876 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol.XVIll. 



together with the insects stinging secretion. These spindle forms 

 (Fig. 27) placed beneath the human skin seek out the red blood cells 

 (Fig. 1), attack and enter them reproducing in them those stages 

 of development which I have already described to you (Figs. 2 to 10). 

 The malaria parasite thus passes through two very distinct periods 

 of development which we can separate by a line in the diagram 

 I have made. One period is passed in the body of man, while the 

 other is passed in the body of a suitable mosquito. For the main- 

 tenance of its existence the parasite must pass through each of these 

 stages successively. Certain conditions are required on the one 

 hand for the transference of the parasite from man to mosquito, 

 while on the other hand certain other conditions are necessary for 

 its transference from mosquito to man. The most important con- 

 ditions necessary in the former case are: first, the presence of definite 

 species of anopheles, and second, the presence of suitably infected 

 man, i.e., with male and female forms of the parasite in the circulating 

 blood. In the latter case the necessary conditions are first, the pre- 

 sence of suitably infected anopheles, i.e., with the spindle shaped 

 bodies (sporozoites) in the salivary secretion, and second, the presence 

 of susceptible man. With these somewhat long, though necessary, 

 preliminary remarks we are now in a position to consider the 

 immediate subject of this paper — the present epidemic of Malaria in 

 the Port of Bombay. 



My attention was first directed to this epidemic by certain remarks 

 made in the Municipal Corporation by Mr. D. E. Watcha and Dr. 

 Sukhia. These gentlemen a few months ago declared that so severe 

 was the epidemic of Malaria in the Frere Road and in certain parts 

 of the Fort that the houses there were being vacated and people 

 were leaving the place. These statements so excited my curiosity 

 that I determined to make an enquiry into the matter. Investiga- 

 tion proved that the statements were correct and that a very severe 

 epidemic of Malaria was raging in these districts, as the following 

 facts will show you. 



There are four ways by which it is possible to ascertain 

 to what extent Malaria is present in a particular place. Wo 

 may firstly scrutinise the vital statistics or secondly we may 

 examine the children of the place, observing to what extent enlarge- 

 ment of the spleen is present among them. Thirdly we can examine 



