12 LOSS THROUGH INSECTS THAT CARRY DISEASE. 



discrepancy necessarily be that it would not seem at all unlikely to 

 the writer if the number of persons suffering from malaria in Italy 

 were in reality nearer 3,000,000 than 2,000,000. 



The same argument Avill hold for the United States, and more 

 especially so since as a rule malaria in this country is of a lighter 

 type than in Italy; in fact an estimate of 3,000,000 cases of malaria 

 in the United States annually is probably by no means too high. It 

 will not be an exaggeration to estimate that one-fourth of the produc- 

 tive capacity of an individual suffering Avith an average case of ma- 

 laria is lost. Accepting this as a basis, and including the loss through 

 death, the cost of medicines, the losses to enterprises in malarious 

 regions through the difficulty of securing competent labor, and other 

 factors, it is safe to place the annual loss to the United States from 

 malarial disease under present conditions at not less than one hundred 

 millions of dollars. Celli has shown that in Italy the great railway 

 industries, for example, feel the effect of malaria greatly. Accord- 

 ing to accurate calculations one company alone, for 1,400 kilometers 

 of railway and for 6,416 workmen in malarious zones, spends on ac- 

 count of malaria 1,050,000 francs a year. The same Avriter states that 

 the army in Italy from 1877 to 1897 had more than 300,000 cases of 

 malaria. 



The loss to this country in the way of retardation of the develop- 

 ment of certain regions, owing to the presence of malaria, is extremely 

 great. Certain territory containing most fertile soil and capable of 

 the highest agricultural productiveness is practically abandoned. 

 With the introduction of proper drainage measures and antimosquito 

 work of other character, millions of acres of untold capacity could 

 be released from the scourge at a comparatively slight expenditure. 

 These regions in the absence of malaria would have added millions 

 upon millions to the wealth of the country. Drainage measures are 

 now being initiated by the United States. Parties of engineers are 

 being sent b}^ the Government to make preliminary drainage sur- 

 veys in the most prominent of these potentially productive regions. 

 The following statement concerning the effect of malaria on the 

 progress of this work has been made to the writer by Dr. George Otis 

 Smith, director of the United States Geological Survey' : 



" In one of the Southern States 11 topographic parlies have been at 

 work during the past field season. The full quota for these parties 

 would be 55 men, but I believe that something over 100 men have 

 been employed at different times during the season. While I have 

 not exact figures before me, I feel warranted in the statement that at 

 least 95 per cent of these emploj^ees have been sick, for periods rang- 

 ing from a few days up to two weeks, in the hospital. Many of them 

 have been able later to return to work, but at least 30 per cent had 

 to leave the field permanentlv. Bv reason of this sickness the effi- 



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