702 ANNUAL EEPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1908. 



the railway embankment across the plain. Sure enough, in some of 

 these pits close to Moulki we found the peccant insects, the larvse 

 of Myzomyia TnacuUpennis^ a known carrier of malaria. These gnats, 

 rising from the pools, pour into the village and into neighboring 

 houses, such as those of the company ; become infected by biting the 

 numerous infected children; and then infect any healthy persons 

 whom they may subsequently bite. The old drama, now so well 

 known, was obviously being played out before our eyes. 



After having dealt with Moulki we examined the conditions at 

 another village of about 575 inhabitants, situated several hundred 

 feet high on the hills south of the company's houses, and called Mazi. 

 Out of 40 school children, we found enlargement of the spleen in 13, 

 and the parasites of malaria in 16. Of those that showed the parasite, 

 7 had no enlarged spleen ; so that we must add them to our total of 

 infected children, giving 20 infected out of a total of 40 examined; 

 that is, one-half. This is a large proportion, and we expected to find 

 some breeding pools of Anophelines close at hand. In this, however, 

 we failed; though we saw some lime pits which w^e thought might 

 become suitable for the larvse at a later season. But, nevertheless, 

 there was no difficulty in explaining the malaria at Mazi, since we 

 learned that every year nearly the whole population descends to the 

 plain for the harvesting in the month of August (the most malarious 

 month) and bivouacs there for days or weeks. Doubtless the people 

 of Mazi become infected on these occasions, though I suspect that 

 breeding pools will be found close to the village by more extensive 

 search. 



My time being very limited, we could make only hasty studies at 

 other spots. Across the plain lies the village of Skripou, on the site 

 of the ancient Orchomenos. Here we found splenic enlargement in 

 exactly half of 40 school children examined ; but had no time to take 

 blood films. The village is evidently intensely malarious. We had 

 time to look for mosquito larvae only in one spot, the beautiful Foun- 

 tain of the Graces, which gushes out of the mountain and spreads in 

 a small marsh near at hand. Here, again, we found the shameless 

 insects desecrating the divine spot. What must have happened when 

 the Graces bathed there I can not say. We saw only washerwomen 

 and geese. 



Thus on the borders of the Kopaik Plain we had examined 142 

 children and had found certain evidence of malaria in no less than 

 80, or 57 per cent, a very high malaria rate. But we soon obtained 

 evidence that the disease is not confined to this low-lying area. 

 Livadhia is a beautiful little town of 6,250 inhabitants, situated 540 

 feet up the spurs of Helicon, some miles beyond the western end of 

 the plain and facing Mount Parnassus. It begins at the romantic 

 gorge whefe was the Oracle of Trophonios in former days, and where 



