The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1905-07-29

t1tlIgtDtl- 'c4iSi al VI 'ii( al IL '~'-N =
Habana a board Of army medical o1h-
GERS for the purpose OF investigating
yellow fever. This board was made
40 Of the following army doctors:
Doctor Reed, the president, and Doe
tors Carroll, Agramonte, and Lazear
After much investigation they deter
mined 10 study the relation OF the
mosquito to yellow fever. Their at
tention was called to this matter by
the part that the mosquito had already
been proved to play in malaria and
filariasis, as mentioned above, and
also by certain facts known in the
history of yellow fever epldem1cs.
Doctor Flnlay, a prominent physician
of Habana, reasoning from certain pc
cnl1arities Of yellow fever and from
experiments which he made. had
maintained for many years that a
certain kind Of mosquito in Habana,
the S'cJpm4tu VS. the cause OF yellow
fever, but he had not been able to
prove 1t.
The army board of which Doctor
Reed was president recognized that IN |
Cuba, where they did their work, It
| would have to be entirely evident that
the men experimental upon could not
Get yellow fever accidentally in Haba-
ma, or anywhere else, but only if at all
| -, ! no pf ha 'rhay
therefore took a piece of unoccupied
ground about six miles from Habana
and built there camp of materai
which could not have been infected
with yellow fever They then got men
who had never suffered from yellow
fever and placed them in these tents.
1t was known that if man exposed
to yellw fever were going to have it
the disea would develop in less than
six days, and If he passed through six
days safe and sound he was known to
have escaped that particular exposure.
The board therefore argued that if
they kept their men IN this camp for
a period of two weeks they would be
safe from any exposure which might
have occurred before their coming to
the camp. They also had to provide
means which would insure their men
not leaving the camp. contracting the
disease outside. ard thus bringing IN
lection in the camp. This was done
by military guard, who allowed no
one to go out or come in without Doc
tor Reeds permission. Things were
now so arranged that if mosquito
was allowed to bite a man. and yellow
fever developed, the board could be
certain that the yellow fever was due
to the bite of the mosquito alone.
They did great deal Of Experimenting
here before they worked out all the
details Of the way in which the mos
quito actually conveys yellow fever.
They finally found out that if a female
mosquito Of one particular species,
the stegomyia, was applied to yell
low fever patient in the first three
days OF his sickness, and then kept
from ten to twenty days and allowed
to bite human being who had never
had yellow fever, he would very gen
orally develop the disease within six
days after the bite.
They also found out that this same
man, before he had been bitten by the
yellow fever mosquito, could sleep in
the bed in which patient had died
of yellow fever, could be covered with
black yomit from 81 yellow fever
: patient, or BE- exposed to the emana-
tons from yellow fever in any other
ways, and as long as he was kept safe
from the bite of the mosquito he
!, would not have yellow fever; but this
same man. after all his exposure, if
afterwards bitten by an infected yell
low fever mosquito, would very Ger
tainly catch the disease. | think il
Won be interesting to give some of
the details of the work by which this
great discovery was demonstrated.
. | lucy Hdu lltllC Dulluih
built in this camp furnished with jars
and the necessary simple material for
breeding mosquitoes. The building
was carefully screened and guarded
so that mosquitoes could not get in or
nor out. Eggs of this particular
species of mosquito were obtained
:, and Matched in one of the jars. A
female mosquito was taken from the
brood thus hatched9 The male mos
quito will not bite, and can readily be
distinguished from the female with a
, magnify ing glass by the fact that the
male has very heavy feathery feelers
(antenne) growing from his head.
The female mosquito selected was put
into small glass tube, stoppered with
, little cotton. SO that she could get
air freely but not taken to Habana
placed on the hand of a patient in the
first three days of an attack of elbow
, fever, and allowed to fill herself with
blood. She was then brought back to
her former home, placed in a large
jar, and allowed to digest the blood she
had obtained. The jar, covered with
piece of mosquito netting, had put
in it small saucer with little water
-