lately visited any other malarial dis
tric-. but had been living at home in a
locality purely non-malarious. The mystery
wss further increased by the fact that so
long as the patient remained in her bed
room the disease yielded to the usual RENE
dies. but on removing 70 the sitting room
Telause invariably followed, and fever with
ALI the characteristic symptoms set In once
more. For some months these alterations
continued until the doctors suspicious were
aroused by observing that while plants
were growing in the sitting-room, they
were absent from the bedroom. Inquiring
into their history, he found they had been
sent direct from district known TO be ma
larious. On getting rid of the plants COM
plete recovery followed, ana the mystery
was explained.
This is no exceptional case, for its history,
with many others from different quarters
of the globe, was sent by Prof Won Eicn-
valid to Profs Tommasi-C rudei and Klebs,
on the publication of their researches on
malaria in 1879. They had then proved
that it was possible to produce malarial
fever by placing malarlal soil in conditions
precisely similar to those of the garden
mould in flower pots. In the boudoir of
this Russian lady all the conditions required
for the active development of malarial
fever were present. First, the seeds of the
living cause were lying unsupported in the
mould. The oxygen was naturally provided
in The air of the room; in fact, the three
III c,,1f,
moisture, oxygen and heat-were all
there.
What, then, is this invisible agent which
carries sickness and possible death so far
atield, and has the power to weaken the
energy and stunt the growth OF those who
are doomed TO live on malarious soil
1--WE do not live, " said an inhahitant of the
Pontine marshes TO stranger; I'VE dien
Malaria constitutes the chief obstacle to the
exploration and colonization of the African
continent, and threatens to reduce to the
condition of a desert vast tracts of the
southern states of America, which flourished
SO long as they were cultivated by the negro
race, which, better than any other, resists
its action.
In some of the upper provinces of India
even birds and beasts have to migrate dur
ing the unhealthy time of year. The late
Bishop Heber gives the following striking
picture of the influence of malaria in that
portion of the globe:
81 asked Mr.. Boulderson if it were true
that the monkeys forsook these woods dur
ing the unwholesome months. He answered
that not the monkeys only, but everything
which has the breath of life instinctively
deserts them from the beginning of April to
October. The tigers 90 up the hills: the
antelopes aud wild hogs make incursions
into the cultivated plain; and those persons,
such as dak-bearers, or military officers who
are obliged to traverse the forest in the in
tervening months, agree that not so much
as a bird can be heard or seen in the fright
full solitude.
yet during the time of the heaviest
rains. while the water falls in torrents and
the cloudy sky tends TO prevent evaporation
from the ground, the forest may be passed
with tolerabe sa ETY.. 1t is in the extreme
heat and Immediately after the rains have
ceased, in May, the latter end of August
and the early part of September, that it is
most deadly. In October the animals res
turn. By the end of that month the wood
cutters and the cowmen again venture,
though cautiously. From the middle of
November to March troops pass and repass,
and with common precaution no risk is APP
pretended
Until recent years so little was known of
the UerG cdltsa of this disease, that Sir
Thomas Watson, in his book on the ''Prac-
uce Of Physics, published in 1871, gives
tie following explanation:
s'The effiuvia which form the sole ex-
citing cause of Intermittent and remittent
fevers are believed to proceed from the sur
face of the earth, and are probably gaseous
or aerifoTm; at any rate, they are involved
IN the atmosphere. But they are imper-
ceptible by any of our senses. OF their
physical or chemical qualities we really
know nothing"
At the very time these words were writ
ten the first streak of light was beginning
to break through the darkness of centuries,
Tor two scientific investigators--Drs. Lanzi
and Terrigi of Rome-were then devoting
themselves to the subject. The results of
their first observations were communicated
to the medical section of the eleventh con-
gress Of scientists on Oct 10. 1873. Look
ing back, it is curious to notice the extra
ordinary difficulties of this research; for,
though they had come to the true conclu-
sion that malaria was caused by a parasite,
yet, fearing to be misled by fallacious
appearances" they ultimately abandoned
this theory and maintained instead that
malaria consisted in a cadaveric vegetable
product, generated by putrefaction of alge
and other plantsn
In order to prove the direct connection
between paludal poison and the infected
blood OF man they undertook a series of OK
PoAlneubS Oh Sulued pigs WIN nuu from
the marshes of Ostia. In this way they
succeeded in producing artificial malaria
ln animals The marked characteristic of
malaria is the appearance of black pigments
IN the blood, with enlarged spleen, etc.
The all-Important black pigment was found
IN the blood of the inoculated animals; out,
Tor various scientific reasons into which it
Is unnecessary to enter, the experiments
We're not considered conclusive.
1t was therefore arranged, after a meet
Ing Of naturalists at Cassel in 1887, that
Tommasi-Crudeli and Prof Klebs should
study and define the foci of malaria in the
Agro Romano in the course of the following
winter. Here, accordingly, we find them
pursuing their perilous researches in the
very heart of the deadly Pontine marshes.
They entered on their campaign with a
complete batterie de science, including an
instrument devised by Klebs, which en-
abled them TO examine the air. In almost
all cases the characteristic black pigment
was found in the blood, the spleen was
enlarged, and in the lymph they discovered
many brilliant, actively moving, oval
bodies
w nile these experiments with the alrsand
soll or infected lands were being conducted,
other confreres. Marchiafava and Cell,
We're giving their attention to the clinical
aspects of the disease. The effect of ma
iarlal poison on the blood of human beings
was the Immediate object of their research.
The first change seen to occur in the blood
Is very minute, simply a Speck which ap-