nearly one-fourth of these were found to harbour gametocytes. 

 Material was thus provided for mosquitos to carry on the spring cycle 

 of new infections. Of the infections discovered, 317 were of the sub- 

 tertian type, 8 were mixed infections, the remainder consisting of 

 simple tertian types and a single quartan. Of 15 gametocyte carriers 

 identified, 8 were similarly infected during the preceding autumn. 

 The incrimination of man as the sole winter carrier is emphasised by 

 the fact that three malaria-infected examples of Anopheles quadri- 

 maculatus were found in the homes of the gametocyte carriers during 

 15-26th May, previous to which time 1,180 specimens of Anopheles 

 from this source had been found to be negative, 



CtILL (Major C.A.). The Prevention of Malaria in War, with Special 

 Reference to the Indian Army. — Jl. R. A. M. C, London, xxix, 

 no. 4, October 1917, pp. 439-456. 



Apart from the results of infection acquired on field service, malaria 

 prevails in the Indian Army to a degree which is at present not 

 appreciated, official statistics not fully representing the prevalence 

 of acute malaria, much less the incidence of chronic, latent or masked 

 cases. Since the Indian Army is mainly recruited from among the 

 agriculturists of the rural districts, who rarely or never undergo a 

 course of curative treatment, it follows that numbers of them harbour 

 the malaria parasite for many years, and in a year following a severe 

 epidemic, it may safely be asserted that nearly every recruit from an 

 afEected area will be infected. 



The active transmission of the disease by means of Anopheline 

 mosquitos occurs chiefly during July, August, September and October, 

 and in the absence of measures against them, troops are subjected to a 

 variable degree of fresh infection during their course of service. 

 Infection is often so slight that men remain on duty until any unusual 

 strain, such as a prolonged march in the sun, precipitates an attack. 

 Outbreaks of malaria do not therefore always imply fresh infection, 

 but, more frequently, the subjection of a malarious body of troops to 

 climatological or other environmental conditions favourable to 

 malarial relapses, from which it follows that the best method of 

 reducing malaria in the Indian Army on field service lies in the detection 

 and cure of infections of old standing, as well as the prevention of 

 fresh ones. 



The prevention of malaria among troops on field service, especially 

 when campaigning in malarial countries, is often impossible, owing to 

 the combination of tactical and medical problems being impracticable. 

 The only possible method of safeguarding the health of the troops is 

 by means of prophylactic doses of quinine, much time, money, and 

 ingenuity having been expended in the vain endeavour to protect 

 them from the bites of mosquitos ; though if circumstances permit, 

 these two measures may be combined mth advantage. 



As regards the prevention of fresh infection, experience has shown 

 that the use of mosquito nets by troops is attended with many 

 difficulties, and it is suggested that such protection should take a 

 collective rather than an individual form, such as screened enclosures 

 of wire gauze erected in the vicinity of barracks. Others measures of 

 considerable value are quinine prophylaxis during the malarial season. 



