The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1894-08-25
FACTS ABOUT / a
its Close Relation to Certain Conditions of
the Soil

FACTS ABOUT MALARIA.
Its Close Relation to Certain Conditions of
the Soil.
According to a table of admissions
for malarial fevers furnished by the
London hospital to Sir Joseph Fayrer,
and which extend over a period of ITO
years-from ITO to 1sS0-whereas in
1881 out of l, ISL patients admitted into
the hospital 60 were for malarial fever;
In 1880. out of a total of 6,312 admis-
sions, IA were for malarious fever, and
In many years the proportion was still
smaller. This is a very good example
Of the diminution of malarial disease
in the United Kingdom generally since
the time when we lost kings and mobiles
from ague fits. As a contrast, how
ever. Sir Joseph Fayrer teaches us that
In Ceylon in ten years 94,s2l persons
died from ague and remittent fever,
and in the Madras presidency in one
year-viz.. 1sSO-the deaths from these
causes were 200. $40, increasing during
a famine year Qs70 to 469,241. The
monthly mortality varied from 1880
in June. 1880, to "a, $3.50 in January, and
this appears to be greater in winter
han in summer, increasing apparently
with the lowering of the temperature
after the extreme heat. Europeans are
thought to be more liable to malarial
fever than natives; but this is lot alto
gether proved, for Waring shows by Il
comparison of the relative prevalence
of fever in the European and ma
tive troops of the Madras army for
ten NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. while the
percentage of admissions from
fever was for Europeans 1913,
for natives it was 1867. and the mortal
ity for Europeans was OLE. against O.24
for natives. Malarious fever prevails
extensively in tropical Africa, but here
natives do not seem to be as liable as
Europeans; in fact, negroes were at Il
time held to be exempt, but Surgeon
Parke proved that natives of central
and western Africa, though they might
be acclimatized at home, if they re-
moved to another part of the country
lost this immunity and were as liable
to contract malarial fevers as Europe
ais. lhtICltIC. IL III NC oSSh oAoo
race does not insure protection.
The close connection of malaria with
soil is shown in various ways. If the
suns rays are prevented from reaching
the soil by the interpolation of paving,
as has been done in many parts of the
city of Rome. malaria ceases, and if a
marsh is flooded from the sea and thus
n 1nunr of colt pouorS tho coil pna1orI.
Gus influences disappear. On the other
hand. it is promoted by the rapid dry
ing up of marshes, beds of rivers and
streams, and especially by the breaking
up of such soil. when fresh surfaces are
exposed to the suns influence. Ac-
cording to Parke, the special soils
which appear to promote malaria are
the following: ~ alluvial soils, old
estuaries and deltas; (2) sands, if there
be im~permeable clay or marshy subsoil,
and old watercourses; 81 the lower
parts of chalk, if there be a subsoil of
clay or gault; a. weathered granite
trap rocks. if vegetable matter has be-
come intermixed; 81 rich vegetable soils
at the foot of hills. Sir Joseph
Fayrer holds that subsoil water or
damp is the essential condition of ma
laria, and especially if the subsoil be
impregnated with a certain moun of
stagnant moisture. and this is probably
present in many of those localities in
which the appearance of malaria is so
difficult of explanation. Malaria ap-
pears to be at its worst in the drying
up season after rains, but during the
rains it is less severe. While turning
danger of malaria. draining and crop
ping the same soil afterward dimin-
ishes it. In the south of Europe deltas
of rivers and low-lying districts with a
certain amount of marsh are the COM
mon foci of malaria. Altitude exer-
cises some protecting influence. and in
south Italy. in the malarious districts.
the villages are built on the hills for
this reason: but it has been shown hat
wind may carry the malarial poison up
to the sides of mountains and. indeed,
over their tops. Surgeon Parke men,
toned having met with it in equatorial
Africa on a dry plain 10000 feet in
height, so hat elevation must not be
reckoned on as giving complete protec-
ton. There seemed to be some relation
to rainfall. as in tropical countries it
appears to prevail in districts with a
large rainfall. as in the Indian Terai,
possibly on account of the constant
presence Of subsoil water.
The cause of malaria is now held by
competent authorities to be a proto-
zoon or vegetable micro-organism in
habiting the blood of man and some of
the lower animals. 1t was discovered
by Laveran in 1880 in human blood at
Algiers.-London Lancet.
Washing and Cleaning Gloves.
The so-called washing gloves are an
excellent choice for utility purposes all
summer. as they can be cleaned once
and again by washing them in water
that is more than warm, but not scald-
ing hot. using a bit of pure white soap
in the process. 1t is best to wash them
upon the hands, as the channels is less
likely to shrink in drying. Wash and
then rinse in clear water and dry by
rubbing with Il Turkish or other soft.
rough towel. For kid gloves of light
color. that are but slightly soiled but
not stained, there is no better mode of
freshening than to wind a bit of oiled
I'LL ,,or.l Tho G-1ar ,,,1l;-- $50