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dreadful yellow-fever, aptly called "the plague" in the early Spanish 

 chornicles of America, from its analogies with the Oriental disease of that 

 name. Why should not the houses in yellow fever countries be provided 

 with mosquito blinds, such as are used in the United States as a mere 

 matter of comfort, whereas it might be a question of life or death? The 

 mosquito larvae might be destroyed in swamps, pools, privies, sinks, 

 street-sewers and other stagnant waters, where they are bred, by a me- 

 thodical use of permanganate of potassium or other such substances, in 

 order to lessen the abundance of mosquitoes. But the most essential point 

 must be to prevent those insects from reaching yellow fever patients, and 

 to secure a proper disinfection of all suspicious discharges, in order to 

 forestall the contamination of those insects. Well-ventilated hospitals 

 should be built on high grounds, with no stagnant waters nor marshes in 

 their vicinity, the doors and windows protected by mosquito blinds, a 

 good system of drainage and sewerage, with facilities for disinfecting all 

 suspicious discharges, and for destroying such mosquitoes and larvae as 

 might be found within the building. Only the upper stories should 

 be occupied by the sick, and none but yellow-fever patients and such mal- 

 aria patients as are immune against yellow-fever should be admitted. The 

 examination for admission might be carried out in a separate department 

 devoted to suspicious cases under observation. 



With such hospitals at hand, and an efficient board of health that 

 would see to the proper arrangements for patients who could be left in 

 their homes, and general sanitary improvements in and around the prin- 

 cipal cities, there can be little doubt that yellow fever might be stamped 

 out of Cuba and Porto Rico, and malaria reduced to a minimum. It would 

 then be the business of the port and quarantine officers to prevent the 

 introduction of fresh germs. 



