Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-15
The Mosquitoes of Panama.

The chief diseases, of Panama are, so the
doctors say, all caused by mosquitoes.
These diseases are yellow fever, malaria
and elephantiasis. Each disease has its
own peculiar kind of mosquito, and the fe-
male in every case does the work.
had a talk with Col. w. C. Gorgas, the
chief sanitary officer here, about mosqui-
toes. He is the man who cleared Havana
of yellow fever and who has been brought
here to do the same for the isthmus. He
tells me that there are about two hundred
different kinds of mosquitoes in the world
each having its own characteristics. None
of the three 1 have mentioned is half
large or ferociouS the Jersey mosquito
and they are altogether not one-tenth as
numerous: Each has it's own customs and
habits. The stegomyia usually bites in the
daytime. 1t avoids bright light, and If
persons hand is on the table it will try to-
crawl under the hand and bite there. it
often breeds in rain barrels and does not
like dirty water.
The malarial mosquito is known as the
anophele. 1t is dark in color, with four
golden spots near the outer margin of the
wing. 1t bites during the day, but its
chief feeding time is at night. 1t is an
out-of-door mosquito and is found espe-
cially in and about the swamps.
The elephantiasis mosquito is known as
| the culex fatigans 1t bites night and day
and is common in both town and country.
! This mosquito has yellowish body with
six silver bands on the abdomen. Elephan-
| tiasis is caused by blood worm, and when
the mosquito bites a person so diseased
she sucks into her stomach blood contain
| ing such worms. The worms develop in
| her and finally reach her salivary glands, SO
| that when she bites another person the
| worms go into circulation and he has ele-
phantiasis.
| The doctors know all about the habits of
| each of these mosquitoes and they are do
ing everything to destroy them and Their
| breeding places. For this reason they
| draining
| tation along the lines of the railroad and
| the canal covering up the water barrels
and putting oil on ponds. The swamps are
| being drained and every bit of stagnant
water in and about the cities is taken away.
Precautions Against Yellow Fever.
| The greatest precautions are taken to keep
| the employees from being bitten by mos
| quitoes of any kind. Every man is fur
nshed with a mosquito net, and every
| American is supposed to sleep under mos
| quito net at night. The yellow fever
patients of the hospitals are kept inside
| wire cages in rooms, the windows and doors
| of which are covered with wire netting, and
| every house which has the yellow fever is
disinfected. Indeed the whole city of
Panama is being gradually thus treated. 1
! oaily pass through street after street the
| houses of which show the marks of dis
| infection by the torn paper which has been
pasted upon their doors and window cracks
| before fumigating. The other day yellow
| fever case developed in the Grand Central
Hotel at Panama. This is the biggest hotel
on the isthmus. Every room of that hotel
had to be fumigated in consequence This
disguised many of the lady guests as it
necessitated their moving out for the day
and endangered the beauty of their clothes.
Indeed, / am surprised that the Ameri-
can women here show so little fear of yell
low Jack. We have receptions and dinners
just as you do in the United States, and at
the dinners the ladies appear in low-neck
thus giving the mosquitoes better chance
to feast. So far l have not noticed the odor
of cftronella about one of these decollete
dresses.
Malaria is Common.
There is this difference between malaria
and yellow fever. The man who has yellow
fever and gets well need not fear having it
in the future. The malarial patient may be
attacked again and again, but the disease
is seldom fatal. Malaria succumbs quickly
to quinine. and it will be greatly reduced by
wiping out the mosquitoes.
The doctors tell me that there are ma
larial germs in the blood of 20 per cent of
the Panama people. One of our doctors on
the canal zone has a passion for investi-
eating such matters. He grabs every man
he meets, American or native, and takes a
drop of blood out of his ear. He analyses
the blood, and in seven cases out of every
ten he finds malarial bacteria In some
of the natives the blood is so infected that
they are just able to crawl about. A good
course of quinine, however, usually cleans
up their systems and makes them well
again. Another doctor examined forty
four children of school at Bohio and
found twenty-nine to have malaria organ
isms in their blood. He gave each of these
children six grains Of quinine night and
morning for ten days. and then tapped their
ears for second examination. At this
time only five were found to have malaria |
In other words, by that course of quinine
cases of malaria in ten days. This work
of the doctors is going on among all the |
employees of the canal and other natives of |
the zone. The health organization is eX- |
cellent, and If Congress is more liberal in |
it's appropriations the wiping out of the |
various diseases will be even more rapid |
than it is. |
Our Hospitals at Panama.
The hospitals here will soon be among |
the finest of their kind. The French spent |
enormous sums in putting up buildings |
for the care of the sick, both at Colon |
and at Ancon on the edge Of this city. Their |
buildings were in bad repair at the time |
we took hold, but the supervising architect |
has taken charge of them and they are
now in excellent condition. The French |
hospital at Colon Is built upon concrete |
foundations. upon coral reef out over
the sea. The patients can walk down the
steps right into the sea. and the salt wa
ter breezes blow freely all the year through.
This hospital has about 800 beds, and there |
are more in the Panama Railroad Hos
pital nearby.
At Ancon there are already five hundred
beds and the arrangements are such that |
1t will be possible to increase these to sew
en- hundred on short notice An ice plant
and cold storage rooms are to be put up
there and also a central steam kitchen
which will feed one thousand persons.
The Beauties Of Ancon.
more beautiful spot in the world than An
con HILL on the slopes of which the Panama
hospital is situated The hill rises almost
straight up from the sea on the edge of |
Panama City, commanding a wide view
of the Pacific ocean and the Culebra noun
tains. Its top is wooded and its lower
slopes were laid out by the French in a |
La nd no nrar Raa,, if,,l dxi.ro II