Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-08-25
TINE m,soulTo ANDYELlow FEVER.

| Sn nNCn Is DeIJlS "AASSSA
/ Of the mosquito as the active dlstripu'-
ing agent of yellow fever germs tlia'
. rav;ew of the study and experiments
that led up to the conviction OIL sees
o,nia asciata-the yellow fever mos
o,,,to-,s at present particularly IN
teresting and timely. Previous 10 tue
occupation of Cuba by the Unteo
States troops, yellow fever had Deen
oan,,dered 81 filth disease Cleanliness
| enforced by the military rule, noWev-
or failed to seriously check ou1ofeahs
NJ the disease. The authorities were
lat a loss. Men died ami the disease
ragged and spread despite their most
earnest labors Then in the summer
| If 1e,, the surgeon general OF the Uni
ted States army named board Of IN
vestigation.
Exneriments were then undertaken
based on a theory which had peen
suggested twenty years before by DIT.
Carlos Finlay, a Cuban, Of Havana.
which was that the yellow fever was
conveyed by means of a mosquito. oI
eleven persons under observation at
tb;s time who were bitten by con-
taminated mosquitoes, ten were unaHec-
sa4 ANA two contracted the fever, one
,e them being DR.. Lazear, OF the COM
mission, whose death followed. The cir
|oumstances: attending these cases We're
such as to leave no doubt in the minds
,e tho ohsaryers that the disease had,
bge9y conveyed by the insects.
+, November of that year an exper-
s;,.as34 esss f;o,. named in honor of their
dad cosnrade, Camp, Lazear. was es-
sa,sHgaed by the commission one mile
er.9i,,.e weYl7o. and two experiment
:as:,,s SEA were constructed. each careful
~ screened beyond the possibility OF
the entrance OF MOSQUITOES. Volunteers
we're thea called for to sr' them
selves to experiment. These F2iuntary
oatients were found among hospital
attendants, American soldiers, Span
ish immigrants, all of them being non
immune subjects. The volunteers sta
toned in one Of the screened houses,
termed the infected mosquito build
ing, were subjected to the bites OF
mosquitoes which had been infected by
having bitten the yellow fever patients.
The volunteers in the other house, des-
5ignated the infected clothing building,
were carefully screened from all mos
ouitos, but slept in contact with soiled
clothing, bedding and other articles
brought direct from the yellow fever
hospitals. The first volunteer who was
bitten by an infected mosquito and
thus contracted the disease was John
r. Kissinger, of whose heroic conduct
we should not fail to recall the trib-
ute paid by DR.. Reed. Il cannot let
this opportunity pass" DR.. Reed
wrote, without expressing my admir-
alton of this young Ohio soldier, who
volunteered for this experiment, an he
expressed 1t. solely in the interests OF
humanity and the cause Of SCIENCE
and with the only proviso that he
should receive no pecuniary reward. In
nv opinion, this exhibition OF moral
courage has never been surpassed In
the annals Of the army of the United
States"
OF the thirteen nom immunes In the
infected mosquito building, who were
bitten by mosquitoes which had bitten
a yellow fever patient at least twelve
days previously, ten contracted the
disease. OF the volunteers who slept
i'm the infected clothing building, al
though they spent twenty nights there
In close contact with the bedding.
clothing and 6lthiest articles that had
been used and soiled by patients in the
fever hospitals suffering with the dis
ease in it's most virulent type, not a
single one contracted the fever The
experiments were conducted through
out with "a thoroughness and care and
in scientific spirit which precluded
the possibility of error, ana insured
the confidence of the scientific world
in the results achieved. The tests were
accepted as proving beyond a question
the truth of the 'inlay theory that the
disease was transmitted by a mos
quito and cannot in nature be trans
mitted in any other way than by the
bite of the yellow fever mosquito.
which has itself become infected by the
blood of yellow fever patient. Con-
sequently if southern fanatics sent
north, as 1t is charged. clothing of
yellow fever sufferers during the civil
war, they were striking pswerlessly
like a fangless snake.
AZ the time when the new campaign