The Washington herald., 1907-07-07

The Story OF Malaria as told by Nal
Ronald Ross, F. R. S, first to an audi
ence OF the Royal Colonial Institute of
Great Britain, and later in the pages OF
the National Review, is full of most In
teresting facts that are apt TO pass the
memory, unless recalled from time to
time. Our present knowledge, as he re-
minds us. says the Scientific American,
is the result Of more than 1000 years Of
patient study, and it forms what might
be called q gigantic epic Of science. It
tells sf a long and hard-f0ught battle
between man and nature, and it is only
to-day that We even begin 10 see the
promise Of victory.
If We go back TO the writings Of Hippo
crates and his successors. some 400 years
j. c., we learn that the Greeks and Ro-
mans were then studying the character
of malaria, and had distinguished its class
by two important points the first was
that malarial fevers are not continuous in
type but occur in periodical attacks. and
these attacks they classified as Quotidian.
tertiap. and qUartan; that is, occurring
every day, every alternate day, and every
third day. Although we now understand
that attacks may by overlapping pre-
sent the appearance of a continuous fever,
this does not contradict the ancient class
ifCatiOn. The second point found out by
them and attested by succeeding expert
ence is that there is direct connection
between marshes and swampy pools or
soil and the prevalence Of this kind Of
disease. They even went so far as to
point to a probability Of the disease be
Ing disseminated by a species of germ
or microbe to living man, thus approach
Ing remarkably near 10 our nineteenth
century "discoveries"'
Old Theories Not Disproved.
Indeed. We seem not 10 have dlsproved
any Of the theories of the ancients. but
rather 10 have enlarged upon them. added
to their number. and established their GER
tsinty. After the anclents-a very long
time afterward-the next step forward
was taken In South America. To a vii
lager Of Malacotos. in Ecuador, we owe
the discovery Of the efficiency Of Peru
Wan bark as a cure for malarial fever
or as we should more correctly term it.
an antidote. This became known in
Europe about 16l0 and acquired fame
aftet it had been used 10 alleviate the
agues Of Louis XIV. in 1920 two French
chemists separated from Peruvian bark
its essential alkaloid, quinine. Still after
the lapse of two and one-half centuries
the bark or its alkaloid are the accepted
specifics against malariaI fcvers, BY ex-
perimenting with the use Of these drugs
it was found possible To separate with
greater precision the different types Of
fever and determine the periods Of at
tack
To the story of malaria another chap
ter was soon after this contributed by
British military and naval surgeons, at "a
time when British ships were exploiting
all waters. These found malaral fever
TO be common in all tropical and sub
tropical cOuntries-that is was an enemy
likely to be encountered almost anywhere. /
They added their affirmation TO the
theory that soil as well as water held the
fever poison. About the middle Of the
last century. however. when biology be-
came q favOrIte study. and the micro
scope q more perfected instrument. the
Eranules of what is now called malarial
pigment were found in the blood and
these pigment grauules were found TO be
the refuse matter Of iuuumerablo little
parasites which living within the blood /
caused disease. Almost at the same time
that this discovery was made, Pasteur.
Koch, Lister, and others were discover
ing that bacteria were the cause OF an
thrax, tuberculosis. cholera. typhoid, and
leprosy.
Two Great Discoveries.
The two great discoveries mark to-
gether an epoch in history The essen !
tal difference between them. briefly
stated, Is that malarial germs are pro- !
tozoa, or the lowest form Of animal life.
while the bacteria Apresent the lowest
form Of vegetable life. BY close study
Of the processes followed by the parasites
Of malaria. it was found that their ca
paolty 20 reproduce themselves was al |
most unendlng, but that Il kept 70 the
order Of successive generations; and Just
as all the stalks Of corn in a field which |
was sown at one time reach maturity to- /
gether, so do the members Of the same !
generation Of malaria parasites. The shell
Of the blood COrpusCle which has held the /
growing parasite bursts when It reaches /
maturity, and allows its spores TO fall
into The fluid Of the blood, and these
again fasten themselves on other cor
pusoles and begin TO germinate in their
turn. Millions Of parasites will liberate
their spores at the same time. and It will
be precisely at this time that the patient
win be attacked with the ague fit. fol-
lowed by fever. As some Of the snores
take seventy-twO hours 10 reach full de-
velopment the next attack Of fever will
not take place until the third day; as an
other type develops within forty-elght
hours. the attacks occur every other day: |
and those which speculate every twenty /
four hours produce the quOtidian fever. II |
is possible, though perhaps not usual /
for one patient TO harbOr all three varie- /
lies at one and the same time.
The Symptoms.
At the time that the malarial parasites /
scatter their spores In the blood. the pa
tient IS seized with chill nausea. shiver- /
ing. and fever. very soon. however. the !
wonderful antitoxic mechanism Of the
body begins 60 assert itself, the poison is /
acted upon. neutTalized. and I'm a large
measure eliminated by the sweating
which ensues. and the patient is relieved. I
But another generation Is developing
meanwhile. and when It reaches maturity /.
another attack is caused, and not until /.
their power Of reproduction IS weakened 1
and finally overcome will recovery he I
permanent Even then. undue fatigue
chilli or great heat may cause a relapse /
by favoring the parasites and their devel- /
opmenL The battle must De necessarily .
waged between the conflicting parties ,
poison on the one hand antitoxin on the /
other startling discovery. made in I.
quite recent times. is that native children (
in tropical countries although apparently 4