204 GNATS OR MOSQUITOES — CHAPTER VIII 



tuted for an injurious collection of water. Moreover, as 

 far as I can judge, the rental of such a plot would have paid 

 well for the amount of labour expended. I was led to try 

 the experiment by noticing a large levelled depression, 

 which had once been an old-standing brick field, and which 

 an enterprising native had converted into profitable garden 

 ground, and finding that, though without any proper out- 

 fall, the owner was in no way troubled with flooding. 



In many cases in towns, hollows of this sort are grouped 

 together in considerable numbers, with intervening strips 

 of high ground, and, in such cases, these would supply 

 ample material for levelling, and the results could scarcely 

 fail to be remunerative, as cultivable land in such situations 

 always commands a high rental. 



The effects of the surroundings that go to make up the 

 conditions of town as contrasted with country life are all 

 in favour of the urban resident. Where indeed could a 

 generation oi Anopheles find a secure nursery for their larval 

 youth in the heart of such cities as London or Paris? 



Nearly forty years ago Dr. Wood, of Philadelphia, 

 pointed out "the extraordinary and very important fact," 

 that " miasmata are neutralised, decomposed, or in some 

 other way rendered innocuous by the air of large cities. 

 Though malarious diseases may rage round a city, and 

 even penetrate the outskirts, yet they are unable to pene- 

 trate into the interior ; and individuals who never leave the 

 thickly populated parts almost always escape " (" Chambers 

 Encylop.," vi., p. 438, 1868). The true reason for this is, of 

 course, the careful utilisation of every square foot of surface ; 

 the grading and paving of the streets, and the resulting 

 impossibility of the existence of puddles sufficiently per- 

 manent to rear a brood of larv» ; and it follows from this 

 that it is only in towns in which the resources of |ivilisation 

 are highly developed that this favourable influence of urban 

 life is very noticeable. 



An unpaved, ill-drained town may be as malarious as 

 any country district, and as a matter of fact, few of our 

 Indian cities are sufficiently advanced in these respects to 

 gain any marked advantage over the surrounding country. 



