The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-12-08
MANS WORST LIVING FOE.
MOSQUITOES XIII HUNDREDS OF
rho US1NDS EVERY TE4R

So Says One of the Governments Mos
quito Sharps-The Insects Carry
Three Kinds of Poison for Three
Kinds of Shakes.
Washington, Nov. 20-Last night, at
a meeting of the National Biological So
ciety, DR.. c. w. Stiles, of the depart
ment of agriculture, read paper ad-
vancing the theory that mosquitoes
were entirely responsible for the dis
ease we call malaria, and that without
mosquitoes there would be no such dis
/ ease.
From medical, biological and eco
nomic standpoint malaria is one Of the
most important diseases of man." said
DR.. Stiles this morning. 1.-THE number
! of deaths annually from this disease
| throughout the world must be reckoned
| in hundreds of thousands, Italy alone
| averaging about fifteen thousand
year, while the number of sufferers
must be counted by millions. Its eco
nomic Importance may be appreciated
when we take into account MOI only the
deaths, but the time lost by those who
are afflicted. From military stand
point it is also important, since in some
localities forty or fifty per cent. of the
troops suffer with malaria every year.
THE cause of the disease was disc0y-
cred in Africa by DR.. Laveran,
French surgeon, twenty years ago. He
is at present engaged at the Pasteur
Institute, Paris He discovered in the
blood a microscopic organism which he
first thought was a plant belonging to
the genus Oscillaria, but which has
since been recognized as animal and
placed in the genus Plasmodium.
Three distinct species are known-one
which takes only forty-eight hours to
complete its cycle in man. That Is the
cause of the ordinary tertian fever,
where the patient has a chill on alter
nate days The second form takes sew
enty-two hours to complete its develop
ment, and is the cause of the quartan
fever The third form is the cause of
the so-called irregular estivo autumnal
fever.
although the parasite was discov-
cred twenty years ago, it is only within
two years that it's life history has been
worked out. This is exceedingly COM
plicated and has a direct bearing upon
the origin of malarial infection. 1t con-
tradicts many popular ideas regarding
malarial diseases, and it will take some
time to convince the public that the
conclusions are correct However,
there is absolutely no ground for scep-
ticism. The parasite runs through a
double cycle, and thus appears to us in
two distinct forms. One cycle is pres
ent in the blood Of the human being,
and is the cause of disease. This mi
croscopic organism is known as an as
exral animal; that is, males and fe
males cannot be distinguished The
other cycle is found in certain mosqui-
toes Of the genus unopheles. In this
stage the animal is sexual, and males
and females can be clearly distin-
guished. The parasite takes a position
in the wall of the mosquitoes stomach
and there forms minute germs known
as sporozorites, which gradually work
into the glands of the insect. Then
whenever a mosquito bites a person she
leaves a few germs under the skin.
Only female mosquitoes attack human
beings, the male mosquitoes feeding
upon vegetable matter. These germs,
running through the asexual stage in
the human being, reproduce so rapidly
that the ordinary parasite Of tertian fe-
yer gives life to about five hundred and
sixty billions within twenty days time.
If we would exterminate malarial dis
eases, mosquitoes must first be exter-
for it is impossible for the
parasite of malaria to complete it's
work without the aid of the mosquito
while there is a popular impression |
that mosquitoes have something to do |
with malaria, people generally believe |
that malaria Is caught either from |
swamp air or drinking i'm |
pure water. Tt must therefore be ex- |
pected that the results of recent scien- |
tific investigation will be doubted. BIZ |
however, there is only one
exception to the law that malaria is
transmitted by mosquitoes. If a per-
son in a certain stage of malaria
should happen to be attacked by bit
ing fly or some other insect, and that
insect should infect a healthy person
Will GERMS, IL IillSll ueNelDp
4 case of malaria. Such an occurrence,
however, would be exceptional.
1T sounds RADICAL continued DR..
Stiles, ito assert that the existence of
diseases is absolutely depend
emit upon mosquitoes, but the sooner
the fact is realized the sooner we will
get rid of these diseases. Man is not
The only animal that has malaria, but
10 other has the same malaria found in
nan. A large percentage of sparrows,
swallows and pigeons have disease
which corresponds to malaria, but it is
lot transmissible to man."
II have heard it suggested that in
some regions where mosquitoes are
plenty malaria is unknown, and that
Malaria exists where there are no mo-
;quitoes, but in plenty of places where
nan exists yellow fever is unknown
other conditions must prevail to pro-
luce malaria besides the presence of
nan. We must have man present for
he disease to develop; secondly we
must have mosquitoes of the genus an
,pheles to transmit the disease, and,
hirdly the germs which cause the dis
.ase. You can have mosquitoes and
nan in given locality, but if the
serms are not present the disease will
lot exist"
'Can you prove that malaria is not