Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-08-11
Written for The Evening Star.


lief on the part Of scientific men that thes.
minute and microscopic organisms are the
cause OF the autumnal fevers that make
our udewater districts the dread OF those
who fear malaria"
This belief Ghe poisoning OF the system
by microbes) having been more or less
adopted by the medical profession and Is
d"Uhtless. in part at least true, thu
question to be settled is how these organ
iemS obtain access to the system. How il
the blood current poisoned and th, whole
system made a wreck?
Discrimination must he made here be
tween organisms which obtain access -
the blood current by means of being swal-
lowed either in food or water. and those
which may possibly get In In other ways.
We know now, perfectly. how the germs OF
typhoid. trichina spiralis and many other
germs get lodgment I'm the system: how
food and water are the common carriers II
these deadly spores. But how about ma
LARA? As has been suggested above. the
ide'. long prevailed that in some subtle way
the night air was responsible for its intro
duction into the system. but the idea was
vague and lily defined
The Mosquito the Carrier
Kidding the subject Of much that Is tech
nical and difficult of understanding 10 the
lay reader. it is OF interest to state in GER
era! terms just what is believed by ad.
vanced thinkers in the medical profession.
Not a few of these believe that the com
mon pest Of the tdewater districts-thc
mosquitoes the carrier Of the peculiar poison
which produces in the human system the
train Of symptoms grouped under the gen
eral term malaria. 1t should be- stated in
advance that in human subjects Of malarial
poisoning microscopes state that they find
I'm the blood a peculiar and characteristic
micr be capable Of being distinguished un-
de, the mic oScgpe ana rorgly suSp ctso OF
being the hidden cause of chillS and fever.
Now. the Psychologists. t. whom nothing
is too small for examination. have been
Looking at the blood Of the mosquito under
their instruments. and find in his veins a
precisely similar micrnhc as Is found In tn"
blood of the unfortunate sufferer with aGu".
and they confidently assert that whenever
a man in a district infested with mos
ouitoes is bitten by mosquitoes his blood IS
likely to be poisoned b. having pumped
into 1t the microbe which inhabits the veins
of the insect in question.
All this IS highly Interesting, but NOR"
follows. 1t seems that not all mosquitoes
are malarious any more than all men. even
though living in districts where The diseases
called malarial prevail The particular
kind of MOSQUITO blamed with carrying the
poison il a 3apple-winged fellow-An"phele
ClaVigir is his scientific rame-hut whether
the knowledge of his name would hep one
to avoid him and the results of his bite Is
doubtful
The Anopheles is called a town mosquito
by some scientists. as he is found mostly
terms. puddles, etc. preferring artificial col
lectIons of water to running streams. The
rain barrel is A choice dwelling or lncu-
batting place for him. II is comfort 10
know that when he is where fish can get at
him in the larval state he is quickly eaten.
ard gotten rid Of hut as fish are sup
posed not to be the subjects of chills and
fever it is probable they escape the disease
The Old Idea.
The old idea that malaria came from
4 snil nod NJ rrh rlla
had its origin in the belief that the malaria
arose from the soil and was breathed into
the lungs, thus poisoning the patient. or. as
some believed. was swallowed in the drink
ing water. But no one dreamed that the
cheerful mosquito. singing a lullaby in the
ear OF the drowsy man. was quietly pumping
into his blood-current a subtle poison which.
in a few days. would develop into raging
fever. yet this is what is asserted Of him.
We see that We owe it to the scientists the
knowledge of why drainage cured certain
locations Of fever and ague inasmuch as
the mosquito can no longer live in such
localities.
Possibly it may DE too much to say that
malaria cannot be propagated in any other
way than by mosquitoes. for while ii seems
to be proven that the original malarial
germ finds Its normal place Of development
in the Blood Of that insect, Just the
trichina spiralls finds a convenient host in
the pig, il may he possible that these ma
lariai germs. getting out of the mosquito
into the water, might again be taken into
the mans blood in that way. Fine work
might be done in this way. as. for instance.
a man affected with malaria might g. into
a district free from that poison. and might
be bitten by mosquitoes and the blood OF
these insects thus infected. Now, these
again might bite man free from the dis
ease, pump the poison into him, and so al
infinitum.
OF course. it may happen also that a man
having malaria in his system might have
this poison developed in country entirely
exempt before. He need not in such case
depend on fresh poisoning.
1t is pretty well understood that only the
female mosquito bites or stings. Just how
the males live, or whether they have ma
larta, but are powerleSS to make the mis-
chief that the females make. is not known.
They may shake with chills and burn with
fever while the ladies are engaged In the
interesting occupation OF bleeding mankind.
but as yet the Psychologists are silent about
this. 1t is. however. well established that
birds have a form Of malaria. and possibly
the other lower animals.
We have at least three varieties OF mos
quito in this country. No one will be inter
ested in their scientific names, but ii Is in
order to say that the female mosquito does
not bite until she is about six days old, ut
which time she is supposed to be an adult.
One Preventive Remedy.
Prevention being better than cure. all
readers will be interested to know tina:
there is at least one remedy which will, IL
taken. be exhaled through the skin and lie
a source OF such offense to the mosquito as
to drive her from the patient. Sulphur
taken internally will do this, and a sulphur
retted man is immune. 1t is said that In
some regions of Sicily, where there sui
phur mines, only the men who work in the
mines are exempt from malaria all others
having a very pernicious type of malariul
fever.
Quinine poisons the microbe. and so this
drug Is used an anti-periodic. Other
drugs are efficient, but for information the
reader is referred to his medical adviser.
One other point is OF interest, and that is a
very small amount Of permangansts of
potash dissolved in a puddle Will Kill all
mosquito germs and at the same time not
be distinctly injurious to the water. II one
cares to try II and rub the body over with
the Juice of the common garlic this will
drive away every mosquito and guarantee
a quiet nights sleep; but probably the per-
son thus perfumed would find difficulty in
getting a bed fellow. J. B. HODGKlN
Washing Decanters.
To prevent wine stains from marking She
inside of decanters NIL the bottles ,l,recilN-