New-York tribune., 1907-06-23
LIFE In THE TROPICS.
Made Much More Comfortable by
Scientific Sanitation.

The medical ard scientific worlds have been
treated 10 a new idea in a recent prophecy made
by Colonel William c. Gorgas United States
Commissioner IN charge of the sanitation work
on the Panama Canal zone. at the graduation
exercises of the Cornell University Medical Col
lege. in this city. in which he suggested that
within a few centuries the tropics might be
made so habitable and free from disease that the
centres of wealth. civilization and population
will be found there rather than in the temperate
zones, as at present. He dilated at length on
the improvements which have been made in
tropical countries, such as Cuba. Panama, India
South America and Africa, and it was from the
sanitary successes there attained that he drew
his optimistic and utopian deductions Regard
ing these there conflicting opinions among
men Of medicine and science for while the op-
timistic ones would fain see such pleasant con-
oition Of affairs brought about those of less
bright views are prone to scoff and look upon
even the suggestion preposterously farcical
in itself
Coionei Gorgas, however has faith in his be-
hefs, and this faith is strengthened by the re-
suIts OF study and research in the tropics in the
.0st iew years Great progress has been made
AZ tropical sanitation in the last decade and
thls work has wrought wonders in the tropical
colohlaI possessions of England and other coun-
ines as well as in those Of the United States
Disease has been relegated far beyond the epi-
ne1n4c state food has been improved, drainage
mas made difference in the climate itself the
removal OF night soil, the disposal Of garbage
ana klndred matters pertaining TO the better
faent OF general conditions have all helped to
form the conclusion embodied in the recent ,,t-
terance Of Colonel Gorgas
But the one thing which has gone further than
hhyIapg else 10 convince sanglune ones that
tne tropics can be converted into blooming gar
dens OF halth and beauty is the discovery of
the causes OF TIE most virulent diseases which
affect people in these regions, aud more than
1hls the methods Of effectively getting rid Of
these causes. After years of patient investiga-
tlon 1t has been found that the main cause for
malaria and yellow fever are the anopheles and
stegomyia varieties of mosquito These two
olsreput7ble members of the ghat family are as
inseparable from disease as q New Yorker is
from his newspaper, and their extinction
rests the solution Of the problem of health in
the tropics. The plague of insects Is generally
conceded 10 be the greatest drawback TO life
in warm countries, but the greatest pest Of this
general plague is the mosquito. He is to be
found from the klondike to Cape Horn. in near
iy every country and every climate, but no.
where is his bite dangerous as in warm
countries There he has been the cause Of
many fatal epidemic, and the greatest sani-
Tary problem OF experts has been how to get
rid Of anopheles and stegomyia In the mo-
Tasses of South Africa. in the swamps Of Italy,
through our own island possessions and in other
warm countries men have tested and expert
rnented until they think means have been
discovered whereby these pests may be ami
hiIated. and the satisfactory results which have
followed on the mosquito form the grounds
on which Colonel Gorgas and his sympathizers
base their hopes for a future reclamation Of the
tropics as living place for millions, instead Of
thousands. Of white