Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-12-22
THE HUNT FOR MALARIA
Lecture by Major Boss, Who Caught the
African Mal2riai Mosquito.
Some of His Discoveries and Sugges-
tions-A Hope for speedy Re-
IL
lief From the ScOurge.
From the London Times.


to Sierra Leora delivered address re-
Gently at the Exchange Station Hotel. Liv-
erpool, on the invitation of the African
trade section of the Liverpool chamber of
commerce. His subject was THE Recent
Medical Expedition to West Africa
Major Ross said that politics and science
were eliminating In two movements of high
Importance. In politics the great powers,
tired of self-development, were endeavorfng
to extend their possessions and civilization
all over the world; while in science they
had created what was perhaps the most
fundamentally important of all knowledge
the experimental science of disease He
believed that in the coming century the
success of imperialism would depend large
ly upon success with the microscope Our
possessions in Africa were backgrounds
between Englishmen and King Malaria;
they were conquests maintained only at the
Sacrince OF hecatombs of our countrymen.
Malarial fever was perhaps the most i'm
portant of the diseases of the tropics. For
q long time they could obtain no accurate
knowledge as to how the disease was pro-
duced, but in the last two years they had
ascertafned definitely at least one mode of
infection. They knew for certain that ma
larial fever was often. perhaps always.
caused by the bite of the species of gnat or
mosquito called anopheles
The object of the expedition from the Liv-
Si pSoi otHooi vi 1fOplCa1 Diseases was 10
ascertain whether there was any chance of
discriminating the anopheles from a given
malarious area. 1t was not the immediate
purpose as some supposed, to Danish ma
nent of Africa They wished to inquire
what could be done in two or three square
miles. They selected Free Town, Sierra
Leone, for the investigation. and reached
there last August. After describing Free
Town, Major Ross said that the mission
set themselves to work al once on the lines
of the recent Investigations in India and
Italy In few days they found numbers
OF the anopheles, and in a few days more
they discovered the germs of malaria actu-
ally within those insects. They knew then
to an absolute certainty that the anopheles
OF Sierra Leone We're responsible at least
for large part of the fever there The
next thing was to ascertain how they bred.
Those very dangerous insects bred in small
pools or .puddles of a certain kind easy to
detect when one had once seen them. They
made a map of those pools and carefully
studied the habits of the insects larvae.
The conclusion they unanimously came to
was that it would probably be an easy and
inexpensive matter to rid the town almost
entirely of the anophees either by destroy
ing the larvae in the puddles, or better
still, by draining away the nnddIas alto
gether.
Comparing the general mode of life of
Europeans in Sierra Leone and India, Mai
Ross said that, though Sierra Leone was
scarcely more fatal to Europeans than some
L
unhealthy than the large majority. of In
dian towns and environments were. He con-
fessed that after a service of many years
IN India and Burmah he was much struck
with a certain negligence in respect to
some matters in Africa In India English
men had learned how best to live in tropical
countries They had certain fixed institu-
tons which they seldom did without He
referred to the commodious bungalow. with
its large compound, the punkah, nd the
mosquito netting on the beds. There was
no doubt all those were of great assistance.
but In Sierra Leone he was astonished to
ma none or those things, at least in gem
erai use. Instead of there being a separate
european quarter on the highest ground
available and consisting of well-built houses
eacr IN the midst of an open garden, most
Europeans in Free Town occupied moor
wooden structures quite unfit for English
people in that pestiferous climate. crowded
together and mingled with the houses of
the townspeople (yho had not the same
reason to dread the malara), and in the
very lowest, dampest and hottest part of
the town
The governments and the great CONNER
cial houses who sent employees to the from
les and paid their expenses-especialIv their
funeral expenses, which We're considerably
larger than the mere cost of the hearse-
should nave something to say on that mat
ter. The nation had not paid sufficient at.
tention to the shocking mortality in its
tropical possessions. They shudderad to
hear of few guinea pigs being inoculated
with disease in the laboratory, but looked
on with Indifference at the infection by nat
ural means of thousands of their country
men and of millions of our colored subjects
IN the tropics. They spend floods of money
IN the tropics on what was called SANTA
ton and maintaining costly medical SER
vice but such expenditure was more or less
perfunctory; 1t was part of the budgets,
and 1t was allocated without much intellf-
gence and, he feared, largely wasted Fifty
years ago new parasite called the anky-
lcstoma duodenalc was discovered. 1t was
row known, chiefly as the result of iuyes-
tigation by private persons, to cause an
immense amount of sickness and mortality
among our colored subjects. Although the
presence of the parasite could easily be
detected by the microscope. Its name hardly
found place in our statistics of disease
A few years ago Giles studied the mode in
which it gained entry into our bodies
Since then no one had repeated his obser-
Vations or taken the slightest interest in
them. 1t had not been thought worth while
to check the ravages of that disease. Again.
some years ago parasite was found
which might perhaps cause that terrible
and widespread disease dysentery. No at
tempt had been made by Englishmeu to
clear up that important point and the life
history of the parasite which was studied
years ago by Cunningham seemed to have
been completely forgotten.
Twenty years ago Manson ascertatned
that the parasite which caused elephanti-
asis was carried by the mosquito. Until
last year not Il single person had made any
adequate attempt to verify his work-much
less to act upon it for the prevention of the
disease. In India alone the mortality as
cribed to fever was 100000 persons an
nually. Besides the mortality vast tracts
of fertile possessions were rendered unin-
habitable by this disease Twenty years ago
the parasite which caused the disease was
found, but not microscope or pen was
used by Englishmer for seven years. Dur
ing those seven years 35.000OOO persons died
from fever in India alone. Then a single
Englishman, Vandyke Carter, took up Law
Grams discovery. He was now dead. For
that and other noble work he received no
reward Not another Engiishman moved in
the matter for another seven years, lazy
Indifferent and imbecile skeptlclsm holding
the ground Then few young countrymen
of ours commenced ITO study the subject
years after other great nations had been
attacking 1t with visor, and now they did
find some medical men and Others who paid
some attention to it in the British domin-
ions. Now there was an awakening every
where. The Royal Society itself, assisted
by Mr.. Chamberlain and the colonial Office
had taken up the matter with energy The
tropical schools of London and Liverpool
had been founded by leading citizens and
scientific missions were being sent to differ
ent parts OF the world. He had spoken that
day in the hope of Increasing sympathy in
tf,ee Shnr,s Ia