176 



labour difficulties ; the oiling of surface water, obviously a good 

 method when sufficient oil can be obtained, as in Panama, where the 

 whole area for about half a mile round all dwelling places was thoroughly- 

 oiled once a week ; the piping of fast-running, but temporary, streams 

 to within half a mile of camps in ravine country where associated 

 pools act as mosquito breeding places. 



In countries where such measures are difficult, the importance of 

 mechanical prophylaxis can hardly be exaggerated. Such measures 

 include the screening of dwellings by means of double doors and 

 windows protected with copper-bronze screens, 18 mesh to the inch, 

 a method by which the malaria incidence may be reduced by at least 

 one-third in a locality where malaria is endemic ; the supervised 

 use of mosquito nets by troops ; the use of veils and gloves 

 with gauntlets by those employed on sentry duty, etc. ; the use of 

 citronella oil, either pure or in the form of ointment by men on 

 night duty, a method, however, which is said not to be very 

 successful ; the employment of African or Greek troops for sentry 

 duty and all forms of night work during the summer and autumn 

 months, a plan, the advantages of which might be found to outweigh 

 the disadvantages ; and the education of officers and men as to the 

 habits of the mosquito and the means of avoiding infection. 



To this paper is appended a bibliography of 95 works. 



MacCormac (Major H.) & Small (Capt. W. D. D.). The Scabies 

 Problem on Active Service. — Jl. R.A.M.C, London, xxx, no. 6, 

 June 1918, pp. 601-605. 



Scabies is rarely contracted except after long and intimate contact 

 with infected material, since Acarid mites do not wander far afield 

 like lice. All the evidence points to blankets as the chief means of 

 disseminating infection, and these should be therefore frequently 

 disinfected by means of the Clayton sulphur-vapour apparatus, or 

 some other accepted form of sterilisation. Since some few cases 

 seem to be contracted from horses, these also should receive efficient 

 treatment. Infected men should be segregated and treated as speedily 

 as possible, as each undetected case acts as a carrier. 



The method of treatment most suitable to service conditions on 

 account of efficiency, simplicity and cheapness, is inunction with 

 sulphur ointment, but to be effective this must be carried out in a 

 methodical and thorough manner, and with careful attention to the 

 necessary details. 



Treatment by means of sulphur vapour, a method long ago 

 discredited, but recently re-introduced, is ofteib harmful to the 

 patient and always dangerous to the community, in that it 

 manufactures a class of scabies " carrier." In the interests of the 

 Army it should be discontinued. 



Bahr (Capt. P. H.). On the Transmission of the Subtertian Malaria 

 Parasite (Plasmodium falciparum, Welch, 1897) by Egyptian 

 Anopheles. — Jl. R.A.M.C, London, xxx, no. 6, June 1918, 

 pp. 606-608. 



The species of Anophelines recorded as occurring in Egypt are : — ■ 

 Ano2)heles (Cellia) pharoensis, which is known to transmit Plasmodium 



