666 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



thought it would rest from its labours and did nothing more for a long time 

 — except some good work at Hongkong, Khartum, and Durban. In 1904 

 I went to Panama in order to advise the Americans regarding the Canal, 

 which was then being started — and the subsequent work under Surgeon- 

 General Gorgas is famous. In 1906 I visited Greece for the Lake Copais 

 Company ; and, at last, in 1907, a British Colony, Mauritius, invited me to 

 get their house in order (this action was due principally to the French 

 planters there). In 191 1, I attended a medical congress at Bombay, where 

 a number of smart young men proved to me with some contumely that 

 the reduction of mosquitoes is always an impossibility. Lastly, in 191 3, the 

 Colonial Office actually sent me to Cyprus, where the malaria has been 

 steadily diminished by Dr. Cleveland ever since. Then the War began. It 

 has been said publicly that I made my fortune by all these journeys. I 

 may therefore tell those who are interested in rewards for science that for 

 my three visits to West Africa I received not one penny and not even thanks ; 

 that for ridding Ismailia of malaria the wealthy Suez Canal Company gave 

 me £100 for expenses in 1902 and nothing since ; and that for the rest of 

 my visits abroad I was paid a total of ^1,200, less some out-of-pocket 

 expenses. For going to Panama I received nothing ; but I was robbed of 

 /ioo worth of greenbacks on arrival ! I was able to continue the work 

 owing entirely to receipt of a Nobel Prize from Sweden in 1902 (for my 

 previous work in India). 



What was the cause of the delay ? The machinery was already in 

 existence in 1899. All that the innumerable medical and sanitary officers 

 had to do was to read the pamphlets, articles, and directions, to ask for the 

 small funds required, and to set to work. If they failed, there were numerous 

 Commissioners and Governors and Sanitary Councils to provide funds and 

 to urge them on ; and if these failed, there were the India Office, the Colonial 

 Office, the Foreign Office, and Parliament itself, whose duty it was to see 

 that such work was done. And all this time the people of these innumerable 

 towns were suffering or dying of the disease, which, moreover, was causing 

 an enormous waste of money, was paralysing many industrial pursuits, and 

 giving whole countries an evil reputation. But no, almost nothing was 

 done. I call this the Great Default ; and I resent it — not for myself, because 

 it is nothing to me personally — but for the sake of the thousands upon 

 thousands who have suffered because of it. 



The proper thing for a competent Government to have done in 1899 

 was to have formed at once a strong interdepartmental committee to deal 

 with the new method of malaria prevention throughout the Empire, and to 

 have employed me and other experienced sanitary officers to carry out the 

 work ; and I have no doubt that if this had been done an immense saving 

 of life would have been effected. I tried in vain to get a hearing for the 

 proposal. Instead of such a body the usual futile advisory committees were 

 appointed, consisting of men who had no real knowledge of the subject 

 and cared nothing for sanitary matters, and who did practically nothing. 

 At that time, moreover, there were a number of people who had been little 

 heard of before but who were making quite a good thing out of my work — 

 and who opposed everything I suggested. They advised that instead of 

 reducing mosquitoes it would be better for everyone in malarious areas 

 to take quinine ad infinitum, or to protect their houses with wire-gauze, 

 or to wear veils, gloves, and " mosquito-boots " (sic — in the tropics !). But 

 not content with this some of them suddenly brought up a resolution at a 

 committee of the Royal Society, demanding an enquiry (managed by them) 

 into my gratuitous work in West Africa (which they had done nothing to 

 help) and suggesting that some of the money given for our object-lesson 

 had adhered to our fingers ! Fortunately we had kept all the accounts and 

 vouchers, and Mr. Joseph Chamberlain quashed the " enquiry " at sight 



